PLAYERS ARE REPLACING THEIR BUTTON AND WORM DAMPENERS WITH THE CTRL SYSTEM. HERE’S WHY YOU SHOULD TOO:
Your Experience
“I ran a 4.0 Boot Camp this last weekend and introduced the [PerfecToss] Toss Trainer to my pros and players. They were surprised at the simplicity and function of the weighted ball. My teaching staff all agreed that with a little repetition, it greatly reduced toss “flipping” and reinforced the proper “lifting” action.
A lot of the players when practicing with the [PerfecToss] Toss Trainer were tossing the ball too far into the court. My staff and I realized that at the end of their serve toss, players were not lifting the arm all the way up. They would straighten out the wrist adding a minor flip as the ball left the hand. The [PerfecToss] Toss Trainer teaches both your arm and wrist to lift upward together as the ball is released into the air. I think teaching pros will embrace the concept. As opposed to hoops, wrist braces and tethered balls, there’s no reason why players shouldn’t have a [PerfecToss] Toss Trainer in their tennis bag for warmup tosses and form reinforcement.”
- Alan M, Menlo Park, CA
I have a tendency to over-hit my Prince (Premier) racquet…with the Control dampeners a lot more of my shots are landing in the court!”
- Mary B, Stockton, CA
I’m a 4.5 baseliner with a decent 2-handed backhand. I’ve used Yonex racquets for years and always felt that the negatives of off-center hits were offset by the positives of sweet spot drives. I was shocked at how much better my racquet plays with the Control System vs the Yonex button. CTRL is a great name for this product.”
- Cynthia S, Atlanta, GA
Your Questions Answered
Question: “Do I need to use all four dampeners to optimize the play of my racquet?”
Answer: There are a variety of factors that can influence how you and your racquet work together. Depending on your rating or approximate skill level (see www.usta.com for level definition), if you play singles and/or doubles, your racquet type and style of play, you might benefit from a full CTRL System (four dampeners) or as few as two. The benefits of dampening usually involve altering how the eight middle main strings play. Most racquets have 16 mains, so if you’re dampening six or eight, that will only leave five or four on each side before you hit the frame. Most shots engage a matrix of six mains and six crosses, so any shot that’s not a framer is going to hit some or all of the eight mains. We recommend that you start with four at the yoke, move them up to the bottom cross, then repeat the process with three and two. Along the way, you’ll find the combination that works best for you.
Question: “Is the effect of the dampeners the same above the top cross string as it is below the bottom cross string?”
Answer: Almost. Dampening effectively shortens the length of the strings that are being dampened. So dampening them from the top or bottom doesn’t matter. What does matter is the effect of the weight and the location of the sweet spot on your racquet. Although each CTRL dampener weighs only 1g, if you put four at the top you’d be effectively adding 4g of weight – the equivalent to a 6” piece of lead tape. If you like playing with a head-heavy racquet, this might not be an issue. Most players play head-neutral or head-light. Placing your CTRL dampeners below the bottom cross won’t effect the balance of your racquet. Most players hit the ball above the mid-line. Putting your CTRL’s above the top cross moves that spot down toward the yoke – putting them below the bottom cross moves the spot higher, where you’re more likely to benefit from it.
News from CTRL
Control Tennis will be working with St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hosipital in 2016 to help control childhood diseases.