Control Match Situations
When You're Tired or Tight
How to Handle Lefties & Spinmeisters
Beat the Baseline Grinder
Control the Serve in Mixed Doubles
Your Racquet vs 6 for the Pros
Why Federer Chose a Larger Racquet
Lose the Bottom Cross, Gain Control
Control Factors
Beat the Elements
Always Play at Sea Level
Control Aging Strings
Account for Ball Types
Control Your Larger Racquet
Adjust to Court Surfaces
Better Than Buttons, Worms, & Rubber Bands
Beat the Elements
A set of Control Dampeners can give you an advantage over your opponents in windy conditions.
If you’ve ever played a match with the wind blowing in your face or from the side, you know that it can often turn your strengths into weaknesses. The key to winning in the wind is consistency. Shots down wind are likely to be long and shots into the wind can land short.
Most players will adjust their swing speed to compensate, but that can take you out of your normal rhythm and compromise your strengths.
With Control Dampeners, all you have to do is adjust the system to reduce the distance of your shots down wind…your ground strokes, your first serve…and to boost the distance of your shots into the wind…without disturbing your normal swing rhythm.
If the wind is blowing from side to side, a bit more dampening than normal will help with off-center hits and give you the control you need to consistently keep the ball in play…when your serve toss is drifting across the sky, make sure you watch the racquet hit the ball and rest assured that the errant flight of mishits will be minimized by your dampener system.
Control is the Key to winning tennis!
Always Play at Sea Level
If you live and play tennis or golf at high altitudes, you know that the air is less dense and balls are going to fly farther than they will at Sea Level. Tennis and golf both compensate for this by offering lower compression balls. Still, given the power of today’s equipment, it can be difficult to play with power and control at high altitude. Now, for the first time, there’s a solution to this problem for tennis players that golfers wish they had.
The most common adjustment players make in both sports is to reduce the length, power, and speed of their swing. If I usually hit an 8-iron 140 yards and I know I’m averaging 155 at altitude, I can try a ¾ swing to reduce the distance of my shot. Likewise, if my normal forehand drive is landing 6 feet out, I can just let up a bit or try to hit a more loopy shot to keep the ball in the court. The problem with this approach is, it makes you compromise your normal rhythm. Pro players can accomplish this with ease, but, your average 3.5 or 4.0 tennis player can’t make the adjustment with any consistency.
This is where the Control Dampening System comes in (golfers, you wish you had this!). With CTRL, all you have to do is increase your dampening to control those flying, errant shots. Just move your dampeners closer to or up to the bottom cross, and, if you’re already there, add dampeners at the 9AM and 3PM spots, right next to the frame for a further dampening effect (the Rules of Tennis allow for an unlimited/unstated number of dampeners outside the string pattern). Our play testers at Lake Tahoe were amazed at how much added control they gained with CRTL.
Control is the key to winning tennis!
Control Aging Strings
Today’s touring pros bring 5 or 6 racquets to a match…many players have all of them strung with the same string at the same tension…others will have one or two strung at different tensions to allow for variances in the weather, court surface, or their opponents.
Most stringers will tell you that a freshly strung racquet will lose some of its tension during the first few hours of play. Pros who like the original tension will just swap out the declining racquet with a fresh one and keep playing. Most of us don’t own 6 racquets and wouldn’t want to pay to have them re-strung all the time! So when the strings break on our primary racquet, we’re doubly disappointed because we were feeling good about how that racquet was playing…and we know that new strings will be tight for a few matches.
All racquets lose string tension once play begins – tension always goes down, never goes up. Research has shown that losing string tension can increase the trampoline effect on your racquet. The strings will stretch more and the ball will stay on the racquet a bit longer. You’ll gain power and distance up to a point, but you’ll sacrifice control. If the strings are too loose, you’ll lose both power and control…and the strings won’t snap back to their original position.
An adjustable dampening system from CTRL can solve that problem and make you feel like you’re coming to every match with 6 racquets!
Dampening effectively reduces the length of the strings dampened. Shorter strings have less trampoline effect at any tension – accomplished players can generate power with shorter strings/smaller frames, but a majority of us are 4.0’s and 3.5’s and we need a bit more racquet to help generate some pace and spin. Pro players like their racquets at that initial tension, which is why they bring 6 to the court. Once the tension drops, they lose the level of control they’re comfortable with. If Novak had only one Head racquet and liked how it played at 56 pounds, he could have it strung at 53 pounds (more trampoline) and dampen it back to 56 (shorter strings, less trampoline) at a mid-level across the 8 mains. As the tension declined, he could move the dampening system up toward or to the bottom cross to effectively keep it at 56 (although he uses a button which only dampens the two mains, not the same effect as four CTRL’s, and the button is built to anchor to the bottom cross).
Most of us like the way our racquets play once the strings are “broken in” a bit. So if you string your 105 at 60 pounds, chances are you like it more at 57. With the CTRL system, you can start with your dampeners down near the yoke when the strings are fresh and gradually move them up…and when they settle at 55, you can dampen up a bit more to reduce the trampoline effect and keep the playing characteristics at 57.
And you always have the option to change dampener positions to replicate different tensions for situations, like the pros do…all with your primary racquet!
Control is the Key to winning tennis!
Account for Ball Types
Everyone who’s ever played a competitive match knows that the brand and physical characteristics of tennis balls can vary widely. Most major ball makers like Penn, Wilson, and Dunlop offer three classes of balls, professional level, championship level, and recreational level. Professional level tennis balls offer the best performance and durability. Championship level balls are the next step down, but fine for most league match play and Recreational balls are typically used for practice.
Most Professional and Championship level tennis balls are available in extra duty and regular duty variations. This may sound complicated, but extra duty is just tennis lingo for ‘hard court balls', while regular duty balls are for clay or indoor courts.
You might have guessed from watching pro tennis matches where new cans are opened every nine games that the lifespan of a tennis ball is fairly short. Most experts say that once opened, a can of balls left at room temperature will become unplayable in less than 2 weeks. And that's without even hitting them!
So, it’s no surprise that tennis ball performance will degrade during a match and over the course of a match or two. Astute players know that their game will vary based on the condition of the balls. A pusher will try to survive the first few games when balls are new and their opponents’ pace presents a problem. A Control Dampening System enables the pusher to deaden their racquet at the outset to counter the livelier balls and adjust as the balls lose steam.
Likewise, a serve and volley player or baseline banger can dampen at the outset to control those wild new balls, then reduce dampening as the match goes along to maintain their power as the balls decline.
CTRL can also be a great counter for that opponent who chooses a brand or type of ball based on their game. Increased dampening can add control in a match with lighter Wilson Championship balls and less dampening can add power with heavier Pro Penn balls.
Throw in some variables like weather and court surface and you’ll understand why a little bit more Control can lead to a better result!
Control is the Key to winning tennis!
Control Your Larger Racquet
Adjusting our game as we get older is just a part of tennis life…even the great Roger Federer felt he needed a bit more pop to keep up with the youngsters as he got older and he made a move to a larger, more powerful racquet. Once he adjusted to the differences, his results improved dramatically!
If you’re one of those players who’s made the move to a bigger stick, congratulations! Having fun is what keeps us playing and being able to crack a serve or crush a groundie with a shorter stroke is just awesome!
Perhaps you’re saying, yeah, but my larger frame is lighter and harder to control…well, help is on the way! Our Control Adjustable Dampening System can help you find just the right combination of pop and stability to maximize the benefits of your new racquet.
Left un-dampened, your Bubba will rocket balls off the fences and make a sound that should be illegal! A button dampener will shorten the two Mains, but every ball you hit just a little bit off center won’t even touch these strings…and a multi-string worm dampener will just turn your Bubba into the smaller racquet you traded in.
One approach is to “normalize” the eight primary Mains to roughly the same length. Since the two mid-Mains are the longest strings on the racquet, we dampen them the most – up near or at the bottom cross, followed by the adjacent sets of two - positioned further down toward the yoke. This brings the effective length of the eight Mains closer to those strings further out to each side. Every hit engages about six Mains and six Crosses…once normalized, all strings perform similarly, giving you a solid feeling and reducing the rotation away from your racquet face.
Dampened strings (below the bottom cross) are effectively shorter than they were, moving the Sweet Spot up further on the racquet face. Stats show that most players hit more balls above the racquet mid-line than below…so moving that Sweet Spot toward the top will result in a higher percentage of solid hits!
Control is the Key to winning tennis!
Adjust to Court Surfaces
HARD COURTS - Tennis “hard courts” are made of synthetic/acrylic layers on top of a concrete or asphalt foundation and can vary in color. These courts tend to play medium-fast to fast because there is little energy absorption by the court. The U.S. Open is played on an acrylic hard court, while the Australian Open is played on a synthetic hard court. Balls bounce fairly high on hard courts, so spin is effective, but flat balls are also effective because of the quick play style. The speed and height of rebound after tennis balls bounce on hard courts is influenced by how much sand is in the synthetic/acrylic layer placed on top of the asphalt foundation. More sand will result in a slower/higher bounce due to more friction. Most of us have played on public hard courts that were once slow, but, over the years, the sand element degraded, so the courts were in fact fast! Once you’ve started hitting on a particular hard court, you can assess how fast it is playing, and adjust your CTRL Dampening System to account for the slowness or quickness. If you find yourself on an old, fast public court, you can add control by increasing the dampening effect of your CTRL System. Likewise, if you find yourself on a brand new, gritty surface, you can move your dampeners down to account for the slow court.
GRASS COURT - Grass courts are the fastest type of courts in common use. They consist of grass grown on very hard-packed soil. Bounces depend on how healthy the grass is, its height, and the wear and tear of recent play. Points are usually very quick where fast, low bounces keep rallies short, and the serve plays a more important role than on other surfaces. Grass courts tend to favor serve-and-volley players because the surface is less firm and more slippery, causing the ball to slide and bounce lower, requiring players to reach the ball faster. Serve-and-volley players take advantage of the surface by serving the ball (usually a slice serve because of its effectiveness on grass) and then running to the net to cut off the return, leaving their opponent with little time to reach the low-bouncing, fast-moving ball. Players often hit flatter shots to increase power and allow the ball to travel faster before and after the ball hits the ground. Generally speaking, more dampening is required on faster courts. You don’t want to handle low/fast shots with an amped-up racquet. So, moving those dampeners up (toward the bottom cross) in your Control System will allow you to use all the square inches in your frame, with the control of a Stan Smith wooden racquet.
CLAY COURTS - Clay courts slow down the ball and produce a high bounce when compared to grass courts or hard courts. This is because clay courts have more grab and when the ball lands there is more friction pushing against the ball's horizontal path, therefore slowing it and creating a higher bounce. For this reason, the clay court takes away some advantage of big serves, which makes it hard for serve-based players to dominate on the surface. Clay courts are more common in Europe and Latin America than in North America and tend to favor baseline players. Pro players string their racquets differently for clay…a bit less tension means more trampoline-effect and more distance on shots. Short shots on clay still leave you vulnerable to an approach shot and/or volley. Moving your CTRL System down toward the yoke will give you more trampoline-effect and keep your shots deep in those long clay court rallies.
If you’re interested in more specifics or building a court for yourself, here are a couple of great articles on the subject:
http://www.mindtheracket.com/2010/07/whats-in-a-hard-court/
http://www.10-s.com/Your-New-Court/Choosing-a-Tennis-Surface
Control is the key to winning tennis!
Better Than Buttons, Worms, & Rubber Bands
Devices to reduce the vibration of racket strings have been around for decades. Designed to wedge between the two primary main (vertical) strings, the concept expanded in the early 90s to include dampeners that could interleave between 4 to 10 mains providing more dampening in a horizontal direction but not in a vertical direction. In general, these “worm” devices over-dampened and were susceptible to breakage.
Button vibration dampeners dominate today’s market and are easy to install. They are simply inserted in between two strings (typically the two center main or vertical strings) and then pushed up against the lowest cross or horizontal string. If they are placed below this cross string, they tend to fly off when the ball hits the racket face. A rough guess would estimate that 80% of the dampener market is comprised of button dampeners. Button dampeners can be brand-centric, sporting the logo of their manufacturer or designed with a graphic theme like a flower or smiley face. They come in various shapes and weights including the “tire” shape (Sampras/Tourna, 2g) and the more substantial block or logo shape (Djokovic/Head, 5g).
Worm dampeners come in different shapes, lengths and sizes. They are woven in between the main strings below the bottom cross to help reduce vibration across many of the vertical strings that most frequently come in contact with the ball. Some worms are difficult to install. They cannot be adjusted up/down or sideways once seated, provide significantly more dampening action than the button version, and will always slide up to the bottom cross. In general, there is a direct correlation between the amount of dampener material that is in contact with the strings and the dampening results.
Rubber band dampeners tie around the two center mains at the bottom cross. They provide only a minimal amount of dampening because their mass and contact area is minimal. Most racquets have 16 main strings…and most shots “engage” a matrix of strings that is six strings wide and six strings tall. So an off-center hit may not engage the dampened strings at all. Dampening the two mains effectively reduces the length of those strings to where those strings are then the shortest mains on the racquet. This leaves the two pairs on either side as the longest and most powerful strings on the racquet. This makes an off-center hit a “perfect hit” as opposed to a hit right in the center of the racquet. In theory, an optimal hit would involve six mains of equal length. This can’t happen with a button, rubber band, or a worm.
Most worms engage six to ten mains. They effectively reduce the length of each string, so a 105 sq in racquet will play like a 90 sq in with a ten-main worm. Most pro’s are already using a 90ish racquet, so using a worm would effectively reduce the head size of their racquet even further – a primary reason why you never see pro’s playing with worm dampeners. There are a variety of variables that determine how a racquet will play including the type and size of frame, type of string, and string tension, but, overall, a worm is going to provide one level of over-dampening that can’t be adjusted.
Buttons and Worms provide a static amount of dampening – they are not adjustable. They either dampen a little or a lot, nothing in between, limiting racquet play characteristics.
Control is the key to winning tennis!
When You're Tired or Tight
Just about every tennis player we know gets a bit tight when the score is close and the match is on the line. In that situation, clear thinking and smart choices can put pressure on your opponent and potentially sway the outcome in your favor.
Good strategic decisions can be as simple as determining how much risk to take prior to each point, and making sure you get either your serve or return in the court to a specific spot that will give you an advantage as the point develops.
Now, for the first time, the CTRL Dampening System can help players execute their strategies, and it can even give them a few options they hadn’t considered before…here are just a few examples.
It’s a tight doubles match with your team down a break late…your opponents are poaching and crashing the net…you’re playing the deuce court and you realize that a lob return is a great choice…but you’re afraid that if it goes long you’ve wasted a return…this is a perfect time to increase the dampening effect on your racquet by moving your dampeners all the way up…if you decide not to lob, you’ve deadened your racquet and improved your chances to keep your return in play.
In singles, you’ve got a chance to finish off the match and you’re up 40-15, a perfect time to go for a big first serve to take it all! Just move those dampeners down about an inch and get the additional pop you need to make it happen.
When you’re tired or tight and you find yourself in a challenging match situation, use your CTRL dampening system to beat the shakes…and your opponent!
Control is the Key to winning tennis!
How to Handle Lefties & Spinmeisters
Before facing a lefty in a Grand Slam, many players seek to find a left-hander to practice with and play against to get used to the physicality of their game and the visualization of a different style of player. “Coaches really put a high importance on finding a lefty," Bob Bryan told the New York Times. "Whenever Roger [Federer] plays a lefty, I’m the first guy to get the text message."
Roger has lost a few matches to Nadal, but his record against lefties is remarkably outstanding. Clearly, Nadal is a great competitor and perhaps he handles Federer better than the rest, but why does it still seem that the forehand and serve of lefties is more extreme than the same shots from righties? Sometimes it’s because the “lefty” is really a “righty”…like Nadal…people who play one sport left-handed and another right-handed. That might account for a different kind of spin coming off of the left-hander’s racquet.
A lefty with a slice serve has a slight advantage on the ad-side. The ad-side is more crucial than the deuce-side because every ad-out and two out of three other break point chances come on that side of the court. When a right-hander is serving to the lefty's backhand on the ad-side, it pulls the lefty into the middle of the court on the return, while a serve out wide would guarantee the lefty a very big cross-court opportunity.
Control Dampeners can help reduce the lefty advantage - and can counter the edge all “spinmeisters” seek - by reducing the time their ball stays on your racquet with more dampening. Whether you’re taking top-spin shots on the rise or carving through those under-spin drives, you’ll have better control because the effect of that spin won’t be magnified by the trampoline effect of your racquet. All you have to do is slide those dampeners up a bit and play your game!
Control is the key to winning tennis!
Beat the Baseline Grinder
You know you’re in for a long day with the baseline grinder. This player is tough, fit and consistent. They love to run from sideline to sideline and they hope all the points are long so they’ll tire you out. When you’re playing a grinder, you have to counter their offensive shots with balls that are hit deep and down the middle - giving him/her less angle to work with. Once you’ve recovered your position, you can look to hit short slices that will take the grinder out of their comfort zone – some will even retreat to the baseline! Any ball that they hit short to you is an opportunity to end the point! To get more depth on your ground strokes and more bite on your slice, just drop your Control dampeners down a bit from their regular starting position. In this location, your dampeners will also give you more pop on your serve – and all free points are welcome versus the grinder!
Control is the key to winning tennis!
Control the Serve in Mixed Doubles
Mixed doubles can present some etiquette issues that don’t arise in gender-to-gender play. In purely social matches, it makes sense to lighten it up a bit versus weaker players whether they’re male or female. After all, they’re there to enjoy themselves and if you’re constantly hitting aces or winners it’s not much fun. And besides, they’re most likely friends and you’ll be having lunch together later. In league matches, you have to assume that skill levels are pre-determined by rating and that everyone is there to win if at all possible.
The most common on-court scenarios for exploitation are the return of serve and plays at the net. The latter can be addressed with a simple change of position – if you or your partner are getting pegged at the net and can’t handle it, move back to the baseline. The pros do it all the time. From the offensive side, if you can consistently peg someone at net and they don’t move back, it’s their own fault.
However, the serve and return don’t offer the same solution as the net exploitation scenario. Sure, if you’re returning you can move back, but that increases the lateral ground you have to cover and might turn a lousy server into a great server. One option as a returner is to just block the return and even lob, keeping the stroke very short and minimizing swing errors. Moving your Control dampeners up when returning will deaden your shot and reduce the effect of the servers spin coming to you. On the serve, players below the 5.0 level will often let up on the second serve to the weaker player. We all know it’s very important not to double fault in this situation, but, the let up serve can be problematic, especially in tight matches or windy conditions. Rather than dink, dampen! Move the center dampener (or two) up to the bottom cross on second serves or serves to the weaker player and swing away. Your rhythm will be better, your shots will land shorter and you won’t double fault!
Control is the key to winning tennis!
Your Racquet vs 6 for the Pros
Today’s touring pros bring 5 or 6 racquets to a match…many players have all of them strung with the same string at the same tension…others will have one or two strung at different tensions to allow for variances in the weather, court surface, or their opponents.
Most stringers will tell you that a freshly strung racquet will lose some of its tension during the first few hours of play. Pros who like the original tension will just swap out the declining racquet with a fresh one and keep playing. Most of us don’t own 6 racquets and wouldn’t want to pay to have them re-strung all the time! So when the strings break on our primary racquet, we’re doubly disappointed because we were feeling good about how that racquet was playing…and we know that new strings will be tight for a few matches.
All racquets lose string tension once play begins – tension always goes down, never goes up. Research has shown that losing string tension can increase the trampoline effect on your racquet. The strings will stretch more and the ball will stay on the racquet a bit longer. You’ll gain power and distance up to a point, but you’ll sacrifice control. If the strings are too loose, you’ll lose both power and control…and the strings won’t snap back to their original position.
An adjustable dampening system from CTRL can solve that problem and make you feel like you’re coming to every match with 6 racquets!
Dampening effectively reduces the length of the strings dampened. Shorter strings have less trampoline effect at any tension – accomplished players can generate power with shorter strings/smaller frames, but a majority of us are 4.0’s and 3.5’s and we need a bit more racquet to help generate some pace and spin. Pro players like their racquets at that initial tension, which is why they bring 6 to the court. Once the tension drops, they lose the level of control they’re comfortable with. If Novak had only one Head racquet and liked how it played at 56 pounds, he could have it strung at 53 pounds (more trampoline) and dampen it back to 56 (shorter strings, less trampoline) at a mid-level across the 8 mains. As the tension declined, he could move the dampening system up toward or to the bottom cross to effectively keep it at 56 (although he uses a button which only dampens the two mains, not the same effect as four CTRL’s, and the button is built to anchor to the bottom cross).
Most of us like the way our racquets play once the strings are “broken in” a bit. So if you string your 105 at 60 pounds, chances are you like it more at 57. With the CTRL system, you can start with your dampeners down near the yoke when the strings are fresh and gradually move them up…and when they settle at 55, you can dampen up a bit more to reduce the trampoline effect and keep the playing characteristics at 57.
And you always have the option to change dampener positions to replicate different tensions for situations, like the pros do…all with your primary racquet!
Control is the Key to winning tennis!
Why Federer Chose a Larger Racquet
Adjusting our game as we get older is just a part of tennis life…even the great Roger Federer felt he needed a bit more pop to keep up with the youngsters as he got older and he made a move to a larger, more powerful racquet. Once he adjusted to the differences, his results improved dramatically!
If you’re one of those players who’s made the move to a bigger stick, congratulations! Having fun is what keeps us playing and being able to crack a serve or crush a groundie with a shorter stroke is just awesome!
Perhaps you’re saying, yeah, but my larger frame is lighter and harder to control…well, help is on the way! Our Control Adjustable Dampening System can help you find just the right combination of pop and stability to maximize the benefits of your new racquet.
Left un-dampened, your Bubba will rocket balls off the fences and make a sound that should be illegal! A button dampener will shorten the two Mains, but every ball you hit just a little bit off center won’t even touch these strings…and a multi-string worm dampener will just turn your Bubba into the smaller racquet you traded in.
One approach is to “normalize” the eight primary Mains to roughly the same length. Since the two mid-Mains are the longest strings on the racquet, we dampen them the most – up near or at the bottom cross, followed by the adjacent sets of two - positioned further down toward the yoke. This brings the effective length of the eight Mains closer to those strings further out to each side. Every hit engages about six Mains and six Crosses…once normalized, all strings perform similarly, giving you a solid feeling and reducing the rotation away from your racquet face.
Dampened strings (below the bottom cross) are effectively shorter than they were, moving the Sweet Spot up further on the racquet face. Stats show that most players hit more balls above the racquet mid-line than below…so moving that Sweet Spot toward the top will result in a higher percentage of solid hits!
Control is the Key to winning tennis!
Lose the Bottom Cross, Gain Control
Consider the following. Tennis racquet frames are all oval in shape. The vertical (main) strings are longer than the wide (cross) strings. And there are more cross strings because they cover the longer vertical dimension of the racquet. It is much more common for balls to be hit at the very top of the racquet than the very bottom of the racquet. The degree or extent of variability in the Control Dampening System is largely dependent on the space below the bottom cross along the eight center mains.
Having said that, stringing a racquet with one less cross at the bottom can increase the adjustability area for Control dampeners by as much as in inch. If your racquet doesn’t have a lot of room for Control below the bottom cross, you might want to experiment with one less cross string – results from our pros testing this option have been very positive to date.
Control is the key to winning tennis!
