How to customize your Tennis Racquet
Who wouldn’t want to take their performance to the next level? One sure-shot way to do it is to customize your racquet; make it tailor-made to suit your style and therefore, improving it.
Any pro Tennis player would love the idea of customization. It is safe to say that all the pros use only customized racquets.
There are a few aspects of the racquet that if manipulated, will improve your performance drastically, giving you an advantageous edge to the game.
Customizing a tennis racquet might sound complicated, but it is definitely not. To put it simply, it is just adding weight at the right spots to improve stability, balance and other aspects improving your overall performance.
With these simple methods explained in this article you will be able to change the following aspects of your play: Power, balance, swingweight and sweet-spot.
While some companies offer customization services, it is difficult to get such services all the time. And as you improve your game experimenting with different styles, you would be better off re-customizing your racquet over and over again.
Before we get into the technical jargon, let’s first understand the structure of a tennis racquet and few other useful terms that you must know in order to be able to customize.
Try and imagine a wall clock. Or a watch. We know the places where the numbers 3, 9, 2, 10 and 12 are. Now, assume the numbers on the circumference of the racquet head. 3 o'clock will be on the right extreme. 9 o'clock on the left extreme. 12 o'clock on the topmost of the head. 10 and 2 o'clock between 12 and 9, and 12 and 3 respectively – Just like on a clock.
A tennis head is the circular/oval beam part of the racquet.
A throat is the triangular support that connects head to tail.
Tail is the handle, part of which is the grip.
Now, without further ado, let’s discuss the methods. Finally!
Remember that customizing a tennis racquet is simply adding weight at the ‘right’ spots. Adding weight at different spots will give different benefits.
Adding weight at 12 o'clock position will increase power. This will move the sweet spot up the string mesh.
Adding weight at 3 and 9 o'clock position will increase stability. This enhances swingweight and twist less when delivering a shot. This will allow more control over every delivery and is less strenuous on your arm.
Adding weight at the 10 and 2 o'clock position will increase both power and stability, though as much as adding weight at 12, 3 or 9 o'clock positions. In a way, it can be considered to be a mix of adding weight at the top and the sides.
Adding weight at the throat is a good way to add additional power to your racquet. The centre of mass is at the throat for most of the racquets. Simply adding weight at the centre of mass will increase the overall mass of your racquet without affecting balance point. More power without changing balance.
Adding weight at the grip is another great way to increase static weight without affecting the swingweight. There are two ways to do this: Adding weight to the grip or to the butt of the handle.
This will make your head lighter which will improve manoeuvrability implying more control.
These methods are quite simple yet give you great results. However, it is advised that you experiment with adding weight at different spots until you are comfortable with it.
While doing all this is fairly possible, it is always better to let the job be handled by an expert.
