Purposeful Tennis Saber Overview – Excellent Tennis

The Saber is a model new tennis coaching device from the blokes over at Purposeful Tennis designed to assist gamers hit the ball on the candy space, improve their focus and enhance their contact level.

There are a number of candy spot coaching instruments available on the market, however this one is designed and weighted like a correct tennis racket, solely with a mini head in comparison with your typical 100-square-inch racket.

I preordered mine, obtained certainly one of their first batches to ship, and shortly took it to the courts to check it.

How does it play? Is it any good? Discover out on this full Purposeful Tennis Saber evaluation.

What’s the Saber?

ORDER THE FUNCTIONAL TENNIS SABER

For cricket followers, there’s a well-told story that the good Sir Donald Bradman used to apply batting with a stump as an alternative of a cricket bat.

These days, specialist coaching bats are made the place the bat’s blade has the sides trimmed down so it’s round two-thirds the width of a typical cricket bat.

The Purposeful Tennis Saber applies that idea to tennis by decreasing the racket head measurement out of your typical 98-100 sq. inch racket to 37 sq. inches.

This helps enhance your hand-eye coordination, and the smaller floor space is designed to encourage cleaner hitting, that means that by the point you come to make use of your full-size racket, discovering the candy zone will probably be straightforward.

There are two variations of the Saber obtainable, the mid (the one I bought) and the Saber Lite which was launched afterwards.

I’d suggest the mid for many gamers because the heavier weight promotes higher stroke mechanics, however the Lite model is likely to be extra appropriate for youthful juniors or feminine gamers.

Saber Mid Specification

Sabre Lite Specification

First Impressions

The Saber arrives packed in a protracted slimline field that just about appears to be like prefer it might match by a letter field.

It comes with a delicate, draw-string racket sack which is a pleasant contact.

After unwrapping it and doing a number of shadow swings, I used to be excited to strive it. The Saber felt good high quality; in the event you shut your eyes, it appears like swinging every other racket.

The cosmetics additionally look good, and the paint job is top quality. I didn’t discover at first, however the placard additionally serves as a stencil do you have to wish to maintain the branding after a restring (sure, you possibly can restring it!)

Purposeful Tennis Saber Playtest

Most individuals’s reactions after they first see the Saber is that it should be close to not possible to play with. “So many air photographs”, “No manner you possibly can hit the ball”

Nevertheless, having used a tennis pointer earlier than, I knew that possible wasn’t the case. Sure, it might be tougher (that’s the entire level), however when you have an eye fixed for hitting a ball, making contact with it isn’t one thing to fret about.

As an alternative, the questions I had earlier than taking part in have been, might you hit along with your normal approach, would it not be spin-friendly, and would it’s a must to swap to a extra continental grip for a horizontal sort swing path for consistency?

After my first few hits, the solutions to these three questions have been: sure, sure and no.

The Saber performs identical to an everyday racket; you possibly can hit along with your customary approach, you possibly can hit with spin, and also you don’t have to change your grip.

My grip is japanese, so pretty conservative anyway, however even these with extra excessive grips received’t have any issues.

From the primary playtest, my largest shock was how a lot high spin you possibly can generate with the Saber. 

Regardless of the top measurement being not a lot greater than a tennis ball, you possibly can nonetheless generate loads of RPMs on the ball, and I nearly felt just like the ball had extra spin on it than the ball I’d been hitting final week when reviewing Toalson Rencon Satan Spin in my VCORE 98. Doable? Undecided, however it felt prefer it.

You may see Stan Wawrinka utilizing the Saber under, hitting customary groundstrokes.

Other than the spin and it taking part in like every other racket, probably the most important plus level of the Saber, for my part, is that it means that you can hit the ball intuitively.

I’m a giant fan of letting gamers hit the ball naturally. Be taught the basics, however let your pure genetic predispositions come to the fore for placing the ball.

I believe the Saber facilitates that as it’s essential to focus closely on the ball fairly than eager about teaching buzzwords like racket lag, pronation and so on.

Issues went awry for me once I began overthinking my photographs and eager about kind. For those who watch the ball carefully, most different issues slot into place. 

You may see my first few hits with the Saber on the ball machine within the video under, the place I hit some forehands and backhands, then switched to the picket racket-type forehand to see what it felt like.

Other than the apparent coaching side and enhancing hand-eye coordination, the Saber can be a superb ‘reset’ device to get you again to fundamentals.

For those who performed a foul match or had a hitting session the place you felt like nothing labored, then selecting up the Saber resets your thoughts and makes you concentrate on the one actual factor that issues – hitting the ball cleanly and getting it over the web. 

At 37 sq. inches, which isn’t a lot greater than a tennis ball, you don’t have sufficient margin for error to let your thoughts wander or take your eye off the ball. 

Who’s the Saber For?

The Tennis Saber has a number of makes use of. The obvious one is for the person participant.

For those who’re a eager tennis participant trying to enhance your ball-striking skill, having this in your bag to heat up with and practice with is good. 

After I first examined it, I deliberate to hit 100 balls with it from the ball machine after which swap to my common racket, however I ended up hitting 300 balls as a result of it was tremendous enjoyable.

Is that simply the novelty side? Perhaps and it will likely be attention-grabbing to see how typically I’m utilizing it a yr down the road. (For those who’re studying this sooner or later, remark under and ask me.)

Nevertheless, primarily based on my first two classes with it and the way it feels to hit the ball along with your common racket afterwards, I can see myself utilizing it fairly typically, because it makes the sport really feel extra easy.

If in case you have an everyday hitting associate who will get one, you can even play a match with it. It might undoubtedly be error-strewn when hitting on the run, however extremely entertaining, and as a mini warm-up or forfeit-type sport a la Djokovic, I might see professional gamers utilizing them.

It’s additionally a useful coaching device for coaches to tug out of their luggage and provides to their college students. Even for gamers new to the sport, the Saber will make them watch the ball extra carefully and power them to work more durable, which may solely be appropriate for growth.

The Saber additionally works nicely as a tennis-themed present; shopping for a racket for somebody is hard as you don’t all the time know their specs, preferences and so on., however it works as a result of the Saber is a one measurement matches all for all gamers of all ages. 

Widespread Questions

Are you able to restring the Saber?

Sure, you possibly can. The Saber comes prestrung with an artificial string that ought to final a very long time, and also you don’t want to fret about stress. But when it broke, otherwise you needed a unique string, you possibly can restring it utilizing the badminton attachment for a stringing machine. Or utilizing the improvised methodology under:

The beneficial stress is between 25 and 30 lbs (11 kg – 13.5kg). Purposeful Tennis additionally sells a devoted string for the Saber, a multifilament referred to as Saber S.

Are you able to hit the ball usually with a Saber?

Sure, you possibly can hit the ball identical to a typical racket. The extra tempo on the incoming ball and the more durable you strive, the extra probability for a mistake, however the Saber is extra able to withstanding heavy balls.

I’ve arm points. Will the Saber be okay for me?

I don’t have elbow issues, however the Saber felt snug. I shouldn’t have the RA ranking for stiffness, however my guess is low 60s.

It’s a soft-feeling body, and with some fibreglass within the building + artificial nylon strings, there isn’t any harshness from the stringbed. Some body hits trigger some vibration, however the thought is to minimise these!

The racket I play with is way lighter than the Saber; ought to I take advantage of it?

The Saber Mid is available in at 312g strung, roundabout the racket weight that the majority grownup males needs to be taking part in with.

Nevertheless, even in the event you play with a a lot lighter body, the burden of the Saber needs to be manageable, and heavier frames assist promote higher stroke mechanics. 

With such a small head measurement, the burden naturally needs to be within the deal with, leading to a ~270 kg/cm² swing weight. So even when your racket is lighter in static weight, that is possible simpler to swing.

Nevertheless, Purposeful Tennis does have the Saber Lite, which is available in at 265 grams, so it’s a lot simpler to deal with and can work nicely for smaller junior gamers or feminine gamers on the lookout for a light-weight racket.

Ultimate Ideas

ORDER THE FUNCTIONAL TENNIS SABER

The Purposeful Tennis Saber takes the traditional picket tennis pointer, invented by Czech coach Jiri Bartos in 2011, to a different degree.

It’s a high-quality coaching help that’s enjoyable to play with and can enhance your skill to hit the ball cleanly.

You’ll watch the ball extra carefully and get into place earlier in order that in terms of hitting with a extra forgiving racket, you’ll ‘center’ the ball extra regularly, leading to extra energy and fewer vibration again into the arm for a higher-quality shot.

Execs

Cons

What do you consider the Purposeful Tennis Saber? Have you ever tried any comparable coaching instruments? Any positives or drawbacks I missed? Let me know within the feedback.