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Thread: lead tape

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by tennisking1 View Post
    I was a tour player. Most us put massive amounts of lead tape on our racquets. Sampras had a 15 ounce racquet and Muster used a 15.5 ounce racquet. All were head heavy after the lead tape. Warren Bosworth always got my racquets after I received them from Head racquets. I know he had Sampras, Lendl, Courier, Muster, and dozens of others as clients as well. The racquets that come from the manufacturers are just not stable enough to keep from torquing in your hand when hitting big, heavy shots. Many of the manufacturers are now making the pros racquets exactly how they want them right at the factory these days. Reason is, is that lead tape looks terrible. (Babolats looks pretty good) The manufacturers don't want their racquets looking bad on worldwide television. That might keep them from selling. I wasn't a big enough name to get my own manufactured racquet. Oh well, lead tape worked fine for me.........
    i also always thought head light racquets were for pros and head heavy for amateurs. im glad you were able to correct that myth. did you ever add weight to the handle aside from an overgrip?

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lawn Tennis View Post
    i also always thought head light racquets were for pros and head heavy for amateurs. im glad you were able to correct that myth. did you ever add weight to the handle aside from an overgrip?
    No, most of the racquets are made head light to make them more manueverable. Manufacturers make racquets for the average players, not designed around professionals. They wouldn't make any money that way. They are headlight for amatuers. Not all pros use a head heavy racquet. Most of your serve and volleyers used head light racquets, but most of your pros use a racquet that is heavier in the head. Everyone of the pros I trained used heavier headed racquets. (The men did, not the women). It really all depends on what feels good to you though. I rarely saw unmodded racquets when I was playing on tour. Most of those were loaded with lead tape to make them head heavier.....No, I did not use anything but overgrips on the handle, but it can be done.

  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by tennisking1 View Post
    No, most of the racquets are made head light to make them more manueverable. Manufacturers make racquets for the average players, not designed around professionals. They wouldn't make any money that way. They are headlight for amatuers. Not all pros use a head heavy racquet. Most of your serve and volleyers used head light racquets, but most of your pros use a racquet that is heavier in the head. Everyone of the pros I trained used heavier headed racquets. (The men did, not the women). It really all depends on what feels good to you though. I rarely saw unmodded racquets when I was playing on tour. Most of those were loaded with lead tape to make them head heavier.....No, I did not use anything but overgrips on the handle, but it can be done.
    interesting stuff. that's great that we have such easy access to this insight.

  4. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lawn Tennis View Post
    interesting stuff. that's great that we have such easy access to this insight.
    Yes, there are a lot of misconceptions out there about such things. I saw where DeFab wrote where pros are able to generate their own power with headlight racquets. I must say that I hit about as hard as anyone I played on tour with either a headlight or a headheavy racquet, but the stability is just not there in the headlight racquets. I do a lot of weightlifting and there is still nothing I can do to keep that racquet head stable when it is headlight. Now realize that I am talking at the professional level. The ball comes a lot harder at you and thus you need more stability. Headlight is fine for beginners and intermediates so that they can get the racquet around. Again though, it is all personal preference. Take a look at Sampras' racquets on the internet if there are any. He had 6 inch strips of lead tape on the head of those 85 inch head size Wilson Pro Staffs. You tell me if you think they were headheavy or not.........

  5. #20
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    wow, i always had heard that pros use headlight rackets. Also i assumed they did considering that all these top pro rackets are headlight.

    http://www.wilson.com/wilson/racquet...34374302756115

  6. #21
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    Check out Priority One Stringing. Nate Ferguson was Warren Bosworth's apprentice back in the day. He started his own company and now does the customization of most of the pros racquets. Grips, stringing, lead tape, etc. He may have been working for Bosworth(he is retired now I am pretty sure) when I was playing. Not sure. But Sampras's racquets were just under 15 ounces. Something like 14.6 and Agassi had a 13+ ounce racquet. Ferguson is now doing Federer's racquets and quite a few of the other big names. He can make a mold of the handle that you like the best and then customize the grip to where it is exactly the same on every racquet. Pretty cool stuff.....

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by DeFaB View Post
    wow, i always had heard that pros use headlight rackets. Also i assumed they did considering that all these top pro rackets are headlight.

    http://www.wilson.com/wilson/racquet...34374302756115
    I know. It's misleading isn't it? They start them out headlight because you can always add weight, but there is no way to make a racquet that comes from the factory headlight unless you add a psychotic amount of lead tape to the bottom of the grip. Headlight is the way to go for customization as you just add more weight to the head to make it just like you like it. I would say my racquets are a tiny bit headheavy or right on even. I use the Volkl Quantum 10 Tour (discontinued) that was around 7 points headlight. I had around 2 ounces of lead tape added to all of the racquets by Bosworth and then add the weight of the the over grip. Lead tape is all at the 3 and 9 position. All of the factory pro racquets come headlight as they know the players tend to customize them and they have to be able to add weight to the head. Therefore they start out headlight. Hope that helps a little. But don't just go adding weight because pros do. Make it feel good to you. It just takes a little experimenting. Good luck guys and gals.......

  8. #23
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    Oh, so what your saying is that the more headlight a racket is being sold, that probably means the athelete is using a much heavier racket. Because they are counter weighting the headlight with lots of lead tape on the head.

    So sampras's racket must be a brick after he lead tapes his racket.

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by DeFaB View Post
    Oh, so what your saying is that the more headlight a racket is being sold, that probably means the athelete is using a much heavier racket. Because they are counter weighting the headlight with lots of lead tape on the head.

    So sampras's racket must be a brick after he lead tapes his racket.
    Correct. They make them headlight so that if you want to make it heavier in the head, you can just add leadtape. Very customizable. There would be no way for a player to take weight out of the head if they made all racquets headheavy and that player wanted their racquet headlight. What could he do? Shave the frame or take off the bumperguard? Thus, they come more headlight from the factory. Realize that most of those racquets get customized to a near even balance or so as they come very headlight from the factory. It all depends on what you feels best. After using a racquet that is weighted in the head, I won't used anything else. It provides a lot of feel when that heavier weight causes the ball to bury itself deep into the string bed. I believe Sampras had less shoulder and arm injuries because he used a racquet that was able to do some of the work and was very, very stable. Lighter racquets really do cause arm problems.

  10. #25
    I know you know of what you speak. I spoke a lot with Dr. Pete Fischer about how he raised and taught Sampras, and you are exactly right about the lead tape and his liking a heavy head. Fischer was a doctor who did a lot of science research and luckily didn't listen to Jack Groppel, whose 1984 book Advanced Tennis advocated large grips and said open stances were a sign of laziness and poor footwork. It is true and amazing that Sampras with such an incredible serve never had an arm or shoulder problem.

  11. #26
    Oh, sorry. The only way to do that is to experiment and see what fits you. I just use the heavier racquet for the extra stability and power. Headlight feels good until you begin playing with big hitters and then it feels like the racquet is going to get knocked out of your hand and the ball lands shorter. You will get used to a heavier racquet if you give it time and have a little patience. However, you still should hit with a racquet that feels good to you and not because I said that the heavier racquet is better. If the heavier racquet feels weird or makes you doubt your game, don't do it.......

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