Any suggestions for a racket with these specs?

D

daunvidch

New User
Long story short, I spent a lot of time and money this summer trying out many different rackets. I've come to the conclusion that I really prefer rackets with the following characteristics:

1. Midplus (95-98 sq.in.)
2. Closed string pattern (18x20)
3. Strung weight (at least 12 oz. or more)
4. Head light balance (the most HL possible; i.e. 8-12+)

The racket I've enjoyed most so far is the K Factor 95 (18x20). Is there any other racket you'd recommend that meets all of the 4 specifications listed above?? Thanks for the help!

P.S. Rackets I've already tried are Head Prestige Midplus & Pro (Flexpoint, Microgel, Youtek IG), Wilson Pro Staff (Hyper Carbon 6.1 95, RF97 Autograph, K Factor 90, Hyper Carbon 6.1 Tour 95, BLX Six.One 90), Wilson Blade 98, Wilson Steam 99S, and Prince Response 97.
 
kailash

kailash

Hall of Fame
There are plenty of good rackets with those characteristics! I would recommend demoing the following:

1. Wilson Six One 95 (18x20)
2. Dunlop F2.0 Tour
3. Pro Kennex Q Tour 325
4. Pacific X Force Pro (18x20 version)
5. Prince Tour 95

All the above really good rackets; the last 3 are very arm friendly too!
 
Captain Ron

Captain Ron

Professional
You may want to consider the Babolat Pure Control 95. A little lighter but you can weight the handle if you want to bring it to your specs. Gives you some room to customize. I play with the Pure Storm LTD (previous version, same mold) and it is a great racket.
I would also look at the tech 315 18M. You'll want to weight it up but it is another good choice to consider.
Good Luck!
 
jonestim

jonestim

Hall of Fame
daunvidch said:
1. Midplus (95-98 sq.in.)
2. Closed string pattern (18x20)
3. Strung weight (at least 12 oz. or more)
4. Head light balance (the most HL possible; i.e. 8-12+)
Click to expand...


Gut4Tennis said:
or the 16/18
Click to expand...

Don't you love it when people don't even read the OP's post?

kailash has a good list. I have only hit with the Six.One 18x20 and the Tour 95. Both are good racquets and I prefer the Tour 95 for it soft flex. I have had some of my best luck volleying with this frame. You may actually like the Wilson better as the Tour 95 really is quite soft.
 
D

daunvidch

New User
Thanks for the suggestions guys.

1. Redondo MP - I will definitely try this one! Thanks!
2. Wilson Six One 95 (18x20) - 7 pts HL, so I will pass.
3. Dunlop F2.0 Tour - I might try it!
4. Pro Kennex Q Tour 325 - I might try it!
5. Pacific X Force Pro (18x20 version) - not 12+ oz. so I will pass.
6. Prince Tour 95 - 6 pts HL so I will pass.
7. Babolat Pure Control 95 & Tech 315 18M - not 12+ oz. and not HL enough, so I will pass (sorry, I'm not interested in customizing rackets with lead tape and such).
 
El_Yotamo

El_Yotamo

Hall of Fame
Check out the Babolat Pure Control 95. Although the specs are a little lighter and more head heavy, mine came in at 12.1 strung and with a 8 point hl balance. Now what I do on every racquet ever is I take off the grip and put on 3 or 4 overgrips. I like to do this because it makes it substantially more HL without changing weight or SW too much. Now it sits at 348g (12.275 oz) with a 31cm balance (10 points hl) and a swingweight of 324, which also gives it a nice MgR/I of 20.95. This is just my experience and I think it's a great racquet.

However you may also want to try the wilson six one 95 18x20 (a little stiff though), maybe the Blade 18x20 (although it's stiff and head heavy so you'll want to do customization on it on the handle), maybe try finding an older prestige mp (just not the graphene!!!!), and if you like the Exo3 ports by Prince you should check out the tour 95, or also you may want to try the pure strike tour. Overall, you can also look in the racquet finder because there are many good racquets in that kind of spec out there. Good luck.
 
Last edited:
Anton

Anton

Legend
daunvidch said:
Long story short, I spent a lot of time and money this summer trying out many different rackets. I've come to the conclusion that I really prefer rackets with the following characteristics:

1. Midplus (95-98 sq.in.)
2. Closed string pattern (18x20)
3. Strung weight (at least 12 oz. or more)
4. Head light balance (the most HL possible; i.e. 8-12+)

The racket I've enjoyed most so far is the K Factor 95 (18x20). Is there any other racket you'd recommend that meets all of the 4 specifications listed above?? Thanks for the help!

P.S. Rackets I've already tried are Head Prestige Midplus & Pro (Flexpoint, Microgel, Youtek IG), Wilson Pro Staff (Hyper Carbon 6.1 95, RF97 Autograph, K Factor 90, Hyper Carbon 6.1 Tour 95, BLX Six.One 90), Wilson Blade 98, Wilson Steam 99S, and Prince Response 97.
Click to expand...

Pure Control Tour is definitely worth a demo, excellent racket and matches your spec except it is 16x20, so semi-closed
 
F

fuzz nation

G.O.A.T.
daunvidch said:
Thanks for the suggestions guys.

1. Redondo MP - I will definitely try this one! Thanks!
2. Wilson Six One 95 (18x20) - 7 pts HL, so I will pass.
3. Dunlop F2.0 Tour - I might try it!
4. Pro Kennex Q Tour 325 - I might try it!
5. Pacific X Force Pro (18x20 version) - not 12+ oz. so I will pass.
6. Prince Tour 95 - 6 pts HL so I will pass.
7. Babolat Pure Control 95 & Tech 315 18M - not 12+ oz. and not HL enough, so I will pass (sorry, I'm not interested in customizing rackets with lead tape and such).
Click to expand...

I used to have an attitude that my racquet should be "right" in its stock layout, but as time went by and I sampled lots of different gear over the years, this expectation turned out to be unrealistic for me. I pretty much don't care for most racquets in their stock form, but I've come up with a pretty good picture of what I prefer in terms of heft, balance, and flex. Two of these three aspects, weight and balance, can be adjusted rather easily with some lead tape. They're also two of the four qualifiers on your list up top.

If you want to buy something off the rack and have it tailored to give you a better "fit", you may want to reconsider some customizing. It's easy enough to experiment with on your own and costs much less that a restringing. Best of all, if it doesn't work for you, it's no big deal to hit the reset button and just peel the stuff off.

Just offering my point of view here because you're likely going to try one or two frames that don't seem quite right, but can easily be tuned into absolute keepers. This happened for me last year when I inherited what seemed like a couple of duds (they were a little underweight and unstable for me). After a "what the heck" session of tuning, I was suddenly enjoying what seemed to be a completely different pair of racquets. Instead of unloading them for a little dough, I've given them a permanent spot in my bag.

My preferences for weight and balance in my frames tend toward 12.4 oz. and 10-11 pts. HL, but I can say that racquets with this stock layout are... well, rare. The other racquets I've enjoyed for several years are Volkl C10's of several generations. All of mine have lead on their handles because as frames get heavier, I need them to have more HL balance to give me familiar handling. If you want to get up toward 12 pts. HL in a heavier racquet, I doubt you'll get it without some tuning.
 
D

daunvidch

New User
fuzz nation said:
I used to have an attitude that my racquet should be "right" in its stock layout, but as time went by and I sampled lots of different gear over the years, this expectation turned out to be unrealistic for me. It's easy enough to experiment with on your own and costs much less that a restringing. Best of all, if it doesn't work for you, it's no big deal to hit the reset button and just peel the stuff off.
Click to expand...

Man, I just hate the idea of changing up stock rackets. When I first started off with my hunger for extremely HL rackets, I tried customizing stuff by adding cotton+fishing weights into the buttcap. But I honestly felt like it didn't make much of a difference enough (and even though it was packed tightly, I still heard slight rattling on hard hits). Taking it out and seeing all the foam I took out, felt like I violated the racket as well. That's why I've been trying to stick with stock rackets that already come with an extreme HL balance (preferably 10-12 HL strung).
However, if you've already walked down this long road without success, I would be willing to try the customization route again (especially since your desired specifications are so close to mine). How exactly do you make your rackets 10-11 pts. HL? Do you add lead tape underneath the grip or do you put fishing weights inside the buttcap? Just to clarify, you've built up your Volkl C10s with 12.2oz, 8 pts. HL stock?
 
jonestim

jonestim

Hall of Fame
Leather grip plus over grip adds about 10g and would add 1.5 to 2 pts more HL. While the grip is off you can wrap some lead tape around just above where the butt cap ends. About 1g per wrap. Adding 2g there plus the leather/over grip takes the tour 95 to 9 HL.
 
F

fuzz nation

G.O.A.T.
I've never put anything inside of my handles, but I've done fine with applying 1/2" lead tape on top of them. Sometimes I even place it on top of the replacement grip and then put my overgrip over that. My typical handle treatment for my C10's includes one or two laps of lead around the flare at the butt cap along with a 6"-7" strip on the two bevels that are parallel with the outside edges of the hoop.

My customized C10's weigh around 12.5 oz. strung with syn. gut and despite their extra heft, I've compared my tuned version against a stock alternative and definitely prefer the handling that I get with the extra HL balance.

The other racquets that I tuned to my liking are Volkl's O10 325g's. They got similar lead applied to their handles along with a little 1/4" tape on the hoops at 3/9 o'clock. This gave me a HL layout similar to my C10's with slightly less static weight.

Even though these racquets have their own personalities, my tuning has made it much easier to switch between them without a problem. This has been a big help for me, since my court time includes coaching, playing occasional matches, teaching, and just grinding on the practice court. I'm much better off having different tools for different roles and I have a much improved fit with both frames after a little customizing.
 
The_Racketeer

The_Racketeer

Professional
There aren't many racquets out there with exactly your specs. 10-12pts HL is extremely rare. But it's easily achieved without needing to gut your handle. As fuzz nation recommended, use lead tape at the butt of the handle, heavier (leather) grips, and OGs can easily add the weight and balance you prefer. Really opens the possibilities.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
New Racket Suggestions
Replies
3
Views
491
jpasquito
J
K
Is There Going To Be a 6.0 Version In The K Factor Line????
Replies
3
Views
680
BreakPoint
BreakPoint
evw
classic rackets...any further suggestions
2
Replies
59
Views
5K
Anton
Anton
M
Can you help me out???
Replies
14
Views
709
FedUp
FedUp
Bundey
The Official 18x20 String Pattern Club
12 13 14
Replies
657
Views
65K
MomentumGT
MomentumGT
Top