Thursday, November 18, 2010

Brad Gilbert - Winning Ugly book review

Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis--Lessons from a MasterAndre Agassi was a different player before he met Brad Gilbert. Immersed in the need for flash and hitting winners from impossible angles, Agassi was not winning games he should have. Brad changed all that with a much better tactical and consistent approach and from then on Agassi would never be the same.

Gilbert was known as a tactical genius and had consistently beaten players technically superior to him over the span of his career. He teaches his secrets to success well in this book and is an excellent read for players of all playing abilities and peppers the book with interesting personal experiences from throughout his playing career. A definite Must Read!

Get the best deals on Winning Ugly here!

Wilson BLX Six.One Tour Review

THIS is the racquet that Roger Federer uses. That fact alone sells a lot of these sticks regardless of whether the person buying it actually can decently play with the stick. You dont ask if the racquet is good enough for you. You should ask yourself if your good enough for it.

Weighing in at a hefty 12.5oz and with a headsize of 90 inches, this is definitely not a racquet that forgives. The tiny sweetspot means anything you hit slightly off target will cost you, but as with many players racquets with similar spec, the upside of being good enough to play with it brings unparalleled control and feel of your shots.

Thanks to the advent of modern day marketing, this frames is constantly "upgraded" every two years with a new paintjob and "cutting edge materials". The weight, balance, beam with and string pattern basically never changes much which means the difference is usually only in the feel of the racquet.

This racquet is an evolution or descendant of the Wilson Pro Staff Original 6.0, a stick with now legendary status thanks to Pete Sampras but was also used by Federer in his early days. Other pro's who used this racquet include Jim Courier, Stefan Edberg, Mary Pierce and Chris Evert.


Get the best deal on a Wilson BLX Six.One Tour here.






Previous Versions of the Wilson BLX Six.One.

K Factor KSix-One Tour 90

- In production 2007-2008













nCode nSix-One Tour 90

-in production 2004-2006












Wilson BLX Six.One Specs

Midsize Specs
Head Size:
90 sq. in. / 580.64 sq. cm.
Length: 27 inches / 68.58 cm
Strung Weight: 12.5oz / 354.37g
Balance: 9 pts HL
Swingweight: 333
Stiffness: 65
Beam Width: 17.5mm/17.5mm/17.5mm/
Composition: Karophite Black / Basalt
Power Level: Low
Swing Speed: Fast
Grip Type: Leather
String Pattern:
16 Mains / 19 Crosses
Mains skip: 7T, 9T, 7H, 9H
One Piece
No Shared Holes
String Tension: 50-60 pounds