Wilson Hits Homerun with Wilson Steam 99S (mini review)

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by tlm

A friend of mine demoed the 99s and like I suspected he said it was a rocket launcher.

disagree....its about the same as a Pure Drive or Juice.

[tlm]

Originally Posted by JackB1

disagree....its about the same as a Pure Drive or Juice.

Okay but I would classify both of those rackets as to powerful.

[bad_call]

Originally Posted by TennisTodd

I wanted to preface my post by saying that although I read this forum regularly, I rarely post anything. After hitting with several Wilson frames yesterday I felt like I had to add to relay my experience.

A little about my playing style and background:

I am a 46-year-old 5.0 former D1 college tennis player and currently ranked #12 Nationally in my age group. My playing style is all court leaning toward aggressive baseliner with a semi-western forehand and one-handed backhand. I currently play with the Head Prestige Pro with poly/multi hybrid strings at 50 lbs. My rackets are customized to 345g.

I hit with several of the new Wilson rackets yesterday for a couple of hours looking to add a little power to my game without sacrificing much control. I went into the hitting session with an open mind but leaning toward the blade (16x18 or 18x20). The blades felt very good, big improvement over the current models and I probably would have chosen the 16x18 had it not been for the 99S.

I decided to hit the 105S and 99S after reading the hype just to see if I could tell a big difference in spin. The 105 felt OK but was too light and I struggled to rein the power in and control was an issue. The 99S was sublime!! Even though the weight was light (I currently modify all frames anyway) the control of the open sting pattern was hard to believe. All the rackets were strung with 4G at 56 lbs, but the string jobs were several weeks old. The 99S had more control than the 16x18 blade and felt on par to the 18x20 blade. The spin, while more than my normal stick, was not mind blowing; but the difference was the effort needed to impart the spin. My desired shot is a “heavy” ball 2-3 feet over the net that lands in the back third of the court and I only needed to use about 1/3 of the effort as I currently do with my Prestige. I have tried many rackets over the last couple of years including the APD and the 99S is far superior in spin production and control.

The bottom line is the 99S will improve my game by allowing me to hit heavy deep balls with less effort than any other frame!

Groundstrokes: Heavy, deep balls that penetrate the court and keep my opponent on the defensive. I didn’t experience any of the “ballooning” that others have described. Slices were deep and penetrating as well.

Volleys: Biggest surprise to me were the volleys. Tons of control with ample power. Placement was within the same 6 inch target as my current stick.

Serve: Another big surprise. I could flatten out my serve without losing much control. My kick serve was out of this world. I normally can hit a second serve that lands 5 feet high on the back fence; with the 99S it was 6-7 feet.

Overall the 99S is a great stick and a “game changer” for those of you trying to take your game to the next level. As with any racket, your skill level and practice time will dictate your success.

My Wilson rep told me that 2014 Wilson will bring this technology to the player sticks. I can’t wait for 2014 and will be getting my new rackets in several weeks to start customizing.

Hope this helps some of you determine whether the hype is warranted or not, but for my vote it’s a no brainer!

whoa!! need to demo this one since needing but 1/3 effort to hit same ball. but how long do strings hold up?

[bertrevert]

Originally Posted by tlm

Okay but I would classify both of those rackets as to powerful.

Agreed, but isn't this where the whole new world of poly strings is meant to step in - poly to tame the power with spin. Isn't the 4G string meant to do that? I mean does the 4G do that for this frame or not?

I never got finesse out of a PD, but I used to use syngut! (And even then it gave me tendinitis issues that PD swirly frame was so stiff.)

If it as a rocket launcher that lacks detailed feedback then it's less of an interesting frame for me but still want to demo...

[jackcrawford]

Originally Posted by tlm

Okay but I would classify both of those rackets as to powerful.

So the Pure Drive is not too powerful for Roddick, but it is for you? You hit harder than he did in 2003

[Power Player]

Originally Posted by jackcrawford

So the Pure Drive is not too powerful for Roddick, but it is for you? You hit harder than he did in 2003

It matters how you hit. Also, the facts on Roddick are that after that magical year his strokes took a dive and he was over spinning his forehand bigtime.

So that's probably not the best example to try and prove a point with.

[racertempo]

Originally Posted by tlm

A friend of mine demoed the 99s and like I suspected he said it was a rocket launcher.

Yeah, this pretty much tells us nothing at all. How was it strung, what kind of player is this friend? Without all of this info and specifics this means nothing. I found the 99s AND the 105s to have less power then the 100 Juice, and I had to hit it with a hybrid string job. With a full bed of poly the power will come down even more and control will go up, just the facts. I agree with the response to this yesterday about string making a huge difference here.

[nickarnold2000]

Originally Posted by TennisTodd

I wanted to preface my post by saying that although I read this forum regularly, I rarely post anything. After hitting with several Wilson frames yesterday I felt like I had to add to relay my experience.

A little about my playing style and background:

I am a 46-year-old 5.0 former D1 college tennis player and currently ranked #12 Nationally in my age group. My playing style is all court leaning toward aggressive baseliner with a semi-western forehand and one-handed backhand. I currently play with the Head Prestige Pro with poly/multi hybrid strings at 50 lbs. My rackets are customized to 345g.

I hit with several of the new Wilson rackets yesterday for a couple of hours looking to add a little power to my game without sacrificing much control. I went into the hitting session with an open mind but leaning toward the blade (16x18 or 18x20). The blades felt very good, big improvement over the current models and I probably would have chosen the 16x18 had it not been for the 99S.

I decided to hit the 105S and 99S after reading the hype just to see if I could tell a big difference in spin. The 105 felt OK but was too light and I struggled to rein the power in and control was an issue. The 99S was sublime!! Even though the weight was light (I currently modify all frames anyway) the control of the open sting pattern was hard to believe. All the rackets were strung with 4G at 56 lbs, but the string jobs were several weeks old. The 99S had more control than the 16x18 blade and felt on par to the 18x20 blade. The spin, while more than my normal stick, was not mind blowing; but the difference was the effort needed to impart the spin. My desired shot is a “heavy” ball 2-3 feet over the net that lands in the back third of the court and I only needed to use about 1/3 of the effort as I currently do with my Prestige. I have tried many rackets over the last couple of years including the APD and the 99S is far superior in spin production and control.

The bottom line is the 99S will improve my game by allowing me to hit heavy deep balls with less effort than any other frame!

Groundstrokes: Heavy, deep balls that penetrate the court and keep my opponent on the defensive. I didn’t experience any of the “ballooning” that others have described. Slices were deep and penetrating as well.

Volleys: Biggest surprise to me were the volleys. Tons of control with ample power. Placement was within the same 6 inch target as my current stick.

Serve: Another big surprise. I could flatten out my serve without losing much control. My kick serve was out of this world. I normally can hit a second serve that lands 5 feet high on the back fence; with the 99S it was 6-7 feet.

Overall the 99S is a great stick and a “game changer” for those of you trying to take your game to the next level. As with any racket, your skill level and practice time will dictate your success.

My Wilson rep told me that 2014 Wilson will bring this technology to the player sticks. I can’t wait for 2014 and will be getting my new rackets in several weeks to start customizing.

Hope this helps some of you determine whether the hype is warranted or not, but for my vote it’s a no brainer!

Nice post. The key to using a "powerful" tweener is racket head speed and poly as a main(at least for me because I'm too cheap to use gut mains & poly crosses). A nice loose wrist and those heavy balls will come down. I also play at the 5.0 level and I've noticed more and more guys using tweeners.
I'm looking forward to your future 99S posts.

[carlosoki]

Which differences do you find between 99S and 105S. I would like to have 105S but it´s too light for me. I preffer heavier.

(sorry for my bad english)

[tlm]

Originally Posted by jackcrawford

So the Pure Drive is not too powerful for Roddick, but it is for you? You hit harder than he did in 2003

Just because some pro players use a certain racket that does not mean it is right for a club player. Of course I don't hit harder than roddick does, which by the way has nothing to do with how much control a racket has.

Obviously understanding the control level of rackets is over your head. Anybody that knows anything about tennis rackets would not classify a pure drive as an example of a control racket.

[tlm]

Originally Posted by racertempo

Yeah, this pretty much tells us nothing at all. How was it strung, what kind of player is this friend? Without all of this info and specifics this means nothing. I found the 99s AND the 105s to have less power then the 100 Juice, and I had to hit it with a hybrid string job. With a full bed of poly the power will come down even more and control will go up, just the facts. I agree with the response to this yesterday about string making a huge difference here.

He was at a demo session at our club with a Wilson rep that comes to our club every month or so to have players try out future rackets. He did not say what string it had in it and he is a solid 4.5 player with excellent ground strokes.

I am glad you found it to have less power than the juice which I consider a high powered racket. But as you would say were they strung with the same string and tension as the juice? Without this info and the specifics it means nothing.

[racertempo]

Originally Posted by tlm

\

I am glad you found it to have less power than the juice which I consider a high powered racket. But as you would say were they strung with the same string and tension as the juice? Without this info and the specifics it means nothing.

I have posted before my thoughts on them comparatively. With the exact same string job, (local shop puts the same string in all demo frames) the 105s was less power then the Juice 100. Compared to my Ezone Xi100, I only use full poly beds and the the Xi100 was still more power and tougher to control then the 105s and the 99s, and the Xi100 has been the best racquet I have ever hit for control on my strokes.

[racertempo]

Originally Posted by tlm

He was at a demo session at our club with a Wilson rep that comes to our club every month or so to have players try out future rackets. He did not say what string it had in it and he is a solid 4.5 player with excellent ground strokes.

So we still don't know what string or tension, so labeling a frame as a Rocket-Launcher when not knowing the type or tension does not tell many people much. And a rocket launcher for a good 4.5 who swings for the fences normally does not mean much or help many people on here.....as mentioned by nickarnold2000, many people are using racquets like there, but many better people will always label them as launchers.....no string, no tension, means you cannot blame the frame, at least not with the current evidence.

[corners]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Corners I appreciate your defense of the open pattern, but the facts are that I hit with it, and I disagree. First off, controlling the trajectory of every shot is not that easy. In fact I think that is why most players pick a string pattern. I can hit loopers with my 18x20, but my natural grip and rip forehand with the 18x20 is a lower trajectory ball that penetrates the court far better than with an open pattern. I like to contact the ball flush with just a little forward tilt of the racquet face, and there is no way I would want to close it more just to control an open pattern's higher trajectory.

The high kick is not due just to trajectory but also to how much spin is on the ball. What the playtester from ESPN is saying is that there is definitely a case of too much spin, and if you already know how to hit with it, you will hit more balls that will sit up like this. This also happens sometimes with the APD ( i just sen that demo back to TW), and it happens at the highest levels as even Nadal has been beaten due to his ball sitting up in the strike zone sometimes.

If you dont hit with a lot of spin, then this pattern will be a revelation in how the ball can drop sharply in, but if you already do, I will be surprised if this racquet makes you want to switch.

Once again, I have yet to hit with the 99s, just the 105s. But for me, it is not even close to the Blade 98 in any way.

I don't want to disturb your honeymoon w/ blade in black evening dress, so let's finish this discussion after you've left her for the steam room.

[tlm]

Originally Posted by racertempo

So we still don't know what string or tension, so labeling a frame as a Rocket-Launcher when not knowing the type or tension does not tell many people much. And a rocket launcher for a good 4.5 who swings for the fences normally does not mean much or help many people on here.....as mentioned by nickarnold2000, many people are using racquets like there, but many better people will always label them as launchers.....no string, no tension, means you cannot blame the frame, at least not with the current evidence.

A lot of it is what you are used to, what I think is to powerful you and others might think the same racket has great control. But my friend who has been playing and coaching for years is a very good player which by the way a good player does not swing for the fences.

Are you saying that you need to be above 4.5 level to know what a powerful racket is? As far as the strings go I agree that it can make a huge difference, but I still trust my friends opinion on the power level of a racket he demoed.

When these rackets become available I will give the 99s a demo and then I will be able to see how powerful it is for me. Last year I tried the steam and the juice and both are to powerful for my liking, but to some I am sure they are fine.

[thecrusher956]

Tried Steam 105s today...felt really flimsy on contact, but serves were monsterous. Definetley not the racquet for me.

[Power Player]

Originally Posted by corners

I don't want to disturb your honeymoon w/ blade in black evening dress, so let's finish this discussion after you've left her for the steam room.

Ill have a 99s tomorrow so we shall see. But im defintley not honeymooning with the blade 98 (not black one). It is a great match for my game.

[Boricua]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Ill have a 99s tomorrow so we shall see. But im defintley not honeymooning with the blade 98 (not black one). It is a great match for my game.

Blade series is classic. It is like Prestige in Head.

[racertempo]

Originally Posted by tlm

Are you saying that you need to be above 4.5 level to know what a powerful racket is? As far as the strings go I agree that it can make a huge difference, but I still trust my friends opinion on the power level of a racket he demoed.

I never said that, but power is mostly derived from string type and tension. I have found in my area that shops like to string for high power to try and help sell racquets as it seems like most amateurs always like the thought of more power (me included ) So my only statement was about you hearing from a guy that it was a rocket launcher and stay away needed more detail about the string job, that's all.

I believe a lot of the recent posts about the 105s, especially about it being a monster on servers. However, I have been playing frames with area of specification for some time now so comparing it to those frames it did not feel flimsy to me....now compared to a 12 oz players frame i could see where it feels flimsy, and even compared to the 99s. Any frame around that weight will feel flimsy compared to heavier smaller heads, that is the nature of the technology; however, it has its own advantages is my only point.

I just think everyone needs to demo it and see if it is for their liking and I think Wilson will sell as many of these as they have sold for the Juice for sure. They have a winner here, in terms of the frame and the marketing.

[Federerkblade]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Ill have a 99s tomorrow so we shall see. But im defintley not honeymooning with the blade 98 (not black one). It is a great match for my game.

pls video yourself