What's the best way to use one, say 140g for this example - not one of the heavier ones. Use it as main racket for the off season? Use it whole time during coaching/training session? Use it some of the time during coaching/training session? Use it on/off at club nights? (Probably good way to annoy your partner) Use it for league matches? I'm thinking of going to a lower level club over the summer where I could use it all the time and not be a handicap on my partner - is this a good idea?
i would be afraid to lose my touch if i played too long with an extra heavy racket. i sometimes use a training racket for warm-up or for a training match with the kids. and for training routines (usually smash defense, drives, smashes...). i use a training racket very rarely and usually only for like 15 minutes or so. you can probably use it more regularly, but i wouldn't like to use it for more than say 20min a session. and definetaly not for the whole summer... edit: power is nothing without control!
Do not use it regulary over long periods of time if you are training seriously. Heavier rackets are used to develope muscle strength and thats what you should do: applying common training methods for that. Here: Interval training with the heavy racket. Nothing more. Your muscles will benefit a lot if you do alternating multifeeding. For example: 15 drives with your training racket, immediately switch to your normal racket play 15 drives with that. Repeat. This pattern is often used in professional coaching. It hurts more than it helps to play regular games with the training racket.
Can only comment what I use mine for (but mine is 160g not 140g). Not sure what is "best". I use mine every time I shadow. Sometimes I shadow strokes, sometimes I shadow the footwork as well. I normally shadow in between sessions/at the side of the court. I do this so that I remember how keep relaxed with all of my shots, and how to keep everything simple. I find this helps me to handle my head heavy voltric z-force as if it were a feather. I have used mine on court for some drills: defence, drives, and sometimes net kills. For each of these, racket head speed is really important in combination with fast racket handling. The movements are small but powerful. The heavy racket ensures you keep the shots compact and precise (as big swings go wrong quickly). I do not usually use the racket for too long on these occasions, but with net kills in particular I will not use the racket for a long time - I find the feeling of my normal racket is necessary to build up confidence in taking shuttles off the tape, with the heavy racket just reinforcing good habits. To be honest, this kind of use for my training racket is rare nowadays, I do not feel the need to use it in this way very often. I have played games at club with it once, which was good fun - but I always gave a warning to my partner not to clash rackets this game... I hope this helps in some small way.
cheers all. Since I'm regularly receiving some coaching where I could use a training racket and since it is only ~£30, I think I will get one. It's interesting to me that overheads seem to be least mentioned shot here for use with training racket.
Training rackets are like the tooth fairy, I dont believe in them. Just one more thing to buy for a player who has more cash than sense
i also worried about losing touch of my normal playing racket if i use a training racket too long, but i was told that a heavy training racket is best used when you are training for power like backhand smashes and backhand clears. so when i want to train for more power, then i would use it, for clear shots and smash shots. hope this helps.
I haven't used mine (160g) for a while but initially used it to play half court singles vs a relative beginner. I found it really helped with anything on the backhand side - defense, drives, overheads. I think the extra weight really drills in the fact you can't get away with a floppy wrist on these shots. I also played some doubles with people in a lower grade, it was quite fun but I'm not sure I'd use it in games again - can pick up some bad habits. Yeah it's odd but I felt least comfortable playing overheads with the 160; I'd probably just stick to shadowing as MSeeley said. Could be different with a 140 though. I like 96382's idea of interval training. Switching back to a normal racquet makes you feel godlike also ^^
