BounceHitBounceHit
Legend
Oh NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! Too late, I suppose BP. Look BP, this is on YOUR shoulders!!
BHBH
Next Generation of Pro Staff is Here; Pro Staff RF 97 Review
- Thread starter drakulie
- Start date
Oh NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! Too late, I suppose BP. Look BP, this is on YOUR shoulders!!
BHBH
BounceHitBounceHit
Legend
BounceHitBounceHit
Legend
I didn't play as planned yesterday afternoon as I seem to have caught my three year old's nasty preschool virus. However the feel from my new set up is superb, and the guts mains show no sign of wear after approximately 3 hours of hitting. I LOVE it! Thanks to you both for making it happen.
BHBH
BounceHitBounceHit
Legend
I KNEW there was a reason you seemed so darned fast!!!! You've been tricking me all these years, haven't you??? I KNEW my serves normally go 'in' on a regulation court. This hurts brother. Truly, it does.
BHBH
PeterFig
Professional
My Pro Staff RF97 Review
Now that I've had a good number of hours under my belt with the RF97, both in practice situations and matches, I thought I'd post my thoughts on it.
I'll start of with a disclaimer: I am currently under a work contract with Wilson. Having said that I've played with a Wilson Pro Staff racquet since the PS85 so I think I can objectively post this review and not be swayed by my recent work relationship with Wilson.
Racquet before switching to RF97
For the last year or so I started playing about half the time with a PS95S, and the other half the time with my trusty PS90. The PS95S was strung with 4G in the high 50's, while my PS90 was strung with champion choice around 50lb.
Setup of RF97
Initially I strung it up with Champions Choice using Federer's tension (59/56lb), but lately I've gone down to 56/53lb. I also have one frame strung with 4G but have not put much time on it at all so I'll keep my feedback to my experience with the Champions Choice strung frame. I've switched the Wilson leather grip to TW's 1.3mm leather grip (I like the thinner feel that gives better feel of the bevel edges) and then have Wilson Pro Overgrip on top.
Forehands
Let me start off with saying that I've been tweaking / changing my forehand lately so I'm not as dialled in / connected with that shot at the moment. Having said that I was blasting my forehands. The frame adds very noticeable extra power on that shot. I could also tell some increased spin I got with this over the PS90 (but maybe not quite as much as the PS95S). This is also the shot where I felt the increased size of the sweet-spot the most.... and it is much bigger. Maybe because I'm tinkering around with my forehand I needed a larger sweet-spot here more than on any other shot to give me that extra margin of error. Now, let me cover the most talked about issue: weight / swing weight. To me this is just 'slightly' (almost not noticeably) heavier than the PS90 but to be honest now that I've played with it for a month or so I can't really tell the difference. Compared to the K88 which I have played with a bit, the RF97 is much easier to swing. The K88 is the only racquet that I really found heavy to swing.
Backhand
Love it! Instant added plow-through on the topspin backhand! Heavy ball on the slice. I was able to abbreviate my backswing on the slice and still get a hard and biting ball ... in the end I think my slice backhand is now a better shot technically too as a result. I think the only shot that I'm still not totally dialled into is a heavy topspin backhand, not sure really why but it might be just the slight extra swing weight, but I'm finding my backhands to be flatter with this frame. My favorite shot with this racquet overall is a block/flat backhand hit off a heavy and deep ball from my opponent. That ball that bounces just inside the baseline... I'm able to basically half volley it from there with almost no backswing and just letting the frame's weight, stability and increased sweetspot do all the work.
Volleys
Very solid. I tend to take a little bit too much of a swing at some of my volleys so just like the slice backhand this racquet is actually helping my volley technique as I can take a much shorter 'punch' at the ball and get some sweet pace and bite. A 12oz "game improvement" frame? .... maybe for me with my long swings.
Serves
From day one with this racquet my serves have been huge! The first match I played with the racquet I hit more aces that I had done in any match in my life. The extra power is the most noticeable here for me. One the downside, I'm still not quite there with heavier spin second serves. I'm finding they tend to fly a bit long. I'm getting them in range a bit better lately, but it is a work in progress still.
Returns
As I mentioned before I have quite long / loopy swings, and they have always been my achilles on service returns. It's always been the weakest part of my game especially on the forehand. With the RF97 I'm still struggling with the forehand return. I think if I really shorten my swing the stability and weight of the racquet would help here, but I'm not there yet. However on the backhand where I do tend to chip the ball often, things are going much better. The returns have more depth and bite on them so I'm pretty happy there.
Overall
Very happy with this frame. It was a pretty easy, but very welcome transition from my PS90. I'm using the RF97 as my main frame and loving it more every day. Yes, it's taken a bit to get used to the fact that I'm not holding a thin, box-beam, and smaller frame in my hand, but I think I'm OK with that now and just enjoying the extra benefits I get with this frame. As for the cosmetics.... well I'm sure they'll grow on me in time
And here again is that "in-depth" 6 second video of me hitting with the RF97:
VIDEO: 6 seconds with the RF97
Peter
Now that I've had a good number of hours under my belt with the RF97, both in practice situations and matches, I thought I'd post my thoughts on it.
I'll start of with a disclaimer: I am currently under a work contract with Wilson. Having said that I've played with a Wilson Pro Staff racquet since the PS85 so I think I can objectively post this review and not be swayed by my recent work relationship with Wilson.
Racquet before switching to RF97
For the last year or so I started playing about half the time with a PS95S, and the other half the time with my trusty PS90. The PS95S was strung with 4G in the high 50's, while my PS90 was strung with champion choice around 50lb.
Setup of RF97
Initially I strung it up with Champions Choice using Federer's tension (59/56lb), but lately I've gone down to 56/53lb. I also have one frame strung with 4G but have not put much time on it at all so I'll keep my feedback to my experience with the Champions Choice strung frame. I've switched the Wilson leather grip to TW's 1.3mm leather grip (I like the thinner feel that gives better feel of the bevel edges) and then have Wilson Pro Overgrip on top.
Forehands
Let me start off with saying that I've been tweaking / changing my forehand lately so I'm not as dialled in / connected with that shot at the moment. Having said that I was blasting my forehands. The frame adds very noticeable extra power on that shot. I could also tell some increased spin I got with this over the PS90 (but maybe not quite as much as the PS95S). This is also the shot where I felt the increased size of the sweet-spot the most.... and it is much bigger. Maybe because I'm tinkering around with my forehand I needed a larger sweet-spot here more than on any other shot to give me that extra margin of error. Now, let me cover the most talked about issue: weight / swing weight. To me this is just 'slightly' (almost not noticeably) heavier than the PS90 but to be honest now that I've played with it for a month or so I can't really tell the difference. Compared to the K88 which I have played with a bit, the RF97 is much easier to swing. The K88 is the only racquet that I really found heavy to swing.
Backhand
Love it! Instant added plow-through on the topspin backhand! Heavy ball on the slice. I was able to abbreviate my backswing on the slice and still get a hard and biting ball ... in the end I think my slice backhand is now a better shot technically too as a result. I think the only shot that I'm still not totally dialled into is a heavy topspin backhand, not sure really why but it might be just the slight extra swing weight, but I'm finding my backhands to be flatter with this frame. My favorite shot with this racquet overall is a block/flat backhand hit off a heavy and deep ball from my opponent. That ball that bounces just inside the baseline... I'm able to basically half volley it from there with almost no backswing and just letting the frame's weight, stability and increased sweetspot do all the work.
Volleys
Very solid. I tend to take a little bit too much of a swing at some of my volleys so just like the slice backhand this racquet is actually helping my volley technique as I can take a much shorter 'punch' at the ball and get some sweet pace and bite. A 12oz "game improvement" frame?
.... maybe for me with my long swings.Serves
From day one with this racquet my serves have been huge! The first match I played with the racquet I hit more aces that I had done in any match in my life. The extra power is the most noticeable here for me. One the downside, I'm still not quite there with heavier spin second serves. I'm finding they tend to fly a bit long. I'm getting them in range a bit better lately, but it is a work in progress still.
Returns
As I mentioned before I have quite long / loopy swings, and they have always been my achilles on service returns. It's always been the weakest part of my game especially on the forehand. With the RF97 I'm still struggling with the forehand return. I think if I really shorten my swing the stability and weight of the racquet would help here, but I'm not there yet. However on the backhand where I do tend to chip the ball often, things are going much better. The returns have more depth and bite on them so I'm pretty happy there.
Overall
Very happy with this frame. It was a pretty easy, but very welcome transition from my PS90. I'm using the RF97 as my main frame and loving it more every day. Yes, it's taken a bit to get used to the fact that I'm not holding a thin, box-beam, and smaller frame in my hand, but I think I'm OK with that now and just enjoying the extra benefits I get with this frame. As for the cosmetics.... well I'm sure they'll grow on me in time
And here again is that "in-depth" 6 second video of me hitting with the RF97:
VIDEO: 6 seconds with the RF97
Peter
Chezbeeno
Professional
I was using the Juice Pro before switching briefly to the Pure Drive Roddick. I got a single RF97 just to see if I'd like it, since the PDR's aren't working too well for me and within about 3 days of normal practice with the RF it started to feel amazing. So to answer your question, yes. I originally had it strung with Luxilon Savage at 48 lbs but that broke in a few hours to I used our team string Tecnifibre Poly Code at 50 lbs and it feels like magic. Managed to score a second RF from a shop in San Antonio so the two I have now should get me through fall season until January when I can pick up a player pack.
PeterFig
Professional
Funny enough I'm trying to get a little more bend in my forehand ... Just trying to get my body balance a bit better and thinking that being more "contained" in my forehand form may work.
I'm intrigued with your string setup. How's the durability? I like the isospeed and have used it before (very unique feel) but found the durability to be very bad.
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
I didn't play as planned yesterday afternoon as I seem to have caught my three year old's nasty preschool virus. However the feel from my new set up is superb, and the guts mains show no sign of wear after approximately 3 hours of hitting. I LOVE it! Thanks to you both for making it happen.
Sounds like the enterovirus. It's been all over New England the last three weeks. It's relatively mild for adults but can be dangerous for kids.
Between wife, kids, and grandkids, it's hit 6 of my family. Very nasty stuff. Can lead to pneumonia if you don't get antibiotics. 2 grandkids got pneumonia, but they are better now.
Say Chi Sin Lo
G.O.A.T.
Better yet, there's no way I'm going to give PeterFig that kind of TIME to prepare for his strokes.
(This is actually constructive criticism Peter, hope you don't mind)
The durability of the hybrid for me has been good. I don't hit with much topspin and have not had much issues with string breakage traditionally. Also, this hybrid seems to be tolerated by my sensitive elbow.
BounceHitBounceHit
Legend
It looks like the Middle TN Chapter is "all in" with the RF 97! Too bad Bolt has been sidelined with injuries. He would love this thing!
BHBH
PeterFig
Professional
That's actually quite perceptive from seeing just 2 forehands. Impressive. The long stroke / lateness on my forehand side is for sure my biggest weakness and something I'm actively working to try and fix. I don't mind the feedback / criticism at all
Say Chi Sin Lo
G.O.A.T.
That's actually quite perceptive from seeing just 2 forehands. Impressive. The long stroke / lateness on my forehand side is for sure my biggest weakness and something I'm actively working to try and fix. I don't mind the feedback / criticism at all
Peter, it's all footwork. And do excuse me for saying (indirectly) that you've got less than optimal footwork.
Basically, the earlier you move your feet, the earlier you can prep the upper body. I grew up watching Agassi, people make fun of his small pigeon steps but I think there's a reason behind that madness. He takes all the little steps before he even starts his upper body. When it's at all possible, I'm more likely to hit the ball early/on the rise to take time away from my opponent, and make you hit the next shot when you aren't ready to "reload".
Also, observe Stefan Edberg. Nevermind the eastern grip (not sure what grip you use, but that's irrevelant), but look at how quickly he preps his feet THEN his upperbody. As soon as his opponent hits the ball, those feet are moving. By the time the ball reaches the net, his body is already turned.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwrt36THazc
PS, I saw your design in person, and it works. Nicely done (I may have badmouthed it with only internet pictures, and my personal bias for all matte black). I'm calling it the Vampire Staff.
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PeterFig
Professional
Again - totally agree - my footwork is what causes me to not hit a good ball more than all other aspects of my game combined. Hard at work on it. That short video is probably not the best example as I was 'feeding' medium paced balls to a friend's backhand side he was working on, but in all honestly my footwork is far from 'amazing' when I'm actually playing all out
Again as I mentioned before - this is more true on my forehand side. Glad you are coming around to the design
... and I'm totally fine with not everyone loving it. Design is subjective.
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PeterFig
Professional
Funny enough I grew up with Edberg as the guy I followed, and I tried playing like him. So I had the funny 'chicken wing' forehand and bent waaaay back on my serve. I've been able to for the most part get rid of both habits and now my forehand is a bit more 'normal' looking and I'm not killing my back every time I serve
Still love Stefan though and love his footwork. That's something I should have copied rather than the funny forehand!Say Chi Sin Lo
G.O.A.T.
Again - totally agree - my footwork is what causes me to not hit a good ball more than all other aspects of my game combined. Hard at work on it. That short video is probably not the best example as I was 'feeding' medium paced balls to a friend's backhand side he was working on, but in all honestly my footwork is far from 'amazing' when I'm actually playing all out
Glad you are coming around to the design
Footwork is always the hardest thing to work on it. Because it's hard to be aware of what you're doing exactly. (Can't exactly watch your own feet and then hit the ball)
Also, it's not like you're not covering grounds, so it can be misleading as well. (covering grounds and footwork are different things in my opinion)
Say Chi Sin Lo
G.O.A.T.
Glad you are coming around to the design
Still would love to see this design in a box beamed 90, for 2015 perhaps? :twisted:
aimr75
Hall of Fame
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
Unfortunately, these are very different racquets with very different feels. Although both are stiff, one actually feels the sharpness of impact with an aero and vibration of the shot, whereas with the rf97 you don't. In other words, you really feel how stiff the aero is. They are both powerful, but the aero because of the lower weight will be easier to wield. Rf97 is much more stable and if you are ok with the weight, is easier to swing because of he more headlight balance.
Best thing to do is playtest it and let us know how you compare the two. Thanks and good luck.
PeterFig
Professional
Biogenic
Rookie
Thanks drakulie I'm glad one of the veterans here replied!
Actually I really like the PS 90 more than the APD but that vibration and crispness is what I liked with the Aero. So what i did was change strings and tensions but to no avail. Glad that was cleared up. So basically the rf97 almost has the same feeling as the PS 90?
Say Chi Sin Lo
G.O.A.T.
SpinToWin
Talk Tennis Guru
the 95s is not that far off the 90
... they're worlds apart
gotta agree with SCSL, the PS95S is not much like the PS90... I'd get a comment on some similarities between the PS90 and the PS95 (when leaded up), but the 95S is a different thing.
maxpotapov
Hall of Fame
^^ what exactly is different compared to PS95?
Oh, you mean performance...
Oh, you mean performance...
aimr75
Hall of Fame
He was just talking about the cosmetic from what I gathered, not how they play. I posted the pic as its a close approximation to what it would look like on a 90. If he was simply talking about bringing the 90 back, then I misread the post
kingcheetah
Hall of Fame
Update: I still really really like this racquet on volleys, serves (it's very accurate and especially easy to get some pop and spin on 2nd serves.) Backhands are a breeze as well. The forehand was very streaky today (which looked worse with this racquet, but it was most definitely operator error-- If I come in off-balance and am playing with a migraine, my accuracy is going to suck (there were a lot of shanks compared to my usual level today-- I have 20/13 vision but today I just couldn't focus on the ball.) I still like the feel, although I may try to go with a slightly less powerful string setup next time... we'll see. There was a point about 2/3 of the way through the training session that some of the remedies seemed to be working and I could focus better... once this happened the forehand looked really good.
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
Now that I've had a good number of hours under my belt with the RF97, both in practice situations and matches, I thought I'd post my thoughts on it.
I'll start of with a disclaimer: I am currently under a work contract with Wilson. Having said that I've played with a Wilson Pro Staff racquet since the PS85 so I think I can objectively post this review and not be swayed by my recent work relationship with Wilson.
Racquet before switching to RF97
For the last year or so I started playing about half the time with a PS95S, and the other half the time with my trusty PS90. The PS95S was strung with 4G in the high 50's, while my PS90 was strung with champion choice around 50lb.
Setup of RF97
Initially I strung it up with Champions Choice using Federer's tension (59/56lb), but lately I've gone down to 56/53lb. I also have one frame strung with 4G but have not put much time on it at all so I'll keep my feedback to my experience with the Champions Choice strung frame. I've switched the Wilson leather grip to TW's 1.3mm leather grip (I like the thinner feel that gives better feel of the bevel edges) and then have Wilson Pro Overgrip on top.
Forehands
Let me start off with saying that I've been tweaking / changing my forehand lately so I'm not as dialled in / connected with that shot at the moment. Having said that I was blasting my forehands. The frame adds very noticeable extra power on that shot. I could also tell some increased spin I got with this over the PS90 (but maybe not quite as much as the PS95S). This is also the shot where I felt the increased size of the sweet-spot the most.... and it is much bigger. Maybe because I'm tinkering around with my forehand I needed a larger sweet-spot here more than on any other shot to give me that extra margin of error. Now, let me cover the most talked about issue: weight / swing weight. To me this is just 'slightly' (almost not noticeably) heavier than the PS90 but to be honest now that I've played with it for a month or so I can't really tell the difference. Compared to the K88 which I have played with a bit, the RF97 is much easier to swing. The K88 is the only racquet that I really found heavy to swing.
Backhand
Love it! Instant added plow-through on the topspin backhand! Heavy ball on the slice. I was able to abbreviate my backswing on the slice and still get a hard and biting ball ... in the end I think my slice backhand is now a better shot technically too as a result. I think the only shot that I'm still not totally dialled into is a heavy topspin backhand, not sure really why but it might be just the slight extra swing weight, but I'm finding my backhands to be flatter with this frame. My favorite shot with this racquet overall is a block/flat backhand hit off a heavy and deep ball from my opponent. That ball that bounces just inside the baseline... I'm able to basically half volley it from there with almost no backswing and just letting the frame's weight, stability and increased sweetspot do all the work.
Volleys
Very solid. I tend to take a little bit too much of a swing at some of my volleys so just like the slice backhand this racquet is actually helping my volley technique as I can take a much shorter 'punch' at the ball and get some sweet pace and bite. A 12oz "game improvement" frame? .... maybe for me with my long swings.
Serves
From day one with this racquet my serves have been huge! The first match I played with the racquet I hit more aces that I had done in any match in my life. The extra power is the most noticeable here for me. One the downside, I'm still not quite there with heavier spin second serves. I'm finding they tend to fly a bit long. I'm getting them in range a bit better lately, but it is a work in progress still.
Returns
As I mentioned before I have quite long / loopy swings, and they have always been my achilles on service returns. It's always been the weakest part of my game especially on the forehand. With the RF97 I'm still struggling with the forehand return. I think if I really shorten my swing the stability and weight of the racquet would help here, but I'm not there yet. However on the backhand where I do tend to chip the ball often, things are going much better. The returns have more depth and bite on them so I'm pretty happy there.
Overall
Very happy with this frame. It was a pretty easy, but very welcome transition from my PS90. I'm using the RF97 as my main frame and loving it more every day. Yes, it's taken a bit to get used to the fact that I'm not holding a thin, box-beam, and smaller frame in my hand, but I think I'm OK with that now and just enjoying the extra benefits I get with this frame. As for the cosmetics.... well I'm sure they'll grow on me in time
And here again is that "in-depth" 6 second video of me hitting with the RF97:
VIDEO: 6 seconds with the RF97
Peter
Peter, thanks for sharing the review with us. Much appreciate the GREAT PeterFig sharing his thoughts with us lowly posters on a tennis forum.
I'm actually liking the frame a little more each time I go out and have a hit. I think this is possibly one of, if not the best volley frames out there. I'm amazed at how this frame has absolutely zero twist whether you are redirecting a hard hit shot at net, or doing a swinging volley from the baseline. The stability and control is simply amazing. I will continue updating as I try out different string/tension set ups.
Say Chi Sin Lo
G.O.A.T.
I'm just trying to stir things up. :twisted:
As much as I love the 2014 PS90, I'd love them even more if they were draped in PeterFig's design. (Not fond of of the giant q-tip look)
SpinToWin
Talk Tennis Guru
I'd be salivating like crazy if the PS90 and 95 were available in that paint scheme
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
Wilson - are you listening?I'd be salivating like crazy if the PS90 and 95 were available in that paint scheme
tlm
G.O.A.T.
I'd be salivating like crazy if the PS90 and 95 were available in that paint scheme
Wow the paint scheme is that important, I would think the performance of the racket is what matters most.
PeterFig
Professional
Peter, thanks for sharing the review with us. Much appreciate the GREAT PeterFig sharing his thoughts with us lowly posters on a tennis forum.
Hahahaha! That sound you hear is my head inflating
Like you, I'm loving the RF97 more and more each time out! I'm playing Wed, Thurs and Friday this week and can't wait to get out there with it. It's making tennis even more fun than it usually is!
Say Chi Sin Lo
G.O.A.T.
tlm
G.O.A.T.
Ya your right I almost forgot.
UCSF2012
Hall of Fame
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but my RF97 is now retired in the closet. Ultimately, it's about the W or L, and the counter punchers thrived off my RF97 pace.
My other frames can vary pace so much better and are much more versatile. I just win more with lower powered rackets.
My other frames can vary pace so much better and are much more versatile. I just win more with lower powered rackets.
Say Chi Sin Lo
G.O.A.T.
I'd take it off your hands if you want.
And I live in SF (I did research in UCSF too. With Dr. Valerie Weaver. I bet she's still terrorizing the 5th floor when she's there)
Are you using RF97 315 grams or the RF97 autograph at 340 grams?
UCSF2012
Hall of Fame
There's only one RF97, and it's 340g unstrung. Mine just happens to be strung with 16g gut/poly, which puts the weight at 13.03oz. I have one strung with 17/16 gut/poly (17/17 at one point), but the ball doesn't drop like the 16/16 version.
I struggled my first day with the RF97.
Played everyday to get used to it, and it felt great after that first day.
Took 2 days off, and I couldn't swing it on the 3rd day.
I admit defeat on the RF97, and it's a blow to my man card. My usual frames are 365-375g, but the RF97 is just too head heavy! (even though mine are 368g and 369.9g)
BreakPoint
Bionic Poster
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Yep, same thing with me. The heavier I hit, the easier it was for counterpunchers to deal with.
The same players can not get to balls I hit with the PS95, not due to the weight of shot, but due to the placement and spin. It is just easier with lower powered frames.
Most likely you haven't played with the frame long enough to be able to get that touch/feel that you need to hit the slower topspin rollers or sharp angles that you used to hit with the old frame. From my own experience I have been hitting with it for almost a month every day and I am just now starting to get that feel. I probably have 80 hours hitting with the racket so far. Also, you may need to play with your string tension a little more. I would go with the same tension on the 97 that you were using on the 95, for better ball pocketing.
bad_call
Legend
that's a lot of hours "to get the feel". at the ripe age of 60+ and the limited court time don't count on me to spend that much time with ANY racquet "to get the feel."
kingcheetah
Hall of Fame
That's about as long as I'll be willing to give the frame-- 1 month. I'm happy with the results thus far (2 sessions for 4 hours total) but if for some reason my forehand is still a bit wacky after a full month, I'll go back to my six ones.
TennisLogic
Semi-Pro
I know my buddy CrackerJack already asked this, but nobody responded. how does the RFA compare to the prince response 97?
kingcheetah
Hall of Fame
That's the scary part-- A lot of us have full poly and are having some "rocket launcher" type issues with the power of this frame... Gut would be a whole new level of power.
I'm confident that I can handle the racquet, as I'm not losing racquet head speed due to fatigue, but rather I'm just mis-timing some shots (yesterday's migraine didn't help, so I really have a tiny sample size.)
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Yeah, I prefer the pick up and play of the PS95. It took one session to tweaks my mods and then I was off to the races and winning matches. One month to learn a frame that doesn't feel that good is not worth it to me.
I think I just prefer classic, low powered control frames. I play better with them.
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