4 Demos....MY Opinions!!!

[TripleB]

Over the past week I have been demoing the Prince Diablo Mid, Prince Diablo Midplus, Volkl Tour 10 V-Engine Midplus, and the Yonex RDX-500 Midplus. Over the week I’ve been able to get in somewhere around 15 sets of singles and 8 sets of doubles. Below you will find MY opinions on the racquets I’ve been trying.

Yonex RDX-500: amazing spin (top and slice); very low powered…many of my balls fell way short of their intended target; serves had super kick but there were very few times when I really unloaded a great bomb; nice weight to it (maybe a little light feeling because of what I’m used to playing with); very good control; a buddy of mine tried it and he said it felt like a lighter and better volleying version of his RD-7; fabulous touch volleys; lack of power (when I’m trying to find more) really made this racquet not for me.

Prince Diablo Midplus: unstable…I’m not sure that I ever hit the sweetspot of this racquet; nice topspin…slice seemed to float; excellent pop on first serves and nice kick on second serves; great maneuverability at net but when you don’t find the sweetspot you seldom hit very good volleys; was able to create good angles but most were out by about a foot or so; a little too light for my taste; my least favorite racquet of the bunch; not much to like here….I like the paint job

Volkl Tour 10 V-Engine Midplus: “plush” is the word that comes to mind when I hit with this racquet…although a little too plush for me (especially when I’m used to the POG mid)…the ball just sinks into the string bed; very good power from this racquet; extraordinary topspin…but this may be because I had to use more spin to bring the ball down in the court; I never could find a great slice out of this racquet (typically my best shot)….all of them seemed to sail long and when I took the pace off they sat up way too much; volleys were very impressive…touch was very good and put away power was there when you needed it; wonderful serving racquet…this racquet allowed me to find my flat serve again…I was able to slow my motion down and still get power so I was able to concentrate on taking it slow and smooth; hated the handle shape…being used to the boxier shape of my Prince the Volkl just seemed too flat on the top and bottom; decent maneuverability…seemed a little slow on my backhand side; this racquet finished second out of the four.

Diablo Mid: a more solid POG mid!!!; despite the head size it seemed to have the largest sweetspot of the four…never seemed to find a “dead” spot on the face; I hate sending this demo back knowing I’ve got two big matches next weekend; very good topspin (not quite as much as the POG mid) and excellent slice (best of the four); fabulous serving racquet…big pop and excellent kickers; wonderful at net…solid volleys and superior touch; it is what I was hoping it would be---a POG with more pop on serves/groundies and more solid at the net; groundstrokes are solid and control is the best I’ve found in any racquet, if you’re thinking about ‘pinpoint’ control, this is it - - - not hitting the baseline like I do with my POG mid yet, but the angles combined with the depth are just incredible; amazingly easy to roll the backhand or whip the forehand crosscourt…I just had to laugh at some of the angles I was getting today when playing doubles; I’m still going to demo the nCode nSix-One 95 (because a friend is paying the shipping) but if it is not 1 Bad-A racquet, the Diablo mid is going to be my racquet of the future.

What really impressed me was how well the Diablo played with the Prince Synthetic Gut w/duraflex 16 gauge strings in it…all those sets and it hasn’t broken yet. I went to Luxilon because I was breaking the 17g of the Prince Synthetic Gut w/duraflex every 5 or 6 sets.

My rankings of the racquets using TW's 12 categories (racquets listed best to worst in each category):

Stability: Volkl, Diablo Mid, Yonex, Diablo Midplus
Touch and Feel: Diablo Mid, Yonex, Volkl, Diablo Midplus
Volleys: Volkl, Diablo Mid, Diablo Midplus, Yonex
Comfort: Volkl, Yonex, Diablo Mid, Diablo Midplus
Maneuverability: Diablo Midplus, Yonex, Diablo Mid, Volkl
Serves and Overheads: Volkl, Diablo Mid, Diablo Midplus, Yonex
Power: Volkl, Diablo Mid, Diablo Midplus, Yonex
Control: Diablo Mid, Yonex, Volkl, Diablo Midplus
Slice: Yonex, Diablo Mid, Diablo Midplus, Volkl
Topspin: Yonex, Volkl, Diablo Midplus, Diablo Mid
Groundstrokes: Diablo Mid, Volkl, Diablo Midplus, Yonex
Overall: Diablo Mid, Volkl, Yonex, Diablo Midplus

Well, that’s all folks. Of course those are MY opinions…I’m sure your experiences will vary but I thought I’d pass along my reviews.

TripleB

PS: this is my last post as TripleB…I will be returning to plain ol’ Benjamin once again.

 

[Pro K]

I wasn't surprise you favored the Diablo Mid since its specs are very similar the POG Mid's. Think of the Diablo Mid as an update version of POG Mid without the Cross Bar Stabilizer.

 

[MChong]

Yeah, the Diablo's specs are pretty close to the POG Mid. I even gave a recommendation to somebody else because it's similar, but somebody on this forum said they aren't even close. Shows them what they know. Lol... Yeah, I play the Diablo myself and it's a great all-court racquet.

 

[Angentunderfire38]

Well I tryed the Diablo and i think the sweet spot is large. But, for me I preferably don't like large sweet spots. I currently use the nCode 90 and used to use the Dunlop 200G and out of those four I like the Volk 10. Also the Diablo I think has a akward grip shape.

Peace

 

[tomgavin]

Triple B. I also like the Diablo Mid but want the larger head of the MP. The MP is a little more maneuverable than the Mid. How could I customize My MP so that I'd have a swing weight about in between the MP's 316 and the Mid's 331, while keeping at least 9 points HL and adding that little extra stability to the MP head? Any feedback would be appreciated. Where should I put the lead tape on the MP and how many grams? Thanks.

 

[backhand]

Tomgavin, try this for starters: 1.5 gm of lead at 12, 3, and 9, 6 gm at 10 cm above the butt. This will produce swingweight in the mid 320's, balance of about 10.5 points HL. In comparison to other racquets I've demoed in the TW reviews, feels like a power rating of about 70, and a lot more stability.

 

[rooski]

Good lord Benjamin...If I played as much as you I think I could get back on my old USTA Open league team. Good for you that you can get out that much.

Enjoy your new Diablo...but...you'll be back with your POG mid before long. Unless your mid's are tired and fatigued from age, I find it hard to believe that you would get more of anything with the Diablo vs the POG mid. Maybe you should invest in some fresh stock POGs.

 

[tomgavin]

Thanks backhand. When I put the lead tape on, I'm putting .75 grams on each side of the strings, right? When you say putting the six grams 10 cm. from butt cap, are you taking inside the throat on each side? I know these are stupid questions, but the lead tape thing is not something I've ever done in the past. Thanks.

 

[Benjamin]

rooski,

I lucked out. My wife had a beach trip planned for this weekend in which my daughter and I weren't invited. My racquets show up the week before her trip. I think my wife felt a little guilty so she allowed me to get out as much as I could with the demos

The POG mids could be worn out or it might even be the poly string I have in them that makes the POG mid feel way less solid than the Diablo strung with Prince Syn Gut w/Dura. I tried the POG mid again Saturday and I can almost get as big of serve with it as the Diablo mid but it still feels ALOT less solid from the baseline and moreso at the net.

tomgavin,

I'm not much of one for customizing so I typically try to find a racquet I like in it's stock form. I think I've only added lead tape to one racquet and that lasted all of about 2 sets. Sorry I can't help.

Benjamin

 

[backhand]

Tomgavin - Yep, .75 on each side, matched, best to weigh each strip on a postal scale etc. Strip on the handle goes around in a ring, not on each side. If I'm playing around with weighting, I put the tape lightly over the grip, then wrap in a thin overgrip. When you're ready to commit, you can take off the entire deal and put fresh tape on the bare handle, re-grip. There's a nice discussion of all this, with pics, on the TW home pages.

 

[baseliner]

Benjamin, let us know how the n-code demo turns out.

 

[andfor]

If there is any truth in that Prince is going to re-release the POG 100 you should just wait until then.

Is there any truth to that rumor?

 

[Benjamin]

andfor....I think that is truth.

baseliner....I'll do it....it looks as though I'll be getting the demos in on October 11th (if the current dates on the computer hold up).

Benjamin