After heavy modifications (link1)(link2), these three are currently my most comfortable frames. That's why I conduct odd tests on them since they shield a lot of harmful and jarring vibrations from my hand.
After a few weeks, I have unconsciously become accustomed to their extremely clean ball impact feel.
When I picked up my favourite PSC6.1 on court again, I was stunned by how punishing off-centre hits feel with this racket! How did I fall in love with this racket?
Maybe I am infected by the "blame the tool" virus (link). Nevertheless, the day of reckoning has arrived for my old faithful. It is due for a makeover!
The plan is to add some dampening into the frame to offer more protection for my wrist and elbow joints.
All measurements are taken twice and recorded. Particularly weight, balance and frequencies.
The original leather grip still looks good after all these years.
The racket serial number is clearly labeled on the bare handle.
I had expected both holes to be filled with foam. Surprisingly, only one is filled and the other is hollow!
After such a long time, the foam has become dry and brittle. I doubt if they can still fulfill their vibration dampening role well. So I dug out as much as I could, then replenished them with a mix of polystyrene beads and molding resin.
I nailed the buttcap back on to facilitate ease of removal should it be necessary later.
All the specs are perfect! So I just need to slap on a grip and it's good to go!!!
From simple ball bouncing tests, I can already clearly feel the difference. A lot of noise has been filtered out. What's left is a much purer ball impact feel.
Playtest:
- The previous harsh vibrations has been toned down significantly.
- Feedback became a little more muted than I like but the feel is not dead at all.
- I could not feel any impact on balance or power at all.
26Aug2013 update:
- I used this to play with my most regular partner "M".
- The clearest change that stood out is that this racket has become less de-polarised. I cannot say it is polarised since there is still a significant heft in the middle but the swing has become slightly faster and much easier to accelerate.
- As a result, spin and power both increased slightly.
- Because of the faster swing, I noticed most of my shots went slightly left and carried a "diagonal" spin, something like when you brush the back of the ball from 4 o'clock to 10 instead of 6 to 12. I was contacting the ball earlier, which is good since I feel I am sometimes too slow!
No comments:
Post a Comment