My Customized Solinco Whiteout

Photo by Vince Blais of Adventures Within Media.

I’ve been using the Solinco Whiteout 18x20 for about 100 days now. I’ve tried over 10 different string setups and at least 20 different weight configurations, testing all of them in some combination of training sessions, league matches and tournament play. Today, I’ll share everything that I’ve learned about my game, my fitness and my skills as a racquet customizer during that time.

Grinding through racquet customization in the height of tournament season has got to be one of the most demoralizing experiences a tennis player can subject themselves to. I can see why Shapo struggled so much after he tried to switch to the EZONE 98 last season. Every shot you miss gets overanalyzed, overcomplicated and too heavily scrutinized. It’s not that you blame the racquet. It's that you question whether you’ve made the right choices with your customizations.

“If I added more tail weight, would that return have felt more solid?”

“If I added less tip weight, could I have flicked that passing shot over?”

“Did I mistime that ball because I’m still adjusting to the new racquet setup, or is it because my footwork sucked?”

The thing is, at some point, you have to stop. You have to commit to a setup. But at what point, is the right point? With my Whiteouts, I tried swingweights a low as the stock 326 and high as 345. I tried static weights as low 323g and as high as 351g. I tried balance points between 31.7 and 33.3cm. This level of variation meant that my recoil weight was as low as 153 and as high as 175.

So, here’s what I learned. I struggled with balance points above 32cm. I love high swingweight around 340, until I have to play a 2nd set. I learned that recoil weights above 170 make the racquet swing shockingly fast, even when they have big swingweights and that, even if it swings fast, that doesn’t mean it’s easy for your body to swing by the end of a tough battle in 30 degree weather. Most importantly, I learned what shot is most heavily impacted by these changes.

I can hit my backhand with any racquet. I can return efficiently with anything above 330g. I can rally with basically any racquet. But the one shot that I need, that I can only hit with a certain spec, is the forehand down the line. Especially forehand approaches. The closer I can get to an MGR/I between 20.8 and 21, the more accurate, and accurately powerful I can be with my forehand. This really helps me contact that ball out front. It helps me take it early and stay on top of the ball. With anything lower, my forehands spray wide, sailing well clear of the doubles alley. I feel like I have to be way too careful to keep the ball in and I start babying my forehand. Could this be because I suck? 100%, but tennis is a game. You play to win. Why not take any advantage I can get from my racquet?

So here are my strung specs:

• 345g

• 31.9cm

• 326 SW

• 160 RW

• 21.09 MGR/I

• 0.465

At most, this is a mild deviation from my Extreme Tour. It’s a few grams lighter, a little more head heavy, with a slightly lower swingweight and to compensate for the higher twistweight in the Whiteouts. I can get away with this more feeble spec because the base Solinco Whiteout is more powerful, more stable and more solid feeling than the 360+ Extreme Tour. In contrast, my old racquet simply feels anemic

So what about strings?

So I’ve tried about 10 different strings at tension ranging from 45lbs to 52lbs and here’s what I’ve learned. The Whiteout is not exactly comfortable. Tourna Silver 7 Tour at 52lbs stresses my wrist. Solinco Barbwire is one of the worst strings I’ve ever tried and Tour Bite Diamond Rough has awoken my curiosity in rough strings. A full bed of ReString Zero turns the Whiteout into a rocket launcher. It’s like the Babolat of strings. There’s so much power and spin, but so little connection to the ball that it feels like you are spraying and praying. Head Hawk Power is one of the more fun playtests I’ve had since Tour M8. It feels like Polytour Pro and ALU Power had a baby. Crisp yet plush. Too bad the durability sucks and it only plays well fresh.

So here are my top 3 setups so far:

• Number 3: Silver 7 Tour at 48lbs. The lower tension is still very controllable and it alleviates the wrist pain just enough. Spin, durability and everything is just where I want it.

• Number 2: Toroline Wasabi at 45lbs. Fresh, this plays amazing. The low tension unlocks extra creativity on both my backhand and forehand. I feel like the extra ball pocketing gives me the ability to create a better dip on the ball for nasty angles and passing shots.

• Number 1: Silver 7 Tour in the mains and ReString Zero in the crosses at 52lbs. Silver 7 gives me the feedback in the stringbed that I need to control Zero, which Zero increases spin to the max and helps increase the longevity of the stringbed. I can happily play with this setup until it breaks because the snapback remains.

While I’m pretty happy with my Whiteout specs, I don’t think I’m fully settled on strings.

I want something that’s a little more connected and predictable than my Zero hybrid, and I still haven’t tried my favourite strings from Grapplesnake, Tour Sniper and Tour M8.

Not to mention they have a brand new string on the horizon called Paradox Pro. My Grapplesnake rep and I have similar tastes in tennis strings, BMW’s and colours and he designed this specifically for those tastes, meaning predictability, consistency and playability duration are prioritized alongside controllable spin and connected ball pocketing. He says there’s nothing else like this string on the market due to the introduction of a new metal in the composition, in higher percentages than we’ve ever seen. My sets are on their way to me now and I’ll be reviewing them ASAP on delivery.

Let me know in the comment what specs you are enjoying these days!