Prince EXO3 Warrior 100 Review

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by mary fierce

a decent price!!! Given all the racquet buying and selling you appear to do, it's stunning to hear you quibble about price. People concerned about thrift tend to stick with a racquet for some time.

I use $ from selling racquets to buy them. I never spend extra $ on racquets.
Its weird that you would make such a generalization about someone's "thriftyness" without knowing much about them. You have no clue. I actually do a lot of buying low/selling high on Flea Bay, which ends up paying for all my tennis gear. I am far from rich, but I am smart about it.

[smirker]

Originally Posted by Rabbit

Well, I just demoed one today and took the plunge. The Warrior is much less demanding, as JackB1 said, and it more solid. It is very comfortable. I hit with one strung with some Black/White poly, one with the Beast, and I strung one up with Syngut.

I really like this frame and have found nothing it doesn't do well.

Rabbit, what steered you away from the EXO Tour Team you liked so much? The Warrior gets a distinctly average TW review. Is it in fact better than it sounds or is it just that it has no stand-out attributes but does most things well? Interested in the softer, more muted PD comment.

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by smirker

Rabbit, what steered you away from the EXO Tour Team you liked so much? The Warrior gets a distinctly average TW review. Is it in fact better than it sounds or is it just that it has no stand-out attributes but does most things well? Interested in the softer, more muted PD comment.

Racquets are all about matching the player with the correct racquet. 2 of those playtesters on the Warrior review were not a good match from the start. One of them liked it so much he switched to it and the other liked it a lot. Some of those TW reviews are skewed because they don't use the right playtesters for the particular racquet they are reviewing.

[smirker]

Originally Posted by JackB1

Racquets are all about matching the player with the correct racquet. 2 of those playtesters on the Warrior review were not a good match from the start. One of them liked it so much he switched to it and the other liked it a lot. Some of those TW reviews are skewed because they don't use the right playtesters for the particular racquet they are reviewing.

Good point Jack. Chris for example hated it but he tends to gravitate towards players frames which the warrior is not. Will take another look at the review.

[Dgdavid]

i think Mike has since switched to the 6.1 95 TEAM. Interesting!
How's the F100 Jack? Sig change must mean you like it.

[Rabbit]

Originally Posted by smirker

Rabbit, what steered you away from the EXO Tour Team you liked so much? The Warrior gets a distinctly average TW review. Is it in fact better than it sounds or is it just that it has no stand-out attributes but does most things well? Interested in the softer, more muted PD comment.

Basically, hitting with the Warrior, it had more power and was better off the ground, serves, and volleys for me. It came out after the Tour, and I've had my Tours over a year now, so it might also have been a bit of the new racquet bug. And, my Tours look absolutely horrible. The paint has just come off them.

IMO, the Warrior is everything the Tour is with a little kick. It has more power, more control, and is better for me off the ground. Plus, now I get to play around with string and tension.

I figure when Prince comes out with their 14X15 frames, I'll be about ready.

[smirker]

Originally Posted by Rabbit

Basically, hitting with the Warrior, it had more power and was better off the ground, serves, and volleys for me. It came out after the Tour, and I've had my Tours over a year now, so it might also have been a bit of the new racquet bug. And, my Tours look absolutely horrible. The paint has just come off them.

IMO, the Warrior is everything the Tour is with a little kick. It has more power, more control, and is better for me off the ground. Plus, now I get to play around with string and tension.

I figure when Prince comes out with their 14X15 frames, I'll be about ready.

Thanks for the insightful update. I will have to try and get hold of one (Warrior) to demo. The new Prince frames should be an eye-opener for sure!

[Veninga]

Yesterday I got my first (and long waited) hit with the Warrior.

Yes, its true, this is a spin monster (very open pattern, polarised) and very easy on the arm. Imo it is really softer than the stiffness rating of 64. It almost felt as an exo 3 tour.

My game has already some spin so I had 2 adjust a bit, otherwise all my balls were landing short (in fact before the serv line). So I will lead it up a bit at 3/9 to make it less polarised.

Also noticed that you really have to swing throught the ball. A short push shot wont get you there, and a PD does do that trick. It is definitely for medium to long strokes. Also you have to finish your stroken (WW or something like that) otherwise you hit the fence. It is definitely not for flat hitters. So low power when hitting short, big power and spin with good and long hitting.

Touch. It is definetely not a touch racket like Dunlop 300, Radical or Prestige. The new Pure Drive has more. But it does not have touch, but it provides not much. Your arm has to do it your self.

Serving, with the massive spin, is a bit strange. The racket brings you a lot of power, but because of the spin, the balls are not bombs. More like fast sliding or kicking balls.

In the end, very comfy hit. And definitely will give it a another hit. Now with some lead.

I heard from DGDavid that F100 has more control and same amount of power? Do you guys recognize this?

[Dgdavid]

JackB1 would be a good person to ask. He currently hits with the F100 and was a long time Warrior user (think he is having a good look at the Extreme 2.0 MP too). Actually, he tried the Volkl X8 you mentioned too!

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by Dgdavid

JackB1 would be a good person to ask. He currently hits with the F100 and was a long time Warrior user (think he is having a good look at the Extreme 2.0 MP too). Actually, he tried the Volkl X8 you mentioned too!

The Warrior and F100 are very similar. The Warrior has slightly more power...the F100 slightly more control. The F100 has a little higher swingweight and didn't need any lead. The Warrior benefits from a little lead. F100 has better feel....the Warrior has bigger sweetspot. Both racquets have a different feeling at impact....Warrior is more muted but crisp, while the F100 feels more solid on center hits.

I liked both. You really have to try them both side by side to see which you prefer.. You really can't go wrong with either and they are both arm friendly for PD type sticks. Either one will take you where you want to go.

[Veninga]

Originally Posted by JackB1

The Warrior and F100 are very similar. The Warrior has slightly more power...the F100 slightly more control. The F100 has a little higher swingweight and didn't need any lead. The Warrior benefits from a little lead. F100 has better feel....the Warrior has bigger sweetspot. Both racquets have a different feeling at impact....Warrior is more muted but crisp, while the F100 feels more solid on center hits.

I liked both. You really have to try them both side by side to see which you prefer.. You really can't go wrong with either and they are both arm friendly for PD type sticks. Either one will take you where you want to go.

thanks Jack, how do they compare with your new baby, the extreme 2.0? And or the organix 8 300 grams?

[Dgdavid]

You really need an F100 Arjan. Better in a G4 too, plays better

[Veninga]

Originally Posted by Dgdavid

You really need an F100 Arjan. Better in a G4 too, plays better

Do you want to trade?

Pure Storm (165 tip weight!) is in, try that one 2night. Along the Warrior, we will see

[Bmr]

Yesterday at Indian Wells I finally decided to take a Warrior out for a test drive. It was paired with Beast string. I've been a faithful (almost) user of the Speedport Black for the past 5 years. The only racquets to almost make me switch were the Juice and the Extreme Pro 2.

This is an interesting racquet. Somewhat similar to the black, but a nice balance. Very fun to hit with. Was really enjoying it from both sides. Granted, I only played for 5 minutes and had a couple of drinks beforehand, but I must give this racquet another shot. I think it could potentially be my new racquet. Plays a little heavier than the 11oz strung weight claim, but I actually like that.

I have not found a racquet yet that will produce as much kick on my groundies as my current Speedport Black/Polylon Polyquest 17 (61 lbs) combo. It drives people nuts. This racquet definitely has potential. Love the feel also.

[un6a]

Hi Bmr, I would like to hear more thoughts how SP Black compare to Warrior if you will eventually spent more time with it. I played with SP Black a few seasons back and loved its forgivness, feel and spin production, but with swingweight around 330 it was too heavy for me. I think warrior may have similar qualities but with more manageable sw. Unfortunatelly i can't demo it.

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by Bmr

Yesterday at Indian Wells I finally decided to take a Warrior out for a test drive. It was paired with Beast string. I've been a faithful (almost) user of the Speedport Black for the past 5 years. The only racquets to almost make me switch were the Juice and the Extreme Pro 2.

This is an interesting racquet. Somewhat similar to the black, but a nice balance. Very fun to hit with. Was really enjoying it from both sides. Granted, I only played for 5 minutes and had a couple of drinks beforehand, but I must give this racquet another shot. I think it could potentially be my new racquet. Plays a little heavier than the 11oz strung weight claim, but I actually like that.

I have not found a racquet yet that will produce as much kick on my groundies as my current Speedport Black/Polylon Polyquest 17 (61 lbs) combo. It drives people nuts. This racquet definitely has potential. Love the feel also.

To me, the Warrior took everything about the Black and improved on it...better feel, better comfort, same power and more spin.

[Bmr]

Originally Posted by un6a

Hi Bmr, I would like to hear more thoughts how SP Black compare to Warrior if you will eventually spent more time with it. I played with SP Black a few seasons back and loved its forgivness, feel and spin production, but with swingweight around 330 it was too heavy for me. I think warrior may have similar qualities but with more manageable sw. Unfortunatelly i can't demo it.

I'm going to demo it further and do a more extensive review on it. I'll let you know what my findings are. It's really difficult for me to do a direct comparison when using different types of string. I like to keep the exact same string setup on different racquets to know what the differences are.

I'm surprised that you feel the Black is too heavy. I find it to be a very easy swinging racquet. It is pretty head light. The Juice (still have it) is actually heavier than the Black and I had to add weight to it because it felt too light. The one thing the Black gives me that no other racquet has is just an insane forward bite onto the court that will kick the ball high to my opponents. I think it's just the string combo along with the way I hit the ball. But I haven't been able to reproduce it in another combination. I do use a full poly job and string with the ports. Using the string holes is a bit harder on my arm.

The one thing about the Black that I think I can improve on with another racquet is the overall balance. Using the black, I will sometimes have a tendency to spray shots and lose the control I get with other racquets. However, the pace and spin coming off my groundies well makes up for that deficiency.

[Bmr]

Originally Posted by JackB1

To me, the Warrior took everything about the Black and improved on it...better feel, better comfort, same power and more spin.

The jury is still out on that one..I want to spend some extensive time with it next week and put it through the paces. It felt great from the ground and at the net from the 5 minutes I spent with it. I'll have to see what serves feel like also. Hey, it could be that Beast string also. That stuff felt fantastic..I may have to try that string in my Black and see how it does. Too bad it's more expensive than my current stuff.

I'm also going to demo the Steam 99S, Wilson Blade 98 (16x19) and one other racquet that I have yet to determine.

[tmc5005]

Interesting racquet, I've always liked prince. This racquet certainly would not be a top arm friendly racquet as it is too light and stiff. If you have any concerns about tennis elbow i would first try the Prince EXO3 Rebel and the
Prince EXO3 Tour

[Bmr]

Originally Posted by tmc5005

Interesting racquet, I've always liked prince. This racquet certainly would not be a top arm friendly racquet as it is too light and stiff. If you have any concerns about tennis elbow i would first try the Prince EXO3 Rebel and the
Prince EXO3 Tour

I've played with both of those racquets. The Rebel wasn't even close to a racquet I would use. I just couldn't get into any kind of rhythm with it and my shots didn't have the power that i'm used to. The Tour wasn't bad, but in the end it wasn't my cup of tea. I'm typically drawn to the open-pattern racquets with high power. Always use a full poly job as well.