The shock absorber, the vibration dampener – Whatever you call it. There’s a lot of discussion about what they are.. What they do and whether everyone should use one?
So, we took a look and you’ll never guess what, it comes down to preference. Now, there is no physical, provable benefit to a shock absorber in terms of increasing power or increasing control or spin for example – However, there’s no doubt that some people could never imagine playing with out one.
As the name suggests, the job of the shock absorber is to absorb the shock or dampen the vibrations. This can be good for your arm but its more about an immediate feeling than it is overall reduction in vibrations. It just mutes the feeling in the moment and actually mutes the noise of the hit quite nicely too.
They are usually placed in the same spot, this is because they have the least impact on your racket when they are at the bottom of the string bed and the vibrations often travel downwards. You could place more on the racket head but it will start to effect the weight of your racket and there are exclusion zones because, if you happened to be that precise, in theory you could use it for extra spin.
For that reason many Tennis players prefer playing with them on once they are used to it, they don’t like the sound when they are off. It really comes down to you and your confidence with your racket. If you like it on, leave it on.