Rhinosaur
Rookie
Thought I'd post my highly unscientific findings from demoing some racquets from TW.
Last night I decided to serve with my current racquet (the constant) and my three demo racquets. The next two days I'll be play testing them against a machine and against humans.
I'll post those findings, too, in case someone wants some racquet info, or are just bored and want to read some tennis stuff.
1. Prince Speedport Silver (current racquet) -- A recreation racquet that I picked up when I took up tennis after about a 15 year break. 118 sq. inches, incredibly light and powerful. Takes a while to learn how to tame the power of this beginners/seniors racquet. Got better with it after stringing it super tight. It does take a while, but once you figure out how to serve with it you can get some really powerful serves. Spin about average. Control? Hardly any. Takes all I got just to get it in, placement is next to impossible. Feel? None.
2. Babolat Pure Drive 107 OS -- Smaller headsize than I was used to, but after playing with 118 sq. in. for so long, almost any other racquet is going to be smaller. Immediately I could tell the huge difference in control. After going through about 75 balls my arm felt fine: light racquet with little vibration. I was getting good power with it, as well, but probably need to adjust my serve a tad to get more in (on a lot of shots I was hitting tape or hitting about 3 inches too long). Impressed right off the bat.
3. Babolat AeroPro Dr.+ Cortex (100 sq. in.) -- The Nadal racquet plus a half inch. From what I had read I wasn't expecting much on my serve with this racquet...I was wrong. Not as much power as the Prince or the Pure Drive, but lots more spin and good control. It also did a good job with my flat first serve. Didn't think it was as easy on the elbow, but that may have been due to me being on serve #200. I got more serves in with this racquet than all others tested. I think the extra half inch (from what I've read) improves on the serves over the standard size, but the standard size is better at everything else.
4. Prince Graphite Classic (Original) Mid -- I played HS in the early '90s and saw this racquet a lot. I hear many still rave about it, so I just wanted to see what I was missing in high school (and now). You notice a difference right away pulling this out of the bag -- head light and handle heavy. I wanted to test the oversize, but none were available right away, so I tried out the mid (I think 93 sq. in.). It took some adjustment, but after about 15 balls I was hitting all my serves in with good pace. But what was most surprising was the spin...I was getting more spin than the AeroPro. Maybe it was more noticeable since I wasn't generating the pace of the other three, but I was able to rifle a few impressive serves.
After going through the order I went through another hopper and used the three demos. Here's my super-expert findings (excluding the Speedport Silver):
Most Power: Pure Drive
Least Power: Graphite
Most Spin: Graphite
Least Spin: Pure Drive
Most Control: Graphite
Least Control: Pure Drive
Hardest on the elbow: Graphite
Softest on the elbow: Pure Drive
Most Feel: Graphite
Least Feel: Pure Drive
I was amazed at how the AeroPro wasn't the most powerful, didn't generate the most spin or didn't feel the best, but it was pretty good in all categories. I liked the power of the Pure Drive, but felt more in control with the AeroPro. The graphite, while generating tons of spin and control, was just not powerful enough...this was very evident after serving with the Babolat after hitting with the Graphite.
Service Winner: I think the AeroPro won, but the Pure Drive is a very close second. I prefer both much more than my current racquet.
Time to test groundstrokes the next few days to determine the winner.
Last night I decided to serve with my current racquet (the constant) and my three demo racquets. The next two days I'll be play testing them against a machine and against humans.
I'll post those findings, too, in case someone wants some racquet info, or are just bored and want to read some tennis stuff.
1. Prince Speedport Silver (current racquet) -- A recreation racquet that I picked up when I took up tennis after about a 15 year break. 118 sq. inches, incredibly light and powerful. Takes a while to learn how to tame the power of this beginners/seniors racquet. Got better with it after stringing it super tight. It does take a while, but once you figure out how to serve with it you can get some really powerful serves. Spin about average. Control? Hardly any. Takes all I got just to get it in, placement is next to impossible. Feel? None.
2. Babolat Pure Drive 107 OS -- Smaller headsize than I was used to, but after playing with 118 sq. in. for so long, almost any other racquet is going to be smaller. Immediately I could tell the huge difference in control. After going through about 75 balls my arm felt fine: light racquet with little vibration. I was getting good power with it, as well, but probably need to adjust my serve a tad to get more in (on a lot of shots I was hitting tape or hitting about 3 inches too long). Impressed right off the bat.
3. Babolat AeroPro Dr.+ Cortex (100 sq. in.) -- The Nadal racquet plus a half inch. From what I had read I wasn't expecting much on my serve with this racquet...I was wrong. Not as much power as the Prince or the Pure Drive, but lots more spin and good control. It also did a good job with my flat first serve. Didn't think it was as easy on the elbow, but that may have been due to me being on serve #200. I got more serves in with this racquet than all others tested. I think the extra half inch (from what I've read) improves on the serves over the standard size, but the standard size is better at everything else.
4. Prince Graphite Classic (Original) Mid -- I played HS in the early '90s and saw this racquet a lot. I hear many still rave about it, so I just wanted to see what I was missing in high school (and now). You notice a difference right away pulling this out of the bag -- head light and handle heavy. I wanted to test the oversize, but none were available right away, so I tried out the mid (I think 93 sq. in.). It took some adjustment, but after about 15 balls I was hitting all my serves in with good pace. But what was most surprising was the spin...I was getting more spin than the AeroPro. Maybe it was more noticeable since I wasn't generating the pace of the other three, but I was able to rifle a few impressive serves.
After going through the order I went through another hopper and used the three demos. Here's my super-expert findings (excluding the Speedport Silver):
Most Power: Pure Drive
Least Power: Graphite
Most Spin: Graphite
Least Spin: Pure Drive
Most Control: Graphite
Least Control: Pure Drive
Hardest on the elbow: Graphite
Softest on the elbow: Pure Drive
Most Feel: Graphite
Least Feel: Pure Drive
I was amazed at how the AeroPro wasn't the most powerful, didn't generate the most spin or didn't feel the best, but it was pretty good in all categories. I liked the power of the Pure Drive, but felt more in control with the AeroPro. The graphite, while generating tons of spin and control, was just not powerful enough...this was very evident after serving with the Babolat after hitting with the Graphite.
Service Winner: I think the AeroPro won, but the Pure Drive is a very close second. I prefer both much more than my current racquet.
Time to test groundstrokes the next few days to determine the winner.