Im sorry for doing it. Another KPS 88 thread

[FXhubby]

Well, sorry for starting a new thread about the KPS 88. I just want to leave my impression regarding the much talked about Sampras frame. This may be valuable to somebody out there.
I have been monitoring this forum for a few weeks and it seems that what everybody is saying about this frame is true. The only thing that it wasn’t mentioned is the power of this racket.
I think this is a very powerful racket and control is an issue sometimes. Before I played with a Head flexpoint prestige strung at 63# with head FXP power 16g. When comparing them it is evident that my flexpoint has more control.
I first strung the KPS 88 with Babolat xcell 16g at 60#. Great feeling and very arm friendly but very little control. Since I like the soft feeling of the xcell, I decided that on my second frame I’ll go xcell 60# mains and lux BB 56# crosses. Not a good idea, this setup had more power than my full xcell bed. Maybe I should have gone higher with the poly but since I’ve had elbow problems in the past I decided not to. So I cut these out and I go with Tecnifibre X1 16g mains at 62# and head C3 rocket 16g crosses at 60#. If you guys are not familiar with the C3, it is a control oriented multifilament. I’ve used them before and they have noooo power at all.
So control improved tremendously still maintaining a great soft feel, however, I still want to dial it down just a bit more. So I will try the C3 mains and X1 crosses (since I still have half of both left) and see what happens.
There has been discussions before to which one contributes the power, either mains or crosses, so I guess I’m about to find out.
In conclusion, the KPS 88 is a great racket and I really enjoy playing with it. Has great feel and the weight is not an issue at all. I’ve played for hours and you don’t even notice the weight of the racket. So I’m looking forward to finding the right setup so I can fully enjoy the benefits of this great stick.
I hope this is helpful to somebody

 

[Bud]

Well, sorry for starting a new thread about the KPS 88. I just want to leave my impression regarding the much talked about Sampras frame. This may be valuable to somebody out there.
I have been monitoring this forum for a few weeks and it seems that what everybody is saying about this frame is true. The only thing that it wasn’t mentioned is the power of this racket.
I think this is a very powerful racket and control is an issue sometimes. Before I played with a Head flexpoint prestige strung at 63# with head FXP power 16g. When comparing them it is evident that my flexpoint has more control.
I first strung the KPS 88 with Babolat xcell 16g at 60#. Great feeling and very arm friendly but very little control. Since I like the soft feeling of the xcell, I decided that on my second frame I’ll go xcell 60# mains and lux BB 56# crosses. Not a good idea, this setup had more power than my full xcell bed. Maybe I should have gone higher with the poly but since I’ve had elbow problems in the past I decided not to. So I cut these out and I go with Tecnifibre X1 16g mains at 62# and head C3 rocket 16g crosses at 60#. If you guys are not familiar with the C3, it is a control oriented multifilament. I’ve used them before and they have noooo power at all.
So control improved tremendously still maintaining a great soft feel, however, I still want to dial it down just a bit more. So I will try the C3 mains and X1 crosses (since I still have half of both left) and see what happens.
There has been discussions before to which one contributes the power, either mains or crosses, so I guess I’m about to find out.
In conclusion, the KPS 88 is a great racket and I really enjoy playing with it. Has great feel and the weight is not an issue at all. I’ve played for hours and you don’t even notice the weight of the racket. So I’m looking forward to finding the right setup so I can fully enjoy the benefits of this great stick.
I hope this is helpful to somebody

The power has been mentioned numerous times in various threads

 

[Keifers]

Well, sorry for starting a new thread about the KPS 88. I just want to leave my impression regarding the much talked about Sampras frame. This may be valuable to somebody out there.
I have been monitoring this forum for a few weeks and it seems that what everybody is saying about this frame is true. The only thing that it wasn’t mentioned is the power of this racket.
I think this is a very powerful racket and control is an issue sometimes. Before I played with a Head flexpoint prestige strung at 63# with head FXP power 16g. When comparing them it is evident that my flexpoint has more control.
I first strung the KPS 88 with Babolat xcell 16g at 60#. Great feeling and very arm friendly but very little control. Since I like the soft feeling of the xcell, I decided that on my second frame I’ll go xcell 60# mains and lux BB 56# crosses. Not a good idea, this setup had more power than my full xcell bed. Maybe I should have gone higher with the poly but since I’ve had elbow problems in the past I decided not to. So I cut these out and I go with Tecnifibre X1 16g mains at 62# and head C3 rocket 16g crosses at 60#. If you guys are not familiar with the C3, it is a control oriented multifilament. I’ve used them before and they have noooo power at all.
So control improved tremendously still maintaining a great soft feel, however, I still want to dial it down just a bit more. So I will try the C3 mains and X1 crosses (since I still have half of both left) and see what happens.
There has been discussions before to which one contributes the power, either mains or crosses, so I guess I’m about to find out.
In conclusion, the KPS 88 is a great racket and I really enjoy playing with it. Has great feel and the weight is not an issue at all. I’ve played for hours and you don’t even notice the weight of the racket. So I’m looking forward to finding the right setup so I can fully enjoy the benefits of this great stick.
I hope this is helpful to somebody

Thanks for your report. Good information about strings and tensions.

I started with TF MultiFeel 17 at 58. It didn't have enough feel of the ball for me so I changed to NXT Tour 18 at 58 -- much better. (Very nice string, btw.)

 

[sureshs]

It is true that it is very powerful. Yesterday I was practising some serves, first with the PS85 and then with the K88. With the K88, the "same" serve was going long unless I added more spin or slice. I am going to change my tension from 55 to 58 or even 60 next time.

 

[psp2]

It is true that it is very powerful. Yesterday I was practising some serves, first with the PS85 and then with the K88. With the K88, the "same" serve was going long unless I added more spin or slice. I am going to change my tension from 55 to 58 or even 60 next time.

IMO, your serves are going long b/c you're hitting the serve milliseconds LATE (caused by the much higher SW). Raising the tension on the KPS88 will not resolve the issue.

 

[sureshs]

IMO, your serves are going long b/c you're hitting the serve milliseconds LATE (caused by the much higher SW). Raising the tension on the KPS88 will not resolve the issue.

Need to think about that.

 

[coloskier]

IMO, your serves are going long b/c you're hitting the serve milliseconds LATE (caused by the much higher SW). Raising the tension on the KPS88 will not resolve the issue.

This post is right on. I think everyone who has hit with this racket finds themselves a little late on every shot for a few days until you get dialed in. You definitely tend to hit a little flatter because of the SW until you start emphasizing the topspin component of your swing a little more.

 

[NoNameZ]

i personally liked it with PSGD 17 @55 as compared to a full set of poly's @60. and my serves were still the same, so i dont think stringing it higher will affect it a lot.

 

[Schills]

IMO, your serves are going long b/c you're hitting the serve milliseconds LATE (caused by the much higher SW). Raising the tension on the KPS88 will not resolve the issue.

Are you sure about that symptom/cause? Seems to me hitting late on a serve would result in a lot of serves in the net, not long.

 

[FXhubby]

IMO, your serves are going long b/c you're hitting the serve milliseconds LATE (caused by the much higher SW). Raising the tension on the KPS88 will not resolve the issue.

Absolutely, my second serves are long. I’ve gone from double faulting maybe 4-5 times a set to 2-3 times a game. :evil:

 

[OTMPut]

It is true that it is very powerful. Yesterday I was practising some serves, first with the PS85 and then with the K88. With the K88, the "same" serve was going long unless I added more spin or slice. I am going to change my tension from 55 to 58 or even 60 next time.

I had the same problem. It has more to do with the relative difficulty of wrist snap with KPS88 vis-a-vis a more HL PS 85 than with hitting late.

I come down a bit more hard on the ball with my wrist snap when using KPS88 and the result is a more spinny/biting serve.