I have some theories on this that may help, and it's such a massive question when trying out racquets that I am going to make this a multi-parter. Part 1 :
yes so there is an interesting dilemma here..
I have been a sucker for control frames...flexy etc.. same mind-set... b/c I just rather hit the ball "right" full extension..unload and not hold back (obv... when attacking.. not making a blanket statement for all shots in tennis)..
This is not right or wrong.. this also does not mean you win a tennis match this way, but in my mind, I have chosen the longer path.. suck longer and in the end, play the game right (from a technical perspective with strokes and foot work etc...) vs... let's say (i am exaggerating)... "do whatever you need to do to get the tennis ball across the net inside the lines as many times as possible".. now that's ok... I have made my bed... happy to sleep in it... this is just the way I get enjoyment out of the game...
having said that... I feel like control frames vs.. more direct powerful frames...there is an upside/downside here in development as well.
they both have unforgiving traits... as we talk about... being able to control a tweener frame also means you are much more aware of the right contact.. you don't get a 2nd chance to make adjustments... that is making you work harder on other things (hand-eye cordination/contact point)... now... obv... they defend easier so it's also not making you work on other things (foot work...setup)... or it lets you bunt back stuff easier... where a control frame will leave you a higher chance of being punished if you mess it up...
weirdly enough.. my mind is wondering.. is vc98 with its 62 RA can be the ez98 with a bit more pocketing... technically no... string pattern is very different... I also can't stand a high launch angle but ez98 is low enough that a little higher than that may work... I was having these thoughts and saw
@ACT video that ended up confirming this view and now i have a bug for the first time in a while.. having a bit of personality crisis here... who am I?? hahah...
@Power Player - with regards to ez98... now that you mentioned it. that make as ton of sense (about pocketing). i did get occasional nice pocketing but could not put my finger on why and when.. but that may very well explain it.. good call out!!
Yep. The first thing is accepting this dilemma will never go away. With a control frame you can indeed swing harder but this is where you have to analyze how you hit the ball, which is a big grey area. We like to say flat laser hitter versus loopy spin hitter and make it binary but there is a giant void in between there, which is what makes tennis so cool.
To simplify things a little, if you are under ~6 feet (not sure if you are, just speaking in a mass general term here), you can still hit flat but it may make sense to consider hitting with more shape. This is an issue I have had as I love to drive the ball, and use players frames, but part of my experiment over the past 6 months has been trying all the frames I have at my disposal and just trying to get an agnostic idea of what works best for my style. I would describe my FH as one with heavy spin and my errors are typically more over hitting than underhitting and giving up short balls. Sometimes a control frame can save me there but what I have found by hitting thousands of balls on the machine and in matches is that I win with high % tennis. Now that is obvious and unsexy but like I said, it's building your game with a strong foundation. Don't give points away, which means no shots into the net or long in my case.
I have said this before but I have won easier leagues in the past just hitting heavy deep topspin, and while it was no fun, it was a lesson I needed to remember - consistency, fitness and energy conservation wins matches. What is awesome about UTR is you don't have to wait a season to get moved into a higher bracket of players, you can go out and develop that foundation of safe, heavy consistency and then ramp that up into a more attacking style once the opponents get better. I was moving right into UTR 6+ matches literally right when my health went south and it really sucked because I was playing well and getting matches with players who hit more quality shots. My regular match partner was a 4.5C who I was driving off the court and finding holes in his game I could attack regularly. So I basically had to start from scratch late last year, but it's been a fun journey so far.
The point is that the heavy, deep consistent topspin shot is a foundation for many (not all) players. It is not the final destination. I think to get better at matchplay in tennis and climb the rankings you need to see the ball go in a lot while putting high racquet head speed on it.
What have I learned frame wise ? Ok this one is related to the Ezone or any control frame - if you like to hit with more ball shape and topspin (I am not saying Nadal level, but heavy spin within reason), you are going to use a bit more energy to generate that ball. What you should not be doing is gassing yourself out after 1 set. The goal is controlled aggression - relaxed movement, fast hands through contact, nail the sweetspot and fire off a heavy shot. At rec level you should be able to maintain this 60-70% level of hitting for at least 10 balls in a rally and play at your best level for at least 2 hours, which is the typical match length.
My personal observation with a control frame like the Ezone, or TGT or Dunlop Cx200..etc is that the rewarding feel comes from impacting the ball more linear. Ezone is a perfect example, it provides some nice pocketing when you hit it that way. The question I have for myself is can I do that over and over in a match and hit balls in? The feel of control frames can sometimes cause me to chase the dragon of drilling the sweetspot with a flatter trajectory than my natural or ideal swing path should be. If I had a slower swing and hit flatter and slower, this would not be a problem at all but that is simply not how I play. I notice that with a more controlled frame I will still hit with a lot of spin but just vertical enough to not really always get that "sweetspot benefit", if you will.
So with the Ezone, the question is who is it for? I think the Ezone is one of the most versatile frames you can buy. But when you see a guy like Kyrgios destroying the ball using insane top with his xi98, you have to remember he is 6'4 and makes contact much higher than most tennis players. So he can hit more down into the court, destroy the ball over and over with heavy RPMs while keeping his energy. The ezone for a shorter player is absolutely still viable but a good model of ideal ball shape per player many times boils down to things like height when looking for an ideal frame. With the Ezone, I think for most players, and you mentioned this, the impact of the ball is more vertical and as a result you can lose the benefit of the frames pocketing.
I say this because it is very evident when switching from the Ezone to the Pure Drive or a tweener style frame (Dunny, Aero, even blade pro included). As soon as I go to the Pure Drive, I get that nice sweet spot benefit while coming over the ball more with a bit more of a vertical swing shape.
I hope no one reads this and thinks that I am saying shorter playters can't use control frames because tennis is whatever you want it to be. These are just my observations for my game based on coaching I have received over the years and personal experience.
I know a guy a little shorter than me who hits flat as hell and has ATP points, so the height thing not an absolute rule, more of a guide if you are unsure on what to do. The thing I see with him though is his hand eye coordination is elite. He can constantly catch the ball early and out in front, and can punish loopy hitters. So you have to ask yourself if you can do that as well. That is a game changer and renders a lot of things I just said irrelevant. For what it is worth, I have played tennis with hundreds of people and he is the only one I have seen that hands like that.
