BB11 vs PK7g vs PDR vs K95 6.1 vs Speedport Tour

[djnemo]

I am looking to upgrade on my current raquet, the Prince Diablo XP MP. After extensive reading of this forum and the tw website, I have ordered and just received the following demos:

Boris Becker 11 (325)
Pro Kennex 7G
Prince Speedport Tour
Wilson K95 6.1 16x18
Pro Drive Roddick Plus

I will post my thoughts on these racquets in a few days after I've played with them. I am a 4.5, age 33, western grip on forehand and 2hbh, baseliner but play a lot of doubles so need an all court racquet. I am open to ideas for other demos if you have any.

 

[Bottle Rocket]

I am a 4.5, age 33, western grip on forehand and 2hbh, baseliner but play a lot of doubles so need an all court racquet. I am open to ideas for other demos if you have any.

I highly recommend trying the K95 18X20 to compare with the 16X18.

If you're used to extended length frames, and considering you're a very solid player, I would also recommend giving the K95 "X" a shot. You might be one of the few guys who can unleash the potential of that frame. I think you'd find that it has significantly better feel than the Pure Drive Roddick, while offering similar performance.

You might check the Hybrid Tour, as well.

What is behind your desired "upgrade" from the Diablo?

 

[sphinx780]

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts. I'm 4.5, 30, SW f and 2bh aggressive baseliner.

I used the N6.1 16x18 for ages and then demoed a BB11 and hated it...but my wife loved it so we kept one around. Broke it out 6 months down the line and it has become my main squeeze for the past year and a half. I had an affair with the Volkl DNX 10mp which may be up your alley if you want more control than the Wilson offers when you demo.

 

[TourTenor]

I used the N6.1 16x18 for ages and then demoed a BB11 and hated it...but my wife loved it so we kept one around.

Just curious ... then why do you have the BB11 in your signature line?

 

[jrod]

Just curious ... then why do you have the BB11 in your signature line?

He stated: "...Broke it out 6 months down the line and it has become my main squeeze for the past year and a half. I had an affair with the Volkl DNX 10mp which may be up your alley if you want more control than the Wilson offers when you demo."

 

[TourTenor]

He stated: "...Broke it out 6 months down the line and it has become my main squeeze for the past year and a half. I had an affair with the Volkl DNX 10mp which may be up your alley if you want more control than the Wilson offers when you demo."

Aye, I have poor reading comprehension this morning. Hope you are digging your BB11 mids as much as I am.

 

[sphinx780]

I've read my fair share of posts pre-coffee and done the same. I'm using the MP. The mid is a nice ride too but the MP has a slightly more preferable swing weight at stock for my tastes.

To OP: I'm sure once the TTWers get a whiff of what you like and dislike with those demo's that the suggestions for other sticks will come quickly.

 

[djnemo]

Played with the demos and here's an update:

Pro Drive Roddick Plus
Serves like a beast, and my hitting partner noticed a faster and heavier serve. However too much power for the rest of my game. Great access to spin on groundies but felt a lack of control and the backhand especially was flying long. The racquet felt less maneuverable at net than the others and again control and feel suffered.

Boris Becker 11 MP(325)My favorite racquet to volley with. Great feel at net and on serves, and the serve was heavy and had good spin, although not as good as PDR. Least power of the five racquets, and had trouble hitting groundstrokes deep enough. Strings broke after 20 minutes, so will be demoing again because this racquet could be the one if I can get used to the power level and/or switch string set up in order to hit groundies deeper.

Pro Kennex 7G
Loved the feel, not too muted and not too stiff. Great topspin, slices flew on me a bit. Main downside is that serves lacked a bit in pace.

Prince Speedport Tour
While I normally like a muted feel from my racquet, this one was too muted. Felt dead, perhaps I should try it strung with string ports. Performance wise it is solid in all areas but not spectacular.

Wilson K95 6.1 16x18
Right up there with the BB11 on feel at net, and groundies were deeper. Most similar in feel to my old Diablo. Pace on serves was solid, but had trouble controlling spin serves.

Overall, I would be happy playing with any of these except the PDR and Speedport (although with string ports maybe its ok). But to rank at the moment, it would be:

1) BB11
2) PK 7g
3) Wilson K95 6.1
4) Prince Speedport
5) PDR

 

[sphinx780]

If you have the chance to try different tensions on the BB 11, I would try a few out. Compared to my past sticks, the BB has a distinctively different feel at different tensions. For some reason, the hoop seems noticeably stiffer with higher tensions compared to any other stick I've used in the past 20 years. I found that 57+ really stiffens that hoop up, less will change the hitting characteristics, then it just comes down to personal preference at that point. I found more power at the 55-57 range, both lower and higher added more control with my string set up.

If you like the other characteristics of the stick, I think the right set up can get you the punch you're looking for.

 

[djnemo]

I added a few more demos to my original list....

Prince 03 Hybrid Tour
Overall I liked this racquet, great for kick serves and solid on everything else. As others have noted, the open string pattern occasionally caused a groundstroke to spray even when hit in the sweetspot, but control was generally good. Not as dampened of a feel as the speedport tour.

Babolat Pure Storm Tour
I hit well with this racquet but a bit stiff for me and I did not like the wider beam.

Volkl C10
Even though the same racquet head size as the BB11 mp, this racquet felt more unwieldy and not as solid. Seemed to lack a bit in power and control commpared to BB11 as well.

After demoing 8 racquets, I think I am going with the BB 11 mp (325). I am a bit surprised I liked an 18x20 the best since I have heavy topspin on groundstrokes, but I found that I can still get good spin with this racquet and some of the more open string patterns gave me too much spin, and the ball would dive inside the service line. Two other racquets I enjoyed were the K6.1 95 16x18, which hit just as well as the bb11 but is stiffer and not good for my chronic TE, and the hybrid tour, which I would consider because its cheap on tw right now.