View Full Version : The TWU customization tool dilemma.

06-10-2011, 08:43 PM
So i wanted to customize a 316g, 328.5mm balance racquet to my optimal specs of 350g, 323mm. I thought everything would be very easy thanks to TWU's great customization tool. However, the tool offered me two drastically different options to achieve the wanted specs. (the one or two location solutions).

That's when i got confused because it's obvious that these two solutions would lead to two VERY different racquets, even with identical specs. I know the missing link is the SW but if i had to take a guess without actually trying to calculate SW, which of these solutions do you think has the best chances of pleasing me? Which one do you guys usually choose?

I would guess the 2 location solution makes more sense since most pros have lead in the head and handle. I've rarely seen lead applied to a single location but i'm looking for a second opinion about this.


06-10-2011, 09:36 PM
The more weight you add further away from the butt cap the more the swingweight will increase.

So if you want to increase swingweight the most, add weight to the very top of the racquet. If you want to add the least amount of swingweight add weight to the handle.

Of course adding weight at the very end will change your balance point more drastically then closer to the middle.

Since you have a specific goal in mind (350g, 323mm) Would it be safe to guess that you are trying to match the specs of a different racquet?

If so, you should find the swingweight of that racquet as well, which will then make it much easier to decide where to add the weight to make all 3 specifications match as close as you can.

06-11-2011, 07:52 AM
I've tried to use the customization tool two times.

The first time I wanted to match my 12.8 oz frame to my 12.9 oz frame. I did not know the swingweights of the two frames so I just assumed that the 12.8 oz frame had the stock swingweight and just extrapolated the 12.9 oz frame swingweight based on static weight. I used the tool but could not come up with a satisfactory match. So I gave up on this. Part of my problem was not having a good way to determine the balance point.

Sometime later I found a good way to determine the balance point and used the TW tool to get my 12.7 oz frame to 13.0 oz (in between the 12.9 and 13.1) and it worked out just as I wanted. It's power level is right in between them - just what I wanted.

After that, I found a tennis shop about 40 miles away with an RDC machine that does customization. One of these days, I mean to bring them down and get measurements on them and perhaps have them customize my lighter frames.

Perhaps you could look around for a local shop that has an RDC machine so that you could get swingweight readings so that you could more accurately do your customization work.

06-11-2011, 08:53 AM
You can't really customize, and certainly can't match racquets, without knowing the starting swingweights. Luckily, calculating swingweight accurately is easy - you just need a yardstick, a stopwatch, two pencils and TWU's swingweight calculator. The RacquetTune app helps, especially if run on a device with a camera.

If you have the swingweight, the Customization tool will usually give two sollutions - one with the additional mass more towards the tip and butt (towards the poles or "polarized") and one with a bunch of mass in the throat and less in the butt. Polarized racquets generally feel softer because the mass concetrated at the poles reduces the vibration frequency, aka dynamic stiffness. Unless you're adding a bunch of mass, though, that effect might not be super noticeable.