Dan is an interesting cat.Here, 7:25 into this vid, is Dan the Racquet Science Man guesting on the Tennis Spin youtube channel to laud the Radical 360 MP as a surprise pick among the best 5 sticks out there today. And I thought I was the only one who knew...
Love doing this too. Wish someone invented a 0.25 extension buttcap though !Having spent a very long time experimenting with lighter 'platform' frames or whatever you want to call them (which for me takes in the likes of Lite, Team, Junior frames, plus just standard frames that spec out nearer to what I like and can work with), you can count me in on this thread! ... Some examples being DR-98 L, Blade 98 L, TFight 100 280, UT, lower weight APDs, Pro Open 100. Where I might diverge a bit though is re racket length. I am now completely all in on extended length and all the aforementioned I've checked out in the last few months XL-ed up.
Case-in-point. Just because something is new, doesn't necessarily make it better, either universally, or for the sub-population in question.Use of the Steam 100 with latest Blade PJ's still seem to outnumber true Blades used by top ranked players on the WTA. ??
Hah. Actually, as much as I trumpet Multi/Cream hybrids for others, I prefer the control and lower power of full crisp poly, as least for myself in this frame. I'm into good tennis shape (good shape in general, as modestly as I can say) and take care of my arm, so I've been able to proceed in good health. I've been playing the slickest, longest-lasting shaped stuff with low dwell and pocketing that I can find, around 1.30 gauge in the low-mid 50's (lockout, so 50-ish eCP). The wider gauge closes up the surprisingly open pattern and calms the string bed down to a level that I like, the aggressive shape helps me get more grip and spin, and the low dwell/pocketing is what I like because the frame does enough that I don't need any extra from the strings.@Trip, that Prestige MP L fires many a cylinder: Auxetic, thinnish straight beam, 65 RA, open SP, HL-ish balance, and it’s CAP’d! A light CAP’d racquet. I didn’t think they existed bc they’re hiding them on the continent! Those bastiches! I’d throw Multifeel black @ 50# into that frame so fast your head’d spin. But if I know you, you’ve got The Cream in the mains balanced with a softer multi?
I've been looking into this for a while, and have found what I believe are the optimal platform racquet: Head Graphene 360+ Gravity MP Lite.
62 flex
22mm straight beam
16x20 string pattern
And with a 303 swing weight, it practically begs to be extended to 27.5!
@Irvin
This reminds me of that other rare element to look for in a platform stick: one with a 5 HL or lower (head-lighter) balance point. This is rare because the lighter the frame, the higher the balance point tends to be, for exactly the reasons you state.
@Brando - Another decent platform frame: Head Auxetic Prestige MP-L (300g, 99" 16x19 w/ 8 throat mains, 31.5cm UB, 383 USW). I play mine spec'd up to ~340g/31.7/328 and it plays like an extension of my arm. Calm and confident string bed, can be played well with more flat or spinny groundstrokes, great on baseline exchanges or all-court attack, equally good for the 2HBH or OHBH, great for double or singles.
Love doing this too. Wish someone invented a 0.25 extension buttcap though !
@kkm, while you may doubt that the pros I listed in the OP really play the Steam under the Blade PJ, the proof is in the grommets. The only throat grommets available for the Steam today are distinctively white. Look for the white grommets at 6 o’clock and you’ll know it’s a Steam.
@stickM , the answer to your first question is, yes, more Steams than true Blades To the second, I have no idea. But good question!
@Trip, that Prestige MP L fires many a cylinder: Auxetic, thinnish straight beam, 65 RA, open SP, HL-ish balance, and it’s CAP’d! A light CAP’d racquet. I didn’t think they existed bc they’re hiding them on the continent! Those bastiches! I’d throw Multifeel black @ 50# into that frame so fast your head’d spin. But if I know you, you’ve got The Cream in the mains balanced with a softer multi?
I haven’t read through the entire thread to see if he answered it. There’s a lot of reasonsI don’t doubt that those pros are playing with the Steam. I was just questioning the reason why they play with it.
16x20 is magicI don’t doubt that those pros are playing with the Steam. I was just questioning the reason why they play with it.
The Steam was not a good hitting racquet to me. It was too flexible and unstable, and already overweight for a platform racquet (for rec use). The Blade Team however is another story. But the Team is a different racquet from the Steam, other than the shape.My only answer thus far, @TennisHound, is that the Steam was that rare combo of low weight, thin-beam, head-light, and low twist-weight that makes for an ideal platform. But if you got more intel, do by all means give us the goods...
The Speeds have the Graphene process - weak throat combined with weight at the poles, which makes them hard to modify. I think if it started out at 300g and a few RA points higher, it would feel better. I’m not sure about the numbers.Interesting. Given your mention in post #55 of the Lite Speeds feeling too polarized for your taste, I'd have thought the Steam, with its low, 147, recoil weight would have felt better than that. Maybe it was that 12.5 twist weight. That'd make any frame feel unstable without considerable tip weighting.
I know Aeroprodrive Original compared to Aero Lite from 2013, played with both for at least couple hours each. I'd say that Lite may be a good platform frame - it has relatively low swingweight and relatively high twistweight. It was easier to play than first Aeroprodrive, which has lower twistweight and is not that stable. When you add weight under the handle and some weight in the hoop, it will not be that much different from regular Aero. It's the same mold after all.Q. Anyone played a Pure Aero (banana '19 version) Lite or Team and then modded up?
Confess this is one itch I've been meaning to scratch for quite a while. I'm not sure exactly how all the PA's might differ (weight/balance aside), but main thing is I'm just curious which one people may have found to be optimal and best suited to their 'platformer' requirements. For my purposes I'd be extending to at least 0.25" in length, so that is a major consideration.
Steam 99. Steam 99 and Blade Team are completely different racquets. They have the same shape, but that’s where the similarities end. The Blade Team 99 (Blade V6 paint) had the same weight as the Steam but was stiffer (and was discontinued with the V7). I agree that the Team 99 and Steam 99 start out too head heavy, and too heavy in general. Only the Blade Team is offered today.I think when we refer to the Steam in this thread, it would help to clarify whether we're referring to the 99... or the 100. I found the Steam 99/Blade Team 99 to be too stiff and already too head heavy to leave much room for customization so sold them. I held on to the Steam 100 racquets (2012 versions) as I found them to have enough flex for my comfort and light enough to modify. In the end... my old joints still prefer even more comfortable frames like the Prestige MP-L Auxetic, Speed MP Auxetic, and Blade 104 v8.
I've been trying all kinds of racquets categories to see what I want to play with going forward as I hit the big 50 very soon.Having spent a very long time experimenting with lighter 'platform' frames or whatever you want to call them (which for me takes in the likes of Lite, Team, Junior frames, plus just standard frames that spec out nearer to what I like and can work with), you can count me in on this thread! ... Some examples being DR-98 L, Blade 98 L, TFight 100 280, UT, lower weight APDs, Pro Open 100. Where I might diverge a bit though is re racket length. I am now completely all in on extended length and all the aforementioned I've checked out in the last few months XL-ed up.