Blade 98 - Pros who actually play these (all versions)
- Thread starter Ross K
- Start date
If you mean the gold/black previous Blade, I'm actually having a hard time choosing between that and the 16x19 'Black Blade' - which is a real surprise as I'm usually definitely an open pattern kind of guy... great frames those gold/blacks IMO.
niktub
Professional
Agree :neutral:
I am in the same situation.
The old 18x20 wins vs the black 18x20...Not sure about the 16x19.
niktub
Professional
Lukhas
Legend
Yes, the Blade BLX, which is either Gold/Black (cheapest in TWE) or pink/black (cheapest in TWUSA). Although I heard it's not a tolerant racquet and hits hard for it's size and pattern. And it's because there's a bias between France and USA in terms of feeling. Americans find what France finds very powerful, average, and vice-versa. So what I read in TT and in France is pretty different. Which is sad, since I search a more tolerant and stable racquet (have a 95in²16*19 64RA right now, very, very soft racquet, lots of dampening on off-center hits), and I read it isn't very tolerant and soft... In France. Little to no mention of this aspect in TT as you'd expect, except in the playtest, but they almost all try poly first.
I can still playtest this part. In fact, what makes me a bit more worried is that I read there seems to be consistency issues between sticks from Wilson. EDIT: Since I want to take two sticks at the same time. I don't care about RA, SW and stuff like this, I just want the sticks to perform the same.Heard the new ones are less hard on the arm, the 16*19 is livelier and 18*20 very similar to its predecessor. Given how dirt cheap they are, I'm taking the 18 one, want more safety in my game and more stability would be nice.
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dgoran
Hall of Fame
I have not seen him in Houston and obiously you have so he might have changed since BUT if it looks like this photo thats H19 not h22
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Goran Ill have to let you try one of my tec 315s..you will like it.
dgoran
Hall of Fame
Difference is quite large for trained eye just look at open throat area h19 is prestige like more of a Y shape and H22 is more V shaped like radical
H19
H22
dgoran
Hall of Fame
HA,HA,HA PP the ultimate sales man
I cant wait to try it when are we meeting up
No one I mean no one can sell as many racquets on this forum like PP can
Tell you what if I make it large with my company I am naming you as my VP of Sales thats for sure! You can have my word...
Power Player
Bionic Poster
HAHAH...deal man. I will definitely hit you up next time I have an open saturday. You can bring your 630s and we can compare.
(my tecs are lighter though..only 343 grams)
(my tecs are lighter though..only 343 grams)
Okay. Not sure if this was 100% answered before... can we say with certainty exactly which racket Raonic is using now?
Or is it another Monfils-like riddle tied up inside a mystery wrapped inside an enigma that will only be answered by covert surveillance, bag rummaging, frame photographing, and by whatever means necessary to set the record straight.
Or is it another Monfils-like riddle tied up inside a mystery wrapped inside an enigma that will only be answered by covert surveillance, bag rummaging, frame photographing, and by whatever means necessary to set the record straight.
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Raonic actually uses a stick crafted of pure basalt vomited from the mouth of a rare species of polar bear that only surfaces once a year and has somehow developed a heroin addiction while listening to old Television records in his polar bear house.
I hope that helps clear things up.
I hope that helps clear things up.
jimbo333
Hall of Fame
I've been here a few years, but this is one of my favourite ever posts
I can just see the junkie polar bear now, out of his head listening to See No Evil and Prove It etc. Thinking, is Raonic really paying me enough to throw up any more of that disgusting Basalt? lol
In fact Ross has probably got a photo of that Polar Bear somewhere!
dgoran
Hall of Fame
Yes should be same as prestige head size (some will say prestige is smaller than 98 in but I never measured myself as I am a geek but not that kind of a geek to xray and cad analyse head sizes etc...
Bottom line is h19 is for pros that Wilson signed away from head and they Want to keep using prestige
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
I've been here a few years, but this is one of my favourite ever posts
I can just see the junkie polar bear now, out of his head listening to See No Evil and Prove It etc. Thinking, is Raonic really paying me enough to throw up any more of that disgusting Basalt? lol
In fact Ross has probably got a photo of that Polar Bear somewhere!
Sorted for PP and Jimbo!... My old fav avatar, the old UHRHs signature pic - polar bear just after basalt purging...
jimbo333
Hall of Fame
Sorted for PP and Jimbo!... My old fav avatar, the old UHRHs signature pic - polar bear just after basalt purging...
Brilliant Ross, I knew it
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Yep - I bet its the same stick. Thats awesome..love Verdasco.
Lead at 3 and 9 is gold on the Tecs.
niktub
Professional
"GWADININA" inside Lamonf stick means Guadeloupe+Martinique
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7Bpq07jWa0
This player is unique...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7Bpq07jWa0
This player is unique...
"GWADININA" inside Lamonf stick means Guadeloupe+Martinique
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7Bpq07jWa0
This player is unique...
niktub can you elaborate on the meaning of "GWADININA"
I got really curious on this
Really nice song by the way it's only a shame that I don't understand even half of it
tennisnut123
Rookie
take the shelf 16x19 blade and put 4g @ 3&9 as well as 4g under the base grip and win tournaments just like that
Thanks! I've googled it but the results I got were all in french and I got really lost...
Anyway I think I got the essence of it from the song
It's really nice to see guys in the tour that work hard but don't forget to enjoy themselves
Really special this one! I always get in a good mood watching him play and he doesn't even have to be winning
(my apologies to the op I guess this is a tiny bit off topic)
The P25, now that I have a couple and am certain that they are P25's as they came in a bag that said so.. are not a blade at all. So the pro stocks blades that I have seen and played with are - H19 (copy of a prestige, often painted as blade 98 or 93), H22 (copy of a radical, mostly painted as a blade 98) and the Kblade pro stock (as written on the bag from the factory again) that also come painted mostly as a blade 98 ).
In summary then -
H22 - comes in different layups, some more flexy, others quite stiff in the head (especially the open pattern ones?), 22mm beam - Former Djoko racquet
H19 - more flexy in the head than the h22, 21mm beam - Former Ivanovic stick, now Monfils
Kblade pro stock - flexier layup of the kblade mold - Raonic racquet
P25 - looks like an extreme or instinct with a slightly less pointy beam, around 65 flex - Azarenka?
And all of them seem to come fairly heavy in the head, with the odd rare exception?
Can anyone else out there add to this?
are not a blade at all. So the pro stocks blades that I have seen and played with are - H19 (copy of a prestige, often painted as blade 98 or 93), H22 (copy of a radical, mostly painted as a blade 98) and the Kblade pro stock (as written on the bag from the factory again) that also come painted mostly as a blade 98 ).In summary then -
H22 - comes in different layups, some more flexy, others quite stiff in the head (especially the open pattern ones?), 22mm beam - Former Djoko racquet
H19 - more flexy in the head than the h22, 21mm beam - Former Ivanovic stick, now Monfils
Kblade pro stock - flexier layup of the kblade mold - Raonic racquet
P25 - looks like an extreme or instinct with a slightly less pointy beam, around 65 flex - Azarenka?
And all of them seem to come fairly heavy in the head, with the odd rare exception?
Can anyone else out there add to this?
The P25, now that I have a couple and am certain that they are P25's as they came in a bag that said so..
In summary then -
H22 - comes in different layups, some more flexy, others quite stiff in the head (especially the open pattern ones?), 22mm beam - Former Djoko racquet
H19 - more flexy in the head than the h22, 21mm beam - Former Ivanovic stick, now Monfils
Kblade pro stock - flexier layup of the kblade mold - Raonic racquet
P25 - looks like an extreme or instinct with a slightly less pointy beam, around 65 flex - Azarenka?
And all of them seem to come fairly heavy in the head, with the odd rare exception?
Can anyone else out there add to this?
Thanks John, great info.
niktub
Professional
The P25, now that I have a couple and am certain that they are P25's as they came in a bag that said so..
In summary then -
H22 - comes in different layups, some more flexy, others quite stiff in the head (especially the open pattern ones?), 22mm beam - Former Djoko racquet
H19 - more flexy in the head than the h22, 21mm beam - Former Ivanovic stick, now Monfils
Kblade pro stock - flexier layup of the kblade mold - Raonic racquet
P25 - looks like an extreme or instinct with a slightly less pointy beam, around 65 flex - Azarenka?
And all of them seem to come fairly heavy in the head, with the odd rare exception?
Can anyone else out there add to this?
Which version of Head Radical would feel the closest to an H22 ?
The funny thing is that I don't think that the h22 actually plays like a radical in many of its layups, it flexes in different places and has more weight in the hoop from the factory. The head on the radical I suspect is more flexy and a little more forgiving but not as powerful.
I guess you would have to buy all of the tight pattern radicals and compare them, which I haven't done.
The H19 on the other hand has a flexier head, close match for that one I think is the TGT 293.2 with lead in the head..
Many of these Wilson pro stocks I suspect feel so solid and hit with heaps of plough due to the mass in the head. Not so good if you want a balance under 32 and an overall weight under 350 though. At 360, yes, but that's getting hefty for some.
Forget the Speed Pro Graphene, does anyone out there have anything to add on the h19/h22/p25/h25/pro stock blade front? Once this is brought up, all I can hear is crickets!
As an aside, I'm thinking of stringing the h22 open patterns I have that are absolute cannons but hurt my arm even looking at them with gut mains, anyone out there done this? It would make sense on the h22, surprised I hadn't tried it earlier but I guess was worried about control issues?
I guess you would have to buy all of the tight pattern radicals and compare them, which I haven't done.
The H19 on the other hand has a flexier head, close match for that one I think is the TGT 293.2 with lead in the head..
Many of these Wilson pro stocks I suspect feel so solid and hit with heaps of plough due to the mass in the head. Not so good if you want a balance under 32 and an overall weight under 350 though. At 360, yes, but that's getting hefty for some.
Forget the Speed Pro Graphene, does anyone out there have anything to add on the h19/h22/p25/h25/pro stock blade front? Once this is brought up, all I can hear is crickets!
As an aside, I'm thinking of stringing the h22 open patterns I have that are absolute cannons but hurt my arm even looking at them with gut mains, anyone out there done this? It would make sense on the h22, surprised I hadn't tried it earlier but I guess was worried about control issues?
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sixone90
Hall of Fame
Had a H2216x19 (It was blacked out and there was a sticker on the inside of the throat labeled as H2216x19) come in for stringing at the pro shop I work at.
It was measured to be 313g unstrung, there was silicone inside the handle as I popped off the trap door. Beam width varied between 21.6mm to 22.2 depending on where you measured it. I put a Prestige Pro on top of it and it looked pretty much identical. What's interesting is the grommets that were used on it, I noticed that there was more protrusion of the grommets around where the PWS is supposed to be, so I suppose Wilson are using the grommets off another racquet with PWS on the H22 Pro Stock. I'm surprised they don't make grommets dedicated to this racquet.
sixone90
Hall of Fame
Gonna post some pics?
フェデラー
Hall of Fame
The P25, now that I have a couple and am certain that they are P25's as they came in a bag that said so..
In summary then -
H22 - comes in different layups, some more flexy, others quite stiff in the head (especially the open pattern ones?), 22mm beam - Former Djoko racquet
H19 - more flexy in the head than the h22, 21mm beam - Former Ivanovic stick, now Monfils
Kblade pro stock - flexier layup of the kblade mold - Raonic racquet
P25 - looks like an extreme or instinct with a slightly less pointy beam, around 65 flex - Azarenka?
And all of them seem to come fairly heavy in the head, with the odd rare exception?
Can anyone else out there add to this?
Big John, could you elaborate more on the Djokovic racket? I believe he was using a Liquidmetal Radical Tour MP before going to wilson, no? I don't know the name of his first wilson racket that he was using in 2007, but then he was advertised as using the Kblade tour which is a mid, far from a midplus.
I think you're right on the Liquidmetal Radical, I'm pretty sure he used a tight pattern H22 when he was with Wilson, which would make sense as it is a radical copy essentially. The racquet he was advertised as playing was not the actual racquet he was playing with, similar to the situation now I guess?
フェデラー
Hall of Fame
Well at least the rackets are the same head this time. He was advertised using the k-blade tour (Tsonga was using the k-blade 98 now that I think of it), which was a mid-racket, when in reality it must have been at least 98''. Has he been using 100 sq in all along? The blades are always 98'', and the LMRT was 98'' as well, now he is advertised as using a 100''. The curious case of Djokovic's racket. I wish he could keep it simple like Rafa and Roger.
sixone90
Hall of Fame
Hey Big John, are you sure Raonic is using the Blade mold? I've recently got a racquet of his and I don't think it's the same as a Blade. It's not something I have seen before.
ProStringing
Rookie
Ross,
Another player to add to your list is Ilija Bozoljac:
Hope this can be of help,
ProStringing
Another player to add to your list is Ilija Bozoljac:
Hope this can be of help,
ProStringing
sixone90
Hall of Fame
That's interesting on your Raonic racquet. Is the beam more boxy like an h22 or curved like the blade? Sorry for the slow response, I've been busy holding the baby for the past few months..
No, it is neither. A H22 has a boxy beam like a Prestige, The Blade has a D-beam where the inside of the beam is flat and the outside is rounded. Raonic's racquet is a O-beam more similar to the Six One 95 (without the PWS of course)
