March Racket Madness

[RERobbins]

I've been playing with a Volkl Quantum 8 for the past seven years and recently concluded that it is time for a change. I selected the Volkl when I was getting back into the game after a ten year hiatus. While that racket was fine at the time, there are better rackets for me now.

I'm 45 and a 4.0+ player. I play mostly singles and tend to linger at the baseline. My strokes are compact to moderate. I've not had problems with tennis elbow.

I've been demoing rackets and am driving myself crazy.

At the moment, my favorites are the Prince O3 Speedport Tour and the Wilson K Blade 98. I've not yet had a chance to hit the O3 Speedport Black. I suspect I should give the Wilson K Pro Open a shot as well. I also enjoyed the Dunlop Aerogel 300 -- but not as much as the Speedport or the K Blade.

The Dunlop felt a little too light, which pushed me more toward the Speedport Tour. The K Blade felt wonderful on my ground strokes but I'm having a hard time hitting my serves well with that frame. It's as if I'm looking for a racket that's a tad lighter than the Speedport Tour and a bit heavier than the K98.

I didn't really like the Head Microgel Radical 98 or the Babolat Pure Storm. The Wilson K 6.1 team was pleasant enough, but I preferred the rackets listed above.

I know that I just need to keep hitting these things. I'm wondering if based on what I've described above if there are any obvious candidates that you might recommend for me to try.

Thanks in advance,

I'd like to get through my final four and identify a champion soon!

-- Rich

[Doc Hollidae]

Might give the Ozone Tour a look. Weight is in the middle of the two, however the power level is closer to the Kblade than the SP Tour.

The SP White Pro might be worth a consideration as well.

[RERobbins]

Where does the O3 Speedport Black slot into the mix?

[Doc Hollidae]

I personally didn't like that frame, but I've heard rave reviews about it so it's probably a good one to consider as well. It was too powerful for me though.

[BOZO]

Babolat aero pro drive cortex, I think this is the easiest stick I have ever tried and it fit in any level if you don't care about its feeling. It has different feeling from the pure strom. The best set up should be poly / low power multi like as Head RIP control at 60 / 58 ... I

[tailofdog]

Just a point of racquet type. When you have compact to moderate strokes all the racquets mentioned are for long full strokes. Maybe look at a different range such as tweener racquets.

[iplaybetter]

i believe that the flash 310 might be good from what i have heard

[NLBwell]

You might experiment with some lead on the Kblade 98. Should help with the serve, may help or hurt on the groundstrokes depending upon what you like.

[logansc]

Perhaps a bit of added weight to the AG 300. I play mine with leather grips w/ Supergrap on top of it. That with a damp gets it heavier than a SP Black. Also a bit of weight in the hoop could make all the difference.

[counterpuncher]

I have played with a lot of racquets in that weight category and one of the best that I liked (and every single friend that has hit with it has also liked) was the Fischer Magnetic Tour 100 UL. --> http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/descpageRCFISCHER-FMTOUR.html

It has been out for a while and has somewhat flown under the radar but has some good feedback here from a while ago. It has good comfort and stability, decent power and spin as well as that famous Fischer buttery feel.

[OnyxZ28]

What about the Becker Pro?

[kanjii]

Micro Gel Extreme Pro.

[crawl4]

ive demoed the speedport black before and i found it nice but way to powerful. For what i hear the tour version has less power and is more controlled. Im getting the kblade tour but if i wasnt going to get that i would look into the speedport tour, looks impressive