Vortex Extreme Spin Rackets

[Fed Kennedy]

What happens if you break a string? Can they only be used with this special string?

[Murray Mound]

Originally Posted by tlm

Does this company have a demo program?

Originally Posted by El Guapo

100% garbage from a scummy company. Stay away.

I think you should try the stick first .

The racquet may not be for you ( I Loved it) but the "company" is basically this senior USTA player named Tom and his son Wase both who have been really nice to me.

It's a family owned business and there are 12 employees total in the "company".

Anyway , I found Tomd and Wade very helpful, I could even text message on theor personal cell phones. One night Tom interrupted his dinner out just to talk about a string issue I was having.

I personally find it refreshing to work with a family owned "ma pa" business rather than staying on hold on an automated system with a billion dollar faceless corporation.....but that's just my humble opinion

[Murray Mound]

Originally Posted by Fed Kennedy

What happens if you break a string? Can they only be used with this special string?

U can use any string you want to use.

[Murray Mound]

Originally Posted by tlm

How comfortable are they?

Very.

The low tension is a relief on the arm. Theybare strung at 45 but as we all know strings lose tension once they are strung. So racquet is probably closer to 35.....and ad you play with it probably drops to 25!!

It's like sitting in a plush Cadillac

[Murray Mound]

Players using the vortex have had quite a bit if success in USTA check out the photos from facebook and the discussion group:


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...d=160320609806

[tlm]

I would like to hear from some people that have used these rackets.Is there enough control with the open string pattern? Or are these rackets rocket launchers?

[Murray Mound]

Originally Posted by tlm

I would like to hear from some people that have used these rackets.Is there enough control with the open string pattern? Or are these rackets rocket launchers?

i had to tighten it up to 65 pounds. But rememebr the top of the racquet is going to be looser than at the bottom because of the vortex coned shape design.

You just have to try it Like any racquet ......I cant tell you how many racquets i thought would suck and were great and vice versa. there is no substitute for a demo.

[tailofdog]

Originally Posted by Murray Mound

I think you should try the stick first .

The racquet may not be for you ( I Loved it) but the "company" is basically this senior USTA player named Tom and his son Wase both who have been really nice to me.

It's a family owned business and there are 12 employees total in the "company".

Anyway , I found Tomd and Wade very helpful, I could even text message on theor personal cell phones. One night Tom interrupted his dinner out just to talk about a string issue I was having.

I personally find it refreshing to work with a family owned "ma pa" business rather than staying on hold on an automated system with a billion dollar faceless corporation.....but that's just my humble opinion

I have tried almost every cutting edge inovation.The results have been the further away from a normal frame the worse they were.
The POWER ANGLE stringing pattern was a good thing but, not exceptional.
The WEED has a place in Seniors tennis has has the Big Bubba. You just have to weigh up if the good outweighs the bad for you.
Now on to the VORTEX
The balance on the 100 and 108 6pt hl suites me and i do not mind 27.5 length but on one part of the site lists the 100 as 11.2 oz strung and the other lists it as 10.8 oz strung. The 108 has a similar difference on different parts of the Vortex site.They have a string pattern that might have merit.
I would even be willing to try it. What i do know is they have no 27 in around 12 oz frames that would appeal to a lot of the serious tennis population. So they appear to be making a play for only the recreational crowd. Now they only ship to the U.S., Austria and South Africa. As i live in Australia i, have to wonder why? Our postal system is first class as would be many of the countries they exclude.
Now this is a question and a guess. They seem to be pushing an affliate program which gives a commision on sales you direct to them. I wonder if this is part of the problem on International shipping? My understanding is South Africa is not the safest place to ship to but is one of the two International countries they ship to!
It may be unfair but i have to wonder if this is more a marketing ploy than really innovative racquet.
I hope i am wrong but, I really have to ask this question.

[jbleiman]

well i'm jumping in and trying one out...i ordrered the 116 today...will try it for the 30 days and if i don't like it i'll return it...i currently use the wilson n3 and am pretty happy with it...but we are all looking for the magical frame...this vortex sounds very interesting....if it does what it claims it really fits the way i play...slice and dice

[joe sch]

Originally Posted by tailofdog

I have tried almost every cutting edge inovation.The results have been the further away from a normal frame the worse they were.
The POWER ANGLE stringing pattern was a good thing but, not exceptional.
The WEED has a place in Seniors tennis has has the Big Bubba. You just have to weigh up if the good outweighs the bad for you.
Now on to the VORTEX
The balance on the 100 and 108 6pt hl suites me and i do not mind 27.5 length but on one part of the site lists the 100 as 11.2 oz strung and the other lists it as 10.8 oz strung. The 108 has a similar difference on different parts of the Vortex site.They have a string pattern that might have merit.
I would even be willing to try it. What i do know is they have no 27 in around 12 oz frames that would appeal to a lot of the serious tennis population. So they appear to be making a play for only the recreational crowd. Now they only ship to the U.S., Austria and South Africa. As i live in Australia i, have to wonder why? Our postal system is first class as would be many of the countries they exclude.
Now this is a question and a guess. They seem to be pushing an affliate program which gives a commision on sales you direct to them. I wonder if this is part of the problem on International shipping? My understanding is South Africa is not the safest place to ship to but is one of the two International countries they ship to!
It may be unfair but i have to wonder if this is more a marketing ploy than really innovative racquet.
I hope i am wrong but, I really have to ask this question.

Those Extreme Spin rackets are good for all levels of players, they are not just targetted to recreational players. I have leaded them up to 11.5 and 12 oz's by adding lead inside the throat and found that I actually liked the stock version better, which is approx to 11 oz's. Even though the RDC is like 70, the rackets play much more flexible with the string pattern that really provides great ball pocketing that results in the "extreme" spin. I like smaller head rackets like 85s to 95s but found the ES 100 very comfortable. My junior daughter actually prefers the ES 108 and has not been using her prince 03 sharapova sticks as a result now. The only negative with these rackets is with the sparse string pattern 16x14 and great spinning, you will be restringing them more frequently than the prior rackets you have played. Stringing is pretty quick and simple.

[tailofdog]

I like the open pattern and would not mind more restringing more. I prefer my racquets heavier but, can belive a racquet with more spin could work at a lighter weight. I would really like to understand why only Austria and South Africia are the only international destinations they ship to.
We will see in time how it turns out. I hope it is something special but, i feel there are a few grey areas that need looking at.

[tlm]

I am going to demo this racket, maybe it is a toy but i have to give it a try.My game centers around topspin+slice so maybe it will work for me.

[Murray Mound]

Originally Posted by tailofdog

I have tried almost every cutting edge inovation.The results have been the further away from a normal frame the worse they were.
The POWER ANGLE stringing pattern was a good thing but, not exceptional.
The WEED has a place in Seniors tennis has has the Big Bubba. You just have to weigh up if the good outweighs the bad for you.

except the Vortex is not a new idea.....the Vortex is the Woodforde secret racquet. Aka among others the wilson hi-ten.

Woodforde may be the greatest doubles player ever and the Vortex was his secret weapon.

Woodfordes racquet was a slightly more open string pattern and the strings were just as thick.

I spoke with the owner of vortex and he told me that the Vortex is based on woodfordes stick aka the Wilson hi ten. But there is one major difference .

Woodfordes racquet was string extremely tightly . However the inventor of the vortex ( Tom olstead or something) found that the racquet actually played better when strung looser.

For the guy who is ordering the 116 , you are gonna love it! That racquet has received rave reviews !

But the 133 is insane and yet unbeatable I'm doubles. The racquet looks ridiculous , but if you can get by that you will be astounded. It's amazingly maneuverable and it's simply unbeatable at the net. It's not meant for long strokes but if you are at the net in doubles the nothing will get by you. It's also the absolute greatest racquet ever made for return of serves and I dare anyone to find a better racquet in that department.

But again.....the 133 looks ridiculous and because of it's wide spacing it even looks bigger .

The 116 is just about as good but manueverable . It's a doubles specialist racquetbas well and meant for volleys, serves, return of serves amd slice. This is not a topspin stick .

The 100 and 108 are meant for better players with topspin . You can use a 108 because these sticks are so unbelievably maneuverable. But I would string them tighter....I went up to 65 pounds!!! ( I play with the 100 but I love all the others as well)

I only have one dislike. I wish the frame were a bit thinner. I like a thin frame to whil topspin. Hopefully they will come out with that.

[joe sch]

Originally Posted by Murray Mound

except the Vortex is not a new idea.....the Vortex is the Woodforde secret racquet. Aka among others the wilson hi-ten.

Woodforde may be the greatest doubles player ever and the Vortex was his secret weapon.

Woodfordes racquet was a slightly more open string pattern and the strings were just as thick.

I spoke with the owner of vortex and he told me that the Vortex is based on woodfordes stick aka the Wilson hi ten. But there is one major difference .

Woodfordes racquet was string extremely tightly . However the inventor of the vortex ( Tom olstead or something) found that the racquet actually played better when strung looser.

For the guy who is ordering the 116 , you are gonna love it! That racquet has received rave reviews !

But the 133 is insane and yet unbeatable I'm doubles. The racquet looks ridiculous , but if you can get by that you will be astounded. It's amazingly maneuverable and it's simply unbeatable at the net. It's not meant for long strokes but if you are at the net in doubles the nothing will get by you. It's also the absolute greatest racquet ever made for return of serves and I dare anyone to find a better racquet in that department.

But again.....the 133 looks ridiculous and because of it's wide spacing it even looks bigger .

The 116 is just about as good but manueverable . It's a doubles specialist racquetbas well and meant for volleys, serves, return of serves amd slice. This is not a topspin stick .

The 100 and 108 are meant for better players with topspin . You can use a 108 because these sticks are so unbelievably maneuverable. But I would string them tighter....I went up to 65 pounds!!! ( I play with the 100 but I love all the others as well)

I only have one dislike. I wish the frame were a bit thinner. I like a thin frame to whil topspin. Hopefully they will come out with that.

The hi-ten was a snauwaert racket. The ES is actually a cross of the chris and hiten models. Google> extreme spin, chris, and hiten and you will see a comparison. Also, the ES rackets use thin guage string and the hitens used thick guage strings, like 17g vs 12g. They were also high tensioned vs low tensions for ES rackets. The ES rackets are easy on the arm, especially at 50lbs of tenision which they play very well at.

[Murray Mound]

Originally Posted by joe sch

The hi-ten was a snauwaert racket. The ES is actually a cross of the chris and hiten models. Google> extreme spin, chris, and hiten and you will see a comparison. Also, the ES rackets use thin guage string and the hitens used thick guage strings, like 17g vs 12g. They were also high tensioned vs low tensions for ES rackets. The ES rackets are easy on the arm, especially at 50lbs of tenision which they play very well at.

Yes and no.

The vortex also uses a gigantic 15 guage string with hex on them! Huge spin .

Woodforde also used a Wilson that was specifically made for him with a 12 x 12 string pattern. ( see below). McEnroe had said Marks "Vortex" was unfair and gave too much spin

Yes the Vortex uses a hybrid of low and high tension....thus the name vortex( shaped like a vortex or pyramid....low tension on top and higher in middle and bottom).

Again I spoke to the owner and he basically said he copied woodfordes racquet and made it better. He says woodforde was mistaken and should have used a lower tension . In any event you can string the vortex as tight as you want to mimic the woodforde "Vortex".

They are both based on the same premise . I think the vortex uses 12 x 14 and woodforde is 12 x 12. And different vortex models may be sparser stringing patterns . Ease verify the numbers.

Here is Marks Wilson "Vortex":

[Murray Mound]

Joe,

now I see where you are coming from. Vortex also sells a 15 guage monster spin string ( actually I think it's closer to 14);

however the 100 comes with a slightly larger 16 guage string while the 116 & 133 come with 15 guage amd a sparser stringing pattern.

You can buy the speacially made vortex string seprately in 15 guage . It's awesome!! Hybrid of poly & multi . Amazing string and cool black color!!

[Murray Mound]

I mean their 16 guage is slightly larger than conventional 16. But again get the 15 guage they sell .

[GoSurfBoy]

Anyone know what they run? The 'order now' link doesn't work - in either Chrome or Firefox, and the video link of the rackets crashes Firefox, and Chrome says there's a problem running it.

[Murray Mound]

Here's there list of strings....check out the 15 guage :

http://store.vortextennis.com//pindex.asp

[Murray Mound]

Originally Posted by GoSurfBoy

Anyone know what they run? The 'order now' link doesn't work - in either Chrome or Firefox, and the video link of the rackets crashes Firefox, and Chrome says there's a problem running it.

Yeah their flash stinks. Go here:

http://store.vortextennis.com/URLrew...m&Redirected=Y