DECODING RACQUET NOMENCLATURE

By Vince Chiarelli, PTR, MRT and Owner of String Along With Vince in Largo

One of the first questions we ask customers seeking a new racquet is “what racquet have you been using?” Often the answer is something like: “a Hammer” or “a Liquid Metal” or “a TripleThreat.” This tells us that the racquet companies are getting across their “theme names” but consumers are not fully aware of the many significant differences within each theme family.

What follows is our quick tutorial on racquet identification. Racquet names follow a pattern like this: manufacturer/“theme name”/model number or name/head size/string pattern/length or special feature. Here are some examples:

• Wilson/K Factor/6-1/95/16x18/x (for extra long)
• Prince/O-3 Speedport Tour/mid plus/16x18/string-hole inserts
• Head/Microgel/Radical/107/18x19
• Babolat/Cortex/Pure Drive/100/16x19/+ (for extra long)

The main point to realize is that racquet companies have many models with the same theme name that usually highlights their latest technology. The model number or name places the racquet within the theme family. For some perverse reason, the companies then complicate their offerings by having variations on the same model number or name. Wilson has four versions of the K Factor 6-1; Prince has six versions of the O-3 Speedport Tour; Head has three versions of the Microgel Radical; and Babolat has six versions of the Cortex Pure Drive.

When you plan to demo or purchase a racquet, you cannot go by cosmetics alone. You have to be aware of which variation of the racquet model you are choosing. It is much like the automobile industry with “LE’s”, “SX’s,” and other designations that tell you the car has some variable features.

Of course there are other terms that mean different things to different companies. The same-looking racquet could have a “tour”, “pro”, or “team” suffix that indicates a variation on some of the features, but those variations are not ‘standard’ across all companies.

Some racquets that look alike have very different specifications for different head sizes: stiffness, weight, length, beam width, balance, and sometimes string pattern. They should have a different name but they don’t! Another subtle point to remember is that Yonex makes their racquets slightly lighter in the smaller grip sizes (4 1/4 and 4 1/8).

The way racquets are named contains some helpful information if you are on the lookout. Work with a reputable source to make sure you are getting the right model in the right grip size for you.