Diary of a Racketaholic

[Power Player]

Somewhat..the Prince cracks the ball more and the Donnay thuds it. Love the POG, but the Donnays feel old school and play a lot better.

[Chace]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Somewhat..the Prince cracks the ball more and the Donnay thuds it. Love the POG, but the Donnays feel old school and play a lot better.

I will have to give the Black a demo. Thanks for the info.

[Ross K]

Originally Posted by crosscourt

Ross

You are dead right -- I have sold a few class A rackets on these boards. Mostly through the old and lamented UK TTRH thread.

I don't know of any red clay courts in North London. There are lots in South London at places like the Sutton Tennis academy (or so I believe). There are green clay courts at the Westway if you ever get over there. You have to play under the A40 but you will get a sense of what playing on clay is like. I mainly play on red clay on holiday, though I did spend a week at Equelite, the JC Ferrero tennis academy, a couple of years ago where I played on the slowest clay courts I have ever come across. To make things even more demanding the wind was up most of the week so we watered the courts very frequently to stop the top dressing blowing away. This made them even slower. My recollection of the week is that I ran and ran (but I also learned never to give up the baseline, never to make a mistake, and to come in to finish the point at the first sniff of an opportunity -- they just come around too seldom). It is a fantastic surface to play on in many ways. It makes you play with a lot of variety and hit combinations wherever you can. A single shot will rarely get it done in the way that it can on a hard court and it tends to work against players with a single strength -- big serve or big forehand. Above all you have to be adaptable. There are so many things that can throw you off balance or out of your rhythm.

As to the Yonex VCore 95D, I was lukewarm to start with. I always hope that Yonex will bring back some mighty baseline spin and power monster like the RD7. They haven't with the 95D, but once I got over being disappointed in that and started to concentrate on what the racket is I have really got into it. It is a very versatile racket if you want to hit with power and spin off the ground and in your serves. The "D" is for "drive" but while the racket is powerful it isnt only a flat ball stick. I have been hitting a lot of very powerful spin with it on both sides (and I have a one hander) and on serves. It isnt a great volleying stick -- perfectly ok but not great. Everything else it does very well and the feel, once you get used to it, is much more pleasing than something like the APDGT which is a close competitor for the 95D. If you like to play with slashing strokes it may not be right for you. But if you like to really work the ball and dont like the APDGT feel then this is an excellent racket.

Leaving tennis aside, and thinking about sport-a-holics I spent a very interesting day on a shooting range near Carlisle yesterday with a party of black powder shooting enthusiasts. Now, they have the bug very bad indeed. If we were like them we would be making our own strings and balls, let alone messing with the weight of our equipment.

cc

Yes, cc, the very first, original, banned UKRHs was of course the best.

Re clay courts, though a late-comer to tennis, no, I certainly never encountered any in n. London. Fascinating to hear of some of your experiences and thoughts though. I'd like to go on one of these tennis holidays in places like Spain I sometimes see advertized in tennis mags, and see if I could hold my own away from the hardcourts.

Ta for 95D comments. About the RD7, you know how highly I rated that. It's definitely on my GROAT list. And incidentally, I had a recent 3 weeks or so 'dalliance' with the Pure Control + Swirly, a frame that has several similar traits to the "ol' spin master", and heft aside, I absolutely loved it... you know it absolutely amazes me how so many of these frames don't just naturally deep kaboom that b-line without science conventions on best ways to customize, or insane string combos and extreme low tensions, or months of stroke-grooving, and yet I pick up a PC+, an RD7, a Reb 95, an APD, an N95/PSC, or whatever, and within 2 minutes - bingo!... heavy, deep, spinny, bullying kabooming ball peppering that b-line! If I could quite fathom the common denominator here - quite what it is that links all these frames that I'm seeming to respond so well to - it would probably assist my RH quest...

Anyhow, as I was referring to yesterday, I'm fast becoming tired of the continual tinkering and experimenting and not quite getting what I want (exhibit a: the Prestige Pro)... might have to just settle down with that APD.

ATB

R

[klementine79]

I was following the discussion about clay courts... and only having played on them a handful of times... I wanted to ask the forum a quick question....

Here on the island (corfu), there is an outdoor tennis lawn club ( a big thank you to all the brits on the boards..Ross ) that the british built and dates back to 1894... back then it was all grass.

But considering the high maintenance costs of grass courts.... the locals had an astro-turf substance installed... carpet??? Not quite sure what underneath the carpet surface... but on top they regularly throw sand on the surface.... YES SAND...

Has anyone else played on such as hybrid court?

It is rather 'funky'.. it has all the characteristics of carpet or artificial turf... high bounce... speed... but with the addition (thanks to the sand) of being able to slide... It is rather comfortable on the knees... I'm guessing whatever is underneath it is probably not making contact with cement.

If you thought clay was difficult to get out of a racquet... sand is worse... it gets in every crevice of the frame.. i've resorted (when changing grommets) to using a blow dryer to force the particles out when the frame is bare.

[Meaghan]

Originally Posted by klementine79

I was following the discussion about clay courts... and only having played on them a handful of times... I wanted to ask the forum a quick question....

Here on the island (corfu), there is an outdoor tennis lawn club ( a big thank you to all the brits on the boards..Ross ) that the british built and dates back to 1894... back then it was all grass.

But considering the high maintenance costs of grass courts.... the locals had an astro-turf substance installed... carpet??? Not quite sure what underneath the carpet surface... but on top they regularly throw sand on the surface.... YES SAND...

Has anyone else played on such as hybrid court?

It is rather 'funky'.. it has all the characteristics of carpet or artificial turf... high bounce... speed... but with the addition (thanks to the sand) of being able to slide... It is rather comfortable on the knees... I'm guessing whatever is underneath it is probably not making contact with cement.

If you thought clay was difficult to get out of a racquet... sand is worse... it gets in every crevice of the frame.. i've resorted (when changing grommets) to using a blow dryer to force the particles out when the frame is bare.

We have them at our club they are all weather omni turf courts. The sand protects them i think. When its coming through yes its slippery and is the cause of a number of accidents as they are not meant to slide. If the sand is coming thro and they are slippery they probably need charging. We have six courts two of which need to be relayed. They have both had sand added and compressed into the courts. They are playing much better but it won't last. This is the cheaper short term answer as new courts relayed with cost thousands....

[AirK]

Originally Posted by klementine79

I was following the discussion about clay courts... and only having played on them a handful of times... I wanted to ask the forum a quick question....

Here on the island (corfu), there is an outdoor tennis lawn club ( a big thank you to all the brits on the boards..Ross ) that the british built and dates back to 1894... back then it was all grass.

But considering the high maintenance costs of grass courts.... the locals had an astro-turf substance installed... carpet??? Not quite sure what underneath the carpet surface... but on top they regularly throw sand on the surface.... YES SAND...

Has anyone else played on such as hybrid court?

It is rather 'funky'.. it has all the characteristics of carpet or artificial turf... high bounce... speed... but with the addition (thanks to the sand) of being able to slide... It is rather comfortable on the knees... I'm guessing whatever is underneath it is probably not making contact with cement.

If you thought clay was difficult to get out of a racquet... sand is worse... it gets in every crevice of the frame.. i've resorted (when changing grommets) to using a blow dryer to force the particles out when the frame is bare.

Ahaha all weather astro courts are really common in UK! Given the shocking weather of course..

[crosscourt]

I used to play football on artificial turf and we used sand to deaden the bounce. Dont know whether something similar is advisable on the tennis courts. The ones at my club have a low skiddy bounce a bit like playing on real grass. But other than that playing on them bears little resemblance to playing tennis.

As to playing on a real grass court, where I grew up everyone had one in their back garden. The problem was, and it didnt matter how much you spent on them, they were hardly ever playable because unless you cover them they are always damp -- at least they are if you live in the North of England. And then when you got a really hot summer they burnt to a frazzle because of all the drainage that had been put in to try to make them playable in the damp, and becuase the idea of a sprinkler was unheard of.

The other type of court we used to have was shale. That was an English version of clay. In our constantly wet climate to play on them was a little like playing in wet cement.

cc

[Meaghan]

Shale is the worst surface ever. Ball bounces all over the place due to the crap underfoot.

As for the omni courts the sand was taken out of our two top courts and they are extremely playable now. They are being relayed next year.

[esgee48]

Meaghan: By 'relayed', do you mean re-surfaced?

There are a couple of clay courts which I have access to. Players there really like them because of their slowness and bounce (unless they hit the tape.) I learned to slide and play on them, but prefer Hard Courts because it is easier to put balls away.

Keep up this discussion as it is interesting in a 'Seinfeld' manner.

[Power Player]

Yes it is tough to put balls away on clay as fast. I am learning how to do it more consistently, but you have to think a few strokes ahead compared to hardcourt. You also want to avoid hitting down the middle of the court as much as possible, which sometimes can work ok on hard court. If you can hit with heavy spin and consistently hit over the net, you are on your way..the footwork is what will get you if you are new to clay.

[Hewex]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Somewhat..the Prince cracks the ball more and the Donnay thuds it. Love the POG, but the Donnays feel old school and play a lot better.

Funny story about the POG. I just ordered one through my pro who has a Prince account. He said the rep told him that POG's are flying out by the hundreds. I have no reason to doubt him since he wouldn't be pushing people to buy POG's.

[Ross K]

Morning guys,

Talking of Prince frames, any of you played these newish Exo racks?... Pro, Tour, Light, Team (something like that)? I was big into the Reb 95 a few years back, and just wonder if there's something similarly solid, powerful yet control orientated, but also in an open pattern... anyone hit with these and care to share a thought or two?

R

[JGads]

Originally Posted by Ross K

Morning guys,

Talking of Prince frames, any of you played these newish Exo racks?... Pro, Tour, Light, Team (something like that)? I was big into the Reb 95 a few years back, and just wonder if there's something similarly solid, powerful yet control orientated, but also in an open pattern... anyone hit with these and care to share a thought or two?

R

EXO3 Tour 18x20 is so much fun on groundstrokes. Does everything so easily. But serving, the frame just died on me. IG Speed 16x19 was like having the EXO in hand again, only with better feel and a MUCH easier time of it on serve.

(yes, I'm going to keep complimenting the IG until you demo it) (BUT, I'm also with the others in thinking that maybe you should just stick with the AeroPro, as you always fall back to it and enjoy what you get)

[Fed Kennedy]

I tried the exo3 tours, they are really nice. Little bit nicer feel and pj than the older models. They're super easy to use. Struggle a little bit to get that raw power from them. They have excellent control once you get used to the super cush feel. Really fast through the air. Tons of spin.
I'm playing too much dubs, it's messing with my head, I would really like to play this in dubs, but in singles I miss the BCF (ball crush factor) of a heavy rac.

[Ross K]

Originally Posted by JGads

EXO3 Tour 18x20 is so much fun on groundstrokes. Does everything so easily. But serving, the frame just died on me. IG Speed 16x19 was like having the EXO in hand again, only with better feel and a MUCH easier time of it on serve.

(yes, I'm going to keep complimenting the IG until you demo it) (BUT, I'm also with the others in thinking that maybe you should just stick with the AeroPro, as you always fall back to it and enjoy what you get)

JG,

Just done some post/thread reading and it seems the Exo Tour 100 16x19 might be of potential interest to me. Hard to be sure, of course. One post likened it to a softer feeling PD and said it was very spinny and powerful. Maybe a bit like the TF 320 in performance?... (BTW, on a side-note here, funnilly enough, though I've played it a few times now and with different set ups etc, I've yet to quite find the desired heaviness of ball with the TF 320, though leaded right, I'd quite possibly find it. But for me the TF, though very spinny, which I like, it sometimes lacks a bit of depth and penetration, and coughs up a bit shy. Think YT Rad Pro - but a Rad Pro that's been been busted for illegal steroid use and now plays 'unassisted' and therefore weaker. Whatever. For some reason I appear to be able to access the type of penetrating, bullying b-line ball better with the APD than the TF, though they do share a fair few similarities. Mind you, for bullying b-line kaboom balls, that PC+ Swirly is an absolute military weapon.)

Re the IG 16x19, I'm trying to get hold of one in a trade or some such, but demoing in the UK is pretty much a rarity. I also don't feel so compelled to just pull the trigger and take a chance (though I may have done with the Donnay X Blue, er, until I heard you can't get them at all in England .) So, I usually get around to hitting with these frames, but it could be a while.

R

[Fed Kennedy]

I am seeing this trend of thin beam 100 si sticks (prince, donnay, speeds). Is this the future of racquet design?

[Ross K]

Originally Posted by Fed Kennedy

I tried the exo3 tours, they are really nice. Little bit nicer feel and pj than the older models. They're super easy to use. Struggle a little bit to get that raw power from them. They have excellent control once you get used to the super cush feel. Really fast through the air. Tons of spin.
I'm playing too much dubs, it's messing with my head, I would really like to play this in dubs, but in singles I miss the BCF (ball crush factor) of a heavy rac.

Interesting. As I think I've learnt with the Pres Pro though, I personally need a bit of power assistance.

Think I know what you mean re dubs/singles/liking different kinds of frames for both. TBH, my dubs play can be woeful, and I've long noticed it's an area where the worst aspects of being a racketaholic are graphically and even embarrassingly revealed.

R

[Power Player]

Originally Posted by Fed Kennedy

I am seeing this trend of thin beam 100 si sticks (prince, donnay, speeds). Is this the future of racquet design?

I think it may be. The flexible sticks feel a lot better, and the thin beam gives you a feeling of being able to do anything you want.

The Black continues to deliver on both sides for me. Really enjoyable control..in a different way then the prestige..the Black you can control with spin because it reacts so well to it..very forgiving. The Prestige is more of a point and click racquet. The Black is more of a touch racquet (perfect for lobs and dropshots), and is even better the PSTGT by a small margin for that. I think with the pure storm and now the black, you should be able to hit about any shot you want for any style. Really good if you hit deep looping defensive shots on the run sometimes because they will drop in more often and in better positions due to the extra touch. I am hitting real deep crosscourt backhands better if pulled wide, I think that is because I can feel the shot more. If I wanted, I can hit moonballs that will bounce in and then very high off the back fence. I know because I had to try a few throughout the day..lol.

The black is real quiet when you brush the ball or hit touch shots, but it has a nice deep crack when you rip it. It is very dynamic.

So these are my ongoing thoughts as I play the stick for anyone wondering. I am real happy with it. It is like driving a sports car. The flex of the stick seems to improve consistency, but it also hits with power. Just do not think the flexy feel is for everyone, but the sweetspot is extremely satisfying.

[Devilito]

Originally Posted by Power Player

I think it may be. The flexible sticks feel a lot better, and the thin beam gives you a feeling of being able to do anything you want.

The Black continues to deliver on both sides for me. Really enjoyable control..in a different way then the prestige..the Black you can control with spin because it reacts so well to it..very forgiving. The Prestige is more of a point and click racquet. The Black is more of a touch racquet (perfect for lobs and dropshots), and is even better the PSTGT by a small margin for that. I think with the pure storm and now the black, you should be able to hit about any shot you want for any style. Really good if you hit deep looping defensive shots on the run sometimes because they will drop in more often and in better positions due to the extra touch. I am hitting real deep crosscourt backhands better if pulled wide, I think that is because I can feel the shot more. If I wanted, I can hit moonballs that will bounce in and then very high off the back fence. I know because I had to try a few throughout the day..lol.

The black is real quiet when you brush the ball or hit touch shots, but it has a nice deep crack when you rip it. It is very dynamic.

So these are my ongoing thoughts as I play the stick for anyone wondering. I am real happy with it. It is like driving a sports car. The flex of the stick seems to improve consistency, but it also hits with power. Just do not think the flexy feel is for everyone, but the sweetspot is extremely satisfying.

T minus 27 days until new stick

[Power Player]

I bet you will switch before me. Seriously...I like these sticks a lot.