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Higher speed and equal spin equals a faster racket.
In a Tennisplayer article, Rick Macci made the rather bold assertion that Andy Roddick has more racket head speed than any player in the game. (Click Here) Bold, but also correct. The comparative measurements of ball speed and spin rates show that it’s true. If Andy is serving 10mph with the same amount of spin as Pete Sampras, then his racket must be going faster. There is no other way he could generate so much more ball speed combined with the same levels of spin.
Now, I know what some of you gearheads out there are thinking–it’s the racket, it’s the strings! According to the author of The Physics and Technology of Tennis (and upcoming Tennisplayer contributor) Rod Cross, however, that is not likely. (Click here for info on his book.) Remember Pete had a very heavy racket that a lot of people thought accounted for his ball. What really comes down to according to Rod is how fast the racket head is going in 3 dimensions at the contact, especially the forward dimension for ball speed. It may be that Andy can swing that Babolat racket slightly faster because it…