The 2013 BLX Blade 93 review everyone was afraid to write.

[J011yroger]

Originally Posted by Lilguy1456

Well, at least he mixes it up from time to time. That's only > 7,000 posts about each...he's keeping it fresh...

Well, actually it is somewhat disproportionate.

Out of his last 100 posts, there were 66 extolling Federer, no doubt spurred on by the Oz open. We can expect to see a dramatic uptick in the Mid size extolling when the 2014 PS 90 is released, and along with that the numbers of posts of his own ability, and the ohbh and eastern FH will pick up as well.

J

[sam_p]

Everyone is entitled to an opinion of course and mine is in complete discord with the OP.

I've had no problems in adapting to this racket. Love the feel, my serve is huge with it and 1HBH is superb. I'm coming from the Yonex 89T, which I also enjoyed but oddly gave me forearm and shoulder pain on impact. This went away and hasn't returned with the Blade. The feel is extremely solid for me, volleys are great as well. I think it is a well suited racket for doubles players with penetrating flatter strokes. I find ample topspin when I want it though and the backhand slice is downright surgical. My only complaint has been a little bit of increased shanks on windy days.

[tlm]

Hey Jolly have you tried the new volkl organax 10 mid? To me this is a very good racket.

[J011yroger]

Originally Posted by tlm

Hey Jolly have you tried the new volkl organax 10 mid? To me this is a very good racket.

Still have not, but when I do, I will write up a review.

J

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by J011yroger

We know. You have told us. Ad nauseum.

J

It appears that you agree that an old wood racquet plays better than this newest, most modern 2013 BLX Blade 93, right?

[kaiser]

Originally Posted by J011yroger

The original K-Blade tour was a gutless tinker toy, and this frame holds true to its heritage.

I'm in no position to argue with your very entertaining review, and I have no desire to do so, but I have to say this: A couple of years ago I worked with a Spanish teaching pro at the La Manga sports resort. This guy swung a stock KBT and hit the most insanely kicking serves and groundstrokes with this stick. His kickers went way over my head and I'm 6'5.5"... Now he had trained at a pro level but just failed to make the ranks, so would not be representative for these boards, but it is possible to hit huge topspin with the Blade Tours. I have been on the receiving end of it.

[J011yroger]

Originally Posted by kaiser

I'm in no position to argue with your very entertaining review, and I have no desire to do so, but I have to say this: A couple of years ago I worked with a Spanish teaching pro at the La Manga sports resort. This guy swung a stock KBT and hit the most insanely kicking serves and groundstrokes with this stick. His kickers went way over my head and I'm 6'5.5"... Now he had trained at a pro level but just failed to make the ranks, so would not be representative for these boards, but it is possible to hit huge topspin with the Blade Tours. I have been on the receiving end of it.

Oh, I know lots of guys who played quite well, and certainly better than I with the KBT, but almost all of them switched to something else after a while because the racquet didn't have enough steam.

The frame is just a small part of the equation, so if you don't have it, nothing is going to give you a lot more, and if you do have it, you will always have some of it.

J

[mmk]

Originally Posted by Lilguy1456

BLX Pro Tour HAS to be the tightest...I couldn't even believe how tiny those squares were. It seemed insane to me.

You want to try my Wilson Advantage? 65 sq. in., 18 X 21 pattern.

[kaiser]

Originally Posted by J011yroger

Oh, I know lots of guys who played quite well, and certainly better than I with the KBT, but almost all of them switched to something else after a while because the racquet didn't have enough steam.

The frame is just a small part of the equation, so if you don't have it, nothing is going to give you a lot more, and if you do have it, you will always have some of it.

J

Those are words of wisdom...

[Buford T Justice]

Originally Posted by monomer

I have been trying to wean myself off the APD for quite some time. Great racquet, but I am realizing that a "swing as hard as you can with lots of spin" game is not sustainable for a 45-yo.

The same thought has crossed my mind a time or two......

Sometimes I wish I was taught tennis in the 70's (and not the 2000's) and had that style....seems like one could play forever in that manner.

[Buford T Justice]

From this frame review....it sounds like its a 2013 version of this......



There is a sweet spot there.....you just need to find the half square inch of it.

[cknobman]

Guess this frame was not for you then. But there is definitely cause for it getting a good review as it is one great frame.

I play with someone who uses the BLX version (and is looking to get this one now) and can tear you a new ahole with it. He has a very flat attacking game and he loves a small dense string pattern.

[J011yroger]

Originally Posted by cknobman

I play with someone who uses the BLX version (and is looking to get this one now) and can tear you a new ahole with it. He has a very flat attacking game and he loves a small dense string pattern.

Me, personally, or in the broader sense of the term?

J

[yonexRx32]

Originally Posted by Lilguy1456

Agree with OP.

There really is no place for a 93 with an 18x20 pattern in the modern game. Might as well play with a shovel.

My daily racket is an 84 sq. in. with an 18x20 pattern. It's 370g, feels very lively and has enough power to push back a Babolat-swinging opponent all the way to Vladivostok. The catch is that you have to spend a few weeks learning to play. 93 would be pure luxury.

[seekay]

Originally Posted by J011yroger

The original K-Blade tour was a gutless tinker toy, and this frame holds true to its heritage.

Right on, J.

It took almost half an ounce of lead to make my KBT feel solid on contact. It ended up hitting pretty well after I got it dialed in, but if you've already got a Prestige, why bother trying to make a Blade hit like a Prestige?

[mmk]

Originally Posted by Buford T Justice

From this frame review....it sounds like its a 2013 version of this......



There is a sweet spot there.....you just need to find the half square inch of it.

A friend of mine played with one, when I tried it I never found that half square inch.

[J011yroger]

Originally Posted by seekay

Right on, J.

It took almost half an ounce of lead to make my KBT feel solid on contact. It ended up hitting pretty well after I got it dialed in, but if you've already got a Prestige, why bother trying to make a Blade hit like a Prestige?

Yup, I leaded the heck out of it, and my shots were better but it still felt like hell.

J

[sam_p]

Played with the Ashe a time or two, but really cut my teeth with this

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...racquet006.jpg

[Boricua]

Originally Posted by J011yroger

It's a good thing she's pretty. The sweet paintjob is the only redeeming quality of this frame. I had the displeasure of trying to hit with this thing for a couple of hours last night.

My initial response was confusion, followed quickly by the conclusion of "Are they f'ing kidding with this thing?"

The original K-Blade tour was a gutless tinker toy, and this frame holds true to its heritage.

Groundstrokes: The ball comes off at too low of an angle as compared to any other frame on the planet, and Wilson messed with the grip shape (WTF?!?!?!). So it took me a minute or two to figure out how to hit the ball over the net instead of into the ground. Once I figured out how to hit the ball over the net, I quickly realized that it wasn't going very fast, and didn't have very much spin on it. So I did the only logical thing; I swung faster, and faster, and faster. It was like pushing a boulder up a hill. Usually when one is made to feel like a mythological Greek by a racquet, he hopes to feel like Zeus, not King Sisyphus. This thing starts at the point of diminishing returns.

Not to be daunted I persisted in trying to figure out how to hit a representative ball with this thing, I mean, I can play pretty well with a wooden racquet, so I have got to be able to coerce a decent shot out of a modern racquet right? She was probably just being a bitter and frigid b'tch because of a former lover's spurn, and once I broke down her defenses with my natural charm, intelligence, and witty banter, I could surely get her to crack a smile right?

Well, on the backhand, I abandoned all thoughts of power and attack with my two-handed topspin turning it into a purely rally high trajectory topspin shot. I made sure to loop it very high over the net buying me time to recover court position and relying on the fact that the ball would be out of my opponent's strike zone (due mostly to it bouncing, and a little to it kicking) to prevent me from being run all over the court. When I got a short ball on the backhand, the only thing to be done was to slice approach and volley.

On the forehand I carried over the high bouncing topspin ploy, which also kind of worked. In an attempt to find some form of attacking forehand, I discovered that if I hit the ball way the heck out in front of me (like out in god's country) with a come out of my shoes type Dave Winfield worthy swing and a very shallow swingpath, I could generate a pretty fast, tightly spun, rifle shot trajectory ball.

So there it was, my baseline game with the Blade 93. Rally from the back-court with heavily topspun balls in high arcs moving them around and keeping them out of my opponent's strike zone until I got a short ball, and then either slicing and attacking the net with my backhand, or rifling a winner with my forehand and coming in behind it in case the ball came back.

To play from the back court with this thing you need placement, strategy, accuracy, patience, and variety. Ain't nobody got time for that *&^%$.

Groundstroke grade: D+

Volleys/Touch/Slice: The ball seems to do what you want it to, but it feels awful. With touch shots there is no rewarding sensation of knowing instantly "Oh, I got that one." that just brings forth that warm tingly feeling from within. That warm sensation is replaced with the mildly surprising sensation of "Hey! That one went in." because you didn't have a darned clue where the ball was going to end up when you hit it.

It feels like volleying with a cheap, non-stick frying pan that you would buy from the dollar store, and though the shots go in, and go where you want them to more often than not, you find yourself perpetually surprised every time it happens. Confidence inspiring at net is the last thing I would say this frame was. There is nothing like getting a short ball slicing your approach and sliding in behind it, then split-stepping while a little voice in the back of your mind queries "Is this actually going to work?".

Volley/Touch/Slice grade: C-

Serve: If nothing else, I have an arm. I've served around 120mph with a piece of junk wooden racquet I bought from a thrift store for $3. This thing laughed at me. So I tried harder. The racquet looked at me with the same look Andre the Giant would give an angry two year old who was punching him in the foot.

Serve grade: D-

A note on sweetspot, stiffness, and feel: They somehow made this racquet stiffer, but the ball didn't go any faster, which is counter-intuitive, and downright confusing, baffling, or flummoxing. The sweetspot is dead in the center of the racquet, except that almost nobody with long fast strokes hits the ball there, they hit the ball higher in the bed where this racquet is stiff, dead, and lame. Heaven forbid you hit the ball higher in the bed than that, or off center on a volley, either of those awards you a sensation similar to hitting a brick wall with an aluminum baseball bat. The frame was easily pushed around, twisted, or otherwise bullied on off-center hits, or attempts to short hop, or block groundstrokes.

Final word: If you absolutely must try this thing, string it as loose as you dare with the most lively poly or hybrid you can fathom, and take an unholy rip at the ball. I wish you the best of luck.

I see no reason why anyone who plays any sort of power game would want this racquet, and if you are one of those touch/variety/keep the ball in play types, though you may be able to play as well with this racquet as another, I can't help but think there has got to be something better for you out there.

J

You do not like Luxilon 4g and now you do not like this Blade. Well, that is your honest opinion. In my case I use to play with the APD and now I can't stand it. So, anyhow, and out of curiousity, what racket and string do you use and/or prefer?

[Buford T Justice]

Originally Posted by mmk

A friend of mine played with one, when I tried it I never found that half square inch.

Im still looking.......