PV Audio's Playtest Thread

[kaiser]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Indeed, the weight of the stick never was an issue for me. I first played a Dunlop 200G in 7th grade, so I'm quite used to their heft. The issue was that I was stuggling to control how the racquet head came through the ball. Since the swing weight was so high, that makes it more tricky to time shots like mid-court to cross-court passing shots (say the opponent hits a short volley, going DTL over the high part of the net is quite risky). With the lighter swingweight and a bit more pop, I can impart more spin and less power. It's the flexibility over outright pace vs. spin that I was looking for. Lighter sticks don't give the power due to plow through, and heavier sticks leave the spin at the mercy of the racquet. That sweet spot to choose is what I wanted, and the Prestige Pro was bang on. It reminds me of a Dunlop 300 with the heft of the non-tour 200. As I said earlier in this thread, Dunlop does not make such a racquet, so I had to look elsewhere. The Prestige is that racquet.

That's very interesting, because you describe a very similar situation to what got me thinking about trying out another racket myself. With the 200 Tour I can hit a pretty heavy ball for my level, and thus get a lot of mid-court balls back. Living in Europe, I play mostly on clay and hence I need to play a quality approach shot or angled winner on those short balls if I don't want to find myself exposed to passing shots and lobs. With the Tour I tend to hit a lot of those shots just long or clipping the tape, thus losing points that were mine for the taking. This can get pretty frustrating at times, especially when my opponent cottons on to it... I've been working with my coach on reducing my backswing and adding a bit more zip to my swing and thus topspin to my shots on those mid-court balls, and although that works well in practice, I'm still vulnerable in matches.

So I've also been thinking to try out something with a little less swing weight to see if that helps me get some easier tipspeed and a little more zip on those shots. At the same time, I really enjoy the heft of my Tours from the back court and on serve, as well as on volleys, so I'm loathe to loose that with a lighter swinging racket. By the sound of it, you've found a happy compromise in the Prestige Pro, and indeed I read some glowing TW reviews on it. Do you never miss the plow through of your Tours? I mean, you've gone down in swing weight by some 25+ points...

[pvaudio]

Trust me, the Pro has PLENTY of plow. I mean the Tour is just an extreme, I don't know of a racquet with a higher swingweight. Even Fed's stick is ~20-30pts lower.

[kaiser]

Thanks, I guess the Pro should go on my (to) hit list then! I'm aware that the 200 Tour is fairly extreme in terms of swing weight, which got me thinking in the first place. I guess I'm reaching the point where I can't hold off on demoing anymore...

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by kaiser

That's very interesting, because you describe a very similar situation to what got me thinking about trying out another racket myself. With the 200 Tour I can hit a pretty heavy ball for my level, and thus get a lot of mid-court balls back. Living in Europe, I play mostly on clay and hence I need to play a quality approach shot or angled winner on those short balls if I don't want to find myself exposed to passing shots and lobs. With the Tour I tend to hit a lot of those shots just long or clipping the tape, thus losing points that were mine for the taking. This can get pretty frustrating at times, especially when my opponent cottons on to it... I've been working with my coach on reducing my backswing and adding a bit more zip to my swing and thus topspin to my shots on those mid-court balls, and although that works well in practice, I'm still vulnerable in matches.

So I've also been thinking to try out something with a little less swing weight to see if that helps me get some easier tipspeed and a little more zip on those shots. At the same time, I really enjoy the heft of my Tours from the back court and on serve, as well as on volleys, so I'm loathe to loose that with a lighter swinging racket. By the sound of it, you've found a happy compromise in the Prestige Pro, and indeed I read some glowing TW reviews on it. Do you never miss the plow through of your Tours? I mean, you've gone down in swing weight by some 25+ points...

Funny you mention the European clay courts. I always heard people at my club say how much slower they are than Har-Tru. You don't really understand it until you play a match on the red stuff. Every approach shot just sits up and it seems like your opponent has all day to setup for a passing shot.

[pvaudio]

Okay, string update. 2.5 hours on one stick, 1.5 on the other. The NVy is about half shaved on the 2.5 hours stick. Pop is still there, crispness has fallen, spin definitely still there. I need to switch back to Wilson Supremes though, the SuperGrap is destroying my hands again. For some reason I thought I could start using them again, but nope, still too tacky. Wish I had some pacific grips though, those are my faves.

[mikeler]

You must have girly hands.

[pvaudio]

Yeah

No the problem is actually I have calluses on my hands, and since the grip is so tacky, every time I hit a ball and the frame twists slightly, it slides the callus back and forth. That causes irritation underneath which can lead to further blisters. I have the same exact issue on the balls of my feet from years of boxing, so I need to wear super padded tennis socks.

[Fuji]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Yeah

No the problem is actually I have calluses on my hands, and since the grip is so tacky, every time I hit a ball and the frame twists slightly, it slides the callus back and forth. That causes irritation underneath which can lead to further blisters. I have the same exact issue on the balls of my feet from years of boxing, so I need to wear super padded tennis socks.

Oh man I know that feel so well. It's honestly such a pain haha.

-Fuji

[pvaudio]

Ah, broke down and bought another reel of Scorpion 1.22. I just can't NOT have that feeling when I'm on the court. It's just...right.

[mikeler]

Really strange. Supergrap gives my super callouses no issues.

[travlerajm]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Ah, broke down and bought another reel of Scorpion 1.22. I just can't NOT have that feeling when I'm on the court. It's just...right.

You probably mentioned it somewhere already, but how does the playability of scorpion change over time compared to silverstring? And how is the surface of of scorpion compared to SS? Slipperiness? Dent-resistance?

I've been using SS as my cross with kevlar, and been very happy with its tension maintenance. But would like to find a slicker poly with at least as good tension maintenance as SS. By the way, I'm not sure why, but when I used SPPP as a cross with kevlar, it didn't hold tension very well, and the stringbed turned into a mushy sponge within a few days. But silverstring holds up much better and stays firm a lot longer.

[TomT]

Informative thread. Enjoying reading and viewing my way through it a little bit at a time as it's pretty long. Like what I've seen of pvaudio's hitting and serving. Way way above what I'm capable of, but I think it can be useful as a goal and reference. Currently thinking about emulating Tommy Haas's stroking technique.

Somewhat off topic I know, so this will be my only post in this thread ... at least until I've viewed all the other posts.

Thanks to pvaudio for thread and helpful posts and other posters also.

[alidisperanza]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

I should also state at this point I am NOT personally biased against Kevlar string. It's just that I seriously believe that it no longer is relevant unless you hit such absurdly flat strokes that you notch poly to death within hours. If you do that, not even Kevlar will save you.

Hmm interesting-- spin is what seems to notch strings for me. I just found a reel of hyperlast which has kevlar-ish mains for dirt cheap so I'm going to be switching back to the J011y Rig for a bit. No time to string

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Yeah

No the problem is actually I have calluses on my hands, and since the grip is so tacky, every time I hit a ball and the frame twists slightly, it slides the callus back and forth. That causes irritation underneath which can lead to further blisters. I have the same exact issue on the balls of my feet from years of boxing, so I need to wear super padded tennis socks.

Pacific grips are SUPER tacky...? At least the few that I have. I always thought graps were in the medium range but I could be wrong. The issue with the blisters typically comes from using a grip that's too small. I used to get the same problem when playing with a smaller grip. As soon as I bumped up to a bigger one (I had the same frame in diff grip sizes) there was no discomfort.

[pvaudio]

Nope, supergraps have always felt like they'll destroy my hand even when just holding it whereas the Pacific and Wilson and Gammas don't.

[alidisperanza]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Nope, supergraps have always felt like they'll destroy my hand even when just holding it whereas the Pacific and Wilson and Gammas don't.

Hmm, I guess that just chalks up to "different strokes, different folks" (no pun intended)

[kaiser]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Funny you mention the European clay courts. I always heard people at my club say how much slower they are than Har-Tru. You don't really understand it until you play a match on the red stuff. Every approach shot just sits up and it seems like your opponent has all day to setup for a passing shot.

So you can imagine how I felt on the European clay after having played almost ten years on the Australian grass! Boy,did I get lobbed and passed... Had to change my whole game around from letting the ball bounce as little as possible using serve & voley and chip & charge to grinding out points from the baseline. Went full W-W on my forehand and had to work really hard on consistency.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by kaiser

So you can imagine how I felt on the European clay after having played almost ten years on the Australian grass! Boy,did I get lobbed and passed... Had to change my whole game around from letting the ball bounce as little as possible using serve & voley and chip & charge to grinding out points from the baseline. Went full W-W on my forehand and had to work really hard on consistency.

I have a new appreciation for Stefan Edberg and John McEnroe coming up 1 set short of winning the French Open.

[pvaudio]

On the grip, just played 1.5hrs with a Wilson Supreme and no hand pain. 'Twas the grap

[Hi I'm Ray]

@pvaudio

Can you recommend a multi to be used as a cross in a poly hybrid? I have a thread on it here: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=446128
Thanks.

[mctennis]

Originally Posted by travlerajm

kevlar/poly has been my go-to combo for the last few years, and every time I stray and try full poly or poly/syn or syn/poly, I wish I hadn't.

At the right tension, nothing compares to kevlar/poly for bite, control, and even feel. Power is a little lower than full poly, but if the tension is chosen properly (not too firm but also not too springy), I don't find it to be an issue. There is of course a break-in period because of the kevlar.

Travlerajam,
What strings/tensions/racquet(s) are you using with this kevlar hybrid setup? Just curious. Sounds interesting enough to try out. Thanks.