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Tennis Tips: Getting the most from your Blackburne Double StrungTM
Damping
Getting the feel of your new Blackburne DS
107 or DS 97
Playing Hints
Damping
Because of its unique construction, the Blackburne is well damped.
Your racquet comes already fitted with our special vibration dampers, which
enhance the
wonderfully soft feel in play - a joy for those who are prone to
tennis elbow.
Unlike many dampers, you will note the damper does not protrude
above
the plane of strings, so shots on the throat are returned perfectly without
deflection.
Getting
the feel of your new Blackburne DS107.
With anything new, and particularly if it is as revolutionary as the Double
Strung Tennis Racquet,
there is a short learning curve. You will get the
most out of your new Blackburne after
you have played at least a dozen sets
with it.
Once you have gotten used
to its comfortable and solid feel, and what it can do for your game,
you can
never go back. Returning to an old-fashioned centrally slung wide-body
is like trying
to play with an old wooden Dunlop Maxply or Wilson Kramer.
Remember? You will curse
the thing every time the ball hits the frame
and you do a mis-hit.
Playing
Hints: How to win more games sets and matches with your new Blackburne.
Firstly, you will find that your game will feel much more open and free,
since the worries of
hitting the frame are gone. Your racquet has no protruding
frame. No more embarrassing
and infuriating frame shots. You will
find indeed that your whole game will improve as you
develop the racquet's advantages
from your own personal experience on court.
Sliced
Serve. This is a service greatly under-used by amateur players.
Perhaps one of
the reasons for this is that you often hit the trailing edge
of the frame and the ball goes into
the next court. With your Blackburne
you will find that you can get far more slice on your
serve without the worry
of hitting the frame. The ball will swerve away nicely and you will
strike
it cleanly every time. The same goes for the top-spin serve, so essential
for a deep
second service.
Flat
Serve. The pros like to hit the ball near the tip, since they know
that is where
the greatest racquet velocity is. But occasionally you hit
the tip of the frame and make
a mis-hit. With the Blackburne you can hit
your serve half tip and half strings, and
the serve will be good.
Return
of Service. You will find that you will scrape back some of those
fast
sliced serves you would otherwise have hit on the frame. Also, returning
other
heavily spinning balls is much easier. You can control a kicking
serve and
return it with accuracy. Excellent for that low chipped return.
Topspin
forehand or backhand ground stroke. No more mis-hits on
the protruding
trailing edge like on your old wide-body. Those players who
close the
racquet early, with Western grip, will be very comfortable. with
the racquet
face "closed," the hitting "window" is about 100% greater
than
on your old wide-body. Yes 100%. The more you close your Blackburne
in preparation for a top spin, the greater the window in relation to the wide-body.
Volley.
Even the best players in the world hit the ball all over the frame,
particularly
in doubles. Stretching for the passing shot, you should try and
reach
as far as you can, indeed over-reach, and then you will tend to connect
with
the middle of the strings. Many players do not reach as far as they could,
for fear of hitting the ball on the throat. With your new Blackburne a
ball hit half
on the throat and half strings will be returned as a solid volley.
Overhead
and Smash. You have greater reach with your new Blackburne
than with
any other racquet. You can thus afford to go for overheads you might
hitherto
have left to your partner to chase down. If you hit the ball on the tip,
particularly of a wide-body, the shot will be fluffed and the ball will drop
ignominiously at your feet or the bottom of the net. With the Blackburne
an
overhead struck on the tip of the frame is usually a perfectly successful
shot.
Most players, even the pros, tend to wait till the ball bounces
from a high lob.
Hitting a rapidly falling ball with a wide-body is often
a recipe for a failed overhead.
With your Blackburne you have a time window
around twice that with a wide-body.
Yes twice. So go for those overheads.
And really crack the ball.
Half-Volley.
Strike the ball early, almost the moment it hits the court.
Most amateurs
using wide-bodies tend to hit their half-volleys too late,
for fear of striking
the lower edge of the frame.
With your Blackburne you can make half-volleys
early with total confidence
that you will hit the ball cleanly. A sometimes
difficult shot becomes an easy one.
Topped
Lob. Just close your Blackburne racquet and swing in an upwardly direction.
A whole new world opens up to you as you watch the ball drop just inside
the
base-line and leap towards the stop-netting, while your opponents either shake
their heads or scamper in vain. More head shaking. Amazing.
Backspin
Drop Shot. This shot is used less and less these days.
Perhaps
the reason is that it is so difficult to impart any decent back spin
with a
wide-body without hitting the frame. And a drop shot without back
spin
is often a pretty lame effort. With your Blackburne you can cut
the ball
heavily, in the certain knowledge the ball will not catch the trailing edge
of the frame.
In short, the name
of the game is POINTS. You'll find your new Blackburne
will get you out
of scrapes and earn you enough additional winners
to give you more fun playing,
and to help you win that extra critical point.
Tennis is perhaps the
most difficult of games. We hope your Blackburne
will make it a little
easier and a whole lot more fun. Which really counts more than points,
after all.
I want to see the racquet hit a ball
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