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

[pug]

Originally Posted by drakulie

The 17g gut didn't last long, but played amazing. I'm currently testing different string set ups and will post findings soon.

Looking forward to an update

[D-money]

All I want for Christmas is two of these bad boys. And maybe a new bag

[drakulie]

Originally Posted by pug

Looking forward to an update

sorry I haven't posted in a while. Been busy with family during holidays. Will post an update soon.



anyone else have some updates?? would love to read some more experiences.

[dgdawg]

Originally Posted by dgdawg

Hey peeps....haven't posted in a while but thought I'd chime in:

I played with the 99s and 105s yesterday for a couple hours. 4g-M's/Sensation-X's. I don't know the tension.
1st off, with the 105, I couldn't keep the ball in the court so I went to the 99. I only had a couple hours so I was rather impatient. Deff added considerable more spin but it felt like it lacked in the control department. I noticed a deeper, heavier ball. Approach shots dropped in really well and volley's seemed pretty crisp.
After a while I really started to "hit away" and was quite surprised. I purposely tried to over hit and balls dropped in. I really loved the ball that came off my 1H backhand.
I'm a 51y/o 3.5 player and thinking of replacing my Blade Team (I broke one), and I'd like to use a stick for a few years. My personal conclusion: nice frame, felt good, but not sure it would be a "main stay".
The one thing I absolutely hate about it: the paint job. It seriously reminds me of something you'd see on the shelf at Wal-Mart

After hitting with it again, IMPO I think it will be a "fad frame". It does produce a bit more spin but ultimately, not a ton more.
I found it severely lacking in control. (for me) I also found it to have uncontrollable power. I just couldn't seem to back off enough.
Again, peeps.....this is only my opinion.

[YesTennis]

Originally Posted by drakulie

sorry I haven't posted in a while. Been busy with family during holidays. Will post an update soon.



anyone else have some updates?? would love to read some more experiences.

Just wondering if you've had a chance to play with the regular Steam 99(not S). If so, would appreciate if you or others could post their impressions. Thanks

[Federerkblade]

The TW review is here in a couple of days however from the TW
Description so far the racquet is suited to 4.0 and above

[rafafan20]

Originally Posted by drakulie

yes, it is necessary. LeeD is a poster who doesn't even play, and as evidenced by his posts in the Tips Section of the boards, has probably not picked up a racquet in over 40 years. He simply comes into threads to be a jerk and talk about how he used to hit 200 mph serves against Bill Tilden. If he wants to add something to the thread (good or bad) at least have the decency to playtest the frame and add something of substance instead of spewing stupidities.

He is probably Fedace's dad.

Post of the year hands down.

[thecrusher956]

I actually thought this was supposed to attract more people less than 4.0

[Federerkblade]

Well see what the TW review says especially Andy as he hits his strokes like a player as well as Siobhan

[g4driver]

Originally Posted by drakulie

anyone else have some updates?? would love to read some more experiences.

Drakulie, no demos here. I will just buy one and demo it and would appreciate your take on my plan.

I have been playing with a 2010 BLX Pro Open version for the past 2.5 years. I now have four frames that weigh from between 335-338 grams. 299 grams is the stock unstrung weight, 15 grams of string, either gamma supreme or wilson pro overgrip, plus 16 grams of weight in the handle courtesy of 1/2 gamma grip build up sleeve and lead.

Been using Weiss Cannon Black5Edge 55 lbs / 16 g X-one bi-phase at 57 lbs for the last two years. the X-One last about 12 hours max. I string my own frames so labor is free.

My concern:

I have a natural flat forehand that I like to punish short balls. (Inside out ad to ad , down the middle, or xc deuce to deuce).

I can hit heavy topspin and will mix flat and heavy topspin in singles, but in doubles, I flatten out that forehand and keep the balls low and fast. No sense floating a loopy topspin shot near a poacher. At 3.5 with my regular partner, we lost two matches last year in doubles, out of 50+ matches played with him. One loss was to a 3.5S guy who is still unbeaten at 3.5 and 4.0. We won three 3.5 Tournaments and a 7.5 Combo Tournament and lost in the finals of another Level 2 tournament in a TB. Went to state on three different non senior teams (7.0 Mixed, 7.5 Combo and Singles), unbeaten at 3.5 singles last year, beating two B rated players in USTA matches (both of them bumped to 4.0). That gives you am idea of my level of play.

The Steam 99S has similar specs to the Pro Open, but I will had weight in the same spots making it more headlight.

a demo for me isn't going to be a weekend, but a month to month and half process.

My plan:

1) add weight to the 99S
2) use current string set up for a week 10-15 hours to get use to the frame ( I don't want to demo new strings and a new frame simultaneously)
3) cut out strings and switch to Yonex Poly Pro Tour 125 / X-One for another week (I have been a hybrid guy since 2009)

4) week 4 - go all poly to get the full benefit of the 16x15 pattern

I would love the added benefit of more spin for so singles, without giving up the ability to rip those flat forehands.

I have tried Yonex poly Pro Tour and Hurricane Feel and would like to sty with soft co-poly due to TE issues in the past.

Love to read your thoughts. I will certainly take your suggestions, I will be picking up a 4 1/4 steam 99s on Jan 18 when I get back from my trip that starts on Jan 15

Thanks much,

[racertempo]

Originally Posted by g4driver

At 3.5 with my regular partner, we lost two matches last year in doubles, out of 50+ matches played with him. One loss was to a 3.5S guy who is still unbeaten at 3.5 and 4.0. We won three 3.5 Tournaments and a 7.5 Combo Tournament and lost in the finals of another Level 2 tournament in a TB. Went to state on three different non senior teams (7.0 Mixed, 7.5 Combo and Singles), unbeaten at 3.5 singles last year, beating two B rated players in USTA matches (both of them bumped to 4.0). That gives you am idea of my level of play.
,

Thanks for the full bio of your tennis last year.....but beating 2 benchmark players does not mean as much as you placed emphasis. By definition, a Benchmark player "advanced to a local playoff or further". This DOES not guarantee a bump however. If the 2 Benchmark guys you played went to a local playoff for 3.0 and they had a good record, they would become a 3.5B. That does not mean they are any better then other 3.5 players. The B simply prevents them from appealing down for 2 seasons, that one and the next.

My 4.0 team went to states, only 3 guys got bumped to 4.5 and they are all now 4.5B players and are stuck there for 2 seasons......the rest of us are 4.0B to prevent us from appealing down to 3.5. I guarantee that the 4.5 guys who beat these new 4.5B players next year. Sorry for the long reply, just irks me when people say "I beat a benchmark so I am screwed". Your rating for a 3.5 is actually between 3.00 and 3.49, so what affects your rating is how you play against people and how badly you beat or lose to them (not counting 0&0 matches). But the B has NO EXTRA meaning at all, and does not necessarily mean their rating is a 3.40-3.49.

[g4driver]

Racetempo,

3.5 has one of the largest group of players with a vast difference in ability. Much more so in my experience than 4.0

The resume wasn't meant as a boast but rather to give one guy, Drakulie, my level of ability at 3.5. There are lot of players playing with frames that don't compliment their games (whether to light or too demanding).

One of the 3.5s I beat went to state, and won all his singles matches and was bumped.

I lost one match at 3.5 this year. I played injured during that match, couldn't run due to a knee injury, but I played doubles and lost. I don't care what my rating is. I do care about my game,my teams, and my frames.

I understand fully what a B rated player is and have played 4.0 for years before walking away from the game for ten years, then having two titanium screws placed in my back for a herniated disc. I self rated 3.5 after all of that.

Thanks for your input.

[g4driver]

And racetempo,

Both 3.5B were B rated from their 3.5 Playoffs in 2011, and both 3.5Bs were bumped to 4.0 this year. They weren't 3.0s bumped to 3.5.

Hope that clears up my post for you.

[racertempo]

Originally Posted by g4driver

Racetempo,

3.5 has one of the largest group of players with a vast difference in ability. Much more so in my experience than 4.0

The resume wasn't meant as a boast but rather to give one guy, Drakulie, my level of ability at 3.5. There are lot of players playing with frames that don't compliment their games (whether to light or too demanding).

One of the 3.5s I beat went to state, and won all his singles matches and was bumped.

I lost one match at 3.5 this year. I played injured during that match, couldn't run due to a knee injury, but I played doubles and lost. I don't care what my rating is. I do care about my game,my teams, and my frames.

I understand fully what a B rated player is and have played 4.0 for years before walking away from the game for ten years, then having two titanium screws placed in my back for a herniated disc. I self rated 3.5 after all of that.

Thanks for your input.

Thanks for the biography and medical history as well. Sounds like you self rated as a 3.5 to sand-bag since your record was about 50-2......which would mean you should have been a 4.0, or at least been bumped to 4.0 after the 50-2 season that you just had.

[racertempo]

Originally Posted by g4driver

And racetempo,

Both 3.5B were B rated from their 3.5 Playoffs in 2011, and both 3.5Bs were bumped to 4.0 this year. They weren't 3.0s bumped to 3.5.

Hope that clears up my post for you.

Oh, and posting your record from 2012 does nothing to tell someone about your level of play in terms of frames or strings, it just says your record. Telling someone the style of play would be more helpful, like do you hit a flat or topspin ball, are you a guy who is a defender or an attacker? Especially at 3.5.....I was a 3.5 (all doubles) who was 18-0 in tourneys and and 10-0 in 7.0 mixed, and 9-0 in 3.5 league in 2011, but my game was was to block balls and charge the net. I hardly swung the frame from the baseline, but we had similar records at 3.5, and finished #1 in the state for 3.5 doubles and #2 in the USTA South Region for 3.5 doubles. But that might lead you to think I hit a hard ball or have a huge serve.....I had neither at the time.

I am athletic and kept EVERYTHING in play at 3.5 and attacked the net with vengeance and my 6'4" height. My partner was a huge topspin heavy hitter, so I just literally was a bumper and get myself to the net player, and it worked greatly. I loved 105" frames with little weight (around 10-10.3oz) and very head light for net maneuverability. What would my record show someone looking for a frame like mine? However, my style might show someone that the reason I love the Ezone 107, or SFit-3, they might think I was an old fart wanting more size and easier power, not that I am 35 and huge, just wanting a light board to get in the way of a shot at the net.

Just trying to show that a post about your style of play and strokes means much more to readers then posting your records, and the records of your opponents.

[g4driver]

Racetempo,

I gave my style of play in the post, you glazed over it.

Do you have any idea what an L4/L5 fusion to a back does to your ability to walk? run? Or play tennis?

I hadn't played tennis in seven years and three months into a return, severely herniated a disc and had two surgeries (laminectomy and a fusion ) after eight steroid injections into my back, all while missed 15 months of work due to the surgeries. My profession is riddled with back injuries and my company had 150 guys out of work in 2008 with the same injuries when my back snapped.

I didn't pick up a frame for 20 months post surgeries. I didn't sandbag. I started over. Walking, running, then playing. I got my butt handed to me in fall of 2009 and in the spring of 2010. I sucked and it was a long slow recovery. It wasn't like you wrote at all.

But I keep working my butt off and keep hitting and working, and improving. My record with my 3.5 doubles partner isn't just USTA. We played ladder matches that the USTA doesn't see. Tennis does exist outside the USTA.

For whatever reason the USTA hasn't bumped me.

I asked for Drakulie's input and got your wraith. Thanks. You seem like a very angry 6'4 35 year to me.

Get you facts together before you go postal on someone. You know very little about me.

Did I threaten you with my post ? My questions ? If so, maybe you need to seek therapy for your anger.

[racertempo]

Originally Posted by g4driver

Racetempo,

I gave my style of play in the post, you glazed over it.

Do you have any idea what an L4/L5 fusion to a back does to your ability to walk? run? Or play tennis?

I hadn't played tennis in seven years and three months into a return, severely herniated a disc and had two surgeries (laminectomy and a fusion ) after eight steroid injections into my back, all while missed 15 months of work due to the surgeries. My profession is riddled with back injuries and my company had 150 guys out of work in 2008 with the same injuries when my back snapped.

I didn't pick up a frame for 20 months post surgeries. I didn't sandbag. I started over. Walking, running, then playing. I got my butt handed to me in fall of 2009 and in the spring of 2010. I sucked and it was a long slow recovery. It wasn't like you wrote at all.

But I keep working my butt off and keep hitting and working, and improving. My record with my 3.5 doubles partner isn't just USTA. We played ladder matches that the USTA doesn't see. Tennis does exist outside the USTA.

For whatever reason the USTA hasn't bumped me.

I asked for Drakulie's input and got your wraith. Thanks. You seem like a very angry 6'4 35 year to me.

Get you facts together before you go postal on someone. You know very little about me.

Did I threaten you with my post ? My questions ? If so, maybe you need to seek therapy for your anger.

Ha, I have no anger at all, just stated that it was nice to read your full tennis record, then medical record, now career information, and your recovery record.

I play tennis tons outside of USTA, and in leagues. You just listed that your beat benchmark players like it was a badge of honor, when it is no different then beating another player, the B means nothing special compared to a C. I did not glaze over your post, but you had 1.5 sentences about your style of play then 1.5 paragraphs about your record. I just wrote a reply about the benchmark issue.

You got very defensive, then in a reply decided to further boast about your record saying you only lost a match after an injury, not being able to run anymore. Your details about EVERYTHING BUT your style of play is just what I find funny as I read your posts.

And for the record, not only do I not know, but I could not care less about what a Z5-K4 fusion does to a body, not my issue and not my problem, and neither does it add to explaining your style of tennis. But, it does do a great job giving details on your medical history, so thanks again for the full bio. I wanted to make a point that posting more and more detail on your style of strokes helps more then a novel about everything else, medical, career, and your record.

I might sound to you like an angry 6'4" guy, but you sound like a 5'2" injured old man who just wants to tell war and surgery stories to anyone who will listen or read, then gets sensitive when someone stops paying attention to you explanation about the amount of back injuries in your profession.

With that said, I am done with this, sorry for hurting your feelings, you were the one who took my post in a negative light when I defined Benchmark, sorry you took it that way and got so sensitive and defensive....maybe you need therapy for getting your feelings hurt because a person challenged your posting on a computer forum.

[g4driver]

You explained Benchmark to someone who fully understands it.

Just put me on your ignore list please.

I hope you never have a fusion.

[racertempo]

Played a singles tournament match last night and today for the 99s with MSV Focus Hex Soft 17 as a full bed and loved it. It was a demo that the owner allowed me to restring to my liking for the tourney because he needed to restring anyway, so he is just going to cut mine out after for his hybrid restringing.

Much more noticeable kick on the serves then my Rdis 200 lite which is similar in weight specs, but is a 16x19. Great control and comfortable feel, which might be from the amplifeel and the softer poly. After 2 matches I had no noticeable string movement which was a major positive. When I demo'd 3 weeks ago it was a hybrid and the poly mains were not snapping back to place after just an hour play, they were sticking out of place and I had to adjust after every point.

To me, Focus Hex Soft is gear shaped, but not as sharp as some others I use I Pro Super Blue gear and Wilson Spin Cycle, and it snapped back to place even in the last few games of the second set of the second match. I loved the feel of the full poly and felt like so much more spin and control compared to the hybrid setup from before.

[srvnvly]

Originally Posted by racertempo

Played a singles tournament match last night and today for the 99s with MSV Focus Hex Soft 17 as a full bed and loved it. It was a demo that the owner allowed me to restring to my liking for the tourney because he needed to restring anyway, so he is just going to cut mine out after for his hybrid restringing.

Much more noticeable kick on the serves then my Rdis 200 lite which is similar in weight specs, but is a 16x19. Great control and comfortable feel, which might be from the amplifeel and the softer poly. After 2 matches I had no noticeable string movement which was a major positive. When I demo'd 3 weeks ago it was a hybrid and the poly mains were not snapping back to place after just an hour play, they were sticking out of place and I had to adjust after every point.

To me, Focus Hex Soft is gear shaped, but not as sharp as some others I use I Pro Super Blue gear and Wilson Spin Cycle, and it snapped back to place even in the last few games of the second set of the second match. I loved the feel of the full poly and felt like so much more spin and control compared to the hybrid setup from before.

racer tempo, have you tried the Steam 99 (non-S)? I like the TW listed swing weight of 328, vs. the 333 for the S version - in your opinion, do you think the S swings in the low 330's? Thanks!