A Short Review: the Prince Tour 98 ESP vs. the Rebel 98

[Jopspin]

IMO, the three racquets belong to the lightweight players category and have similar swing speed/weight to me. But as I said above, my main frame is the PST, which is heavier and has higher swingweight, so they might feel whippy just for me. Personally, I think the Tour 98 ESP's swingweight feels just a little heavier than the Vcore Tour 97 and the F3.0, though it's swingweight is the lightest on specs.

I cannot say which one feels "better" to me, because the three frames have strenghts and weaknesses in different elements of play. For me, the Vcore Tour 97 is the best all-around stick but the least powerful of the three. The F3.0 Tour has decent power and is very solid at net, but it has 18X20 pattern, so it can be a little demanding for intermediate players. The Tour 98 ESP is the easiest one for groundstrokes, but its feel is very muted and does not have crisp feeling of the Vcore 97 and the F3.0 Tour, and therefore it does not excel the other two for touch/volley IMO.

Interestingly, the Prince Tour 98 ESP feels a little similar to my PST because of its plush feel and heavier throat, so I did not need major adjustment when I playtested it.

Hey man,

I also use the PSTGT. However at times I feel it's pretty unwieldy, especially when I set it down for a few days or only play on weekends (like winter time). Would you say that the Tour 98 ESP offers a better balance between maneuverability and plowthrough? Would you ever see yourself dumping the PSTGT for the Tour 98 ESP?

At any rate, I will definitely demo this racket.

Thanks for your review.

 

[Dasol]

Hey man,

I also use the PSTGT. However at times I feel it's pretty unwieldy, especially when I set it down for a few days or only play on weekends (like winter time). Would you say that the Tour 98 ESP offers a better balance between maneuverability and plowthrough? Would you ever see yourself dumping the PSTGT for the Tour 98 ESP?

At any rate, I will definitely demo this racket.

Thanks for your review.

I would not say the Tour 98 ESP is "better" than the PST, because for me they are not in the same category: the PST is a traditional players' racquet and the Tour 98 ESP belongs to a 'lighter' players category. Therefore, the Tour 98 ESP is a lot easier to swing and more maneuverable than the PST but does not have the substantial plowthrough of the PST. However, the feel of the Tour 98 is somehow close to the PST IMO, and compared to other light weight players' frames that I demoed, the Tour 98 feels a little bit heavier due to its weight distribution.

If you need a lighter version of the PST, the Tour 98 ESP might be one option.

 

[Ramon]

Hey man,

I also use the PSTGT. However at times I feel it's pretty unwieldy, especially when I set it down for a few days or only play on weekends (like winter time). Would you say that the Tour 98 ESP offers a better balance between maneuverability and plowthrough? Would you ever see yourself dumping the PSTGT for the Tour 98 ESP?

At any rate, I will definitely demo this racket.

Thanks for your review.

My Pro Kennex Ki 5x is specced similarly to the PSTGT+, and I modified it with a heavy grip and racquet head tape. It's somewhere in the neighborhood of 350-360 swing weight last time I checked. I'm going to switch to the Tour 98 ESP, but I'll definitely be adding weight.