TripleB
Hall of Fame
I received four demos yesterday and headed out to the courts for 3 hours of singles. Below you will find my first impressions on each racquet.
Demos with one overgrip and a rubber band:
Babolat Pure Storm GT '09: 319g, 4.5 points headlight, Babolat string (maybe N.VY 16)
Head YouTek IG Prestige S: 330g, 6 points headlight, Gosen OG Sheep Micro 17
Wilson BLX Blade 98: 338g*, 4 points headlight, pale green string (maybe Lux Savage)
Wilson BLX Pro Open: 327g, 6 points headlight, Enduro Tour 17
* 10 grams over T-W specs, was a bit disappointed it was that much heavier than I expected
Babolat Pure Storm GT '09: very solid feel to be the lightest racquet in the group, I felt like I could really block back hard serves with good success but would need to adjust the string and tension to try and get more depth on those shots, more headlight than I expected it to be but I still didn't feel like I could 'whip' this racquet around quickly on my forehand, topspin was average at best, slice was very good and I really liked how low the ball stayed, strings felt (and looked) old which really made the racquet seem dead at times, power level was lower than what I typically get with my Dunlop AG 4D 200 Tour, the control of the racquet was decent but for me it wasn't great because I found myself having to swing harder than normal to get the pop I was wanting, really struggled on serves with the racquet because it didn't give me any extra pop and I really couldn't get much spin when going for the kicker, the butt cap on this one seemed loose and squeaked on every shot, at net I liked the solid feel but found myself wanting more pop on put aways and a little more feel on touch volleys; Overall this racquet seemed too low powered (at least with the strings in it) for my game, control paled in comparison to my 200 Tours, and the maneuverability just isn't good enough for me to find the sharp angles
Head YouTek IG Prestige S: this racquet has a very crisp feel to it (I'm not sure what it's strung at but I think it's higher than the 53 mid tension), I really loved the topspin and slice I got out of this racquet…too bad my shots rarely got passed the service line, this racquet is extremely low powered, I just couldn't get any pop out of my serves/groundstrokes/volleys/etc., control with this racquet seemed decent but the ball was moving so slow that it didn't matter if I hit the lines or not because my opponent could run everything down, the sweetspot seemed pretty small with this Prestige…I'm not really sure this racquet should carry the Prestige name (the solid feel I associate with the name 'Prestige' just isn't there), kick serves had some good spin but again they were moving so slow they weren't effective, touch at the net was nice but other than good spin that's the only positive area I found with this racquet, in looking at the specs I had high hopes that this racquet would be what I'm looking for; Overall the lack of power and small sweetspot really left me disappointed in this racquet
Wilson BLX Blade 98: such an amazingly solid feel to this racquet…but of course it is a bit heavier than the other racquets (and 10 grams over listed specs) , although listed as 18x20 this racquet has a pretty open string pattern - comparing it to the Pure Storm GT the string spacing looks almost identical, I got fantastic topspin with this racquet and it seemed only slightly less than what I get with my 200 Tour, slice stayed nice and low and really had some good pace, I had good success keeping the ball deep in my opponent's court with this racquet, the power level of this racquet is almost perfect and when I had time to set up I could hit some beautiful winners cross-court and down the line, the one area of this racquet that wasn't stellar was maneuverability - may have been the balance but I'm thinking without the extra 10 grams (over listed specs) this racquet would have been much better in this area, this racquet allowed me to add a new shot to my bag - I had great success with the crosscourt backhand dropshot - great touch and control really allowed me to be incredibly effective with this shot, serves had good pop but I had a some problems getting the racquet moving as fast as I would have liked on the serve, kick/slice serves were about average but I'm thinking with some Tour Bite 17 they would give me that extra bite I was looking for last night, the feel of this racquet was very good and a little more solid than the KBlade 98 (no pain with the BLX version), loved returning with this racquet because of the solid feel but would have liked a little more quickness to it so I could be aggressive on my returns (felt like I was blocking everything back), at net I felt very comfortable with the pop and touch - again I would have liked a little less weight (or more headlight balance) for improved maneuverability up there; Overall this was the only racquet in the group that I liked and felt like I could be successful with - outstanding control, the right amount of power, solid returns, better than average spin…the only thing that would concern me is the lack of maneuverability - at this point I think I would probably choose the KBlade 98 over this one due to the better maneuverability and slightly less dampened feel
Wilson BLX Pro Open: extremely solid feel, power was the most of the group…the racquet seemed to be strung around 45 pounds (extremely loose and nowhere near mid tension for this racquet) which made it difficult to get a true feel for what this racquet is capable of because I felt like I had to hold back instead of going for my shots (similar to the way I felt I had to play with the Pure Drive), topspin was good (not as good as the Blade) but slice seemed to sit up and lack the drive through the court that the Blade did, pop on serves was huge but I seldom hit the service box with them, kick serves had more spin than with the Babolat or Head but the control I was hoping for really wasn't there, the control was slightly below average for me, wasn't ever really able to find the sharp angles with this racquet, the one area I did like this racquet was at net - solid feel/decent touch/good maneuverability; Overall this racquet really wasn't what I was hoping for or expected, power (as the demo was strung) was too much and I felt like I had to concentrate too hard on trying to guide my shot instead of just swinging freely
Again, these are just my first impressions. I'll be able to hit some more singles over the weekend and some doubles on Monday.
TripleB
Demos with one overgrip and a rubber band:
Babolat Pure Storm GT '09: 319g, 4.5 points headlight, Babolat string (maybe N.VY 16)
Head YouTek IG Prestige S: 330g, 6 points headlight, Gosen OG Sheep Micro 17
Wilson BLX Blade 98: 338g*, 4 points headlight, pale green string (maybe Lux Savage)
Wilson BLX Pro Open: 327g, 6 points headlight, Enduro Tour 17
* 10 grams over T-W specs, was a bit disappointed it was that much heavier than I expected
Babolat Pure Storm GT '09: very solid feel to be the lightest racquet in the group, I felt like I could really block back hard serves with good success but would need to adjust the string and tension to try and get more depth on those shots, more headlight than I expected it to be but I still didn't feel like I could 'whip' this racquet around quickly on my forehand, topspin was average at best, slice was very good and I really liked how low the ball stayed, strings felt (and looked) old which really made the racquet seem dead at times, power level was lower than what I typically get with my Dunlop AG 4D 200 Tour, the control of the racquet was decent but for me it wasn't great because I found myself having to swing harder than normal to get the pop I was wanting, really struggled on serves with the racquet because it didn't give me any extra pop and I really couldn't get much spin when going for the kicker, the butt cap on this one seemed loose and squeaked on every shot, at net I liked the solid feel but found myself wanting more pop on put aways and a little more feel on touch volleys; Overall this racquet seemed too low powered (at least with the strings in it) for my game, control paled in comparison to my 200 Tours, and the maneuverability just isn't good enough for me to find the sharp angles
Head YouTek IG Prestige S: this racquet has a very crisp feel to it (I'm not sure what it's strung at but I think it's higher than the 53 mid tension), I really loved the topspin and slice I got out of this racquet…too bad my shots rarely got passed the service line, this racquet is extremely low powered, I just couldn't get any pop out of my serves/groundstrokes/volleys/etc., control with this racquet seemed decent but the ball was moving so slow that it didn't matter if I hit the lines or not because my opponent could run everything down, the sweetspot seemed pretty small with this Prestige…I'm not really sure this racquet should carry the Prestige name (the solid feel I associate with the name 'Prestige' just isn't there), kick serves had some good spin but again they were moving so slow they weren't effective, touch at the net was nice but other than good spin that's the only positive area I found with this racquet, in looking at the specs I had high hopes that this racquet would be what I'm looking for; Overall the lack of power and small sweetspot really left me disappointed in this racquet
Wilson BLX Blade 98: such an amazingly solid feel to this racquet…but of course it is a bit heavier than the other racquets (and 10 grams over listed specs) , although listed as 18x20 this racquet has a pretty open string pattern - comparing it to the Pure Storm GT the string spacing looks almost identical, I got fantastic topspin with this racquet and it seemed only slightly less than what I get with my 200 Tour, slice stayed nice and low and really had some good pace, I had good success keeping the ball deep in my opponent's court with this racquet, the power level of this racquet is almost perfect and when I had time to set up I could hit some beautiful winners cross-court and down the line, the one area of this racquet that wasn't stellar was maneuverability - may have been the balance but I'm thinking without the extra 10 grams (over listed specs) this racquet would have been much better in this area, this racquet allowed me to add a new shot to my bag - I had great success with the crosscourt backhand dropshot - great touch and control really allowed me to be incredibly effective with this shot, serves had good pop but I had a some problems getting the racquet moving as fast as I would have liked on the serve, kick/slice serves were about average but I'm thinking with some Tour Bite 17 they would give me that extra bite I was looking for last night, the feel of this racquet was very good and a little more solid than the KBlade 98 (no pain with the BLX version), loved returning with this racquet because of the solid feel but would have liked a little more quickness to it so I could be aggressive on my returns (felt like I was blocking everything back), at net I felt very comfortable with the pop and touch - again I would have liked a little less weight (or more headlight balance) for improved maneuverability up there; Overall this was the only racquet in the group that I liked and felt like I could be successful with - outstanding control, the right amount of power, solid returns, better than average spin…the only thing that would concern me is the lack of maneuverability - at this point I think I would probably choose the KBlade 98 over this one due to the better maneuverability and slightly less dampened feel
Wilson BLX Pro Open: extremely solid feel, power was the most of the group…the racquet seemed to be strung around 45 pounds (extremely loose and nowhere near mid tension for this racquet) which made it difficult to get a true feel for what this racquet is capable of because I felt like I had to hold back instead of going for my shots (similar to the way I felt I had to play with the Pure Drive), topspin was good (not as good as the Blade) but slice seemed to sit up and lack the drive through the court that the Blade did, pop on serves was huge but I seldom hit the service box with them, kick serves had more spin than with the Babolat or Head but the control I was hoping for really wasn't there, the control was slightly below average for me, wasn't ever really able to find the sharp angles with this racquet, the one area I did like this racquet was at net - solid feel/decent touch/good maneuverability; Overall this racquet really wasn't what I was hoping for or expected, power (as the demo was strung) was too much and I felt like I had to concentrate too hard on trying to guide my shot instead of just swinging freely
Again, these are just my first impressions. I'll be able to hit some more singles over the weekend and some doubles on Monday.
TripleB
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