Hi, I have ordered a set of the Grapplesnake Tour M8 1.25 for my Wilson Blade v9 18x20, I’ve been reading A LOT about the string…. In terms of tension, what would u recommend for this racket? I’ve played with 4G at 46lbs and loved that, I’m hoping I’ll still get the same playability, control and tension maintenance but with a little extra pop than 4G with Tour M8, would u say I’ll get this? And was thinking of going maybe 48lbs? What u think? Thanks again
How is your take in its spin vs classic all-time favorite such as Confidential? I tried both but imo Kpro had higher launch angle so it was a bit more erratic
I’m just playing tennis for fun, but this reminds me that Novak once mentioned how the professional tennis’ system is really not functioning, that it’s nearly impossible to earn money and keep it going if you are not at least the top 100, if I’m right he also initiated some funds to help younger players. Karue Sell also mentioned it once.
Great vid! Racquet choice is such a personal thing, so many ppl using EZONE 98 and claimed it’s an easy one with soft feeling, but the super dense string pattern in the sweet spot really frustrated me, just switched to vcore 98, it changed my stroke so much and it felt much softer than the ezone as well, pretty much the opposite to every review on Reddit 🤷♂️
Just put an overgrip and a half of it at the handle to increase maneuverability. Feel really solid and amazing! Didn't feel as sluggish as I thought even though I'm just 1m70, 60kg.
I'm sorry if I come off as rude. Debate or ignore me if you like. My observation is you are muscling the ball. As in, breaking the natural kinetic chain and then arming it. You initiate with your arm to the side, like Rune. But watch a video from Rune from behind next to yours. In slow motion. You hit with the arm on the side but don't use your chest. The arm has to put the chest under stretch. Rune does it and every ATP Pro too. By this I talk about that movement when the elbow is aligned with the shoulder to shoulder line and the chest is stretched. You are whipping at the side, that has limits on fluidity. When the chest is stretched it then contracts and the arm follows. Watch some slow motion from Big 3, Sabalenka, Swiatek, Kyrgios, Rune, Alcaraz and others. They all put the chest under stretch. No one swings only with the arm to the side. I can show you images or videos if my explanation sucks. No hate. Your level is very good, but swinging it without the stretch can result in shoulder injuries. It's like throwing a ball fast with no pectoral stretch, the shoulder suffers as time goes on.
@@DATennis no you are right. That’s a weakness of mine. Part of these changes in working on that side “arm throwing” action to make for a natural flowing movement.
@@MPTennis you can try throwing balls before the session. Doing side throws with a tennis ball. Before starting, get those repetions in. Help create that muscle memory without a racket. Then hit with the racket. Keep going 💪🏻
As somebody that's jumped around from the Radical Pro to the Pure Strike VS and to this Dunlop DX 500 Tour, I completely agree with you. I think the string bed consistency/spacing is the only thing keeping this racquet from basically being perfect. It moves through the air great, it does everything pretty much great, but it just doesn't have that real dependability/precision that the Radical has.
As a former FX 500 Tour owner (the more firm 2020's), I'll tell you what's holding them back (and the CX and SX): Dunlop's goofy "PowerGrid StringTech" drill pattern -- instead of using progressively spaced out mains that are more dense in the center, with constantly-spaced crosses (like almost everyone else, including Babolat, Head and Wilson), Dunlop "rotated" that layout 90 degrees, which creates even and widely-spaced mains, with progressively spaced out crosses that are more dense in the center. While this theoretically produces more control and consistency across the middle of the string bed between 9 and 3, it reduces control and consistency up and down the string bed as you move towards 12 and 6. The problem? Well, as soon as you start making contact just a little further up the string bed (as many of us tend to do these days), or down (if you get jammed, such as when returning a hard body serve, etc.) the cell size at the top/bottom gets huge and you loose a noticeable amount precision and control. This places extra emphasis on having to maintain perfect spacing, and in the modern game, that's getting harder and harder in general. We don't need our gear making it even more difficult. Overall, the amount of consistency across the "swiping zone" between 9 and 3 (at true string bed center) tends to be overshadowed by the loss of precision and control above and below, at least for most players. It takes really unique mechanics to be able to prefer such a string pattern. As such, I hope Dunlop sees how foolish the drill pattern is, and removes it from all of their silos, returning to the tried-and-true pattern used by basically everyone else. Sometimes, reinventing the wheel is NOT the best idea, and this is a prime example. It borderline-ruins what would otherwise be great frames, almost across the board. Such a shame.
@@petershort936 Bingo, as is the case with the SX and CX, albeit Dunlop has at least tried to initiate some change with the current 2024 CX, but they didn't do enough. They equalized the spacing of the crosses, but left the mains just as spaced out as before, so now you have more uniform but fairly open cells all over the face, which at improves consistency, but loses precision, especially in the 200 and 400/Tour, and dropping down to a 95 in the 200 Tour just to get that precision back gives up more free power and forgiveness than most players can or want to handle). So, I applaud Dunlop for trying, but they still have more work to do.
I have a 2021 cx 200 tour and have definitely noticed this and never understood why. Thank you for the explanation. I love the feel of the racket when hitting dead on in the sweet spot but i might continue looking for sometuing to replace it. I have already tried a bunch of options, but nothing has the same old school build and feel for me. Might look at more advanced players frames like the six one 95.
Gut mains with poly cross plays great. I've tried it several times. I suggest you use a smooth round poly cross that holds tension better. Usually, stiffer polys like Lux 4G or Kirschbaum Max Power hold tension well and makes good crosses. I like using 16G gut with a 16Light or 17G poly with the gut mains strung 4 lbs higher than the poly cross say at 54/50 down to 50/46. But, it is too expensive for me so I now use TF NRG2 or TF MultiFeel mains with Kirschbaum Max Power crosses. BTW, gut/poly is excellent for spin. Dominque Theim used gut/poly hybrid and hit more spin on his FH than Nadal. Federer's slice BH with gut/poly is the highest recorded spin rate of any stroke ever.
There is no point in reviewing a racquet after modifying it. Modification change racquets and nobody is interested to listen to your review of your personalized racquet.
Im a 3.0 -3.5 player (playing for 2,5 years, once a week just with a friend - no competitive yet). 33year old male. I like to hit big from the baseline more, than rushing through the net. I’m trying to play with spin but I’m not the best spin player of my technique. So if I try to hit winners, I often shoot em too flat and they are going too long - out. I’m actually playing the 2023 head extreme mp, because I thought „if I’m not good enough to generate spin with a good technique, maybe the extreme mp can help me with it. But now I’m thinking, maybe I need a more control friendly racket. I’m thinking of the speed or the gravity line. But I don’t know which is better for me and which model i should take (MP, Tour, Pro of gravity or speed) What do you suggest me to get?
Suggestion: stop thinking about your prep and just think about attacking the ball with your feet...your prep with the hands and racquet will naturally mimic your busy feet finding perfect hitting position. Watch some of the excellent Nadal and Djoker court level practice matches here on YT. You know how to hit and prepare already. Just be the Athlete you already are...and move like it. More and active adjustment steps. Your racquet prep will automatically become quick and ready to pounce. Cheers!
Hey man, thanks for sharing what you did to change a problem. I am much lower level than you are, but I do have the exact same problem where my non-dominant hand holds the racquet for too long and lead to a late swing. I was gonna try your solution by deliberately letting the non-dominant hand off very early, but then another thing you mentioned in this video kinds of holding me back from doing that. You mentioned that you have a problem of tight grip, which I normally don't. And the way I stayed relax on my grip is by holding the racquet by the non-dominant arm longer so that my dominant hand doesn't do anything until it's time to swing foreword. This tip is given by my coach before when I had a tight grip. Now I am in dilemma on whether I should hold the racquet longer with my non-dominant hand, it seems the be the trade-off between tight grip and late swing lol.. Maybe still need to find the best middle ground to get best of both worlds?
Does NCSA help for tennis recruiting, because I have a membership there, but I heard from many peers that top schools coaches don't really look on NCSA. I'm currently 14, and have a UTR of 9, and I have very great academics and extra curricular, with a 4.17 GPA after my freshman year, currently a 4 star recruit. Do you think I should just reach out to the coaches via email, or via NCSA. And also if I am a 11 UTR and I want to go D3 for say MIT or UChicago, will they allow that.
@@tennisnerd.9194 Great questions...Congrats on doing so well with your academics and tennis. Very impressive! I think it might be better to email directly, but I have never used NCSA. As for D3, you can definitely do that but some D3 have very strong teams and it might be tough to crack some line ups. You still have tons of time and keep rising 😉
It’s funny you mention the serve issues because I feel the opposite. Just switched to this racquet from my pure drive and i love it on serves. I will say it definitely lends itself more to spinny serves than flat serves
My singles opponent I play once a week uses the Head Gravity 104 sq in I think it's the 270 gram tennis racquet and I tried one out but found it doesn't handle heavy topspin and heavy shots against me at all well. Finally knowing that Head is a good brand for quality, I went with the Head Speed MP 500, 300 gram, 100 sq in head size and after a time of using it, I think it's the way to go, it helps you to hit the ball properly with full hits, and isn't an issue with any kind of playing style against it.
Such an ugly racquet. Both the paint job and its stupid egg shaped head like an alien. I also hit with it and I have no idea why it is hyped so much. A prestige is so much more manouverable too.
Nice review! Can we get a gravity pro one next? I feel like there are not that many gravity's in college tennis. Why do you think that is, or am I wrong in thinking that?
I’ve seen Gravity Pro in D1 tennis. Forgot which team it was that was playing against Stanford. Used by a strong tall guy that had by far the heaviest ground strokes I’ve seen in college tennis, looking like cannon balls getting sucked downwards by supergravity. I’m thinking it’s not used much because many players keep using what they used as successful juniors, and perhaps because college players often play both singles and doubles, and the Gravity Pro isn’t great for doubles.
One thing I also noticed with this racket that it is VERY tension sensitive. I normally string around 56-58 lbs and iit would be a little tough to generate spin and needed more effort for power and when i dropped to 52 lbs soon was much easier but shots would launch. I’m keeping the happy medium around 55 lbs and it’s such solid stick for control and variety for spin and power.
