comfortable substitute for prince diablo mid

Hi all, I currently use the tour diablo mid and I love it a lot but ever since I started using the racquet I have been getting pain or soreness in my wrist. I like to swing loosey and with a relaxed grip and let the racquet do the work for me in my shot. I find the frame plays very stiff despite the not so insanely high stiffness rating. I am using a full bed of rip control at a comfortable tension, and I use a dampener (which really helps) but every now and then I either feel some slight discomfort from a bad hit or soreness after the session. The soreness usually goes away the next day or so which is fine since I only play once a week.

I have decided to stop using it for now to be on the safe side and resort to my exo tour but I can't hit the same heavy ball/shot due to the lack of plow through. I feel I need to arm the ball through the hitting zone more. My shot trajectory is more loopy/slower and doesn't penetrate through the court with weight with the diablo.

I am considering a switch to the rebel 95 as it weighs and swings the same and with the low flex looking very attractive. I am also considering the rebel 98 too as the review and feedback mentions it has good stability and plow so I am thinking I might do myself a favour by using something that can produce the result I want but lighter with a forgiving head size.

For those who have experience with the diablo mid, and the rebels, your opinion is greatly valued.

Did you try a softer string/tension? You could try stringing much lower to see if it helps...

Substitute for Prince Diablo Mid

I had similar experience with the Diablo Mid. Loved the control but the racket killed my elbow. I strung as low as 42lbs with prince synthetic gut. It still hurt. Natural gut helped somehow.

The one racket I think is very similar in play to the Diablo Mid is the Gamma 340X. Has a little more flex and is quite a bit more comfortable though not quite as precise as the Diablo. Plays well with natural gut also.

I don't know about the Princes, but if you like mids, have you considered (or tried) a Volkl Power Bridge 10 Mid or a Head Prestige Mid/Midplus as an alternative? Or perhaps a Pro Kennex Black Ace 93?

My diablo has gut/poly with a rubberband dampener. No pain for me, and I have a history of wrist and elbow pain.

My diablo Mid is strung with the cheapest of the cheap (Forten Nylon @ 58)
and I have not had any problems. Granted, it lets me know when I am muscling the ball instead of relaxing and let the racquet do its thing

In my opinion the PK 7G plays somewhat similar but it has a bit more power and is easier on the body

On your 18x20 EXO3 Tour - 3g total lead at 2/10 to get the swingweight up to the Diablo. Add 10-12g of lead at the top of the grip under the finishing tape to add overall weight and make it slightly more head light. I use 1/2" lead for this instead of the normal 1/4". String it about 5lbs higher than you do the Diablo to bring the launch angle down.

All of my EXO3 Tours have lead. I don't need it on my Diablo Mid or POGs.

IMHO, if you want the feel to remain familiar, you should look into more flexible racquets with denser string patterns (18x20). It won't feel like the ball's on a trampoline.

Oh, well....if you're looking for a substitute for the Diablo, the Head Speeds are your answer. Head copied the Prince head shape but gave it a 98 sq in head. Balance and feel are largely similar. Just a bit sluggish cuz it's a 98, but they've reduced the swing weight on recent renditions. (I'm comparing to the white Speed Pro. That's my reference.)

jonestim said:

On your 18x20 EXO3 Tour - 3g total lead at 2/10 to get the swingweight up to the Diablo. Add 10-12g of lead at the top of the grip under the finishing tape to add overall weight and make it slightly more head light. I use 1/2" lead for this instead of the normal 1/4". String it about 5lbs higher than you do the Diablo to bring the launch angle down.

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Perfect mod advice. I would have suggested the same.

jonestim said:

On your 18x20 EXO3 Tour - 3g total lead at 2/10 to get the swingweight up to the Diablo. Add 10-12g of lead at the top of the grip under the finishing tape to add overall weight and make it slightly more head light. I use 1/2" lead for this instead of the normal 1/4". String it about 5lbs higher than you do the Diablo to bring the launch angle down.

All of my EXO3 Tours have lead. I don't need it on my Diablo Mid or POGs.

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I might give that a shot. I want to clarify that 3g total lead at 2/10 = 1.5g at each point?

tata said:

I might give that a shot. I want to clarify that 3g total lead at 2/10 = 1.5g at each point?

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Yes. That's a good starting point, but it depends on the weight and swingweight of your Tours and Diablos. 3g a that position would bring a 323 sw EXO3 Tour up to around 333, which is in the ballpark of the Diablos. My Diablos are a bit lighter than some at 343 g strung with overgrip and I have seen some people say theirs are about 355 strung with overgrip. I have also see EXO3 Tours that weighed only 324 strung and others that were 329. The numbers I put out were ballpark - a good place to start. 3g total is about where i could feel the ball flatten against the strings well.

As far as the weight under the grip, 10-12g at the top of the grip should keep it around 6-7 HL depending on your racquets. If you wanted more you could take the grip all the way off and put 6g just above the butt cap, or take the butt cap off and put some in the handle then do the other 6g at the top of the grip. My diablos are around 8-9 HL with overgrip but some are more headlight.

Good luck.

jonestim said:

As far as the weight under the grip, 10-12g at the top of the grip should keep it around 6-7 HL depending on your racquets. If you wanted more you could take the grip all the way off and put 6g just above the butt cap, or take the butt cap off and put some in the handle then do the other 6g at the top of the grip. My diablos are around 8-9 HL with overgrip but some are more headlight.

Good luck.

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Thank you very much, I will go with the 12g at the top of the grip. If I'm doing this right, I have 4 strips (each weighing 3g) and apply them vertically down the grip from the top, with one strip on each of the main bevels?

My experience with lead tape is very minimal.

You could do it that way, but that makes your grip size larger. Since the center of mass of the lead would be at 4" from the butt instead of 8" it would also make it more head light.

What I did was buy this: http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/descpage-LEAD.html which is 1/2g per inch. 36 inches is 18g, so I cut it in half and had two 9g strips - each 18 inches long. I then unwrapped the grip about an inch and wrapped one strip on each of my racquets I was modifying. It wraps around about 4-5 times. I then used a rubber grip finisher on my Tours that I don't on my Diablos to get it to about 10g. By putting the lead at the top of the grip it is not under your hands so it does not enlarge the grip at all and it keeps the racquet from becoming too head light. My Diablos are only 8-9 HL with over grip. Yours may be more head light so you may want to have some of your weight below the top of the grip. You could do one or two wraps just above the butt cap instead of it all at the top.

I wouldn't take my numbers as the exact ones to match YOUR racquets. Take it as a really good ballpark. If you do about what I said and go hit you should be able to tell if you enjoy it enough to continue tinkering. If it feels almost right you can move the lead a bit, add a bit or remove a bit. Heck, you don't even have to put lead at the top of the grip to test it. You could put two nickels at the top of the grip - one on each of the big sides - and wrap electrical tape around it. That would add about 10g. Two nickels and a dime would be about 12g. You could hit with it for a while then try it with one nickel at the top of the grip and one taped to the butt cap which would make it more head light. Easy, cheap and it would let you know if it is worth pursuing tinkering before buying a Rebel. Coins aren't a long term solution but are quicker and easier than moving lead and re-wrapping your grip each time.

I have just finished the modifying the racquet and swung it around the house. By doing just that, I can feel the gap has definitely closed between the two racquets. There is a small difference between the two but I'm looking optimistic about my results on court with the leaded up exo tour. Obviously the string pattern and head size will play a role in how I go when comparing it to the diablo but I think it will be something I can get used to knowing my wrist will thank me for it. I will come back with results when I get on court in 3 days time. Thanks jonestim!

Try lower tensions

POG Mid feels softer. Diablo is more crisp because it's a little stiffer and I think the matte finish on the diablos has something to do with it also. I like racquets with a matte finish as I think I get more feel and feedback but also have come to enjoy the feel of a racquet with a glossy finish, has a comfy pillow feel. Of coure this all depends on materials in the racquet layup and stiffness of those materials.

kabrac said:

POG Mid feels softer.

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Which version? 1 stripe, 4 stripe, Straight Shaft or Tour? My 4 stripes seem to be about as soft or maybe a hair softer than the Diablo. My Straight Shaft may be a bit stiffer, but I have not tried the same string in that and the diablo.

Just had a hit tonight. Still lacking torsional stability. Think I might try 3 grams each at 9 and 3 instead of the 3gram total at 10 and 2. The racquet swung lighter than the diablo so I got more leeway to add mass to the hoop to make it more head heavy and stable. My muscular memory seemed programmed to the swing of the diablo so I wasn't hitting as cleanly. Unusually I was sending balls in the bottom half of the net (which rarely happens). However, the changes to the exo tour really brought out my backhand slice - low, deep, skidding, consistent. I started to use it exclusively on the backhand side which really unsettled my hitting partner. Nevertheless, the mod advice was a really good starting point.