Most flexible, softest, mushy, noodle bendiest rackets of all time

teachingprotx

teachingprotx

Legend
I love flexible rackets .....LOVE . HATE STIFF.. I currently use rackets to this day that are , in todays modern terms would be considered wet soaking noodles .. my RA index is 33 to 46...

but I digress..
So tell me what’s the most flexible racket that you’ve ever hit with ?
My most flexible was a hit with a Donnay gti -25 I swear it was made of rubber .. the Ra was 22 !
 
G

golden chicken

Hall of Fame
I'm sure my parents' old Jack Kramer woodie is more flexible, but I only hit with it once as a 12 year old.

My Pro Kennex RDC'd at 48RA

I seem to like rackets in the low 60s.
 
SinneGOAT

SinneGOAT

Hall of Fame
Clash is pretty noodly in the modern market but there are probably softer racquets out there. Of course wood is the ultimate noodle but from my experience with racquets the clash is pretty flexible.
 
Shroud

Shroud

G.O.A.T.
E
teachingprotx said:
I love flexible rackets .....LOVE . HATE STIFF.. I currently use rackets to this day that are , in todays modern terms would be considered wet soaking noodles .. my RA index is 33 to 46...

but I digress..
So tell me what’s the most flexible racket that you’ve ever hit with ?
My most flexible was a hit with a Donnay gti -25 I swear it was made of rubber .. the Ra was 22 !
Click to expand...

have you tried one of those Wilson Triads??
 
Winners or Errors

Winners or Errors

Legend
Kneissl White Star Twin: it has a very buttery feel, and it is fairly easy to come by racquets in good condition. Of course, it's only about 80 square inches.
 
C

cmmarcoux

New User
I've hit with a Wilson Triad 5 (26 RA). Not really a noodle . . . just really disconnected.
Shroud said:
Were they noodles??
Click to expand...
I hit with a Triad 5 (RA of 26?) a couple years ago, coming back from TE. Definitely not a noodle. The flex isn't uniform like on a thin box beam. It's where the hoop attaches to the throat. You can drive the ball but there's not much feedback or control. Playable, but not ideal.
 
Ronaldo

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
Head Satellite & Premier Tour. Both pretty soft.

Btw, Had a Vantage Bastcore BC 30, never felt that flexy, RA 49
 
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B

BumElbow

Professional
Wilson (K) Strike 103 with a 50 RA.
ProKennex Golden Ace with a 44 RA
ProKennex Bronze Ltd.

Yeah, I love flexible racquets too. They are so arm friendly and comfortable. Many modern racquets are much too stiff and too light in weight.
 
Ronaldo

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
BumElbow said:
Wilson (K) Strike 103 with a 50 RA.
ProKennex Golden Ace with a 44 RA
ProKennex Bronze Ltd.

Yeah, I love flexible racquets too. They are so arm friendly and comfortable. Many modern racquets are much too stiff and too light in weight.
Click to expand...

Recall using a Prince Michael Chang Titanium Graphite OS. True Ugly Stick,
maxresdefault.jpg
 
Ronaldo

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
BumElbow said:
Wilson (K) Strike 103 with a 50 RA.
ProKennex Golden Ace with a 44 RA
ProKennex Bronze Ltd.

Yeah, I love flexible racquets too. They are so arm friendly and comfortable. Many modern racquets are much too stiff and too light in weight.
Click to expand...
Surprised you did not mention the Silver Ace
 
G

golden chicken

Hall of Fame
teachingprotx said:
Which pro Kennex?
Click to expand...

A Pro Kennex LS Finesse 110. A racket I found at Kmart 25 years ago. I once emailed Pro Kennex to ask them if they had anything in their lineup that would be equivalent but they didn't know anything about it. I assume it was a licensed product made in China type of deal.
 
S

scotus

G.O.A.T.
I think one of the Wilson Five models has no flex rating because it just bends too much at the Triad joint for an RCD reading
 
Tennisist

Tennisist

Professional
1) Head Club Pro ( the red one ). There was also a blue one -- that one is stiffer (smaller head?) The red one is so flexible I am afraid I am going to break it -- every time I hit.
2) Wilson Hammer 5.5 Spin ( 16 mm beam )
IMG_1325-1-408x408.jpg
 
vsbabolat

vsbabolat

G.O.A.T.
Tennisist said:
1) Head Club Pro ( the red one ). There was also a blue one -- that one is stiffer (smaller head?) The red one is so flexible I am afraid I am going to break it -- every time I hit.
2) Wilson Hammer 5.5 Spin ( 16 mm beam )
IMG_1325-1-408x408.jpg
Click to expand...
Red club pro and blue club pro are the same mold and layup
 
Shaolin

Shaolin

G.O.A.T.
Pro Kennex Redondo is the softest frame I've ever hit with. I like flexible racquets but it bends too much for me. Played with the Redondo 98 and it felt like the hoop was flexing back about 4" on every shot.
 
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joah310

joah310

Professional
Tennisist said:
1) Head Club Pro ( the red one ). There was also a blue one -- that one is stiffer (smaller head?) The red one is so flexible I am afraid I am going to break it -- every time I hit.
2) Wilson Hammer 5.5 Spin ( 16 mm beam )
IMG_1325-1-408x408.jpg
Click to expand...
I personally thought the hammer felt a bit stiff dad got some tennis elbow from it too
 
teachingprotx

teachingprotx

Legend
Speaking of super flexy sticks I actually sold a ton of a certain flexy back many years ago while working a Weston hills country club . I think the RA was 40 or 41.. anyway I was using a volkl tour 10 , 93 sq in the yellow and mostly black frame ..but it was a 26 model .. full graphite looked exactly like the regular 27 exactly. And I just popped off the clear rubber butt Capp and scooted it down to make it almost a 27.. and I let a ton of people try and it and ended up buying a bunch . And did the same for the clients . Ton of people used them at my club . It was like 10 oz strung and made a fantastic base for customizing
 
B

BumElbow

Professional
Ronaldo said:
Surprised you did not mention the Silver Ace
Click to expand...

Actually, I bought a ProKennex Composite Dominator that was very stiff. It was the Dominator version of the Silver Ace (both were graphite and fiberglass composites). The Dominator line was ProKennex's knockoff of Head's Director series.

One noodle of a racquet that I did not mention was the Prince Graphite Pro Oversize. I won it at a tennis promo event when Arthur Ashe pulled my ticket from a hat and announced my name. I played with it once. It had no power whatsoever and was too flexible even for me!
 
kalic

kalic

Professional
Rossignol F200 by far. I am talking about my feel, not RA numbers. I had Max200G, old Pro Kennexes, and other flexy stuff, but in real play F200 is THE noodle.
 
NickJ

NickJ

Professional
I've got a Pro's Pro Art of War that I bought off Simplicious on here. That's pretty soft. Lovely frame. Correct me if I'm wrong but i was under the impression the RA was mid 40's.
 
1HBHfanatic

1HBHfanatic

Legend
-Wilson t2000 was extremely flexible
-play it with some natural gut strings and it is a pillow
-about the only appealing quality of such a thing/monstrosity
-i rather play with the woodies

-btw, wood racquets are very flexible!!
-Dunlop maxply are my gotos; solid sticks!!

-now if you want modern noodles, Wilson ultra "TOUR"
-very flexible stick
 
weelie

weelie

Professional
My old burgundy Wilson Ultra hammer is plenty flexible (100% graphite. tapered beam.. used to play with it in the 90s). I just need to figure it what to string it with, to make some use of it. Made it headlight now, with extra weight (about 12.8oz now). Strung with some weird syngut. Maybe some really low strung poly on it soon.

Besides that, my friend's Rossignol F300 is the only other noodle I've played with. It is ok for doubles.

Both have a little bit of a trampoline feel.

I wish I still had my Antelop, from the 80s. 13.3oz and a decent ride, IIRC. Low RA for sure!
 
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Ronaldo

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
Unaware of the RA but the old Wilson Ultra Graphite & FPK are pretty soft. FPK 85 is nice too but on head/bumperguard. Had to learn to play with a flexible racquet to end my TE/GE
 
teachingprotx

teachingprotx

Legend
Wilson would do very well to bring back the ultra tapered beam series . Very well .
If I was ever granted a wish it would be to get to design tennis rackets and since there ain’t nothing new under the sign and we live in a world of 2.0 and revamps , I’d so do just that . Bring back that while ultra line . Keep only the mid plus version. Keep the exact same mold .
I’d do / design this first : Copy the ultra Fpk / kevlar / graphite frame molds but just make the head size a bit bigger .. and it would be called this :::
Wilson Ultra clash
97 sq
10 .8 oz
7 pts HL
RA 50
Sweet !
 
teachingprotx

teachingprotx

Legend
https://imgur.com/UNCLGF2

I don’t know but I imagine if you like soft heavy sticks with good deep flex I bet ya some coin this frame fits all the boxes .. now Iremember these sticks sold at the k marts of the world back in the late 80’s . These are the sticks the JV KIDS used in high school, the kids I made fun of , but the jokes on me , cause I bet these cheapies hit a great ball ..
The mold is great it’s the classic 95 mold that Wilson used for a TON of frames for years . Not only was this mold in the ( price point ) series but all the way up to the (tour type expensive frames .
 
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A

aussie

Professional
Nida said:
Pro Kennex Copper Ace. Nice elegant paint job too.
Click to expand...
Yes this. Cheap as chips when new and just a beautiful stick to play with. Something like 60/40 fiberglass/graphite. Amazing dwell on shots, comfort and control in spades and to think I used it with a cheap 16 gauge syn gut back in the day. No idea what tension it was strung at (didn't have my own stringing machine back then) but I remember it was AUD $55 when I bought it. I remember when I first played with it, there was no break in or getting used to it time period. Walked on court to play with it freshly strung in a competition match and played as well as I was capable of. Why did I ever get rid of this gem?
 
P

Pete Player

Hall of Fame
Head Professional - The red head aluminium frame of the 70’s. That was even softer than wooden fiberglass wrapped Donnays.

And another quite soft was Puma Red Puma, 50/50 glass-/carbon fibre. Hence the Blue Puma 80/20 carbon fibreglas -ratio was very firm at the time, the 80’s. I remember them well, cause I had the reds still with me in 2010. They had a special feature, a screw knob at the but, where You could addjust the length of the racket. The Pumas were consumer products of the Boris Becker model he won in Wimbledon.

As a fan of Becker serve’n volley game, I just had to get the rackets. Unfortunately fell in love with the Blue model, but couldn’t get another frame and had to opt out for the Reds. Really, as a youngster, didn’t really have the opportunity to grab another Blue, cause the shop had only had one and the importer couldn’t provide more racket to the minimal market in our country. Dad had a Rossignol F250.
 
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movdqa

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
Pete Player said:
Head Professional - The red head aluminium frame of the 70’s. That was even softer than wooden fiberglass wrapped Donnays.
Click to expand...

I have three of these strung in my basement. They are difficult to play with as the sweet spot is tiny.

Aluminum frames were generally stiffer than wooden frames. The biggest advantage of aluminum was durability.
 
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