Wilson Prostaff 85 - old vs new

[mad dog1]

also wanted to share, i've been messing around w/ my PS85 BLX and PS85 early china. i've been hitting w/ the early china which has a full poly string job that is 6 months old so it's lost quite a bit of tension. interestingly, this stick now plays alot more like my BLX version so i believe by lowering the tension in the early china and taiwan PS85s, i can get them to feel very similar.

i string my PS85 reissued with full poly @ 46/46# on a CP machine. i'm going to try restringing the taiwan and early china at 41#s to test my theory.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

About PWS:

Any idea as to why the PS85 (any version) has a slightly shorter but more protruding PWS?

Whereas the Tour 90 (any version) has a slightly longer but flatter PWS?

[WilsonPlyr]

Speculation from a former tour player I had string my brand new PS85 is that these are not new racquets...they are old racquets...that is why they have new grips with different color butt caps on them (the original grips installed would need to be replaced they sat on a shelf so long)....suspicion on where it says 'Use Sensation String' inside as well since far more advanced strings are available now....the 88 I have does not say this either. They weighed the racquet and checked the balance point...everything checks out. Why does everyone think it's so crazy that Wilson could make a racquet like this again? I feel that different factories would be held to the same standards as well..as far as paying $500 for a 'St. Vincent' goes....I agree with many on here that most could never tell the difference if their life depended on it...it's like anything else...tour players don't use any of these anyway...they have custom racquets that are painted to make you feel like you have the same thing you bought at the nearest Sports Authority....

[fortun8son]

Interesting point. Wilson moved from the Sensation recommendation to NXT quite some time ago.

[Tennis Man]

Originally Posted by Bobby Jr

I took the plunge and bought a couple of the new PS85 frames (at $129 at TW they were too cheap to ignore).

I modified them to make them the same basic weight and balance as my existing frames and then had 3 strung at the same time* - one St Vincent, one late Taiwanese frame (bought in 1993) and the 2012 version.

Now, it's impossible to factor out that the older frames have been used for basically 20-25 years and will have gotten more flexible but thought I'd share some of the first observations on them.

The older frames plays way, way more similar to each other in terms of the sound they make on impact. They make a deeper, deader sound on impact than the new frame which makes a more metallic ping.

So far as power goes the newer frame has the edge for sure - most likely because it's stiffer since it's new, but doesn't feel any more harsh on the arm in terms of shock as you'd expect a stiffer frame too. That was the nice surprise.

Feel is where they feel completely different - in addition to the metallic sound on impact the newer frames feel less solid/dense through the middle section. Balls hit in the lower part the string bed or off-centre are noticeably worse than on the older frames - both in feel and power.

They're still lovely frames to play with but - as I've have long suspected - the build technique and materials used has not stayed the same, resulting in them being more different to the older versions than you'd hope.

I'd happily use them, and will from now on, but they're not the same by any means. If a percentage scale was made based on the St Vincent I'd put the Taiwanese frames at about 95%, the older (mid-late 90s) Chinese frames at about 85% and these about the same. I usually use two Taiwanese frames and, fwiw, they're the best balance of characteristics amongst all made - even if the St Vincents have the legend status.

Has anyone else ever done a side by side comparison of older and new iterations? I'd love to see a flex test done on a new and old version to see how much they differ.

I really like your comparison and the fact that you confirm once again that St Vincent frames can't be replicated in China.

I regularly play with St Vincent and sometimes Taiwan and notice a huge difference even between these two in terms of feel and touch.

On your scale I would rate them as follows:

Taiwanese frames at about 80%,
earlier Chinese frames at about 75%
recent Chinese (TW) frames at about 70%

[hrstrat57]

Any one who says a St.Vincent PS 85 doesn't feel different hasn't hit with one......

[vsbabolat]

Originally Posted by Bobby Jr

Interesting... Yeah, I agree - the Taiwan and early Chinese ones do seem more solid through the mid-section. I'm so used to this that it feels right. The newest iteration feel good but I think it's just a case of adjusting slightly.

The noise when hitting is the thing which seems the most different. I wonder how much this is related to them being brand new as opposed to any significant differences in composition or fabrication methods???

It's the new Carbon fibre. Unless they stop using Braided Graphite and Kevlar. The early Taiwanese frames were unidirectional Graphite and Kevlar.