You can tell a lot about a tennis player by how they calibrate their racquet. The tiniest specification will reflect their style in the way reading palms can reveal details about a person’s past, present and future.
His perfect hair held by a perfect headband against a pressed polo shirt, Roger Federer walked on to centre court at the Queensland Tennis Centre for his first tournament of 2014 to an adoring crowd.
For a certain weekend warrior type of tennis player, changing racquets might offer a seductive solution to a subpar game. After all, it’s easier to spend a few hundred dollars on new equipment than it might be to work on a weak backhand or sluggish legs.At the elite level, there is nowhere to hide. Just as any adjustment in stroke will be identified and perfected so will every variable gram, inch or centimetre in a racquet be scrutinised.
Before his 2014 change, Federer used a Wilson Pro Staff 90, with a smaller head than most modern-day equivalents. It was widely considered to be the closest thing to the classic, smaller-framed racquets of yesteryear. This had been perfect for his controlled and meticulous game. Perfect, in the sense that he had used it to lift 17 grand-slam trophies.Bigger racquet heads, such as Spaniard Nadal’s 100-square inch frame, packed more punch.
Another key difference is weight. Nadal’s racquet, made from graphite, as are most modern-day racquets, is 27 grams lighter than Federer’s Wilson. Given Nadal sits a lot further behind the baseline than most players, he has to hit further to land the ball deeper in his opponent's court. The light weight allows him to swing hard with less fatigue to his arm.Federer’s vertical strings are made of natural gut and his horizontal strings are polyester.
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