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Tennis - General Discussion

D

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
Hey all, question. I have a Babolat racket that is about 7 years old now that was about $130 new. It's in solid shape but the grip is disintegrating onto my hand and the strings need replaced. I know you can get a racket restrung, but can you get a whole new grip? Or are you just forced to put new grip tape over it?

Would it be worth me paying for all of this or should I just get a new racket? If I were to get a new one what's the best racket for an amateur that plays for fun that's in the $100-$200 range? I'm alright at tennis but I don't do any tournaments or anything.
 
R

Reyne

Member
Deadly Cyclone said:
Hey all, question. I have a Babolat racket that is about 7 years old now that was about $130 new. It's in solid shape but the grip is disintegrating onto my hand and the strings need replaced. I know you can get a racket restrung, but can you get a whole new grip? Or are you just forced to put new grip tape over it?
Click to expand...

You would usually have two grips on a racket, the grip and the overgrip. The grip ( also called replacements grips ) are durable and isn't normally changed very often. The overgrip is thiner and absorbs moisture and thus needs to be changed frequently. Either way, I reckon you need a new replacement grip. And you should use overgrip too. I can't fathom the blisters I would get from playing without one.

Deadly Cyclone said:
Would it be worth me paying for all of this or should I just get a new racket? If I were to get a new one what's the best racket for an amateur that plays for fun that's in the $100-$200 range? I'm alright at tennis but I don't do any tournaments or anything.
Click to expand...

If the rackets is fine, then maybe not. Either way, even if you play recreational tennis it would probably be a good idea to keep more than one racket in case the strings break.
 
D

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
Interesting. Thanks. If it's going to cost me like $80 to get a grip and strings replaced I'd almost just rather by a new racket.

Any suggestions for one?
 
N

Nemo

Will Eat Your Children
Love that Roddick interview, the part about W2009 is great

Deadly Cyclone said:
Interesting. Thanks. If it's going to cost me like $80 to get a grip and strings replaced I'd almost just rather by a new racket.

Any suggestions for one?
Click to expand...
You can get the racket restrung for a tenner if you look around (someone playing at a club probably does it for his circle of players), don't get the strings that cost like 50 bucks. Some decent poly strings will do fine (I use something called weiscannon), I imagine if you play for fun you can easily go months with it, make sure you check out the tension so it doesn't feel weird to you after

Basic grips are good if they have a little cushioning (under 10$, I don't like the leather stuff), and basic overgrips from Pro's Pro, cost me around 30 cents so I always have a few in my bag (also because my hands tend to sweat a lot)

If you'd rather get a new racket, when people try out new ones they always seem to love the ones that give more spin, something like the Dunlop 500 (which is also light enough to react quickly on serve), but that's very generic advice. Best way is to try out different ones and see what you like best
 
P

perfectchaos007

Member
Definitely don't get a used racket. You don't know how the previous owner treated it. The key is to find a new racket that has been discontinued. Racket companies come up with "upgraded technology" for their rackets every year or two, then they discontinue the model. You can find some serious steals on those rackets. For example I'm Dunlap loyal, and earlier this year I bought 2 brand new Dunlop 300 aerogel rackets for $60 per racket. Those same rackets were going for around $150-$180 a piece a few years ago. So I still got brand new rackets, they were probably just sitting idle in a warehouse for a few years...waiting for me :)
 
S

szaromir

Banned
Azarenka and Venus are playing. Azarenka appears to have fever, but most importantly she's not making any noises. I wish it stayed that way for perpetuity.
 
IISANDERII

IISANDERII

Member
Deadly Cyclone said:
Interesting. Thanks. If it's going to cost me like $80 to get a grip and strings replaced I'd almost just rather by a new racket.

Any suggestions for one?
Click to expand...
A replacement grip is like $5.
A tennis shop usually charges $35 or so for new strings[that cost covers both the strings and the service to install the strings on your racquet].
 
L

LuuKyK

Member
Wow, had the chance to watch this match between Bouchard and Jankovic. My god is Eugenie playing well. She improved a lot since the last time I saw her play. And her playstyle is awesome. Its like a mix of Radwanska and Kerber. Hope she has a bright future.
 
M

MIMIC

Banned
About Cilic and his doping suspension:

Cilic cited injury to hide failed drug test
LONDON (AP)—A tennis tribunal says Marin Cilic hid behind the excuse of a knee injury to withdraw from Wimbledon this year to avoid negative publicity after failing a doping test.

[...]

The ITF's anti-doping tribunal released its findings of the case on Tuesday, saying Cilic pulled out of Wimbledon before his second-round match against Kenny de Schepper on the same day he accepted a provisional doping suspension and waived his right to testing of his backup `B' sample.

The statement says Cilic "withdrew from Wimbledon, citing a knee injury to avoid adverse publicity.''
Click to expand...
Tennis.com

Interesting.....















RCLxAdC.jpg
 
S

szaromir

Banned
LuuKyK said:
Wow, had the chance to watch this match between Bouchard and Jankovic. My god is Eugenie playing well. She improved a lot since the last time I saw her play. And her playstyle is awesome. Its like a mix of Radwanska and Kerber. Hope she has a bright future.
Click to expand...
I've just watched several games in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gml1Q9_3Pl4

I don't think she's anything like Radwanska or Kerber. Her strokes are more aesthetically pleasing, she gets much more pace, she goes for her shots much earlier in the rally than them. She's not a ballbasher, she seems to create the points by opening some space and the hitting it. She's more like Dementieva, except Bouchard doesn't have her serving woes lol. Needless to say I'm impressed by Eugenie's performance vs JJ, she has indeed improved tremendously.
I don't mean to criticize Radwanska or Kerber, I love their scrambling and improvization and their incredible speed on the court. BTW they're meeting tomorrow in the quarterfinals, it should be an interesting match.
 
S

szaromir

Banned
Venus has hit a 209kmph serve, the fastest in women's tennis this year and matching her own record. Very impressive for a 33yo with an autoimmune disease and chronic back injury.
 
P

Peru

Member
The infamous Venus tiebreak.

@tumcarayol 3m
Venus' serve today wasn't the record. She hit 130mph vs Pennetta in Zurich 2008 and Schultz-McCarthy also hit 130mph in Cincy 06 Qs..
Click to expand...

WTA for some reason not counting all tournaments.. ??
 
L

LuuKyK

Member
Rafa=FedKilla said:
Can't believe Eugenie lost. Thought she would be able to move the unforced error machine around enough....
Click to expand...

She needs a second serve imo. Her first serve is good, but she barely used in this match. Being dependent on that Errani-like second serve is not going to help her win matches. Especially against really strong opponents. The rest of her game is pretty good though. She is aggressive but controlled, thats why I said she reminds me of Aga. And the plastic of her forehand reminds me a lot of Kerber's (not a lefty though, obviously), when she bends her knees and hits a curvy ball down the line.

szaromir said:
Interesting.


Let's see if she still has it tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Yeah, she seemed devastated at the end there. After 3 hours of intense play though, I would be surprised if she wasn't. Especially considering her age, illness, etc...
 
S

Saty

Member
Well.

Former women's tennis world number one Martina Hingis has allegedly beat up her estranged husband with the help of her mum, according to several Swiss newspapers.

French showjumper Thibault Hutin claimed in July that he had walked in on Hingis to find her with another man after one year of marriage. He claims he took her back only to discover her cheating again.

In a bizarre twist, Hutin - who is waiting to divorce the Grand Slam champion - says he was sitting at home minding his own business when Hingis, her mother and her mother's boyfriend combined to launch an attack on him.

“On Monday evening, I was in our shared apartment when the doorbell rang. In the course of a dispute, Martina and her mother Melanie Molitor pounced on me - beating and scratching me. My upbringing forbids me to beat women," he told Blick.

"I resisted every effort but Mario Widmer, the partner of Melanie, struck me in the head with a DVD player. ”

Hutin says he had to call police to recover his credit card and passport from the trio. A police report apparently suggests it was a "violent incident" with Hutin claiming he had received threatening text messages.

He has since moved into a hotel with plans to return to Paris.

“The policemen went back to the apartment with me and forced the three to surrender my valuables," Hutin is quoted as saying.

“They wanted to kill me. I’m shocked! I never thought it would go so far."
Click to expand...
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs...other-boyfriend-beat-estranged-214256961.html
 
M

MIMIC

Banned
Was watching the Venus-Kvitova match. Man, were they hittin the ball! Awesome match.

Also (for anyone who cares/remembers): I ran into the coach that fucked up my forehand. I wasn't my typical, pleasant self this time (felt weird, lol) because I was still kinda ticked.

So as I was hitting the wall (he was on the one next to me), he stopped and was just staring at me, watching me hit. So I gave him a show. I made sure to emphasize the fact that I had completely done away with everything he "taught" me.

In my head, I'm going, "JUST SAY IT! TELL ME THAT I'M DOING IT WRONG!"

Maybe my cold shoulder was successful....because he didn't say anything for about 5 minutes and I almost forgot he was there. But sure enough, he goes, "You're hitting it too low to the ground."

My mind: "Fuck off." lol
What I said: "It works for me."
Then he said: "It's more difficult to hit it like that"
I said: "Your way doesn't work for me."

Then he goes, "From my observation, you'd be a lot more successful if you hit like (whatever he said)." I go "uh huh" and just go back to hitting.

And that was that. He stopped critiquing my shots.

I don't like being mean, but some people just need to mind their own business. If what I'm doing gets the job done 99% of the time, then so be it.

Oh....that precious 100%. Cool, let me relearn every skill I've acquired over the years, become comfortable with it (which would take a while) just to be 1% better.

Yeah, no.
 
P

perfectchaos007

Member
MIMIC said:
Was watching the Venus-Kvitova match. Man, were they hittin the ball! Awesome match.

Also (for anyone who cares/remembers): I ran into the coach that fucked up my forehand. I wasn't my typical, pleasant self this time (felt weird, lol) because I was still kinda ticked.

So as I was hitting the wall (he was on the one next to me), he stopped and was just staring at me, watching me hit. So I gave him a show. I made sure to emphasize the fact that I had completely done away with everything he "taught" me.

In my head, I'm going, "JUST SAY IT! TELL ME THAT I'M DOING IT WRONG!"

Maybe my cold shoulder was successful....because he didn't say anything for about 5 minutes and I almost forgot he was there. But sure enough, he goes, "You're hitting it too low to the ground."

My mind: "Fuck off." lol
What I said: "It works for me."
Then he said: "It's more difficult to hit it like that"
I said: "Your way doesn't work for me."

Then he goes, "From my observation, you'd be a lot more successful if you hit like (whatever he said)." I go "uh huh" and just go back to hitting.

And that was that. He stopped critiquing my shots.

I don't like being mean, but some people just need to mind their own business. If what I'm doing gets the job done 99% of the time, then so be it.

Oh....that precious 100%. Cool, let me relearn every skill I've acquired over the years, become comfortable with it (which would take a while) just to be 1% better.

Yeah, no.
Click to expand...

One thing that most tennis coaches are too stubborn to accept is that there are actually multiple "right" ways to hit a tennis ball. A tennis coach will most likely only teach you their way, and will dismiss any alternatives. Thats why I went to about 4 or 5 different tennis coaches as a teen when I was really into tennis. They all had different ways of teaching strokes and eventually I found the style that suited me.
 
IISANDERII

IISANDERII

Member
MIMIC said:
Was watching the Venus-Kvitova match. Man, were they hittin the ball! Awesome match.

Also (for anyone who cares/remembers): I ran into the coach that fucked up my forehand. I wasn't my typical, pleasant self this time (felt weird, lol) because I was still kinda ticked.

So as I was hitting the wall (he was on the one next to me), he stopped and was just staring at me, watching me hit. So I gave him a show. I made sure to emphasize the fact that I had completely done away with everything he "taught" me.

In my head, I'm going, "JUST SAY IT! TELL ME THAT I'M DOING IT WRONG!"

Maybe my cold shoulder was successful....because he didn't say anything for about 5 minutes and I almost forgot he was there. But sure enough, he goes, "You're hitting it too low to the ground."

My mind: "Fuck off." lol
What I said: "It works for me."
Then he said: "It's more difficult to hit it like that"
I said: "Your way doesn't work for me."

Then he goes, "From my observation, you'd be a lot more successful if you hit like (whatever he said)." I go "uh huh" and just go back to hitting.

And that was that. He stopped critiquing my shots.

I don't like being mean, but some people just need to mind their own business. If what I'm doing gets the job done 99% of the time, then so be it.

Oh....that precious 100%. Cool, let me relearn every skill I've acquired over the years, become comfortable with it (which would take a while) just to be 1% better.

Yeah, no.
Click to expand...
Don't know the particulars, but in general it's easier to hit (forehands) low but it's better to hit them high. The higher you can hit them effectively, the better.
 
S

szaromir

Banned
5*-1 30-0 up and Fognini obviously had to choke. :( edit: the Fog broke in the next game. He needs to put Nadal's crazy run on HCs this year to stop.
 
S

Saty

Member
Common, Aga. You can't lose the serve before the first switch-over leading 40-15 and Serena being in pain. The early break makes it easier for Serena to try and fight the pain rather than considering to retire.
 
M

MIMIC

Banned
Played my other match. I need a hitting partner BADLY. I'm starting to rework my backhand (because I decided that I want to HIT backhands instead of ALWAYS using a slice). I basically modeled it after Gasquet. I found his technique works for me.

Anyways, the match I played. We had to post-pone it (he had to go), but it looks like this: 2-6, 6-4, 3-3

He won the first set. I was down a break and every single set so far, lol. I went up 2-0 in the third set. He broke back and held (and made it 2-2), then broke me (3*-2), then I broke back (3-3)
 
J

John Dunbar

correct about everything
i hear fedbot received a firmware update for shanghai and is ready to school some pushers and grinders.

at least that's the dream. sigh.
 
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