Could you even factor in tension of strings into flexibility of shaft and repulsion of strings? Slow swinger <-----------------> Fast swinger Flexible preference <-----------------> Stiff preference Flexible shaft ------------------ Stiff shaft High repulsion string ------------ Low repulsion string Low tension string -------------- High tension string
correct That's only my humble advice though, and I think I should change it. If someone will lend you a racquet to try, then try it. Don't BUY an extra-stiff racquet without trying it beforehand.
and dont buy a very head heavy/head light racquet without trying either, unless u've played with similar ones before....
ofcourse not, I go espacially to germany (I live in belgium), because there's a nice place where you can test rackets before you buy
at 700 + low repulsion string I use at 700 with a string with low repulsion (rally 21, ashaway), 10,5 kg. I wanted to try this string. I tried bg-80 before, 12 kg (the tension was too high for me). I feel not so comfortable with the ashaway string. Could it be just too much to use a racket with a quite stiff shaft and low repulsion string? And does head-heaviness is important too (because a head heavy racket "feels" heavier than a head light racket (higher swing-weight...)? The string felt quite dead in my opinion even when it was freshly strung. I mean i play for 5 years but i think i`m beginner level. Perhaps my stroke is not fast enough for this "mix"?! I always felt comfortable with bg-65, but i never tried it with at-700. Does bg-65 produce higher repulsion? I hope this isn`t off topic...
Neil - is the the only way I can check whether my racket have the proper stifness/flexible, to try different rackets? -isn't there some kind of test I could do? What is the exact relation between stiffness/flexible and repulsion/tension??? low tension should give more power right and higher tension less power but more control? Stifness/flexible is correlated to speed of swing, but is it proved that e.g. a fast swing and stiff racket will be "destroyed" by a low tension?
I don't think they will reply to you because this thread is 3 years old. To answer your question the racket stiffness and string are completely different things so there is no relationship between them. If you are able to bend a stiff shaft you will get more power than the flexible. This also applies to string, if you can flex the string at a higher tension you will get more power than a lower tension.
Thanks Phandrew, I forgot to pay attention to the date. I use an old racket where it says "flexible", and I think it is time to look for a new racket, but I mean I cannot effort to buy five different rackets just to try them out. So therefore I hoped that there existed a test you could do...
There are some brands that test stiffness based on putting a weight on the shaft and seeing how many degrees it bends. The smaller the number the stiffer the racket it is.
Ok, I can not find such a number. Even if there was such a number, I still need to know how to measure my armswing speed (maybe by video!?), and then how to link it to these numbers!!!
Black Knight racquets have a rigidity index where it goes from something like RF-80 (least stiff) to RF-90 (most stiff). I'm not sure if you can find BK racquets in Denmark though and I haven't seen similar scales with other brands.
GENERALLY The faster your swing, the higher your tension should be and stiffer shaft. the slower the swing the lower your tension should be and a more flex shaft. A slow swing to you may not be a slow swing to someone else so they cannot really tell you what racket you should get when you tell them you have a slow swing, all they can tell you is you should consider a lower tension and more flexible shaft until you find what works for you. When you find that perfect tension and flexibility, you can pretty much feel a mountain of difference in your smash, and the first few times it feels really good as if you have achieved a new level. At least that is how it was for me. that extra feel also gives you that little boost of confidence that also improves your game (as cheesy as it may sound, it definitely hypes you). If your hits did not feel nice you would feel less motivated. as for people wondering if they should get low repulsion strings or high repulsion ... personally I cannot see how low repulsion can improve your game. I had nanogy 98 at 26lb of tension and it felt great, and the repulsion was wonderful. I got bg65 at the same tension and it felt like utter garbage and I had my racket restrung the same week with more repulsive strings. BG65 I personally think are not a good idea unless you play with insanely high tension like over 30lbs so that you can get decently durable strings, and the thickness of the strings is negated due to the stretch, thus making them more repulsive, while a string like nanogy 98 would break too soon due to the high amounts of tension on an extremely thin string. just my logic on the matter, feel free to correct me.
Alternative, would it make sense to state that if I improve and do a faster armswing, but my e.g. smash does not become more powerfull, or maybe even more weak, then it could be a symptom for either a to low tension or to flexible racket?
