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First-time customizer

Q: I’ve been stringing for decades but I’ve never tried customizing a racquet, until now. I want my Prince Triple Threat Grande OS to hit more like my old Wilson Sledge Hammer 2.8 Stretch. How much lead tape should I add?

A: The easy answer is, you can’t get there from here. Your old Wilson weighs less than your Prince, but the swing weight is much higher. See the table for our measurements of each racquet.

Even so, the on-line tools available on our website for USRSA members can help you get your Prince the way you want it. Plugging the specifications for the TT Grande into the Racquet Optimizer, for example, you’ll find that to get the swing weight of the Prince up to that of the Sledge Hammer 2.8, you will need to add 44 grams of lead tape to the tip of your racquet — which is a lot of lead tape. Instead, because this is your first time, you should start out with 8 inches of tape centered at the tip (that is, two pieces of 1/4-inch tape, 4 inches long, on each side of the stringbed) and work your way up. If one layer is not enough, you can then layer other 4-inch strips atop your existing strips until you get as much weight as you need — or can stand.

From the May 2004 issue
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