Hurricane harsh? Really? It's actually kind of soft for a poly. Had to switch to Hurricane because Luxilon Alu Power was destroying my wrist. No problems with Hurricane but it doesn't provide nearly the spin or bite of Luxilon. Haven't tried M2 though.

to be honest? i don't care about maria's change of equipment. she is too glorified by the media. ihope she makes a full recovery but i am not jumping on her bandwagon.

Nice food for thought for those suffering from arm or shoulder issues. I used to play with a Prostaff 85 which is a relatively heavy racquet. After developing tennis elbow, I switched to newer, lighter, more flexible racquets. With a regimen of wrist and forearm exercises, the tennis elbow went completely away. Now, I am back to playing with the newer versions of the Prostaff (Federer and Sampras models) pain free even though they are slightly heavy. I keep up the arm exercises to keep up the strength in my forearm and wrist to minimize re-occurrence of tennis elbow. So far so good.

I think Maria should just play topless so we would not be distracted by her lame earrings.

i second rick's comment, minus the part about the earrings..

I recently switch from Prince O3 White to Dunlop Aerogel 200. Talk about difference! Every other shots is a miss hit and my arm feels like wood the day after. My serve lost pace, the forehand had no penetration, but the slice had better bite, when I hit the spot.

I've tried about 20 different strings and here's my recommendation. If you are not a serious pro (I've taken blank games off people who train with Bjorn Borg) Don't use a small racquet head size. Don't use a light racquet and check your wrist movement during the stroke. And the golden rule...

One hour tennis requires one hours of proper fitness training, including strengthening the wrists.

When Roddick made the abbreviated serve popular, the self professed gurus of tennis announced that he would bust his shoulders shortly. Now, has the abbreviated serve become the panacea of shoulder injury ? C'mon guys, at least be consistent.

Anyway, my humble opinion is, if you want to be injury free follow Roger Federer's example. He has been one of the longest running number 1 (if not the longest) and most importantly has been totally injury free. The only way of being injury free are:

1. Go for long well developed strokes with emphasis on footwork
2. Opt for a traditional serve where the body weight and legs take off some stress on the arm
3. Play with small head size, flexible, head light racquet with loose strings.

It is a good story with a lot of very useful insights that I could use. And while I am a fan of Maria's style of play - aggressive, competitive and go for broke - I cant help noticing that Rafa and Hewitt and other "scramblers" on the court do have injuries time and again whereas Roger's smooth footwork and techniques have him sustain so well. So it would be great service to readers if we had a similar analyses on how Federer stays away from injuries; I would like to avoid one in future now that we know what we need to do to come back from one Sharapova-style.

To say that a string is soft for a poly is like saying someone is the worlds tallest midget.

Yes, what are Federer's spcs on strings and racket and such customization. I am thinking there is more than equipment; it is the wholy body workout regimen he must have built up that keeps him fit and flick back with ease all the 110 mph thunderbolds that Juan DelPotro hurls.

Federer's racket is actually pretty close to stock. He plays Wilson natural gut mains with Luxilon BB ALU Power Rough crosses, usually strung around 46/43.

I don't think you can say Federer 'flicked back with ease' what Del Potro was dishing out. JMDP's forehand was beyond huge that day and Federer was overpowered.

tennis_enthusiast: Excuse me but Roger Federer DOES use an abbreviated service motion...

Jan: Rackets with small head sizes are generally HEAVIER. And lighter rackets typically have a LARGER head size. Are you suggesting people should buy rackets that are heavier and have a large head size???!!!

On Federer's fan page he talkes of feeling pain in his arms after matches. He's not injure free, he's just so much better that he beat almost everybody with his elbow pains, back problems etc.

If one thing stands out it's that he's vegetarian. How many ATP-level players don't eat meat?

From the book tennis medical book "breakpoint to advantage"

Arm friendly racquet:

good flex in racquet
large sweet spot -mid to oversize
heaviest racquet you can handle without sacrificing technique
low tension
use thinner string

Sharapova has been ill served by allowing Michael Joyce to alter her service motion. The lack of confidence in her abreviated service motion has affected her entire game. I fear that her future Grand Slam forays will amount to naught. Her fans would rather she returned to her previous service motion. If it affects her bad shoulder, she should retire. Her 3 Slams & marketing appeal have left her monetarily set for life . One would think that she has too much pride to be continually upset by newcomers & journeywomen.

I went through arm problems from using a poly string. It took several months to get my arm back. I went to a Babolat Tonic+/Wilson Sensation hybrid and my arm loves me again!!

In my experience, gut lasts longer and holds its playing characteristics far better than any of the synthetic strings. A massive spin player will shred it quickly, but they'll shred anything short of poly or kevlar quickly.

A gut mains, synthetic guts cross hybrid generally lasts longer, and plays better, than a premium multifilament string, for about the same cost per racquet.

The only caveat here is that gut, once it gets notched, does have problems with wet (not humid) conditions. That's why I always have a second racquet strung with all synthetic on hand.

Posted by Jan 09/22/2009 @ 12:32 PM

On Federer's fan page he talkes of feeling pain in his arms after matches. He's not injure free, he's just so much better that he beat almost everybody with his elbow pains, back problems etc.

If one thing stands out it's that he's vegetarian. How many ATP-level players don't eat meat?

From the book tennis medical book "breakpoint to advantage"

Arm friendly racquet:

good flex in racquet
large sweet spot -mid to oversize
heaviest racquet you can handle without sacrificing technique
low tension
use thinner string"

Roger is no longer a vegetarian... that was when he was a kid, according to articles he hasn't been a vegetarian since he was a young boy. And yes he does get injured (comment to other poster) he has alot of pain, he just plays through it well and doesn't make it very public like some other players do.

Bill,

Two issues regarding parts of the article. Firstly, Michael Joyce abbreviating Sharapova's service motion. I've been treated for both a shoulder impingement and a rotator cuff problem. In each instance, with every single physio who treated me (including one who dealt with Pat Rafter), I was told that it had been proven, time and time again, that when you start to abbreviate the service motion you don't solve shoulder problems, you invite them. So, why did Sharapova's team do it? Is it a short-term fix (in the same way that Andre Agassi used an abbreviated motion for a brief period - I think it was after his wrist injury)or a short-sighted one?

Secondly, I was under the impression that the 03 Speedport Black was stiffer than the 03 White. Did Prince make a more flexible Speedport Black especially for Sharapova? If they did, why not just have her use the 03 Speedport Black Team which is more flexible. Or is that the racquet she's actually using?

Back in the mid-80s, after three years of college tennis in which we all were stringing our stiff aluminum and graphite racquets at upwards of 70 lbs. a la Bjorn Borg, I came down with a severe caee of shoulder tendinitis. It got so bad within a coupe of months that I could nlot sleep due to the constant throbbing in my shoulder. I took to sleeping on my stomach with my arm dangling freely over the side of the bed, which allowed me to sleep. But that ultimately exascerbated my lower back issues, which run in my family, so I eventually had to quit sleeping on my stomach.

I decided, after an 8-month layoff (no tennis at all, except volleys against a wall with a soft ball), to try using a more flexible racquet strung at a much lower tension with a soft string. I went with a Yonex, strung with what was then the softest string available (Alpha 2000 synthetic gut, a multifilament), at 38 lbs. 16 guage. It saved my arm. No surgery required.

Today, I use the Head Radical.Ti OS, which because of its larger head size mitigates the effect of the dense string pattern, strung at 52 lbs. with 16 guage Gamma Asterisk Spin.

My shoulder troubles have not retruned. I also use a worm-like vibration dampener, which spans 14 of the 18 main strings.

How to double fault 100 times in a set.

I went from a heavy-stiff Dunlop with poly strings to a Becker with Gut strings @ 45#. And after two months off, my tennis elbow is virtualy gone. Secondly, I'm 55 and playing again after a 10 month recovery from a full rotator cuff tear, a re-attached bicept tendon, and a bursa cleanout. Could not do it without the Becker-Gut combo.

Very informative, comments too, and would do NASCAR proud. Why don't TV pundits give this type of equipment chatter? The type and selection one is greeted with at a tennis shop or online can be off putting. It helps to know these options are available.

The majority of tennis players in the states partake in doubles. If this were also the case for kids, we might not hear Jimmy Connors tell parents if their children aren't playing tennis by the age of 6 to forget about it. Clearly, not sponsor approved, but beyond ignoring tennis sales equipment growth, it makes me wonder just what Tennis Channel and ESPN approved pundits vision for the sport is -- Don't spend the cash if you don't plan to turn pro? If you aren't willing to make your child turn pro, don't bother? Self-defeating.

I totally agree with some of the posts. I higher toss and more fluid motion on the serve can help relieve or prevent shoulder problems. I tried an abbreviated motion and began to have shoulder problems. Went back to my "Sampras" motion and am getting out of it with the addition of 'cuff excercises. I also am moving to a slightly ligher (<340Swingweight) racquet to help - but not too light!

I'm 29 and I have had tennis elbow on my both arms,(because when my right arm was hurting too much I decided to begin playing tennis left handed...and yes, I'm Mallorcan :P) I moved from 26 kg tension to 23 kg and I have been fine for 4 years now.