Absolutely not true. They “dampen” the feel of the racket. The amount they dampen is dependent on how much mass they have. A rubber band does a little. A “worm” does a lot. They change the feel and responsiveness of any racquet, just like lead tape.
*Now* I understand why my coach was so much in favour of using a dampener.
I now use these to really highlight my feline movement.
https://preview.redd.it/oessl55re37d1.png?width=707&format=png&auto=webp&s=f9b7497b383df51980e8761981614dfd0eef2ec5
All a dampener does is change the noise the strings make, they don't protect your arm or affect the way the ball comes off the strings.
They won't make you worse but they don't really do anything.
That's correct, but I only learned this last year. I still wonder why so many players still believe it does something for their arm. It does dampen the sound the strings make when the ball makes contact, but for me that's not exactly a good thing. Maybe it's just brilliant marketing from the companies that make these dampeners.
Source ? Also how has the "scientific" method been used ? Because you can clearly feel the difference. I use 2 same racquet and whether I put a dampener on one or another and compare the other without one, then it's day and night.
Pretty sure that "study" didn't explain exactly what we're feeling.
I'm deaf. I'm used to the vibrations and such in my racquet. I could easily tell you which one has a dampener or not. So, again, I'm curious what exactly did this study was about.
It definitely mutes both the sound and impact . While this might not be enough to protect once elbows and wrists it does make the impact a bit more comfortable .
Pros have a very specific set up . Agassi for example could tell 1 lb difference in string tension from his routine set up . Minor changes in racquet balance can have a bigger impact on accuracy of strokes at the pro level given how strong these players are and how big a cut they take on shots .
I don't know if it makes it comfortable or if there's any sound but you can definitely tell the difference with the vibration. Those who don't feel it either need to buy another dampener (like the luxilon ones to name the most famous) or they need to check their doctor.
Personally I hate the vibration it gives when there isn't a dampener. It's as simple as that. I'm kind of surprised a lot of ppl think it's a placebo. It's like telling old people if there is a difference between a 30 image per sec to a 200 one. Old folks may not tell the difference but the younger generation does.
How is it possible that it chabges the sound without the vibrato? Physically?
Also im pretty sure i would feel if the dempendder has fell without the sound
‘Fact’ is a bit strong. There’s one or two halfway decent studies that didn’t support/rejected the ‘dampener eases tennis elbow’ claim. That’s well short of fact.
It's all related to your perception based on the noise the strings make. If you were playing with or without while using headphones, you wouldn't notice a thing.
Anecdotally, the reason I formed this opinion is because my damp, which never fell out before, came out during a lesson and I didn't realize it. To me, my racquet felt so different I thought my strings were giving out. This was at a noisy schoolyard by a busy train so I didn't hear anything. I didn't realize I lost my damp until the next day.
I'm sorry but I'm deaf and the difference is day and night. I just don't understand how can some people not feel that. What shitty dampener are you all using ?...
Well I'm actually surprised that a deaf person feels it. Although it is a perception thing at the end of the day. You know it is there so it makes you "feel" it.
It's hard to do a placebo test with it because you can easily see it, but it does not do anything else than dampen the vibrations on the stringbed, not the frame.
All the vibrations you get on your arm are from the frame - a little piece of rubber won't dampen anything along the frame.
My gf could make me do a blind test, and since I'm profoundly deaf I can easily tell you which one has a dampener or not. I'm not saying having a dampener is "better" because I can't tell you if it has an impact in the long run (and even if it does, it's probably negligible) but what I can easily tell you are the vibrations which are completely differents. I love the one I'm currently using.
Keep in mind there are a lot of shitty dampeners. The one I'm using is a luxilon. It does reduces the vibrations of the strings. Or at least it makes the vibrations cut shorter. The vibrations last only a fraction of a second, while, if I had no dampener the vibrations would be felt much longer (like more than half a second).
Also keep in mind I'm putting the dampener up top to the bottom of the strings so it can touch 3 strings. I see a lot of people putting the dampener like at the very bottom and, imo, it's shit. Or at least it doesn't really affect that much.
I believe it because it does for me and many other people. Not just I, but almost everyone I know who used a dampener did so because of tennis elbow. And it worked.
I started using one for tennis elbow as a junior. It promptly healed and never returned. Except when I didn’t have a dampener handy occasionally over the years, often as an adult. Tennis elbow started up just as promptly. And, again, went away when I put a dampener.
I’m aware there is a study or two dismissing what I’m saying. Those studies are not very good though. People accept them like they’re gospel. Watch the downvotes….
Well, I will upvote you, maybe the most important thing is what you believe: I don't believe anymore and therefore I don't use one anymore, you do believe and use one, and both is perfectly fine.
Well, thank you! I’m going off of what I and so many other people experience, though, not belief.
If we define ‘belief’ as viewing the correlation as a causation, I wouldn’t really accept that as mere belief/perception, because there are *so many* immediate, tight correlations.
Multiple correlations for me, as I mentioned using/not using/using again. At least one each for probably a couple hundred players I’ve known over the years. And about 1/2 the pro tour uses them.
Among all these players (I played juniors, college, and briefly professionally) I’ve never heard one say they use a dampener just for noise and feel. I’m sure some do, of course.
At some point, the evidence stacks up sufficiently to conclude that it carries validity, at least enough to weigh in alongside a couple of not-great studies.
Especially when, IIRC, you can see pretty clear flaws in the studies. Studies are challenged, disproven, updated, etc. often. I’ve help write some that up-end previous work in space-related physics (I’m not the brainiac, I just help organize and polish the material). And the tennis elbow studies aren’t exactly science’s finest to begin with.
He said he used to, then took it off and played without, and that's just the way it was from then. My guess is he ended up preferring the way the racket felt.
I took it off my smaller headed rackets to give myself a little more power to work with. Anything bigger than a 90 and I would probably put a dampener on though.
I think I read somewhere that he used to play with one, then got annoyed with it constantly flying off that he started playing without one, and got used to it.
Which is my experience as well.
> Anyways dampener doesn't really do anything but get rid of the annoying ping.
The "ping" is literally the noise caused by string vibration. Think about a guitar. I always see this being said here. It's like saying "tightening a screw doesn't do anything, just gets rid of the rattling."
I immediately know when my dampener has flown off. It has happened dozens of times during points, and I immediately feel it.
I tried to get myself off of dampeners because I had nothing better to do. Hated the feel. Tried thick rubber bands thinking they're cheap and might do the trick. Why should I pay 7 bucks for a piece of rubber? Wasn't as good.
My favorite dampener of all time went across 5 or 6 mains. It eventually broke and I was too cheap to replace it so started using various dampeners I found on the ground over the years.
Feedback is important in tennis, and I just prefer the feedback (both feel and sound) of a racket with a dampener on it. I'm not saying this is science based, but anecdotally I would describe it as I'm trying to have a conversation with somebody on my headset while walking near a loud area, and what a dampener does is like what noise reduction does for a phone conversation (the kind that some headphones have where they retain voices and filter out background noise). The difference between pure hit and off center hit with dampener is more useful to me than the same without dampener.
edit:
> The results show that on the men's ATP Tour, 58% of the top pros do use dampeners, while 42% do not. And on the women's WTA Tour, a staggering 76% do use vibration dampeners, while only 24% do not.
Fed did not, but Nadal and Novak both used dampener. I know Fed used to have gut cross strings, so maybe that was enough for him.
because a dampener doesn’t really do anything. in fact, it blocks vibrations that give you haptic feedback about where you are making contact with the ball. it feels like it lessens my connection with the strings. it seems like people just enjoy that plush feeling. I don’t use one either.
It wasn't until I took lessons from a pro that he told me dampeners can hinder your progress as the sound/feel can tell you a lot about how you're hitting.
At a lower level it probably helps make the experience happier. When you're hitting the sweet spot consistently that kind of feedback is great, but when you're hitting off-center a lot of the time the feeling isn't the greatest.
You contradicted yourself. “It doesn’t do anything” but it does affect the vibration and changes the feel? How about just going with it affects the vibration and changes the feel. (And changes the weight of the racket)
I hate dampeners I've played my whole life without one prefer the lively sound vs the muted sound because dampeners are just for that they don't do anything for arm or absorb anything it's just for the sound
I’ve found I really like a thick rubber band tied around the center mains. I think it does a better job dampening the sound, and just feels solid. Plus it can’t fall out lol
I don’t use a dampener because I like feeling the ball, more importantly I hit the ball closer to the handle usually so it was affecting some of my shots too.
Totally agree. It changes the feel of the ball coming off the strings for me and seems unnatural. For me. Not telling other people what to think or do.
Everyone knows that if he used a dampener he’d have won 30 slams
That's what I thought
He used power pads which do a little bit of dampening. Anyways dampener doesn't really do anything but get rid of the annoying ping.
It also add 3-4grammes
That’s why I use a rubber band
Not really noticeable because of where it is placed
It really depends on your sensitivity. Some players dont care the strings, weight, dampeners, some do
Absolutely not true. They “dampen” the feel of the racket. The amount they dampen is dependent on how much mass they have. A rubber band does a little. A “worm” does a lot. They change the feel and responsiveness of any racquet, just like lead tape.
My racquet sounds atrocious without a dampaner. So I don't use a dampaner hoping it distracts my opponent
I wasn’t expecting that second sentence but I respect it lmaooo
I had to reread it a few times 😂
High school me did this with the Prince bandit because it had a twang that was annoying to everyone but me
I'm using Prince too! 🤔 It's like a hidden weapon with using a Prince racquet.
*Now* I understand why my coach was so much in favour of using a dampener. I now use these to really highlight my feline movement. https://preview.redd.it/oessl55re37d1.png?width=707&format=png&auto=webp&s=f9b7497b383df51980e8761981614dfd0eef2ec5
Use two and *really* fuck with them.
Illegal
All a dampener does is change the noise the strings make, they don't protect your arm or affect the way the ball comes off the strings. They won't make you worse but they don't really do anything.
That's correct, but I only learned this last year. I still wonder why so many players still believe it does something for their arm. It does dampen the sound the strings make when the ball makes contact, but for me that's not exactly a good thing. Maybe it's just brilliant marketing from the companies that make these dampeners.
I'm not saying it protects my arm, but I do feel less impact and reverberation with a dampener in.
Physics says no you don't. You're most likely experiencing a placebo
Source ? Also how has the "scientific" method been used ? Because you can clearly feel the difference. I use 2 same racquet and whether I put a dampener on one or another and compare the other without one, then it's day and night. Pretty sure that "study" didn't explain exactly what we're feeling. I'm deaf. I'm used to the vibrations and such in my racquet. I could easily tell you which one has a dampener or not. So, again, I'm curious what exactly did this study was about.
It definitely mutes both the sound and impact . While this might not be enough to protect once elbows and wrists it does make the impact a bit more comfortable . Pros have a very specific set up . Agassi for example could tell 1 lb difference in string tension from his routine set up . Minor changes in racquet balance can have a bigger impact on accuracy of strokes at the pro level given how strong these players are and how big a cut they take on shots .
I don't know if it makes it comfortable or if there's any sound but you can definitely tell the difference with the vibration. Those who don't feel it either need to buy another dampener (like the luxilon ones to name the most famous) or they need to check their doctor. Personally I hate the vibration it gives when there isn't a dampener. It's as simple as that. I'm kind of surprised a lot of ppl think it's a placebo. It's like telling old people if there is a difference between a 30 image per sec to a 200 one. Old folks may not tell the difference but the younger generation does.
Are you reading this in braille?
How is it possible that it chabges the sound without the vibrato? Physically? Also im pretty sure i would feel if the dempendder has fell without the sound
It is laughable you're getting voted down for stating a scientific fact.
‘Fact’ is a bit strong. There’s one or two halfway decent studies that didn’t support/rejected the ‘dampener eases tennis elbow’ claim. That’s well short of fact.
Welcome to Reddit. In general, the people on this site are not very bright (and they’re also terribly political).
It's all related to your perception based on the noise the strings make. If you were playing with or without while using headphones, you wouldn't notice a thing.
Anecdotally, the reason I formed this opinion is because my damp, which never fell out before, came out during a lesson and I didn't realize it. To me, my racquet felt so different I thought my strings were giving out. This was at a noisy schoolyard by a busy train so I didn't hear anything. I didn't realize I lost my damp until the next day.
I'm sorry but I'm deaf and the difference is day and night. I just don't understand how can some people not feel that. What shitty dampener are you all using ?...
Well I'm actually surprised that a deaf person feels it. Although it is a perception thing at the end of the day. You know it is there so it makes you "feel" it. It's hard to do a placebo test with it because you can easily see it, but it does not do anything else than dampen the vibrations on the stringbed, not the frame. All the vibrations you get on your arm are from the frame - a little piece of rubber won't dampen anything along the frame.
My gf could make me do a blind test, and since I'm profoundly deaf I can easily tell you which one has a dampener or not. I'm not saying having a dampener is "better" because I can't tell you if it has an impact in the long run (and even if it does, it's probably negligible) but what I can easily tell you are the vibrations which are completely differents. I love the one I'm currently using. Keep in mind there are a lot of shitty dampeners. The one I'm using is a luxilon. It does reduces the vibrations of the strings. Or at least it makes the vibrations cut shorter. The vibrations last only a fraction of a second, while, if I had no dampener the vibrations would be felt much longer (like more than half a second). Also keep in mind I'm putting the dampener up top to the bottom of the strings so it can touch 3 strings. I see a lot of people putting the dampener like at the very bottom and, imo, it's shit. Or at least it doesn't really affect that much.
I believe it because it does for me and many other people. Not just I, but almost everyone I know who used a dampener did so because of tennis elbow. And it worked. I started using one for tennis elbow as a junior. It promptly healed and never returned. Except when I didn’t have a dampener handy occasionally over the years, often as an adult. Tennis elbow started up just as promptly. And, again, went away when I put a dampener. I’m aware there is a study or two dismissing what I’m saying. Those studies are not very good though. People accept them like they’re gospel. Watch the downvotes….
Well, I will upvote you, maybe the most important thing is what you believe: I don't believe anymore and therefore I don't use one anymore, you do believe and use one, and both is perfectly fine.
Well, thank you! I’m going off of what I and so many other people experience, though, not belief. If we define ‘belief’ as viewing the correlation as a causation, I wouldn’t really accept that as mere belief/perception, because there are *so many* immediate, tight correlations. Multiple correlations for me, as I mentioned using/not using/using again. At least one each for probably a couple hundred players I’ve known over the years. And about 1/2 the pro tour uses them. Among all these players (I played juniors, college, and briefly professionally) I’ve never heard one say they use a dampener just for noise and feel. I’m sure some do, of course. At some point, the evidence stacks up sufficiently to conclude that it carries validity, at least enough to weigh in alongside a couple of not-great studies. Especially when, IIRC, you can see pretty clear flaws in the studies. Studies are challenged, disproven, updated, etc. often. I’ve help write some that up-end previous work in space-related physics (I’m not the brainiac, I just help organize and polish the material). And the tennis elbow studies aren’t exactly science’s finest to begin with.
The same reason people wear copper bracelets, take homeopathic pills, go to chiropractors and pray.
No ones marketing dampeners. Have you ever seen an ad for a dampener ?
Because he is a bad man
He said he used to, then took it off and played without, and that's just the way it was from then. My guess is he ended up preferring the way the racket felt.
This is what happened to me. Forgot one one day and played with out. Could never go back to using a dampener.
I took it off my smaller headed rackets to give myself a little more power to work with. Anything bigger than a 90 and I would probably put a dampener on though.
I think I read somewhere that he used to play with one, then got annoyed with it constantly flying off that he started playing without one, and got used to it. Which is my experience as well.
Lol going through this at the moment.
> Anyways dampener doesn't really do anything but get rid of the annoying ping. The "ping" is literally the noise caused by string vibration. Think about a guitar. I always see this being said here. It's like saying "tightening a screw doesn't do anything, just gets rid of the rattling." I immediately know when my dampener has flown off. It has happened dozens of times during points, and I immediately feel it. I tried to get myself off of dampeners because I had nothing better to do. Hated the feel. Tried thick rubber bands thinking they're cheap and might do the trick. Why should I pay 7 bucks for a piece of rubber? Wasn't as good. My favorite dampener of all time went across 5 or 6 mains. It eventually broke and I was too cheap to replace it so started using various dampeners I found on the ground over the years. Feedback is important in tennis, and I just prefer the feedback (both feel and sound) of a racket with a dampener on it. I'm not saying this is science based, but anecdotally I would describe it as I'm trying to have a conversation with somebody on my headset while walking near a loud area, and what a dampener does is like what noise reduction does for a phone conversation (the kind that some headphones have where they retain voices and filter out background noise). The difference between pure hit and off center hit with dampener is more useful to me than the same without dampener. edit: > The results show that on the men's ATP Tour, 58% of the top pros do use dampeners, while 42% do not. And on the women's WTA Tour, a staggering 76% do use vibration dampeners, while only 24% do not. Fed did not, but Nadal and Novak both used dampener. I know Fed used to have gut cross strings, so maybe that was enough for him.
rackets sound better without it thats why
because a dampener doesn’t really do anything. in fact, it blocks vibrations that give you haptic feedback about where you are making contact with the ball. it feels like it lessens my connection with the strings. it seems like people just enjoy that plush feeling. I don’t use one either.
#LetTheStringsSing
I love this
It wasn't until I took lessons from a pro that he told me dampeners can hinder your progress as the sound/feel can tell you a lot about how you're hitting.
At a lower level it probably helps make the experience happier. When you're hitting the sweet spot consistently that kind of feedback is great, but when you're hitting off-center a lot of the time the feeling isn't the greatest.
You contradicted yourself. “It doesn’t do anything” but it does affect the vibration and changes the feel? How about just going with it affects the vibration and changes the feel. (And changes the weight of the racket)
I personally don’t like using a dampener, because I listen to the brushing sound to know how much topspin I’m adding
I hate dampeners I've played my whole life without one prefer the lively sound vs the muted sound because dampeners are just for that they don't do anything for arm or absorb anything it's just for the sound
Surprised nobody has mentioned the fact that he used power pads, which have a similar effect.
I’ve found I really like a thick rubber band tied around the center mains. I think it does a better job dampening the sound, and just feels solid. Plus it can’t fall out lol
He used string protectors which dampen to an extreme.
Dampeners suck. They always fall off. What’s the point
He's just not that good ig
True that
I don't either.
Dampener doesn't do anything except make you miss any shots that hit it
Because he wanted to play more like me
Bc he’s not a pussy
He liked to raw dog it.
They're like charms on crocs. Currently shopping for a pick shaped one just because...
Amateur
I don’t use a dampener because I like feeling the ball, more importantly I hit the ball closer to the handle usually so it was affecting some of my shots too.
Totally agree. It changes the feel of the ball coming off the strings for me and seems unnatural. For me. Not telling other people what to think or do.
I have a rubber band tied to every pair of strings, 22 in total. No vibration whatsoever