SPEAKER_02 0:12

Hi, and welcome to Drop Shots with Kristen, where we discuss all things tennis, tennis strategy, leadership, nutrition, exercise, and the latest tech to help you play tennis for many years to come. So you probably already know that choosing a racket in strings is a little bit like solving a Rubik's Cube. So for today, we have an expert that's going to help us focus on how to choose a racket that can offer you more control, more spin, or more power. And we'll also talk about some options to help prevent injury, keeping you on the court longer. Finally, to wrap it up, once you become an expert on the best racket for you, we'll finish the podcast with some best practices around spinning that racket and the strategy in doubles of do I take a side or the serve? Help us walk through the confusion around racket selection. I'm thrilled to introduce Ken Simpson. Ken has played tennis since he was 15 years old. He played in high school, college, and later for the Air Force. And thank you for your service, by the way. He's played in tournaments at almost every level. And back in the day, he was a certified teaching pro. So I was thrilled to be introduced to Ken through his beautiful wife, Michelle. And just a common thread in their life, tennis for many, many decades. So with that, let's get started. I thought we'd just jump on in.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

Okay, excellent. I thought we'd start with power. Okay. In terms of rackets, um, any thoughts around giving players more power?

SPEAKER_03 1:58

Well, I I thought about your question, and and power in general comes from your legs. And everybody wants a magic bullet with a racket or strings, and really it comes from racket head speed and your strength of your your core. That's where power comes from, the timing. And the racket helps, but power doesn't do you any good if you can't control it. So um especially as I I used to be all into hitting hard when I was a young man, but I'm more into consistency now. I think that's part of the deal as you age for senior tennis players. And I've noticed that with a lot of the national guys, they don't necessarily hit big, but they don't miss and they move well, and they can generate power when they want to.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

With the legs and the core.

SPEAKER_03 2:43

Yeah, and the racket had speed.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Okay, excellent. I'm just gonna make a note.

SPEAKER_03 2:48

And it's of course our certain rackets um generate more power, like a a larger head. I used to I went to a larger head for uh a couple years, like called a 120.

SPEAKER_02 2:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

Versus like a 100, what uh I think I read in something you put down, but or 90. Uh, and I had a lot of power, but I I lost a lot of control. And it's not just a control, I couldn't feel it. It wasn't good feedback when I missed the ball, I didn't know why. Whereas when you have a a little smaller head and then the strings, proper strengths, you can feel you want the feedback so you know when you made an error so you can correct it.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 3:26

With the larger head, I felt like I'd hit a good volley and it would just fly out. So that's that's kind of what I was thinking.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

Love that. Interesting. And uh, you don't really think about the feedback, you think about more, oh, I want the larger head for more power. No, but if you're making mistakes, you really need to have it.

SPEAKER_03 3:44

And I well, on on that note, I switched back recently, about two months ago, to a I think it's a 100 or 97 uh centimeter, I think it is, on the on the head. And I I really like it a lot more.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

Excellent.

SPEAKER_03 3:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:58

Great information, Ken. So I'm hearing legs, core strength, and that all important head speed. Rocket head speed, yeah. So transitioning over to the strings, when you're talking about power, any thoughts in that area?

SPEAKER_03 4:14

Well, a couple things affect the power, the type of string and the tension.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 4:20

Um, the tension, the lower the tension, the more power you get.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

But less control.

SPEAKER_02 4:27

Okay. Lower tension, yeah. More power, less control.

SPEAKER_03 4:31

Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Got it?

SPEAKER_03 4:32

Same as kind of a big head racket, more power, less control. So you'll find players, what we call players, people that actually are high-level tennis players, they usually play with a little smaller head because they get the feedback, like we talked about. Okay. But regarding the strings, if you use a loose tension to get more power, then you you you don't get as much feedback. The ball flies out. Because the trampolines, when it hits the racket and there's low tension, the ball, the the strings kind of go back, like think about a slingshot or something, and they go forward. So the higher tension, the strings don't go back as far. So it's gonna, but you get more control because the ro the strings aren't moving.

SPEAKER_02 5:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 5:11

So, and then the type is being makes a big difference too. Okay. I use a hybrid, okay, which is gut. I use gut in the mains, okay, and a poly, a soft, what we call a soft poly in the in the crosses.

SPEAKER_02 5:25

Okay, poly in the crosses.

SPEAKER_03 5:26

Yeah. Okay. So the the mains will give you the the feel. So I use the gut and the mains so I have the feel of the gut. Okay. But I use the poly in the crosses so you get a little more power, and um and it's they call it snapback to it snaps back. Okay. So you want you don't want your strings to move and then it affects when you hit the ball. Okay. Because the the you know how the the strings are in like a rectangular pattern. Yeah. If they're moving around, that that you lose that pattern and you lose the feel and you lose the control as well.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

And the poly helps that on the cross.

SPEAKER_03 5:59

The type of poly that I'm using. Yeah, and uh, and it also you get that little the a lot of people have gone to full poly call beds, the the the racket, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

And the problem is that is it's hard on your arm for senior players, it's really and it goes dead fast. Okay. Whereas whereas gut keeps its tension a lot longer. So what I'm finding, I went to a new poly recently, and I'm finding that my my usually it was my gut that was breaking. I break guts about every two weeks with my other strings. Okay, but now the gut's not breaking because the poly doesn't move. But it it but it um so when the poly moves, it it cuts into your strings, but this is not moving, so it's not cutting my gut. So what's happening is the rack the strings are going dead at the poly. They go dead in like two or three weeks.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 6:48

People that don't play.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

You would never think that.

SPEAKER_03 6:50

You would think the poly would be and that's what hurts your your elbows and your wrists, okay, shoulders. So I wouldn't recommend all poly for anybody, a senior tennis player. Okay, because it's gonna hurt themselves with it.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Great information.

SPEAKER_03 7:04

The rackets and the strings go dead pretty quick.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Okay, dead poly is gonna hurt.

SPEAKER_03 7:08

Yeah, yeah, it hurts you, it hurts the feel, it hurts everything. It feels pretty good at first. Like the pros, they'll they'll resting their rackets after every match. Wow, or the stringers will. Okay. Sometimes even the middle matches. Have you seen them? Like the racket run off and restring it.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:22

It's not because it broke, okay. They don't like the feel of it. Sometimes it broke, but so a lot of um amateur players want think poly's the way to go because that's the way the pros do it. And it's not necessarily they should go with like a uh hybrid. Yeah, not even a hybrid, maybe like a synthetic pet.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 7:43

Where where it's um it's the same, same all the way the same string all the way through the head. It's maybe like like like a Wilson NXT, is a it's a softer stream, but you get a good feel, and it'll last a little longer.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

And you do the entire face, you're not getting the cross on it. Okay, okay, great.

SPEAKER_03 8:01

That's more of a I won't say the more of an advanced thing is to have poly and and g. I have a friend that uh at Morley that had strings in my racket. He's a professional. Okay, and he's you know, does that for me, tells me, hey, you should do this, try this. When I bought my new my new sticks, my new rackets, I tried out a bunch of different strings and you know and stuff before I decided what I wanted.

SPEAKER_02 8:25

And that was the winner.

SPEAKER_03 8:26

Yeah. For me, everybody has a little depends on the type of game. I'm not a big top spinner.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:30

I drive the ball kind of more flat.

SPEAKER_02 8:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:33

And so the strings create different spins too, the type of string you use.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

Well, since we're since that just came up, why don't we transition to spinning?

SPEAKER_00 8:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Which is my kryptonite. I can't hit a ball that has a lot of spin on it, and I can't do the reverse. So, with that, um, thoughts about rackets and spin and whatever else you want to share about that.

SPEAKER_03 8:57

Spin gives you control.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:59

And you can hit the ball harder.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 9:01

And keep the ball in the court with top spin.

SPEAKER_02 9:04

Right.

SPEAKER_03 9:04

Or slice, you can drive the ball, and the spin is created by once again racket head speed. A lot of right. It takes a lot of practice and timing. Okay. But the spin is created by racket speed, racket speed is magic. That's what gives you see. People want to control the ball, they go slow they go slow, and you're just blocking it then. That's a good quality, but it's not a good stroke.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

Right.

SPEAKER_03 9:28

Correct. Uh like a baseline stroke or baseline stroke. Yeah. So and strings also, the string, not only the tension affects it, but the the thickness of the string.

SPEAKER_02 9:40

Oh, okay. Can you speak to that?

SPEAKER_03 9:41

Yeah. Like uh I'll string my my racket, the the mains I have in gut, and I'll string it like a 16 or 17 gauge.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 9:51

And then the poly, I'll string it up real thin, 18 or 19 gauge.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 9:56

And the thinner the gauge, the more bite you get on the on the ball.

SPEAKER_02 10:01

Okay, the thinner the gauge, the more bite. Yeah. What is more bite transit transfer to do?

SPEAKER_03 10:06

Spin. And control. When you bite into the ball, you can feel the ball. If it just comes off your rocket without any bite, you don't you don't feel you don't get any spin.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 10:17

So the reason I go with pretty thin string is because I want that bite. I want to feel it. When I accelerate my hand, I want to feel that spin coming up. I don't hit the big top spin like a lot of guys, but um, I still feel the ball. And also, it when you're balling, whatever you're doing, you can feel the ball more. It's better. Obviously. Negative is you break strings faster.

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 10:38

The thinner the string, okay. The more often you're gonna break it. Right. But most of Michelle's friends that I've seen don't break strings very often.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

No, myself included.

SPEAKER_03 10:46

Yeah. And you guys should restrain your rackets periodically. Like you leave them in there for years, and like, man, you've got to break your arm or something. That's a dead racket.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Okay. Rackets go dead as well.

SPEAKER_03 10:57

I'm not picking, but I've watched you, I've watched it flip a lot.

SPEAKER_00 11:00

I say, oh no, I don't break a string.

SPEAKER_03 11:02

You go, that's not a good thing, Dave.

SPEAKER_02 11:04

Nothing to brag about, girl. Okay. By the way, Michelle is here with us.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

Great information. With that, um, let's transition over to control in terms of you know what your thoughts are. I know a smaller head is gonna probably give you more control, but anything else we should look for.

SPEAKER_03 11:35

Well, there's a misnomer, I think, I've seen with folks. They slow their racket head. It all comes back to rackethead speed again. They slow their on volleys, you don't want a lot of rackethead speed, but your control comes a lot from your body, being connected to your body. Like I'm I'm referring to volleys specifically. And I see a lot of folks swinging at their volleys trying to create power, and that's not where power comes from. Power comes from being locked in using your legs, driving through the ball. And you use the other people's power. Now on the ground stroke and serve, the power comes once again from rackethead speed.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:11

And being connected to your body, using your legs. And as we get older, like I have knee problems in this, I can't use my the legs as much as I want, but still I can create speed and control the racket speed. Like you get control as well.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:26

Like if you just bunt the ball, you're not gonna get much power or much control.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:32

So uh the control comes and and the type of strings affect it, but those are like minor things, those are like um you know, the the edge of the edge of improvement. It's it's not people like I said once again, people are always trying to find oh, the right stream, the right racket. I could, I'm not gonna be then it comes. It's the body, it's your hand-eye coordination, and and another thing, Michelle did mention this on the way here that you that I wanted to I said earlier, and she said you should say that is that a lot of folks I see, because I'm with Michelle a lot, so she plays, you know, 3-5-4-0. Um, they just got to play matches, yeah, work on their game, they they could take one, they take one lesson a week and they think that they're gonna improve. And they gotta, first of all, they gotta apply what they the lesson they take. Yes. You go out on the court and you practice. That's why I have a ball machine. I go out and when I really want to get ready for tournament, I take my ball machine out, and I just really or I haven't I got hurt or something coming back. I go out and want to repeat and want to get that feel, I want to feel the ball. And so you gotta put a lot of time and effort into it's like a giant pyramid. You gotta you gotta put the time in on the court, you gotta put the time in the gym, you gotta put the time in on your mind. You we say in surfing, I do paddle surfing and surfing as well. You take into the water what who you behave in the water what you take into the water. It's the same on the tennis court. If you're not prepared, if you you know, if you get if you're all upset and bring up you bring it on the court, and yeah, family, whatever. So um, but back to control, it's once again comes from feeling the ball. Like a lot of lefties have good control, and I think it's because they feel the ball. There's something about their brains, they put more spin on. If you notice lefties are lefty, yeah, more spin and more. They're kind of spin doctors. You like to put spin on the boat for some reason, and that sort of control. And it also comes from uh more, like if you go strong uh higher tension on your on your strings, they'll get more control. Okay, and a smaller head, like you said, like you said, more control. Um, but all those things come down to footwork, you know, your preparation, early rocket preparation. I see a lot of folks, the ball's coming, they wait, wait, wait, and then they take the rocket back. You should have your you should be prepared as the ball's coming.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

And that's gonna obviously help with prep because you're gonna be able to get your feet lined up and the whole gamut.

SPEAKER_03 15:00

The more time you put into practice, the more natural it becomes in a match. And then the more natural match, the more match becomes in a tournament. And the higher levels of tournament you play, the better you're prepared. It's just like a giant I don't think people realize how much time and effort you have to put into it for the next level.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

It's a lifetime.

SPEAKER_03 15:17

Yeah, it's interesting. I still love trying to solve the equation, even though we're dealing with getting older. I'm always really fitter, drop weight, all that stuff.

SPEAKER_02 15:27

Well, I tell you what, um, in terms of racket selection, what I'm learning is it's really more about the player, uh, with the exception if you've got some elbow issues or things of that nature, um, you're gonna want to watch what type of string you want to stay away from um the poly string because it goes dead so quickly.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

Yeah, okay. If you want more spin and control at the same time, poly is great, but it doesn't last that long and it can cause injury.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 15:54

And the course, like when I selected a new racket about a month or two ago, I tried like a ton of rackets. So you should just go by what your friend says, or the one you see on TV or the one that you should get you should try a bunch of rackets. Like I ran on the court and I had like eight rackets, and I tried I could feel it instantly.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Which one worked for you?

SPEAKER_03 16:19

And I it's kind of a weird you might want you might want to delete this part, but I had a dream about I prayed to the Lord.

SPEAKER_02 16:25

Okay, I love that. Um I thought we just got some great information. Anything that we missed that you think would be helpful when choosing a racket, again, I know it's more about the body and you know just number one, try out a bunch of them.

SPEAKER_03 16:44

Try out, yeah, it's good. Here's the deal the strings you have in the racket that you try out makes a big difference on the field.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

Right. So how do you fix that? Do you have them? I mean, they're gonna have probably poly strings in there.

SPEAKER_03 16:55

Probably, or I mean, I I finally learned just a few years ago, it makes a difference having an expert that knows the rackets, that knows the strings recommend to you, that knows your game.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

Like a pro, a tennis pro.

SPEAKER_03 17:10

Well, there's pros that are stringers that are not necessarily tennis pro teaching. They're pros have they know the strings, they know the rocket. Oh wow. At Morley, one of my good friends now, his name's Max, he he helped me find a racket and strings.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 17:24

I said, Max, what do you think about this? He says, Well, I've seen you play, and this would work good for you. But let's try about six of these rackets, and that's how I game. So it was a much better process than I did before.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

Well, for the amount of tennis you're playing to have a situation. You guys play a lot. Yeah, maybe we'll go see Max. We'll bring him a bottle of wine. It's helpful if the stringer knows your game.

SPEAKER_03 17:47

Yeah. Yeah, or he he and he knows the stringer is into strings and he's into rackets. Like they just love not the tennis part, they love tennis, but they love the check, the rackets, they love the strings, and they know most of them are professional stringers. Wow, okay that they do.

SPEAKER_02 18:06

Great intel.

SPEAKER_03 18:08

And there's yeah, these are the best I've ever found. And I didn't react rely on that when I was younger. I thought I just walk it, and but it really makes a difference.

SPEAKER_02 18:18

Oh yeah. Once you have decided on the perfect racket for you, and you're out with your doubles partner and you're spinning it to determine if you win cider serve. Any strategies around that you want to share with us?

SPEAKER_03 18:32

Well, there's a lot of people don't know there's more than cider surf.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Really? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:36

You can defer as well.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

Okay. And let them pick.

SPEAKER_03 18:41

Yeah. Okay. And then you can work around it. And it's a big strategical difference.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Right, okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:46

And it really helps having a lefty riding too.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:49

Because you can work around the sun. The sun's a huge deal, okay. Especially certain times of the day. Okay. If you're playing singles in the morning, because numerous tournaments are in the morning, or even you guys are playing in the morning, it makes a difference.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

The sun could be really Yeah, especially if you're a lefty.

SPEAKER_03 19:04

Yeah, it can be bad. And so that's sometimes why you might defer. Okay. Because you want to work around the sun. You're more concerned about the sun than the after surf.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

Okay. And then a lot of times when we play doubles, if we get But if you defer, they could pick the side and they can pick the non-Sunny side, right?

SPEAKER_03 19:23

Right, but then you have your writing serve or whoever serves not going to serve in the sun.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

Got it. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 19:28

You're not worried about who served. First, you're worried about we can work around the sun.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Got it.

SPEAKER_03 19:33

Um, and then another one that we do often, and I do it in terms and singles too, is I receive.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 19:40

Because a lot of times you might be a little nervous at the start.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Yeah, I get that.

SPEAKER_03 19:44

And you even though you might have a good serve, you want a little more time, especially what you guys uh don't know that maybe you know, but a lot of people don't. You get five minutes to warm up in a turn.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Yeah, I heard that.

SPEAKER_03 19:55

And so you walk on the court, you better be ready to go. You can't be like, oh I'm gonna. And you're actually using this time to look at their strokes, to look at their uh it's not so you better warmed up beforehand. And then this is the time to get my nerves under control, whatever. So receiving, we we often receive now, so we get an extra, you know, two game or two before we're because if you get broke right off the bat, avoid the uh butterflies. Yeah, especially in doubles, you don't you may not get another chance.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

Right.

SPEAKER_03 20:25

Okay, so but if you feel like you have a big serve and you want to take children, and you win, you should serve. Take the serve. Okay. Or like, yeah, especially in doubles, you will a lot of times you take the serve because you can serve in the break on them. And then you can roll from there.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

Okay. So a big serve is really gonna tell you if you win the if you win the spin.

SPEAKER_03 20:47

If you feel like, hey, we're ready to go, let's serve. Take the bull by the horns.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

In the sun's not an issue for you.

SPEAKER_03 20:53

Yeah, okay. Or or you're both good servers, and you say, okay, I don't care what what they do, you can serve or I can serve. I have a friend I just played a tournament with it and that's what we did.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 21:01

And also another issue is the wind.

unknown 21:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 21:05

Yeah, so it's kind of a big deal to spin.

SPEAKER_02 21:08

I know. It it and I never know what to do.

SPEAKER_03 21:11

So if you're not sure, defer. Defer. And then you can work around it.

SPEAKER_02 21:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 21:16

But it if they take this, if they say sometimes people will go, oh I'll receive then. Most most people won't, but I know a lot of my friends will. They just say we'll receive. If you want more time, take receive.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

Then they they get the side, but and some people say I'll receive on this side, and I'll go, well, you can use the door.

unknown 21:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

Yeah. Well, and I'll sometimes I want to put them in the sun. Okay. So, like a righty looking in the sun bag. So my partner and I go, we'll we'll do whatever we can to put them in the sun to receive. So we might uh defer because they'll say, let's say they say receive, we'll say, okay, we'll take this side because it because they're gonna have to look in the sun when they serve. Or we're waiting until the first time they serve for them to look in the sun.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

Because that's a template. Wow, that's some great intel, Ken.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

Is there anything you'd like to close with?

SPEAKER_03 22:35

Yeah, just a few things. I I would say one of the reasons I love tennis, it's kind of a microcosm of life. And you take onto the court who you are and where you're at in your life. So you only get out of it out of it what you put into it. And if you want to be a good player, you've got to put the time and and the effort. And it and there's so much more than hitting a tennis ball. There's your approach to the game, your uh there's a lot of psychology, psychological stuff going on, and fitness. So there's a lot going on, and that's what's cool about tennis. It's like uh for me, it's a microcosm of life, and and uh so I would say if you want to get better at tennis, if that's a goal of yours, yes, the racket's important, yes, the string's important, but what's the most important is who you are. And that's my summary.

SPEAKER_02 23:23

Wonderful, beautiful. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 23:25

Sure, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 23:29

Okay, to summarize, great information. Uh, the key to power, it sounds like a lot of it is racket head speed and core strength. Of course, a larger head will generate a little bit more power, and um, but with that you'll lose a little of the feel. On the flip side, a smaller head uh will give you more feel but a little bit less power. Strings, lower tension, in other words, a loose string, which is sort of like a trampoline, is going to give you more power but a bit less control. And on the flip side again, the higher tension or the tighter strings will give you more control and a bit less power. He did uh say that a full poly racket, especially for senior players, is very hard on the arms, it goes dead quickly, and um gut tends to keep tension longer. He did make a small mention of Wilson NXT, but here's the bottom line. If you want somebody that is a professional stringer, someone that all he does is give you information on brackets and strings. He mentioned Max's name. I'm gonna provide you with the phone number for the Morley Pro Shop. Ask for Max. The number is 619 677 4676. Have a great day, everyone.