u/ay182

I'm giving my Gamma Progression II + Wise 2086 to my brother. Buying a full setup from scratch. ~20 rackets/month.

Looking for: stand, 6 point mount, fixed clamps, ability to add Wise 2086. Budget $2,500.

The thing I actually want is down press clamp bases (or some other great clamp bases). My swivel locks on the Gamma Progression II knock into each other on crosses.

Options I've priced:

1. Tourna 350-CS + 2 down press rails + Wise = $3,250 (over)
2. 175-CS + stand + Wise = $1,853 (but I don't think down press fits the 175)

Questions:

1. Do the Down press rails fit a 175-CS?
2. Anyone actually done this retrofit? The rail excludes the clamp. Do stock 350-CS clamps mount to it?
3. Is down press worth $800 over stock?
4. Any other machines/setups I should consider?

When I was 3.0, I used a full bed of PPC and used it until they broke.

I'm 3.5 (6.0 UTR) now and tried a full bed of poly and my arm/shoulder didn't appreciate the stiffness. I would also change out the strings every 12-15 hours.

I've settled on biphase in the mains w/ a round poly in the crosses.

With multi in the mains, should i just be playing until the strings break? Or should I think about the longevity of the poly crosses and change strings every 12 hours?

None of my local tennis shops carry the new prince tour. it seems like my only option to demo it is through tennis warehouse but their wait time is until mid July.

perhaps i'm missing something, but weird how every other brand i can demo at my local tennis shops except prince.

I got a few racquets from TW to demo.

People complain about the wait time for the racquets to come. This doesn't bother me that much. It's a cheap program and much better than any retailer around my area.

The poly strings that came in the racket were incredibly notched. I ended up cutting them out and restringing myself with my strings of choice. I feel bad for the people that have no choice but to just use it as is.

I messaged TW to ask for a few more days with the rackets and they gave me 3 more days with no issue. I really appreciate that.

Have people tried these two and what are their thoughts.

I tried the tfight and liked it but also want to try the new prince tour 98. According to tenncom, the PT is not as stable and doesn't have as big of a sweet spot as the tfight.

I'm a 3.5c. Probably wouldn't benefit from the tfights bigger sweet spot. But I'm also a sucker for great feel rackets which prince tour is supposed to have.

I will be retiring in the next few years. One thing that is going to really suck is self funding my health insurance. I think it would be really beneficial to me to get a part time job that provides health insurance. Not only does this lower my costs, gives me some additional income, it will also be good for my social life and mental acuity.

Do any employers come to mind that provide health insurance for part time work?

Anyone else find it annoying that the usta TennisLink website doesn't allow you to open links as a new tab?