I just measured the balance point of some racquets I have, and here's what I came up with:

Yonex MP100: 290 mm
Carlton Rasmussen: 285 mm
Carlton Aerogear 1000FX: 290
Prince Response: 280 mm
Babolat Power Lite Long: 290 mm
Yonex ISO-1999: 315 mm (!)
Yonex B650: 300 mm

I found this rather surprising. All racquets had roughly the same amount of grip tape. I consider my 1000FX to be the head-lightest racquet I have, and the Rasmussen to be the head-heaviest, and I would definitely not say that the Prince raquet is head-light. But their balance points tell a different tale. And the really low-end ISO-1999 (an aluminium racquet I think) is just sooo head-heavy, but it doesn't feel that way (although it's pretty heavy all over, so I guess it could be hard to compare).

Can anyone explain this? Or have I completely misunderstood the laws of physics? ;-) (Yes, I measured from the end of the handle)

Mag,

did you also measure the weight of the rackets? a head-heavy but light racket can feel lighter than a head-light but heavy racket....

Yes, but isn't the balance point what's interesting if you want to objectively determine if a racquet is head heavy or head light? My point is that the Rasmussen, for instance, is said to be head heavy in catalogs etc, but judging from the balance point you'd say it's definitely head light.

Maybe we should all just measure the balance points of our racquets and compare that to our perception of them. That should clear this "mystery" up once and for all.

Come on, give me some data, guys! Measure that Yonex!

how can u measure the balance point? i'm curious to see what i get outa my Airblade 900 :p

Ok, here's the layman's version:
Balance the racquet over a pen or similar narrow object. There you have the balance point. Take a measure from the very end of the racquet (grip side) to the balance point. Voila!

odd, the airblade 900 has about 295mm of a balance pt

Hi Mag
There are two types of balance points.
1) Designed...i.e. with original grip tape
2) Performance / Preference..non slip, bigger etc all these contribute to aditional wt thereby causing the centre of gravity to shift towards the handle of the racket.
To a certain extent when this CG is shifted the play is affected....head heavy or light.

Don't get this at all.