Demos for a Serve and Volley Player

[tennisteen]

After cracking my Flexpoint Radical MP (NXT 16 @58), I started to demo racquets more suited for my serve and vollying game. I was unhappy with the amount of spin I was getting on my kick serve with the Radical. I played 90% serve and volley and 10% baseline (mainly during return games). I demo locally and so far have tried these frames all with NXT 16@ 57-62 pounds:

Volkl DNX 9 (Good racquet but my serves were lacking in pace and felt too light)
Yonex RDX 500 MP (Really like this racquet but sometimes a bit powerful on
the ground)
Prince Hybrid Tour (Everything was good except the muted feel but I could
get used to it)
ProKennex Redondo Mid (My best serves and great feel but groundies suffered
probably going to try the midplus)
Left on my list:
Wilson Prostaff 6.0 95 (The 85 seems too demanding for me)
Fischer M Speed Pro #1
Volkl Tour 10 Midplus Generation II
Prince Tour Diablo Mid or Midplus (Never hit with a racquet longer than
27in)
Head Liquidmetal Prestige Midplus (More spin on serves than radical?)
ProKennex Redondo Midplus
Yonex RDS 001

Mainly I'm looking for a racquet with an open string pattern (with exceptions like the Prestige and Redondo), a head size from 93-98 sq in, and around 12oz (strung). I produce my own power on the ground so I'm not real interested in Babolot PD (also afraid on the stiffness).

Sadly I can only demo 4 more racquets (long story basically I get my demo credit, $10 dollars a week for each racquet, off if i buy a racquet within 30days with a limit of 8 racquets) so I have to trim my list down a bit.

Anyway I was wondering if anybody has any experience with these racquets or other racquets for serve/volleying. (I'm a 3.0 who lacks consistancy on about everything except serve, volleys, and slices. One-hand Backhand and somewhat flat forehand)

Thanks

 

[hoosierbr]

If you can handle the weight of 12 oz frames then I suggest the following:

Volkl C10 Pro (a tad on the heavy side but you can't do much better)
Volkl DNX 10 Mid (haven't played with it yet but it seems to be a solid from everywhere)
Yonex Ti-80 (just about perfect specs for serve and volley)

Wouldn't recommend the Wilson 6.1 Tour (90) unless you can handle a tiny sweetspot but it's great at serve-and-volley.

The Prince Triple Threat Warrior may be too light for you but it's one to consider.

On your list I liked the Volkl Tour 10 Gen II. It was very comfortable, not too heavy and was solid from all over the court. It just had an odd feeling in my hand. Unique might be the term. I think it's the shape of the head. The C10 Pro and DNX have more traditional head shapes.

 

[snoflewis]

also consider the Slaz X1

btw, i tried the tour diablo MP, and i felt that the extra .25 in didnt do much. i usually have a really hard time adjusting to 27.5 in rackets, but the diablo didnt feel extended at all...probably because of the weird round headshape

 

[AndrewD]

The Prince 03 White is an excellent serve-volley racquet (as is the Warrior). Although not 12 oz in weight it would be a much better choice for a 3.0 player than the racquets you've listed. Pat Rafter was using one at Newport and John Isner, the top college player and one of the few genuine serve-volley players in either college or pro tennis is using one. If guys like that, who are pure serve-volley players, are using it then it should be worth at least a demo for anyone of a similar style.

 

[champ2087]

if your demo'ing locally i doubt they have this racquet, but the tecnifibre tf 335 might be a good idea. I serve and volley most of the time, and i really like this frame, though you may find it a tad powerful, but if you like it i imagine some strings and tension tweaks would be able to fix that.

 

[blubber]

If you can handle the weight try the Tecnifibre 335. It hits a heavy and accurate serve.

 

[tennisteen]

Thanks for the all of the replies

Yes, my local shop has great selection (despite a 30 min drive to it) including the tecnifibre 335. I thought the O3 white might be a bit powerful, but I will looki into it. As for the X1, I have heard from the boards that it is a good s&v racquet but I don't think my local shop carries it and i really want to get my demo money off my racquet. I'll give my shop a call about it.

B/w I thought the 335 might be a bit heavy, but does it play lighter?

 

[champ2087]

Yes, it does play lighter, but if your really worried, you could try the 320 instead. I dont think its nearly as good as the 335, but if your interested people have said some good things about it. the 320 is a little stiffer too if your worried about that.

That being said, the 335 is only about .3 oz more then the Redondo (or 9 grams) according to tw and they both have the same swingweight.

 

[Janne]

Thread hijack: Would anyone consider the PC 600 to be a good serve and volley racquet?

On topic: I´ve read good things about the Slazenger X1, Yonex RDX 500 MP, Wilson PS 6.0 95 and others when used for Serve and Volley play.

 

[TonyB]

Just FYI, I'm planning to demo some S&V style racquets in the near future.

Here's my list:

Yonex Ti-80
ProKennex Redondo C (not really S&V, but I want to try it anyways)
Volkl Tour 10 MP Gen II
Volkl C10 Pro

I've got a Slazenger X-1 coming in the mail and I've already tried the Yonex RDX 500. I thought it was nice, but just didn't quite fit my game, although I currently play with a Yonex racquet. The newer ones just aren't quite the same as the oldies.

 

[TripleB]

Prince O3 White with lead tape. Best volleying racquet I've ever played with...made me actually look like I knew what I was doing up there (I'm typically 90/10 also but with the 90 being baseline).

TripleB

 

[tennisntn]

Think you'll find the Volkl T10Gen2 to be an incredible racquet for volleys in general...I just couldn't hit a slice backhand with it to save my life..serves with a nice relaxed arm with the Volkl were great, nice 'thwapp' sound.

 

[tennisteen]

Well with both the O3 white and the triple threat, I would probably want to add some lead to bring up the weight to like 11.8-9 oz (12-15g?) but I'm kinda of a noob with lead tape so were would I add it to retain manuverability (not 12 o clock?) but making it more stable (3-9 o clock?)?

P.S: My local shop doesn't carry the X-1 sadly

 

[hoosierbr]

The Slazenger Pro X 1 is no longer in production but you can get it from a few internet sites.

Lead tape is a way to go to bring up the weight but I'd suggest you try your demos in stock form first and when you find one you like stick with it for a little while to see if you can adjust to it without adding lead. Adding lead in the wrong place or too much of it will screw up a racquet's playability.

For me the Dunlop M-Fil 200 Plus (2006) is a sweet racquet that's a little too light but I wouldn't add lead to it. Instead I'd opt to put a leather grip on it which adds a little weight without messing up how the racquet plays.

 

[MTChong]

Volkl DNX 9 (Good racquet but my serves were lacking in pace and felt too light)
Yonex RDX 500 MP (Really like this racquet but sometimes a bit powerful on
the ground)
Prince Hybrid Tour (Everything was good except the muted feel but I could
get used to it)
ProKennex Redondo Mid (My best serves and great feel but groundies suffered
probably going to try the midplus)
Left on my list:
Wilson Prostaff 6.0 95 (The 85 seems too demanding for me)
Fischer M Speed Pro #1
Volkl Tour 10 Midplus Generation II
Prince Tour Diablo Mid or Midplus (Never hit with a racquet longer than
27in)
Head Liquidmetal Prestige Midplus (More spin on serves than radical?)
ProKennex Redondo Midplus
Yonex RDS 001

Thanks

The two bolded one are the only ones that I have tried from that list; I've had a brief hit with a few others on there, but only a brief hit - and all too far removed in time for me to even say much about them.

The Diablo Mid is a nice stock racquet - you'll probably enjoy the open string pattern and nice solid feel; I expect it'll play similar to the Hybrid Tour (based solely on specs), but without that muted feel. It has good pop and a large sweet spot for a mid. I used to use these before moving to a Vantage 90 because I broke strings too much - and from there to the Redondo Mid.

The Redondo Mid, as you noticed, is more like a 90" racquet - much smaller than the listed 93". However, you noticed that it wasn't as solid on groundies; I recommend (should you be willing) to try that racquet again, but with lead at 10 and 2. Users like anirut should be able to suggest the same; it needs a bit of weight in the upper hoop and becomes great everywhere.

Perhaps that by the time I tried the LM Prestige MP, I was too accustomed to the smaller headsize of the Redondo and Vantage, but I didn't like it much for serving - it was awesome with groundstrokes though.

(Also, I'd try a Vantage 90 if you can; maybe the 95 (but I've not played it). I found it to be a terrific serving and volleying stick).

 

[tennisteen]

While Vantage racquets look like really nice sticks (for s&v or baseliners) but I have no where to demo one sadly as I live in the states and it's a British(?) company (a little expensive too since I don't think I qualify for sponsorship).

On the LM Prestige did you get a good kick on the serves despite the denser string pattern?

And on the Diablo, has anybody tried both the mid and the midplus because one is at the smallest head size in my prefered range and the midplus being at the max of my range?

B/W for the technifibre 335 did you guys prefer the 16x20 or the 18x20 since I have heard that the 18x20 feels more solid?

 

[anirut]

I'm no S&V (I'm actually an "all-over-the-court" type) but the Redondo Mid can make a nice one for S&V if you're adept at the techniques.

I can't really serve for the past two decades due to dead shoulder but the Redondo can give good placement. It may not be the best serving stick with all the pop or spin you want but I can say that it serves well. In fact I could make pretty good kicks with it.

As I've mentioned I'm no S&V, so I can't really tell the good or bad about volleying with it. From experience, it's stable enough in stock form, but I wouldn't dare comment on the techniques I'm not familiar with.

On groundies, it plays OK in stock. You can whip it to your liking.

But with just three grams at 18.5 cm from the racket tip and 10 grams at 7 (or 6?) cm from butt-end, at 11 pts HL, it plays really, really nice. (Positions measured at center of mass). Serving with this set up is very easy too. BH slices are good (if they don't float, of course), deep and low. FH jab-slices can be devastating too. Tops, in the right hands, can be good too. I'm no topspin guy but my cousin can really make the ball kick with the Redondo Mid. I don't know how he did it with the tight pattern, probably adapting ping-pong techniques to tennis. (He's a good ping-pong player.)

And you're in the States so you should get some demos from TW. I even bought the Redondo blind and "I'm lovin' it" and has since become my main stick, turning my many other fine players' rackets back into my collection.

BTW, the Volkl Tour 10 VE Mid is also a nice racket and serves really well. But I just have to be in 98.98% form to play it. It's a real agressive-playing racket that rewards well if you can be totally alert and prepared all the time, with more than excessive energy to spare...

Umm... may be I should post pics of my Redondo set up sometimes ...

 

[louis netman]

Available frames: C10 pro, T10 (II), T10 VE mid, DNX 10 mid & MP, PS 6.0 95, PS 6.1 Classic, Dunlop Mfil200...
Discontinued frames: C10PT, T10mid & MP (I), Slaz X1, PRTi, Warrior MP, PK Core 1#6, Dunlop MW & HM 200g, HPS 6.1 95...

Please note: Although it seems you are very interested in the game and are probably improving very quickly, the above frames require a skilled operator to effectively yield positive results in S&V against skilled players.

At the 3.0-3.5 level, don't exclude 100" frames for effective S&V play. They will additionally allow for more effective return of service which is equally as important as your service points in winning tennis. Weighted/chopped 27" Diablo MP, Pk 5g, weighted/chopped, 27" Head Instinct Tour XL are all great candidates for slightly larger-headed, S&V play...Good luck!!!

 

[tennisteen]

I already have some changes to my list of racquets to demo:

Wilson Prostaff 6.0 95
Volkl Tour 10 Midplus Gen II
Yonex Ti-80
Technifibre 335 (16x20)
Fischer M Speed Pro #1
Prince Tour Diablo

Both the PK 5g and PK1#6 seem interesting, how to they compare with the other frames?

The TT Warrior is cheap enough off TW that I might buy one blindly in addition to one of these frames. (My local shop doesn't have it listed on their website)

Again thanks for the replies

 

[tonysk83]

I serve and volley a lot, just because whenever I play doubles, I am always serving and volleying, but when I play singles, I will serve and volley a few times every game just to mix things up. My RDX 500 MP is a great racquet for it. Mainly because it is very spin friendly, and being able to hit a big kicker in gives you more time to get in. It also volleys very nice.

 

[tennisteen]

Yeah, I have already demo the RDX 500 and I thought it was a great racquet for everything. The spin was excellent and easy to produce. My semi-kick serve (still working on it but its coming along) was getting alot more action than usual up to my hitting partner's shoulders (even if he is only 5'7''ish). I really liked it but since I basically have 4 free demos left wanted to see how it would compare to the others.

B/W Out of the Volkl C10 Pro and the Volkl Tour 10 MP Gen II was the better racquet since the feedback on TW seems mixed for the Tour 10 Gen II?

 

[hoosierbr]

The C10 Pro without a doubt. But the downside is it's a little heavier and not as easy to whip around like the Gen II. Suggest you try both, if you can, and see what suits you better.

 

[DrewRafter8]

Gen II serves better only because the C10 Pro has a flexier upper hoop. I liked the C10 Pro better overall. I second the Dunlop MW 200G as mentioned by Louis. I love mine. I'm a S&Ver myself and I have found a new love for the Fischer M Speed. The MSpeed doesn't have a great deal of pop, but I can hit all sorts of angles. The one thing I really like is that for defensive half volleys it has great feel and I can't put a deep floater on the baseline to immediately turn from defense to offense.

 

[pNoyr3D]

I would consider Dunlop M-Fil 300.. Great for volleying and serving is good too.