At the US Open this year, I bumped into Samson Dubina and he gave me a prototype of his new TT-Flex training system to try out. Here are my impressions.
The Racket
The racket feels rather heavy, since it’s stainless steel, 3mm thick. It’s got a nice wooden handle but it’s a bit top-heavy since the wood in the handle isn’t as dense as the steel throughout the head. The head of my blade has some markings, but that’s because it’s a prototype.
Usage
I tried doing my backhand loop swings at full speed (without a band attached), and I could definitely feel it in my wrist. It can definitely give your muscles a workout. You probably don’t want to start out swinging at full power. I’d recommend easing into it over a few sessions to let your muscles adjust.
When I tried attaching the band, I found that it felt best to do slower swings in one direction so the resistance is uniform. So I did have to adjust my stroke a bit, but as far as developing strength in the muscles used, it should do the job even when an adjusted stroke.
Hook Positions
I actually had trouble finding places to hook the bands. The instructions say that the object you’re hooking to should be able to support 100 lbs of pressure. In my apartment, I don’t have many places to hook it. For the three positions to attach to (floor, table, and ceiling), I only had the floor height covered, on one of the legs of my heavy TV table. In Samson’s YouTube video, he gets the “table” height on his playing table, but I’m not sure what he hooks for the ceiling height. The ceiling may not be as necessary anyways, as I think it’s only used for downward chopping, which most players don’t do.
Conclusion
I can see this being useful for strength building, especially in the wrists which get neglected since normal gym routines ignore them. Ease into your use of the racket and the bands so you don’t strain any muscles which aren’t used to handling a heavier racket or the resistance of the bands. Good luck!
