Ask the Co-Designers of the RF 97 Autograph Questions!

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moon shot

Hall of Fame
One of the main points that Roger wanted and really pushed us hard on was to try and keep the design as clean and minimal as possible. With every iteration he wanted to minimize and simplify the design, but at the same time really focus and get all the little details right (paint finish, flush grommet strip, metal lettering, etc). I think it's that focus on the details that makes this clean and minimalistic design so effective. The old adage of "Design is in the detail" really applies here.

- Peter

By metal lettering do you intend 'the appearance of' or is the laser actually burning off paint to a metallic decal of some sort? I hadn't considered what the laser was revealing beneath. Am I going to have to explain this to TSA? ;)
 
By metal lettering do you intend 'the appearance of' or is the laser actually burning off paint to a metallic decal of some sort? I hadn't considered what the laser was revealing beneath. Am I going to have to explain this to TSA? ;)

The laser etches a very shallow channel in the racquet and metallic lettering is inserted into this channel. It's a very cool process and took months and months to develop and test and gives yet another unique design detail. It's a process that's never been done on any tennis racquet. The elastic paint is also a specially engineered paint that has never been used on any racquet before and allowed us to achieve that unique and wonderful soft touch feel. I think i've said this before but a lot of engineering by our amazing R&D department went into achieving the design we were after.
 

Faris

Professional
I use the current RF 97 and to be honest im a little bummed because i got the racket just a few months ago. Had I known new one was coming out I would have waited. Any chance Wilson will consider a trade?
 

gino

Legend
The laser etches a very shallow channel in the racquet and metallic lettering is inserted into this channel. It's a very cool process and took months and months to develop and test and gives yet another unique design detail. It's a process that's never been done on any tennis racquet. The elastic paint is also a specially engineered paint that has never been used on any racquet before and allowed us to achieve that unique and wonderful soft touch feel. I think i've said this before but a lot of engineering by our amazing R&D department went into achieving the design we were after.

How much of the frame has the laser etching technique? Just the throat on the "Pro Staff" side?
 
A number of you have asked questions related to the differences between the last Pro Staff RF97 Autograph and this new one outside of the new design and similar details. One of the other often asked questions on TT is about Federer’s own racket and if it’s anything close to retail. Those two questions in fact relate very closely to each other. The fact is that the Pro Staff RF97 you can buy at any retailer is the EXACT SAME FRAME that Roger Federer plays with - same layup, same materials, same specs. It’s identical. So when Roger decided upon his final frame after trying dozens of prototypes back in 2014, we then released that exact same racket to the public. With this new co-designed 2016 Pro Staff RF97, we again went back to Roger and he said that he loved his new racket and all the benefits it gave him. He did not want to change the specs or the layup at all. But Roger is very passionate about design and expressed his desire to be very involved in the design of his next racket and working with us to create the look and feel of his new racket well over a year ago. As a result, and to stay true to the racket Roger actually plays with, our focus with Roger on this new stealthy black Pro Staff RF97 has been the dimension of design, feel, and perfection of details and working with Roger to make it be exactly what he wanted. To do this, we had to start with a blank slate and strip away all the noise and clutter that exists on rackets today. Roger wanted to create a design that communicated him and his style – clean lines, classic, sleek, elegant, bold, uncontaminated. Roger’s direction even translated past the Pro Staff RF97 to other new rackets and packaging as well. Roger shared this vision with us, and then the co-creation began. Together we pushed the boundaries of what has ever been done before with a tennis racket, and it forced us to even re-invent our manufacturing methods and engineer different paint feels and textures to provide a tactile experience for the best feel of a tennis racket in your hands ever.

Nathan
 
Peter,

The new line looks awesome!

I love the Six.One 95S, except wanted it in a slightly larger head perhaps a 97/98/99 coming from a 342 grams strung Steam 99S.

What would be the closest frame that Wilson makes in 97 inch frame that has the weight of a Six.One 95S ? If one doesn't exist, could you make one ? 18x16, 310 gram or so unstrung , 66/ 67 Flex :) :)

The 97S just seems quite a bit lighter at 290 grams unstrung vs the 309 Six.One 95S -

Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated -
Great to hear you like the Six.One 95S and Steam 99S.
If you want a 97 sq inch racket in a weight around 310g unstrung, I would try the Pro Staff 97 (315g unstrung, 16x19) or Pro Staff 97S (310g unstrung, 18x17).
 
The fact is that the Pro Staff RF97 you can buy at any retailer is the EXACT SAME FRAME that Roger Federer plays with - same layup, same materials, same specs. It’s identical.

I know a lot of people wanted every racket in the line to be all black. The explanation you gave made sense regarding Fed's thoughts on the color way. I get it, he wanted little kids (who would emulate him) using the same "racket" (at least the color) as him. Some people might not like his decision but i can see where he's coming from.

Racket companies are known for paint jobs and false advertising. Wilson made the RF and said it was what roger used, and people still speculated. Now there's a re-release of the frame with zero changes. This too makes sense that if it is in fact what Fed is using, he'd want to keep it that way.

Wilson is saying that this is the racket that they made for Federer, with him. The specs are what he wanted and the specs are what he got. I'm sure the QC is a little better on his racket but still he's playing with a retail racket..... UNTIL P1 gets their hands on it.

Now you can't fault wilson as they don't own P1 so whatever they do it is up to them. It appears they are giving us the same racket that they are giving P1 before any modifications, if there are any.

Either way I'm going to get some of these sticks, maybe after they start showing up used =p
 
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gino

Legend
Yes just the "PRO STAFF" on the throat
- Peter

How are you feeling about the 97S? What's the playability like on that frame? Do you have it heavily customized, Peter?
A number of you have asked questions related to the differences between the last Pro Staff RF97 Autograph and this new one outside of the new design and similar details. One of the other often asked questions on TT is about Federer’s own racket and if it’s anything close to retail. Those two questions in fact relate very closely to each other. The fact is that the Pro Staff RF97 you can buy at any retailer is the EXACT SAME FRAME that Roger Federer plays with - same layup, same materials, same specs. It’s identical. So when Roger decided upon his final frame after trying dozens of prototypes back in 2014, we then released that exact same racket to the public. With this new co-designed 2016 Pro Staff RF97, we again went back to Roger and he said that he loved his new racket and all the benefits it gave him. He did not want to change the specs or the layup at all. But Roger is very passionate about design and expressed his desire to be very involved in the design of his next racket and working with us to create the look and feel of his new racket well over a year ago. As a result, and to stay true to the racket Roger actually plays with, our focus with Roger on this new stealthy black Pro Staff RF97 has been the dimension of design, feel, and perfection of details and working with Roger to make it be exactly what he wanted. To do this, we had to start with a blank slate and strip away all the noise and clutter that exists on rackets today. Roger wanted to create a design that communicated him and his style – clean lines, classic, sleek, elegant, bold, uncontaminated. Roger’s direction even translated past the Pro Staff RF97 to other new rackets and packaging as well. Roger shared this vision with us, and then the co-creation began. Together we pushed the boundaries of what has ever been done before with a tennis racket, and it forced us to even re-invent our manufacturing methods and engineer different paint feels and textures to provide a tactile experience for the best feel of a tennis racket in your hands ever.

Nathan

Thanks for clarity, Nathan. Wilson is doing something that Babolat, HEAD, and other manufacturer's have thus failed to do. Let consumers use the EXACT frame a touring pro and legend uses.

The transparency that you all have demonstrated throughout the RF97 development since 2014 is unrivaled in the industry. I really am excited to see how this line evolves as you are essentially the first manufacturer (outside of HEAD with the limited TGK's) to sell a "prostock" frame to the public in massive quantities. Cheers and thanks again

*The 6.1 paintjobs drive me insane though, bring back the 6.1!!!!
 
A number of you have asked questions related to the differences between the last Pro Staff RF97 Autograph and this new one outside of the new design and similar details. One of the other often asked questions on TT is about Federer’s own racket and if it’s anything close to retail. Those two questions in fact relate very closely to each other. The fact is that the Pro Staff RF97 you can buy at any retailer is the EXACT SAME FRAME that Roger Federer plays with - same layup, same materials, same specs. It’s identical. So when Roger decided upon his final frame after trying dozens of prototypes back in 2014, we then released that exact same racket to the public. With this new co-designed 2016 Pro Staff RF97, we again went back to Roger and he said that he loved his new racket and all the benefits it gave him. He did not want to change the specs or the layup at all. But Roger is very passionate about design and expressed his desire to be very involved in the design of his next racket and working with us to create the look and feel of his new racket well over a year ago. As a result, and to stay true to the racket Roger actually plays with, our focus with Roger on this new stealthy black Pro Staff RF97 has been the dimension of design, feel, and perfection of details and working with Roger to make it be exactly what he wanted. To do this, we had to start with a blank slate and strip away all the noise and clutter that exists on rackets today. Roger wanted to create a design that communicated him and his style – clean lines, classic, sleek, elegant, bold, uncontaminated. Roger’s direction even translated past the Pro Staff RF97 to other new rackets and packaging as well. Roger shared this vision with us, and then the co-creation began. Together we pushed the boundaries of what has ever been done before with a tennis racket, and it forced us to even re-invent our manufacturing methods and engineer different paint feels and textures to provide a tactile experience for the best feel of a tennis racket in your hands ever.

Nathan

Good enough, I'm sure that's as good of an answer as you can provide for as long as you're with Wilson. (Definitely not outside the line of what we've been speculating with every new paintjob not limited to Wilson but other brands as well.)

Thanks!
 
Wouldn't a transition from either of the light frames to the PS97 or the PS97S be a more natural expectation for a junior playing those light frames now to achieve in the typcial 2 year design life cycle of this and the other product lines? I don't see alot of younger players going to such heavy frames as the RF anyway.
Yes, for sure it a more natural weight progression moving from a Pro Staff 97LS to a Pro Staff 97 or 97S, than to a Pro Staff RF97.

Nathan
 
How are you feeling about the 97S? What's the playability like on that frame? Do you have it heavily customized, Peter?

So in all transparency here, I played with the 2014 PS97S for a while, but the last few months it's been with a prototype for the updated 2016 one. The final production one is slightly different than the prototype I have so I can't give you an exact answer as I myself am waiting to switch to the final production 2016 frame!!!!! I'm really excited! But just from an aesthetic point of view I personally like the more box beam frame shape. I think it works well for this thinner 19.5mm Pro Staff. I did have most of my PS97S's customized with some weight in the handle ... most recently about 10g.

- Peter
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
The inside of the throat / his face and the autograph was again an element that Roger had a lot of input on. There was a whole session during one meeting where we went over many many options for this. This included alternate illustrations and other similar options. The one that's on the final racquet is the one Roger wanted.

- Peter
Hey Peter,
I was just curious if you had presented the idea of using a pictograph silhouette of Roger's iconic inside-out forehand instead of his face to Roger? I know we had discussed this in the past regarding the first RF97A. If you did, just wondering what he thought of it? :)

I'm referring tho this:

h7hcutV.jpg
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
A number of you have asked questions related to the differences between the last Pro Staff RF97 Autograph and this new one outside of the new design and similar details. One of the other often asked questions on TT is about Federer’s own racket and if it’s anything close to retail. Those two questions in fact relate very closely to each other. The fact is that the Pro Staff RF97 you can buy at any retailer is the EXACT SAME FRAME that Roger Federer plays with - same layup, same materials, same specs. It’s identical. So when Roger decided upon his final frame after trying dozens of prototypes back in 2014, we then released that exact same racket to the public. With this new co-designed 2016 Pro Staff RF97, we again went back to Roger and he said that he loved his new racket and all the benefits it gave him. He did not want to change the specs or the layup at all. But Roger is very passionate about design and expressed his desire to be very involved in the design of his next racket and working with us to create the look and feel of his new racket well over a year ago. As a result, and to stay true to the racket Roger actually plays with, our focus with Roger on this new stealthy black Pro Staff RF97 has been the dimension of design, feel, and perfection of details and working with Roger to make it be exactly what he wanted. To do this, we had to start with a blank slate and strip away all the noise and clutter that exists on rackets today. Roger wanted to create a design that communicated him and his style – clean lines, classic, sleek, elegant, bold, uncontaminated. Roger’s direction even translated past the Pro Staff RF97 to other new rackets and packaging as well. Roger shared this vision with us, and then the co-creation began. Together we pushed the boundaries of what has ever been done before with a tennis racket, and it forced us to even re-invent our manufacturing methods and engineer different paint feels and textures to provide a tactile experience for the best feel of a tennis racket in your hands ever.

Nathan
Hi Nathan,
Thanks for the great info! Really appreciate it! :)

TW,
Can we please sticky this post at the top pf the Racquets and Pros' Racquets and Gear forums to silence all the past, current, and future skeptics once and for all?
Thanks!
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
I was fortunate enough to have the privilege of getting to hit with Roger - definitely a highlight!

Nathan
Awesome! Was Roger testing all the numerous prototypes when you hit with him? If so, I guess nothing better than giving you instant feedback in real time! :)

So did you take a set off of him? ;) Just kidding.....I think.
 

Sander001

Hall of Fame
@Wilson Official I demoed the Pro Staff 97S and it felt amazing, like the Pro Staff Midsize from the 1980's. Not only was it super comfortable, but the feedback was wonderful.
But then I bought my own and it feels nowhere near as good. The comfort and feedback are gone. I've tried the exact same strings, lower tensions, higher, softer strings, stiffer strings, lead in all places, grips etc.

Why did the demo feel like a much better racquet? And it wasn't the honeymoon period either because I tried the demo again side by side with mine and they were worlds apart.
 
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Roland G

Hall of Fame
Peter and Nathan well done for your work in producing this awesome looking racquet and indeed the entire line. I can't wait to see them in person and hopefully try them on court!
Can I ask though what level of player you had in mind for the RF97? Also, is it designed for a particular style of player in mind? I'm around a 4.0 and feel I just don't have the game/fitness to swing such an epic stick!
 
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Peter and Nathan well done for your work in producing this awesome looking racquet and indeed the entire line. I can't wait to see them in person and hopefully try them on court!
Can I ask though what level of player you had in mind for the RF97? Also, is it designed for a particular style of player in mind? I'm around a 4.0 and feel I just don't have the game/fitness to swing such an epic stick!

Why limit yourself? Not like these lightweight and powerful racquets were that common when the Pro Staff line took off, you were just kind thrown into it regardless of your ability. And then your game just grows with the racquet.
 

Roland G

Hall of Fame
Why limit yourself? Not like these lightweight and powerful racquets were that common when the Pro Staff line took off, you were just kind thrown into it regardless of your ability. And then your game just grows with the racquet.
Good point. I did have the PS97 though for a while and it was weighted to around 355g strung and it did feel like a lot of racquet to swing around. I stuck with it for a few months but the results on court were not good. Maybe I'll try the 97s or even the 97ls weighted a little when they come out
 

PBODY99

Legend
Please release a 27.5 in Pro Staff 97 LS or 97 UlS. Either frame extended would give a S/W that would be very much what I & others who still miss the extended frames miss without being overly hard to swing
 
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kingcheetah

Hall of Fame
I'm wondering if it's at all common for pro players to have this much opinion/input as far as aesthetics-- or is Roger unique here?
 

vsbabolat

G.O.A.T.
A number of you have asked questions related to the differences between the last Pro Staff RF97 Autograph and this new one outside of the new design and similar details. One of the other often asked questions on TT is about Federer’s own racket and if it’s anything close to retail. Those two questions in fact relate very closely to each other. The fact is that the Pro Staff RF97 you can buy at any retailer is the EXACT SAME FRAME that Roger Federer plays with - same layup, same materials, same specs. It’s identical. So when Roger decided upon his final frame after trying dozens of prototypes back in 2014, we then released that exact same racket to the public. With this new co-designed 2016 Pro Staff RF97, we again went back to Roger and he said that he loved his new racket and all the benefits it gave him. He did not want to change the specs or the layup at all. But Roger is very passionate about design and expressed his desire to be very involved in the design of his next racket and working with us to create the look and feel of his new racket well over a year ago. As a result, and to stay true to the racket Roger actually plays with, our focus with Roger on this new stealthy black Pro Staff RF97 has been the dimension of design, feel, and perfection of details and working with Roger to make it be exactly what he wanted. To do this, we had to start with a blank slate and strip away all the noise and clutter that exists on rackets today. Roger wanted to create a design that communicated him and his style – clean lines, classic, sleek, elegant, bold, uncontaminated. Roger’s direction even translated past the Pro Staff RF97 to other new rackets and packaging as well. Roger shared this vision with us, and then the co-creation began. Together we pushed the boundaries of what has ever been done before with a tennis racket, and it forced us to even re-invent our manufacturing methods and engineer different paint feels and textures to provide a tactile experience for the best feel of a tennis racket in your hands ever.

Nathan
Thats great to hear! Will Wilson plan on getting rid of it's paint job program then and make racquets like what Monfils (H19) is really using available to the public? I'm not going down a list here but lets just say there are a lot of 6.1 95 molds out on the ATP and WTA Tours painted up like the Burn and like the Pro Staff 97.
 
L

leohaegger

Guest
A number of you have asked questions related to the differences between the last Pro Staff RF97 Autograph and this new one outside of the new design and similar details. One of the other often asked questions on TT is about Federer’s own racket and if it’s anything close to retail. Those two questions in fact relate very closely to each other. The fact is that the Pro Staff RF97 you can buy at any retailer is the EXACT SAME FRAME that Roger Federer plays with - same layup, same materials, same specs. It’s identical. So when Roger decided upon his final frame after trying dozens of prototypes back in 2014, we then released that exact same racket to the public. With this new co-designed 2016 Pro Staff RF97, we again went back to Roger and he said that he loved his new racket and all the benefits it gave him. He did not want to change the specs or the layup at all. But Roger is very passionate about design and expressed his desire to be very involved in the design of his next racket and working with us to create the look and feel of his new racket well over a year ago. As a result, and to stay true to the racket Roger actually plays with, our focus with Roger on this new stealthy black Pro Staff RF97 has been the dimension of design, feel, and perfection of details and working with Roger to make it be exactly what he wanted. To do this, we had to start with a blank slate and strip away all the noise and clutter that exists on rackets today. Roger wanted to create a design that communicated him and his style – clean lines, classic, sleek, elegant, bold, uncontaminated. Roger’s direction even translated past the Pro Staff RF97 to other new rackets and packaging as well. Roger shared this vision with us, and then the co-creation began. Together we pushed the boundaries of what has ever been done before with a tennis racket, and it forced us to even re-invent our manufacturing methods and engineer different paint feels and textures to provide a tactile experience for the best feel of a tennis racket in your hands ever.

Nathan

@Wilson Official -Thanks Nathan and Peter for your honest answer. If you have a winning formula, why doesn't need to change?

I wish HEAD could do the same with the Prestige line (although i like the Graphene & GrapheneXT line, but those can't beat the PT57 (or the PT10).
 
I'm wondering if it's at all common for pro players to have this much opinion/input as far as aesthetics-- or is Roger unique here?

I can't speak for other brands, however I would have to wager a guess and say it's not common for pro players to be overly involved in the aesthetics. In our case we do review designs and elicit some feedback from our marquee players but the involvement Roger had in this design is quite unprecedented. And it was very much driven by his desire early on to be very involved in the process and make sure this new RF97 really reflected his design style.

- Peter
 

suppawat

Semi-Pro
Hi Peter and Nathan,

I am really glad to see you guys initiating this RF97 thread for racquet enthusiasts like us. I haven't seen the new RF97 racquet in person yet. From a certain camera angle, the combination of color, paint texture, font type/layout of the new RF97 has the look of super car (Porsche).

As a racquet enthusiast, I have some questions for you.

1) Since this is a Federer's signatured racquet, will it come with nice packaging (box,drawstring sack, or whatever)?
2) I know that Roger's racquet grip shape is customized, will this new RF97 have that grip shape too?
3) With the new cosmetic (elastic/velvet paint), has Wilson done the lab test to compare ball hitting sound/feel (frequency test) between old and new RF97? And what is the outcome?

Thanks,
Sam
 

adaan

New User
Peter, Nathan - In comparing of the two RF97s, the new one on the current TW page says Braided graphite only in composition, not seeing Kevlar and Basalt like the previous one. Is this true of such minor material change? If so, what should we expect the feel from playing? Thank you.
 

QuentinFederer

Professional
Hi Peter and Nathan, I can't wait to get my hands on the new RF97! I've been using the original RF97 and love it. I would just like to ask if there are any plans to either bring out a new 90 inch frame or rerelease one of the older 90s like the K factor tour 90?
 

pepka

Professional
Never liked the "old" RF but this one, damn, You Guys outdone yourselves :cool:
P.S. You had any polish ancestors Peter? ;)
 
Peter, Nathan - In comparing of the two RF97s, the new one on the current TW page says Braided graphite only in composition, not seeing Kevlar and Basalt like the previous one. Is this true of such minor material change? If so, what should we expect the feel from playing? Thank you.

It's the exact same layup. In the new racquet we really stripped down the visual design to basics so omitted a lot of technology logos and other superfluous design elements.

- Peter
 
1) Since this is a Federer's signatured racquet, will it come with nice packaging (box,drawstring sack, or whatever)?
2) I know that Roger's racquet grip shape is customized, will this new RF97 have that grip shape too?

I can answer a couple of these...

1) the racquet comes with a little booklet showing you Roger's history with the Pro Staff and also a custom poly bag in a matching design
2) The grip comes in the standard Wilson 1-5 sizes / shape

- Peter
 

Tham19

New User
Looks Great! Can't wait to see it in person. Bet it felt pretty nice to get the thumbs up from Roger on the final design.
 

anirut

Legend
So in all transparency here, I played with the 2014 PS97S for a while, but the last few months it's been with a prototype for the updated 2016 one. The final production one is slightly different than the prototype I have so I can't give you an exact answer as I myself am waiting to switch to the final production 2016 frame!!!!! I'm really excited! But just from an aesthetic point of view I personally like the more box beam frame shape. I think it works well for this thinner 19.5mm Pro Staff. I did have most of my PS97S's customized with some weight in the handle ... most recently about 10g.

- Peter

Could you please clarify the 19.5 mm? Is the new RF97 19.5 mm? I see the published spec as 21.5.
 
Could you please clarify the 19.5 mm? Is the new RF97 19.5 mm? I see the published spec as 21.5.

This was just a discussion directly about the new 97S model which is 19.5mm (as was the 2014 model) but simply has a more 'boxy' shape . The RF97 frame is unchanged.
Apologies for any confusion :)

- Peter
 
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