Just wanted to share my hunger to play on a real clay-court,, u know the red clay they use in all Europe except Sweden (well, Båstad have it, but that´s another story..)
Here we have a brown type of "clay" or dirt, gravel, earth or whatever you can call it. It´s harder to slide on, the bounces are worse, everything is slower on our type of clay-courts..
On those fantastic red clay courts u find in Europe it is so much easier to play good tennis. Sliding is a piece of cake and everything is so much more fun. Just take a look and see how much more fun it looks like when I play in Croatia by the beach or when i play on a windy court here in Sweden,,,,
Porec, Croatia;
Jönköping, Sweden;
At the moment I´m longing extremely much for the Croatian tennis-courts. Hopefully I will go down there week 35/36 to play the Croatian F8 ITF Future in Zagreb and then go to Makarska in Dalmatia for a week of hard work on the red dirt :)
tisdag 14 juli 2009
fredag 10 juli 2009
A couple of new stringing-machines,
I have strung my rackets the last 8 months on a Pro´s Pro Pilot with a Wise Tension Head. It have been a very good solution, but i felt i wanted to try something new. So I ordered the new V888 from Pro´s Pro. A very technical machine with a cost 3 times as much as their previous most expensive model.
When I got it it it felt very solid and heavy (50 kg´s/110 lbs) and everything looked good. Only problem was some string-slippage in the linear string gripper so I´m waiting on a new linear gripper and will not make a review until then.
It looks like this BTW,, very similar to the Wilson-machines they used at the 2006 US Open. Maybe the same OEM??
This machine is the fastest machine of them all. When I use my Babolat Pure Storm Tour I unfortunately brake strings pretty fast and it is nice when i can use this fast machine when I need to pull of a 12 minute string job.
What else is new?? Some new equipment is ordered and some of it have also arrived. I wanted to try the new Babolat Propulse 2 shoe and tried it indoors on Thursday. The shoe was very solid, but I was amazed on the lack of cushioning. The front part of the shoe felt like a claycourt shoe and for a heavy guy like me it was simply to little.
Therefor I orderd a Adidas Barricade V shoe in dark, dark blue color, looks like a black shoe almost and also a light blue Adidas crew.
Any oncourt action this week? Not so much,, Just played tennis indoor thursday (heavy rain outside) and outdoor on clay today Friday. I also did a 2 hour session in the gym. VERY needed!!
Next week is the Swedish Open ATP in Båstad week but i have to work so I will only see the final live in Båstad. Next week I hope to play tennis 2-3 times but I have to workout 3 times in the gym, those sessions are so important....
That´s all for now!
When I got it it it felt very solid and heavy (50 kg´s/110 lbs) and everything looked good. Only problem was some string-slippage in the linear string gripper so I´m waiting on a new linear gripper and will not make a review until then.
It looks like this BTW,, very similar to the Wilson-machines they used at the 2006 US Open. Maybe the same OEM??
I also found a 5 years old Prince/ Ektelon Neos 1000 machine, the GOAT of all manual machines. This machine was in amazing shape and this is a pic of it:
This machine is the fastest machine of them all. When I use my Babolat Pure Storm Tour I unfortunately brake strings pretty fast and it is nice when i can use this fast machine when I need to pull of a 12 minute string job.
What else is new?? Some new equipment is ordered and some of it have also arrived. I wanted to try the new Babolat Propulse 2 shoe and tried it indoors on Thursday. The shoe was very solid, but I was amazed on the lack of cushioning. The front part of the shoe felt like a claycourt shoe and for a heavy guy like me it was simply to little.
Therefor I orderd a Adidas Barricade V shoe in dark, dark blue color, looks like a black shoe almost and also a light blue Adidas crew.
Any oncourt action this week? Not so much,, Just played tennis indoor thursday (heavy rain outside) and outdoor on clay today Friday. I also did a 2 hour session in the gym. VERY needed!!
Next week is the Swedish Open ATP in Båstad week but i have to work so I will only see the final live in Båstad. Next week I hope to play tennis 2-3 times but I have to workout 3 times in the gym, those sessions are so important....
That´s all for now!
onsdag 1 juli 2009
Another tournament victory
The taste of victory is sweet! Specially if you have lost a final in that very tournamnet 4 times in the past....
This year it was my turn to win the Smålands Wimbledon in Anneberg. It´s a tournament played on sandfilled synthetic grass or omnicourt as it is also called. I was no 1 seed and had the presure on me, but i played extremely well in the heat and only lost 5 games on 3 matches.
It was very very hot that weekend and the temperature on court was a sweaty 46 degree celsius during the final. I play better and better for every degree the temperature rise so it was not a problem for me ;-)
Now it will be resting a couple of days before the workout in the gym and on court kicks of again..
This year it was my turn to win the Smålands Wimbledon in Anneberg. It´s a tournament played on sandfilled synthetic grass or omnicourt as it is also called. I was no 1 seed and had the presure on me, but i played extremely well in the heat and only lost 5 games on 3 matches.
It was very very hot that weekend and the temperature on court was a sweaty 46 degree celsius during the final. I play better and better for every degree the temperature rise so it was not a problem for me ;-)
Now it will be resting a couple of days before the workout in the gym and on court kicks of again..
tisdag 16 juni 2009
A short update
A short update of things; I played 2 league matches for my team Hagafors. won both singles,, Against Åkered 3-6 6-1 10-8 and against Anneberg i won the 2:nd single 6-1 6-1. Against Åkered we also won a tight doubles match 7-6 2-6 10-5 and against Anneberg we lost 2-6 5-7..
Then I played a tournament in Vetlanda, Östanåspelen on a ,, well, claycourt, but it was more like a battlefield in WWII or so,, the court was a mess and i could not push of anything before the court collapsed under my feet.. Same for both players though,, lost 2 straight sets in the semi final against a college-player. Strange match,, took 2 hours and still lost 3 and 1..
Well,, not much to do. Next week I will play the Smålands Wimbledon in Anneberg on art. grass and i will play both doubles and singles. I really hope i will win a couple of matches in that event.
I will also do a minor customization to my Pure Storm Tours after all. I will add a small amount of lead in the top and bottom of the frame ,, maybe a total of 10 grams, and this will hopefully make my slice a little bit better. As it is now the frame is a little bit to light to bite the ball good enough...
Then I played a tournament in Vetlanda, Östanåspelen on a ,, well, claycourt, but it was more like a battlefield in WWII or so,, the court was a mess and i could not push of anything before the court collapsed under my feet.. Same for both players though,, lost 2 straight sets in the semi final against a college-player. Strange match,, took 2 hours and still lost 3 and 1..
Well,, not much to do. Next week I will play the Smålands Wimbledon in Anneberg on art. grass and i will play both doubles and singles. I really hope i will win a couple of matches in that event.
I will also do a minor customization to my Pure Storm Tours after all. I will add a small amount of lead in the top and bottom of the frame ,, maybe a total of 10 grams, and this will hopefully make my slice a little bit better. As it is now the frame is a little bit to light to bite the ball good enough...
lördag 30 maj 2009
I have signed for 2 summer-events,,, after all
I though I shouldn´t have any time over to play any more outdoor events this season, but if you don´t have time you take time ;-)
I will play Östanåspelen in Vetlanda on red clay, june 12-14 and the Smålands Wimbledon in Anneberg on art/mod-grass the week after. I have one goal with those 2 events and that is 2 tournament victories...
This week have been extremely good in a fitness perspective.. Started the week with 2 hours gym and 6,5 km running.. Then I played 1,5 hour tennis on tuesday,, had a rest on wednesday and then 2 hours gym on thursday, friday and saturday. Tomorrow Sunday I have planned to go to Järabacken, a pretty good ski-slope a kilometer from our house. It will burn fat and build stamina and I will feel good but totaly exhausted after that.
When I got back home from Croatia 3 weeks ago I was up at 108 kg´s and after hard work and a lot of sallad and protein i´m now down at 103 kg´s.. My goal is the 100 mark and I think i will be there in August this year.
More of that race later,, now it´s time to turn on the TV for the final of the show "Robinson 2009"
Salút!
I will play Östanåspelen in Vetlanda on red clay, june 12-14 and the Smålands Wimbledon in Anneberg on art/mod-grass the week after. I have one goal with those 2 events and that is 2 tournament victories...
This week have been extremely good in a fitness perspective.. Started the week with 2 hours gym and 6,5 km running.. Then I played 1,5 hour tennis on tuesday,, had a rest on wednesday and then 2 hours gym on thursday, friday and saturday. Tomorrow Sunday I have planned to go to Järabacken, a pretty good ski-slope a kilometer from our house. It will burn fat and build stamina and I will feel good but totaly exhausted after that.
When I got back home from Croatia 3 weeks ago I was up at 108 kg´s and after hard work and a lot of sallad and protein i´m now down at 103 kg´s.. My goal is the 100 mark and I think i will be there in August this year.
More of that race later,, now it´s time to turn on the TV for the final of the show "Robinson 2009"
Salút!
fredag 29 maj 2009
This blog as you know it is dead,, it will continue in another form from now on,,,
I feel that write only about my own tennis will limit the posts in this blog pretty much. I don´t play that often to make this blog enough alive and therefore i will change the purpose of the blog a little bit. I will from now on focus more on fitness and other fun things and only post tennis when I have played enough matches, tried any new material or similar things,,,
My last week was both up and down on the tennis court. After the victory in Tranås Clay Court Open I took a rest for 2 days and didn´t play anything before the 1:st rd match in Bravida Tabergsdalen Open main draw. I had a late 6 pm start and i felt dizzy the first set and start of the 2:nd. Before i could say Go i was 1-6 , 0-2 down and on the verge of being kicked out of the event but a cup of coffee , change to a new fresh shirt and turn the cap around I slowely started to turn the table and use the routine to take over the match. I won 2:nd set 6-4 but in the 3:rd set i felt very tired. I had to fight to hold serve and my opponent held his easy,, then at 3-3 i made a move into the court and smacked the ball much harder. That left my opponent standing on his heels and i jumped to a 4-3 lead,, then hold serve for 5-3 and then raced to 15-40 , jumped a doublefisted backhand down the middle that my opponent couldn´t hit back and i was through after 2 hours, 45 minutes,,, In the quaterfinal i faced the No 1 seed,, a very good top nationranked ITF junior. He was simply to fast for me and won easy 0 and 2,, not much to do,,
The day after we played a league game in Dalsjöfors,, I was still heavy from the tournament and lost 3 and 2, but played pretty well despite that..
Since then I had a hit on tuesday this week, but i will rest from tennis for a week now and focus on fitness on the gym instead.. The smålands Wimbledon in Anneberg is approaching and kick´s off june 22 and i hope to win that event this year. Think I have lost atleast 3 or 4 finals there in the past.
My team have 3 more league matches outdoor that will be good motivation raiser for the fitness work.
About fitness,, I have stepped up atleast 2 gears at the moment.. I try to lift really heavy weights on the gym and it feels fantastic when you see the result of more swollen muscles and a stamina that wont let you down ;-) I reckon that by the end of the summer i will have a fitness that would have impressed a US marine-corp officer ;-)
My last week was both up and down on the tennis court. After the victory in Tranås Clay Court Open I took a rest for 2 days and didn´t play anything before the 1:st rd match in Bravida Tabergsdalen Open main draw. I had a late 6 pm start and i felt dizzy the first set and start of the 2:nd. Before i could say Go i was 1-6 , 0-2 down and on the verge of being kicked out of the event but a cup of coffee , change to a new fresh shirt and turn the cap around I slowely started to turn the table and use the routine to take over the match. I won 2:nd set 6-4 but in the 3:rd set i felt very tired. I had to fight to hold serve and my opponent held his easy,, then at 3-3 i made a move into the court and smacked the ball much harder. That left my opponent standing on his heels and i jumped to a 4-3 lead,, then hold serve for 5-3 and then raced to 15-40 , jumped a doublefisted backhand down the middle that my opponent couldn´t hit back and i was through after 2 hours, 45 minutes,,, In the quaterfinal i faced the No 1 seed,, a very good top nationranked ITF junior. He was simply to fast for me and won easy 0 and 2,, not much to do,,
The day after we played a league game in Dalsjöfors,, I was still heavy from the tournament and lost 3 and 2, but played pretty well despite that..
Since then I had a hit on tuesday this week, but i will rest from tennis for a week now and focus on fitness on the gym instead.. The smålands Wimbledon in Anneberg is approaching and kick´s off june 22 and i hope to win that event this year. Think I have lost atleast 3 or 4 finals there in the past.
My team have 3 more league matches outdoor that will be good motivation raiser for the fitness work.
About fitness,, I have stepped up atleast 2 gears at the moment.. I try to lift really heavy weights on the gym and it feels fantastic when you see the result of more swollen muscles and a stamina that wont let you down ;-) I reckon that by the end of the summer i will have a fitness that would have impressed a US marine-corp officer ;-)
måndag 18 maj 2009
Champion
Finally!! The title drought is over. Ok, I had almost a 4 year absence from tournaments up until last season, but anyway. The first singles title since 2005 is secured. I won the Tranås Claycourt open this weekend after 3 decent matches. 1:st rd 6-4 6-1, Semi 6-1 6-2 and the final 6-0 6-3.
Feels good to win again. I needed it =)
This was also the first matches with my new racket, the Babolat Pure Storm Tour. I only had 2 hours with them before the event but the felt pretty solid from the start so no dramas there...
Next tournament is already this week, the Bravida Tabergsdalen Open kicks off wednesday with a very tuff 1:st rd match and if i win that i face the no 1 seed in the Qf. Gotta play very good there to do any kind of damage!
Then our team have a league match on Saturday, Dalsjöfors away, a very hard match. They are the best team in our division so we gotta play really well..
Hopefully the weather will better. Today we have + 8 degrees and heavy rain... as beachboys would have sung.. Fun fun fun... NOT!
tisdag 5 maj 2009
Update
Long time, no see!
Sorry...
A lot of things going on a t m,, we are building a new house for example and there is not much time left for blogging..
A short update is in place though;;
* I was last week in Porec, Croatia on a tennis/holiday stay with a very good friend. We played tennis 6 times in 6 days and the claycourt-game is back in my blood now :)
The courts in Croatia are simply amazing and 100 times better then the brown gravel we have in Sweden that they call claycourts here in the North
* I am ONCE AGAIN into the search for a new racket... The K factor 6.1 is to heavy and stiff for my golfers elbow and I think i have to start use a tweener-frame this time. The first in line is an old, trusted friend called Babolat Pure Drive. I will string it with a hybrid (poly mains/ syn or natural gut crosses) and I think and hope this will keep my elbow less sore...
* The outdoor season starts with force this weekend. On saturday we play our first league match at home vs Vetlanda and it will be a tuff match as we now play in a much higher league (3rd division in Sweden) and every match-win is a bonus,, Next weekend the Tranås Clay Court open gets underway and the week after that it´s Tabergsdalen Open and on the weekend another league-game on road.. then it continues like this until july and it will be great fun (i hope)
* About the croatian holiday,, they have VEEEEERY good food and drink (beer!) down there and despite all practice , all I can say is i now have pretty much weight to loose... ;-)
Sorry...
A lot of things going on a t m,, we are building a new house for example and there is not much time left for blogging..
A short update is in place though;;
* I was last week in Porec, Croatia on a tennis/holiday stay with a very good friend. We played tennis 6 times in 6 days and the claycourt-game is back in my blood now :)
The courts in Croatia are simply amazing and 100 times better then the brown gravel we have in Sweden that they call claycourts here in the North
* I am ONCE AGAIN into the search for a new racket... The K factor 6.1 is to heavy and stiff for my golfers elbow and I think i have to start use a tweener-frame this time. The first in line is an old, trusted friend called Babolat Pure Drive. I will string it with a hybrid (poly mains/ syn or natural gut crosses) and I think and hope this will keep my elbow less sore...
* The outdoor season starts with force this weekend. On saturday we play our first league match at home vs Vetlanda and it will be a tuff match as we now play in a much higher league (3rd division in Sweden) and every match-win is a bonus,, Next weekend the Tranås Clay Court open gets underway and the week after that it´s Tabergsdalen Open and on the weekend another league-game on road.. then it continues like this until july and it will be great fun (i hope)
* About the croatian holiday,, they have VEEEEERY good food and drink (beer!) down there and despite all practice , all I can say is i now have pretty much weight to loose... ;-)
onsdag 1 april 2009
Long time no see
It´s been awhile sine last post and that is because nothing at all have happened in the tennis-world for me. When we played last league match I got a (hopefully) minor injury to my lower left knee and it´s still a little bit sore. Don´t know what it is but it´s on the inside of the leg and hurts a bit when i´m twisting my leg or putting stress sideways. No problem at all running straight.
It´s now 18 days since my last shot on the tenniscourt and I am really hungry to play at the moment. We are approaching the lovely claycourt season fast now and i don´t intend to play anything more on hardcourt before the claycourts opens up. Next practice will hopefully be this weekend indoors on a carpet granualate court in Habo. very similar to clay and possible to slide. The sliding part is the most important thing to adjust to when u move out on clay.
I got a new pair of claycourt shoes from ebay. A grey/black Adidas Feather III. My only concern with the Feather III´s are the very aggressive pimple sole that may cause problems for a heavy bloke like me. The grip might be TOO good. I will try them and if that´s the case (that the grip is too good) I will use a sandpaper and sand it down to the right grip occures...
I might also buy a pair of the Wilson Trance shoe line. The herrigebone pattern on the sole seems to be very nice and might fit the swedish type of "clay".
I will not sign up for the tournamnet in Vetlanda april 17-19 and my next tournament will be in Tranås in the middle of May , outdoors on clay. After that the tournaments and league matches will line up each week and I gotta be fit and ready for it.
I will soon cut out the strings from my 5 K6.1´s and strip them nude and put some serious lead on them so they are nice, heavy and excactly the same weight and balance on all 5 when the claycourt swing starts. Gotta have some extra 15-20 grams on the heavy claycourts.
BTW; Croatia is now 26 days away...
It´s now 18 days since my last shot on the tenniscourt and I am really hungry to play at the moment. We are approaching the lovely claycourt season fast now and i don´t intend to play anything more on hardcourt before the claycourts opens up. Next practice will hopefully be this weekend indoors on a carpet granualate court in Habo. very similar to clay and possible to slide. The sliding part is the most important thing to adjust to when u move out on clay.
I got a new pair of claycourt shoes from ebay. A grey/black Adidas Feather III. My only concern with the Feather III´s are the very aggressive pimple sole that may cause problems for a heavy bloke like me. The grip might be TOO good. I will try them and if that´s the case (that the grip is too good) I will use a sandpaper and sand it down to the right grip occures...
I might also buy a pair of the Wilson Trance shoe line. The herrigebone pattern on the sole seems to be very nice and might fit the swedish type of "clay".
I will not sign up for the tournamnet in Vetlanda april 17-19 and my next tournament will be in Tranås in the middle of May , outdoors on clay. After that the tournaments and league matches will line up each week and I gotta be fit and ready for it.
I will soon cut out the strings from my 5 K6.1´s and strip them nude and put some serious lead on them so they are nice, heavy and excactly the same weight and balance on all 5 when the claycourt swing starts. Gotta have some extra 15-20 grams on the heavy claycourts.
BTW; Croatia is now 26 days away...
lördag 14 mars 2009
Indoor League finished
Yesterday we played the final game of our indoor league, Reg Syd Div 1, and my team Hagafors TK won in big style. See the final result here:
http://seriespel.tennis.se/division.php?dID=1071&ui
Next time I play league tennis it will be for Hagafors when the outdoor season starts in early may and i am also signed for a club in Germany in Bavaria and if everything goes as planned i will play at least 1-2 games down there. Will be really fun!
Now I only have one more indoor tournament left, the TK77 Open in the middle of April. I first had plans to skip it and not play any more competition matches indoor and just focus on hard pre-season workout, but it´s more fun to have something to look forward to., besides, in middle of april the workout will not be so hard as the coming weeks so hopefully i will feel pretty fresh in the legs by then. This last week was heavy and my body feels worn out at the moment.
I have been messing around a bit with different string set-ups lately and first i liked the 1,20 mm Cyber Power, but it loose the "freshness" very quick. I will today string up a brand new Wilson K6.1 95 with a Global Gut 1,25 mm natural gut string and see how it works out. If I don´t like it i will stick with the 1,25 mm Cyber Power. There i know what i get.
Cheers
http://seriespel.tennis.se/division.php?dID=1071&ui
Next time I play league tennis it will be for Hagafors when the outdoor season starts in early may and i am also signed for a club in Germany in Bavaria and if everything goes as planned i will play at least 1-2 games down there. Will be really fun!
Now I only have one more indoor tournament left, the TK77 Open in the middle of April. I first had plans to skip it and not play any more competition matches indoor and just focus on hard pre-season workout, but it´s more fun to have something to look forward to., besides, in middle of april the workout will not be so hard as the coming weeks so hopefully i will feel pretty fresh in the legs by then. This last week was heavy and my body feels worn out at the moment.
I have been messing around a bit with different string set-ups lately and first i liked the 1,20 mm Cyber Power, but it loose the "freshness" very quick. I will today string up a brand new Wilson K6.1 95 with a Global Gut 1,25 mm natural gut string and see how it works out. If I don´t like it i will stick with the 1,25 mm Cyber Power. There i know what i get.
Cheers
måndag 9 mars 2009
I hate to lose!
I really hate to lose a match when I have the feeling i did not play at top of my game. If i lose to someone that outplays me and i feel i could not do anything different, it´s ok, but when I feel my game just wasn´t there, it makes me really frustrated.
That exact thing happened this weekend. I played a seeded junior player in the 1:st rd and he wasn´t a bad player at all, opposite, he was actually pretty good, but i felt i missed way way to much. My footwork was really bad and i had the wrong position on many shots which caused me to make simple , stupid errors.
I lost 7-5 6-2 and the only thing i was happy with was my serve. It caused some damage and i think i only did 1 Double fault the entire match.
I realized i have to improve my fitness level A LOT to be able to keep up with the junior - players pace. I have to improve my footwork 200 % also and here is how i will proceed from now on.
Now we only have 1 league match (on Friday) left of the indoor season, then next tournament is in the beginning of may, so until then I can do some serious and heavy pre-season workout. I will go to the gym at least 4 times/week for the next month and focus will be on loosing about 5 kg´s and then build up more stamina in the core and legs. I also have to do some boring interval-training on the treadmill and some long shifts on the cross-trainer, but with the help of some good music and the motivation of the Croatia practice trip in end of April i´m pretty sure i will do all the work with a smile on my face (.... or not)
Gotta do some equipment talk as well,,,
I played the tournament with my new Wilson racket and it felt very very good. ,,i used the 1,20 mm Cyber Power string from pro´s pro and i had been digging it pretty much when i used it with tretorn balls, but now all of a sudden when i used Wilson US Open balls, i almost felt the 1,20 mm was almost to soft and "spungey". I think I have to try the 1,25 mm of the same string and see if it will be a bit more solid. I am so damn picky with my equipment..
That exact thing happened this weekend. I played a seeded junior player in the 1:st rd and he wasn´t a bad player at all, opposite, he was actually pretty good, but i felt i missed way way to much. My footwork was really bad and i had the wrong position on many shots which caused me to make simple , stupid errors.
I lost 7-5 6-2 and the only thing i was happy with was my serve. It caused some damage and i think i only did 1 Double fault the entire match.
I realized i have to improve my fitness level A LOT to be able to keep up with the junior - players pace. I have to improve my footwork 200 % also and here is how i will proceed from now on.
Now we only have 1 league match (on Friday) left of the indoor season, then next tournament is in the beginning of may, so until then I can do some serious and heavy pre-season workout. I will go to the gym at least 4 times/week for the next month and focus will be on loosing about 5 kg´s and then build up more stamina in the core and legs. I also have to do some boring interval-training on the treadmill and some long shifts on the cross-trainer, but with the help of some good music and the motivation of the Croatia practice trip in end of April i´m pretty sure i will do all the work with a smile on my face (.... or not)
Gotta do some equipment talk as well,,,
I played the tournament with my new Wilson racket and it felt very very good. ,,i used the 1,20 mm Cyber Power string from pro´s pro and i had been digging it pretty much when i used it with tretorn balls, but now all of a sudden when i used Wilson US Open balls, i almost felt the 1,20 mm was almost to soft and "spungey". I think I have to try the 1,25 mm of the same string and see if it will be a bit more solid. I am so damn picky with my equipment..
måndag 2 mars 2009
New victory
We played a league game yesterday and I won very comfortably. I actually won 6-0 6-0 for the 2:nd straight week and it always feel good to give someone a double bagel, but it´s more fun to play close matches. We also won the doubles match 0 and 3 and my team-mate won his game 1 and 2.
Today I have a 1 hour practice scheduled for 8 pm tonight in Tabergsdalen and it will be a important practice. I will bring my video-camera and tape my game tonight as I have to take a closer look at my serve as it´s been a bit of the last week. When you have no coach, well then video is the best option out there.
I tried the Luxilon Ti Mo Banger 1,22 mm in one of my Wilson-frames and i also tried the "new" Head Sonic Pro 1,25 mm. Two strings you think will play the same, but they are two totally different worlds. The Luxilon was VERY stiff and actually made me feel a very minor , well, not pain , more like a feeling in my elbow meanwhile the Sonic Pro was so soft and nice it was amazing. I will have to wait and see how the Luxilon plays in a weeks time or so. As it was now i feel it was a tad to stiff, even strung at 24 kg´s.
The Luxilon string cost something like 165 SEK per set and I actually start to feel that the Ti Mo Banger is one helluva overpriced string! For example, the Alu Power from the same company costs just a fraction more and is 250 % better overall!!!
Today I have a 1 hour practice scheduled for 8 pm tonight in Tabergsdalen and it will be a important practice. I will bring my video-camera and tape my game tonight as I have to take a closer look at my serve as it´s been a bit of the last week. When you have no coach, well then video is the best option out there.
I tried the Luxilon Ti Mo Banger 1,22 mm in one of my Wilson-frames and i also tried the "new" Head Sonic Pro 1,25 mm. Two strings you think will play the same, but they are two totally different worlds. The Luxilon was VERY stiff and actually made me feel a very minor , well, not pain , more like a feeling in my elbow meanwhile the Sonic Pro was so soft and nice it was amazing. I will have to wait and see how the Luxilon plays in a weeks time or so. As it was now i feel it was a tad to stiff, even strung at 24 kg´s.
The Luxilon string cost something like 165 SEK per set and I actually start to feel that the Ti Mo Banger is one helluva overpriced string! For example, the Alu Power from the same company costs just a fraction more and is 250 % better overall!!!
lördag 28 februari 2009
A slap in the face..
After the thrashing in Nässjö last weekend I have only played tennis 1 time this week, and that was on thursday evening. We had a warm up for about 15 minutes and I felt really good, hitting the ball very clean. Then when we started to play games, NOTHING worked at all. I made SO many errors and felt really off and heavy on court. I lost first set 6-1 but then gained some momentum and raced to a 2-0 lead before my opponent raced back to 2-2 and then our time was up..
I REALLY needed that wake up call. Imagine if it would have happened in our league game tomorrow. I really have have to focus and let the feet know they are alive.
Even if I only played tennis 1 time so far this week I have been doing some other practices. 2 times on the gym and 1 time icehockey. Had a light workout on the gym today and my body feels pretty good for the game tomorrow. I really have to focus on my game and don´t slow down the pace as i´m facing a retriever that runs on everything and do it good!! My serve are a key tomorrow. I have prepared my rackets and strung up one fresh at 53 lbs with a Luxilon Ti.Mo Banger 122. Luxilon makes the best strings by far. The power and control are far superior everything else.
Well, time to pack the bag soon and get some sleep so i´m fresh tomorrow as the game starts at 09:00 am..
Cheers
I REALLY needed that wake up call. Imagine if it would have happened in our league game tomorrow. I really have have to focus and let the feet know they are alive.
Even if I only played tennis 1 time so far this week I have been doing some other practices. 2 times on the gym and 1 time icehockey. Had a light workout on the gym today and my body feels pretty good for the game tomorrow. I really have to focus on my game and don´t slow down the pace as i´m facing a retriever that runs on everything and do it good!! My serve are a key tomorrow. I have prepared my rackets and strung up one fresh at 53 lbs with a Luxilon Ti.Mo Banger 122. Luxilon makes the best strings by far. The power and control are far superior everything else.
Well, time to pack the bag soon and get some sleep so i´m fresh tomorrow as the game starts at 09:00 am..
Cheers
måndag 23 februari 2009
New string-machine
Today I received a new Pro´s Pro Pilot table-top string-machine. The reasons I bought a new was
A) The old one was starting to rattle a bit and , well used is used...
B) I felt the floor-stand was WAY to low
Since I already had a homemade floor-stand I felt if i bought a table-top i would save my back when stringing.
I packed it up when I got home from work today and installed everything, removed the crank and installed my Wise tension head and strung 2 rackets for a friend at 28 kgs. It went very smooth and the machine was very nice to work with. Nice clamps and i loved the work-height of the unit. No back-problem what so ever. I always used to get back-pain when string on the old unit since it´s made for persons sub 150 cm´s or so.
Tomorrow I will be out on the ice again and guard the net. I have not been out on the ice for almost 3 weeks now. Tennis is taking all my focus and hockey has been priority,, low , at the moment. Gotta shape it up though as we have a season-ending tournament in Gothenburg the weekend of march 14-15. Gotta stay sharp and help the team. After that I will put my gear on rest until october and focus 110% on tennis and tennis-related fitness work.
G´night!
A) The old one was starting to rattle a bit and , well used is used...
B) I felt the floor-stand was WAY to low
Since I already had a homemade floor-stand I felt if i bought a table-top i would save my back when stringing.
I packed it up when I got home from work today and installed everything, removed the crank and installed my Wise tension head and strung 2 rackets for a friend at 28 kgs. It went very smooth and the machine was very nice to work with. Nice clamps and i loved the work-height of the unit. No back-problem what so ever. I always used to get back-pain when string on the old unit since it´s made for persons sub 150 cm´s or so.
Tomorrow I will be out on the ice again and guard the net. I have not been out on the ice for almost 3 weeks now. Tennis is taking all my focus and hockey has been priority,, low , at the moment. Gotta shape it up though as we have a season-ending tournament in Gothenburg the weekend of march 14-15. Gotta stay sharp and help the team. After that I will put my gear on rest until october and focus 110% on tennis and tennis-related fitness work.
G´night!
söndag 22 februari 2009
Double bagel
Today we where in Nässjö and played the 2:nd placed team in our league. If we won today we would virtually be champions as our game, set and match-difference are sky high better then the other teams.
Daniel, our nr 1 guy, won his match 4 and 3 after 1 1/2 hours. I won my singles match 6-0 6-0. Pretty satisfied with my game today. 7 aces and no double faults and only faced 1 game point all match. My opponent actually won the previous round in the league 6-1 6-0 so it was a good win for me.
The doubles match was pretty hard fought but we won 4 and 3. More nice rankingpoints on the account ;-)
The new Wilson-frame are actually a big part of my confident game lately. So solid, powerful, good plowthrough effect and good spin and feel, this racket is a gem for my game. Very nice. I have ordered 2 more now so i´m all set for some time now, and i will officially stop the search for a new racket now as my holy grail is located in my tennis-bag at the moment :)
The journey continues next week with more posts.. On the schedule we have a new racket string machine on Monday, hockey-practice on Tuesday, gym on Wednesday, tennis on Thursday and a new league tennis game on Sunday..
Cheers
Daniel, our nr 1 guy, won his match 4 and 3 after 1 1/2 hours. I won my singles match 6-0 6-0. Pretty satisfied with my game today. 7 aces and no double faults and only faced 1 game point all match. My opponent actually won the previous round in the league 6-1 6-0 so it was a good win for me.
The doubles match was pretty hard fought but we won 4 and 3. More nice rankingpoints on the account ;-)
The new Wilson-frame are actually a big part of my confident game lately. So solid, powerful, good plowthrough effect and good spin and feel, this racket is a gem for my game. Very nice. I have ordered 2 more now so i´m all set for some time now, and i will officially stop the search for a new racket now as my holy grail is located in my tennis-bag at the moment :)
The journey continues next week with more posts.. On the schedule we have a new racket string machine on Monday, hockey-practice on Tuesday, gym on Wednesday, tennis on Thursday and a new league tennis game on Sunday..
Cheers
fredag 20 februari 2009
Selling rackets, demo-strings and a new stringer..
This have been an interesting week if you look at it in a equipment-way...
First I tried the Head Prestige Classic 600 but did not like it so much as I hoped so I put them up for sale on Tennis Warehouse bulletin board and sold them to a gentleman in Canada. Hope he will enjoy those classic-frames.
Then I went on to sell my stringing-machine as I felt it started to be a little bit shaky. It was a 6 point machine with a floor stand , but I already had a home-made, very nice floor stand made of wood. I felt it was a shame having this nice floor stand just to stand there unused so I sold my older machine and bought a table-top machine instead and will use the home-made floorstand. There is a big advantage with the wood-stand and it´s the fact I can screw on 4 lockable wheels on it so I don´t need to lift it each time I have to move it. It still weight over 35 kg´s so wheels are a big help saving my back.
Talking about stringing,,, I have recieved 2 string-sets for tryout, for free. First I got a RAJ Poly Penta from Germany. A 6-cornered CO-Polystring in 1,23 mm thickness. Played pretty good actually. Very soft, responsive feeling. Will try it more as it grows on me each time I try it. Then today I got a set of a very nice and expensive string from Head, the Sonic Pro in 1,25 mm thickness. Will try it as soon I get a new Wilson racket...
Speaking of Wilson.. It seems to be very hard to find a used Wilson KFactor KSix One 95 in 18 * 20 string pattern and 4 1/2 original grip size,, If you have one, new or used, for sale.. Just post a comment here with your mail-adress and we can make a deal
I have done some seriously hard work in the gym this week and tomorrow i´m going to practice with my German friend Benni on RAcketcentrum. Then on Sunday we play a roda-game in Nässjö. Nässjö are nr 2 in our league and if we win this match we are champions already even if it´s 2 more rounds to play after this match. So cross your fingers, or as we say here in Sweden (translated) Hold your thumbs hard!!
Have a nice Weekend
First I tried the Head Prestige Classic 600 but did not like it so much as I hoped so I put them up for sale on Tennis Warehouse bulletin board and sold them to a gentleman in Canada. Hope he will enjoy those classic-frames.
Then I went on to sell my stringing-machine as I felt it started to be a little bit shaky. It was a 6 point machine with a floor stand , but I already had a home-made, very nice floor stand made of wood. I felt it was a shame having this nice floor stand just to stand there unused so I sold my older machine and bought a table-top machine instead and will use the home-made floorstand. There is a big advantage with the wood-stand and it´s the fact I can screw on 4 lockable wheels on it so I don´t need to lift it each time I have to move it. It still weight over 35 kg´s so wheels are a big help saving my back.
Talking about stringing,,, I have recieved 2 string-sets for tryout, for free. First I got a RAJ Poly Penta from Germany. A 6-cornered CO-Polystring in 1,23 mm thickness. Played pretty good actually. Very soft, responsive feeling. Will try it more as it grows on me each time I try it. Then today I got a set of a very nice and expensive string from Head, the Sonic Pro in 1,25 mm thickness. Will try it as soon I get a new Wilson racket...
Speaking of Wilson.. It seems to be very hard to find a used Wilson KFactor KSix One 95 in 18 * 20 string pattern and 4 1/2 original grip size,, If you have one, new or used, for sale.. Just post a comment here with your mail-adress and we can make a deal
I have done some seriously hard work in the gym this week and tomorrow i´m going to practice with my German friend Benni on RAcketcentrum. Then on Sunday we play a roda-game in Nässjö. Nässjö are nr 2 in our league and if we win this match we are champions already even if it´s 2 more rounds to play after this match. So cross your fingers, or as we say here in Sweden (translated) Hold your thumbs hard!!
Have a nice Weekend
söndag 15 februari 2009
Hockey-weekend
Had a weekend pretty much dedicated to the lovely sport of icehockey and here is a little "review" and some pics from the hockey-weekend,,,
It all began on friday noon when i left work and was picked up by a couple of good friends. We had a long drive ahead of us so we drove only for about an hour before we made a stop at Burger King in Värnamo. I ordered a triple whopper meal with those lovely BK-fries :) Yum!! To be sure we would be really full we went from BK to McDonalds where i bought 2 chocolate covered donuts,, healthy food all the way ;-)
After some hours on swedish highways we checked in at our hotel in Malmö and waited for a friend that arrived by train to Malmö. When he arrived we grabbed a cab out to Hyllie and the new arena in Malmö. This hockey-arena is actually considered the best in the world at the moment.
Here in Malmö Arena the hottest team at the moment, the reborn Malmö Redhawks faced AIK Stockholm in a clash in the 2:nd Swedish division , the so called Allsvenskan. This game had been talked up a lot the last couple of days and the arena was sold out so the atmosphere was electric!!
The game started in a magnificent pace and this pace continued over all three periods. The hometeam Malmö was on fire and put up a great fighting spirit and outplayed AIK and won 6-2. The crowd was crazy and on their feet entire game and created one of the best support-actions i have ever witnessed live. Amazing!!
After an calm night at the hotel in Malmö center we went the 350 km´s home an i went straight to the Elite League game between Hv71 from my hometeam Jönköping when they hosted the guests Skellefteå. This game was also sold out but when Malmö´s arena can swallow 13000 spectators , Kinnarps Arena in Jönköping only take 7038 persons.
Even if this game was in the highest swedish division this game was REALLY BAD! I almost fell asleep from the middle of the match and onwards. The crowd was also very quiet and it was only the standing home-supports that kept on going for 60 minutes and cheered on their side in a good and loud way.
The game was won by guests Skellefteå 3-2 and it was all thanks to their good goalie Dahlberg who made some outstanding saves in the last period.
Now I have some editing to do with a couple of tapes i recorded on my most recent tennis-practices. To record yourself with a cam on a tripod during a practice is a good way to be able to develope your game. You see so well all the errors you make and then it´s just to adjust your game and see if you notice any difference next time you get recorded...
It all began on friday noon when i left work and was picked up by a couple of good friends. We had a long drive ahead of us so we drove only for about an hour before we made a stop at Burger King in Värnamo. I ordered a triple whopper meal with those lovely BK-fries :) Yum!! To be sure we would be really full we went from BK to McDonalds where i bought 2 chocolate covered donuts,, healthy food all the way ;-)
After some hours on swedish highways we checked in at our hotel in Malmö and waited for a friend that arrived by train to Malmö. When he arrived we grabbed a cab out to Hyllie and the new arena in Malmö. This hockey-arena is actually considered the best in the world at the moment.
Here in Malmö Arena the hottest team at the moment, the reborn Malmö Redhawks faced AIK Stockholm in a clash in the 2:nd Swedish division , the so called Allsvenskan. This game had been talked up a lot the last couple of days and the arena was sold out so the atmosphere was electric!!
The game started in a magnificent pace and this pace continued over all three periods. The hometeam Malmö was on fire and put up a great fighting spirit and outplayed AIK and won 6-2. The crowd was crazy and on their feet entire game and created one of the best support-actions i have ever witnessed live. Amazing!!
After an calm night at the hotel in Malmö center we went the 350 km´s home an i went straight to the Elite League game between Hv71 from my hometeam Jönköping when they hosted the guests Skellefteå. This game was also sold out but when Malmö´s arena can swallow 13000 spectators , Kinnarps Arena in Jönköping only take 7038 persons.
Even if this game was in the highest swedish division this game was REALLY BAD! I almost fell asleep from the middle of the match and onwards. The crowd was also very quiet and it was only the standing home-supports that kept on going for 60 minutes and cheered on their side in a good and loud way.
The game was won by guests Skellefteå 3-2 and it was all thanks to their good goalie Dahlberg who made some outstanding saves in the last period.
Now I have some editing to do with a couple of tapes i recorded on my most recent tennis-practices. To record yourself with a cam on a tripod during a practice is a good way to be able to develope your game. You see so well all the errors you make and then it´s just to adjust your game and see if you notice any difference next time you get recorded...
lördag 14 februari 2009
Head Prestige Classic 600
So, I have finally play tested the legendary Head Prestige Classic 600. I played it on Thursday evening on medium-fast hard court with new Tretorn Series + pressurized balls. Warm up felt OK, or very OK actually. I was able to strike the ball very clean and the frame felt really really solid. Decent spin and higher power-level then what i expected. Volley´s was like a joke. It was TOO easy to hit them with this frame. So solid it was ridiculous. Serve was easy and powerful and i felt confident going into game-play...
But... As soon as i had to move and hit the ball on the run i started to have problems with the small sweat spot and i misstimed some returns big time. Lost first game and onto my own serve. Missed a lot of first serves. All serves got caught in the tape and 2:nd serves was killed by my opponent. I faced 15-40 before i really dug deep on a couple of safety points and won the game on first game point.
Then I switched to my Wilson KFactor Six.One 95 and I straight away felt at home with the fantastic power, feel and spin in this magnificent frame. Of the next 9 games I won 8 with really good baseline game.
So those fantastic Prestiges will soon be sold to someone that really enjoys this frame. It´s not something that should be stored at some collectors home, it´s a frame that should be played on a daily basis!!
I am really 110% sure i will continue with the fantastic white/red/black 95 inch Wilson-frame and I think it will help me win a lot of matches..
Tomorrow I will post a couple of pics and videos from the hockey-weekend in Malmö and Jönköping.. BTW; The game on Friday between Malmö and AIK was the best hockey-experience I have ever been on, apart from when Frölunda won gold back in 2003 in Scandinavium
But... As soon as i had to move and hit the ball on the run i started to have problems with the small sweat spot and i misstimed some returns big time. Lost first game and onto my own serve. Missed a lot of first serves. All serves got caught in the tape and 2:nd serves was killed by my opponent. I faced 15-40 before i really dug deep on a couple of safety points and won the game on first game point.
Then I switched to my Wilson KFactor Six.One 95 and I straight away felt at home with the fantastic power, feel and spin in this magnificent frame. Of the next 9 games I won 8 with really good baseline game.
So those fantastic Prestiges will soon be sold to someone that really enjoys this frame. It´s not something that should be stored at some collectors home, it´s a frame that should be played on a daily basis!!
I am really 110% sure i will continue with the fantastic white/red/black 95 inch Wilson-frame and I think it will help me win a lot of matches..
Tomorrow I will post a couple of pics and videos from the hockey-weekend in Malmö and Jönköping.. BTW; The game on Friday between Malmö and AIK was the best hockey-experience I have ever been on, apart from when Frölunda won gold back in 2003 in Scandinavium
onsdag 11 februari 2009
New bag from Head
.. No, I have not bought a new bag, but Head have FINALLY listened to their buyers and made a GIGANTIC bag. A normal combi-bag have a volume of 60-70 liters, but this gem fits 120 liters. Sweet!! No more bursting stitches due to a bag thats filled to the bursting-limit.
A place here in Sweden sells this bag on pre-sale right now, for f#%&ing 1299 SEK (around 115 euros) SICK! Or is the gold-color actually Pure 24 carat Gold? Must be for that price..
Anyhow, it look´s nice and IF i like the Prestige´s more then the Wilson´s this is the bag that will carry my gear 2009.. It´s out of the question to have a bag from one brand and the rackets from another... ;-)
A place here in Sweden sells this bag on pre-sale right now, for f#%&ing 1299 SEK (around 115 euros) SICK! Or is the gold-color actually Pure 24 carat Gold? Must be for that price..
Anyhow, it look´s nice and IF i like the Prestige´s more then the Wilson´s this is the bag that will carry my gear 2009.. It´s out of the question to have a bag from one brand and the rackets from another... ;-)
tisdag 10 februari 2009
Cold...
Not much happening right now. I have got such a unnecessary cold that will destroy most of my practices this week. We played a icehockeygame last weekend and i played first period and 10 minutes into the 2:nd before we made a scheduled goalie-change. Until I was replaced I had recieved 35 shots on 30 minutes and gave up 4 goals. That´s pretty good and i was really warm and sweaty so when i was sitting on the bench i was starting to freeze and ..voila!! A cold arrived on Sunday evening like a letter in the mailbox.
Gotta put in some equipment-talk in this post as well. I re gripped and strung one of my "new" Wilson´s on Sunday. Strung it in 55 lbs with a new sample string from Raj in Germany. Some kind of poly-string with a hexagonel shape. Will try it on Thursday and see how it plays.
Oh! I made a bargain as well on the swedish trade-site "Blocket". A guy was selling 3 Head Prestige Classic 600 in grip 4 1/2 for an amazing price. As a racket-collector/addict it was an easy decision to spend some hard earned dough on those babes. I have never before tried the Prestige Classic frame, only the Prestige Tour 600 and the i.Prestige mid, so it will be fun trying those vintage-frames.
I don´t know yet if i will pimp them with calfskin-grip and new bumpers and put them up on ebay or if they will end up as an actual playing-frame. The Wilson Ksix.One felt really nice and I think the Prestige is a bit to demanding for me, but as I said,, it will be nice to at least try.
* The ATP World Tour is in Costa do Sauipe in Brazil this week. There the weather is like 25-30 degrees Celsius and a nice, warm sun. Here, in south-central Sweden on the outskirts of the south Swedish highlands, we have minus 4, 2 dm´s of snow and a cold northern wind. D A M N , the clay court season seems to be 600 days away right now...
Gotta put in some equipment-talk in this post as well. I re gripped and strung one of my "new" Wilson´s on Sunday. Strung it in 55 lbs with a new sample string from Raj in Germany. Some kind of poly-string with a hexagonel shape. Will try it on Thursday and see how it plays.
Oh! I made a bargain as well on the swedish trade-site "Blocket". A guy was selling 3 Head Prestige Classic 600 in grip 4 1/2 for an amazing price. As a racket-collector/addict it was an easy decision to spend some hard earned dough on those babes. I have never before tried the Prestige Classic frame, only the Prestige Tour 600 and the i.Prestige mid, so it will be fun trying those vintage-frames.
I don´t know yet if i will pimp them with calfskin-grip and new bumpers and put them up on ebay or if they will end up as an actual playing-frame. The Wilson Ksix.One felt really nice and I think the Prestige is a bit to demanding for me, but as I said,, it will be nice to at least try.
* The ATP World Tour is in Costa do Sauipe in Brazil this week. There the weather is like 25-30 degrees Celsius and a nice, warm sun. Here, in south-central Sweden on the outskirts of the south Swedish highlands, we have minus 4, 2 dm´s of snow and a cold northern wind. D A M N , the clay court season seems to be 600 days away right now...
onsdag 4 februari 2009
Wilson
Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilsssssssssoooooon!
Yea, that´s the name of a Volleyball in the movie Cast away with Tom Hanks. It´s also the brand I will use from now onwards.
I had a first 90 minutes hit with the Wilson K Factor 6.1 95 (18*20) racket tonight, and i played really solid! I normally don´t play so solid with a new racket, nor with a trusted old racket....
Power was good
Spin was good
Touch and feel was amazing
Will post some pics later,.. now I will send a mail-order to my racket-contact in the states
Cheers
Yea, that´s the name of a Volleyball in the movie Cast away with Tom Hanks. It´s also the brand I will use from now onwards.
I had a first 90 minutes hit with the Wilson K Factor 6.1 95 (18*20) racket tonight, and i played really solid! I normally don´t play so solid with a new racket, nor with a trusted old racket....
Power was good
Spin was good
Touch and feel was amazing
Will post some pics later,.. now I will send a mail-order to my racket-contact in the states
Cheers
lördag 31 januari 2009
Juego, set y partido para Wallensten
Yes, that´s how it should have sounded if we played our game in Spain, but for now a simple game, set, match will do.
We won against Öjaby 3-0 today. I won my match 6-0 6-4. Played solid first set, shaky 2:nd. Served to good to be challenged though. Since my team-mate won 10-7 in match tiebreaker the match was won but we still gained focus to win the doubles 3 and 3.
3 games remaining now and we lead with 2 points anf way better match-difference over Nässjö TK. We play Nässjö away in 2 weeks and we can virtually secure the titel there if we win that match. I really hope we do!!
I played with the Pro Tour today. I have a grip-enlarger on and a clafskin grip. That makes the racket weight in at around 375 grams and it´s seriously heavy. I actually feel it´s about 20-25 grams to heavy to get a wicked control i want on my topspin shots. I reckon the Wilson Kfactor 6.1 will play good considering it weights about 25 grams less then my current Pro Tour.
The future will tell..
Have a nice weekend folks :)
We won against Öjaby 3-0 today. I won my match 6-0 6-4. Played solid first set, shaky 2:nd. Served to good to be challenged though. Since my team-mate won 10-7 in match tiebreaker the match was won but we still gained focus to win the doubles 3 and 3.
3 games remaining now and we lead with 2 points anf way better match-difference over Nässjö TK. We play Nässjö away in 2 weeks and we can virtually secure the titel there if we win that match. I really hope we do!!
I played with the Pro Tour today. I have a grip-enlarger on and a clafskin grip. That makes the racket weight in at around 375 grams and it´s seriously heavy. I actually feel it´s about 20-25 grams to heavy to get a wicked control i want on my topspin shots. I reckon the Wilson Kfactor 6.1 will play good considering it weights about 25 grams less then my current Pro Tour.
The future will tell..
Have a nice weekend folks :)
fredag 30 januari 2009
Head Pro Tour
Short post today..
Had a decent hit yesterday with our solid nr 1 player. I used my (very) old Head Pro Tour 630 CAP newly strung at 55 lbs with Cyber Power 1,25 mm and regripped with a Gamma calfskin-grip and a Yonex supergrap overgrip.
The Pro Tour is such a solid bat! Amazing stability and spin-potential in this old, flexy frame. I think it will serve me well for the week to come before my Wilson K-Factor Six One 95 arrives. ,,YES I HAVE bought 2 "new" frames from the Swedish site Blocket. Got 2 for a really fantastic price and well worth trying them out before ordering 3-4 more (if I like them) but I really hope i do. I used to like the old classic Wilson Pro Staff 6.1 and this is from same mold, just a little bit stiffer and more powerful. If I don´t like them i can sell them for same or more money and don´t loose a nickel on it..
For u die-hard Pro Tour fans, i will post some pics of them later tonight so you have something to drewl over :)
Had a decent hit yesterday with our solid nr 1 player. I used my (very) old Head Pro Tour 630 CAP newly strung at 55 lbs with Cyber Power 1,25 mm and regripped with a Gamma calfskin-grip and a Yonex supergrap overgrip.
The Pro Tour is such a solid bat! Amazing stability and spin-potential in this old, flexy frame. I think it will serve me well for the week to come before my Wilson K-Factor Six One 95 arrives. ,,YES I HAVE bought 2 "new" frames from the Swedish site Blocket. Got 2 for a really fantastic price and well worth trying them out before ordering 3-4 more (if I like them) but I really hope i do. I used to like the old classic Wilson Pro Staff 6.1 and this is from same mold, just a little bit stiffer and more powerful. If I don´t like them i can sell them for same or more money and don´t loose a nickel on it..
For u die-hard Pro Tour fans, i will post some pics of them later tonight so you have something to drewl over :)
tisdag 27 januari 2009
Time to move on
Yesterday was the final stab in my Fischer-heart!! The Magnetic Tour is now officially not my racket of choice anymore, unfortunately!! I had great hopes for this frame, but it´s simply not suited to my game. The hitting-surface is to big and the power level is to high. I don´t get the control I require.
So, now i´m sitting here with 4 virtually brand new Fischer´s that I can´t (don´t want) to use and we have a game on Saturday. A very important game as well, and I am missing the most important piece of equipment...
Problem will be solved very quick though,, I will restring my ooooooooooooold Head Pro Tour 630 CAP and re-grip them with a calfskin grip and then i´m ready to go again. I used those frames for a very long time in the end of 20th century and i´m very used to them so it should not be any big problems (knock on wood..)
However, I can not play with those frames an eternity as they are very soft and worn out after a ton of restrings so now i´m searching the web again for possible frames. The Fischer M Speed Pro No 1 98' is on it´s way and I will give them a go and see what they do for good on court, but I have set my mind on the Wilson (K) Factor KSix one 95 frame with the 18 * 20 string pattern. I have received excellent feedback on that racket and it will be very exciting to try it. I really like the heavy specs this frame presents.
I just see the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ disappear from my bank-account,,,,
So, now i´m sitting here with 4 virtually brand new Fischer´s that I can´t (don´t want) to use and we have a game on Saturday. A very important game as well, and I am missing the most important piece of equipment...
Problem will be solved very quick though,, I will restring my ooooooooooooold Head Pro Tour 630 CAP and re-grip them with a calfskin grip and then i´m ready to go again. I used those frames for a very long time in the end of 20th century and i´m very used to them so it should not be any big problems (knock on wood..)
However, I can not play with those frames an eternity as they are very soft and worn out after a ton of restrings so now i´m searching the web again for possible frames. The Fischer M Speed Pro No 1 98' is on it´s way and I will give them a go and see what they do for good on court, but I have set my mind on the Wilson (K) Factor KSix one 95 frame with the 18 * 20 string pattern. I have received excellent feedback on that racket and it will be very exciting to try it. I really like the heavy specs this frame presents.
I just see the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ disappear from my bank-account,,,,
söndag 25 januari 2009
Hi! My name is Henrik and i´m a Racketoholic...
Sorry for the no show during this week. I have been to busy with everything so I didn´t have any time left to post a blog-post with a decent content.
So, you might wonder how the search for the holy-(racket)grail goes!?!? Well, to be hounest I think the search will continue. I have now played a couple of times with the Magnetic Tour SL and it´s a decent frame, no doubt about that, but i´m a bit concerned it´s not sufficiant for my level of play. When just hitting easy, soft shots from the baseline it´s very nice, when serving it´s the perfect racket but that´s about it. When I face hard serves the racket seems to be a fraction unstable and you really feel that the stiffness level is just to low (RA 57) in such a large surface, 645 sqcm or 100 sq inches. The flex is sometimes just to big. Same goes for volleys, a little bit unstable. Not the solid feel I had with the Babolat Pure Storm´s.
I have done some experementing also. Different strings, tensions etc and I also added 5 grams of lead inside the handle and 5 grams on 3 and 6 position on the hitting surface but that made the racket swing very sluggish and strange. No control at all with this setup.
I am going to give it a go with a new string during next week and see how it goes. I know I have an opening with another frame, the Fischer M Pro No one 98 NT frame. The specs are about the same as the Mag Tour with the same flex and all, but the M Pro have a smaller hitting surface and that might work very well with the low flex (RA 58)
I might order one M Pro and try it. They are dead-cheap now because Fischer are currently launching the Black Granite line and that makes the older frame hard to sell..
The M Pro certainly looks hot... :)
So, you might wonder how the search for the holy-(racket)grail goes!?!? Well, to be hounest I think the search will continue. I have now played a couple of times with the Magnetic Tour SL and it´s a decent frame, no doubt about that, but i´m a bit concerned it´s not sufficiant for my level of play. When just hitting easy, soft shots from the baseline it´s very nice, when serving it´s the perfect racket but that´s about it. When I face hard serves the racket seems to be a fraction unstable and you really feel that the stiffness level is just to low (RA 57) in such a large surface, 645 sqcm or 100 sq inches. The flex is sometimes just to big. Same goes for volleys, a little bit unstable. Not the solid feel I had with the Babolat Pure Storm´s.
I have done some experementing also. Different strings, tensions etc and I also added 5 grams of lead inside the handle and 5 grams on 3 and 6 position on the hitting surface but that made the racket swing very sluggish and strange. No control at all with this setup.
I am going to give it a go with a new string during next week and see how it goes. I know I have an opening with another frame, the Fischer M Pro No one 98 NT frame. The specs are about the same as the Mag Tour with the same flex and all, but the M Pro have a smaller hitting surface and that might work very well with the low flex (RA 58)
I might order one M Pro and try it. They are dead-cheap now because Fischer are currently launching the Black Granite line and that makes the older frame hard to sell..
The M Pro certainly looks hot... :)
måndag 19 januari 2009
Good start with the new racket
I Recieved 4 brand new Fischer Magnetic Tour SL on thursday and I was so keen on using them that I actually played with them in our league-match in vetlanda on the Sunday. Without having 1 second on court with them i stepped out on the court and luckely the racket played very very well.
First games was a struggle but then I found they rythm and won easy 6-2 6-0 after 15 aces and 0 double faults. Pretty good with a new racket.
We then won the doubles match 6-3 6-0 as well and my mate won his single with a double bagel so a solid 3-0 victory to Team Hagafors.
The Magnetic Tour has a RA (racket stiffness) of 57 which is very low. For example, Babolat Pure Drive have around 70 and the more stiffness the more power. I thought the Mag. Tour had very low power, but man o man was i wrong. It has amazing powerlevel and an crazy spinpotential. It feels a little bit light in the swingweight and i think i will add 10 grams in the head and 10 grams in the handle and see how it works out. I guess it will be needed on hard or claycourts when facing heavy hitters.
This is how the new Magnetic Tour´s look like :-)
First games was a struggle but then I found they rythm and won easy 6-2 6-0 after 15 aces and 0 double faults. Pretty good with a new racket.
We then won the doubles match 6-3 6-0 as well and my mate won his single with a double bagel so a solid 3-0 victory to Team Hagafors.
The Magnetic Tour has a RA (racket stiffness) of 57 which is very low. For example, Babolat Pure Drive have around 70 and the more stiffness the more power. I thought the Mag. Tour had very low power, but man o man was i wrong. It has amazing powerlevel and an crazy spinpotential. It feels a little bit light in the swingweight and i think i will add 10 grams in the head and 10 grams in the handle and see how it works out. I guess it will be needed on hard or claycourts when facing heavy hitters.
This is how the new Magnetic Tour´s look like :-)
fredag 16 januari 2009
A first hit with Fischer Pro No 1
Well.... let me give you an advice! NEVER, EVER under no circumstance, playtest a new racket at 10 pm a tuesday when you have worked all day long! Never... Ever!
I strung up my new Pro No 1´s with a couple of different strings and tensions and took the bats on a testspin. It was indoor on a medium-fast hardcourt with Tretorn Series + balls.
It felt good at the start but I noticed pretty fast that this 320 gram version is A) very string sensitive and B) Very unstable on off-center hits.
When I concentrated and focused on the game this racket is very nice, solid and powerful, but as soon as you are a fraction late or hit an off-center stroke, the rackets vibrate very much and all of the vibrations goes right into the arm.
IF i should continue with those frames I guess I would need to do some heavy customisation-work with them. For example add about 5 grams on each side at 3 and 9 o clock to make the frame more solid and a fraction more power.
However, I want instant love, so I actually orderd 4 Fischer Magnetic Tour SL and they arrived yesterday. They came strung with Fischer Pro No 1 strings but I cut one up and strung it with Pro´s Pro Cyber Power 1,25 mm strings at 53 lbs. I will make a gigantic gamble with this frame and use them first time in our league-game in Vetlanda on Sunday. I know, I know.. Very stupid, but what the heck! No guts, no glory..
Speaking of guts,, Hopefully I will recieve 3 sets of Global Gut natural guts from Emersoncorp in India and 3 sets of Unifibre natural gut from America next week. A playtest-review will be here as soon as I have tried them a couple of hours (if they last so long that is.. the magnetic tour seems to be a string-eater...)
BTW; Here is a pic of the 6 Fischer Pro No 1´s that soon will be on a local ebay close to you...
I strung up my new Pro No 1´s with a couple of different strings and tensions and took the bats on a testspin. It was indoor on a medium-fast hardcourt with Tretorn Series + balls.
It felt good at the start but I noticed pretty fast that this 320 gram version is A) very string sensitive and B) Very unstable on off-center hits.
When I concentrated and focused on the game this racket is very nice, solid and powerful, but as soon as you are a fraction late or hit an off-center stroke, the rackets vibrate very much and all of the vibrations goes right into the arm.
IF i should continue with those frames I guess I would need to do some heavy customisation-work with them. For example add about 5 grams on each side at 3 and 9 o clock to make the frame more solid and a fraction more power.
However, I want instant love, so I actually orderd 4 Fischer Magnetic Tour SL and they arrived yesterday. They came strung with Fischer Pro No 1 strings but I cut one up and strung it with Pro´s Pro Cyber Power 1,25 mm strings at 53 lbs. I will make a gigantic gamble with this frame and use them first time in our league-game in Vetlanda on Sunday. I know, I know.. Very stupid, but what the heck! No guts, no glory..
Speaking of guts,, Hopefully I will recieve 3 sets of Global Gut natural guts from Emersoncorp in India and 3 sets of Unifibre natural gut from America next week. A playtest-review will be here as soon as I have tried them a couple of hours (if they last so long that is.. the magnetic tour seems to be a string-eater...)
BTW; Here is a pic of the 6 Fischer Pro No 1´s that soon will be on a local ebay close to you...
fredag 9 januari 2009
Rackets finally in Sweden and a new gut orderd
Contacted the Swedish Post today and they finally confirmed that my 4 Fischer Pro No 1´s and the Fischer bag have arrived in Sweden and will be deliverd on monday or tuesday next week. NICE! :)
When they arrive the long process of trying many different string setups will begin and it´s a frustrating period as the game is very up and down during that period..
Normaly I use Pro´s Pro CyberPower 1,25 or Big Banger TiMo Banger 1,10 in my rackets, but it´s really hard on my arm and elbow so now when i´m changing rackets I will try a lot of different strings. I have bought a couple of really thin strings, for example Head Synth Gut 18L (1,12 mm) and Gosen OG Sheep Micro 1,12 mm. Those synthetic strings will probably snap within the first 30 minutes but it wil be worth trying atleast. They might work as cross-string in a poly/synth combo.
I also found a very cheap Natural Gut string from India. If I buy 10 or more it only costs 12 $ per set, and that includes the shipping charge! That´s virtually nothing for a natural gut string. It will be very very interesting to try this string and i´m really looking forward to see how it works out. I reallly hope it´s a good, or atleast a decent string. It would feel very nice to have 8 rackets in the bag, all strung with natural gut :))
Well, time to hit the Scooter and slip and slide home. It´s freakin´chilly here in Sweden right now and the asphalt is covered with black ice.. Feels very safe to drive a chinese scooter with tires made of,, well, almost plastic it feels like...
When they arrive the long process of trying many different string setups will begin and it´s a frustrating period as the game is very up and down during that period..
Normaly I use Pro´s Pro CyberPower 1,25 or Big Banger TiMo Banger 1,10 in my rackets, but it´s really hard on my arm and elbow so now when i´m changing rackets I will try a lot of different strings. I have bought a couple of really thin strings, for example Head Synth Gut 18L (1,12 mm) and Gosen OG Sheep Micro 1,12 mm. Those synthetic strings will probably snap within the first 30 minutes but it wil be worth trying atleast. They might work as cross-string in a poly/synth combo.
I also found a very cheap Natural Gut string from India. If I buy 10 or more it only costs 12 $ per set, and that includes the shipping charge! That´s virtually nothing for a natural gut string. It will be very very interesting to try this string and i´m really looking forward to see how it works out. I reallly hope it´s a good, or atleast a decent string. It would feel very nice to have 8 rackets in the bag, all strung with natural gut :))
Well, time to hit the Scooter and slip and slide home. It´s freakin´chilly here in Sweden right now and the asphalt is covered with black ice.. Feels very safe to drive a chinese scooter with tires made of,, well, almost plastic it feels like...
onsdag 7 januari 2009
Good start of the 2009 season
The first tournament for 2009 is now over and it was a pretty good tournament for me...
Pro Supex Cup was played in Vetlanda on a slow Rebound Ace hardcourt surface and I wasn´t seeded at all. It was a 24 man draw and in first round I won 6-1 6-1. In the quarterfinal I played the no 4 seed, a guy I lost to 3-6 3-6 in our only previous meeting 3 years ago, but this time I was very sharp and won easy 6-0 6-2.
Into the semifinal I went and played the no 2 seed and I won 6-1 6-2. In the final I played a very very good player who used to play ITF tournaments and still plays on a very high level. He won 6-4 6-2 but I really played good and had him on the run for most of the match but he was a true fighter and won many points on passing shots when I wanted to finish the point at net.
I got a WC/Alt to the doubles tournament as well. One of the guys in the no 2 seed team was sick so I replaced him. It was only a 6 pair draw and we won semi-final easy 6-1 6-2 but lost the final to the state champions 6-2 6-2. The double final was the 4th match on the final day and both me and my doubles-partner was tired during the entire match.
Today I feel surprisingly fresh in the body despite the 4 matches yesterday. Only problem is my "golfers-elbow" that hurted like hell yesterday but i know it´s due to my rackets so hopefully this problem dissapear now when I have retired them for good....
Pro Supex Cup was played in Vetlanda on a slow Rebound Ace hardcourt surface and I wasn´t seeded at all. It was a 24 man draw and in first round I won 6-1 6-1. In the quarterfinal I played the no 4 seed, a guy I lost to 3-6 3-6 in our only previous meeting 3 years ago, but this time I was very sharp and won easy 6-0 6-2.
Into the semifinal I went and played the no 2 seed and I won 6-1 6-2. In the final I played a very very good player who used to play ITF tournaments and still plays on a very high level. He won 6-4 6-2 but I really played good and had him on the run for most of the match but he was a true fighter and won many points on passing shots when I wanted to finish the point at net.
I got a WC/Alt to the doubles tournament as well. One of the guys in the no 2 seed team was sick so I replaced him. It was only a 6 pair draw and we won semi-final easy 6-1 6-2 but lost the final to the state champions 6-2 6-2. The double final was the 4th match on the final day and both me and my doubles-partner was tired during the entire match.
Today I feel surprisingly fresh in the body despite the 4 matches yesterday. Only problem is my "golfers-elbow" that hurted like hell yesterday but i know it´s due to my rackets so hopefully this problem dissapear now when I have retired them for good....
lördag 3 januari 2009
First hit with (one of the) new rackets
Had a hit today and tried one of my new Rackets, this time a 330 gram version of the Fischer Pro No 1. Strung with a Tecnifibre redcode main and a Yonex 850 cross (came with that combination) strung at around 54-55 pounds.
First impression was that this racket was very solid, decent power, decent spin but amazing control and feel. I played this racket for about 30 minutes in total and man was I satisfied with the answers this racket gave me. I felt i could push so much more and was able to go more flat on approach shots without the ball flying to long.
I guess when I have strung it with my Luxilon TiMo Banger in 52 pounds, this racket will be a real weapon, or atleast i hope ;-)
The most important thing of this racket was that I didn´t feel any pain in my elbow when using it. When I play with the Pure storm team with lead inside the handle to make it more head light and heavy overall I get a medium-pain in the location on the inside of the elbow that cause so called "golfers-elbow". As soon as I played with the Fischer-racket the pain stopped. Must be the racket, because it´s only with the Pure Storm´s I have felt such pain and it´s not fun playing with pain.
Now i´m waiting for the 4 new Pro No 1´s in the 320 gram version that will arrive next week. Hopefully the play the same when i have put on some more lead but I know I will look for 3 more 330 gram rackets....
First impression was that this racket was very solid, decent power, decent spin but amazing control and feel. I played this racket for about 30 minutes in total and man was I satisfied with the answers this racket gave me. I felt i could push so much more and was able to go more flat on approach shots without the ball flying to long.
I guess when I have strung it with my Luxilon TiMo Banger in 52 pounds, this racket will be a real weapon, or atleast i hope ;-)
The most important thing of this racket was that I didn´t feel any pain in my elbow when using it. When I play with the Pure storm team with lead inside the handle to make it more head light and heavy overall I get a medium-pain in the location on the inside of the elbow that cause so called "golfers-elbow". As soon as I played with the Fischer-racket the pain stopped. Must be the racket, because it´s only with the Pure Storm´s I have felt such pain and it´s not fun playing with pain.
Now i´m waiting for the 4 new Pro No 1´s in the 320 gram version that will arrive next week. Hopefully the play the same when i have put on some more lead but I know I will look for 3 more 330 gram rackets....
fredag 2 januari 2009
Beginners misstake
On the last day of the year the first racket of my new rackets arrived with the mailman..
It was very good timing because I was just on my way to the tennis-court so I grabbed the parcel and just cut it open. Very nice, i thought as I saw the cover saying "Fischer Pro No 1" and when opening the cover up, yep it was a Pro No 1 every day of the week, but...
The racket felt very light.. and i mean VERY light!! I quickly looked at the specs inside the racket "throat" and saw " Weight: 285 g"... Crap! I didn´t even know that the red/black/white Pro No 1 was made in an UL version. I want my rackets to be at around 330 grams unstrung and it will simply be to much to add 45 grams of lead to the racket and make it play the same as the other rackets I have orderd (which i know is 320 gram and 330 gram)
I have customized a lot of rackets in the past and i have a very good scale at home that shows the weight within 0,01 grams and with that it´s very easy to fine-tune the rackets to the same weight. The main trick is although to get the racket at the exact same balance, but it´s just to counterbalance with lead and fine-tune more after the playtests to make the rackets equal.
..but if the difference is so big as 45 grams it simply will be to big difference in the carbon-layup in the frame so I have actually already posted an add for the 285 g frame:
http://www.blocket.se/vi/19654589.htm?ca=17_s
Now I have to find a couple more of the Pro No 1´s in either 320 G or 330 G, and that´s not the most easy thing as this model was last made 2005..
I have 5 frames (or atleast 5 frames that will soon arrive) but i need about 3 more. 8 frames is a good number. Then I can have some frames with different tensions on the strings and don´t need to worry about humidity, temperature etc when I play.
I´ll have to take a pic of the racket arriving today and post later. It feels good to track the package online and KNOWING I can pick up a new racket when i get home from work :-))
It was very good timing because I was just on my way to the tennis-court so I grabbed the parcel and just cut it open. Very nice, i thought as I saw the cover saying "Fischer Pro No 1" and when opening the cover up, yep it was a Pro No 1 every day of the week, but...
The racket felt very light.. and i mean VERY light!! I quickly looked at the specs inside the racket "throat" and saw " Weight: 285 g"... Crap! I didn´t even know that the red/black/white Pro No 1 was made in an UL version. I want my rackets to be at around 330 grams unstrung and it will simply be to much to add 45 grams of lead to the racket and make it play the same as the other rackets I have orderd (which i know is 320 gram and 330 gram)
I have customized a lot of rackets in the past and i have a very good scale at home that shows the weight within 0,01 grams and with that it´s very easy to fine-tune the rackets to the same weight. The main trick is although to get the racket at the exact same balance, but it´s just to counterbalance with lead and fine-tune more after the playtests to make the rackets equal.
..but if the difference is so big as 45 grams it simply will be to big difference in the carbon-layup in the frame so I have actually already posted an add for the 285 g frame:
http://www.blocket.se/vi/19654589.htm?ca=17_s
Now I have to find a couple more of the Pro No 1´s in either 320 G or 330 G, and that´s not the most easy thing as this model was last made 2005..
I have 5 frames (or atleast 5 frames that will soon arrive) but i need about 3 more. 8 frames is a good number. Then I can have some frames with different tensions on the strings and don´t need to worry about humidity, temperature etc when I play.
I´ll have to take a pic of the racket arriving today and post later. It feels good to track the package online and KNOWING I can pick up a new racket when i get home from work :-))
Prenumerera på:
Kommentarer (Atom)
