The DNX 8 is just plain FUN! My favorite shots - heavy serves and groundies - are coming easy.
First, a little tangent about my style and why I'm interested in this type of frame (skip if uninterested) ...
I have whippy and compact strokes and hit a lot of spin. That goes for my serve as well. In other words, I'm moving the racket head around quite a bit, and doing it fast within a shorter distance. I now know that high swingweight and high static weight can be killers for this style of swing. The DNX 8 falls right into the sweetspot of what I can comfortably (easily) execute my swing style with for an entire match.
The Tour 10 Gen 2 was about as good as it got for me with a heavier frame. The big sweetspot on the 98" head allowed me to reliably hit the sweetspot despite all the spin I hit and the low swingweight gave me the maneuverability my aggressive swing style needs. The low flex provided comfort and allowed me to swing away without much worry of spraying. In the end, I think moving the 12 oz around for an entire match wore my shoulder down to the point of slowing my reaction time, causing me to hit late, and then tighten up to compensate. After adding a few grams of lead to raise the sweetspot (which I need because I hit high in the stringbed), it got worse.
I've tried more powerful rackets in the past, but would spray the ball. Duh Vin, they were too heavy! With a racket like the DNX 8, I have the control I need of my swing to have control of the extra power as well.
On to the racket (about time, eh?).
Serves - In one word, easy! The racket has good power, and because it is easy to swing, it's also easy to apply spin. Without a huge effort, I can hit powerful first serves with enough spin to keep it in and jump at the returner. With the spin, the extra power doesn't impose any control issues. The best part, in my opinion, is that I didn't have to make a big effort to hit my best serves. That helps my consistency and my confidence.
Even with the easy spin, the extra power made me a little nervous on second serves, but it hasn't been a problem yet. I think I just need to get used to the extra power. Overall, this is a great serving stick for me.
I don't hit "flat" serves very often and can't really say if control suffers there.
Groundies - Again, easy! My swing can be summarized by "bring the racket back, drop it into the slot, explode" and I think this racket fits the bill perfectly. I feel like I can go on autopilot with it. Just like serves, spin is easy to generate and I don't need the big effort to generate heavy balls. The spin, however, is necessary. It may be fine for a high short ball, but I certainly didn't get away with flattening shots out a bit during a rally like I would with a lower powered frame. The few times I tried it out of habit, I hit long.
It's really easy for me to keep the ball deep with this racket, which is sometimes a challenge with the lower powered frames. The tradeoff is that angles are a little tougher to hit. If the trajectory is a little off (too high), it'll go wide. This is something I've always been able to get away with using low powered frames. I think the tradeoff is a good one though, I'll just have to work on my angles a little more and be more selective about when I hit them. (I probably go for them too often anyway).
Where this frame shines off the ground is being a very maneuverable frame that you can hit heavy with. I like it!
Probably the only place I noticed this racket hurting my game was defense. I'm fast and defense is one of my strengths, so this was a bit disappointing. The problem is that I was sailing too many high defensive balls long. I should be able to correct that by adding more spin, but block shots may be more of an adjustment. Usually, it seems that the more powerful rackets help people with defense, so I guess I'm opposite in this regard.
Volleys - Even though I strive towards having an all court game, I'm not the greatest volleyer. With the DNX 8, my volleys have a little more punch and it's easier to get the racket on the ball, but I guess that's to be expected of a powerful and maneuverable frame. I enjoyed hitting volleys with it, and hit them better than I normally do, but I'm not sure I'm qualified to say it's a good volley stick.
Misc Shots - One shot that gives me fits are short low balls to my forehand. I usually try to chip them deep and it seems to never work out. I guess the extra pop from this stick helps me keep them deep and I've had noticably more success with them.
One thing I've always enjoyed about more powerful frames is how easy it is to hit a nice backhand slice approach shot, and that's no different here. I was hitting some nice slice backhands from the baseline as well. I suspect there will be some trouble with floating them long, but it hasn't been an issue yet. Although I'm competent in hitting it, I wouldn't call my slice backhand a staple of my game, so again, I don't know how valuable my input is here.
Comfort - I don't have arm problems and I want to keep it that way! I also appreciate a comfortable hit. With a frame like the 300G, which has reasonable flex, I can feel sharp vibrations at times and I don't like that at all. I've even hit with flexy frames like the Fischer Pro Number One FT that gave harsh feedback at times. I don't really like mushy either where it seems like you can actually feel the frame bending (like some of the Head LM's). This is definitely a comfortable frame and it's definitely crisp. No harshness, no mushyness. I'm a fan! For anyone who has hit with the DNX V1 MP, I think the comfort level and feel is pretty similar.
String - I'm a string breaker and typically play with Wilson Synthetic Gut Extreme 16 or Head Synthetic Gut 16. They are both cheap, comfortable, and seem to be more durable than some of the other synthetic guts. I actually forget what I strung the DNX 8 up with, but it's one of these two. I strung it at 55, and as you can guess from my comments above, I have no complaints.
I've recently taken a liking to ALU Power and at some point may get brave enough to try it in the mains somewhere near 50 lbs. With my Gen 2, I was getting noticably more spin with the ALU. If I can accomplish that with the DNX 8, I think I'll be dangerous.
I'm just a bit worried about playing with a poly in a stiff frame, but Volkl's handle seems to absorb shock pretty well and ALU Power is soft for a poly so we'll see if it can work. I'll report back if and when I try it.
Final Thoughts - With the right amount of effort, I think I can hit bigger serves and bigger groundies with the Gen 2, but I don't think it's realistic nor reliable to be putting that much effort into shots on a regular basis. Besides, there is the "too heavy" issue. I still have some other rackets I'm going to try, but the DNX 8 is going to be a major contender without a doubt. My tennis is simply more fun with this racket and I suspect it's more effective as well, but I'll need some more matches to know that for sure.
Sorry if I made this too long.
First, a little tangent about my style and why I'm interested in this type of frame (skip if uninterested) ...
I have whippy and compact strokes and hit a lot of spin. That goes for my serve as well. In other words, I'm moving the racket head around quite a bit, and doing it fast within a shorter distance. I now know that high swingweight and high static weight can be killers for this style of swing. The DNX 8 falls right into the sweetspot of what I can comfortably (easily) execute my swing style with for an entire match.
The Tour 10 Gen 2 was about as good as it got for me with a heavier frame. The big sweetspot on the 98" head allowed me to reliably hit the sweetspot despite all the spin I hit and the low swingweight gave me the maneuverability my aggressive swing style needs. The low flex provided comfort and allowed me to swing away without much worry of spraying. In the end, I think moving the 12 oz around for an entire match wore my shoulder down to the point of slowing my reaction time, causing me to hit late, and then tighten up to compensate. After adding a few grams of lead to raise the sweetspot (which I need because I hit high in the stringbed), it got worse.
I've tried more powerful rackets in the past, but would spray the ball. Duh Vin, they were too heavy! With a racket like the DNX 8, I have the control I need of my swing to have control of the extra power as well.
On to the racket (about time, eh?).
Serves - In one word, easy! The racket has good power, and because it is easy to swing, it's also easy to apply spin. Without a huge effort, I can hit powerful first serves with enough spin to keep it in and jump at the returner. With the spin, the extra power doesn't impose any control issues. The best part, in my opinion, is that I didn't have to make a big effort to hit my best serves. That helps my consistency and my confidence.
Even with the easy spin, the extra power made me a little nervous on second serves, but it hasn't been a problem yet. I think I just need to get used to the extra power. Overall, this is a great serving stick for me.
I don't hit "flat" serves very often and can't really say if control suffers there.
Groundies - Again, easy! My swing can be summarized by "bring the racket back, drop it into the slot, explode" and I think this racket fits the bill perfectly. I feel like I can go on autopilot with it. Just like serves, spin is easy to generate and I don't need the big effort to generate heavy balls. The spin, however, is necessary. It may be fine for a high short ball, but I certainly didn't get away with flattening shots out a bit during a rally like I would with a lower powered frame. The few times I tried it out of habit, I hit long.
It's really easy for me to keep the ball deep with this racket, which is sometimes a challenge with the lower powered frames. The tradeoff is that angles are a little tougher to hit. If the trajectory is a little off (too high), it'll go wide. This is something I've always been able to get away with using low powered frames. I think the tradeoff is a good one though, I'll just have to work on my angles a little more and be more selective about when I hit them. (I probably go for them too often anyway).
Where this frame shines off the ground is being a very maneuverable frame that you can hit heavy with. I like it!
Probably the only place I noticed this racket hurting my game was defense. I'm fast and defense is one of my strengths, so this was a bit disappointing. The problem is that I was sailing too many high defensive balls long. I should be able to correct that by adding more spin, but block shots may be more of an adjustment. Usually, it seems that the more powerful rackets help people with defense, so I guess I'm opposite in this regard.
Volleys - Even though I strive towards having an all court game, I'm not the greatest volleyer. With the DNX 8, my volleys have a little more punch and it's easier to get the racket on the ball, but I guess that's to be expected of a powerful and maneuverable frame. I enjoyed hitting volleys with it, and hit them better than I normally do, but I'm not sure I'm qualified to say it's a good volley stick.
Misc Shots - One shot that gives me fits are short low balls to my forehand. I usually try to chip them deep and it seems to never work out. I guess the extra pop from this stick helps me keep them deep and I've had noticably more success with them.
One thing I've always enjoyed about more powerful frames is how easy it is to hit a nice backhand slice approach shot, and that's no different here. I was hitting some nice slice backhands from the baseline as well. I suspect there will be some trouble with floating them long, but it hasn't been an issue yet. Although I'm competent in hitting it, I wouldn't call my slice backhand a staple of my game, so again, I don't know how valuable my input is here.
Comfort - I don't have arm problems and I want to keep it that way! I also appreciate a comfortable hit. With a frame like the 300G, which has reasonable flex, I can feel sharp vibrations at times and I don't like that at all. I've even hit with flexy frames like the Fischer Pro Number One FT that gave harsh feedback at times. I don't really like mushy either where it seems like you can actually feel the frame bending (like some of the Head LM's). This is definitely a comfortable frame and it's definitely crisp. No harshness, no mushyness. I'm a fan! For anyone who has hit with the DNX V1 MP, I think the comfort level and feel is pretty similar.
String - I'm a string breaker and typically play with Wilson Synthetic Gut Extreme 16 or Head Synthetic Gut 16. They are both cheap, comfortable, and seem to be more durable than some of the other synthetic guts. I actually forget what I strung the DNX 8 up with, but it's one of these two. I strung it at 55, and as you can guess from my comments above, I have no complaints.
I've recently taken a liking to ALU Power and at some point may get brave enough to try it in the mains somewhere near 50 lbs. With my Gen 2, I was getting noticably more spin with the ALU. If I can accomplish that with the DNX 8, I think I'll be dangerous.
I'm just a bit worried about playing with a poly in a stiff frame, but Volkl's handle seems to absorb shock pretty well and ALU Power is soft for a poly so we'll see if it can work. I'll report back if and when I try it.Final Thoughts - With the right amount of effort, I think I can hit bigger serves and bigger groundies with the Gen 2, but I don't think it's realistic nor reliable to be putting that much effort into shots on a regular basis. Besides, there is the "too heavy" issue. I still have some other rackets I'm going to try, but the DNX 8 is going to be a major contender without a doubt. My tennis is simply more fun with this racket and I suspect it's more effective as well, but I'll need some more matches to know that for sure.
Sorry if I made this too long.
