I've been playing tennis for more than 2 decades now. I've mentioned
it before to my friends that I always thought tennis was such a dumb "sport"
until I started watching Prince of Tennis and after that, I thought it was the
coolest shit ever. I don't even remember how I started watching it since before
anime wasn't as accessible as it is right now. I love the show so much I have the
DVDs' I bought from Pacific Mall. Baby Steps is pretty damn good too.
Also around that time when I was getting into tennis, the golden era of real tennis
was about to start; the GOAT Roger Federer was on the comeup, Rafael Nadal was right
behind his heels and finally, the third king; Novak Djokovic (and the whole Serbian
tennis movement was happening, who remembers Ana Ivanovic *yum) just entered the battle
field - it was a good era with lots of characters, one of my favorites is Juan Martin Del
Potro, the gentle giant with a cannon of a forehand. Justine Henin-Hardine (my female GOAT
pick) was also killing it, and who can forget Maria Sharapova.
Such a good time of tennis.
My own game initially was heavily influenced by Djokovic - especially in the beginning of
my formative years, I used to read up on his strategies and techniques but eventually, I
moved on to researching Federers skill set. Fed just had more beauty in this game and I
really loved the one-handed backhand (I started with a double-handed backhand) and his
volley skills (touch is such a big part of my game now).
When eventually it was time to buy intermediate racquets, of course I chose a Federer
racquet and that started my whole journey into racquet customization, etc.
So far, my tennis gear list;
Wilson K-Factor K-Six-90: My first racquet, the one I currently have - I actually just
bought used off Ebay as the original one I bought, I ended up trading with my brother (he still
has it as he is also a Federer fan) for a Prince racquet, which I still have. I just love the
racquet, I feel like it has the reputation of being a racquet for a skilled player; smaller head,
control oriented, etc.
My current setup for this is Lux Alu Power Rough, 16x19, 59/56 lbs of tension. Lead tape on bevel and
4 & 8 position. The theory is that shifting the weight lower than our previous setup (lead tape was on
top of grip and 3 & 9 position) will give us a faster swing but still have the buff of being a weight
racquet and stabalize the racquet when receiving volleys.
Babolat Pure Drive Roddick: This is the Andy Roddick "model". My thinking around the time was that I
needed more easy power, especially on the serves but when I started to try it, I felt like there was
alot more spin generated but not noticable power. I added lead tape like my old KFactor and it got
more oomph but the spin had to be generated with better timing. It felt heavy for some reason but
TBF, I was using golf lead tape at the time as it was the only ones available.
Lead tape on 4&8 and bottom shaft, new grip and overgrip as well. Need this restrung, prolly try a different
string on this. I will probably try to keep this as the same scheme as a game racquet, control/spin oriented
and stuff.
Prince O3 Tour: The Maria Sharapova model I believe. It's in rough shape, just needs some more TLC. Will
probably tune this for a practice, baseline type racquet, more power for flatshots, less spinny, etc. I like
it though, feels like a flexible racquet.
Wilson SledgeHammer 3.8: I don't know where I got this racquet from but it's kinda fun, ngl. Gonna change
the grip and see if my racket stringer (yes, I have a guy lol) can restring this bad boy. It's so old I'm not even
sure.
Personally, I still have a couple of rackets in my wishlist; Wilson HyperHammer 5.3 (as a tribute to Justin Henin),
I'll try to find a stretch midsize but I don't think I'll find her specific EU version with power holes and ProStaff
RF97 v13 and ProStaff v13 (just for fun and also to add to my Federer collection), maybe an old ProStaff in Sampras
era (big fan of Pistol Pete as well) but those are the ones I'm in the look out for. [EDIT] I think I might get the
Wilson Hyper Pro Staff 6.1 95 (a homage to JMDP). I mean it seems like a lot of racquets but TBH, half of these are
cheap if you buy them used off ebay so LOL. My collection is gonna jump up soon.
I just love tennis as a sport and some people just don't understand how physical the game is. This is the only sport
I feel like closer to MMA/fighting sport; one on one, technique or power styles, conditioning and endurance, like a
real fight by blasting the ball at each other in insane speeds. Even though it's called a gentlemen sports, there's
really nothing very gentle about blasting a forehand past your opponent.
lizard people have taken over the wurldo..