Blade V8, worst balde ever? no Blade ADN !
- Thread starter staryugi
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staryugi
Rookie
the balance, the plowthrough, no feel !
Fed Kennedy
Legend
I think it has beautiful feel. No power though
Balance -- I presume you think both string patterns are too head-light if you're used to the 1-3pt HL strung balance of older Blades. Good news is it's at least partial addressable with hoop lead.
Plow-Through -- It is lacking in swing weight and hittingweight in stock form. Again, that can be at least partially remedied with hoop lead, but yes, mass distribution is not as tip-centric to begin with.
Feel -- I'm going to guess it's too dead/muted for your taste? That's somewhat addressable with more crisp strings, but your point remains. It may be a deal-breaker for some.
Since I presume customizing a v8 is a no-go, here are your best alternatives:
1) load up on the v7 or v6 re-issue while you can
2) for softer with better feel and old-school Blade plow: ProKennex Black Ace Pro (97", 16x19)
3) for stiffer with better feel and old-school Blade plow: Head Auxetic Prestige MP (99", 18x19)
4) for a thuddier feel and custom weight and balance: Angell TC97 16x19 or 18x20
staryugi
Rookie
Exactly, it lacks plowthrough and feel, even after trying lead as you said, it becomes better but noway near to the old blade, so i sold them, and i bought two old blades v6 and v4, they're MAGIC !
staryugi
Rookie
No, i like the muted feel combined with that flat penetrating laser shot trajectory ( À LA SEBI KORDA ), and i found that it's way better with the old blades!
staryugi
Rookie
am a v6 cv fan !
Blade_X
Professional
Me too mate. Most powerful blade ever produced. I feel sorry for recreational players around 3.0-4.0 rating that overdo it by using V8. Even V7 was low powered but it was saved by high SW. STILL IT isn’t enough to carry the blade heritage that it’s the best all around racquet ever produced. Perfect balance of power, control, manoeuvrability and goat feel! CV lucked a little bit only in feel but still it was a controlled powerhouse to dominate your opponents. V8 produces the softest ball any blade has ever produced. And lead doesn’t do anything to it. A disgrace!
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TennisHound
Legend
What about the Blade Team V8? With 4-6g of lead up top it’s got the best blend of power and control.
yourtennisfit
Professional
Me, I find the CV Blade to be the worst - so where are we now with our discussion?
Every iteration of this racket has its own up- and downside - doesn't matter which generation.
Actually the v8 is more powerful and connected again, if you compare with the v7. But in a world where all rackets are made to save arm by muting the stringbed, it still goes that way without overdoing it in my opinion.
And the plow - well if you are lucky with the specs from QC, then some of the 18x20 move through the ball like a train.
Every iteration of this racket has its own up- and downside - doesn't matter which generation.
Actually the v8 is more powerful and connected again, if you compare with the v7. But in a world where all rackets are made to save arm by muting the stringbed, it still goes that way without overdoing it in my opinion.
And the plow - well if you are lucky with the specs from QC, then some of the 18x20 move through the ball like a train.
HFK
Professional
You can't get to your preferred specs with the new Blade?
TennisHound
Legend
What is “…ADN”?
Fwiw, I felt the same way going from the IG Prestige MP to the first gen Graphene PMP. It felt completely horrible
Fwiw, I felt the same way going from the IG Prestige MP to the first gen Graphene PMP. It felt completely horrible
Tranqville
Hall of Fame
LOBALOT
Legend
For some reason this is my son's favorite as well. He did not like the new iteration as it was too powerful for him and he felt it lacked the precision of the previous versions.
As he only has 5 CVs left and they are getting trashed he switched to the TF 40 305 16x19. It isn not quite the same but he is playing with these until Wilson revisits the blade design.
yourtennisfit
Professional
funny how the starter of this thread literally said the opposite - that the CV was more powerful
that's why it is so hard to say, this is the best/worst Blade. It is 100% personal preference and how you perceive the racket, unless you look at certain specs
French DNA
LOBALOT
Legend
funny how the starter of this thread literally said the opposite - that the CV was more powerful
that's why it is so hard to say, this is the best/worst Blade. It is 100% personal preference and how you perceive the racket, unless you look at certain specs
Exactly, isn't that nuts?
It all depends on the player. My son has been playing since he was 4 and while small in stature (He is now 19 and playing in college) generates all the power he needs through proper technique. What he strives for from a racquet is precision and that was what the blades were known for. Most people I know hated the CV stuff Wilson came out with.
Tan Tennis
Rookie
I think v8 has much better feel than v7. Closer to the Pro Staff 97 feel.
staryugi
Rookie
Imp
Impossible!
1HBHfanatic
Legend
-agree here!!
-the 16/19 CV version is nice/tolerable, good plow through
-the 18/20 CV version is a logg!, way too heavy in stock form!!
-and thats saying something because i like heavy rackets, (330g swing weight is nothing to me)
-the v8 18/20 version is very nice!, swing weight is manageable and fun to play with
-the v8 16/19 version is very stream lined and more on the fast power side for a blade
-it definitely has more direct feel than the v7 blades
-the v7 blades are "a bit" more muted,(than the v8s) but still fast and manageable
staryugi
Rookie
The v8 16x19 is weird for the blade line, the 18x20 not bad but better!
staryugi
Rookie
I didn’t say that the blade 16x19 wasn’t good, i said that it hasn’t the blade ADN ( french DNA ), i won alot of matches with it ( with and without lead ), its a good racquet, but impossible to go with those flat orgasmic laser shots like with the older generations and feeling the ball so well!
Did you measure yours? Coz the swingweight/specs were basically identical until v7.
More likely just quality control or different strings if you felt the v7 to be light and the cv to be heavy.
1HBHfanatic
Legend
-the original CV release was known to be a heavy version!
-later, that same model/color was re-released without the CV and people liked it better
-there is a TW video of this topic! TW-Michelle is/was explaining the differences of the CV and non-CV versions
-but even then/now the v7 and v8 models are a bit lighter IMO/IME
staryugi
Rookie
i don't think v7 is lighter, V8 is the first time wilson went with minus 10 points in swingweight for the blades! the other ones were just about feel, dampening, etc !
yourtennisfit
Professional
Blade v8 is still 320 balance as it was before in the v7… what QC does of it is another story.
that the CV was 325 is true, but this doesn’t mean that it is lighter - just a different weight distribution. The CV was clearly more polarized and stiff, the v7 was a noodle and now the v8 is closer to v5 again.
WYK
Legend
Man I love the 18X20 CV. But I like my OG nCode blade, which flat out lied about it's balance. They claimed 4pts, but all of mine are nearly even balanced unless strung up with 120 118.
Now I want to try the 16X19 CV(I liked CV!) and see how they are.
ChanterRacquet
Professional
Yeah, the v8‘s stiffness to power ratio is way too high. How jarring it feels isn’t captured in its RA.
Maybe whatever they did with the “45” fixed in the v2 clash how dumb the v1 clash felt (I dunno, haven’t tried) but it killed the blade.
Maybe whatever they did with the “45” fixed in the v2 clash how dumb the v1 clash felt (I dunno, haven’t tried) but it killed the blade.
staryugi
Rookie
Impossible, especially balance, v8 and v5 are two different racquets!
Rosstour
Talk Tennis Guru
I agree. I spent an hour with one and was unforgettable. The shape on every single shot, the precision on the volleys and serve. Was amazing
yourtennisfit
Professional
with Wilson QC you cannot say this from two pairs of racket anyways.
but on the paper the Blade used to be 325 balance , since the v7 it is 320.
With their production this can range between 330 and 310 anyways. Personally I tested a v8 18x20 which was stock 340 SW strung, solid as can be. But my v8 16x19 was 315 SW at best - Wilson is just a s***show.
1HBHfanatic
Legend
-agree mostly
-thats the nice thing about the v8 update
-it has a-bit more "direct feel"!, without it being uncomfortable
-the v8 has very nice fast modern feel to it, not crisp, just nice and blade like
-the v7 in contrast is a bit more muted and/or dampened, but still very nice to swing
-to further prove the GOOD comfort of the v7 and/or the v8:
-one can string the v7 and v8 with luxilon4G at a comfortable level and not suffer arm issues
-the blades are just NOT string sensitive racquets,
-thats why they are such fun rackets to play with, at a good level!!
Grafil Injection
Legend
When I demoed a v8 18x20 it had RPMxSensation in the string-bed and felt really flat, dull and too low powered. So I would like to re-try with a more lively string set-up. I have a feeling the v8 is a bit more string-sensitive than previous versions.
Bigmctennis
Rookie
Fan of it now with the 18x20? I tried it the other day and oh man is this racket nice.
staryugi
Rookie
yes one of the best ever !
Bigmctennis
Rookie
Only place I found this lacking was kick on 2nd serves but I’m sure that’s due to multi in the demo and getting used to the different launch angle
Quite the turn of events (in true TT form...).
Again, care to share any specifics as to what made you reverse course with the 18x20? I'd presume much better stability, string bed consistency and hitting weight?
RVAtennisaddict
Professional
Which v8 are you atalking about 16x19 or 18x20.. The 18x20 is best frame i have played with, and based on the 15 rackets I currently still have from the last 2-3 years that is a lot.
it is not powerful but better feel and control than almost any racket i have played with, equal to better power to the ps97 and i like much better than the 7 16x19.
it is not powerful but better feel and control than almost any racket i have played with, equal to better power to the ps97 and i like much better than the 7 16x19.
Interestingly I did a poll on the feel of it after I demoed it...
tt.tennis-warehouse.com
" Plush" won out with "muted" a very close second.
The V8 has a fabulous paintjob but the 18x20 felt a little anemic. I was hitting nice deep balls but they were very easy for my opponents to handle. It lacked oomph (science term
). I also found it a tad too muted, not always clear where on the stringbed you were making contact.
Describe the Blade V8 feel (POLL!!)
Hit with the Blade V8 (18x20) awhile back when it came out, struck me as a little, what I'd call, "muted." For me that means it felt like I didn't always know where on the stringbed I was hitting the ball. I am going to demo this racquet again soon, in the mean time.. How would you describe the...
tt.tennis-warehouse.com
" Plush" won out with "muted" a very close second.
The V8 has a fabulous paintjob but the 18x20 felt a little anemic. I was hitting nice deep balls but they were very easy for my opponents to handle. It lacked oomph (science term
). I also found it a tad too muted, not always clear where on the stringbed you were making contact.
Stringbed
New User
Did you get V6 with out without CV?
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