Demo results - Serve

[Rhinosaur]

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.

 

[Rhinosaur]

Demo Results - Groundstrokes/Gameplay

Okay, tested out the above mentioned racquets at my singles league (limited play) and on a ball machine. Here's what I found:

1. Prince Speedport Silver (current racquet) -- Really have to hit a perfect ball in order to rifle any forehand. Nice, controlled spin with my slice backhand. Have difficulty using it for my two-handed backhand, even at 27.5 inches. In short: want to spank a ball, gotta hit the ball perfectly.

2. Babolat Pure Drive 107 OS -- Good pace and spin. Two-handed backhand came easiest with this racquet, even at 27 inches. Really got into a groove with my forehand. Good control. Was able to place the ball much, much better than the Speedport Silver.

3. Babolat AeroPro Dr.+ Cortex (100 sq. in.) -- The Nadal racquet plus a half inch (27.5"). Hit my two-handed backhand well with it, good placement and great spin. Slice backhand took some getting used to, just like the Pure Drive. However, my forehand was the most inconsistent with the APDC. I had a flat forehand, Continental grip, so I knew going in this racquet was probably not going to make my forehand much better. I was right.

4. Prince Graphite Classic (Original) Mid -- I hit just about everything inbounds with lots of spin, but just didn't have the pace I wanted. Being able to hit down the lines are good, but hitting with about 25 percent less pace on the ball isn't going to benefit me. I'm hoping the oversize I plan on testing in the near future will add some more pop to my shots. Even with the 93 sq. in. headsize (very small for me) I hit the sweetspot a lot.

Gameplay: My limited use of the racquets in gameplay pretty much turned out the same results. I did notice that on serving with the Babolats the ball would bounce much higher (spin) than my Speedport, which hits really flat but much faster on my first serve. I think the bounce/spin may be more beneficial in my service game, since it seemed like most of my Speedport scorching serves ended up being returned to me every time.

I also know there's the unaddressed variable to string. I'm no string expert. I do know that I needed to tighten up my Speedport string as much as I could to tame the power. With my slice backhand (and sometimes forehand) and dropshots, I wanted as much spin as I could get, so I went with natural gut. The strings on the demos looked...well played. They were all synthetic as best I could tell. I was getting "thuds" with the three demos but a much crisper sounding shot with my Speedport.

Conclusion
AeroPro Drive+ Coretex: If I hit a heavy topspin forehand, I probably wouldn't have even tested racquets and bought this one on its reputation alone. I got really good spin on my backhand and good control with my 2-handed backhand, but my flat forehand just didn't mesh with this racquet. Can't spead for the 27" model, but I got better serves off the APDC+ than I thought.

Pure Drive OS 107: Good power and spin on all my shots. Control was there, too. I struggled in the service game with the 27", think maybe I'll try the + version of the Roddick line to capitalize on my first serve and get some added length for my 2-handed backhand.

Graphite mid: I really shouldn't have tested the mid, knowing that I could only use this kind of racquet in the oversize frame. I loved the control and spin on all groundstrokes and my serve, but the pace wasn't there. The additional weight was a bit of a shock to my arm, having played half a year with a 9.7 oz. racquet.

The demos go back today. Going to test out a few more in the near future, including the Roddick+, graphite oversize and the Pure Storm Tour+ (tennis instructor friends uses it, loves it).

 

[Rhinosaur]

Demos - Two new contenders

Get to test out two more rackets this week, the Babolat Pure Drive GT Plus and the Prince Original Graphite Oversize.

Hope to get in about a half hour of serving with both tonight, followed by 90 minutes on a ball machine tomorrow night.

I previously tested a Pure Drive 107 oversize and a POG midsize. Just picking up the new rackets, I think I like them more already. Seem to have the kind of balance and weight I'm looking for.

The POG mid was really handle-heavy and had next to no weight in the head. The oversize feels more balanced. Although the mid was standard length (I prefer 27.5), the control and spin was amazing. Even though the oversize is still only 27", I hope the spin and control make up for the loss of pace on my serves and groundstrokes.

The PD 107 felt a little too much like my old racket, but it was also standard length. I've been using a 27.5" racket for a while. The PDGT+ is 27.5", which I prefer for my 2HBH. I loved the power and control of the PD 107, but my service game was off with the standard length. I like the pop of the 27.5", so I'm looking forward to using the PDGT+.

 

[Rhinosaur]

Demo results: Babolat Pure Drive GT Plus and the Prince Original Graphite Oversize

Serve
PDGT+ -- Took a few balls to adjust my serve, but once I did I loved the control, pace and spin of my serves. I aimed for the corner with spin, in the middle of the box low and hot and down the middle on the line. I hit every one just how I wanted. At 27.5" I was hitting down on the ball more, causing a higher bounce as compared to my current Prince which hits it one way...straight and low. I tried a few kick serves and got some really good spin.

POG Oversize -- I was getting my serves in, but without the pace of the PDGT. Was getting good spin and had decent control, but after about 100 serves my arm began to tire out. It's over 12 oz. I love the balance of this one more than the POG mid. I'm also used to a 27.5" length. The POG was standard length, so I missed the sweetspot a bit more than I'm used to.

Groundstrokes
PDGT+ -- Loved the power and control. My slice backhand had good action and I put the ball where I wanted. With a little adjusting, I started ripping my forehand pretty well. As I got tired, I had to tell myself to keep swining since this racket isn't going to produce ALL the power necessary like my Prince Speedport Silver. Was also able to drop a few right over the net.

POG Oversize -- Started out by hitting lots of forehands into the net. Finally started hitting some in. The control and spin was there, but the power wasn't. I was able to rip some forehands towards the end of the bucket, and had success with my slice backhand.

Summary -- Well, the PDGT+ not only won Round 2 of my demo tests, but is the best racket I've demoed overall to this point. It has the added control I'm looking for without sacrificing a ton of power. My Speedport can knock the yellow off a ball, but I have zero control. Love how the PDGT+ performed when serving. The POG Oversize I think is a really good racket, but my skills just aren't solid enough yet to use it.

Next: Will be demoing the Head YouTek Speed MP, Babolat Aero Storm Tour and the Dunlop Aerogel 4D 300 Tour. Possibly one more round of demos after next week before I make my decision.

 

[JackB1]

Rhino....you seem to have similar tastes to me.

Have you tried the Speedport White? It is near the top of my list. Lots of pop, but not too much.

Currently demoing:

-Prince Speedport White
-Babolat PD & APD
-Wilson K Pro Open
-Head Radical OS
-Wilson KBlade Team

I really wanted to find a Wilson KFactor, but am having trouble dialing into the right tweener model for me. The KPro Open has my perfect specs, but seems to have a little less pop than I want.

 

[Rhinosaur]

I guess I just wanted to get away from the speedports because that's what I'm currently using. Prince just has a crapload of rackets to pick from, I could spend a month demoing the ones I'm interested in.

When I demo the KBlade in a couple of weeks, I'm going to throw a Prince in there. Just need to find the right one.