Lozannois
Rookie
Yonex poly tour strike at 51 lbs is amazing with this frame! Just the right amount of power and control. Feel and touch are wow!
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2019 Wilson Blade
- Thread starter TennisCounrty
- Start date
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Booger
Hall of Fame
I took my sticks into the shop today to use their Babolat RDC.
Racquet 1: L3 18x20, fairway leather grip + tournagrip, 2 tourna power strips (3.62 grams ea) at 9 and 3 (7.24 grams total) - swing weight 334
Racquet 2: L3 18x20, fairway leather grip + tourna grip, 4 tourna power strips (3.62 grams ea) at 9-10 and 2-3 (14.48 grams total) - swing weight 349
That is a massive difference on the SW. wondering what were the unstrung spec when you first got it....
What is the strung weight and balance on both?
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yes, that is true.... unless he was trying at a very different setup, especially the weight and balance are also different.
wondering which setup he is likely to stay with or maybe more tinkering with the lead/placement etc.
Played today first time my new v7 18x20 strung with NXT in mains (24kg) and Solinco TB in crosses (23kg). Have to say the whole experienced felt a bit different to the racket I demoed. Of course the stringing on Wilson Revolve 25kg is way different but I had a bit problems because of my arms. I had a lot of mishits, hitting the balls even with my frame.
The demo rackets I tested in January also gave me quite some finger pain (blisters) due to the too small grip size. At least that's what I thought. Today with my L4 grip and 1 overgrip I also got again problems with my blisters. I think it's less the grip (because this one is more or less exact the same to my old racket) but the new weight/balance.
Someone had experience on that? My previous racket was a bit more headlight.
Do you think in general that the Wilson Blade v7 18x20 needs to be done more HL? (leather grip, etc.?)
The demo rackets I tested in January also gave me quite some finger pain (blisters) due to the too small grip size. At least that's what I thought. Today with my L4 grip and 1 overgrip I also got again problems with my blisters. I think it's less the grip (because this one is more or less exact the same to my old racket) but the new weight/balance.
Someone had experience on that? My previous racket was a bit more headlight.
Do you think in general that the Wilson Blade v7 18x20 needs to be done more HL? (leather grip, etc.?)
TennisHound
Legend
The Blades, especially the 18x20 are heavy in the head. They've been that way since their inception, but gained a little more head weight with the CV series. I"ve only tried the 16x19, but it felt around 2-3 pts HL, which is normal for Blades. The '13 Black Silver version seemed less HL than the others.
Mark-Touch
Legend
Sorry but I'm not understanding you. It seems like you are contradicting yourself. You say the Blades have always been head heavy. Then you say you tried a 16x19 and it was head light.
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I think he is trying to say that 16x19 is slightly more HL than the 18x20.....
Classic-TXP-IG MID
Hall of Fame
What he means is that the Blades are usually 2-4 pts HL rather than 6+ pts HL due to the weight added to the general top of the head area. Therefore, if you like or usually play with racquets that are more HL or have most of the weight in the handle and lower part of the racquet, you may find the Blade to feel almost HH.
TennisHound
Legend
You’re right, I didn’t word that very well. 2-3 pts HL is normal for the Blades. The ‘13 version felt about 5-6 pts HL while the CV Blades I tried were around 1-2 pts HL.
It’d be worse if you taken into the account of the shocking Wilson QC. Had 4 2013 Blade 18x20, the factory/unstrung specs were all over the place.....
TennisHound
Legend
Booger
Hall of Fame
It’d be worse if you taken into the account of the shocking Wilson QC. Had 4 2013 Blade 18x20, the factory/unstrung specs were all over the place.....
Not sure if I just got lucky, but my 2 non-matched blades came in very close, like Yonex close. My RF97's were all over the place and needed lead, though.
Yeah it can be a pot luck really..... Even with two that is only a couple of hundred serial numbers apart......
Mitch_1979
Rookie
I haven't seen this mentioned in this thread - Wilson.com lists the following under features for the V7 Blades...
- Reduced spec variance (+/- 5.5 g) for added consistency from frame to frame
darko.sumanovac99
New User
For 10 PTS HL you should have a balance at 31.1cm. You will probably need to put some extra weight on/in the handle.
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I am also interested how much a leather grip will change the balance. But isn't your ideal goal (to make it 10 pt HL) making it to a total different racket?
I think this is a good read. It seems on average it’d be 2 points HL with the difference of the replacement grip vs leather grip (depends on brand/thickness).
best to check in a balance board if you do change the grip. A basic flat table with hard edge and tape measure can easily tell you the difference.
Have not opened the trap door on my Blades, so don’t know for sure - are you able to put some bluetac or weights to see what would suit you better. Cos Blade is supposed to be much more HH. (I came from much HL racquets too so I can understand it when I switched to Blade)
Wheelz
Hall of Fame
....what Will happen if the Blade becomes more head light? I doubt it creates any issues if his preference is that.
Suppose nothing will happen. It just means loads of weight needs to go to the butt end to make it more HL on a Blade. There are other “better” platform racquets to achieve that more easily....
Thats not necessarily the point. Depending on qc this is a 325-345 sw stick.. what makes manageable is low static weight.. i tried as well initially.. it works in other racquets but this stick does not become more whippy/manuevarable as you would expect the more you load up the butt (insert thats what she said here). Higher sw and higher static weight makes it more sluggish in the end for me.. i gotten used to it and its amazing in stock form.
I moved from higher static weight/lower SW (TC95/TC100) to lower static weight/higher SW (Blade 98) and I think it suits me better in terms of playability. It lets me to better put more pace behind the ball and play longer rallies if I have to.
Addxyz
Hall of Fame
About 12-13g in the buttcap.
I’ve recently bought a 16x19 v7. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to measure specs when choosing my frame and expected they where close to the official ones.
When I received the racquet I decided to measure the balance and the result was 33.9cm (strung/no overgrip). Using the swingtool app and weighting 323g I’ve measured a 342SW. I know that it may not be the most precise method but it isn’t the worst.
Fact is I am not having the best time with it. Cant confirm the measured SW but can confirm a 340SW is high for me and right now I am having a hard time while playing especially as time passes and I became more tired.
So in your opinion, Is it possible that I got a 340SW frame due to Wilson’s poor QC? Do you consider that balance way off spec?
When I received the racquet I decided to measure the balance and the result was 33.9cm (strung/no overgrip). Using the swingtool app and weighting 323g I’ve measured a 342SW. I know that it may not be the most precise method but it isn’t the worst.
Fact is I am not having the best time with it. Cant confirm the measured SW but can confirm a 340SW is high for me and right now I am having a hard time while playing especially as time passes and I became more tired.
So in your opinion, Is it possible that I got a 340SW frame due to Wilson’s poor QC? Do you consider that balance way off spec?
To answer your last question: yes thats way off specs, that would be off specs even for the 18x20 version. Check my post 1-2 weeks ago, I posted the result of the matching of TW for 6 rackets. Most had a lower SW than they 'should'
McGradey
Hall of Fame
Finally got the swingweight measured on my 18x20:
333 SW
337g strung w leather grip, over grip and dampener
Pretty happy with this spec. Ball crusher and whippy enough
342 SW on a 16x19 sounds crazy!
I had a 380g 6.1 95 that had that same swingweight and it was way too much racquet for me to handle
333 SW
337g strung w leather grip, over grip and dampener
Pretty happy with this spec. Ball crusher and whippy enough
342 SW on a 16x19 sounds crazy!
I had a 380g 6.1 95 that had that same swingweight and it was way too much racquet for me to handle
Can’t confirm the 340SW since I am not using a RDC machine, but swingtool app usually does a good job. I recon it could be a bit lower but yet seems like SW is off the specs.
What I can confirm, since I did measure more then 10x, is that the strung balance is 33,9cm which also corroborate to the idea of a QC trouble.
What I can confirm, since I did measure more then 10x, is that the strung balance is 33,9cm which also corroborate to the idea of a QC trouble.
McGradey
Hall of Fame
Ouch. See if you can send it back through your retailer. If it’s that far out of spec, worth a shot.
I made couple more measurements considering the chance of parallax error on measuring balance but lowest value measured was 337SW.
Also tested a head radical I own with same procedure to check if there was something wrong and measured a 325SW which I call a decent result. So as sad as this sound I think I got a bad one.
Also tested a head radical I own with same procedure to check if there was something wrong and measured a 325SW which I call a decent result. So as sad as this sound I think I got a bad one.
ProRadTour
Semi-Pro
The 16 X 19 I had also had a swing weight of 338 string and was ten points higher than the 18 X 20 I purchased at the same time
darko.sumanovac99
New User
The blade I tried had a balance of 32.9 which is the factory value. But the swingweight was about 335. Factory came with 308g. In the end, my Gravity Pro was much more comfortable and easier to play with static weight od 338g and 340SW with overgrip and damnpener.
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I hit yesterday the second time with my v7 18x20. I added another overgrip because of my blisters I got last time.
I still really struggle with my new racket. It feels somehow much heavier and harder to swing than the v7 I demoed. Does someone know if demo rackets from TW Europe are usually matched rackets, viz. on spec rackets?
The thing is that yesterday I had one of my first hitting sessions since I picked up a racket again last year.
I never hit so many balls into the net, and most other shots flew or were short. I had no control over it. I mainly struggle with the low launch angle. I think I will let it strung with something different. My hybrid NXT / Solinco TB seems not to work at all for me. Also it gives me less feel/touch than on the demo racket, which was strung with Wilson Revolve @25kg.
I still really struggle with my new racket. It feels somehow much heavier and harder to swing than the v7 I demoed. Does someone know if demo rackets from TW Europe are usually matched rackets, viz. on spec rackets?
The thing is that yesterday I had one of my first hitting sessions since I picked up a racket again last year.
I never hit so many balls into the net, and most other shots flew or were short. I had no control over it. I mainly struggle with the low launch angle. I think I will let it strung with something different. My hybrid NXT / Solinco TB seems not to work at all for me. Also it gives me less feel/touch than on the demo racket, which was strung with Wilson Revolve @25kg.
This sounds like my struggles the first month..
First of all stick with it a while... you will get used to how the racquet plays and liabilities will start turning into assets... ie plow, stability etc...
I had launch angle problem at first as well.. you'll be surprised how much you adjust to it. Anyways..2 things.. best way to address launch angle is tension.. you have to lower it.. 25kg is way too high. Thay demo you tried was strung 25 god knows when.. you probably were hitting 22kg or so.. strings that lift the launch angle help . Hyper g to me is perfect. Lifts the ball at first and then thru some vodoo the ball also dives like a brick. As far as sluggishness of the racquet... to me i noticed that at 330+ every single sw point makes a differrnce.. i do notice the difference between 1.20 vs 1.25mm gaug as the latter adds 4 sw points. My blades are both 331sw strung with hyper g 1.20.. hyper g is i believe particulalrly lighter string.. so dont underestimate the diff between 330 and 334 sw etc.. unless you always played that high. I never did before so it was an adjustment. anyways most importantly give the racquet a chance. I was about to give up on it my first month but took @Power Player advice to stick with it and give it a full shot at it and i am glad i did.. awesome stick.
thanks for your post! that encourages me. actually I was not thinking about to sell it again, just yesterdays session was a really terrible. I also think I can adjust.
Ok I didnt know that between 1.20 vs 1.25mm can be 4 SW points.
Does literally everything added to the head add to SW? Wilson dampener?
Overgrips on the handle shouldn't or it also adds to SW?
Yes the more you add north of the balance point the more sw you will add. 1 gr at the tip will add more sw than 1 gr at the 3 and 9. Something like a dampener is close to the balance point so it wont affect much.. overgrip does not add anything to sw it would shift the balance just a bit thats all.. i also did not find any help when adding extra weight to this racquet.. it helped me when i stripped it down to just an overgrip. As i mentioned before.. i thought weight in the handle was going to make it more hl and easier to maneuver but it just did not work out that way. Mine are 330gr static weight with overgrip and no dampener, 331 sw with hyper g 1.20 and balance is 4 to 4.5hl.
ChaelAZ
G.O.A.T.
Just posted this in another Blade thread, but this last Monday I brought out the 2015 & CV Blades, as well as my Burn 100S and a new Wilson Utlra to play and test. Also, for shizzes and giggles, I had my favorite old Prince EXO 100 Tour. I hit with each through about 15 minutes of practice, then the last one I hit with was the V7 Blade. Again it reaffirmed that racquet is a good fit for me right now. Just so dang comfortable and solid. Still lacking a little bit of pop, but as I am testing string tension I am gaining a little back as I go lower. Still hoovering around 48lbs there, but need another round at 46lbs.
