Take a look and see how bad it is...
Instead of playing, I'll use this time to "fix a problem" I inadvertently created.
It all started with a previous racket overhaul. (link)
That Wilson hammer series was notorious for its harsh feel, head heavy balance and was blamed for many wrist and elbow injuries.
That's why I overhauled it. But the experiment was too successful. Now, with almost zero harsh vibrations and headlight balance, that hammer has become my preferred racket! I like it more than even my ProStaff 6.0, ProStaff Classic and XT80. See the problem?
Since I cannot play, I'll do another racket to test if the previous mod is repeatable or a fluke.
The Dunlop was chosen due to its stiff and hollow feel. The stock lightweight (309g strung, link) provides ample room for "stuffings." Plus, I've just re-strung and tested it with full proportional stringing! (link)
The main gist is to insert different materials into the racket to change its vibrational frequency without taking away too much feedback.
Primarily, I will be using the "Wild-Ass-Guess" method to stuff, then measure the frequencies and repeat. It will be tedious, messy and exhausting.
Here's some random pics of the process...
First step is always to measure stock weight and balance. Then plan my desired goal before commencing.
Using a straightened coat hanger, I inserted it from the buttcap to ascertain how hollow the racket is.
There was no resistance all the way. It was about 13 inches.
I removed only two staples to make a little more room for stuffings.
It's clearly visible that the handle and throat is completely hollow. Unlike the hammer which was filled with foam.
Polystyrene beads worked well previously, and it is extremely light. So I'm using some of them again. You can see half a tub of this only weighs a measly 4 grams.
A funnel is very handy. Just be sure not to spill the foam. Static electricity will cause it to "stick" everywhere and you'll have a very hard time cleaning them up later.
(The other materials I'm using is just too messy so I did not take pictures.)
Compared to the previous attempt, I completed this much faster in only 3+ hours. The ball bounce on the floor and in the air feels very very promising indeed. Solid, very little harsh vibrations with amazing sweetspot feedback.
Playtest:
- The racket played very stable and solid.
- Combined, the different materials stuffed in the frame and handle took away the hollow "tin can" feel.
- Previously, I had about 12g of lead at 12-3-9 to stabilise the frame. Even after taking off all the lead, the racket felt stable on its own now. Naturally, it moves faster too.
- All the nasty jarring vibrations disappeared completely. Yet, sweetspot hits retains its rewarding full feel and pop. Just without the "noise." Ball contacts feel very very clean.
- When swinging the racket, I can feel the added heft in the throat and handle. The weight has become de-polarised but stability has increased tremendously. It now weighs about 339g strung and gripped.
- Spin dipped slightly compared to before the overhaul.
- Accuracy improved mainly due to the added stability.
- I am beginning to like this frame!
08Jul2013 update:
- After a few swings, the racket felt a little too light compared to my usual sticks. After some calculations, I re-applied some lead tape and brought the swingweight back up to about 345 and total weight about 345g too.
- That delivered great improvement to the overall plowthrough and feel of the racket.
- Even contacts in the centre of the stringbed, where the tightest tension of 60lbs was applied, pocketing was surprising ample!
- The higher pitched "pop" sound upon ball contact came back and I remembered this sound after being away using ELT for several months.
- Spin, control and power are all complete.
- I just need to play a few games with this stick to see if I could wield it efficiently under pressure.
- Will update again.
11Jul2013 update:
- After a short warm-up, I played a set with this racket today.
- Switching back to a "normal" tension of 60lbs (proportionately strung) from ELT is very easy.
- Most significantly is that the ball rebound is much lower so I just have to aim higher. It took me less than 5 minutes to adapt back to this string tension.
- The strongest aspect of proportional stringing is the very large sweetspot. I cannot find anywhere on the stringbed that is jarring. Even some shots hit way off-centre still managed to barely clear the net.
- Power levels are very much higher than at 30+ lbs! A lot of serves and baseline shots went long and I had to throttle down the power, which is very very nice. That gave me a lot more time since a compact swing produces more than enough power.
- My regular partner also commented on my much harder serves and groundstrokes.
- So, for those that are still thinking of "trampoline" at 30lbs, you can banish that thought. Power is much lower in the 30s.
- Spin levels dropped significantly compared to ELT but control improved so it's a fair give-and-take.
- Below pic clearly shows a dark spot of string wear on the sweetspot.
16Jul2013 update:
- Played a game using this racket with M using his newly strung RD7 at 60lbs proportional (link)
- After several sessions, this strings have broken-in very nicely.
- Power seems to have increased slightly over the last session. Could it be tension loss?
- Or could it be due to the reduced amount of topspin, which previously would have "curled" the ball down earlier.
- Even on spin serves, I am unable to get the ball to curl as much as before. I definitely miss the "banana kicks" that could only be executed with ELT.
- I'm still amazed at the amount of "pocketing" I get at this tension. Of course, it is nothing compared to ELT, but still, the feel of the strings depressing upon ball contact is undeniable. So it is actually still quite comfortable.
- Directional control is very good. There is enough for me to swing all out and aim for the deep corners when returning M's second serves. A little more spin would help to make these shots kick more offensively though.
- Overall, I award proportional stringing very high marks for playability, comfort, control and an amazingly huge sweetspot. But I miss the spin from ELT sorely...
- I'm thinking, is there a way to do proportional stringing to increase the spin without sacrificing the other attributes?
19Jul2013 update:
- Power levels still seem a little too much with this racket for my preference.
- The proportion of power and spin feels off to me. For this level of power, I would prefer more spin so that control is constant, but I could not raise the amount of spin.
- I played a set with this racket today and lost to M at 3-6 after winning 6-0 while using my kevlar setup (link). I think I can blame this racket or string setup for the loss...
- The dark spot of string wear is getting darker and larger with some minor notching beginning. Tension holding is still very good.
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