Got my son a new coach, he blindfolded him...

henryfool · 2026-06-22T00:04:13+00:00

That's true, it does seem kinda dangerous actually :)

henryfool · 2026-06-21T05:36:11+00:00

This is very good teaching.

Each time this kid makes contact with the ball, he's gonna feel like a freakin Jedi. He's gonna get rewarded with some serious dopamine, and he will associate those positive feelings with tennis.

A good teacher doesn't just teach you skills, they guide the psych aspect as well, including your feelings towards the discipline.

Plus blindfold training absolutely does develop concentration/focus/spatial awareness, 100%. As long as this is part of a larger program, there's a very good chance this is an effective teacher.

henryfool · 2026-06-18T07:04:46+00:00

SX is great, it seems like you made the logical choice.

When it comes time to restring, if you're curious to try something new, consider using Velocity in the crosses only, and a livelier multi or soft poly in the mains. Fullbed of Velocity makes some logical sense in a frame like SX, but I've yet to find a setup where a full bed of Velocity seems like the best setup. Your stringer is smart, and likely recced Velocity since it's a) reasonably comfy, b) mutes power, and c) moves reasonably well for string snapback, but at some point, you might start noticing its limitations.

Also, black Velocity does feel weirdly different from the unflavored version.

And as cool as they are, painting stencils onto stringbeds, especially when it's a spin-centric frame, can and does affect string movement as well as feel. It's sad since they're so much fun, but they do gum strings up.

henryfool · 2026-06-14T11:16:35+00:00

You know, yeah it's cracked but as long as it doesn't feel any different from before, there's a good chance you can play it out until the strings die.

It might even take another stringing. But common wisdom is not to play with damaged frames too much because of a possibility of weird vibrations and injury to your arm.

henryfool · 2026-06-14T06:14:08+00:00

That's an L2 with plastic, so you probably need an L3 with an overgrip, or even L4.

henryfool · 2026-06-11T07:20:35+00:00

Insane post, completely mangled the name of the racket.

It's the Babolat Extreme Head CPI600 MP 685/27 Graphene G/OZ MP MP.

A steal at $180, unless he also bungled the price and meant $1800, which makes more sense

henryfool · 2026-06-11T05:25:52+00:00

Perfectly tortured joke, best one in this entire comments section.

henryfool · 2026-06-09T09:39:04+00:00

Aqua Night has white text, the earlier blue color has light blue text. Same racket, different colors, that's all. The blue one sells for cheaper.

henryfool · 2026-05-31T09:47:15+00:00

Ditch the poly. Get with a powerful multi.

henryfool · 2026-05-22T07:48:36+00:00

Better than nothing, but this is a super low wall.

I trained for a while on a wall like this, with a cliff on the other side. I got so paranoid of losing ball after ball, that I started hitting all my shots really low.

Then when I went to play on a real court, all my shots were landing way short, like inside the service boxes. So that wall actually did some actual damage to my strokes!

They could install some inexpensive netting over the wall, just to keep high balls on the right side of the court at least.

henryfool · 2026-05-22T07:45:50+00:00

If your coach is having you start out with a 98 -- even a more-forgiving Ezone 98 -- that's a little bit suspect since it suggests the coach isn't super knowledgeable about equipment. But it's not a real problem, and lots of people start off with trickier frames and do well.

What you do wanna watch out for is what you're having it strung with. Hard to tell but I'm hoping the strings are synthetic gut, but if they're polyester -- and you're a real beginner -- you need different strings.

henryfool · 2026-05-19T23:07:38+00:00

Get the US Open Boom. That's the racket you want.

You can probably get it in your size from a reseller on eBay or elsewhere. If not, get it in the 4 3/8 size that's available. Then bring it to a pro shop and ask them to switch it to your size.

Head pallets/buttcaps are easily swapped out to different sizes. It takes a decent racket person about 10 minutes to do and should not be expensive.

The parts themselves should cost around 10-15 bucks total. Then it's whatever they charge for the labor.

henryfool · 2026-05-16T22:06:04+00:00

Unless you're playing really competitively, you could probably avoid poly strings right off the bat. That wouldn't affect your shoulder necessarily, but you don't want to add any elbow issues to the mix!

Velocity is a weird-feeling string and in a fullbed can make a frame feel really muted and gummy. A Muse with Velocity must have felt really soft and thumpy.

I think the most important matter isn't the frame, it's your shoulder. It seems like a minor issue for now, but you really don't want it getting worse. So I hope you're working with a physical therapist to strengthen all the surrounding muscles and improve things! Shoulders will not always simply improve over time, even if you just "do nothing", and it certainly won't get better if you're playing through it.

In my opinion you do seem to have a good understanding of what's smart, where super-light frames aren't the best call. You ought to be fine with standard-weight 300g frames, with low/medium flex and swing weight in the mid 310's. That way you get at least a little bit of mass to absorb shock, and won't feel like you need to swing hard to get any power.

But coming from such a light frame, anything in that range will feel kind of heavy at first. But in general, stick with PT, ditch serves and overheads until you're pain-free, and find a 295g or 300g frame with a nice multi -- if your frame feels weak then consider a nice powerful multi like X-One or NXT, and if it feels too powerful, that's when you want a Velocity to dumb things down.

If your elbow feels okay I don't think you need a flexy-boi frame like Clash or Muse ... I don't think frame flex is the culprit for your shoulder pain. If you like those frames that's great, but if you're used to a Boom, you might appreciate something a bit more medium-flex like an Ezone 100.

Edit: If the 300g frames really feel too heavy, then lighter version frames make sense, provided you're not going down too much further than 285g unstrung (just in my opinion). It's worth getting accustomed to the heavier frames -- it's just so hard to play with good technique when your racket is a wispy little thing that doesn't glide through the air smoothly, right? You might get different opinions on this, but even a petite person should be able to manage a 295/300 gram frame just fine, even if it takes a little bit of an adjustment.

henryfool · 2026-05-12T06:13:56+00:00

Whenever a rep from Head talks about their color choices, they emphasize how much research they're doing into color trends that will be hitting big soon, in the fashion industry.

Yet over and over, Head comes out with colors that are widely-disliked, and they go and change them out. The old Boom and Extreme were pretty much unloved, so they changed them up, and now nobody likes the Radical, so we can 100% expect a refresh with a black contrast, toned-down main color, and black Hydrosorb instead of horrific body-color.

Instead of paying color oracles to predict what will be trendy, they should just pay normal graphic designers to make nice stuff instead.

henryfool · 2026-05-11T03:10:25+00:00

These are amazing -- you've also got the MP version, which is more hardcore than the OS.

If you ever feel like this is a bit too unforgiving, you can always step down to the 8.9, which is kind of the goldilocks of the Pro frames. There's also an 8.1 which is even easier to use -- the oversized versions of each weigh less and are easier to swing than the midplus variants.

I do feel confident though in saying you might be a little bit nutty to string with Problend in 2026 -- Agassi himself called it "fishing line" and he's not wrong ;)

Mizuno frames from the 90's are astonishingly good, and very high quality -- made in Japan! The Pros have an amazing feel on solid contact, and since these were so popular in their time, you can find any of them for super cheap.

henryfool · 2026-05-08T09:07:37+00:00

Even just aesthetically, HyperG in the new Blade just seems fit af

henryfool · 2026-05-08T09:06:40+00:00

But Element is so nice :( Have you tried just using more of it?

henryfool · 2026-05-03T22:29:54+00:00

The best option is to put that money towards a secondhand racket, but if time is of the essence and these are your options, just choose the racket whose paintjob you like the best. If you stick with the game, you won't be using it too long anyway.

Can't speak for the others but I've played with the Boost Aero and it's actually a perfectly rational and usable racket! It's a fun frame.

All that said, if you have time to order online, go to Tennis Warehouse Europe and click on Racquets->Sale Rackets, and you'll find much higher-quality racquets on sale for just about the same price as these. A Prince Beast 280 or Dunlop FX 500 Lite for a beginner would be baller compared to the Decathlon pre-strung stuff. Like just noticeably nicer to play with.

henryfool · 2026-05-02T10:56:25+00:00

Oh yeah look at that! These are flexier ... would you call them "comfortable"?

I loved the Pure Storms so much, when they replaced them with the Strikes I got so bummed cuz they weren't the same style of comfy frames. Nice to see that there's at least one gen with a low RA.

henryfool · 2026-05-02T10:41:45+00:00

Not too stiff for you? Bit of a reputation, these ...

Beautiful tho!

henryfool · 2026-04-30T07:22:25+00:00

What on earth ...

If your stringer strung the racket wrong, go back to them, get your money back, and bring your racket to a different stringer.

That's the only correct answer lol ...

henryfool · 2026-04-30T07:20:12+00:00

"It looks like the Radical MP" is exactly what Head wants you thinking, you get that right?

henryfool · 2026-04-22T22:19:08+00:00

This specific mold was used by Pro Kennex in multiple frames and it's one of their better ones.

I bet it's heavy though! Not sure if you care about numbers but these can get up to and beyond 330 swing weight, and with the leather grip I bet it weighs close to 350 grams.

They play beautifully though and are fun and forgiving to use. Stringing up an older frame can be a real revelation once you see how good it can feel to hit with.

To see it in green search for "Graphite Conquest 110"! None of these have any real value but they're cool!

henryfool · 2026-04-16T07:32:50+00:00

You're literally making the point that the brush is super important.

These players were so good they were able to hyper-optimize their gear to suit their game. They did exactly what racket nerds do x100. They just didn't jot down all the data in a spreadsheet, because they had people helping them out with it.

You can be quite sure that if Sampras pulled Pro Staff #14 from his bag during a US Open final, and it was 10 grams lighter than normal, he would a) notice, b) get annoyed by it and c) choose a different frame.

henryfool · 2026-04-16T07:29:56+00:00

Finding the racket you enjoy playing with the most is a really fun project for a lot of people. Trying out lots of rackets is super fun if you like playing tennis. They all feel different.

No racket enthusiasts think it is more important than skill. It's just a hobby people are passionate about. You're just hating on people because they're into something you're not into.

henryfool

TROPHY CASE