Dino Lagaffe
Hall of Fame
Review on Vantage with the following specs:
95 in² 16x19 63 RA
27˝ 330 g 315 mm, 9pts HL
Strung at 23 kilos with Völkl Power Fibre 16
Initial thoughts
Over the past few years I’ve played with hundreds of racquets. This is partly due to the fact that I’m a racquet collector and like to try my racquets out, but also because a general interest in what’s on the market. During bouts with tendonitis in my shoulder I was also trying to figure out what made racquets feel and react the way they did, and what would be ideal for me. I have a Völkl contract, and have used their racquets for almost 3 years now. (Year one = Tour 10 MP, year 2 = Catapult 10 customised, year 3 = Tour 10 MP generation II.) The racquets I used right before that were the Estusa Power Beam Braided followed by the Head Prestige Tour 600. After having used many, and tried even more, I generally prefer rather heavy, evenly balanced/head light and flexible racquets.
When I decided on the specs, I looked for roughly the same numbers as my Völkl Tour 10 MP Gen. II, so as to be able to get a basic comparison. My first impressions with the Vantage (pre-strung) weren’t that favourable, as it felt a little bit like a sling shot to me. I found it difficult to control the ball, and I missed the feeling of the soft butt cap that I have grown accustomed to. I cut the string out and replaced it by Völkl Power Fibre 16 at 23 kilos, and after that things were about to change… (BTW, I have yet to try the string in my regular racquet. I’m sure it will work just fine.)
Ground strokes
I was impressed by the general feel of the Vantage; slightly soft and cushioned but definitely not mushy, a solid, direct and consistent response without any real hot or dead spots. There are obviously livelier racquets around, but one usually pays for that by getting vibrations as well. Spin was easily available, both slices and top spin. I usually hit with decent top spin on my forehand, and it was really easy to find the groove. When playing heavy hitters I tend to hit a little flatter, and that worked well, too. The weight works to your advantage, as you can really plough through the ball. Something weird was that it felt more evenly balanced when playing than the actual balance indicates it should. This was a not a problem though, rather the contrary.
Volleys
No problems what so ever. The Vantage felt manoeuvrable and heavy enough to be able to both just block volleys back as well as being more active and creative in your shot selection. Playing touch shots, such as the drop volley, half volley and drop shots was a delight.
Serves
My view is that how a racquet feels when it comes to serving depends way more on your stroke mechanics than at any other shot. Obviously, a racquet can add to or subtract from ones natural strong or weak points. Sometimes I can’t help finding it a little bit silly, though, when people on the TW board, for instance, claim that they totally lost their ability to hit a kick serve when using racquet X or Y. That was just a side note…
I could hit all my normal serve varieties with full confidence, but what worked really well for me was hitting flat bombs down the middle. As with ground strokes, spin was there when needed, too.
Returns
Sometimes I could have asked for a little more depth on returns, but that’s got more to do with me than the racquet. The solid and rather cushioned feel that is present at ground strokes, and especially the consistent response in the string bed, makes it possible to both “go for it” or block returns back with confidence.
Summary
All in all a very nice racquet, and definitely on the top 10 list of racquets I’ve played with. I was attracted to the clean and elegant look, and the way it performs indicates that it “means business” too. After several hours of play, I have yet to find a weak point. It has done everything I’ve asked for. It took a little while to figure the racquet out, but I now feel that I can really recommend it to others. Given the configuration, it probably works better for fairly good players, but as long as you can handle the weight it seems to be pretty user friendly.
Something I feel would have added to the experience would be the soft butt cap I’m used to, and possibly also a crisper and more lively feeling. At the same time I’m not willing to settle for the usual trade off, which is more vibrations… If I was to order another racquet, which I might very well do one day, I’d go for the 90 version, and probably make it a tad heavier and more evenly balanced.
As I have already mentioned, I’ve played with a whole bunch of racquets over the past few years, and the Vantage definitely has proven its worth to me. A solid performer. In comparison to other racquets:
- It feels a little bit like the Yonex RDX 500 series, which is also a very solid feeling and versatile racquet.
- It plays more like the Völkl Tour 10 Mid than the MP.
- It feels closer to the old Head Prestige Classic line than to the current Prestige line, although more muted.
- It’s been a while since I tried it, but from what I remember it’s not so unlike the Dunlop 200G, but possibly a little bit softer.
95 in² 16x19 63 RA
27˝ 330 g 315 mm, 9pts HL
Strung at 23 kilos with Völkl Power Fibre 16
Initial thoughts
Over the past few years I’ve played with hundreds of racquets. This is partly due to the fact that I’m a racquet collector and like to try my racquets out, but also because a general interest in what’s on the market. During bouts with tendonitis in my shoulder I was also trying to figure out what made racquets feel and react the way they did, and what would be ideal for me. I have a Völkl contract, and have used their racquets for almost 3 years now. (Year one = Tour 10 MP, year 2 = Catapult 10 customised, year 3 = Tour 10 MP generation II.) The racquets I used right before that were the Estusa Power Beam Braided followed by the Head Prestige Tour 600. After having used many, and tried even more, I generally prefer rather heavy, evenly balanced/head light and flexible racquets.
When I decided on the specs, I looked for roughly the same numbers as my Völkl Tour 10 MP Gen. II, so as to be able to get a basic comparison. My first impressions with the Vantage (pre-strung) weren’t that favourable, as it felt a little bit like a sling shot to me. I found it difficult to control the ball, and I missed the feeling of the soft butt cap that I have grown accustomed to. I cut the string out and replaced it by Völkl Power Fibre 16 at 23 kilos, and after that things were about to change… (BTW, I have yet to try the string in my regular racquet. I’m sure it will work just fine.)
Ground strokes
I was impressed by the general feel of the Vantage; slightly soft and cushioned but definitely not mushy, a solid, direct and consistent response without any real hot or dead spots. There are obviously livelier racquets around, but one usually pays for that by getting vibrations as well. Spin was easily available, both slices and top spin. I usually hit with decent top spin on my forehand, and it was really easy to find the groove. When playing heavy hitters I tend to hit a little flatter, and that worked well, too. The weight works to your advantage, as you can really plough through the ball. Something weird was that it felt more evenly balanced when playing than the actual balance indicates it should. This was a not a problem though, rather the contrary.
Volleys
No problems what so ever. The Vantage felt manoeuvrable and heavy enough to be able to both just block volleys back as well as being more active and creative in your shot selection. Playing touch shots, such as the drop volley, half volley and drop shots was a delight.
Serves
My view is that how a racquet feels when it comes to serving depends way more on your stroke mechanics than at any other shot. Obviously, a racquet can add to or subtract from ones natural strong or weak points. Sometimes I can’t help finding it a little bit silly, though, when people on the TW board, for instance, claim that they totally lost their ability to hit a kick serve when using racquet X or Y. That was just a side note…
I could hit all my normal serve varieties with full confidence, but what worked really well for me was hitting flat bombs down the middle. As with ground strokes, spin was there when needed, too.
Returns
Sometimes I could have asked for a little more depth on returns, but that’s got more to do with me than the racquet. The solid and rather cushioned feel that is present at ground strokes, and especially the consistent response in the string bed, makes it possible to both “go for it” or block returns back with confidence.
Summary
All in all a very nice racquet, and definitely on the top 10 list of racquets I’ve played with. I was attracted to the clean and elegant look, and the way it performs indicates that it “means business” too. After several hours of play, I have yet to find a weak point. It has done everything I’ve asked for. It took a little while to figure the racquet out, but I now feel that I can really recommend it to others. Given the configuration, it probably works better for fairly good players, but as long as you can handle the weight it seems to be pretty user friendly.
Something I feel would have added to the experience would be the soft butt cap I’m used to, and possibly also a crisper and more lively feeling. At the same time I’m not willing to settle for the usual trade off, which is more vibrations… If I was to order another racquet, which I might very well do one day, I’d go for the 90 version, and probably make it a tad heavier and more evenly balanced.
As I have already mentioned, I’ve played with a whole bunch of racquets over the past few years, and the Vantage definitely has proven its worth to me. A solid performer. In comparison to other racquets:
- It feels a little bit like the Yonex RDX 500 series, which is also a very solid feeling and versatile racquet.
- It plays more like the Völkl Tour 10 Mid than the MP.
- It feels closer to the old Head Prestige Classic line than to the current Prestige line, although more muted.
- It’s been a while since I tried it, but from what I remember it’s not so unlike the Dunlop 200G, but possibly a little bit softer.
