Diary of a Racketaholic

[Power Player]

Well they will be coming out with an open pattern blade....

[klementine79]

Originally Posted by Ross K

klem - excellent news that you're feeling good again. I look forward to your usual drollery re all things racketaholic.

First time in what??.!.... 7+months?? That I served all out, 100% today..felt great... and with which frame?!??..... THE Prestige Mid (Mg version). Actually didn't play half bad with it, considering my opponent. Really miss this one. I got some demo's on the way though.

-Xfast100
-IgRadMid+ (again)
-Organix10
-and the Xi98

Originally Posted by JGads

You know, I played a stock Blade 98 for awhile before I felt like I needed something with more stability and then came across this forum. That was the end of me. Still wonder if I could have made that frame work for me with just lead tweaks or something, and if I should have just stuck with it as I truly loved that frame in all areas except for volleys. It just died at the net, but from the back and on serve, loved it. People say Raonic still plays with a retail KBlade 98 as well. Surely it's tweaked with lead and such, but still interesting.

If that stock blade98 was the kfactor then you could definitely make it work again.

[Fuji]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Well they will be coming out with an open pattern blade....

I know, and it breaks my heart LOL!

-Fuji

[Tim]

klementine79, I'm definitely a closet racketaholic but I'm coming off a 10 month hiatus due to injury and I would strongly suggest you choose one frame and stick with it till fully confident in your game....then go on a racketaholic binge

[JGads]

Originally Posted by Power Player

That new Blade 98 has a nice SW to it. I bet it hits a rather heavy ball even in stock weight.

The blx blade I demoed swung like a log. Felt like there was SOOO much weight in the head, it was a no-go early on. Of course, the rub is that Wilson quality control being what it is, you never know if what I had was the norm, but I read some other people who thought the same. I could get a Prestige Mid around so much quicker than that particular Blade.

Originally Posted by Power Player

Well it is a very respected and highly used frame. It also gets a lot of spin for a tight pattern. Id love to get a gads comparison between it and the ps95 since they are both fairly flexy by the numbers.

Been so long now since I've hit with the KBlade, would be interesting to go back to it and see how I'd hit with it comparing to the new frames I've now replaced it with in my bag. Vs. the Pro Staff 95, KBlade is much stiffer/crisper, but I never found the Blade to be quite as rigid or hollow as Bab tweeners, but still, more on the stiff side rather than soft, which is where the PS 95 resides. Blade 98 has more plow and a lower trajectory, but still with a LOT of spin when you want to spin it... That's why an open-pattern Blade doesn't get me so excited, because I felt like the K98 gave me all the spin I wanted... Serves - both pummel serves. Volleys, PS 95 definitely more stable at net with a little more feel.

[klementine79]

Originally Posted by Tim

klementine79, I'm definitely a closet racketaholic but I'm coming off a 10 month hiatus due to injury and I would strongly suggest you choose one frame and stick with it till fully confident in your game....then go on a racketaholic binge

HahahaHaha.....

Yeah, thanks for the encouragement Thing is I wasn't fully confident in my before the injury... so x+y does not = xy in my case.

I hear you though. Just one more round of demos... then back to the old trusty exo3Tour.

[sansaephanh]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Sans it's not the racquet. You have to stick with something and get better. I can about guarantee your timing is bad right now. The k90 won't help your game and you will probably struggle mightily post honeymoon.

Yeah... With the RDiS I feel like I can't quite achieve the shots i can with a mid on command quite yet. But i've been playing pretty well with mids for a while. It was what Ive always played with. It was an affair with my old lover.

[klementine79]

Hey all,
Under what sub-forum is the thread located with the accomplished junior from Canada who won Wimbledon juniors?

junior/league.. tips/instructions?

Can't seem to find it under that heading. The actual thread title might help.

[klementine79]

^Nevermind. Just found it under General Pro discussion. Great thread.

[Meaghan]

When the x10 arrived I had a few swings and thought no, this thing had a very uniform swing, the head is not very heavy, might be a bit thick, its not gonna rival the c10 is it?
Hitting against the wall there's an obvious stiffer feel and the hoop feels very stable. Doesn't have that sink into the strings dwell feeling I like but nevertheless it does retain that pleasurable volkl feel.
String it up with tour bite a few lbs lower to aid dwell @ 50lbs and added 8g to the top of hoop and 8g top of handle. Its now 356g and 5pts hl, its lighter than my c10s but loses nothing for it. The balance is a couple of points head heavy than I normally play but again this feels just right. Plays amazingly well, more dwell, heavy head now lags behind how I like it, loads of controllable power. A little less cute on volleys which is probably a good thing for me. Easy to switch between sticks also. Decisions tho.....



Picture of my mod to flare one half of the butt cap.

[klementine79]

^Nice handle mod Meaghs. Volkl and Beckers definitely need that. Size 4 ehh...? Good move. The 3's feel like wilson 1's.

I got this Organix10 coming in today for demo (along with three other frames). I'll keep the string tension vs. dwell time in mind when demo'ng as it's sure to have some old syn.gut at 2lbs. above mid tension.

[bad_call]

Originally Posted by sansaephanh

Yeah... With the RDiS I feel like I can't quite achieve the shots i can with a mid on command quite yet. But i've been playing pretty well with mids for a while. It was what Ive always played with. It was an affair with my old lover.

empathize with u about mids. me keeps the 4D100 in the bag whilst adjusting to the yy200. being an old and slow now, do like the bump in power the yy200 offers but the fh still needs adjustment. just don't have the pinpoint/penetrating shots the 4D100 produced. oh well it's about trade offs anyway.

[Power Player]

Yes that is the trade off. Not as much precision due to the larger head and very open pattern.

But the weird part is my consistency is far, far better. It is a very unique hybrid of control versus power.

I'd love to trade my pro open for a more control based stick...just to see the difference and I never use my pro open anymore since the 200 is more my preference. Contacted TW today about this.

So far every racquet I pick up and hit with lasts 2 minutes and then I immediately miss the yonex.

[esgee48]

Klem: How is it your wife manages Not To Be A Racquetholic? Doesn't she have urges (not hormone related) like you?

[Ross K]

Rich - ^^^ like the pics. I've always appreciated a big buttcap.

[klementine79]

Originally Posted by esgee48

Klem: How is it your wife manages Not To Be A Racquetholic? Doesn't she have urges (not hormone related) like you?

Nope. She's like most advanced players, ie- doesn't care or know anything about equipment and wants to change as little as possible.

She likes to demo. But at the end of the day, she wants her PrestigeMid and POSG strung at mid tension. Simple.

I'm the one with a problem.

[esgee48]

Thanks Klem. So she does demo, that's good to know. Probably just prefers the feel of her Prestige Mids because she does not have to think when playing.

[JGads]

OK, here's a curveball. Any of you holics ever try the K-Blade ... Team?

Just saw in another thread that VsBabolat and others are saying that Serena actually uses a Blade Team, so I looked the frame up out of curiosity and really find the specs of the KFactor version to be so, so interesting, almost pro-stock-ish: just 10.7 strung but 4 points HL, a nice 320 swingweight, a very nice 57 stiffness and it's 27.3 inches long. 104 square inches, but an 18/19 string pattern to keep the spin and control under control? Seems like since the swingweight is already there, main mods would just be to add weight at the handle to weight it up to your preference. Anyone ever try this thing? The flex almost makes it seem like a potential Ross stick, as he's always searched for his big hitting Tweener With Feel.

[klementine79]

^ Nice beam as well, 22mm straight and a 57 stiffness to go along with that k-factor stiffness.

I bought one years ago and tried my modding/experimentation, just could never balance it out. Actually preferred it stock with just two og's.

[JGads]

Yeah, I feel like the attraction to that frame is that you wouldn't need to flirt so much with lead in the hoop, which just drives me nuts sometimes. Much much easier to just go with heavier grips/overgrips and if needed, a strip or three of lead beneath the grip if anything. The BLX version comes in with a super light swingweight, so you'd probably go nuts trying to tweak it up top just right to get any real oomph. .. too bad I totally ignored this frame back when I use to see it at big box stores and such for cheap. Seems like a great trial frame, if in fact it feels like those specs indicate. I love the 18/19 pattern and the 27.3 length is great -- extended but not too much.