2024 - My Gear-End Review (Year end favorites!)

[Soundbyte]

We are approaching the end of the 2024. Like many here, I spend too much time trying/buying/selling rackets and other tennis gear. While I don't have a YouTube channel, I wanted to share my favorite pieces of gear from the 2024, and hear yours as well

Favorite frames:
1. Pure Aero Rafa - never thought I'd be playing with a 290g frame after my usual preference was for control mids. But here I am. I blame @dr. godmode for the inspiration, and I blame myself for playing so damn well with it! It's not as muted as most Babolats. It's stable for it's weight. I now own 3!

2. Head Boom Pro - this frame doesn't get enough love, simply because I think many on this board associate it as a ladies racket. Well the good thing is that I don't care about that opinion. This frame, with a bit of lead at 10 and 2, plays very well.

3. Blade V9 98 - I admit, I was never a blade fan. I love the Blade Pros, but the Blade 98 always felt boring and vanilla to me. I agree it's a jack of all trade type racket, but it never felt like a true control frame (a la Prestige) nor a power frame (Pure Drive) nor a Spin Frame (Pure Aero). The V9 however I could jive with. Not enough for me to keep the frame mind you, but enough for me to recommend it to most 4.0+ players who has no idea what type of frame they want.

Favorite Strings - Pure Rush. I've been a TruPro fanboy for awhile now. This just cemented it. Im also using their Elite Tac overgrips.

Let's hear your favorite pieces of tennis related gear from 2024!

 

[naturalexponent]

Thanks for starting this @Soundbyte !

For my 2024, I feel like I started off the year going full circle to where I was at the beginning of 2023. I was re-acquiring the same frames I was looking at toward the end of '22/beginning of '23, like the PA98, Regna 98, ISO 305, and VC95.

I played in some USTA doubles league for the first time in about 10 years and ended up really liking the CX400 Tour and the Ezone 100. But after that winter my attention turned mostly to fun pro stock frames -- TGK231.3 and PT57A -- as well as the trusty mids like the PC600 and the PS85, and the PSC 6.1. I also didn't play as much this year as I had the previous two years.

Funny enough I feel like my game has really settled in during the fall right when courts are closing and I'll probably have to defer this progress and restart some of it come spring.

Faves of this year (apologies, as some of these are old stick (but new to me). I've stuck some new stuff in here as well, though):

1. Head Extreme Pro 2024: Just a super comfortable ride, adequate feel, fun and relatively easy to play with. Love the color. It's just a tad muted and springy.
2. Head Instinct Tour XL: These things warp so easily. I got a few off the auction site that turned up in rough shape. The weight/leverage combo makes one handers a breeze.
3. Wilson RF01 Pro: One of the best slicing racquets I've used in recent memory. Feel isn't so 'pure' but it is distinct and unique. Feels like it has zero flex.
4. Wilson NTour 95: Love love love. I stocked up on these at great, somewhat regrettable cost.
5. Head PC600 lineage: Graphite Pro, PC600, PC2.0, etc. What else is there to say about these?
6. Babolat Rafa Origin: Once you figure out how to make the Origin work for you, it's such a blast to play with. Feels kind of plasticky and meh when you're just bouncing a ball but the harder you hit, the nicer it feels.
7. Wilson Blade v9 18x20: Something about the sound this racquet makes, esp on overheads where you just hit down onto the ball.
8. Babolat Pure Aero VS: I feel like this could be my match stick. Much prefer the feel and swiftness of this to the PA98.

Strings: Lynx Tour on my TGK, Triax on everything else.

Bags: RF backpack is nice. Wish it had a chest strap is all.

Shoes: Got a demo of the babolat sfx evos via tw playtest and ended up loving what marshmallowy clouds they were for my hobbit feet.

 

[PigPen]

We are approaching the end of the 2024. Like many here, I spend too much time trying/buying/selling rackets and other tennis gear. While I don't have a YouTube channel, I wanted to share my favorite pieces of gear from the 2024, and hear yours as well

Favorite frames:
1. Pure Aero Rafa - never thought I'd be playing with a 290g frame after my usual preference was for control mids. But here I am. I blame @dr. godmode for the inspiration, and I blame myself for playing so damn well with it! It's not as muted as most Babolats. It's stable for it's weight. I now own 3!

2. Head Boom Pro - this frame doesn't get enough love, simply because I think many on this board associate it as a ladies racket. Well the good thing is that I don't care about that opinion. This frame, with a bit of lead at 10 and 2, plays very well.

3. Blade V9 98 - I admit, I was never a blade fan. I love the Blade Pros, but the Blade 98 always felt boring and vanilla to me. I agree it's a jack of all trade type racket, but it never felt like a true control frame (a la Prestige) nor a power frame (Pure Drive) nor a Spin Frame (Pure Aero). The V9 however I could jive with. Not enough for me to keep the frame mind you, but enough for me to recommend it to most 4.0+ players who has no idea what type of frame they want.

Favorite Strings - Pure Rush. I've been a TruPro fanboy for awhile now. This just cemented it. Im also using their Elite Tac overgrips.

Let's hear your favorite pieces of tennis related gear from 2024!

What tension and gauge of Pure Rush are you using?

 

[Soundbyte]

17g. I'm currently as 50lbs but plan to try as low 40. I used to pay my control frames in the 40-44 lbs range. Haven't gone that low yet in my Rafalitos