Are You Playing with the Wrong Tennis Racquet? | Too Light vs Too Heavy

[@IntuitiveTennis]

My racquet recommendations (as mentioned in video) 👉 kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZquTgaptnpp3q6ssi=4w6Caq2Xk85IQCQi

[@domclarke8182]

Quality content as always! Couldn't agree more with the sentiment in this video. A big thing, too, is can you still swing the racket when you're tired halfway through a match? Can you whip up on the ball and flatten it out and generally have variety in your game whilst being comfortable/without pain. I play with the Radical MP, which for me is stable enough to cope with big hitters but allows me to produce the best ball for the next shot.

[@ericfreeman5795]

Another way to determine if a racquet is too heavy for a certain player is to play with it for couple of sets or an hour of rallying. If the person becomes fatigued, and it becomes difficult to make a complete stroke after that, it's too heavy. After a certain age, I could still play with my ProStaff 6.1, but after a while, I was too tired to make proper strokes. Had to go down a notch. Another advantage of heavier racquets, along with stability as you mentioned, they contribute more to the stroke. On an emergency shot, when your stretched and can't make a complete stroke, with an abbreviated swing, the mass of the racquet gets the ball over the net. The weight cooperates. With the light frames, the ball just pushes the racquet, and it feels unstable. Excellent video, Nico.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Thank you Eric 🙌🙏

[@milanvincic9668]

Great topic Nick. Love this vid❤. I simply love my stick to be on the heavier side. I noticed that my shots are more powerful and more consistent with 315g than 305g. With a heavy racket I just feel that I can tame its heaviness and use its mass to my advantage. As simple as that😊.

[@Justin-r7u2p]

I agree with the whole taming heaviness thing but i also like the easy whip that light rackets offer...

[@PaulWolfe1]

I've been experimenting with a lot of racquets lately. I found that I like a light racquet for my long-stroke forehand and a heavy raquet for my more compact backhand (2-handed). It was a dilemma until I tried the Ezone 100 Light. A light racquet that plays big (large head, thick beam). It's fantastic.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Glad you found a racquet that suits you 💯💯

[@squashg5159]

Great tutorial! Additionally, I would like to complement your wonderful lecture with a funny story. All you need to do is go to the gym for a few weeks and your current racket starts to feel too light. And from the other side. If after this gym you change your racket to a heavier one and stop training, after a few weeks the new racket will become too heavy :)

[@tennisrijans]

you have probably the best youtube channel for tennis , thank you.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Wow, thanks!

[@tennisrijans]

@@IntuitiveTennis I am thankful to have watched your videos, I flex my tennis knowledge with my friends, only because of you 😁

[@mindofmogli]

Great explanation, Nikola. Clear and easy to understand. Thanks again for your helpful, and quality content.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Thank you 🙏

[@thefridgeman]

I like head light racquets (315 mm or less, strung) that weigh 320 g or more (unstrung). To make them stable, I add some weight at 3 and 9 and play with/add the rest of the weight in the handle and 12 position, until the above numbers are reached. I have a full and fast swing, thus I generate my own power. Overkill: tuned Ezone with Alupower.

[@MrMSS22]

Especially for serving it’s important to have a sufficiently light racquet. Ground strokes can easily be stroke by with heavy racquets, but when it comes to kick serves relying on high racquet head speed, things look different.

[@sebastiandomagala9233]

I had my best kick serves with my old racquet. Nothing to be ashamed of with my newer (and lighter) stick nowadays though. It's like every other stroke: the heavier (to some extend) the racquet, the less you need to shoot the ball by yourself and the more force you can put into spinning it. Serves do benefit most from heavy racquets. Think of Sampras shooting aces with a no-power 85 sq in stick. He could never have done anything similar with a sub 300g frame.

[@luyin1961]

Good analysis and explanation. I was nerdy enough to read a book called Technical Tennis on racket weight/power, different ways power coming from racket. But there is a big difference between a controlled experience and how a person feels when hitting the ball. The biggest issue that bugs me is stability vs. maneuverability when you are on defense and had to improvise. All rackets, especially the woodies, feel great when you have the time to setup and do a full swing. So my question to Nick: when you had to react and not able to hit clean, is it better to have a heavier racket that's more stable (possibly with bigger sweet spot), or a light racket that allows to manipulate more to hit somewhat cleaner?

[@IntuitiveTennis]

So in emergency situations a lot of racquet specs have to be considered. Generally low powered racquets are worse than high powered one bc you can’t take a full swing and are often just deflecting the ball. The racquet has to do the work for you in those scenarios. Now this doesn’t mean that one should switch to a high power racquet for these reasons. Ideally you want to be in emergency situations as little as possible.

[@tomlee2651]

When my Pro Staff 97 started swinging like a fly swatter, I knew it's time to move to RF97. Never looked back since.

[@goldencalf5144]

You could have just added weight to your pro staff 97. I added 20g silicone to the handle of my PS97 and some lead at 3,9 and 12. The static strung weight is now nearly 370g, but it's easy to swing because it's more than 10 pts head light. It now has more than enough power for my needs.

[@pleaseenteraname1103]

I’m a junior in high school, and I’ve been watching your videos for about 3 1/2 years, when I started playing tennis at around 14. And I can definitely say but you’ve helped me improve more than any other online coach or any other coach I’ve had by far. Can you break down incredibly complex concepts in such a simple and easy to understand way. The funny thing is I’ve always been a pretty skinny kid and I don’t have a lot of muscle, however I’ve gravitated towards heavy rackets for some reason, because I always felt that I get a lot of control with a heavy racket opposed to a light one. When I first started playing tennis I started playing with a very cheap prince racket and it was oversize, and I couldn’t even keep the ball on the court almost everything was going into the fence😂, answer my coach gave me this really old pro-kennex racket that was pretty heavy it was like 320 g and I only had a 90 in.² head, but I instantly started playing better. I also it’s just pretty lazy and didn’t want to practice and I didn’t want to admit that it wasn’t getting better due to not practicing so I try to blame it on the equipment, 😂.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Thanks for the support. I’ve known skinny players who use heavy racquets. Not always about muscle

[@aca99da]

Volleys always feel completely unstable to me whenever I try a light racquet. 😂

[@taekim7002]

Try pickleball. It will help your volleys, doesn’t matter what racquet you use.

[@tomathome77]

Get out of here pickleball scrub

[@Flootyy]

@@taekim7002nah pickleball sucks

[@anonusniogsonisrgnip]

Hahaha if you think pickleball will help your tennis volleys your not good at tennis

[@Angiehappy895]

🥒 🏀 is a joke

[@juls5347]

I'm at best a 4.5 but since I was a kid I played with heavy rackets (ncode six one mostly). Some years ago I tried to switch to lighter rackets, around 305g. Got more spin and tennis became "easier" (helped with arm fatigue in long matches), but the stability and feel was so awful that tennis became almost boring. Couldn't make a volley or half volley to save my life. And I developed elbow pain. Now I play happily with the RF97😅

[@moeinahmadi2908]

p=m.v means Momentum depends on mass and velocity. naturally more mass means less velovity because its harder to accelerate. In fact, you should choose the heaviest racket that you can bring to the final speed

[@666kingdrummer]

Maybe it's just me, but I've always preferred a lightweight racquet, the lighter the better. I love the maneuverability of them, mainly because I'm more comfortable at the net than the baseline.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

I’m the same way

[@unotoli]

And then, you alway can adjust light racquet with weight (side=stability, bottom=for balance), right?

[@K4R3N]

Force = Mass x Acceleration

[@omaristephens2143]

Also, kinetic energy = ½ × mass × velocity²

[@stanmah5721]

E=mc^2

[@leeprimeroessler3277]

@@stanmah5721If that formula is getting important, you are hitting very hard:-)

[@davidroulier1921]

Often people (including past myself) are not honest about their ability to swing a heavy racquet. Before chosing a racquet I'd say this "Swallow your pride". It's not a d*ck contest about who is able to maneuver the heaviest racquet or the smallest headsize...and it's all fun and giggles to play the RF97 until you bring it to a match vs a better opponent. Same goes for the tennis strings. Sure there are better strings than others, but a previous coach was crushing at high level with a 40$/reel tennis string. Nadal was too, back in 2005...

[@IntuitiveTennis]

💯

[@germanjaime2919]

Well, going into a match against a better opponent with the RF97 or the Prostaff LS will still end up in a loss. Using the RF97 is really about technique not dick size. If you have good technique and prefer to play attacking tennis, this racket is great. If you prefer to play defensive and have great physicality, a lighter racket is going to help you get to more balls and you can dink them back in.

[@syrinx9196]

I have an eastern grip and an old-fashioned game. I play best with a very heavy 90 sq in graphite racquet. It's medium weight (M), which disappeared at the start of the graphite era. It has drawbacks, like the weight making overheads more difficult. It's also slower for reactions, such as return of serve. However, what it gives me is control, due to the high stability. It doesn't fatigue me but I do miss the ability to hit easy overheads in particular with a lighter larger-headed racquet. What I don't think is worth the trade, though, is not being able to rely on my strokes, especially the forehand, being under control even when under heavy pressure from an opponent. I play well enough with an even smaller head but the 90 is close to just right. Some female players played with heavier racquets than the male players, by the way. The current racquet and string tech has made people change their technique and grips (which means poly string and larger lighter stiffer racquets) but I like my eastern grip and am not going to change. I actually started tennis with an oversize widebody but I moved to smaller heavier racquets for the control.

[@BurnsTennis]

I think it might be the opposite. Far from guys wanting to play with heavier racquets to show their manliness, I think a lot have been "persuaded" to use lighter frames because they believe it will give them more topspin. But guess what? A lot will end up with arm and wrist issues. Trying to generate so much pace and topspin with these lighter frames.

[@benitocanfora7667]

Great video, thanks for the useful information

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Glad it was helpful!

[@21crus1]

I am in a dilemma between choosing a light vs heavy racquet, because with the heavy one I get more penetration on my shots from the baseline in both defense and offence but I get no rhythm on the serves at all and they are all over the place. With a light racquet, the serve gets more reliable but shots aren't as aggressive and keep dropping too short.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Find something in between

[@James-qv1dr]

Although the general sentiment of this video is correct, you should have included the swingweight discussion within the same video. It's too simplistic to say if you cannot accelerate the racket properly then it's too heavy. A 280g racket with a 330 swingweight will feel harder to accelerate than a 310g racket with a 305 swingweight. The 280g racket would most likely feel more stable as well (depending on other factors such as twistweight as well). In my opinion, the stability is impacted massively by the swingweight. A 340g racket with a 300sw wont have any stability even though it's heavy. It's obviously hard to delve into all of the above when trying to give out general advice.

[@germanjaime2919]

Once i tried 2 same rackets with different setup. One was 365 static weight 340 swingweight aand the other one was 350 static weight 350 swingweight. The first one felt way more stable. I dont think higher swingweght necessarily means more stability, static weight in my opinion plays a bigger roll in that.

[@brumpotatis5506]

I started playing with an ezone 98 tour with a weight of 350 g and have a hard time with lighter rackets and hit a quite good ball when im not dead but the ezone totally kills me physically fast

[@francaraggio7002]

I have changed from heavier racquet to a lighter one, to improve my volee and smash. I have find more difficult to play my two hand backand with new racquet

[@adonismoviemaker]

That is a helpful explanation; thanks!

[@frankojudoka]

I have a rf 97. I even added lead tape to it.

[@christiansantfournier2794]

Great Video Nik. How about a video about head heavy vs head light for same weight. Rackets that come to mind for the head heavy in 305g are the TF-40 or T-Fight with a balance of 32.5cms and head light the Ezone or CX200 at 31.5cms. Why would i choose one over the other? Thanks

[@farid1406]

Lol loved the brief talk about manliness and racket weight. "Ya bruh, nice 120 serve with a lady's racket!"

[@philipcovington3943]

My friend is finding more success with a 95 as opposed to his 97 pure strike. He used his pure strike for 4 matches and though I don’t notice a difference except that some of his shots are hit softer than normal and it’s helped some balls go in more, on the other hand more balls are hit back harder as well. But now that he’s played two matches with his 95 he’s feeling much better about his play. I imagine there’s a big factor playing into it of confidence. He played in HS with a 95 and made the switch to 97 when he got back into the game. How much does confidence play into what racquet is best for you? How far should you stray from what you know to try to improve your game racquet wise?

[@NamesAreRandom]

Pro's are using lighter rackets at lower tensions these days - more power less control countered by more spin. Alcaraz uses about 305g and 53/55 string tension on really skinny 1.3mm strings. It's no longer the case that the heaviest tightest strung racket you can handle is the best.

[@sebastiandomagala9233]

1.30 mm is skinny? Really skinny?

[@NamesAreRandom]

@@sebastiandomagala9233 you are write, not that skinny.

[@domikessler7703]

First....pros dont Change!! If you See Tsisipas, Zverev, Dimitrov,Nadal....you See Frames from 15 years ago!!! Light for a pro is Up to 310 g ( without Strings) Second..every pro -tune- His Racket. Buy for Example 4 Rackets! You will See,they are a little different ( Wright,swinghwweit...)

[@lustercool4999]

I like my Wilson pro staff it’s awesome

[@germanjaime2919]

I actually feel i can accelerate more with a heavier racket with less effort than a lighter racket.

[@alf3071]

so I custom painted my racket and didn't know it was going to make it 15 grams heavier now I have to adapt because my shoulder kinda hurts but it's ok now I have way more power without needing to move too much, it was 300 before now it's 315

[@TheWaynebridges]

Velocity (speed), times mass (weight), equals force.

[@八極麻花捲]

Why I have to swing much harder and use more force to swing lighter racquet than heavier? Also have to be faster to achieve similar ball shot. It seems swing a heavier is easier and less effort than swing a light. I know the sw difference. What I mean is swing a lighter and lower sw isn’t easier.

[@praveenpuvvula3455]

I play with a head ti s6 at 225g. And it always twitches at every stroke. It's a shame I can't demo rackets because they don't send out demo at 4 1/2 size.

[@oliverdesouza5741]

Since a player's physical strength is not going to suddenly change, the increase in mass of a heavy racket should be exactly offset by the reduction in acceleration you are able to achieve with that racket (F=MA). Hence, the force going into the ball will be the same. However, most light rackets are also stiffer so less energy is absorbed by the racket and slightly more will go into the ball. And, there is a limit to how fast you can accelerate and still have control, so there will be an ideal weight for everyone depending on their biomechanics, as Nic said. But, maximum power isn't everything in tennis. You may prefer a slightly heavier racket, if you prefer some extra control, feel and stability it may provide.

[@n-da-bunka2650]

Good guidance. I was a 4.5 player out of college but a 4.0 for the majority of my USTA league play. I tried going to a lighter racket (as low as 305 on one) and even a head light version for some doubles after I turned 55. While I don't have a lot of control issues, they all seem to lack punch at the net and don't really feel like the strings are making a "pocket" on ground strokes. Lack of power is not a problem even though I am older. I am thinking about going to a 325-335 weight but want a larger beam than the 19-21 that is in my current four rackets. I am 61 and playing in a 7.5 combo league. Any recommendations?

[@syrinx9196]

Take a look at the ASICS 109. It's extremely inexpensive, provides easy power with enough control, and can have weight added to get to your desired weight range. For string, I like Ashaway MonoGut ZX. It's a pure Zyex string that I have found to be durable and easy on the elbow. Stringers have to be careful, though, because it has a reputation for snapping during stringing. Once strung, though, I have found it to be long-lasting. I play with an old-school 90 sq in racquet but I tried the ASICS for a doubles match and found it extremely easy to adapt to. My partner was impressed and suggested that I switch to it. I can't, though, because it doesn't come in a size 5 grip.

[@d.nguyen4993]

I am a beginner but found a used pro staff wilson for a good price and bought it. but its 315grams? can i still play with it?

[@casperharmer2599]

Hi, is Babolat pure aero 2023 is a heavy racket on stock form?

[@tampaed]

Love playing with a 9.2 oz racquet

[@lustercool4999]

I don’t haft swing as hard with a heavy racket let the racket do the work for u works 4 me

[@roryoconnor4989]

I always increase the static weight to around 340g (strung) but maintain the balance and sw

[@NickNeras]

How is Shamir doing with his heavy Yonex???

[@IntuitiveTennis]

He loves it

[@Krwler]

Swing weight is important too not just static weight

[@davidhale8034]

He literally said "There are other weights that are important, for example, swing weight and I will deal with that in a separate video" 🤦🤦🤦🤣🤣🤣

[@markchan006]

Those traps are just silly. Honestly no ppl really care about what rackets you use. People applaud winning and good shots, not heavier racket. I have a 4.0 friend who plays with a 285g racket and light string tension. Counter-punching style and he is winning a lot.

[@whuang03]

Yeah pushers usually plays with lighter racquets to easily just block the balls back, don't generate any pace. 285 is very light for any man 3.5+. Almost everyone I know (including myself) ~4.0 level uses 300-310g frames.

[@markchan006]

@@whuang03 yes he doesn't generate much pace. When he practices rally, he hits topspin strokes normally. But once he is in a match, it's all about defending/mixing up with moonball/slice/blocking half-stroke/dropshot.

[@sebastiandomagala9233]

​@@markchan006Well, that's no fun to watch or play against, but very effective. All you gotta do is run a lot. I'm not sure if a light racquet helps this style, He might as well use a heavier one and get the same results. I guess he just kept his racquet despite improving his swing style.

[@whuang03]

Physics, sports is science.

[@sebastiandomagala9233]

I wouldn't let a late beginner swing a granny stick. That only leads to bad technique. I would give them a mere brick on a stick to enforce crystal clean strokes. I have seen so many late beginners with odd swings, they all need better advice. But most coaches don't give a sh..t and just continue feeding them balls.

[@bmanbusee3812]

Nice vid. Where’s the Ana backhand video?

[@yonexfan12]

If you show up with an RF97, just lol

[@grospipo20]

Wish I watched this before spending 100 bucks on a light racket with small grip size