First hit indoors with my Blade Pros (and that too very early this morning as have a family trip planned over the weekend). Temps were cooler than average even for indoors. I mentioned specs for both my frames in first post of this thread and before I get into details, the racquet specs for both sticks strung up with Cyclone 16:
Racquet #1 is 322g, 33.1 balance strung with Wilson Pro overgrip. Swingweight is 331.
Racquet #2 is 330g, 32.5 balance strung with Wilson Pro overgrip as well. Swingweight for this puppy is 340.
As you guys can already surmise, both played very differently. Things that were similar though: both racquets weren't pick-up-and-play sort like you would expect from tweeners. The power is there though. Feel is fantastic and nothing like Babolats. Smooth on ball contact, you can feel the ball sinking in. And then the sound. It is like a loud whip for me. Very nice feelings overall.
Baseline play is very comfortable with these racquets if you can set up and dial in. I did not gel with either instantly but I know it takes time. The heavier one, despite being more headlight, was sluggish and cumbersome but when it connected, it crushed the ball. The lighter one moved through the air much quicker but hit a less substantial ball by comparison. Also I felt both racquets wobble a bit.
I loved
@Power Player's review and totally see where he mentioned that if you are used to brushing the ball like with most tweeners you will need to adjust your swing a bit and drive the ball more. I had the same experience. I wasn't leaving the balls short after first few exchanges, but the action on the ball wasn't like how I get with my Babolats.
The control for me simply wasn't there. I couldn't pick targets and sprayed a lot. Inside out forehand which is my bread and butter stroke was inconsistent and ending up being a very neutral shot instead of the heavy ball I'm used to hitting. At the net I had some twisting with the lighter racquet so just a touch maybe at 3 and 9. The heavier one was better at volleying. The lighter one also fluttered a bit more at baseline exchanges. It was easier to hit cleaner for me with lighter racquet, but I was hitting a bigger ball with heavier one, if that makes any sense. Both racquets feel very polarized despite such a difference in specs, and I think both need a bit more torsional stability.
I didn't do serves this time and next time will focus more on serving.
Overall if I'm being honest, it was an underwhelming experience for me but that is a bit unfair to the racquets as I need time to adjust, which is very normal. The fact that both racquets played so different wasn't helping as well. If the specs weren't that off I would have tried to match them and then give it a go to streamline the adjustment period for me a little. But once matched, these two will come in at specs that are going to be out of my wheelhouse. I am thinking about choosing one of these and working with it, and then trading other off for something closer spec wise.
I'm also taking them to get checked out on RDC this Monday. They seem like low 60s for sure and very UT like feel to me.
Will keep you guys updated on further thoughts as they come.