Schiavone and Stosur are recent converts to Nadal's new black strings
Vari L. Cinicke
--
Cheers,
vc
mimus
> An interesting tidbit! :)
Everyone really seems excited to have learned that.
--
Take a deep breath, take a walk, ool off, plot a bit, and serve again.
Vari L. Cinicke
> On Jun 3, 11:39 am, "Vari L. Cinicke"<variesn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> An interesting tidbit! :)
>
> Everyone really seems excited to have learned that.
>
Yes. :)
The Stosur forehand is looking frighteningly good. I think she has been
averaging close to 20 forehand winners per match.
They were both asked about the strings and they both were very positive
in their evaluations.
--
Cheers,
vc
Rodjk #613
Actually, I was interested to hear about it. I just don't comment on
most threads that I read...
But the strings are mentioned here:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/sl_price/06/02/serena.stosur.ap/
With all that, at Roland Garros Stosur also had an edge that is, the
last few days, all the talk among equipment geeks. Just after losing
to Williams at the 2010 Australian Open, Stosur swapped out her
longtime blend of gut and Luxilon -- the synthetic string that, for
the last few years, enabled pros to hit harder, with more control and
spin, than ever before -- and replaced it with a new black synthetic
from Babolat. That the new string is also used by a revitalized Rafael
Nadal, not to mention Francesca Schiavone, the Italian who upended No.
3 Caroline Wozniacki to set up one semifinal against Elena Dementieva,
is lost on no one.
One of Wozniaki's advisors, Sven Groeneveld, sat behind the court for
that quarterfinal match Tuesday, watching the straight-hitting
Wozniaki get constantly yo-yo'd into the doubles alley by Schiavone's
hyper-rotating shots. By Wednesday morning he had tested the new
Babolat strings himself, becoming convinced that the new strings allow
for a larger sweet-spot, an even broader grip on the ball -- or as
Nadal put it, "the ball stays more time on the racket, so is easier to
have the control". Then Groeneveld all but declared them a new state
of the art.
"For the girls it's a great advantage," said Groeneveld, head coach of
adidas' Player Development Program, in which neither woman is
involved. "Stosur and Schiavone always hit the ball heavy; it just
added an extra dimension. Schiavone was able to hit balls you thought
she normally wouldn't be able to hit and was still able to get a lot
more on the ball from her defensive positions. And Stosur's backhand
was always a bit weak, but now she can hit through the ball much
better and seems to have gained extra on her serve."
Just as -- or even more -- important, the strings only reinforced
Stosur's growing self-belief. "As soon as I hit with it, that's
exactly what I felt: The ball really sinks into the strings and you
can feel like you can just...release it," Stosur said. "Playing with
spin, it grips the ball a bit more and helps enhance it. You feel
really secure. You know that you can swing right through the ball and
whack it -- and you think it's going to go in."
-end story-
However, on some of the tennis forums, it is said that the strings are
just Babolat RPM Blast strings with a black coating (silicone?) and
not really anything amazing or new.
I am tempted to try some, just to see for myself. But the strings are
expensive and I am cheap.
:)
Rodjk #613
Vari L. Cinicke
> On Jun 3, 1:00 pm, "Vari L. Cinicke"<variesn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 6/3/2010 1:26 PM, mimus wrote:
>>
>>> On Jun 3, 11:39 am, "Vari L. Cinicke"<variesn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>> An interesting tidbit! :)
>>
>>> Everyone really seems excited to have learned that.
>>
>> Yes. :)
>>
>> The Stosur forehand is looking frighteningly good. I think she has been
>> averaging close to 20 forehand winners per match.
>>
>> They were both asked about the strings and they both were very positive
>> in their evaluations.
>>
>
Thanks. Enjoyed reading that.
An interesting thing about Stosur's game now is that she is playing a
lot more from the baseline than she used to. That is particularly odd
given her doubles prowess.
I am looking forward to seeing if she is able to maintain this type of
form going into Wimbledon and whether she ventures into net as little
there too.
--
Cheers,
vc
topspin
> On 6/3/2010 2:06 PM, Rodjk #613 wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Jun 3, 1:00 pm, "Vari L. Cinicke"<variesn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> On 6/3/2010 1:26 PM, mimus wrote:
>
> >>> On Jun 3, 11:39 am, "Vari L. Cinicke"<variesn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>>> An interesting tidbit! :)
>
> >>> Everyone really seems excited to have learned that.
>
> >> Yes. :)
>
> >> The Stosur forehand is looking frighteningly good. I think she has been
> >> averaging close to 20 forehand winners per match.
>
> >> They were both asked about the strings and they both were very positive
> >> in their evaluations.
>
> > Actually, I was interested to hear about it. I just don't comment on
> > most threads that I read...
> > But the strings are mentioned here:
Not odd, surely. Given the state of tennis technology it is the
sensible option these days.
What would be odd is if she 'never' approached the net.
BTW Jankovic should try playing doubles. She might look less lost when
pulled to the net.
mimus
> On Jun 3, 1:00 pm, "Vari L. Cinicke" <variesn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On 6/3/2010 1:26 PM, mimus wrote:
>
> > > On Jun 3, 11:39 am, "Vari L. Cinicke"<variesn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > >> An interesting tidbit! :)
>
> > > Everyone really seems excited to have learned that.
>
> > Yes. :)
>
> > The Stosur forehand is looking frighteningly good. I think she has been
> > averaging close to 20 forehand winners per match.
>
> > They were both asked about the strings and they both were very positive
> > in their evaluations.
>
> > --
> > Cheers,
>
> > vc
>
> Actually, I was interested to hear about it. I just don't comment on
> most threads that I read...
>
> With all that, at Roland Garros Stosur also had an edge that is, the
> last few days, all the talk among equipment geeks. Just after losing
> to Williams at the 2010 Australian Open, Stosur swapped out her
> longtime blend of gut and Luxilon -- the synthetic string that, for
> the last few years, enabled pros to hit harder, with more control and
> spin, than ever before -- and replaced it with a new black synthetic
> from Babolat. That the new string is also used by a revitalized Rafael
> Nadal, not to mention Francesca Schiavone, the Italian who upended No.
> 3 Caroline Wozniacki to set up one semifinal against Elena Dementieva,
> is lost on no one.
>
> One of Wozniaki's advisors, Sven Groeneveld, sat behind the court for
> that quarterfinal match Tuesday, watching the straight-hitting
> Wozniaki get constantly yo-yo'd into the doubles alley by Schiavone's
> hyper-rotating shots.
She always does that.
Great spins.
> By Wednesday morning he had tested the new
> Babolat strings himself, becoming convinced that the new strings allow
> for a larger sweet-spot, an even broader grip on the ball -- or as
> Nadal put it, "the ball stays more time on the racket, so is easier to
> have the control". Then Groeneveld all but declared them a new state
> of the art.
>
> "For the girls it's a great advantage," said Groeneveld, head coach of
> adidas' Player Development Program, in which neither woman is
> involved. "Stosur and Schiavone always hit the ball heavy; it just
> added an extra dimension. Schiavone was able to hit balls you thought
> she normally wouldn't be able to hit
She always does that.
Great retriever. And gets shots off that (when they work) look like
genius.
(And you never have any trouble telling whether she thought it worked
or not.)
> and was still able to get a lot
> more on the ball from her defensive positions. And Stosur's backhand
> was always a bit weak, but now she can hit through the ball much
> better and seems to have gained extra on her serve."
>
> Just as -- or even more -- important, the strings only reinforced
> Stosur's growing self-belief. "As soon as I hit with it, that's
> exactly what I felt: The ball really sinks into the strings and you
> can feel like you can just...release it," Stosur said. "Playing with
> spin, it grips the ball a bit more and helps enhance it. You feel
> really secure. You know that you can swing right through the ball and
> whack it -- and you think it's going to go in."
> -end story-
>
> However, on some of the tennis forums, it is said that the strings are
> just Babolat RPM Blast strings with a black coating (silicone?) and
> not really anything amazing or new.
> I am tempted to try some, just to see for myself. But the strings are
> expensive and I am cheap.
> :)
Well, we read a lot about racket-technology, not as much about string,
and hardly ever anything about the balls.
--
Take a deep breath, take a walk, cool off, plot a bit, and serve
again.