The Racket Controversy And What Is A Paint Job?There are a lot of reasons for the controversy about the exact rackets that the pros use. The main reason for the controversy, as usual, is money.
It’s common knowledge on the inside of the tennis world that many pros are using rackets painted to look like the retail version of a new racket that the manufacturer is marketing.
Here’s a typical scenario. A pro has been using a racket for a long time and, the manufacturer with whom he or she has a deal, wants to introduce a new racket line into the marketplace. The pro may not really want to change rackets but may agree to have the old rackets painted to look just like the new racket. In tennis vernacular this is called a paint job.
Of course, this is usually good business for the racket manufacturer as sales of the new and probably expensive rackets will increase. And, the player pockets the fee from the manufacturer and still gets to play with the rackets with which he or she is most comfortable. Whether or not this is good for the recreational tennis player is debatable.
Most recreational players could never play well with the exact rackets that top pros use anyway.
Often top pros use rackets that are not that powerful and are very heavy (even if the retail racket frames that you and I can buy are not heavy, many pros either add lead tape to make their rackets much heavier, or have them customized to be heavier).
The pros can play with these types of rackets because they can generate tremendous racket head speed and power, and wouldn’t be able to control the ball if the rackets were too powerful.
The average recreational player will feel that they can barely get the ball over the net with many actual pro rackets.
So, even if a recreational player thinks he or she is playing with the same racket as their favorite pro, it’s actually a racket that is usually substantially different than the actual racket the pro is using. It may look the same and have the same name, but it usually isn’t the exact same racket.
Of course, some recreational players customize their rackets with lead tape. And, they’ll try and find out how much tape certain pros use and where on the racket the players place the lead tape.
You see, where the lead tape is placed on the racket dramatically changes the weight and balance of the racket and how it plays.
In the final analysis, the smart recreational player goes to his tennis pro shop and demos a whole bunch of rackets before buying. And, the smart player will buy the racket that he or she plays with best as opposed to the racket he or she thinks Federer or Sharapova is playing with.
The Controversy Over Roger Federer’s Actual RacketAmong tennis fans today there is debate about the actual racket that Roger Federer plays with. There are as many conspiracy theories about Federer’s racket as there are about the Kennedy assassination.
What is known is that when Federer was in the juniors he played with the classic Pro Staff 6.0 85. This is the same frame that Pete Sampras used.
Next, Federer apparently played with a newer Wilson model called the Pro Staff Tour 90.
And now, he’s apparently playing with a newer model again - the N 6-1 Tour 90.
But, not everyone is convinced that Federer is actually using the new N 6-1 Tour 90!
Here are two of the top conspiracy theories:
• He’s still using the Pro Staff Tour 90 painted to look like the N 6-1 Tour 90.
• He’s using a custom frame based on the original mold of the original Pro Staff 6-0 85.
Obviously, there are small differences between the proposed rackets that Federer is using. Tennis fanatics actually take pictures of Federer’s racket in match play and magnify the images trying to look for little clues.
They analyze everything from the grommets, the string pattern, and the number of cross strings in the PWS.
According to one report from an unidentified source at Wilson, all of Roger Federer’s racquets are made from a modified ProStaff 6.0 85 mold. Apparently, Roger wanted to increase the head size from 85 sq. in., while trying to maintain the original features of the Pro Staff 6-0 85.
In order to meet Federer’s requirements, plus successfully market the Pro Staff Tour 90, Wilson modified a Pro Staff 6.0 85 mold to include the tapered flanges on the throat, increased the head size to 90 sq.in., and made slight modifications to the PWS shape in order to make it look like a Tour 90 to the untrained eye.
Now, conspiracy theorists think that Fed is playing with this customized racket that has been painted to look like the N 6-1 Tour 90.
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In the last entry, I write about Federer's 2006 season and how, although it has been sensational, it has not been the greatest single season of all time.