As the 2025 Australian Open kicks off, all eyes will be on Carlos Alcaraz—not just for his explosive game, but for the subtle yet impactful change he’s made to his equipment and technique. Alcaraz has added 5 grams to the throat of his racket, signalling a calculated adjustment to unlock even more from his game. Round 1 begins tomorrow, and it’ll be fascinating to see how this tweak translates on the court.
So, what does this change mean for Carlos?
- More Through the Ball: The added weight in the throat will help him hit through the ball more effectively, generating deep, heavy shots without requiring excessive racket head speed.
- Increased Stability: The adjustment will make his racket more stable at impact, reducing mishits and errors, especially under pressure.
- Smoothed-Out Strokes: From his groundstrokes to his serve, the extra mass will smooth out his timing and improve consistency.
- Minimal Disruption: The placement of the weight ensures that balance, polarization, and MGR/I remain largely unchanged, preserving the rhythm and timing that make Alcaraz’s game so electric.
This is a fine-tuned, first-principles approach —small changes with maximum impact. Whether this tweak gives him an edge in Melbourne already, or he’ll need more time, remains to be seen, but it’s clear that Alcaraz is leaving no stone unturned in his quest for greatness.
Stay tuned for what promises to be a fascinating start to the tournament!
I can’t agree with your summarization. This lead placement will have a larger increase in mgr/I over it’s effect on balance point, swing weight, or recoil weight.
Let’s look at each point:
More Through the Ball:
More depth with less racquet head speed comes from large increases to swing weight, which this change is not giving. If anything, this change would be aimed at increasing racquet head speed.
Increased Stability:
Lead in the bottom of the throat will have relatively small increase to recoil weight, twist weight, and swing weight. I would be shocked if he could feel any additional stability.
Smoothed-Out Strokes: it does look like the added mass has not created any hitches in his strokes.
Minimal Disruption: The placement of the weight is close to optimal for depolarizing the racquet. The small-ish amount of weight added is the only reason it could be labeled minimally disruptive.
Thank you for the lengthy reply.
5 g in static mass is not a small amount. It does help with stability a lot, definitely something anyone can feel.
If the aim is to get more power and depth without changing too much the playability of the racket, it’s characteristics and disrupting the timing, than the throat is a great spot to add weight.
I agree that it does mean that the racket is more depolarized compared to adding weight anywhere else, that’s also why this would be a good sport to achieve depth, as more depolarized racquets give you more depth control, without relying on spin too much. Maybe this point was poorly worded from my side.
Another interesting thing to me, is that this move is perhaps, to try to replicate some characteristics of the older Pure Aero VS, which had a stiffer throat and more weight in the throat area. Alcaraz also hit flatter with his old racket.