How durable is the soft rubberized coating on new Wilson Pro Staff 97?

C

Chadillac

Guest
It melts and gets dry rot. Becomes very sticky overtime. I have a couple of the rafter prince rackets (precision i think, has bubble, red silver), they had an older version of this type of coating.

Id bring your bag into your house every night, humidity + heat wrecks these things, i live in florida though
 

Gtech

Rookie
Poly (cross) knotted on natural gut (main)? Another bad idea I've been told... but I'm not the stringer so maybe someone else would like to comment on it.

The reason is a bad idea is that you will be tightening the poly which is a stiff and strong string by cinching it on the gut which is a very soft string and very weak after it is bent in a sharp angle. Therefore you run the risk of breaking the gut as you tie that poly on it. For gut you shouldn't even use any clamps or pliers to cinch the knots, just hand pulled knots. The risk of of it breaking afterwards are probably small. But no experienced stringer is going to run the risk of having the gut and the whole string job break on the last knot for no good reason.
 

Gtech

Rookie
How come @PeterFig hasn't responded to all these claims about the racquet showing premature wear? I mean, there's nothing wrong with admitting one was wrong.
Why would you go out of your way to attack a fellow poster who has been a great contributor to this forum? he doesn't own Wilson or made the paint,the guy just did some nice design work for the company. What a classless move on your part. And just because a few folks have had issues hardly proves your theory as absolutely correct either. You sound like that imbecil in the White House.
 

Fxanimator1

Hall of Fame
Maybe I am in the minority here, but I love this black velvet paint. I just bought a Blade CV and one of the reasons was the black paint and overall look of the design. I don't know if PeterFig even did the work on the Blade, but quality of the RF97A and Blade paint and markings are the best
I should say, I also like the paint job (Look of the racquet) and the velvet sort of feel it has, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the wear up at the bumper area...Most importantly in my case the PS 97S plays amazingly.
 

UCSF2012

Hall of Fame
The RF97 is probably one the easiest racquets on the planet to string and because cramming three strings through one grommet is a bad idea. There's no shame in seeking knowledge.
Although I have to admit, the part about you being surgeon that "defies the rules" sort of freaked me out a little.

The single thing I want to learn about stringing is how to avoid tension drop after tying a knot and releasing the clamp. I've come up with a way to avoid tension drop on ONE side of the mains, but I don't have a way to prevent tension drop on the other side. I'd imagine 60 lbs tension drops to 35 on two strings.

I've been stringing for 20 yrs, and this is a problem I don't have a solution to. And I think it's an important problem. (I don't consider double knotting on the same string, or tying poly to gut significant.)

I meant defying the rules of stringing tennis rackets. But as far as surgery goes, I give lots of thought before I vary conventional technique. There's always scientific support behind it, and there are at least 10 ways to perform the same procedure. I track and photo document cases. It's led to many discoveries. ...this is how we advance medicine. No patient is harm in the process. I make sure of that.
 
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Fxanimator1

Hall of Fame
The single thing I want to learn about stringing is how to avoid tension drop after tying a knot and releasing the clamp. I've come up with a way to avoid tension drop on ONE side of the mains, but I don't have a way to prevent tension drop on the other side. I'd imagine 60 lbs tension drops to 35 on two strings.

I've been stringing for 20 yrs, and this is a problem I don't have a solution to. And I think it's an important problem. (I don't consider double knotting on the same string, or tying poly to gut significant.)
Are you using constant pull tensioner? Both sides/last main strings should be the same tension when clamped. The fact that you're tying off 2 holes lower than specified is a contributor to tension loss, because you're adding 2 inches of string past the clamp to have to try and keep tight.
 

xFullCourtTenniSx

Hall of Fame
Poly (cross) knotted on natural gut (main)? Another bad idea I've been told... but I'm not the stringer so maybe someone else would like to comment on it.

Not likely. Just think about this rationally. Unless you do a 50-50 pattern (where you start from the middle of the crosses then go out), how in the hell are you going to start your crosses? There has to be a starting knot, and there's nowhere to put it but on a gut main string.

And as far as I know, very few people do a 50-50 stringing because it's extra time and work. Most people will just do the standard 2 piece and have a poly starting knot on a gut main (which if I had to guess, is worse on the gut mains than a tie off knot, since you actually pull tension on a starting knot).

Maybe you're actually supposed to do a 50-50 pattern on gut mains with poly crosses, I don't know. I'm just pretty sure most stringers don't do it. I only do it because it looks nice and there are no starting knots. Same reason I favor box pattern.
 
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UCSF2012

Hall of Fame
Maybe I am in the minority here, but I love this black velvet paint. I just bought a Blade CV and one of the reasons was the black paint and overall look of the design. I don't know if PeterFig even did the work on the Blade, but quality of the RF97A and Blade paint and markings are the best


Please tell me which hospital you are a surgeon at, so I can avoid it at all costs. Not only you have zero clue about what you are doing but you are somehow justifying your ignorance as being smart and defiying the rules. Stringing a racket is pretty easy, the mfg even specifies the pattern and tells you exactly where to do tie ins per the specific drilling pattern for each racket model. Doing it your own way with poor results is just stupid, but I get the feeling you are one of those types that will keep arguing you are right.

Top 5 Medical School in the country, son. I can do things your brain can't even comprehend.

Show me the poor results. I have no history of snapping gut other than one set of Mamba twine gut. Tying poly to gut has NEVER snapped the gut. Restringing only the poly to the same gut has NEVER snapped the gut. Any stringer with LOTS of experience should already know...double knotting or tying poly to gut doesn't break the gut. If they DID break the gut, perhaps they're not very good stringers.

Even the MRSA's rope burn the mains occasionally, because they have to string many rackets to turn a profit.
 

UCSF2012

Hall of Fame
Are you using constant pull tensioner? Both sides/last main strings should be the same tension when clamped. The fact that you're tying off 2 holes lower than specified is a contributor to tension loss, because you're adding 2 inches of string past the clamp to have to try and keep tight.

Good point about the extra string length contributing to increased tension loss. Usually, I over tension the last 2-3 strings to counteract the expected tension loss.
 
C

Chadillac

Guest
The single thing I want to learn about stringing is how to avoid tension drop after tying a knot and releasing the clamp. I've come up with a way to avoid tension drop on ONE side of the mains, but I don't have a way to prevent tension drop on the other side. I'd imagine 60 lbs tension drops to 35 on two strings.

The next time you break a string, cut the far one first (test the tension on the 2nd main from outside), the knot holds the tension nicely. Tenison loss on the tie off string isnt so bad since you dont hit there and the knot holds it in place.

Assuming your using the hole of the 2nd to last main to tie off (maybe just my rackets pattern).
 

UCSF2012

Hall of Fame
Why would you go out of your way to attack a fellow poster who has been a great contributor to this forum? he doesn't own Wilson or made the paint,the guy just did some nice design work for the company. What a classless move on your part. And just because a few folks have had issues hardly proves your theory as absolutely correct either. You sound like that imbecil in the White House.

Lay off it. He did nothing wrong. Peter's supporting his company even when they crank out questionable products, which is expected. I commend him for many wonderful designs, but I can easily detect when he over steps his boundaries/area of expertise.
 

xFullCourtTenniSx

Hall of Fame
The single thing I want to learn about stringing is how to avoid tension drop after tying a knot and releasing the clamp. I've come up with a way to avoid tension drop on ONE side of the mains, but I don't have a way to prevent tension drop on the other side. I'd imagine 60 lbs tension drops to 35 on two strings.

I've been stringing for 20 yrs, and this is a problem I don't have a solution to. And I think it's an important problem. (I don't consider double knotting on the same string, or tying poly to gut significant.)

I meant defying the rules of stringing tennis rackets. But as far as surgery goes, I give lots of thought before I vary conventional technique. There's always scientific support behind it, and there are at least 10 ways to perform the same procedure. I track and photo document cases. It's led to many discoveries. ...this is how we advance medicine. No patient is harm in the process. I make sure of that.


You cannot perfectly avoid tension drop since you can't tie a knot while the string is under tension. The best you can do is remove all the slack you can so that the tension loss is minimal. Some people prefer to increase the tension on the last main/cross to compensate. For the main, theoretically, you can pull once, then clamp it with a starting clamp as close to the grommet (so that if you released tension, it wouldn't move), then repull with a higher tension, and clamp that with the regular clamp. Then you do the tie off knot, get rid of as much slack as possible, undo the regular clamp so the last string pulls tension on the slack and drops to whatever tension (hopefully your target tension, but I don't see how you could consistently guarantee that, though you might consistently get close), then remove the starting clamp. To do this method on the last cross, you'd need a starting clamp with teeth (maybe a flying clamp).

Realistically, it doesn't matter that much. If you hit the ball that close to the frame, you'll have bad results anyway.
 
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Why would you go out of your way to attack a fellow poster who has been a great contributor to this forum? he doesn't own Wilson or made the paint,the guy just did some nice design work for the company. What a classless move on your part. And just because a few folks have had issues hardly proves your theory as absolutely correct either. You sound like that imbecil in the White House.

I think you should keep quiet unless you know some of the previous conversations we've had. I don't go after people unless they go after me. You sound like an idiot who just likes to start a fire.

Myself, and a few others here have been skeptical about the "velvet" finish because it's a fancy word for rubbery finish, and most of us haven't had good experiences with rubbery-ish finishes. So there, if you aren't involved, and if you don't know what you're talking about, keep your mouth shut, and it's spelled imbecilE.
 
Lay off it. He did nothing wrong. Peter's supporting his company even when they crank out questionable products, which is expected. I commend him for many wonderful designs, but I can easily detect when he over steps his boundaries/area of expertise.

Exactly, we aren't questioning the design. We have voiced our concerns about the "velvet" finish from the beginning, but Mr. @PeterFig have brushed off our concerns, arrogantly I might add.

Now we have a thread that talks about real owners and their day to day experience with the finish. He was the first to respond about how durable it is. Then, when accounts of pre-mature wear, he's nowhere to be seen.

You'd be p!ssed if your car costs more than every other car out there, but the damn clear coat peels off in a year.
 

Gtech

Rookie
Top 5 Medical School in the country, son. I can do things your brain can't even comprehend.

Show me the poor results. I have no history of snapping gut other than one set of Mamba twine gut. Tying poly to gut has NEVER snapped the gut. Restringing only the poly to the same gut has NEVER snapped the gut. Any stringer with LOTS of experience should already know...double knotting or tying poly to gut doesn't break the gut. If they DID break the gut, perhaps they're not very good stringers.

Even the MRSA's rope burn the mains occasionally, because they have to string many rackets to turn a profit.

As expected, you are a total arrogant ass.
 

Gtech

Rookie
Exactly, we aren't questioning the design. We have voiced our concerns about the "velvet" finish from the beginning, but Mr. @PeterFig have brushed off our concerns, arrogantly I might add.

Now we have a thread that talks about real owners and their day to day experience with the finish. He was the first to respond about how durable it is. Then, when accounts of pre-mature wear, he's nowhere to be seen.

You'd be p!ssed if your car costs more than every other car out there, but the damn clear coat peels off in a year.
I think you should keep quiet unless you know some of the previous conversations we've had. I don't go after people unless they go after me. You sound like an idiot who just likes to start a fire.

Myself, and a few others here have been skeptical about the "velvet" finish because it's a fancy word for rubbery finish, and most of us haven't had good experiences with rubbery-ish finishes. So there, if you aren't involved, and if you don't know what you're talking about, keep your mouth shut, and it's spelled imbecilE.

Ah yes another keyboard commando making threats on the internet. Bet you wouldn't talk like that to me in person why do it on the internet?
 

PeterFig

Professional
Exactly, we aren't questioning the design. We have voiced our concerns about the "velvet" finish from the beginning, but Mr. @PeterFig have brushed off our concerns, arrogantly I might add.

Now we have a thread that talks about real owners and their day to day experience with the finish. He was the first to respond about how durable it is. Then, when accounts of pre-mature wear, he's nowhere to be seen.

You'd be p!ssed if your car costs more than every other car out there, but the damn clear coat peels off in a year.

I'm happy to respond. I have no ulterior motive here at all. All my comments regarding the durability of the paint are a combination of first hand experience with these racquets of which I own a good number off, and testing that was done before they were released. Personally and from others around me who own these racquets there he been absolutely no issues with the durability of the paint. I'm pretty hard on my racquets. Serve and volley, play doubles. Dig out shallow shots. Throw my racquet into my bag. The paint he held up just as well as any other and perhaps slightly better. Less larger chips I find. Since I'm close to these new racquets I've also been extra aware of others around me playing with them and have not witnessed any unusual paint wear on anyone else's racquets either. Keep in mind I've played with some of these racquets for a long time - some months before their initial public release.

Secondly a LOT of these new racquets have been sold and played with for the past year and there has not been a stream of issues reported with unusual wear of the paint.

I'm not denying the photo shown in this thread. I'm just saying that is not the norm of the experience of tens if not hundreds of thousands of racquets sold with this paint. Therefore I think other factors "may" be at play. However I am only speculating and would say the poster with the paint issues can contact Wilson if he has further concerns.

Lastly, I post in here purely out of my own interest and fun and not at all on behalf of Wilson. I don't ever feel obligated to reply to posts like this. I do it to provide some knowledge / info where I can. I'm not here to be argumentative or attack anyone. Just try and be as factual as I can given my knowledge in some particular areas. I also don't post where I know I simply don't have anything I can contribute.
 
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racket king

Banned
Personally and from others around me who own these racquets there he been absolutely no issues with the durability of the paint.

That just simply isn't correct. As I've said previously, I've seen lots of these Wilsons where the rubber paint has been falling off in various places.

I understand that you are associated with Wilson, but repeating the marketing line about durability simply hurts your credibility, particularly when you never reply to any questions asking about the warranty situation in the event of the rubber paint falling off.

If the rubber paint was as durable as you claim (and that is at odds with feedback from real world owners of these rackets), then you should have no difficulty in confirming that in the event of the rubber paint falling off, it will be covered by warranty, but your silence in that regard is deafening....
 

PeterFig

Professional
That just simply isn't correct. As I've said previously, I've seen lots of these Wilsons where the rubber paint has been falling off in various places.

I understand that you are associated with Wilson, but repeating the marketing line about durability simply hurts your credibility, particularly when you never reply to any questions asking about the warranty situation in the event of the rubber paint falling off.

If the rubber paint was as durable as you claim (and that is at odds with feedback from real world owners of these rackets), then you should have no difficulty in confirming that in the event of the rubber paint falling off, it will be covered by warranty, but your silence in that regard is deafening....

I have / had zero knowledge or involvement in Wilson warranty issues and therefore I don't reply to that area of discussion. I have no more to contribute to that knowledge wise than anyone else on here.

Also I don't post on here on behalf of Wilson or for my credibility. I haven't worked with Wilson since 2016 so have zero motive to promote any of their agenda.

I post on here because having some more "inside" knowledge about specifically recent Wilson racquets i thought it might be of interest to others. That's the entirety of my motivation behind my posts.

If your experiences for example with the paint are different than mine that's totally fine. I'm just referencing my own fairly extensive experiences and also some knowledge of the behind the scenes of this paint finish and pointing out that it's not in line with your observations.
 

projectone7

Rookie
I'm happy to respond. I have no ulterior motive here at all. All my comments regarding the durability of the paint are a combination of first hand experience with these racquets of which I own a good number off, and testing that was done before they were released. Personally and from others around me who own these racquets there he been absolutely no issues with the durability of the paint. I'm pretty hard on my racquets. Serve and volley, play doubles. Dig out shallow shots. Throw my racquet into my bag. The paint he held up just as well as any other and perhaps slightly better. Less larger chips I find. Since I'm close to these new racquets I've also been extra aware of others around me playing with them and have not witnessed any unusual paint wear on anyone else's racquets either. Keep in mind I've played with some of these racquets for a long time - some months before their initial public release.

Secondly a LOT of these new racquets have been sold and played with for the past year and there has not been a stream of issues reported with unusual wear of the paint.

I'm not denying the photo shown in this thread. I'm just saying that is not the norm of the experience of tens if not hundreds of thousands of racquets sold with this paint. Therefore I think other factors "may" be at play. However I am only speculating and would say the poster with the paint issues can contact Wilson if he has further concerns.

Lastly, I post in here purely out of my own interest and fun and not at all on behalf of Wilson. I don't ever feel obligated to reply to posts like this. I do it to provide some knowledge / info where I can. I'm not here to be argumentative or attack anyone. Just try and be as factual as I can given my knowledge in some particular areas. I also don't post where I know I simply don't have anything I can contribute.
Yea, stick it to the man Peter!
 

racket king

Banned
I'm not sure how you would know that my own personal experiences are not correct. I'm assuming you meant something else here?

Oh I see - you're now claiming that that there are no durability issues involving the handful of people that YOU know and you're not claiming that no durability issues with the rubber paint on this racket in general.

Well, that's alot clearer because for a moment there I thought that you were suggesting that there were "absolutely no issues with the durability of the paint".

Perhaps you should be clearer next time instead of the beating the same marketing drum, because as I've said already I've seen a number of these rackets where the rubber paint has fallen off around the throat, and it's pretty obvious that a high friction rubber paint surface is going to be more susceptible to wear.
 

PeterFig

Professional
Oh I see - you're now claiming that that there are no durability issues involving the handful of people that YOU know and you're not claiming that no durability issues with the rubber paint on this racket in general.

Well, that's alot clearer because for a moment there I thought that you were suggesting that there were "absolutely no issues with the durability of the paint".

Perhaps you should be clearer next time instead of the beating the same marketing drum, because as I've said already I've seen a number of these rackets where the rubber paint has fallen off around the throat, and it's pretty obvious that a high friction rubber paint surface is going to be more susceptible to wear.


I would kindly refer you to my clear and detailed posts from earlier today above.
 

seekay

Semi-Pro
Not likely. Just think about this rationally. Unless you do a 50-50 pattern (where you start from the middle of the crosses then go out), how in the hell are you going to start your crosses? There has to be a starting knot, and there's nowhere to put it but on a gut main string.

Using a starting clamp to hold the first cross in place gives you a fair bit of flexibility in choosing where to tie it off later. The Yonex racquets I string tend to have a reasonable place to tie crosses off on crosses once they're in place and tensioned. The RF97A we're talking about here would require some preparation to stretch out a grommet, so it's not something I'd likely do, but it may still be how P1 strings Federer's frames.
 

Fxanimator1

Hall of Fame
Using a starting clamp to hold the first cross in place gives you a fair bit of flexibility in choosing where to tie it off later. The Yonex racquets I string tend to have a reasonable place to tie crosses off on crosses once they're in place and tensioned. The RF97A we're talking about here would require some preparation to stretch out a grommet, so it's not something I'd likely do, but it may still be how P1 strings Federer's frames.
That's exactly what they do.
Below is Grigor Dimitrov's racquet.
Perhaps Ron would be nice enough to comment on this as well, but he's probably very busy.
Thanks to ProStringing for posting these.
GrigorDimitrovRacket15.jpg


GrigorDimitrovRacket17.jpg
 

xFullCourtTenniSx

Hall of Fame
Using a starting clamp to hold the first cross in place gives you a fair bit of flexibility in choosing where to tie it off later. The Yonex racquets I string tend to have a reasonable place to tie crosses off on crosses once they're in place and tensioned. The RF97A we're talking about here would require some preparation to stretch out a grommet, so it's not something I'd likely do, but it may still be how P1 strings Federer's frames.

P1 is basically the only people that I see do this. Whoever strings Serena's racket puts Luxilon 4G starting knot on Wilson Natural Gut mains. P1 is pretty attentive to small details. Not everyone else is, because apparently it's not big enough of an issue.

But that's true about the starting clamp bit. Forgot that's basically what you do for a 50-50 stringing pattern anyway.
 
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Gtech

Rookie
P1 is basically the only people that I see do this. Whoever strings Serena's racket puts Luxilon 4G starting knot on Wilson Natural Gut mains. P1 is pretty attentive to small details. Not everyone else is, because apparently it's not big enough of an issue.

But that's true about the starting clamp bit. Forgot that's basically what you do for a 50-50 stringing pattern anyway.

You have no choice for the starting knot plus that one is not at an angle but in line with the gut. But you can see on the picture of Grigor's racket they are not tying the poly cross on the gut main but on another poly cross which is what makes sense to do.
 

UCSF2012

Hall of Fame
To answer the original question, paint CAN come off from your fingers rubbing against the racket over time. The left hand fingers are used to guide grip change, and over time, it'll rub off the paint on a 1HBH.

2vjd060.jpg


I use my thumb to twist the racket into the backhand grip. The region where I place my thumb has rubbed off the paint. Personally, I don't care about the paint coming off. I don't see my rackets as museum art to be preserved for life, and I'm not going to return them for warranty replacement just because the paint came off. We all learn by trial and error sometimes. Rubber paint comes off with friction. Now we all know for sure. What Wilson does with that information is up to them.

The only thing left is to use automotive paint. You'll have to leave the racket in the sun and rain for 10 years, and maybe the paint'll fade.

And lastly - and most importantly - if GTech stands for "Georgia Tech," and you are in fact a Yellow Jacket, I reserve the right to mock you for the rest of your life. I can be an arrogant ass, but first and foremost, I am a Georgia Bulldawg.
 
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xFullCourtTenniSx

Hall of Fame
You have no choice for the starting knot plus that one is not at an angle but in line with the gut. But you can see on the picture of Grigor's racket they are not tying the poly cross on the gut main but on another poly cross which is what makes sense to do.

Grigor's racket is done by P1, not everyone does that. And a starting knot you pull tension on. Tie offs you just remove slack. Tie offs are about as in line with the anchor string as starting knots are.
 
Ah yes another keyboard commando making threats on the internet. Bet you wouldn't talk like that to me in person why do it on the internet?

Actually boy (or girl, an imbecile nonetheless), I will talk to you like that. Do you want me to tell you where I live? I love talking down to stupid people.
 
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I'm happy to respond. I have no ulterior motive here at all. All my comments regarding the durability of the paint are a combination of first hand experience with these racquets of which I own a good number off, and testing that was done before they were released. Personally and from others around me who own these racquets there he been absolutely no issues with the durability of the paint. I'm pretty hard on my racquets. Serve and volley, play doubles. Dig out shallow shots. Throw my racquet into my bag. The paint he held up just as well as any other and perhaps slightly better. Less larger chips I find. Since I'm close to these new racquets I've also been extra aware of others around me playing with them and have not witnessed any unusual paint wear on anyone else's racquets either. Keep in mind I've played with some of these racquets for a long time - some months before their initial public release.

Secondly a LOT of these new racquets have been sold and played with for the past year and there has not been a stream of issues reported with unusual wear of the paint.

I'm not denying the photo shown in this thread. I'm just saying that is not the norm of the experience of tens if not hundreds of thousands of racquets sold with this paint. Therefore I think other factors "may" be at play. However I am only speculating and would say the poster with the paint issues can contact Wilson if he has further concerns.

Lastly, I post in here purely out of my own interest and fun and not at all on behalf of Wilson. I don't ever feel obligated to reply to posts like this. I do it to provide some knowledge / info where I can. I'm not here to be argumentative or attack anyone. Just try and be as factual as I can given my knowledge in some particular areas. I also don't post where I know I simply don't have anything I can contribute.

Hey man, I'm not out to get you despite what that idiot @Gtech wants to say. You have the right to defend your design and work, but I think you should be objective as well. There's a reason why many of us are skeptical of the finish (Head Intelligence series ruined it for you and all of us), and we are now seeing claims and photographic evidence, and you should address it as well.

Everything has some short comings, you can't just praise the goods and ignore the bad stuff.
 

UCSF2012

Hall of Fame
Not really anything to address. Paint comes off. End of story.

Problem may be a paint layering thing. There's an initial coat of glossy paint. Then, there's a 2nd coat of rubberish paint. The 2nd coat doesn't completely BOND to the first layer. It simply COVERS it. That's why it rubs off. The laser etch is nice.

Let Wilson work out the kinks in paint design. Perhaps they could go without the initial glossy coat. The rubber coat and laser etch by themselves would be plenty pretty.

I just hope it doesn't get sticky like the Prince Triple Threats. I had to get several alcohol wipes to REDUCE the stickiness. Not REMOVE the stickiness, but to reduce it. The racket hits well, just freak nasty to touch.
 

mugener

Rookie
People here have spoken. I have been holding back of getting once of this as I had the experience of chipping on my Iprestiges. As mentioned in my previous post, this might be part of cost savings from Wilson and at the same time used to promote the "Velvety" finished. My self control has prevented me from buyer's remorse.
 

bwongman

Rookie
It's always the case that whenever someone has problems they tend to be the people that speak up. I am sure that if there was a major problem with this racquet that Wilson would have done something about it already instead of continuing with manufacturing. If they know and haven't done anything about it then that's just bad business, but I like to think on the positive side.

I am sure that @PeterFig has had lots of experience dealing with this racquet and I am sure he has dealt with more of them than any of us here. He is saying that through his personal experience, he hasn't come across many major issues with this paint. He has also stated that he is not affiliated with Wilson anymore, so why is everyone directing their problems at him? If you have serious issues then take your issues directly to Wilson.

I personally have 2 RF97s that I've had since they first came out and haven't had any issues yet and my doubles partner has 2 97S that haven't had any problems with the paint either. I also have another friend that has 2 97LS that haven't had any issues with the paint. I shove my racquets into my bag and it is a pretty tight squeeze, tight enough that I can barely zip up the bag, but haven't seen the same sort of wear that some of the pictures here have shown. These racquets are gorgeous and expensive, and I do try to take good care of my racquets and am not too rough on them.

Exactly, we aren't questioning the design. We have voiced our concerns about the "velvet" finish from the beginning, but Mr. @PeterFig
You'd be p!ssed if your car costs more than every other car out there, but the damn clear coat peels off in a year.

If someone rubbed up against a Ferrari 100 times a day for a year in their jeans, I am pretty sure the clear coat would come off as well.
 

Galdust

Rookie
I've been playing with the new PS 97S for three months now, indoors and on clay. Been touching the ground a lot when digging up short balls, and so far they're holding up very nicely. No visible paint chips except for some scratches around the bumper guard area. Holding up much better than my PS 95.
 

10ACE

Professional
If one is reluctant to purchase a racquet due to a finish or paint coming off, so be it.

However, these are not Christian Louboutin pumps that my wife buys and cherishes, it's a tennis racquet that is to be used playing the game of tennis.

Racquets slip from hand, bang in their bags, fall from table and get scratched.
 

Startzel

Hall of Fame
Just don't play with the racquet if you want it to look great.

That's why I don't wear my nice dress shoes. I couldn't imagine getting a crease in them. So I only wear a $20 pair from Walmart while my Allen Edmonds sit in my closet looking great.
 

Long Face

Semi-Pro
If one is reluctant to purchase a racquet due to a finish or paint coming off, so be it.

However, these are not Christian Louboutin pumps that my wife buys and cherishes, it's a tennis racquet that is to be used playing the game of tennis.

Racquets slip from hand, bang in their bags, fall from table and get scratched.

You're right. I bought that racquet anyway the next day, before we had any answers.

The reason I posted this thread is because of my background in manufacturing, having seen a lot of "soft touch" coating fail. I asked the question because I wanted to see how durable the coating is, and hoped that the racquet would not turn into the same kind of mess that I had seen on other products.
 

Fxanimator1

Hall of Fame
Actually boy (or girl, an imbecile nonetheless), I will talk to you like that. Do you want me to tell you where I live? I love talking down to stupid people.
You're right. I bought that racquet anyway the next day, before we had any answers.

The reason I posted this thread is because of my background in manufacturing, having seen a lot of "soft touch" coating fail. I asked the question because I wanted to see how durable the coating is, and hoped that the racquet would not turn into the same kind of mess that I had seen on other products.
ANY, racquet you purchase will show signs of wear if you actually use it. I have commented in this thread about the slight bit of wear on mine, but want to make it abundantly clear, this is NORMAL signs of wear and Wilson did a good job on this frame.
 

chikoo

Hall of Fame
That's the problem with using rubber paint. Once it starts falling off in random places, the racket begins looking very tatty. Pretty disappointing for a racket that has such a high retail price.

I have had mine restrung twice, and no damage. Change the machine, clamps or the stringer is a d0uche.
 

10ACE

Professional
You're right. I bought that racquet anyway the next day, before we had any answers.

The reason I posted this thread is because of my background in manufacturing, having seen a lot of "soft touch" coating fail. I asked the question because I wanted to see how durable the coating is, and hoped that the racquet would not turn into the same kind of mess that I had seen on other products.

Congrats on the purchase. Personally, I've come to really enjoy playing with it.

With your background I can def understand your inquiry and would geek out the same way.

Enjoy!
 

chikoo

Hall of Fame
Maybe I am in the minority here, but I love this black velvet paint. I just bought a Blade CV and one of the reasons was the black paint and overall look of the design. I don't know if PeterFig even did the work on the Blade, but quality of the RF97A and Blade paint and markings are the best


Please tell me which hospital you are a surgeon at, so I can avoid it at all costs. Not only you have zero clue about what you are doing but you are somehow justifying your ignorance as being smart and defiying the rules. Stringing a racket is pretty easy, the mfg even specifies the pattern and tells you exactly where to do tie ins per the specific drilling pattern for each racket model. Doing it your own way with poor results is just stupid, but I get the feeling you are one of those types that will keep arguing you are right.

I concur.
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
There will always be discrepancies about wear and tear given different usage patterns, but if they exist at all that's usually some indication you may have a problem.
 

ollinger

G.O.A.T.
Every one of these racquets I've seen that had been used looked like it had been coated with black cotton candy
 
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