While at first glance it may look like the changes from nCode to KFactor may have happened in the material build up, a close inspection of the KSix-One Tour 90 reveals some other subtle design updates to the racquet, as well.

The new KSix-One Tour 90 takes a page from the Wilson ProStaff Original 6.0 85, the racquet that wrote the book on classic racquet performance. Take a close look at the new handle of the KSix-One Tour 90 and you’ll notice a shorter pallet with more of the graphite shaft exposed below the yoke – just as with the ProStaff Original 6.0 racquets.

Although we’re not aware of any physical advantages to the ProStaff 6.0 85 like handle pallet, we do know it will silence critics that noticed this difference between the version of the Tour 90s used by Roger Federer and those available to the rest of us.

Another subtle update to the KSix-One Tour 90 is the string spacing in the sweetspot of the racquet. Members of our Talk Tennis message boards were quick to point out that Federer’s version of previous Tour 90s had only four cross strings along the PWS bar at 3 & 9 o’clock on the racquet face. The retail versions of the Pro Staff Six-One Tour 90 and the nCode nSix-One Tour 90 both had five cross stings through this area. With the new KSix-One Tour 90 we now get four cross strings, just like Federer.

Do you know what one of the most popular and best selling rackets are today? If you said the Babolat Pure Drive, then you are correct! I am the happy owner of one of these great rackets, and I am so glad that I made the decision to purchase it. Let me tell you why.

My previous racket of choice was the Dunlop mfil 300. It was a very sturdy and high quality racket able to deliver pin point accuracy with my tennis balls. However, I was unable to deliver a great deal of power and pop which was lacking in my game. If I had a little bit more power, then it would make a difference in my ralleys.

Therefore, after getting fed up with another loss, I decided to shop for a new racket. After checking out the best sellers, I came across the babolat pure drive. I knew that Andy Roddick played with this racket, and although I am not a fan of Andy, I admired his power, especially on his serve,

The cost of the racket was pretty steep at 180 dollars, but I decided to splurge and go for it. Man, I am a happy camper because I am now able to boom serves across the net, and I can effortlessly hit winners down the line. If you are looking for more power in your game, then I would recommend that you get this racket. The one drawback is that it is not as precise in terms of control compared to my previous racket.

If you have played tennis for awhile, you have probably been annoyed when you have to bring your tennis rackets with broken strings to your local stringer. You typically have to pay at least 10 dollars to get your racket restrung. After doing this for awhile, you will ask yourself if investing in a tennis stringing machine is worth it.

I have been in your shoes, and I can assure you that it is definitely worth it! I hated bringing my rackets to Oshmans or Academy because they were so inconsistent in stringing my rackets. Also, I had to more more than I thought it was worth. After playing a few games, my strings would start moving and sometimes break after just playing a few sets!

That is when I started to do some research online and find out how much a tennis stringer is. I was caught up on deciding between a Klippermate and a X-stringer. The Gamma X-stringer is a little bit more expensive compared to the Klippermate, but I am a happy camper. I purchased it at holabird sports, and it was great because the shipping was free! The local tennis shop in Houston was going to charge me fifty dollars for shipping!

It cost me around 150 dollars, but I have strung around 30 rackets already! Plus, I am making a little bit of money on the side because my friends prefer that I string their rackets as opposed to getting it strung at Academy or Oshman’s.

If you have been playing tennis for awhile and have been up to date with the recent technological advances in tennis string, I am sure that you have heard of Luxilon big banger strings. These strings are pretty awesome, because they give you so much feel without sacrificing topspin and power.

Basically, when you play with these strings, it is almost like playing with gut. Gut has tremendous feel, but as you know it is very fragile and will break soon if you hit hard. Also, the luxilon strings are made up of metallic fibers that can give you tons of topspin.

Many people compliment me on my topspin, and I can partly attribute this to the strings that I use. Now the disadvantage of using these strings is that it is more expensive than your typical strings that you would find at Academy. The strings will typically cost around 16 dollars, and if you buy them as a reel online, then you can save even more. However, when you buy a reel, it will cost around 250 dollars.

As a result, I like to buy my strings online. When I go to Academy or a local retail sports store, they never carry these strings, and I am forced to go to a tennis specialty shop which is further away from where I live. As a result, I really enjoy the convenience of buying these strings online. If you have never tried playing with them, I would recommend that you play with it at least once!

The forehand move is certainly popular in the game of Tennis. This maneuver is ordinarily used to hit the ball diagonally over the net. The forehand stroke refers to hitting the ball when your forearm is facing the net. When the ball is on the side of your body holding the racket (right side if you are right handed, left side if you are left handed) you will be using the forehand. To complete a superb forehand stroke, follow these steps:

Step 1: Get ready and get in position. If you know the ball is going to your good side, adjust to hit a forehand. First, side step (or shuffle) over to the ball. At this point your body should be facing the net, but remember to keep your eyes on the ball.

Step 2: Open up your stance. This is the part where you need to rotate yourself sideways. To do this, turn your backfoot so it is parallel with the baseline and the net. At the same time, take a small step forward with your other foot (this foot will be your left if you are right handed, or your right foot if you are left handed). Bend your knees and prepare for the ball to enter into your hitting range.

Step 3: Make contact with the ball. This step should follow less than a few seconds after the second step. Your swing of the racket should follow your step forward, causing the whole procedure to be one, fluent motion.  Your racket should follow an upside down arc pattern. The stroke should start up high about shoulder height, swing down to below the waist, and then be traveling upwards again when it makes contact with the ball. Topspin is your goal when playing Tennis.

Step 4: Follow through. After the contact is made, make sure you follow through with a full stroke. Do not simply make contact with the ball and then freeze. Rather, keep your arm moving until the slice is completed, and then prepare yourself for the ball to be hit back. Great job, you completed a forehand slice!

Hello Everyone,

Lleyton has fantastic footwork and form. Check this video clip out

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I decided to try something different yesterday and it made all the difference in the world. Instead of going for 100% on every shot I decided to scale back a little to may 70% or so. This strategy is nothing new. In fact I learned this early on in my tennis life. After watching the US Open last week and admiring Sam Querry’s composed game. I realized that you do not have to go for too much on every shot. Sam uses this technique so well. Sam would work the ball and move his opponents around and then unleash that huge forehand. This technique makes it very difficult for your opponent to get into a rhythm.

I beat my friend 6-1/6-1 yesterday with this technique. Try it yourself and share your results.

For the last three years I have always had the desire to start my own tennis related site. It’s not hard to know what your purpose is when you constantly have this desire to give back with my overwhelming love for the game. It doesn’t hurt that I have a background in website design and Development.

I picked up the game of tennis later in my adult life. I used to play for the fun of it with my older brother and a couple friends. For some reason my love for this game continued to grow and through this love I have been able continue my journey as a tennis player, enthusiast and tennis freak. I really learned the game of tennis the hard way. I would slap on one of my favorite matches and study the strokes of Pete Sampras, Petr Korda, Gustavo Kuerten and Patrick Rafter. Unfortunately I suffered several injuries including a fractured knee, fracture of the wrist, and a really bad back strain. I truly believe most of these injuries were directly related to poor form and technique. With all of the injuries combined I probably lost a good year and a half of tennis play. Injuries are always so difficult to deal with. Especially when you have this burning desire to play the game. I specifically remember spending the whole summer in 2000 doing foot work drills. I am so fortunate to live in southern California where you can play tennis all year round. There are courts everywhere in the Los Angeles area. Most of the courts are public and for the most part, in very good condition.

]]> http://www.tennisads.com/welcome-to-tennisadscom/feed/ 0 http://www.tennisads.com/rafael-nadals-groundstrokes/ http://www.tennisads.com/rafael-nadals-groundstrokes/#comments Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:24:23 +0000 amflores http://tennisads.com/?p=27 Please take a shot at analyzing and writing about Rafael Nadal’s groundstrokes

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