Are you reading this correctly? 'Building' your own ideal racket? That's right! With Dunlop I-Dapt, which stands for Individual, Adaptable Performance, you can assemble your own ideal racket. Does this sound too good to be true? Judge for yourself…
That the guys from Dunlop are very innovative was already evident from their Natural Tennis concept , where racket tuning is central. With I-Dapt, Dunlop goes a step further: not tuning, but putting together your ideal racket is central here. The Force racket line (power and fast swings) is used for the I-Dapt series. How does this work?
- Choose your blade size: 98, 100, 100S (with more open stringing pattern) or 105
- Choose your color (each sheet size has 3 color options)
- Choose your 'feel': choice of 3 shock sleeves that sit between the grip (top where the grip ends) and the heart of the racket. Choice of soft, medium or firm
- Choose your racket length: the standard 27 inch or the extended 27.5 inch length
- Choose your grip size
And weight, string pattern and balance you would think? Each blade size has its own weight, string pattern and balance, that is true. See the specifications below, based on the standard 27 inch racket length:
- 98: 300 grams, 32.0 balance and 16/19 stringing pattern
- 100: 300 grams, 32.0 balance and 16/19 stringing pattern
- 100S: 300 grams, 32.0 balance and 14/18 SPIN stringing pattern
- 105: 290 grams, 33.0 balance and 16/19 stringing pattern
What is striking is that there is not much choice in weight, balance and stringing pattern. Especially the first two (weight and balance) are often tuned by advanced players using lead or tungsten strips to give the racket an optimal feel for them. The Dunlop I-Adapt concept is therefore made more for the recreational and club player, slightly less for the heavyweights among us. Nevertheless, it is a very nice, usable and well thought out concept that can serve the largest group of tennis players well. However, there is 1 rather big 'but' to this story: Dunlop I-Dapt is only available in America and is not yet coming to Europe... We think that's a shame! Here is a nice video about Dunlop I-Dapt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLd22MJnIcA
