Review the craziest racquets you own

[VOLLEY KING]

Grass court Fila sneakers for clay !!!



Ok not a racquet.....but a gadget in a sense . I'm to lazy to do another review so I thought I would post this trick that I do.

I got the idea from reading about Andre Agassi. He wore grass sneakers to stop him from sliding at the FO. They banned them because he tore up the courts.....but at my level that really doesn't happen.

I ripped my groin sliding and doing a split on the clay courts. I couldnt play any more on clay because of fear of sliding.

Wearing grass court sneakers on clay allows me to pivot . It's like playing on a hardcourt.

I found the fila shoes to be the most comfortable . Feels like a slipper.

[Hitman99]

Originally Posted by VOLLEY KING

As you can see Hitman couldn't even hit one ball and ripped off the V grip. That's should be proof.

I could hit the ball OK on groundies, but I couldn't serve with it. The problem was not with the grip position, as I have always hit my serves with a Continental/backhand grip, for enhanced spin. In fact, my service grip is more "radical" than almost anyone I have ever played with or against.

Instead, the problem was the the Power V insert is too long as is (by design), needs to be shortened so that the index finger fits over the beveled end (for the Continental grip). Ed's instructions clearly state this, but I was eager to try it out, and just slapped it on the racket without cutting it to size. I am planning to try it again tonight.

I am hoping that the grip will also help me correct a bad habit I have developed, of gripping the racket too far down the handle, so that the butt cap ends in the middle of my palm. I even did this with the Vortex 133, despite its increased length. As I result, I always have a rough callus in my hand, which gets irritated and sore.

[VOLLEY KING]

It may get irritated and sore but there's nothing wrong with gripping the racquet that way. I think most people do. I'm not sure if this though? I know I do.

I completely agre with you about the V grip being to long. I cut it way way down.

You have to make it custom fit your hand.

[tennismonkey]

hitman99 was kind enough to let me try out his vortex es 133 for about 20 minutes this weekend. i'm a 4.0 singles/dubs player. full long strokes and my regular racquet is an exo3 tour 18x20 leaded up to 12 ounces even.

in person the spacing between the strings is absolutely huge. i could probably fit a quarter sideways through these holes. balance felt and played about even balance or slightly head heavy. power level was humongous. but the spin is equally humongous. taking full swings from the baseline required changing where i aim. with my regular racquet i'd aim about 5 feet above the net for a regular rally topspin forehand. that same swing with the es 133 launched off my racquet about 15 feet above the net and about 20 feet beyond the baseline. after adjusting my swing accordingly and aiming (in my mind anyway) at the netcord -- yielded a very fast and very spinny forehand that jumps off the court after the bounce. my slice backhands required no adjustment. just instantly more slice and effortless depth.

at net the es 133 was very capable. the even balance definitely showed up here where the size of the racquet and thickness made it feel very slightly cumbersome. fast exchanges at net would not be this racquet's strong point. but effortless power made this racquet as simple as just meeting the ball out front for volleys and it takes care of the rest.

to me control with this racquet was average. i could place it to the corners or down the line but it was always sort of the general vicinity - give or take 5 feet. it's clear this racquet favors much shorter strokes and it takes care of the rest. definitely not designed for pinpoint control.

lastly for such a stiff racquet - this was a super comfy ride. i have wrist and elbow issues and i'm pretty sure i could play with this racquet day in, day out and i'd be fine.

thanks hitman for the fun. i saw you hitting with this racquet and i think it's a good match. with your preferred strings - it'll be ever better.

[Hitman99]

IMHO, accuracy is pretty good, but will improve with more practice and play time. Using a semi-Western grip on both sides helps control the ball arc, also adds spin. You don't have to do anything special with the 133 to generate spin, it just happens --- as if by magic.

Re the strings, the rackets comes with 15g hex poly strings, brand is proprietary to Vortex. I will be interested to see how long the strings hold up before stretching and losing their pop. Since the other Vortex racket (ES 10 has MSV Hex strings that are over 2 years old, and it still plays well (feels EXTREMELY soft and cushy), maybe the strings in the 133 will also last as long. However, I am not really sold on poly, so I will want to try the PowerMaxx Light Touch natty gut, see how that feels.

The 133 is definitely fun to hit with, puts a smile on your face.

[VOLLEY KING]

Originally Posted by tennismonkey

hitman99 was kind enough to let me try out his vortex es 133 for about 20 minutes this weekend. i'm a 4.0 singles/dubs player. full long strokes and my regular racquet is an exo3 tour 18x20 leaded up to 12 ounces even.

in person the spacing between the strings is absolutely huge. i could probably fit a quarter sideways through these holes. balance felt and played about even balance or slightly head heavy. power level was humongous. but the spin is equally humongous. taking full swings from the baseline required changing where i aim. with my regular racquet i'd aim about 5 feet above the net for a regular rally topspin forehand. that same swing with the es 133 launched off my racquet about 15 feet above the net and about 20 feet beyond the baseline. after adjusting my swing accordingly and aiming (in my mind anyway) at the netcord -- yielded a very fast and very spinny forehand that jumps off the court after the bounce. my slice backhands required no adjustment. just instantly more slice and effortless depth.

at net the es 133 was very capable. the even balance definitely showed up here where the size of the racquet and thickness made it feel very slightly cumbersome. fast exchanges at net would not be this racquet's strong point. but effortless power made this racquet as simple as just meeting the ball out front for volleys and it takes care of the rest.

to me control with this racquet was average. i could place it to the corners or down the line but it was always sort of the general vicinity - give or take 5 feet. it's clear this racquet favors much shorter strokes and it takes care of the rest. definitely not designed for pinpoint control.

lastly for such a stiff racquet - this was a super comfy ride. i have wrist and elbow issues and i'm pretty sure i could play with this racquet day in, day out and i'd be fine.

thanks hitman for the fun. i saw you hitting with this racquet and i think it's a good match. with your preferred strings - it'll be ever better.

Hey tennis Monkey,

good to meet you.

I had the same thoughts as you .

This racquet is not made for long swings like yours. this is strictly a racquet for shorter swings.

The trick with this stick is to not swing hard. Its clearly not for everyone...I dont play with it either.

I did have a lot of fun with it and at the net I loved it.

[VOLLEY KING]

Originally Posted by Hitman99

IMHO, accuracy is pretty good, but will improve with more practice and play time. Using a semi-Western grip on both sides helps control the ball arc, also adds spin. You don't have to do anything special with the 133 to generate spin, it just happens --- as if by magic.

Re the strings, the rackets comes with 15g hex poly strings, brand is proprietary to Vortex. I will be interested to see how long the strings hold up before stretching and losing their pop. Since the other Vortex racket (ES 10 has MSV Hex strings that are over 2 years old, and it still plays well (feels EXTREMELY soft and cushy), maybe the strings in the 133 will also last as long. However, I am not really sold on poly, so I will want to try the PowerMaxx Light Touch natty gut, see how that feels.

The 133 is definitely fun to hit with, puts a smile on your face.

what happened with the 108?? dying to hear!

[tennismonkey]

VK -- you are right though that the racquet was a lot of fun to play with. the almost comical levels of spin made me try angles that should be impossible. i could almost imagine how federer and especially nadal must feel. when you can hit that much spin and with power too -- the entire court opens up.

wish there was a device or a camera that can record RPM's for us regular joes. i gotta believe these vortex racquets rank right up there.

and yes control is good insomuch as you keep your strokes short. long loopy strokes doesn't mesh well with this 133 anyway. wonder how the smaller headsize vortex sticks do?

[VOLLEY KING]

Originally Posted by tennismonkey

VK -- you are right though that the racquet was a lot of fun to play with. the almost comical levels of spin made me try angles that should be impossible. i could almost imagine how federer and especially nadal must feel. when you can hit that much spin and with power too -- the entire court opens up.

wish there was a device or a camera that can record RPM's for us regular joes. i gotta believe these vortex racquets rank right up there.

and yes control is good insomuch as you keep your strokes short. long loopy strokes doesn't mesh well with this 133 anyway. wonder how the smaller headsize vortex sticks do?

I really LOVE their smaller frames.

The ES 100 & 108 and the player thinner version I think the Pro 100 were one of the best sticks that I have ever played with in my life.

Volleys and return of serves were incredible with all of them. The only reason I dont use them is that I just dont care for a thicker framed racquet. There is something about a very thin beam that I just love.

The Pro 100 was relatively thin beamed and a great stick....but i just like the Donnays better for my game. Im a serve and volleyer and the slice is my most important approach shot. Theres something about a very thin frame that allows me to slice more agrresively.

Other than that one stroke I would be playing with a Vortex .

To be honest though the greatest stick I have ever played with was the Blackburne 95. I absolutely love that stick. My absolute holy grail.....the problem is that I just dont want to deal with having them strung. what a nightmare!!!

I play with Poly and Poly becomes lifeless rather quickly. The thought of having to restring the blackburne every other week gives me nightmares.

But if you really want to try something wild then try that stick. But you wont be able to get the 95 because I bought the very last one. you can still get the 107 ...and you may love it. heres a picture of it in case you missed it:

The blackburne ( 97 & 107)





Roscoe tanner using the blackburne at Wimbledon

[Hitman99]

Originally Posted by VOLLEY KING

what happened with the 108?? dying to hear!

I have only hit with it for a few minutes, but it clearly feels much different than the 133. First, it is so SOFT, so much so that it takes away the feel of the strings. Second, the launch angle is much lower, so you have to swing harder and aim higher. Although spin is present, it is much more subtle than the 133. You have to use swing technique to generate the spin.

Saturday night I let one of my friends hit with it. He was probably the strongest male player at a party of 80 people (50+ men), hits much harder than I, and has a vicious serve. He loved the racket for everything except volleys, felt that the racket was too dead to generate any pace.

I will take the 108 with me to my mens doubles match tonight, will warm up with it, try some serves. My original thought was to serve with the 108, use the 133 the rest of the time. However, the feel of the two rackets is so different, not sure that is such a good idea.

[VOLLEY KING]

Well I think 2 year old dead strings may have something to do with it but joe swears by it??

I personally like like pro supex blue gear ( in white) . Have you seen these strings? They are insane!

Jagged strings most spin I've ever seen.

[Hitman99]

I hit with the 108 for a while last night, but didn't play with it. I am going to order a couple more sets of the PowerMaxx strings, have the racket restrung.

Meanwhile, I didn't play that well last night with the 133, even though we won the first set, were tied at 4-4 in the second. I served really well, probably the best in many years. I quit trying to spin the ball, just freed up my arm and let loose with some real bombs. I am able to generate some serious juice with the 133 (for me at least).

However, I felt sluggish and late on my ground strokes all night. Both of my opponents are hard hittlers, one is a senior, the other a 40 y.o. USTA 4.5 with vicious topspin. His groundies just handcuffed me all night. My strokes fell apart, and I had way too many unforced errors. I was late on a lot of volleys too.

I've decided to send the 133 back, as much as I enjoy playing with it. Main reason is that it is killing my shoulder. All that power, spin, and leverage from the longer length carries a steep price. The racket FEELS comfortable, but it is definitely making my shoulder worse. I had trouble sleeping last night, and am thinking I probably need to take some time off to heal up.

So, I will get the 108 restrung, focus on learning how to hit with it, work on my swing technique. Maybe after my shoulder heals I can give the 133 another try. It is a WEAPON.

[VOLLEY KING]

Hitman,

Don't kill yourself to like the racquet. You said you love the power angle .

Just stick with that.

At the very least it's just fun to try different sticks.

[Hitman99]

Unfortunately, discovered that the PowerAngle frame has a crack in it, near one of the upper grommet holes. My stringer said that sometimes a crack can be repaired with fiberglass, but I am doubtful.

I still have a Head Metallix, freshly strung with PowerMaxx natty gut, that I can play with. I am also planning to restring the Vortex 108, see how that plays. If it is as soft as the worn-out MSV Hex, should be OK.

[VOLLEY KING]

So what if there's a crack. Maybe that's why you play so well with it??lol.

[Gorecki]

may i ask why you use random pictures from internet websites if you own al these racquets...?

[VOLLEY KING]

Originally Posted by Gorecki

may i ask why you use random pictures from internet websites if you own al these racquets...?

Because I can't figure out how to load them and put them on this board.

[mhj202]

Originally Posted by VOLLEY KING

Because I can't figure out how to load them and put them on this board.

Here you go (see second post on how to post pics):

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=319306

[Gorecki]

now you know how to do it, lets see some real pictures of your frames... i'm curious!!!

[VOLLEY KING]

Originally Posted by Gorecki

now you know how to do it, lets see some real pictures of your frames... i'm curious!!!

Thank you!!!

I'll try when I get home .