Prince EXO3 Tour 100 16X18 is VERY FRAGILE!

[topspin247]

Hi,

My 13 yrs old son was hitting a forehand with a 5 months old Prince EXO3 Tour 100 during one of his recent tournaments and after the shot, the racquet frame on one side cracked open that he had to stop the during the point. He is not allowed and has never abused his racquet. He is sponsored junior player by Prince. So I called and told Prince about the racquet and they asked me to send it in. About a week later, I received a letter from Prince stating that they have completed their evaluation of the racquet and find no indications that the damage was the result of any manufacturers or materials defect. The damage appears to be the result of excessive wear to the head of the frame which weakened the racquets supporting structure. And they can not replace. I called and reason with Prince but that leads to nowhere.

He used to play with Babolat AeroPro Drive GT for more than two years. The racquet's paint chipped away every where, the grommet worn out to the frame BUT that Babolat racquet never cracked or broken in anyway. It is still playable.

Has anyone had any experience like this with this Prince Tour racquet? I certainly have lost confidence in Prince racquets. That is very poor quality made.

[ricki]

If you loose confidence after one crack, move to other brand. imo racquets crack after bad stringing when stringer doesnt string mains from center evenly to sides and crosses from top to bottom.

[tennismonkey]

i had many exo3 tours - 18x20 though. the paint on them rubs off and flakes off super easy but i've never had any structural problems with them.

i did find them a little flimsy in the upper hoop though. wonder if that contributed to yours breaking.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by topspin247

Hi,

My 13 yrs old son was hitting a forehand with a 5 months old Prince EXO3 Tour 100 during one of his recent tournaments and after the shot, the racquet frame on one side cracked open that he had to stop the during the point. He is not allowed and has never abused his racquet. He is sponsored junior player by Prince. So I called and told Prince about the racquet and they asked me to send it in. About a week later, I received a letter from Prince stating that they have completed their evaluation of the racquet and find no indications that the damage was the result of any manufacturers or materials defect. The damage appears to be the result of excessive wear to the head of the frame which weakened the racquets supporting structure. And they can not replace. I called and reason with Prince but that leads to nowhere.

He used to play with Babolat AeroPro Drive GT for more than two years. The racquet's paint chipped away every where, the grommet worn out to the frame BUT that Babolat racquet never cracked or broken in anyway. It is still playable.

Has anyone had any experience like this with this Prince Tour racquet? I certainly have lost confidence in Prince racquets. That is very poor quality made.

Are you with him everytime he plays? Let's just say I never threw my racket as a junior...in front of my Mom.

[themitchmann]

I'm a Prince sponsored teaching pro, and I have yet to see a Tour break, even with abuse (Speedport Blacks, on the other hand, were another story).

Is it possible the frame was compromised as a result of scraping up low balls, or poor stringing?

[tennis_enthusiast]

Make sure that you're replacing the bumper guard up top regularly. I see too many people who don't realize that they need to change the bumper guard and they allow the frame to take a beating. When the actual graphite on the frame gets worn down, it greatly weakens the strength of the frame and can cause cracking.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by tennis_enthusiast

Make sure that you're replacing the bumper guard up top regularly. I see too many people who don't realize that they need to change the bumper guard and they allow the frame to take a beating. When the actual graphite on the frame gets worn down, it greatly weakens the strength of the frame and can cause cracking.

My 3 are new. How hard are they to replace?

[Maui19]

I recently had two rackets crack at the throat without any abuse whatsoever. I mentioned this to a buddy, who pulled out two almost new Wilson rackets that each had a crack at the throat. I can just about guarantee that his rackets, although he crushes the ball.

I don't think the rackets they are making today are immune to these problems.

[I Heart Thomas Muster]

Originally Posted by mikeler

My 3 are new. How hard are they to replace?

The bumper guards are fairly easy to replace which is good because those head guards wear down quickly. I replace my buddy's all the time.

[DAS2011]

I've had a few crack as well. One was in the throat and the other was on the bridge. They were both within a year, so I had them replaced.

And in my experience, the bumperguards are quite difficult to replace once their a bit worn, because you have to take out the orange inserts down the side as well. But I have heard there's a special tool that makes it easier.

[klementine79]

Sorry to hear TopSpin.
I've had the old o3 racquets break/crack on me, at the throat/bridge. None of the new exo's have cracked on me yet.

That being said, I've had wilsons, heads and babs crack on me, so I don't think this has anything to do with a particular companies manufacturing techniques or inspection processes, they're racquets, they'll break eventually.

What it has shown me is that not all companies are equal in terms of warranty procedures and replacements.

[Bartelby]

Cross-examination on a matter of hearsay evidence, very good Mr Mason, but the reality is this is not a court of law so we're bound to accept what he says at face value.

And what he actually says is 'has never abused his racquet' which sounds like we need to treat his statement at face value as a statement of fact.

Originally Posted by mikeler

Are you with him everytime he plays? Let's just say I never threw my racket as a junior...in front of my Mom.

[themitchmann]

To the OP:

To what level is your child sponsored? Do you free or discounted gear?

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Bartelby

Cross-examination on a matter of hearsay evidence, very good Mr Mason, but the reality is this is not a court of law so we're bound to accept what he says at face value.

And what he actually says is 'has never abused his racquet' which sounds like we need to treat his statement at face value as a statement of fact.

I just wanted to throw out another option. Sounds like a good kid so probably not.

[PrincessAdam]

Most likely it was bad stringing. I had one break at 1 or 2 o clock, but I'm not sure how. I've had 4, and only one broke. The pain job, imo, sucks. My racquets look like they've seen a war and I take exceptional care of them. I've never had any racquet break while hitting though. Has to be bad stringing

[Dragan]

Originally Posted by ricki

If you loose confidence after one crack, move to other brand. imo racquets crack after bad stringing when stringer doesnt string mains from center evenly to sides and crosses from top to bottom.

I read many contradictory advices re: where to string crosses from - top or bottom?

As an example, official Wilson's stringing instructions for my racquet differ for one-pice strining vs two-piece stringing job:

Wilson BLX Pro Open

String Pattern
16 Mains x 19 Crosses
String Length
One 35' (10.7 m) length (ss: 9'5") or 19' (5.8 m) mains
and 16' (4.9 m) crosses. Start mains at throat.
Mains skip 8T and 8H. Tie off mains at 6T.
If one-piece stringing: Start X’s at bottom at 8T. Tie off X’s at 5H.
If two-piece stringing: Start X’s at top at 8H. Tie off X’s at 5H & 11T.
Recommended String Tension

I believe your concerns are valid mostly in case of extreme tensions, closer to the higher end of recommended range, or even exceeding it?

[themitchmann]

In the past, stringing Prince racquets from throat to head voided the warranty.

[Dragan]

Originally Posted by themitchmann

In the past, stringing Prince racquets from throat to head voided the warranty.

Very strange, indeed. On stringforum.net discussion board, an experienced stringer strongly advocates starting crosses from the bottom (throat), as the racquet structure is much stronger there.

[topspin247]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Are you with him everytime he plays? Let's just say I never threw my racket as a junior...in front of my Mom.

You're right and I understand what your saying. I have been with him at tournaments, clinics, private lessons most of the time but not all the time. However, I just know that he would never do such thing. His opponents, friends, other parents, coaches would say the same thing.

Originally Posted by themitchmann

I'm a Prince sponsored teaching pro, and I have yet to see a Tour break, even with abuse (Speedport Blacks, on the other hand, were another story).

Is it possible the frame was compromised as a result of scraping up low balls, or poor stringing?

It could be. I just don't know.

Originally Posted by Bartelby

Cross-examination on a matter of hearsay evidence, very good Mr Mason, but the reality is this is not a court of law so we're bound to accept what he says at face value.

And what he actually says is 'has never abused his racquet' which sounds like we need to treat his statement at face value as a statement of fact.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by themitchmann

To the OP:

To what level is your child sponsored? Do you free or discounted gear?

He had a preferred player package.

Originally Posted by PrincessAdam

Most likely it was bad stringing. I had one break at 1 or 2 o clock, but I'm not sure how. I've had 4, and only one broke. The pain job, imo, sucks. My racquets look like they've seen a war and I take exceptional care of them. I've never had any racquet break while hitting though. Has to be bad stringing

It could be. I just don't know.


I am just surprised that Prince would not replace it considering its only about 5 months old or so and it does not look like it was in the war either.

[TennezSport]

Originally Posted by Dragan

Very strange, indeed. On stringforum.net discussion board, an experienced stringer strongly advocates starting crosses from the bottom (throat), as the racquet structure is much stronger there.

That is why you always start stringing the crosses at the HEAD down. The Y yoke at the bottom of the head does add strength to the hoop so it's more stable. When you begin to add cross strings pressure is pushed up or down in the head away from the crosses.

If you start from the bottom, pressure is pushed to the top of the racquet head where there is no additional support and can cause cracks at the key spots where the mains and cross strings are close. Stringing top down has the pressure moving down the head towards the throat where it's stronger so you get much less deformation, insuring racquet integrity.

Hope this clearly explains it and helps. BTW, the OP does not say what string and tension his son strung with, as poly strings at high tensions can cause a real issue with racquets and arms.

Cheers, TennezSport