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

drakulie · 10-16-2012, 08:04 PM

Was invited to the Wilson SET (Spin Effect Tour) event yesterday, where the highlight of the upcoming Wilson Products for the 2013 Year was surely the Wilson Steam 99S.

Specs:
99 square inches
27 inches length
strung weight: 11.3
balance: 2 pts HL
string pattern: 16:15
cross section: 24 mm

All attendees were able to hit with all the 2013 Wilson frames, but what made this event special, was being able to demo the 99s. Not only that, but be able to actually find out if it does in fact provide more spin.

Wilson set up one court with a computerized tracking system to determine the amount of spin, pace and height hit on ground strokes.

Racquets provided for this play test were the Babolat Aero Pro Drive, Head Speed MP 315, and Steam 99S. All were strung with Luxilon 4G. And balls were fed with a ball machine.

Here are my test results:

Most pace (average):
1. Head Speed MP
2. Steam 99S
3. Aero Pro Drive

Highest Net clearance (average):
1. Steam 99S
2. Aero Pro Drive
3. Head Speed

Most Spin (average):
1. Steam 99S
2. Head Speed
3. Aero Pro Drive

My average spin on the Steam was over 2800 RPMs, reaching up to 3,300 RPMs on a few shots.

Average on the Head was 2,500 with highest being 2800 RPMs on a few shots.

Average on the Aero was 2,300 RPMs with a few shots at 2600 Rpms.

A few more notes:

Hit a few fhs with the steam a little over 80 mph (which were the fastest I recorded), and average height over the net was 63 inches.

The frame was incredibly comfortable to swing and hit with. Has a great cushiony, but very responsive feel at impact. Easy to generate power, tons of spin, and surprisingly, easy to control the shots. Great to volley with and serves were simply amazing. The heaviness of spin shots was just sick. This frame is going to be very attractive to a very wide range of players, from recreational, to mid level players, to advanced. As far as I could tell, frame really has no weaknesses.

I definitely believe this racquet is going to absolutely dominate public courts everywhere. This frame truly is a SPIN monster. Wilson absolutely knocked it out of the park with this one and Hit a Home Run.

One more note:
Every tester I saw, hit with much more spin with the 99S than with any other frame. This was backed up by the data of every playtester.

Sorry for the short review, I'll try and answer as many questions as I can.

Video of ex UM player hitting 115 mph serve with a Steam 105s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AL7IURVMpI

Photos can be found here (thanks to ThePowerof choice):
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=432
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=433

EDITED TO INCLUDE OTHER PLAYTESTER REVIEWS FOUND HERE:

DMCB101:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=144

suresh:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=231

Hankenstein:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=285
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=290

TennisTodd:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=624

Power Player:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=667

couch:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=811

MongolMike:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=872

dgdawg:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=903

TW Tennis Warehouse Review:
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/REVI...99SReview.html

Rabbit:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...postcount=1296

klementine79 · 10-16-2012, 08:09 PM

Thanks for the review Drak. It's on like donkey kong!

Is that 24mm constant? or tapered?

drakulie · 10-16-2012, 08:10 PM

^^Good question, but unfortunately, don't know. Sorry. But did I say it creates an insane amount of spin?

klementine79 · 10-16-2012, 08:13 PM

Yeah, I think you mentioned it somewhere.

Sounds like a very interesting frame. Looks like wilson was trying to promote the 4g string as well. Nice string by the way.

canuckfan · 10-16-2012, 08:23 PM

Were you still able to flatten the ball out when you wanted to? How was the maneuverability -- what would you estimate the swingweight to be? Thanks for the review!

JGads · 10-16-2012, 08:27 PM

Wow, great stuff. And coming from Drak, that's a nice endorsement.

Drak, did you or others playtest the new Blades at all? Was the Steam still most people's fancy? First Steam was just awful, I thought, nice to see they went somewhere very different with this one to create a cool new alternative for people.

Power Player · 10-16-2012, 08:34 PM

Very interesting stuff. For me too much spin has been detrimental in the past. Since i think you use s prestige a lot, how does the control compare or did you get enough time to really get a feel for that?

drakulie · 10-16-2012, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by canuckfan

Were you still able to flatten the ball out for more court penetration when you wanted to? P.S. Do you have a one-handed backhand? I ask because I also prefer a onehander. Thanks for the review!

Yes, I was able to flatten out shots with the frame when I was playtesting it. However, for the on-court test, I did not concentrate on hitting flat shots. Also, YES, I use a one-hander.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JGads

Wow, great stuff. And coming from Drak, that's a nice endorsement.

Drak, did you or others playtest the new Blades at all? Was the Steam still most people's fancy? First Steam was just awful, I thought, nice to see they went somewhere very different with this one to create a cool new alternative for people.

Yeah, hit with all the new blades as well. Really enjoyed hitting with the 16X19 blade. Much livelier than the 18X20. Paint job on all 4 new blades are really nice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Power Player

Very interesting stuff. For me too much spin has been detrimental in the past. Since i think you use s prestige a lot, how does the control compare or did you get enough time to really get a feel for that?

Once I got dialed into the balance and swing weight of the frame, control wasn't too much of an issue. One of the great things about the frame was shots that typically go long were falling in.

Power Player · 10-16-2012, 08:50 PM

Oh man you hit with the new blades too...what a day..lol. I love the control and power of the 98 that is out now. 16x19 being more lively sounds like possibly too much boom for me. Did it feel like the new ones flex out about the same?

drakulie · 10-16-2012, 09:02 PM

They felt a tad bit livelier, and flex nicely. I would say same as the prior.

Ross K · 10-16-2012, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drakulie

Was invited to the Wilson SET (Spin Effect Tour) event yesterday, where the highlight of the upcoming Wilson Products for the 2013 Year was surely the Wilson Steam 99S.

Specs:
99 square inches
27 inches length
strung weight: 11.3
balance: 2 pts HL
string pattern: 16:15
cross section: 24 mm

All attendees were able to hit with all the 2013 Wilson frames, but what made this event special, was being able to demo the 99s. Not only that, but be able to actually find out if it does in fact provide more spin.

Wilson set up one court with a computerized tracking system to determine the amount of spin, pace and height hit on ground strokes.

Racquets provided for this play test were the Babolat Aero Pro Drive, Head Speed MP 315, and Steam 99S. All were strung with Luxilon 4G. And balls were fed with a ball machine.

Here are my test results:

Most pace (average):
1. Head Speed MP
2. Steam 99S
3. Aero Pro Drive

Highest Net clearance (average):
1. Steam 99S
2. Aero Pro Drive
3. Head Speed

Most Spin (average):
1. Steam 99S
2. Head Speed
3. Aero Pro Drive

My average spin on the Steam was over 2800 RPMs, reaching up to 3,300 RPMs on a few shots.

Average on the Head was 2,500 with highest being 2800 RPMs on a few shots.

Average on the Aero was 2,300 RPMs with a few shots at 2600 Rpms.

A few more notes:

Hit a few fhs with the steam a little over 80 mph (which were the fastest I recorded), and average height over the net was 63 inches.

The frame was incredibly comfortable to swing and hit with. Has a great cushiony, but very responsive feel at impact. Easy to generate power, tons of spin, and surprisingly, easy to control the shots. Great to volley with and serves were simply amazing. The heaviness of spin shots was just sick. This frame is going to be very attractive to a very wide range of players, from recreational, to mid level players, to advanced. As far as I could tell, frame really has no weaknesses.

I definitely believe this racquet is going to absolutely dominate public courts everywhere. This frame truly is a SPIN monster. Wilson absolutely knocked it out of the park with this one and Hit a Home Run.

One more note:
Every tester I saw, hit with much more spin with the 99S than with any other frame. This was backed up by the data of every playtester.

Sorry for the short review, I'll try and answer as many questions as I can.

Wow, sounds great. As long as it has some oomph behind it and isn't just all about the spin (like some ppl find the Exo 100, for example), well, I'd be curious to check one of these out.

mctennis · 10-16-2012, 09:43 PM

drakulie, thanks for the post review. I'm normally not a big Wilson fan. However, I will look forward to trying this racquet out. Sounds really promising. Maybe Wilson has struck pay dirt with this racquet. Good post.

UCSF2012 · 10-16-2012, 10:21 PM

thanks for the info.

Currently, I get the most spin from the 88, with the 2nd runner-up not even close, so mass has more effect than string spacing. I'm curious what the heavy weights are for Wilson next year.

2ndServe · 10-16-2012, 10:55 PM

what kind of technology is making for such gains in spin?

mykoh · 10-16-2012, 10:57 PM

no tech, just a really open 16*15 string pattern.

not a wilson fan myself, but i can't wait for it and the new blades to come out! thanks for the FR drak!

Bartelby · 10-16-2012, 11:48 PM

I wonder whether its the Head's rounder shape that creates a better spin result compared to the Babolat's aero shape.

Automatix · 10-16-2012, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by klementine79

Thanks for the review Drak. It's on like donkey kong!

Is that 24mm constant? or tapered?

Quote:

Originally Posted by drakulie

^^Good question, but unfortunately, don't know. Sorry. But did I say it creates an insane amount of spin?

This is the info I got. The only doubts I have are for the 96.

Model - Unstrung weight, headsize, string pattern, beam
Steam 96 - 289g, 96 sq. inch., 16x20, 22mm
Steam 99 - 304g, 99 sq. inch., 16x18, 22-24-22mm
Steam 99S - 304g, 99 sq. inch., 16x15, 22-24-22mm
Steam 105 - 289g, 105sq. inch., 16x19, 24-26-24mm
Steam 105S - 289g, 105 sq. inch., 16x15, 24-26-24mm

The specs for the 99s seem correct since Drakulie did write that the strung weight is 11.3oz which is ca 320g. So about 304g unstrung.

Cheers!

P.S.: Couch has the catalogue IIRC so he can verify the info I posted in September.

kimbahpnam · 10-17-2012, 12:02 AM

No undercover pics?

Fed Kennedy · 10-17-2012, 12:11 AM

Totally getting one.

pepka · 10-17-2012, 02:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mctennis

drakulie, thanks for the post review. I'm normally not a big Wilson fan. However, I will look forward to trying this racquet out. Sounds really promising. Maybe Wilson has struck pay dirt with this racquet. Good post.

Same here. I was sold on testing the new Blade 98 but now it sounds like i will have to add another racquet (actually two 16/18 and 16/15)... and let me just say, that testing sticks in Europe/Poland is PITA

10-16-2012, 08:04 PM	#1
drakulie Talk Tennis Guru Join Date: May 2004 Location: FT. Lauderdale, Florida Posts: 23,906	Wilson Hits Homerun with Wilson Steam 99S (mini review) Was invited to the Wilson SET (Spin Effect Tour) event yesterday, where the highlight of the upcoming Wilson Products for the 2013 Year was surely the Wilson Steam 99S. Specs: 99 square inches 27 inches length strung weight: 11.3 balance: 2 pts HL string pattern: 16:15 cross section: 24 mm All attendees were able to hit with all the 2013 Wilson frames, but what made this event special, was being able to demo the 99s. Not only that, but be able to actually find out if it does in fact provide more spin. Wilson set up one court with a computerized tracking system to determine the amount of spin, pace and height hit on ground strokes. Racquets provided for this play test were the Babolat Aero Pro Drive, Head Speed MP 315, and Steam 99S. All were strung with Luxilon 4G. And balls were fed with a ball machine. Here are my test results: Most pace (average): 1. Head Speed MP 2. Steam 99S 3. Aero Pro Drive Highest Net clearance (average): 1. Steam 99S 2. Aero Pro Drive 3. Head Speed Most Spin (average): 1. Steam 99S 2. Head Speed 3. Aero Pro Drive My average spin on the Steam was over 2800 RPMs, reaching up to 3,300 RPMs on a few shots. Average on the Head was 2,500 with highest being 2800 RPMs on a few shots. Average on the Aero was 2,300 RPMs with a few shots at 2600 Rpms. A few more notes: Hit a few fhs with the steam a little over 80 mph (which were the fastest I recorded), and average height over the net was 63 inches. The frame was incredibly comfortable to swing and hit with. Has a great cushiony, but very responsive feel at impact. Easy to generate power, tons of spin, and surprisingly, easy to control the shots. Great to volley with and serves were simply amazing. The heaviness of spin shots was just sick. This frame is going to be very attractive to a very wide range of players, from recreational, to mid level players, to advanced. As far as I could tell, frame really has no weaknesses. I definitely believe this racquet is going to absolutely dominate public courts everywhere. This frame truly is a SPIN monster. Wilson absolutely knocked it out of the park with this one and Hit a Home Run. One more note: Every tester I saw, hit with much more spin with the 99S than with any other frame. This was backed up by the data of every playtester. Sorry for the short review, I'll try and answer as many questions as I can. Video of ex UM player hitting 115 mph serve with a Steam 105s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AL7IURVMpI Photos can be found here (thanks to ThePowerof choice): http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=432 http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=433 EDITED TO INCLUDE OTHER PLAYTESTER REVIEWS FOUND HERE: DMCB101: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=144 suresh: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=231 Hankenstein: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=285 http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=290 TennisTodd: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=624 Power Player: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=667 couch: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=811 MongolMike: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=872 dgdawg: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...&postcount=903 TW Tennis Warehouse Review: http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/REVI...99SReview.html Rabbit: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...postcount=1296 __________________ Head Stringer @ the LTC, Babolat Star 4 Stringer http://www.youtube.com/user/drakulie Last edited by drakulie : 05-08-2013 at 07:12 PM.

10-16-2012, 08:09 PM	#2
klementine79 Hall Of Fame Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: DcMdVa Posts: 3,651	Thanks for the review Drak. It's on like donkey kong! Is that 24mm constant? or tapered? __________________ Tommy Haasian GOATmode* * = FedK (tm)

10-16-2012, 08:10 PM	#3
drakulie Talk Tennis Guru Join Date: May 2004 Location: FT. Lauderdale, Florida Posts: 23,906	^^Good question, but unfortunately, don't know. Sorry. But did I say it creates an insane amount of spin? __________________ Head Stringer @ the LTC, Babolat Star 4 Stringer http://www.youtube.com/user/drakulie

10-16-2012, 08:13 PM	#4
klementine79 Hall Of Fame Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: DcMdVa Posts: 3,651	Yeah, I think you mentioned it somewhere. Sounds like a very interesting frame. Looks like wilson was trying to promote the 4g string as well. Nice string by the way. __________________ Tommy Haasian GOATmode* * = FedK (tm)

10-16-2012, 08:23 PM	#5
canuckfan Semi-Pro Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 685	Were you still able to flatten the ball out when you wanted to? How was the maneuverability -- what would you estimate the swingweight to be? Thanks for the review! Last edited by canuckfan : 10-16-2012 at 08:44 PM.