Arm friendly racquet for my wife?

[Redflea]

I didn't hit with it, except in the back yard against the house for a bit (don't tell my wife!). Felt very muted, as they advertise, but in a bad way, no feel whatsover.

The racquet looks huge and a bit strange, with very thick, rounded beam and a chip of some kind glued to the throat just above the grip. Overall a bit silly looking (my wife's comment, not mine).

Very light, easy to swing. Strung w/white strings (solid white, cheap looking ones which are supposedly part of the "protect system"). Strings felt pretty loose, and there was quite a bit of trampoline effect. My wife tried it for about five minutes and didn't care for it at all. Felt like her shots were going all over the place (and they were). By far the worst racquet she has tried so far.

 

[Redflea]

Tried three more this evening.

RDX 500 MP (98, 11.7)
Volkl Catapult V1 (102, 10.8 )
Wilson ncode N5 (98, 9.5)

RDX: Hit with the best control and consistency with this one, but as expected it was just too heavy for her. Tried this one more for fun than reality. Since I use the Mid I just had to get her to try the MP, especially since they didn't have any other demo racquets available that we wanted to try.

Volkl: Liked it OK, but sprayed balls a bit, and felt it was a bit too heavy as well. Rated it just OK.

Wilson: Liked this one...hit reasonably well and was able to manage and use the power of the racquet effectively. Generated some good spin on her shots as well. Good overall.

The current leader remains the O3 Red...returning this batch tomorrow to see if the Pro Kennex and a couple others from our list are available,

 

[proracketeer]

if the 500 is too heavy: RDX300?

 

[tschevap]

Try the Yonex Nanospeed RQ7 100...
Tested it yesterday and i was surprised by its playability...not too much power, plenty of control and spin and very very armfriendly!
I am a 5.0 player and really surprised by this frame...

T.

 

[Tennisaurus]

... Felt very muted, as they advertise, but in a bad way, no feel whatsover.

The racquet looks huge and a bit strange, with very thick, rounded beam and a chip of some kind glued to the throat just above the grip. Overall a bit silly looking (my wife's comment, not mine).

Very light, easy to swing. Strung w/white strings (solid white, cheap looking ones which are supposedly part of the "protect system"). Strings felt pretty loose, and there was quite a bit of trampoline effect. My wife tried it for about five minutes and didn't care for it at all. Felt like her shots were going all over the place (and they were). By far the worst racquet she has tried so far.

Thank you for sharing your experience with the Head Protector racquet. Explains why it is not widely distributed, nor really promoted by Head. Interestingly enough, when I made inquiries of a local tennis club, earlier this year, the proprietor indicated that the Head rep seemed to shy away from it.

I have been using the Prokennex 5G and 7G and am very happy with them. Dealing with TE, they let me get back in the game! (Maybe that should be PK's motto!).

 

[Redflea]

Well...last night the Wilson N5 bit the dust...she didn't feel she had good control with it.

Yonex Vcon 15 & 17 were also tried and discarded.

At the end of hitting last night she announced she was done with demoing and is going to get the Prince O3 Red. The weight, flex, and power seem to suit her game, and she clearly had the best results with it.

Overall, I think she's making a good choice. Me, I'd still be having fun demoing two weeks from now, but she wanted to get her racquet ordered so she can concentrate on playing again.

Thanks to all for all the suggestions and ideas.

 

[chopz]

by the way...I was just sifting through some old posts and saw some positive reviews of the Wilson Hammer 6.2 and 6.3 OS's...apparently they are 30% fiberglass and are known to be pretty comfy....although I don't know if it will be good for a beginner....it's funny, alot of these 110" OS racquets that weigh about 10 oz. or so are described on TW as being for 3.0, 3.5 and above players...this surprises me, as most players of that level that I know use something more like a 100" Pure Drive...something at least 11 oz. or so, and no bigger a head than 105-107.

what's on your demo list Redflea?

I have used a Wilson T2000 for the past 30 years. Recently I got TE, although my Doc said using my computer mouse & riding my mountain bike contributed to the TE, I switched to a Wilson Hammer 6.2 and have no problem now. I also seem to have better power and control on my shots with the 6.2.