What's Hot in Racquet Technologies?
March 2010
By Bruce Levine
Technical Advisor for Tennis Magazine and
General Manager at Courtside Racquet Club in Lebanon, NJ.
Looking to gear up for summer or warm weather tennis? Here are some new items that will get you heated up about your summer game!
With racquets, the hottest substances today are Basalt, d30, Graphite Tungsten and AeroGel. These three materials make up the newest additions to the newest frames from each of the manufacturers.
As an overview, we have found that there are fewer large racquet heads and a multitude of mid-sized frames. These frames are between the 102 and 98 head sizes and each of the brands has done great work in adding comfort and stability to each of the newest models. They have also used technology wisely to enlarge the sweet spots of these frames by offering better dampening and using enlarged grommets and increased string movement on the outer parts of the frame.
Basalt: A derivative from volcanic ash, Basalt is used in the new BLX line from Wilson, as well as similar lines from Völkl, the Becker Brand, and Fischer. Basalt dampens the vibration and gives you a quieter "dampened" feel to your racquet without actually using a dampener. Dampeners diminish string vibration that brings feedback through the racquet to your hand on how you hit the ball. The basalt will offer less dampening than a dampener, which will allow some feedback, but it will also cancel out the bad vibrations. It could be looked at like a set of noise-cancelling headphones.
d30: d30 is an intelligent substance in Head racquets that will react to the pressure you apply. What this does in your racquet is stiffen it up when you swing hard at the ball and offer extra control and stability, as well as some vibration dampening. When you hit the ball softly, the d30 will stay relaxed and offer you more touch and feel for your shots.
Graphite Tungsten: One of the lightest space-age materials around, GT is in the Babolat frames and uses tungsten and graphite braids to offer greater energy return to the racquet and better stability to the frame in general. Energy return is going to allow the ball to go with a bit more power because less of the energy will get lost in the racquet. It also will provide about 10% more stability and control according to our friends at Babolat.
AeroGel: Another one of the lightest space-age materials around, Dunlop racquets have been using AeroGel for about a year now and have added 4D braiding. This occurs at the 5, 7, 3, and 9 o'clock spots on the frame and enhances stability as well as control. The AeroGel and 4D braiding also dampen the vibration from the strings and offer a very solid feel.
EXO3: With two versions of EXO3 available, Prince has offered this new technology to both advanced players as well as more novice players. EXO3 for the "game improvement" frames sets the strings apart from the racquet's frame, allows the strings to work independently from the frame, and increases the sweet spot by increasing the strings' freedom to move more on the outside edges of the racquet. For the advanced player, EXO3 is set up so that the strings are closer to the racquet's sweet spot, thus enhancing feel and control. Prince also has changed the O3 ports to an "energy channel," which offers more power directed to the ball and less wasted energy captured in the frame.