M Fil 300 1st and 2nd tries

 Strung it with unknown string at 52lbs felt OK in the 1st tries but at the 2nd tries, it felt very bouncy and will restring. The MFil is head heavier compare to AG300. I change the grip to leather to add weight in the handle and it swung more balance. It was 321 grams strung and 301 grams unstrung, the string was heavy. Frame construction wise, MFil got thicker throat bridge compare to AG300. MFil feels head heavier thus seems swung heavier with slightly better plow through or easy to swing late.

Dunlop 300: MFil vs AG

 Just got myself a used C conditioned MFil 300. The difference to AG 300 is that the throat bridge of MFil are wider, AG300 throat bridge is thinner like Prince design. On spec, they are the same; MFil is a point heavier. Below is TW short description of AG 300. The current weight for the MFil is 318 grams while the AG is 316 grams.

Bio F3T and AG3hundred

 Played three long sets on Friday; the first 2 sets played against higher rank player with heavy shots with Bio F3T: shanks on hard serve and hard forehand slices. Bio F3T have more plow through than AG300. The AG300 is good for pushing slow incoming ball while heavier balls need heavier racquet and BF3T is at the edge; PS97, CX200T are better for heavy balls. BF3T needs that heavy incoming ball to shine though much like PS97 and CX200T. AG300 is also good for hitting out but due to tinny feel needs to strike right in the middle like Tommy Haas with AG300 painted 95 sq inch 18x20 pro stock.

Dunlop 300 line

The Dunlop 300 line starts from Hotmelt 300G, M-fil 300, Aerogel 3hundred, AG 4D 3hundred, Biomimetic 300, Bio M 3.0, and now the specs is similar to CX 200 LS. The 21.5 mm beam, mid 310g swing weight, 98 sq inch head, and 290g static weight. The RA starts low, goes up, and now to modern soft in mid 60s.

PS97 v10, 11, 12, CV, 13

 Not much different other than materials and addition/removal of countervail; I might like this CV but might not considering v10 with multi was hard to control.

PS97 (leather grip, Gasquet overgrip)

 After taking the leather grip off from my PS97. I put it back again, I just couldnt find the groove on the PS97 with synth grip, the balance and grip size seems off. So, I put it back again so that it can look good and better in storage; synth grip deteriorates overtime. It has Prince SGD strings and started to fray, rather than cut them, see if I can play to break. With leather grip that adds weight, can only put one overgrip on it. To contained the shocks and vibration of leather grip, I wrapped the overgrip layered like Gasquet, works well on the CX tour. 

So, I brought to practice yesterday, along with F30T. For warm up, I play with the PS97. It feels OK, string was a bit stiff, but control and spin was good, just feels right; stable, control, spin, and comfort. Switched to F30T and could not control it better, so switched back to PS97.

In the end, won both doubles games and a single game with PS97. Played outdoor, ball not as fast as in indoor. I see, it feels like playing with CX 200 Tour. Next is to wait for PS97v13 but still way overprice now.

 

Bio F3.0T 2nd review

 I had 2 doubles sets playing with Bio F3.0T. In comparison with my regular AG300 was that BF30T because of its thick beam, cant get a topspin backhand; I shanked them. With BF30T, the serves had more power, groundstrokes more power and plush (less spin prob due to string pattern and string selection), volleys were plusher, slices were OK, and overhead were OK. The weight is just right, not light or heavy and at 308g unstrung, no need for lead tape or other customization, just rubber dampener for that ping sound. This is one of those racquet that I be comfortable just bring it to the court. My pinky was still sore but not as bad. 

Syn gut stiffness

 About last year, I experienced sore wrist unlike ever before on the same racquet (Pro Staff 97) but with a different string. I had a really bad wrist pain before but it was from using a light but stiff racquet (Six One Lite). On the PS97, I previously strung it with Prince Topspin, then Babolat multi, and the latest with Prince SG Duraflex. I never had any problem using syngut before (mostly Wilson or Babolat SG). The Prince SGD was thought to be the best, but after reading the TW string comparison, PSGD rates high for stiffness (188 compare to Babolat at 162). Touching by hand, PGSD feels stiff compare to Gamma or Babolat which are strung on my other racquet. PGSD due quite durable, the one in the PS97 had frayed but still unbroken.

Dunlop Biomimetic F3.0 Tour (1st tries)

 Have been using my new or mint Dunlop Biomimetic F3.0 Tour over several practice hours. The string was vintage Gamma syntgut 17g at 52; the string is smooth at first. The first hitting session were not good, did not connect at all, the backhand was terrible; ball landed on net.

The second time was on game practice, brought also a CX 200 Tour 18x20. Practice game with it and the serves were good, forehand still trying to figure it out (not hugging the ball like AG300), the power was there, volley was OK, backhand drive is still struggling but the control and comfort was OK. Add 1.5grams on 3 and 9. I dont like the porsche-cadillac analogy below, cadillac seems slow and powerless; the author must meant powerful but comfortable.

Note: edited this blog and bold the author comment on modern grip; no wonder, played better with AG version

From tennis.com:

According to Bruce Levine, Racquet Advisor for Tennis Magazine, the F3.0, compared to last year’s Biomimetic 300 Tour, is “clearly a different racquet. Due to its wider head size and throat, the F3.0 felt much more stable than older generations, and played comfortably all over the court without negative vibrations. To take an analogy: It looks and smells like a Porsche. But when you drive it, it has a lot of the characteristics of a Cadillac.” Several of our 4.0 and 4.5 playtesters agreed, claiming that, on groundstrokes as well as volleys, the racquet struck a nice balance between power, maneuverability, and plowthrough. Although baseline grinders might find the racquet’s spin potential lacking due to the closed string pattern—and old-school players may miss the heftier, more traditional feel of the 300 Tour—all-courters with modern grips should profit from the 3.0’s ample, control-oriented pop.

CX 200 Tour 18x20 versions update

 In 2021, Dunlop released update to CX 200 Tour 18x20 with new color (red black) instead of (black red). The newer version, 3rd iteration got lower score with overall less plow through feedback from TW testers.

Racket review: Aerogel 300, Radical OS, CX 200 Tour 18x20

In my playing session, I always bought 2 racquets because I mostly using backpack, at max 2 racquet. Last friday on indoor court, I brought Radical OS and Aerogel 300. After several games using RadOS, I changed to Aerogel 300. Radical OS is not a doubles racquet, really hard to control the volleys. 

On Sunday on outdoor court, I brought the RadOS and CX 200 Tour 18x20. Also starts with RadOS but the volleys were not as confident, so changed to CX Tour. The CX Tour got new lead setup is at 10 and 2 with total of 3 grams. At 12, the lead seems stiffen the racquet. After 2 games, the racquet was stable and comfortable, no pinky pain. The spin was there but not much, the string was moving a lot even though I am using syngut 17g.

Fake equipment

 Been buying equipment online, though read about fake equipment, you never expect until you experienced one. Bought a head liquidmetal, turns out a fake: the paint finish was not good especially on the liquidmetal corner, the condition was also bad, normal but heavy usage. Next was string, the packaging was awful, the print out and paper was different, no gauge size, and the no brand and type printed out on the string. Turns out, previously I bought old prince strings that may as well fake too. Beware of fake equipments especialy string because it may cost little but unusable.

Racquet head shape

 Here are the pictures of head shape taken from TW site. They are pretty accurate as I have them. Six One Team (SOT) looks bigger than PS97 but the SOT beam is thicker. Aerogel 300 is very polarized.

They are in sq inch: MW 200G (95), Six One Team (95), PS97 (97), AG 300 (98), Bio F3.0 Tour (98), Tour 100L (100), Warrior 107 (107), Radical OS (107).

Fed Backhand Volley

 Just noticed from watching online video of Fed practicing volley, Fed preparation for backhand volley is high and the swing is long. The result must be full of spin. From the picture: the ball was dipping but Fed takeback was still from high position.

Racquet Balance: polarization and stiffness

Racquet customization will impact with racquet polar, making it polarized or depolarized. In my short experience, a polarized racquet may benefit lead at 3 and 9 making it slight depolarized for more stability, for example on Aerogel 300 with 3grams total at 3&9. A depolarized racquet with wide body and low power such as CX 200 Tour may benefit with lead at 12 for polarized effect. The 6.1 BLX team added at 10 and 2 because has that elongated but flatten top corner. 

In addition, adding lead at 12 can feel like it stiffen the racquet by making it more powerful and plow through. The addition of lead at the top made it the upper hoop to bend less and might send the shock to the handle. 

 

Racquet finder (con't)

I am going to continue the post, I wrote about my racquet line up. The last time was on Prince Tour 100L. 

In 2018, I bought another Pro Staff 97 v10 as a backup for the first PS97. This racquet is now been sold at 2/3 of its purchase price. As mentioned in the previous blog, I had wrist pain from using this racquet and moved on to other arm-friendlier racquet.

In 2019, I bought a brand new old stock Head Youtek Radical OS at a bargain (half off from $189). I put a leather grip on it but kind of made it too big with overgrip and hurt my thumb. As of now, I put back a synthetic grip and played better. The grip was Head traditional rectangular grip so a leather grip made it one size up. With a tight string pattern (18x19), the strokes are flat, swing easy, good power. Currently with technifibre syngut 16g.

In early 2020, I was then browsing online and found a used Prince Textreme Warrior 107. New Prince racquet is rare in Indonesia, so at about half off a new one ($80), I bought it. The racquet is great at slicing but still not be able to maintain the power, may need spin a friendly string. It does not need dampener because already muted from the big headsize and thick frame. 

After several weeks not playing due to the pandemic, I found that the Pro Staff 97 gives me wrist pain. I actually felt it for a long time, I sometimes wear wristband day after playing with it which I thought was normal. But then, I read tennisnerd where he mentioned about the stiffness of PS97, it had me thinking to try others, especially player's racquet.

I remember a friend was selling Wilson Ultra Tour, I regretted not buying it because having fun with PS97. He mentioned that the UT was very low powered. But, then he told me that he is trying to sell Dunlop CX 200 Tour 18x20. Then, I read about it and was interested but at the same time I found online, someone selling the 16x19 version. So, I bought the 16x19 version at secondhand price around $80, the racquet is like new and clean. The 18x20 comes with some knicks and scratch but overall good. These racquet plays similar but very lighthead that it needs lead, most of the shots landed short and a bit unstable on stock. My current setup for both are around 3-4 grams of lead at 12 o'clock.

After that Dunlop, starting reading and found a seller selling brand new old Dunlop racquets. First, I bought the Hot Melt 200G, for around $15, which is heavy and low powered. It is so soft that it needs leather grip. The price was bargain, so I bought another one (might sell the unstrung one). 

Then, I bought another Dunlop, Aerogel 300, for around $50, just for trying but turns out, it is my go to racquet now. With current setup 3 grams on 3-9, synth grip, rubber dampener, and spin friendly string, the power and balance are just right, not too light or heavy. I have another one for spare. The tinny feel is there and with leather grip, it send shocks to my pinky. 

Bought a Prince Blade 107, for $25, might be an asian version of Precision Lite 107, in purple. Lend this to a friend for use.

I just myself another Dunlop, Biomimetic F3.0 Tour which have not strung and will see how it goes.

[to be continue]

PS97 and Radical OS setup

 For the last two tennis sessions, I brought my Wilson PS97 v10 (synth grip + 2 over grip) and Head IG YT Radical OS (synth grip + 1 over grip). In the first session, we were using weeks old balls, so the control from the ball was hard, using the PS97 works better. But in the second session, we were using new balls. Dont know whether my swing speed was off or the string has softened up, I just cant find any power or control from PS97 on the new balls. So, I switched to Rad OS which has bigger head size but tighter string in the center. Voila, the power and control was better, and I can swing more confidently. Summary: Rad OS with synthetic grip and overgrip feels good. Reminds me of Dunlop Aerogel 300 of its power and easy swing. 

Doubles positioning

 Below is picture of Bryan brothers, see how they position themselves at ready position; closer to service line then to the net. They are tall but this is to avoid lobs. At this position, be ready for low volleys.

PS97 update

 Sold a PS97, so only have one PS97, which is the 1st one I bought. This one is lighter than the latter one, it swings easier. Strung with a prince syngut 16, it has now started to frayed and will using it until it breaks. Used to put leather grip, had great feel but it may sends vibration to the wrist, making it sore. The current setup from last session was: synthetic grip, 2 thin overgrips, and rubber band dampener. The spin was there but was using worn balls, control was good but nothing special. The 2 overgrips seems a bit big but more stable. Overall: muted, might need spin friendly strings.

Radical OS update

 Been using the YT IG Radical OS, the current setup is using synthetic grip, overgrip, and rubber band dampener. The feel is still the same, feels soft and a bit flimsy. The power is certainly there, need to spin on it, without the spin the ball will bounce really high. Overall, a fun racquet for singles game.

Six One Team customization

 Six One Team (SOT) was my first racquet that I bought after using Ultra 95 from early 90s. Have not customized it until 2019. It is a light but balanced racquet, so I thought it may not need customization. But, there was something missing from this racquet, it is missing stability and plow through, plus a small sweetspot. Tried leather grip but grip was too big. Add lead on 3 and 9 but loss of power. Then, moved the lead to 12 (11 to 1) around 3grams (6 inches * 2). Tried it yesterday, plow and stability was better. 

Current racquet swingweight

 Below is the swingweight of the frames in collection, the swingweight is taken from TW website:

Racquet	Weight unstrung (grams)	Weight strung (grams)	Swingweight strung (grams)	Current modification
Pro Staff 97	315	324	329	Overgrip, rb dampener
CX 200 Tour 18x20	315	330	318	Leather grip, overgrip, lead 3g
CX 200 Tour 16x19	310	325	317	Leather grip, overgrip, lead 3g
Aerogel 300	290	305	316	Overgrip, lead 3g, rb dampener
Hot Melt 200G	320	336	316	Leather grip, overgrip
YT Radical OS	295	315	315	Overgrip, rb dampener
Six One Team	289	303	318	Lead 3g, dampener
Warrior 107	300	318	317	Leather grip, overgrip
Tour 100L	270	285	285	Lead 3g, overgrip

PS97 and AG300 (and additional power)

 Had two tennis sessions in the past 2 weeks: all doubles games and indoor. The 1st week using PS97 and then AG300. Less playing with CX due to sore pinky from leather grips (culprit maybe) on AG300. There was a slight change when I was playing AG300. The week before when playing with PS97, teammates mentioned that my strokes could have more power and it made me think, this PS97 should have more power than my regular CX. I was feeling slugish when using the PS, several of my overheads hit the net. 

So, watched videos of Patrick Mouratoglu, and one of his advice is to add power from your leg by going forward. I tried that advice combined with AG300 current setup (rubber band). The result were better from my perspective, more power and more control even from AG300. The current AG300 set up is lead at 3 and 9, syn grip, overgrip, rubber band dampener.

New balls

 My past two sessions were doubles, using new balls, and using CX 200 Tour: the 16x19 on indoor court and 18x20 on outdoor court. Total of 3 wins and 2 loss, thats is not bad. Tried also the AG300 but felt too bouncy, less control. Using the CX 200T esp. the balls rarely goes far, mostly dips on the service line. Also not using AG300 because gave my sore pinky. Will also try the Head RadOS 107 after changing the grip to synthetic. 

Practice set match CX 200 Tour 16x19

 Had a practice set with CX 200 Tour 16x19. The AG300 (with leather grip) hurts my pinky and tried other racquet. I won 7-5. Pretty frustrated at 5-5 because my opponent was starting to realise my low powered racquet. But then I just embraced this low powered racquet and slices bounced low. Ball flies higher compare to 18x20 but with not much spin and bounce. If you look at TNerd using it you can see that his opponent struggle with the low bounce. I changed the grip with leather and add 4.5grams at 3 and 9. The new version on red are more appealing but the this old version is more stealthy.

Prince Precision Blade 107

Recently got a mint condition Prince Precision Blade 107. Strung weight at 312grams w/o overgrip. No information in WWW for this one. Slight head heavy. Tested playing with it, and pretty decent despite heavy swing. Not as lively as Warrior 107. 

Racquet and arms pain

 This three powerful racquet gave me sore/pain in the arm areas, they are:

• Wilson Pro Staff 97: wrist pain on off center hits (may need softer string tension or thinner gauge)
• Head Radical OS: thumb pain from backhand (may need to replace leather grip with regular grip)
• Dunlop Aerogel 300: pinky finger digit from racquet shock (changed the leather grip to regular grip, will let you know of the result)

 Low powered frames does not give me arm pain but they are low powered (Dunlop CX Tour, Dunlop 200G, Wilson Six One Team).

BLX Six One Team (3g lead)

So, I had a practice match yesterday and was comparing AG300 with BLX SOT. The spec of the SOT are 306 grams with 3 grams lead on 3 and 9, and Babolat syn gut 16g. In comparison with AG300 the SOT are: 

• lower powered: some of the shots from backhand landed on nets compare to AG300.
• maneuverability: easier volley and more stable than before probably due to the lead (need to use this on doubles)
• smaller sweetspot: feels way smaller than AG300, off center shots were landed short and drive volleys are hard.
• spin friendly: spin on serves and forehand were controllable.

In summary, this SOT is in between AG300 and CX 200 Tour, let see if I can add 2 grams lead on top*.

*) added 2 grams lead on top and can feel slight additional power but not much.

Car stories

 Udah jatooh diomelin pulak ama bapak ampe nangis2 ... wakakakaka

Jadi gini ceritanya, kita dulu selalu berlebaran di Purwokerto dan Bapak beli mercy pontoon 180E hijau kepunyaan pakde ( bapak dari ibu ), yang jadi mobil ke 2 untuk keseharian. Mobil satunya Mazda kotak B600 warna abu2 milik ibu yang diberikan oleh pakde juga setelah ibu bapak menikah (STNK kuning gading)

Sewaktu berlebaran di purwokerto, kebiasaan kita adalah sholat hari raya di mesjid agung purwokerto, tempat kita dulu baik delman bareng2..

Nah sepulangnya dari sholat di mesjid agung... kita  mungkin bapak nyupir dengan siapa disebelahnya lupa.

Saya, om rahardjo dan Bei duduk dibelakang...

Mercy 180e dipintu belakang kanan kiri itu ada sandaran tangan nya..

Untuk penumpang

Dan didepan tiap sandaran itu ada tuas pembuka pintu yang kalau ditarik ke atas, melepas kuncian pintu.

Seperti biasa bei kan mungkin kelas 1 atau 2 SD ya ... suka duduk diatas sandaran tangan dan bersender dipintu...

Kami bercanda canda ketawa seperti biasa ... happy lah pokoknya...

Perjalanan pulang ke kebon dalem bapak nyupir melewati rotary tugu yang dekat Gatot Subroto yang kayak monas mini

..  datang dari arah selatan

Jadi di tugu mobil kita belok kanan memutari rotary tugu kearah timur...

Kebiasaan bei .. tangannya suka mainan tuas pintu... ya kita ketawa ketawa lah dalam mobil...

Bei posisi di pintu belakang kiri... ketawa ketawa konyol lah... sambil utak atik...

Masuk ke rotari .. agak ngebut juga sih Bapak...

Tau2 pas belok di rotary... pintu kebuka lebar... tuh bocah kelempar keluar trus jatoh guling guling kayak di film2...

Copot semua jantung yang di mobil ... kecuali gw

Untung situasi sepi dan gak ada mobil dibelakang...

Bapak itu otomatis maaaaaaraaaaaah...

Karena bapak dasarnya begitu... gak sedih gak kaget tapi muaraaaah

Bapak diem aja abis kita nolongin bei... tetapi sesampai di kebon dalem... kita besua dipanggil ngadep dan dimarahin abis2an... dah bubar tuh mood buat lebaran.

Bedua (kena marah)

Lecet2... karena jalan aspalnya berkerikil jaman dulu

Dengkulnya lecet2

Posisi jatohnya kayak guling2...

Saya kira itu terakhir kali kami duduk bersandar di pegangan tangan, walaupun duduk agak mblesek di kursi belakang jadi gak bisa lihat pemandangan secara keseluruhan

Duduk dipagangan tangan agar bisa liat kedepan, hahaha....

Kalau noi punya kebiasaan jelek kalau naik mobil toyota DX biru milik bapak....

Mobil itu jok depan belakang ditutupi cover warna biru tua

Noi suka tidur dibelakang tengah dengan posisi duduk bersender menghadap.. kesamping

Kalau udah tidur kepalanya suka nempel kesenderan kepala sampai pipinya bergesek2 ke jok mobil..

Dasar anak gupis.... ngilernya kayak sungai...

Itu jok mobil bagian tengah penuh dengan garis garis putih

Garis dari ilernya Noi yang naik turun

Selama kejadian bertahun tahun dan gak bisa hilang..

Bapak dulu waktu muda lucu... nabrak mobil orang dari belakang... kok korbannya dimaki dan diajak gelut... tuh kelakuan.

Bapak mah konyol....

Waktu SD sering diajak makan siang bareng bapak sewaktu di Bandung..

Kita sudah pindah ke lembang waktu itu.. kelas 3 SD..

Kita cuman punya satu supir .. pak man..

Jadi pagi turun ke bandund dari lembang.. pak man nunggu di kantor konsultan bapak di sukaluyu, jalan batik jonas blok 2 no.2

Siang jemput anak2 di sekolah masing, mobil langsung ke lembang dan gak lama balik ke bandung

Jadi kalo gak ikut pulang siangnya... ya mau gak mau stuck di bandung.. antara ngikutin bapak kemana dia pergi atau tinggal di kantor bapak sampai sore atau malam tergantung kapan bapak selesai.

Kita sering ngikut makan di restoran Mirasari di jalan purnawarman dekat dago.

Restoran yang prosesnya milih menu di lemari kaca dekat kasir.

Nah... itu restoran kadang ramai kadang sepi.. pelayannya laki2 semua yang kerjanya ngambilin orderan kita setelah kita memilih...

Dasar itu bapak emang kadang gak sabar ya...  beberapa kali ribut ama pelayan nanyain pesanannya... sampe suatu hari ribut itu sampe bediri kayak mo berantem

Tapi herannya masih suka balik kesitu..

[ end of story ]

TW Archive - Dunlop Aerogel 3hundred 2008

 In stock form, the racquet is too light, need weight both static and swing. Added leather grip, overgrip, 4 grams lead on 9 and 3, and 6 grams of dampener. Flat server. Better stability now and plow. I wonder if new CX 200 at 305 grams feels the same. 

1st week Feb: after playing 3 sets in a day with CX 200 Tour, I guess I got pretty tired. On the day after, I used the Aerogel 300, the racquet felt pretty heavy so I took out the 6grams dampener. The racquet feels fine without dampener, and how 6 grams can make a different.  

Pro Staff v10 and v13 scores (with the chart)

I used PS97 v10 while the newest one, with they say improved stringbed is v13. Below are the scores from TW. v10 got overall 83 while v13 got 85 (the average from all scores actually was 84). The most improved was control (up by 9 points) while lowered on others especially powers at 79 (down 3 points). I wonder by the lower power, if it is similar with CX 200 Tour now.

Return of the Pro Staff

After playing most of doubles games now using AG300 or CX200T, I tried PS97 for singles game, just one a ten points tie breaker which came out as winner (12-10). The spec of the racquet was around 332grams and worn 16g syn gut. Had two double faults, need to relearn serving with this racquet in singles game. I wonder if I can survive a set or two with this racquet. One of the reason, I bought this racquet aside from RF won another slam was that the review score was high (top image), but turns out not all score (bottom image); very low on control score (76) despite the not so high score on power (82). No wonder, many shots went over. Need to produce topspin or use spin friendly string.  

Aerogel 300 - 3 weeks play

1st week: So, i had a chance to grab an old stockDunlop Aerogel 300. Last week, I added leads before stringing and felt heavy, so I took out the leads when playing doubles. The racquet at 290 grams unstrung at stock felt light. I put leather grip, add overgrip, and strung at weight at 318 grams now. The power of the racquet is at medium, I had several long and several shorts. The spin is good, can flick the racquet and ball will spin. The weight is a bit light but at the right balance. No added lead, afraid after adding lead will add power. Will seek out more flying hours before deciding that it can replace other main racquets. Serves and overheads are OK. The power and plow through are still lower than PS97.

2nd week: 2nd week of playing with this racquet, played for 4 days (2 days singles and 2 days doubles) with totals of 9 sets. Added 2-3 grams of weight at 3 and 9. I would say that the racquet is nothing special except for comfort, speed and sweetspot but that is the highlight. Forehands and backhands are good. Overheads are good. Volleys are good but not as stable as PS97 or CX200. Maneuverability is very good though due to weight and headsize. No wrist pain.

3rd week: a hitting session and game day. Add 4 grams to the racquet, now weight 324grams. In the hitting session compare with CX200T18, AG300 is like trampoline, easy power, no feel and dwell time. The next day, played 3 doubles game. Unstable when receiving heavy ball but better than before adding leads. When hitting offcenter, I can feel the shocks but unlike using PS97, no wrist pain afterward.

4th and 5th week: easy power, won singles game or lost close sets. Need to flatten the serves. Compare to CX 200 Tour, no need to swing and better maneuverability.

Hot Melt 200G Grip Customization

 So, I changed and rechanged my HM 200G racquets with leather grip. I have two, one strung and the other unstrung. 

Racquet	String	Grip	Weight (grams)	Remark
HM 200G #1	17 Prince Syngut	Leather	340	No overgrip
HM 200G #1	17 Prince Syngut	Synthetic	331	No overgrip
HM 200G #2	None	Synthetic	318
HM 200G #2	None	Leather	326

The leather grip adds 6 grams and that is a lot for this heavy racquet. The #1 racquet now with overgrip and dampener will measure at 340 grams.

Similar racquets

 So, I had several racquets that are said to be similar even though not the same generation. They are as below:

- Dunlop Hot Melt 200G (early 2000s 320grams) are similar with Head Tour 630/280 (late 90s 330grams) or Head Pro Tour 2.0 (2019) in terms of headsize (95 sq inch), string pattern (18x20), stiffness (low 60s), beam width (20mm), weight (>320 grams unstrung), headlight balance

- Dunlop Aerogel 300 (early 2010s 285grams) are similar with Wilson Pro Staff 97 (2015-2020 315grams) in terms of headsize (97 vs 98), string pattern (16x19), beam width (21.5mm), swingweight (>320s)

- Dunlop CX 200 Tour 18x20 (2018 315grams) are similar with Wilson Ultra Tour (2017 310grams) in terms of string pattern, low power, low stiffness

- Prince Warrior 107 (2015 300grams) are similar with Babolat Pure Aero (300 grams) in terms of power

I have not played with Head Pro Tour, Wilson Ultra Tour, or Pure Aero, but I get the ideas.

Running Soccer Shoes

 Had a look in soccer.com archives of 1999/2000 and found them, hybrid running and soccer. Did not buy them, I wish I had. I was more toward adidas but this are cool, supper comfortable for walking and kicking balls.

TW Archive Dunlop Hot Melt 200G

 

Valerian Movie

 I have now read Valerian comic series book 1-15. Hopefully, soon the complete series for book 18-21 will be available. Compare to the movie, the casting is quite far, the main actors for Valerian and Laureline looks too young. They should be in late 30s or early 40s. The depictions from the comic is great but quite far from my expectation as the comic fan. Below is the movie poster.

Dampener

 Dampener has weight: long silicon around 6 grams, small ones are 3 grams, while rubber band less are 2 grams. Need to try rubber band so it does not add weight significantly. Dampener dampens the string particularly the ping sound, it does not dampens the racquet vibration.

A racquet makes a difference

 The other day one of my regular session mate asked me, compare to how I played 6 years ago, he said "you have improved a lot". Then I said, "found the right racquet". 

So, what changed? I have to admit that ever since I use Pro Staff 97 v10 in 2017 my game changed. But the racquet has changed too. When I first started using it, still has the original grip but added two overgrips (one thick and one thin), the bevel feels very round. I remember the racquet being heavy but has good plow through, no arm/wrist pain though. In 2019, I changed both with leather grip. In 2020 with new string Prince Duraflex Syngut at 55lbs, I got wrist pain from using this racquet. I use to play with this racquet everytime especially when playing tough opponents. 

I have now opt friendlier racquet when playing, but less powerful than this one. Using this racquet, when you hit properly: proper forehand, proper backhand, proper volley, it felt good. However, when you hit on transition at the time when you need to adjust your wrist, that is when you feel it; I dont feel when using other softer frame.

The benchmark

 This is the racquet thats sets the weight benchmark: Hot Melt 200G. This racquet in stock form serves as the bench mark for hitting incoming ball in fast court. I can hit the ball nicely square with this racquet. The ball just dwell nicely in this one, you can just block fast past ball in this one. Strung it with syngut at 50lbs and still low power. Best with leather grip due to the frame low stiffness (<60lbs).