pt57A in action

[GeoffWilliams]

pt57 a 1.

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I find that this stick helps me practice harder longer, due to its flexy nature. Many top pros are still using this, such as Soderling and Murray (16x 19 drill pattern), and the pt57E such as Gulbis but some have switched from the pt57a to the new TGK 238 line. It's best strung with vs gut mains and alu power crosses, 60/56, for the best of both worlds/gut with feel and tension loss, and poly for spin and controlled power. The problem is, that the alu loses tension faster than the gut does, so it's life span is not long enough for me, and it starts to trampoline too early, before the gut breaks, and there goes $35. Vs tonic is a cheaper version, and is a little less quality, than vs team. Any suggestions/comments?

[crosscourt]

Geoff

Can I ask where you get these sticks?

From your article they sound amazing.

Kind regards

Crosscourt

[GeoffWilliams]

They are good for injury prevention, which for all of us as we age, becomes more of an issue. Best stick for injury prevention I've ever used, and many more say the same. Top players using include: Murray, (16 x19 drill pattern) Simon, Donald Young, Gulbis, Soderling,(Lead all the way under the cap grommet, with custom molded pallets, with indentation for his pinky finger) Wawrinka, Volandri, and many more. Lots of players switching to the h22, a more powerful Wilson imitation, similar playing characteristics, with far more pop on the serve/volley. Of course, the strings have to be good. Gulbis uses the E version, with alu (used to use pacific poly force extreme, a triple layered poly good for control and power), Soderling uses alu also, as do many others with this stick, combining vs gut with alu for the best of both worlds: touch/power/spin/control, but alu is like formula one tires, high performance, and expect to change often, due to trampoline problems, and it will not last as long as the gut for tension loss characteristics..... Can find these on ebay, and tw forums classifieds/for sale section. Expect to pay 300-400 for each. Status, comfort, control, dampened power, esp. under high swing speeds, far less stiff than the mg mp version/stock. Kennelbach factory, according to many, are not making them anymore, and switching to tgk models for top players. Sometimes, top juniors or itf players will sell at itf tournys in person if you ask. I also may sell some, as I have six left, but not for less than $400 ea. You can get a better price if you are patient. New ones are very hard to find. Take the same grommets as the mg mp head. Capped. Tough to change without using a hair blow dryer and awl to insert, on a hard surface where you can push the grommets into the holes better. Pallets avail at tw europe, or on forums, $25-35 ea.

[crosscourt]

Thank you. $300 to $400 is too much for me. It is a shame that we can't get these sort of sticks more easily. I can see that Head dosn't want to release tour frames to the public, but it use to be the case that you could buy a variety of flexible powerful frames -- the RD7 for example -- that could be used by players at many diferent levels of the game and with a variety of playing styles. There is really very little choice now. I don't understand why Yonex cant bring the RD7 back. They could easily run it longside their current offerings. Last year's RDSTour (or something) was a poor immitation of the RD7. Why not just bring back what we all want?

cc