TripleB
Hall of Fame
Took my new set of demos out for the first time tonight and hit singles for about two hours. No playing (still recovering from microfracture knee surgery last November), just hitting ball after ball after ball, as well as some volleys.
Unfortunately not all the racquets came in as the T-W specs would indicate - very disappointing with company's quality control these days.
Strung Specs of the Demos (in relation to T-W specs):
Yonex VCore Tour 97 310:
Weight: 328grams (+2g)
Balance: 6.5 pts HL (-.5 pts)
Head YouTek Graphene Instinct MP:
Weight: 326grams (+14g - I had to make sure someone hadn't added lead tape to this racquet, it was such a drastic difference…they hadn't)
Balance: 4 pts HL (+1 pt)
Dunlop Biomimetic F3.0 Tour:
Weight: 330 grams (+4g)
Balance: 4.5 pts HL (-1.5 pts)
Pro Kennex Ki Q5 295:
Weight: 309 grams (-3g)
Balance: 4 pts HL (exact)
The main things that disappointed me with the specs were the huge weight difference in the Instinct (that's inexcusable) and the difference in balance of the F3.0 Tour.
Other disappointments were that the F3.0 Tour seemed to be strung really tight and the Instinct seemed to be strung really loose.
Now to my first impressions of the racquets:
Yonex VCore Tour 97 310: overall this is probably my favorite racquet of the group so far; very solid feel; amazing slice and excellent topspin; very good maneuverability with the 8 point (after rubberband and one overgrip) headlight balance; really has a whippy feel and doesn't play like it's 337 grams (again after 1 rubberband and overgrip); it felt very low powered (poly string medium tension) and I found myself having to take the ball on the rise a little more in order to gain some extra pop; control seemed above average; touch is good but the feel is somewhat 'muted'; as some have mentioned elsewhere, the butt of the racquet is a bit awkward…isn't really large enough to give my western forehand grip a lot of security - think this took away from my ability to rip the crosscourt forehand; but again, better than the others but so far with this group that isn't say a great deal
Head YouTek Graphene Instinct MP: first let me say that this racquet seemed to be strung in the 40s with a poly; the spin with this racquet is absolutely amazing…the string pattern is wide open on this racquet; power was good but with the stringing as low as it was anything I tried to flatten out really flew; the whipability I was really hoping for with this racquet just wasn't there - probably due to the 335 gram weight (with rubberband and overgrip) when I was expecting 320 grams; balls hit in the upper part of the racquet face were dead and sent shock waves to my arm---really stiff feeling in the upper part; touch wasn't bad but again anything in the upper hoop were just terrible; control seemed pretty good with balls hit in the middle of the face or slightly lower - anything of above middle lead to really poor control; sorry, don't have much positive to say about this racquet
Dunlop Biomimetic F3.0 Tour: let me start these impressions by saying that the string in this racquet seemed very tight and thick (a poly that seemed 1.30mm); I had high hopes for this racquet after reading the T-W review…maybe I had them a little too high; the racquet does give excellent spin for an 18x20 racquet - topspin very good and slice really stayed low; the pattern is definitely more open than my LM Radical Midplus racquets; I really like the shape of the new series compared to my AG 4D 300 racquets…much more round than my 300s; T-W said that Dunlop went with a new feel in the new line and they were spot on…much more crisp feel than my 300s - to be honest it may be a more 'modern' feel, but I missed the flex of my 300s; maneuverability was decent but wished it would have come in at the 6 points headlight like the specs indicated; good power level; control was decent but couldn't really find the depth I was hoping for
Pro Kennex Ki Q5 295: I tried this racquet for the second time because I loved a lot of things about it the first time - this time I just haven't found the love for this racquet (at least not yet); there was a rattle in the head of the racquet whenever the ball was hit above the middle…seemed to find a lot of instability with balls hit near the tip of the racquet; topspin was very good and slice seemed solid and stayed reasonably low; the racquet didn't feel quite as crisp this time around but I think my standard string set up (Tour Bite/Gosen) would make it feel a little crisper; although both were 5.5 points headlight, I don't think this racquet had the whipability that the Instinct offered, even though it was lighter; control was probably the worst in the bunch, the feel seemed a muted so I really couldn't feel the ball on the strings; volleys seemed to be the best shot for me with this racquet
Again, these are just first impressions. I go back out for some doubles play Saturday. I'll update my thoughts then.
TripleB
Unfortunately not all the racquets came in as the T-W specs would indicate - very disappointing with company's quality control these days.
Strung Specs of the Demos (in relation to T-W specs):
Yonex VCore Tour 97 310:
Weight: 328grams (+2g)
Balance: 6.5 pts HL (-.5 pts)
Head YouTek Graphene Instinct MP:
Weight: 326grams (+14g - I had to make sure someone hadn't added lead tape to this racquet, it was such a drastic difference…they hadn't)
Balance: 4 pts HL (+1 pt)
Dunlop Biomimetic F3.0 Tour:
Weight: 330 grams (+4g)
Balance: 4.5 pts HL (-1.5 pts)
Pro Kennex Ki Q5 295:
Weight: 309 grams (-3g)
Balance: 4 pts HL (exact)
The main things that disappointed me with the specs were the huge weight difference in the Instinct (that's inexcusable) and the difference in balance of the F3.0 Tour.
Other disappointments were that the F3.0 Tour seemed to be strung really tight and the Instinct seemed to be strung really loose.
Now to my first impressions of the racquets:
Yonex VCore Tour 97 310: overall this is probably my favorite racquet of the group so far; very solid feel; amazing slice and excellent topspin; very good maneuverability with the 8 point (after rubberband and one overgrip) headlight balance; really has a whippy feel and doesn't play like it's 337 grams (again after 1 rubberband and overgrip); it felt very low powered (poly string medium tension) and I found myself having to take the ball on the rise a little more in order to gain some extra pop; control seemed above average; touch is good but the feel is somewhat 'muted'; as some have mentioned elsewhere, the butt of the racquet is a bit awkward…isn't really large enough to give my western forehand grip a lot of security - think this took away from my ability to rip the crosscourt forehand; but again, better than the others but so far with this group that isn't say a great deal
Head YouTek Graphene Instinct MP: first let me say that this racquet seemed to be strung in the 40s with a poly; the spin with this racquet is absolutely amazing…the string pattern is wide open on this racquet; power was good but with the stringing as low as it was anything I tried to flatten out really flew; the whipability I was really hoping for with this racquet just wasn't there - probably due to the 335 gram weight (with rubberband and overgrip) when I was expecting 320 grams; balls hit in the upper part of the racquet face were dead and sent shock waves to my arm---really stiff feeling in the upper part; touch wasn't bad but again anything in the upper hoop were just terrible; control seemed pretty good with balls hit in the middle of the face or slightly lower - anything of above middle lead to really poor control; sorry, don't have much positive to say about this racquet
Dunlop Biomimetic F3.0 Tour: let me start these impressions by saying that the string in this racquet seemed very tight and thick (a poly that seemed 1.30mm); I had high hopes for this racquet after reading the T-W review…maybe I had them a little too high; the racquet does give excellent spin for an 18x20 racquet - topspin very good and slice really stayed low; the pattern is definitely more open than my LM Radical Midplus racquets; I really like the shape of the new series compared to my AG 4D 300 racquets…much more round than my 300s; T-W said that Dunlop went with a new feel in the new line and they were spot on…much more crisp feel than my 300s - to be honest it may be a more 'modern' feel, but I missed the flex of my 300s; maneuverability was decent but wished it would have come in at the 6 points headlight like the specs indicated; good power level; control was decent but couldn't really find the depth I was hoping for
Pro Kennex Ki Q5 295: I tried this racquet for the second time because I loved a lot of things about it the first time - this time I just haven't found the love for this racquet (at least not yet); there was a rattle in the head of the racquet whenever the ball was hit above the middle…seemed to find a lot of instability with balls hit near the tip of the racquet; topspin was very good and slice seemed solid and stayed reasonably low; the racquet didn't feel quite as crisp this time around but I think my standard string set up (Tour Bite/Gosen) would make it feel a little crisper; although both were 5.5 points headlight, I don't think this racquet had the whipability that the Instinct offered, even though it was lighter; control was probably the worst in the bunch, the feel seemed a muted so I really couldn't feel the ball on the strings; volleys seemed to be the best shot for me with this racquet
Again, these are just first impressions. I go back out for some doubles play Saturday. I'll update my thoughts then.
TripleB
