Tennis Racquet help

[Marty McFly]

Think there are some folks on here that are pretty tennis savvy, so here goes. I am like a 3.5-4.0ish recreational player, looking to move away from the PureDrive. I tried all sorts of sting combos (hybrid, x-1 Bi phase, RPM) and nothing felt "right". Plus, it is starting to hurt my arm (even with a full bed of Bi-phase at high tension for control). So now I am looking for something that provides more accuracy and spin potential- and easy on the elbow/shoulder. Preferably a racquet I can improve my game on, over time. Someone at my club recommended the Prince TT 100p or 100T. Is this the direction I should be going with? I'm open to suggestions, and will probably demo them via Tennis Warehouse or some such place.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Do you have a good tennis specialty shop nearby? In LA, i was happy to find a shop with a salesman who was on the money a few times with recommendations for me. Otherwise, try the tennis forums, and then do the demo thing with Tennis Warehouse. I demoed the max number of racquets at a time, a few times in succession a few years ago before settling on my PureDrive. There really isn't any substitution for trying them. Unfortunately, with demos, strings and string tension are variables you can't really do anything about.

Who do you play with/against? Try their racquets. Are you able to recognize your arm problems immediately, or do they only come after playing a while, or the day after or whatever?

Oh, maybe you've already tried various things, but i have shoulder issues, and found it helps to take 3 or 4 advil a half hour before going out.

 

[JackBauer44]

Think there are some folks on here that are pretty tennis savvy, so here goes. I am like a 3.5-4.0ish recreational player, looking to move away from the PureDrive. I tried all sorts of sting combos (hybrid, x-1 Bi phase, RPM) and nothing felt "right". Plus, it is starting to hurt my arm (even with a full bed of Bi-phase at high tension for control). So now I am looking for something that provides more accuracy and spin potential- and easy on the elbow/shoulder. Preferably a racquet I can improve my game on, over time. Someone at my club recommended the Prince TT 100p or 100T. Is this the direction I should be going with? I'm open to suggestions, and will probably demo them via Tennis Warehouse or some such place.

PureDrive is a hard racquet for the AVG 3.5/4.0 player. My suggestion for players is that if you're starting to have elbow problems, high tension will kill it. Now that I hit with my players and am not competing on a day-today basis - I am stringing my racquet at 48lbs. The average rec player isn't going to notice a difference between a high 50's and low 50's racquet. In terms of spin, if you want to stick with babolat - you could try the aero model. The aeros are known for bring extremely spin friendly. I've also been hearing great things from colleagues about the new Wilson Clash that just came out. I am definitely going to demo it and perhaps make the switch if I like it.

In terms of type of string - if you can afford it, natural gut string is the best to not make your elbow bite. It may cause you to string your racquet a little more - especially if you're a heavy topspin player.

Drop me a PM if you want any more help or advice!