Prince Exo3 Tour, what racquet to choose next to progress in strokes technique?

Hi all!
I have Prince Exo3 Tour now, excellent racquet, have been playing with it for a year, all tennis experience is about 1.5 years... Love its spin and arm friendness but I think now I need a little bit more control...
Physical ability: I'v added about two grams in head in total, major in 3-9 and a bit in 12, it became much more stable, but when I tried to add some more, it became too heavy, so I had to stop on previous weight. So I will not cope with much more swingweight than Prince Exo3 have.

In terms of progressing, is it useful to change racquet to something more strict, for example demanding longer stroke? Or I should stay with current racquet and continue working on my technique?

sw grip on forehand, 2hbh...

Try adding more weight in the handle. For example, use a leather grip.

What string and what tension are you using?

You already have decent racket. Don't need to change.
If you change your racket, just join in racketholic section haha.
I tried many rackets and found that there is no magical racket.
Always one thing is missing. That's why racket companies make money ^_^
Build your technique around your current racket instead of frequent racket changes.

David Ferrer does OK with the Exo3 Tour. They are control rackets and have low power. Definitely for the more advanced players.

mikeler said:

David Ferrer does OK with the Exo3 Tour. They are control rackets and have low power. Definitely for the more advanced players.

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Ferrer is actually playing with I believe the previous version 03 Tour, customized to whatever spec. At any rate, the Exo3 Tour is not a racket you need to move up from as you progress as it's already suited towards the more advanced player.

Yes david ferrer uses old O3 tour and guess it's extended racket too.
this shows that pros prefer to stick with one racket as long as they can.
you don't need new racket. if you have open string pattern of Exo3 tour, you should try some dense pattern EXO3 Tour but you will find another problem haha.

I currently play with Tour too.
I had looked for another racket for control but ended up Tour again. For better control, I recommend you got to go for smaller head size rackets such as 95 or 98 with SW you like.

loosegroove said:

Ferrer is actually playing with I believe the previous version 03 Tour, customized to whatever spec. At any rate, the Exo3 Tour is not a racket you need to move up from as you progress as it's already suited towards the more advanced player.

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What are the differences between the Tour that supposedly Ferrer uses and the current one?

If you are playing with the 16x18 string pattern, try the 18x20 in the same racquet. I played with the EXO3 Tour 16x18, and all though control wasn't the best I've played with, it was more than adequate.

I think what protestov.tt means is that he ran into a wall when trying to customize the EXO3 tour to suit his game because anything more than 2 grams adds so much weight to the racket and makes it less maneuverable. I actually had the exact same problem. In my effort to get on top of the lack of stability and excess flex in the hoop, the infamous Achilles heel of this racket, I added 2g (even tried 4g) at 3 and 9 and 4 g in the handle. The racket definitely felt more stable and more powerful but I didn't have the proper technique to be able to prepare early and lengthen my swing and maneuver all that weight around.
My solution - the EXO3 tour team. I read really positive reviews about it and since it's even balanced and 1 ounce lighter than the tour, it's a great platform for customization. I agree that a tennis player should grow his game around a racket but if things are simply not working with a specific racket and you identify the problem and know what you need (e.g. less swingweight, more maneuverability...) then you should explore other rackets, at least within the same family of rackets you're playing with,

MikeHitsHard93 said:

What string and what tension are you using?

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I am using Technofibre X-One, tension slightly higer than average don't remember exactly. Love this string at first 5 hours of play but then its preferences begin to change quickly, trampoline effect appears... Want to try LXN Ace 18...

Jopspin said:

I think what protestov.tt means is that he ran into a wall when trying to customize the EXO3 tour to suit his game because anything more than 2 grams adds so much weight to the racket and makes it less maneuverable. I actually had the exact same problem. In my effort to get on top of the lack of stability and excess flex in the hoop, the infamous Achilles heel of this racket, I added 2g (even tried 4g) at 3 and 9 and 4 g in the handle. The racket definitely felt more stable and more powerful but I didn't have the proper technique to be able to prepare early and lengthen my swing and maneuver all that weight around.
My solution - the EXO3 tour team. I read really positive reviews about it and since it's even balanced and 1 ounce lighter than the tour, it's a great platform for customization. I agree that a tennis player should grow his game around a racket but if things are simply not working with a specific racket and you identify the problem and know what you need (e.g. less swingweight, more maneuverability...) then you should explore other rackets, at least within the same family of rackets you're playing with,

Click to expand...

As I understand if we want to get more control, we should go to more underpowered racquets, maybe with smaller heads, but Team version is more powered than Tour Exo, and I do not feel deficit of power with Tour Exo.
But yes this racquet deserves attention according to reviews...

Month ago stringer put on my racquet some black LXN strings with high tension, they were pretty firm and underpowered compared with X-One , and I noticed that I began to make longer swings, some more control appeared (maybe it subjective ofcourse )... But I had to refuse from them because my elbow trauma on nondominant hand(unlucky fall down on straight hand half year ago) began to remind about itself... So maybe I should stay with my racquet but change my strings on smth less powered , same arm friendly as X-One, and more constant during usage... I think thin poly corresponds to these conditions, such as LXN Ace 18...

X-one has a noticeable decline in performance after a few hours.

I was in a very similar position to you and went to the Volkl Organix 10 325. At first it was a disaster. I had it strung with a multi at 55pounds and it hit like a total board with buggerall power. Horrible feel and a ton of shots dying into the net or hanging in mid court to be belted past me. However, after stupidly persevering with this set up for a number of months I changed to a synthetic gut at 50 pounds and suddenly it all made a lot more sense to me. Still a crisp feeling of control but I'm driving the ball much deeper in the court now. I don't get quite as much spin as I did with the Prince but I'm hitting clean winners now and have a racquet that's brilliant for volleying as well.

It's taken me nearly a year but my game has improved out of sight and this racquet has grown in my estimation over that time. I almost chucked it but now I'm really loving it. Different strokes for different folks I know but that's my 2 cents.

Have you tried experimenting the placement of lead as opposed to how much to get your desired result? I have played with lead on my exo tour 18x20 and for me, 6g total at 3 and 9 did the trick. The swingweight wasn't hefty, overall weight is still light and at the very most i changed the balance to one pt less headlight. However, it retained pretty much all the stock characteristics and was still very mobile, quick, and spin friendly. The main difference was stability increased, while plow improved a bit. Most people put stability and plow together but my set up made me realise they can be different. On impact, the added weight stopped the 'fluttering' and twisting but the racquet wasn't hefty enough to actually 'bulldoze' and plow through the hit zone. In a nutshell, it was like playing with a stock exo tour but without the twisting and fluttering. If you want to experiment and try it, maybe go 2.5g each location. I just picked 3g at each location as a random starting point and I liked it.

Either way, most guys will say use the heaviest racquet you can play with without getting wasted. And it seems to me you reached that point with the exo and can no longer add more. But if it feels stable and fine then why add more weight? Are you looking for something more?

However, I do believe each player has a racquet that best suits their game and desires. I was playing with my exo tour until i decided to give the tour diablo mid a try and i was sold. I was able to hit the ball in a way that felt very natural for me, yet getting the desired shot with it. It also produced some of the best forehands and serves I ever hit in my life.