2011 Prince Racquet Play Test

TW Staff

TW Staff

Administrator
Playtesters:

Please post all your comments in this thread. Remember to include:

- Your personal racquet of choice and string set-up.
- The model of Prince Racquet you playtested.
- How many hours did you play with the racquet?
- Comments on racquet performance in the following categories:
-Groundstrokes
-Volleys
-Serves
-Serve Returns

 - General comments on overall performance

Thank you,

TW Staff
 
Received mine today and quite excited to finally get a chance to play test a racquet. Review to come once I get some hitting time this weekend.
 
parasailing said:
Received mine today and quite excited to finally get a chance to play test a racquet. Review to come once I get some hitting time this weekend.
Click to expand...

How long ago did you get the email from TW telling you of your selection for the test? Just curious about when I will get my racquet.

Cheers,
kev
 
bugeyed said:
How long ago did you get the email from TW telling you of your selection for the test? Just curious about when I will get my racquet.

Cheers,
kev
Click to expand...

I was wondering the same thing. I responded within an hour of getting the email. Hopefully I'll get mine soon.
 
Hmm...so I'm guessing these aren't blacked out or anything like the Wilson playtest. I'm still excited to get mine.
 
I got the email on Monday and got the racquet today but I am only a few hours away from their location.

Ryushen21 - they have their original paintjob on the racquet and it came brand new.
 
Darn How did i miss that I use to play with the o3 tour, still have in my bag. Would of loved to tested it! Look forward to hearing your thoughts after testing.

Thanks Everyone
 
Just got mine, EXO3 Tour 16x18, never been a big Prince fan but the Hybrid Tour was the only racquet that ever interested me so Im happy.

Quite a slick looking racquet, certainly my favorite pj from Prince to date. Thanks TW.
razqpz.jpg
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ryushen21 said:
I was wondering the same thing. I responded within an hour of getting the email. Hopefully I'll get mine soon.
Click to expand...

The rackets are coming to the folks that live near TW 1st. The frames are being shipped UPS ground... so if you are on the east coast.. it could take a while to get to you. It was about a week for me to get my frame after I got the e-mail. Do not fear... your time will come!!!
 
HiroProtagonist said:
Just got mine, EXO3 Tour 16x18, never been a big Prince fan but the Hybrid Tour was the only racquet that ever interested me so Im happy.

Quite a slick looking racquet, certainly my favorite pj from Prince to date. Thanks TW.
razqpz.jpg
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2eekn47.jpg
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2ztaeix.jpg
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Gee... what kind of string is in those mains???? :-) I know I have seen them someplace???
 
nvottennis said:
jw how do you get to participate in these play tests?
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The playtesters are hand picked by the TW staff for a number of reasons. I think the question was asked and answered and posted by TW. There it is:::

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=5139805#post5139805


Some folks have be selected for all three of these.. other one.. two... Guess it just depends on various things.

You can drop a not to the TW staff to express an interest in being considered for the next round... can't hurt to ask.

Good Luck.. I had a blast with my Blacked-Out Wilson frame.. :-)

Steve
 
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SteveI said:
The rackets are coming to the folks that live near TW 1st. The frames are being shipped UPS ground... so if you are on the east coast.. it could take a while to get to you. It was about a week for me to get my frame after I got the e-mail. Do not fear... your time will come!!!
Click to expand...

I remembered seeing that in the wilson playtest thread. I'm in Texas so hopefully in the next day or two I will be getting mine. I'm excited. I'll give the frame a thorough workout.
 
ryushen21 said:
I remembered seeing that in the wilson playtest thread. I'm in Texas so hopefully in the next day or two I will be getting mine. I'm excited. I'll give the frame a thorough workout.
Click to expand...

Hey man, where you at in TX? I live in Tyler if you know where that is. We should get a hit in sometime if close.
 
HiroProtagonist said:
Just got mine, EXO3 Tour 16x18, never been a big Prince fan but the Hybrid Tour was the only racquet that ever interested me so Im happy.

Quite a slick looking racquet, certainly my favorite pj from Prince to date. Thanks TW.
razqpz.jpg
[/IMG]
2eekn47.jpg
[/IMG]
2ztaeix.jpg
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SWEET. What does the SW feel like? That static weight looks good along with the 16x18 pattern. Hopefully it swings lighter than the last version.
 
edman9898 said:
Hey man, where you at in TX? I live in Tyler if you know where that is. We should get a hit in sometime if close.
Click to expand...

I'm in Fort Worth. But I'm usually going through the Tyler area at least once a month. I have family out east of Longview.

If you make it this way let me know. I have plenty of places to hit for free in Fort Worth.
 
Makes Sense

SteveI said:
The playtesters are hand picked by the TW staff for a number of reasons. I think the question was asked and answered and posted by TW. There it is:::

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=5139805#post5139805


Some folks have be selected for all three of these.. other one.. two... Guess it just depends on various things.

You can drop a not to the TW staff to express an interest in being considered for the next round... can't hurt to ask.

Good Luck.. I had a blast with my Blacked-Out Wilson frame.. :-)

Steve
Click to expand...
I was given an invite to playtest but, as i live in Australia it was not possible. (I understand that part) I assume it is because i have been posting how impressed i am with my EXO3 GRAPHITE and the RECOIL STRING. I do love their frames and bought mine from TW.
 
HiroProtagonist said:
Just got mine, EXO3 Tour 16x18, never been a big Prince fan but the Hybrid Tour was the only racquet that ever interested me so Im happy.

Quite a slick looking racquet, certainly my favorite pj from Prince to date. Thanks TW.
Click to expand...

Oh crikey!, that's a real beauty. Please, if anyone that received this upgraded Ozone Tour is intimate with the Rebel 95, if you can just say a few words comparing the two frames I would really, really apricate it.
 
edman9898 said:
SWEET. What does the SW feel like? That static weight looks good along with the 16x18 pattern. Hopefully it swings lighter than the last version.
Click to expand...

Cant really tell about SW as I just came back from 5 very intense sets so the SW feels like it's in the 400's right now:)

But I can tell you the balance is 8pts HL, and I gotta say it doesn't feel as clunky as other 100sqin in my hand, true test will be at net. I think the thin beam really helps the "feel in the hand" factor.
 
It seems that the mains have a Prince Poly EXP but I can't make out what the crosses have. The name is faded and stretched out.
Also, the tension is quite tight, probably at its rec tension. I have been using full poly at 10+ lbs under its recommended tension. I will need a bit of time to get used to tighter strings again....

I did not want to dirty up the new White Resi Pro grip,.... it looks so nice, so I put an overgrip over it. This frame reminds me so much of my Ozone Pro Tour, it even has the 18x20 string pattern.

Instead of the round O Ports, it has the rectangular Speed Ports kind of like the old Prince Black. (Which I also have too...) but I like the fact that it does not make that annoying "whistling" sound like the Black, when I swing the racket.

I like the thin 19mm beam with material that feels solid. The spec. reads that it is 10.9 oz unstrung, as opposed to the Ozone Pro Tour which was 11.6 . . . . . Hmmm. It doen't feel light though . . . .

This racket is definitely a different animal from the Rebel.
 
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jmjmkim said:
It seems that the mains have a Prince Poly EXP but I can't make out what the crosses have. The name is faded and stretched out.
Also, the tension is quite tight, probably at its rec tension. I have been using full poly at 10+ lbs under its recommended tension. I will need a bit of time to get used to tighter strings again....

I did not want to dirty up the new White Resi Pro grip,.... it looks so nice, so I put an overgrip over it. This frame reminds me so much of my Ozone Pro Tour, it even has the 18x20 string pattern.

Instead of the round O Ports, it has the rectangular Speed Ports kind of like the old Prince Black. (Which I also have too...) but I like the fact that it does not make that annoying "whistling" sound like the Black, when I swing the racket.

I like the thin 19mm beam with material that feels solid. The spec. reads that it is 10.9 oz unstrung, as opposed to the Ozone Pro Tour which was 11.6 . . . . . Hmmm. It doen't feel light though . . . .

This racket is definitely a different animal from the Rebel.
Click to expand...

Cross strings on mine say Prince Premier LT 16.

And I am definitely getting a whistle sound when I swing it through the air....odd.
 
EX03 Tour 18x20 First Impressions

Won't give it a proper review until next week, of course, but had my first hit tonight and have pretty much nothing but positive things to say after one outing. Mine weighs in at about 11.5, paintjob looks very nice and it's the same poly-synthetic gut (I believe) hybrid that's pictured elsewhere on this thread. Balance is very nice and the frame cuts through the air extremely well and easily, creating very nice slices on the ground and on serve.

Was placing flat first serves wherever I wanted to with very good pace, and the kicker was decent, not extraordinary -- didn't have any 'exploders' that I remember having with the 03 Tour Midplus (which was a frame I really loved, save for the soft feel).

One thing that stood out was a huge sweet spot -- not once did I feel any dead areas; balls at the top of the stringbed still zipped. And the most satisfying element of the night was the put-away. Anything soft or short in the court I could absolutely crush and with great accuracy. Really, the accuracy tonight and directional control was just exceptional, far better than I'd anticipated; I usually spray more balls and am less precise with frames over 95 inches. That wasn't at all the case tonight.

The only negative for me was the feel, which wasn't terrible, it just wasn't fantastic. With the dampener in the bed, the stringbed felt just a tad too soft for my liking, and when I played without the dampener, I could feel the ball more but the frame vibrations got to be a little annoying, so I preferred the dampener in the frame. Alas, I'm very, very curious to see if the desired feel would come by way of replacing this hybrid setup with a good synthetic gut like NXT, which I really like.

So that's it for now. So far, pretty much all positives with no glaring weakness of note. Really, really fun night with this thing and I'm delighted to have it for another week.
 
I hope mine arrives today (11/12) so I don't have to wait over the weekend. Also, I actually have time to play with it this weekend.

Fingers crossed.
 
For you stringers out there, notice the "Prince" marking at the 11 o'clock position. If you flip the racket, it is in the 1 o'clock position. This marking seems to identify the "Short Side" of the racket. The racket does not have markings "short side" as in all the other O port rackets or the EXO's such as my Rebel or the Graphite.

If you ignore, or forget to obey this markings, you'll get a funny result when stringing, ESPECIALLY when doing a 1 piece string job.
 
Hopefully I will get my racquet today (Texas). Supposed to rain tomorrow, but that's OK, that will give me time to build up the grip to 4 3/4, put an overgrip on it, put lead in the handle & at 12:00 & restring it with gut at 70#. :twisted:

Just kidding, but it is supposed to rain tomorrow.:)

Cheers,
kev
 
Prince will need to remedy the above problem immediately. This will cause a lot of headaches. The short side needs to be clearly marked.
 
That paint job looks pretty sweet. I've never been a fan of the O series tour frames (orange just isn't a good color for me), but these are seriously classy.
 
Well, didn't get my racquet today. :( Oh well, supposed to rain, so I hope it rains like a *****! all weekend. I have some inside projects that I need to work on.

Cheers,
kev
 
diredesire said:
That paint job looks pretty sweet. I've never been a fan of the O series tour frames (orange just isn't a good color for me), but these are seriously classy.
Click to expand...

Hey Dire! Any chance of me getting that 16X18 version to playtest? I got a Wilson invite but did not get a Prince invite. What's up with that? :) Hahaha
 
HiroProtagonist said:
Just got mine, EXO3 Tour 16x18, never been a big Prince fan but the Hybrid Tour was the only racquet that ever interested me so Im happy.

Quite a slick looking racquet, certainly my favorite pj from Prince to date. Thanks TW.
razqpz.jpg
[/IMG]
2eekn47.jpg
[/IMG]
2ztaeix.jpg
[/IMG]
Click to expand...

Omg!!! I reallly reallly hope i get to test this racquet.. I'm on the east coast so i'll get mine monday most likely.
 
Yeah, I'm developing a serious mancrush on this closed-pattern EXO3 Tour. Second outing today went even better than the first. The thing is made for baseliners like myself, and while I generally find myself playing a more defensive, counterpunching game where I wait for the right opportunity to go after the winner, this stick is freeing me up to just wail on the ball right from the start of the point. Easy depth on just about every shot, and the best way I can describe the experience so far is that I just freely slap away at the ball with no fear, and the ball is going exactly where I want it to go. Forehand and backhand down-the-line shots have been pinpoint, and whereas the feel of the stick left something to be desired on the first outing, today I was loving it -- whether that's due to the stringbed breaking in a bit more, or due to the much warmer conditions this afternoon than the other night, or perhaps because I was just so happy with the groundstroke results, I don't know. Curious how the 16x18 version plays by comparison, but I don't think I would want any more spin than I'm already getting and the precision of the closed bed is just too addicting thus far.

Hello, Honeymoon period. I hope it lasts.
 
ryushen21 said:
Anyone in TX receive their frames yet?
Click to expand...

Yeah, just got an EXO3 Tour Lite Hybrid 100.
Apparently already available in UK. Can't link to shop, so just google exo3 tour lite.

Strung Weight: 275g
Balance: 14 1/8" - 5 PHH
Swingweight: 314
Strung with: Prince Lightning XX 16g.
16 X 19 pattern
I will test it with an additional grip, so it will be about even balance & 292g. I just need a large grip, or it won't work for me. Probably revert back to a 4 3/8 for a few hits though.
Prince.jpg

Cheers,
kev
 
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Was wondering if you guys are still taking volunteers to playtest? And if so how do you go about signing up? thanks in advance.
 
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