Spin, Thin, and Power at 11 ounces?

TripleB

TripleB

Hall of Fame
Due to knee surgery about 9.5 months ago I'm not really able to (right now I actually think it's more like I'm too nervous to) get the torque from my body that I used to get, so my shots just don't have the pop - therefore I'm looking for a racquet to help with the pop I'm missing from my groundies and serves.

Can anyone recommend an 11.0 to 11.3 ounce midplus (97-100) racquet that offers very good power, is thin beamed (23mm max), and offers fantastic topspin in order to hit the heavy dippers in doubles (won't ever be playing singles again)*?

* It would great if it also gave solid volleys, excellent touch, good maneuverability, awesome control, blah blah blah....but the five things mentioned above seem to be the most important characteristics right now.

Thanks for any recommendations!

TripleB
 
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M

mattavery24

Rookie
I would say the new blade 98s is something you may be looking for. Personally I love the aeropro drive. It has great power and I love volleying with it too. It is a great overall racquet, may be a little to thick for you in beam width but a solid racquet. Both listed racquets are within the 11-11.3 ounce range.
 
L

loubapache

Professional
Pacific X Force Comp (or get a Fischer MPro 1 UL)
Becker London

Both have good touch, volleys, control, and fall into your weight requirement. The Pacific (Fischer) is a 105 but still has good control.

Both are also relatively inexpensive.
 
ManuGinobili

ManuGinobili

Hall of Fame
For thin beam 100sq in rackets you can probably look at the Donnay and Angell offerings. During the demo I found Angells offer more power and spin.
 
esgee48

esgee48

G.O.A.T.
Head Instinct in the 16x19 string configuration. These have a lot more pop than the older 18x19 pattern.
 
S

SFrazeur

Legend
Might give the Head Prestige S a look:

Head Size:
98 sq. in. / 632.26 sq. cm.
Length: 27in / 68.58cm
Strung Weight: 11.4oz / 323.18g
Balance: 3 pts HL
Swingweight: 315
Stiffness: 63
Beam Width: 22mm / 22mm / 22mm /
Composition: d3o / Innegra / Graphite
Power Level: Low-Medium
Stroke Style: Medium-Full
Swing Speed: Medium-Fast
Racquet Colors:
Red / Silver
Grip Type: Hydrosorb Tour
String Pattern:
16 Mains / 19 Crosses
Mains skip: None
Two Pieces
Share: 7T, 8T, 7H, 8H
String Tension: 48-57 pounds
 
Chotobaka

Chotobaka

Hall of Fame
loubapache said:
Pacific X Force Comp (or get a Fischer MPro 1 UL)
Becker London

Both have good touch, volleys, control, and fall into your weight requirement. The Pacific (Fischer) is a 105 but still has good control.

Both are also relatively inexpensive.
Click to expand...

Man, you are like a broken record. Fischer this. Pacific that. :)

P.S. I have a minty Pro No 1 Black Granite incoming. A model I did not have in my collection. Also picked up a 98 inch FT Pro Tour with 22mm straight beam. The bastid love child of the normal Pro No 1 and 100 Pro Tour -- and it comes with a NOS racquet bag. Like I need one.
 
L

loubapache

Professional
^ Jim:

OP wants touch, feel, spin, power, thin, volley, the two I mentioned really fit the requirement in that weight category. The 105 really does plays smaller.

I am using a very large backpack from the FT (Frequency Tuning) series. It has a shoe compartment on the bottom, holds 4 rackets, plus a few other compartments.
 
G

GoSurfBoy

Semi-Pro
esgee48 said:
Head Instinct in the 16x19 string configuration. These have a lot more pop than the older 18x19 pattern.
Click to expand...


Hitting around with a Head Instinct MP. Beam is a bit wider, but it hits bombs, and delivers tons of spin.

The Graphene added a lot of stability (I think) for an 11oz strung frame, and plays much softer than it's 70RA spec.

The Prestige S was a decent hit. Better string would have helped. Some black and clear multi that was dead. Didn't get wowed enough to re-string it.

Just tried the Blade 98S. Too bad it had 'Rip Spin' in it, which I found did neither. With a great poly, it would be interesting, since it's light enough to play with, but was still VERY solid at it's stock weight.

Hit a Blade 98, 16-main with RPM today. A VERY solid hit, but a 330 swingweight, I thought, was far too high. Nowhere to go but 'too heavy' with any lead tape.
 
G

GoSurfBoy

Semi-Pro
And just saw some new Dunlops today. There's a brand new S 2.0 Lite, that will come in less than the M 2.0, allowing for silicone and some re-balancing tape.

Frame looks very powerful - didn't copy the specs (same mold, 22mm beam) - but they're bringing me a demo next week, so I'll post some specs and thoughts.

Oh, and there is a BRAND NEW overgrip, developed for heat/sweat. I got a few, and will report, as I have a tourney this weekend and it should be fairly hot.

Cheers
 
T

tennis_nut

Rookie
I think you should give the Blade 98S a try. I've been hitting with it for a week and it is everything you're looking for. Good power, plenty of spin, and 21mm beam. I put a leather grip on mine to make it a little more headlight. Awesome doubles stick :)
 
R

RollTrackTake

Professional
The Blade 98 S ticks all your boxes. I've been playing with it for 2 weeks and agree it is solid enough in stock form for most of us rec players. It's not that headlight so for dubs you may want to put some lead under the trap door.
A good sleeper pick = Mantis Pro 295
It's light, about 5pts HL, has a 21.5mm beam and IMO is more powerful than the Blade 98 S. It's not as spinny though.
The Six One BLX Team is a good option. its a 95 inch head which is smaller than you asked but I doubt you would notice the difference between it and a 97 inch
 
C

counterpuncher

Hall of Fame
I take it that the V1s are a little too thick for your liking. Didn't the PK QTour 295 you tried that you liked fit the bill?

One that I have demoed that I can recommend is the Rebel 98. The Mantis Pro 295 and perhaps Blade 98 were also good, but didn't off as much topspin potential.

Other than that I would think the V1 Pro and Graphene Speed would be prime candidates for your consideration.
 
Bartelby

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
It's better to wait for the new year releases to see whether you like them or to try to grab a discontinued racquet price.
 
Chotobaka

Chotobaka

Hall of Fame
loubapache said:
^ Jim:

OP wants touch, feel, spin, power, thin, volley, the two I mentioned really fit the requirement in that weight category. The 105 really does plays smaller.

I am using a very large backpack from the FT (Frequency Tuning) series. It has a shoe compartment on the bottom, holds 4 rackets, plus a few other compartments.
Click to expand...

I was just yanking your chain. Your recommendation is spot-on -- how could the OP possible go wrong with those recomenndations? I find myself suggesting Pacific and Fischer more often than not, too. The wife is still killing it with 105 SL and will officially take it into battle for the first time Sunday with Honda's USTA team here in #1 position. I think it is gone forever. I still have more stashed away for myself. :) I need to get all the Fischer gear together for pics one of these days. Take care, man.
 
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TripleB

TripleB

Hall of Fame
mattavery24 said:
I would say the new blade 98s is something you may be looking for. Personally I love the aeropro drive.
Click to expand...

Love the specs of the 98s but man, did it get some awful scores from T-W. I've tried the APD twice, knowing I was going to love it, but something about me and Babolat racquets (in general) just don't click.

loubapache said:
Pacific X Force Comp (or get a Fischer MPro 1 UL)
Click to expand...

I haven't tried the XForce Comp but I did try the XFeel Tour from Pacific. There were a lot of things I loved about the racquet, unfortunately it was strung with a stiff poly at around 45 pounds. Believe it or not I felt it had a huge amount of power but looking at the reviews it seems I'm the only one to think this. Have also taken a peek at the XForce but have heard the XFeel offers a little more 'feel' (duh). Wish I would have been able to try the XFeel Tour with decent strings in it.

Ronaldo said:
Best look to the Dark side.
Click to expand...

The Dark side is evil it is (in my worst Yoda voice)!

MikeHitsHard93 said:
Blade 16x19 has tons of power and spin potential.
Click to expand...

How's the maneuverability with the Blade? I think the swing weight is around the 330 mark...recently I've been down in the 3teens.

esgee48 said:
Head Instinct in the 16x19 string configuration. These have a lot more pop than the older 18x19 pattern.
Click to expand...

I like the look of the specs (and the great T-W review numbers) of the Graphene Instinct but was a little nervous about the 70 stiffness. Can you comment on the arm friendliness of this racquet?

Bartelby said:
Yonex 98D was good and the xi is almost the same.
Click to expand...

As a wild card I was actually looking at the Yonex VCore Tour 97 (310). It got great TW numbers on serves (my weak area), volleys, and maneuverability. Seems like it might make a nice light Dunlop AG 4D 200 Tour doubles racquet...although I don't know about the power level (got a 78 from TW but I'm not sure what that translates to for the average player).


ArliHawk said:
Head instinct or speed mp are both candidates. I prefer the instinct.
Click to expand...

Yea, I thought one of the two might be a more open string patterned MicroGel Radical Midplus (which I loved except for the lack of power and 18 string pattern). Specs on both look good...what made you prefer the Instinct?

GoSurfBoy said:
Hitting around with a Head Instinct MP. Beam is a bit wider, but it hits bombs, and delivers tons of spin.

The Graphene added a lot of stability (I think) for an 11oz strung frame, and plays much softer than it's 70RA spec.
Click to expand...

Yea, it says 24.5...it still seems like it has everything else I'm looking for so it might be worth a shot. Good to hear about the feel...the 70 stiffness worried me a bit. Like the sound of bombs and spin!!!

counterpuncher said:
I take it that the V1s are a little too thick for your liking. Didn't the PK QTour 295 you tried that you liked fit the bill?

Other than that I would think the V1 Pro and Graphene Speed would be prime candidates for your consideration.
Click to expand...

Yea...when I tried the V1 I was hitting (not playing) singles so there really wasn't a spot I was aiming for with my groundstrokes. Playing doubles, when I had to hit a spot, I just couldn't do it. On groundstrokes I don't think it was the thinkness (or maybe it was), I just couldn't find the control or the whipability. I thought the light weight would give me that whip but somehow it just wasn't there...maybe it was the thick frame trying to move through the air?

I didn't try the QTour 295, I tried the KiQ5 295. Looking back on my demo thoughts for the KiQ5 there were many things I liked about it...which makes me wonder why I chose the V1 over it...when it came down to it I think I felt the V1 had a bit more maneuverability. But the specs on the QTour look amazingly perfect...as do the specs on the G Speed.

Thanks for everyone's input and help. A LOT of great suggestions and feedback you have given me. I appreciate you taking the time to respond!

TripleB
 
JackB1

JackB1

G.O.A.T.
lots of good choices here.....

Dunlop M 3.0
Head IG Instinct
Becker London
Blade 98S
Graphene Speed MP
Blade 104

all these meet your criteria TripleB
 
TripleB

TripleB

Hall of Fame
JackB1 said:
lots of good choices here.....

Becker London

all these meet your criteria TripleB
Click to expand...

I tried this racquet quite a while back and here is what I said about it:

"this racquet had a nice flexy feel to it but it also had excellent pop – not sure how BB combined these two characteristics in such a light weight racquet, but it’s nice; it played very similar to the KBlade 98 but with a more flexible feel – it didn’t seem to translate into any better touch than with the KBlade but was a bit easier on the arm; it has a 16x19 string pattern but it didn’t seem to give me any more spin (maybe even slightly less) than the KBlade 98…in fact this was the one area that this racquet a bit of a disappointment (although 16x19, the string pattern was a bit closed, looked pretty similar to my 18 main LM Rad MP); slice was better than average, staying low with some good pace, but not as much action on the ball as with the BLX or the Volkl and nowhere close to that of the Dunlop; topspin was better than average but not as good as I was expecting – when I tried to add some extra topspin balls tended to land short; control was spot on with this racquet whether on serves, groundstrokes, or at the net – best control in the group; the pop was pretty much perfect, which allowed me a few return winners and gave me the opportunity to be aggressive on my groundstrokes which offered a very solid feel; volleys offered a solid feel, good pop, and very nice touch; return of serve was slightly better with this racquet than the Dunlop because, with the extra weight, I could block back harder serves and still get them deep in the court; serves had good accuracy with very good pop but kick serves were difficult to get action on; while the Dunlop begged to be used to hit topspin, this begged to hit the flat ball; because my game depends so much on spin, this racquet finishes (ever so) slightly behind the 4D 300"

Pretty good review overall....unfortunately no demos for this racquet any longer.

Thanks for the input.

TripleB
 
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K

Kasmatsu

Rookie
The Yonex Vcore 98d / XI 98 suggested above are great racquets, but I think they would fail the "feel" requirement. I have the 98d and it is very dampened. According to the TW reviews the XI 98 is even more dampened. In my experience the 98d makes delicate touch shots difficult. You need very soft hands. However if you just want to put the ball away with authority, the 98d is the right tool for the job.

The 97T 310g might have better feel.

Where I play doubles, I'd say 80% of the people are using some form of Prince O3/EXO3/Speedport racquet.
 
A

ArliHawk

Hall of Fame
TripleB said:
I like the look of the specs (and the great T-W review numbers) of the Graphene Instinct but was a little nervous about the 70 stiffness. Can you comment on the arm friendliness of this racquet?

It's much better on the arm than the 70 stiffness would indicate. Have been using head FXP in it without any arm problems.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
S

spinovic

Hall of Fame
ManuGinobili said:
For thin beam 100sq in rackets you can probably look at the Donnay and Angell offerings. During the demo I found Angells offer more power and spin.
Click to expand...

Donnay X-Dual Silver 99

However, I'm not sure that racquet will deliver the performance he's wanting.
 
JackB1

JackB1

G.O.A.T.
TripleB said:
I tried this racquet quite a while back and here is what I said about it:

"this racquet had a nice flexy feel to it but it also had excellent pop – not sure how BB combined these two characteristics in such a light weight racquet, but it’s nice; it played very similar to the KBlade 98 but with a more flexible feel – it didn’t seem to translate into any better touch than with the KBlade but was a bit easier on the arm; it has a 16x19 string pattern but it didn’t seem to give me any more spin (maybe even slightly less) than the KBlade 98…in fact this was the one area that this racquet a bit of a disappointment (although 16x19, the string pattern was a bit closed, looked pretty similar to my 18 main LM Rad MP); slice was better than average, staying low with some good pace, but not as much action on the ball as with the BLX or the Volkl and nowhere close to that of the Dunlop; topspin was better than average but not as good as I was expecting – when I tried to add some extra topspin balls tended to land short; control was spot on with this racquet whether on serves, groundstrokes, or at the net – best control in the group; the pop was pretty much perfect, which allowed me a few return winners and gave me the opportunity to be aggressive on my groundstrokes which offered a very solid feel; volleys offered a solid feel, good pop, and very nice touch; return of serve was slightly better with this racquet than the Dunlop because, with the extra weight, I could block back harder serves and still get them deep in the court; serves had good accuracy with very good pop but kick serves were difficult to get action on; while the Dunlop begged to be used to hit topspin, this begged to hit the flat ball; because my game depends so much on spin, this racquet finishes (ever so) slightly behind the 4D 300"

Pretty good review overall....unfortunately no demos for this racquet any longer.
Click to expand...


yes, the drill pattern in the center of the London is rather tight for a 16/19 racquet. Perhaps that is why you struggled to get spin.

On the flipside of that is the Graphene Instinct MP. It has a VERY open pattern and produces lots of spin. I also agree, it's more comfortable than it's stiffness ratings indicate.
 
TripleB

TripleB

Hall of Fame
JackB1 said:
yes, the drill pattern in the center of the London is rather tight for a 16/19 racquet. Perhaps that is why you struggled to get spin.
Click to expand...

You must not know my game...I don't hit the center of the racquet that often :).

Thanks for the input on the Instinct!

TripleB
 
SCRAP IRON

SCRAP IRON

Professional
Mantis

Try the Mantis Pro 295 if you can find it- Very good racket. It is similar to the 6.1 BLX Wilson rackets. I would absolutely suggest to polarize the set up in order to maximize spin. Lead at the top of the frame and a leather grip should do the trick.
 
SonRK

SonRK

Semi-Pro
Ronaldo said:
Bit heavy? EXO Tour is used by many locally.
Click to expand...


The Speedport Tour is pretty different from the o3 tour, ozone tour, and exo3 tour.

I hit with all and the Speedport Tour is definitely a lot more powerful than the other tours. The 97 sq inch head is also unique and the balls launch from
the string bed. I found the 100 sq inch tours to be heavy and cumbersome and I had trouble getting the ball deep in the court.

The Speedport Tour is also a 16x18 string pattern which is relatively open for the head size to help with the spin
 
TripleB

TripleB

Hall of Fame
JackB1 said:
Graphene Speed MP

all these meet your criteria TripleB
Click to expand...

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Head YT IG Speed 300...specs look about right in line and now it's sub $130. Maybe spin's the problem...looks like a pretty tight string pattern in the middle.

TripleB
 
JackB1

JackB1

G.O.A.T.
TripleB said:
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Head YT IG Speed 300...specs look about right in line and now it's sub $130. Maybe spin's the problem...looks like a pretty tight string pattern in the middle.

TripleB
Click to expand...

It's also very low powered
 
P

pattenww

Rookie
Dunlop M 3.0. Prior user of MicroRad, X-Force and Prestige S. Still in Honeymoon but very happy thus far. Does not have spin of S, but more power.
 
J

jason586

Rookie
Last year I was looking for a lighter version of the i.prestige MP with its solid feel and control - but with the power of the Ncode 6.1 95.
I found it in the Vantage/Angell 95.

The Vantage/Angells 16x19 are the most solid sub-11.5 racquets with nice power that I've played which is probably due to being foam filled and more/better quality graphite. They have everything: great feel, nice power, control, spin, and best of all - extremely solid through the ball. A nice thing about them is that if you are handy at all, you can take the pallet off and move around or remove weights in the handle; and the pallets are easily sandable to get the exact grip shape you like. Also, you can usually picked up a used pair of Vantages in good condition for $150 or less.
 
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TripleB

TripleB

Hall of Fame
JackB1 said:
It's also very low powered
Click to expand...

Thanks....I'll go ahead and mark that one off the list.

The four that seem intriguing to me right now are: Pro Kennex QTour 295, Head YT Graphene Instinct MP, Pro Kennex Kinetic Ki Q5 295 (tried this once before and liked a lot of things about it), and Yonex VCore Tour 97 310 (this is the wild card, heavier than I'm thinking about but I still have a lot of fond memories of playing with my RDX500 Midplus...this racquet got great scores in serves, spin, volleys, and maneuverability so I'm hoping it might be great for doubles).

Thanks for everyone's input. A lot of great suggestions...wish I could demo 8 racquets at a time.

TripleB
 
T

texastornado

Rookie
TripleB said:
Thanks....I'll go ahead and mark that one off the list.

The four that seem intriguing to me right now are: Pro Kennex QTour 295, Head YT Graphene Instinct MP, Pro Kennex Kinetic Ki Q5 295 (tried this once before and liked a lot of things about it), and Yonex VCore Tour 97 310 (this is the wild card, heavier than I'm thinking about but I still have a lot of fond memories of playing with my RDX500 Midplus...this racquet got great scores in serves, spin, volleys, and maneuverability so I'm hoping it might be great for doubles).

Thanks for everyone's input. A lot of great suggestions...wish I could demo 8 racquets at a time.

TripleB
Click to expand...

let us know how the playtest goes. i think everyone on this forum thinks about changing rackets from time to time (every 5 min)
 
Ronaldo

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
TripleB said:
Thanks....I'll go ahead and mark that one off the list.

The four that seem intriguing to me right now are: Pro Kennex QTour 295, Head YT Graphene Instinct MP, Pro Kennex Kinetic Ki Q5 295 (tried this once before and liked a lot of things about it), and Yonex VCore Tour 97 310 (this is the wild card, heavier than I'm thinking about but I still have a lot of fond memories of playing with my RDX500 Midplus...this racquet got great scores in serves, spin, volleys, and maneuverability so I'm hoping it might be great for doubles).

Thanks for everyone's input. A lot of great suggestions...wish I could demo 8 racquets at a time.

TripleB
Click to expand...

Pity theYonex nsrq-7 mp is no longer available.
 
R

Ross K

Legend
Graphene MP and TFight 295...

Graphene very nice crisp/damp feel, pretty solid... new TFights very nice imo, love the 16/20 pattern on the 280 and 295.
 
TripleB

TripleB

Hall of Fame
pmata814 said:
Exo3 Rebel 98 Fantastic racquet!
Click to expand...

I like the specs of the racquet except for the swingweight...little higher than I was hoping to go.

What type of grommet 'holes' does this model have? I have owned the O3 White and the Ozone Tour...don't really care for open grommets or having to have a special tool to string the racquet.

Thanks for the advice.

TripleB
 
P

pmata814

Professional
TripleB said:
I like the specs of the racquet except for the swingweight...little higher than I was hoping to go.

What type of grommet 'holes' does this model have? I have owned the O3 White and the Ozone Tour...don't really care for open grommets or having to have a special tool to string the racquet.

Thanks for the advice.

TripleB
Click to expand...

It does have open ports. I don't use any special tools to string it. I did try the s-hook but I prefer just to use the 50/50 method. It is a slight aonnoyance but not really a big deal. It's worth it imo to play with this racquet. The rebel 98 cured my 'racquetholism' :)

As far as swingweight I didn't feel it as much as I had expected. It has a higher swingweight than the exo3 tour yet I feel it is MUCH easier to swing than my tour. It has such a nice plush feel to it and I can generate almost as much spin as with my exo3 tour despite the smaller headsize. It has very nice plow through even though it's low in static weight. The 98 head makes it ideal for my 1hbh and very maneuverable at net for volleys. I originally was intending to add weight in hopes of making it close in feel to the Bio 200 but I played so well with it in stock form that I've decided not to mess with it.

I had demoed this racquet briefly, among many others, and I had dismissed it because it felt very springy. Later I thought I might like it better if I played it with syn. gut instead of the multi that the demo came with. So after some advice on here I decided to just buy one and experiment with string. Best decision I could have made. I love it. I haven't wanted to post any thoughts on it because I thought it might just be the 'honeymoon' phase but I've been playing with it several weeks now and I feel this is going to be my stick for a good while. I already bought a second one and I don't even look at the classifieds section anymore :)
 
C

counterpuncher

Hall of Fame
counterpuncher said:
One that I have demoed that I can recommend is the Rebel 98. The Mantis Pro 295 and perhaps Blade 98 were also good, but didn't off as much topspin potential.
Click to expand...

As per my initial recommendation, the Rebel 98 is worth consideration, it just needs a crisp string such as syn gut or poly, I use TB. Best feel of any of the port racquets that i've used. SW doesn't feel more than about 320, due to the ports. It's a racquet that surprised me.
 
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