Fed Kennedy
Legend
I almost bought some Lululemon when I was visiting Culver City. Really don’t even know who I am anymore.
Diary of a Racketaholic
- Thread starter Ross K
- Start date
Seth
Legend
I was gifted some Outdoor Voices shorts. They’re a smaller competitor to Lululemon, and the kind of stuff I would never buy for myself. That said, the shorts are perfect. Material, fit, adequate pockets - just perfect. I ended up buying another used pair on FleaBay because I’m cheap.
The wallet/hip pocket really is the ticket for me. I hate that so many brands have dropped it. It’s what makes a tennis short become an everyday casual short.
I sound like a jack@ss analyzing shorts so heavily.
I’m super excited to see Eubanks make it into the top 100. Ga Tech represent!
KC!
Hall of Fame
They make great stuff, the material feels great!
naturalexponent
Legend
Yeah! Still wearing the f out of some OV shorts I got pre-pandemic.
Angell 95 and 97 are both 19mm beam and you can customize to what you want of course or the K7 Lime is already 315g and 10pt hl.
FourOutOfFive
Rookie
Looks like we share very similar spec preferences. I’m looking to move on from my 360+ Prestige Mids. I spent a lot of time with both the EZ98 Tour and Extreme Tour but didn’t love either. I kind of wish I kept the Extreme Tour because I think I would’ve liked it better if I took some lead off and tried it with a lower static weight, but I got a good offer and sold it. I’m going to try the Artengo Control Tour 16x19 next, have you tried it? I’ve seen a lot of people mention that it’s really spin friendly.
Fed Kennedy
Legend
Pretty sure the 95 is 20mm.
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Free your thighs and the rest will follow - Ben Shelton (?)
Vicious49
Legend
Mine is mostly Nike with some Fila and Ibkul mixed in. I used to buy Nike when the Rafa and Fed stuff would go on sale but have since realized that some of the other brands dry faster and keep me cooler.
I have an old Fila that is 2 sizes too large on me so it feels like old school Pete.
Haven't tried the Artengo. I'm trying to stay away from rackets that need any modding. I was actually considering picking up some 360+ mids. What didn't you like about them?
You are correct, both 20mm. The 100 is 21mm.
Any one of these vastly superior to the others?
djNEiGht
Legend
not really but more of a preference.
the 95 has a D beam profile and the 97 is square. I have both and are a joy!
FourOutOfFive
Rookie
The Mid is awesome, it’s really hard for me to move on from it. I add a leather grip + 2g to the top of mine which puts them at 350g/10ptsHL/335sw strung. It’s an effortless racquet to swing, you really get that “extension of your arm” feeling that you get from a midsize frame but with a lot more modern pop. All my hitting partners agree I hit heaviest with the Mid, which is kinda ridiculous from such a thin beamed frame. The feel is ok, nothing special and a bit firm but it feels very direct and satisfying when you nail the sweetspot. If you’re looking for a nice pillowy feel I wouldn’t recommend it, with this frame you sacrifice a bit of feel for better playability imo. The pattern is a super tight 16x19, but you can definitely get a lot of top if you good technique. The aerodynamics of the mold definitely help as well.
The main reason I’m moving on from the Mid is because I need more forgiveness. For a 93, the Mid is honestly pretty good for what it is, but I’m simply more consistent in rallies with a 97 or 98. The problem is, I hit a much better ball with the Mid, so I’m trying to find a frame that offers the best of both worlds which has been really difficult so far.
Best of luck in your search, the Angells are definitely a good suggestion. A heavier TC97 kind of plays like a softer RF imo. Honestly, I wish I still had one, it might be what I’m looking for. The Angell 16x19s are very open and spin friendly, but you sacrifice a bit of control.
ryushen21
Legend
A sad yet amazing thing has happened gents.
I lost my 2023 VCore 100 to another player. My 10 year old was bitten by the tennis bug and her coach wanted her to use a 27" frame. She took my VCore a little over 2 weeks ago and hasn't given it back. I doubt I'll ever get it back.
I guess it's time to get me a couple fresh ones.
I lost my 2023 VCore 100 to another player. My 10 year old was bitten by the tennis bug and her coach wanted her to use a 27" frame. She took my VCore a little over 2 weeks ago and hasn't given it back. I doubt I'll ever get it back.
I guess it's time to get me a couple fresh ones.
Fed Kennedy
Legend
I will state that I am an OG lululemon hater, however after seeing video footage of myself playing in my Sampras baggyT and realizing that it makes me look like your uncle Randy that wears his Air Monarchs to weddings and funerals I have been in a conplete identity crisis and I started wearing euro polos to avoid divorce.
So, it’s complicated.
Nollid
Professional
Yup. @ryushen21 good to see you back here. I was wondering how you’re doing. Are you playing?
djNEiGht
Legend
sympathy chuckle over here.
ChrisG
Professional
This perfectly describe my past 5y haha !
JGads
G.O.A.T.
Tough night at the office - another continuation match (final housekeeping match tomorrow night) where we'd split the first two sets at the stoppage. This one ended tonight in a tiebreaker loss (5) for me against the fellow Prestige Guy. I had 30-all on his serve when he was trying to stay in it at 5-6, then got him to deuce in that game, where I think he may have hit a ball long at the baseline, I was quite sure it was sailing long, but then from the way it skidded and the fact that I couldn't spot the mark I gave him that key point, and then he pushed it into the breaker. This was a terrible clay court that was so wet and dark that you couldn't spot a lot of marks easily, and there was like a mini slope on both sides of the lines so in fact the skid could have been that slope rather than the line (I didn't hear the usual tick a line ball makes) but since I wasn't sure, had to give it to him.. One of those moments where you really wish you could have hawkeye technology to be sure, but whatever, still I should have won the breaker that came next but failed to do so there, and I have to tip my cap, he played solid. This was a war, and a lesson: I'd jumped to a 3-0 lead (one break) by constant pressure and a bevy of put-away volleys... Then he lobbed me successfully like three times to get the break back and climb back to even, and I got gunshy and wasn't so aggressive the rest of the set. This was a big mistake.
Oh well. MSF season tally:
Prestige 4-2
Fedora 3-2
Z.1 Rad 2-0
Random notes:
- I find it funny that my only losses this season (so far) have come to Heads. Respect.
- When we played some practice games after to finish the court time, I had to yank out the frame I picked up from the stringer today for funsies: a PT 2.0 strung at 13 kilos. Wow. It was fantastic. It's insane how much you can get away with, string wise, on a controlled 18x20 bed. I still felt total PT control, only more zip on the ball and breathability from the edges of the bed. The only thing that was quite weird was the sound - never have I heard a sound so muted coming off any frame. It was not the usual Pop, but a muted, tempered thunk. Wild. This stick will be fun to play with for kicks sometimes.
Oh well. MSF season tally:
Prestige 4-2
Fedora 3-2
Z.1 Rad 2-0
Random notes:
- I find it funny that my only losses this season (so far) have come to Heads. Respect.
- When we played some practice games after to finish the court time, I had to yank out the frame I picked up from the stringer today for funsies: a PT 2.0 strung at 13 kilos. Wow. It was fantastic. It's insane how much you can get away with, string wise, on a controlled 18x20 bed. I still felt total PT control, only more zip on the ball and breathability from the edges of the bed. The only thing that was quite weird was the sound - never have I heard a sound so muted coming off any frame. It was not the usual Pop, but a muted, tempered thunk. Wild. This stick will be fun to play with for kicks sometimes.
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ryushen21
Legend
I know a lot of people, mostly women, that love Lululemon. I just can't justify the price they are charging.
Nollid
Professional
Me too. I hated Lululemon for years. It’s the ultimate rich soccer mom brand. Yet here I am. Life is absurd.
Good choices with the FX500 and Shift 315!
pedrogcr
Semi-Pro
I know you probably already looked into it, but a tail-weighted Blade Pro 16x19 will give you a softer feel (without being mushy), a surprisingly good spin and comparable power to the RF97 due to the higher SW.
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Please update when you do this, it could be amazing.
I was waiting for some strings to show up for the FX500 but it may not happen until Thursday. Which is not good since the element snapped. It's a 6 hour string so I got some good hitting out of it. Before that I threw Myami HIT Pro into the PD2012 ala @JOSHL and I am digging this string a lot. Really nice pocketing, it is soft with a nice feel to it. A great fit for a Babolat style frame. Also seems like a legit option as a cross. I strung it aty 45#s and I know the tension will drop it probably 10 pounds but the Pure Drive is easy to control since the SW is like 317.
I may not play again until Friday, and if so I am going M8 at 45#s in the FX500.
For serving today, I tried some little tweaks. One thing I saw Kok doing when he warmed up his serve was he basically did a relaxed serve motion and came walking into the court while doing it. So I tried this and it's a nice little warmup. It gets that forward motion going. From there I just was starting with my back foot back and kind of simulating that forward motion with a normal serve. Very easy power and a loose arm was the result. I actually stand almost a foot behind the basline and for whatever reason that helps with the momentum. I wonder if I was subconsciously trying not to foot fault and restricting my movement and coming forward off balance. It's an interesting little discovery.
Anyway, the small tweaks continue. I will say that the compact forehand is essentially me keeping my elbow a little closer to my body and not so long of a swing, so the racquet stays on my side and then it's a bit like a sidearm throw of the racquet at the ball. It simplifies me to just thinking about getting under the ball (knee bend does this) and then firing away at it.
flyhome
Semi-Pro
that's a very good warm up, I do every time and It works well
Vicious49
Legend
Such a long night at the office this evening. I was playing line 2 and its 1 pro set so I figured it should be quick. Boy was I mistaken. My match tonight probably set tennis back about 40 years. The match started put normal enough. i got up 2-0 and could tell I was slightly better than my opponent. He was younger and could run down nearly everything but I had better placement and power.
Im guessing he realized this too because he changed his game to basically semi-moonballing everything, And I mean everything including serve returns. This gave me no pace and forced me to either hit on the rise or have to move backwards. It also forced me to wait a long time for every shot and bought him time to always regroup.
Normally I would put the ball in to the deep BH corner and then come in and put the next ball away. Unfortunately these were the worst courts Ive played on. Most courts have lights that point down. This place had lights that point directly towards the court. The 1st 3 times I tried coming to the net I lost the ball in the lights and shanked it or mishit it. I decided if I cant come in Im going to have to beat him at his own game. I switched from the Regna to the SMP300 so I could swing 60-70% to save energy and get easy depth. Id make him move side to side and just kept hitting my ultimate rally ball as Peter Freeman would call it. We had so many rallies of 20 and 30 shots - nearly every point. It basically became who is the better pusher and who will make a mistake or get tired first. Ir ended up taking an hour and 45 minutes for me to finally win 8-6. In my mind I was like - nope, youre not going to out-consistent me.
After that I had to play line 2 of doubles. Which thankfully was much more normal and we won 8-5. I ended up drinking my entire half gallon jug of water.
And all this after fasting all day. The match started late enough where I was able to drink water right before the 1st game and Id eat fruit and snacks on the switchovers. Ive been trying to eat healthy while fasting and am actually feeling better snd lighter on the court. I try to eat egg whites and avocado on toast and A granola bar in the morning. I tried oatmeal the first few days but the texture of oatmeal just makes me gag so I replaced that with granola bars. Ive been eating either chicken or fish with Brown rice and broccoli for dinner. Ive cut out red meat entirely as well as sugar besides what I get from fruits.
Im guessing he realized this too because he changed his game to basically semi-moonballing everything, And I mean everything including serve returns. This gave me no pace and forced me to either hit on the rise or have to move backwards. It also forced me to wait a long time for every shot and bought him time to always regroup.
Normally I would put the ball in to the deep BH corner and then come in and put the next ball away. Unfortunately these were the worst courts Ive played on. Most courts have lights that point down. This place had lights that point directly towards the court. The 1st 3 times I tried coming to the net I lost the ball in the lights and shanked it or mishit it. I decided if I cant come in Im going to have to beat him at his own game. I switched from the Regna to the SMP300 so I could swing 60-70% to save energy and get easy depth. Id make him move side to side and just kept hitting my ultimate rally ball as Peter Freeman would call it. We had so many rallies of 20 and 30 shots - nearly every point. It basically became who is the better pusher and who will make a mistake or get tired first. Ir ended up taking an hour and 45 minutes for me to finally win 8-6. In my mind I was like - nope, youre not going to out-consistent me.
After that I had to play line 2 of doubles. Which thankfully was much more normal and we won 8-5. I ended up drinking my entire half gallon jug of water.
And all this after fasting all day. The match started late enough where I was able to drink water right before the 1st game and Id eat fruit and snacks on the switchovers. Ive been trying to eat healthy while fasting and am actually feeling better snd lighter on the court. I try to eat egg whites and avocado on toast and A granola bar in the morning. I tried oatmeal the first few days but the texture of oatmeal just makes me gag so I replaced that with granola bars. Ive been eating either chicken or fish with Brown rice and broccoli for dinner. Ive cut out red meat entirely as well as sugar besides what I get from fruits.
Fintft
G.O.A.T.
Funny(only practice though): My pusher friend moonball-ed me today and I've send most balls right back into his BH corner, with TS. End of rallies.
We had a bit of dinking and slicing also, but whenever I got bored, I've resorted to smacking the ball flat with the BP, including making angles. No pusher( close in level) can deal with that, imo.
Richard Pioline
Hall of Fame
I actually bought some pants of them used super cheap. But I am more of a cotton guy, and do not really like these mix poly stuff on my skin. I am not a heavy sweater either, so that's OK. Also when I need some technical stuff, like bike riding gear when it is colder, I prefer merino.
I have some old Trigema (made in Germany) stuff that is slowly falling apart. This looks a bit like my old school PE teacher. Haha.
pedrogcr
Semi-Pro
I just mentioned adding weight to the handle as he specifically asked for a headlight, spin-friendly, frame.
And, considering he's also specifically asking for higher swing weight, I think tail weighting a BP 16x19 would be the best option to get what hes looking for.
Either that, or finding a PT57A 16x19. ;-)
I've tried the v7 Blade pro and tail weighted it did play great. I'm not ready for the nightmare of matching wilson rackets without a service again though, and I don't like the current version PJ. Something like Pro Staff v14 spec but spin friendly would be perfect....
Not the newest one but both good racquets.
The gravity pro is very nice but I'd try to get it measured before buying it unless you like very high swingweights. If you can handle the weight/swingweight, it's a great racquet.
The mp I tried only a bit and in stock. Good mixture of control/power with the 16x20, light enough to customise.
pedrogcr
Semi-Pro
I hear you! Wilson's QC can be all over the place, and you'd think their Pro Labs line would be better, but it seems it's just as bad.
Have you ever considered Solinco racquets?
The Whiteout 305 (16 or 18 mains) is very similar in specs to the regular Pro staff (haven't hit with any since the tuxedo paint) and, at least the 16x19, is very spin friendly. They even have the same stiffness rating, but the Solinco should offer better comfort being foam-filled. And you also have the option of using their weighted buttcap to get it closer to the PS weight and to your desired 7pt headlight.
And, I don't know if anyone mentioned it yet, but there's always the classic Volkl C10 Pro, which has long been considered a whippier, plusher, and more controlled alternative to the RF97.
C10 is going into my next demo order. The low swing weight/high static weight seems strange, and TW only has a demo with multi... we'll see how that goes. People's descriptions sound like it's going to be good.
Has anyone tried the Auxetic Prestige Tour (95)? How is its maneuverability compared to the v7 18x20 blade?
Vicious49
Legend
I love the C10 Pro. It's what I reach for if I want something with more mass or something a bit softer that day than the Regna. It is much easier to swing than the RF97 as it doesn't tire me out as quickly. The RF97 is actually low SW and high static as well isn't it? But I think the C10 may actually be even more HL.
Power Player
Bionic Poster
I can't lie, I have a 2010 APD sitting here kind of chilling and it seems like it could be an easy customizing opportunity to build a Mannarino setup sometime, since the SW is already right where his is. Not sure I'd want to replicate 20 pounds of tension, but 40 off the stringer is doable. Not sure if any of you have hit with a weighted up APD before, but it is quite awesome. He uses a leather grip on his, which I have to applaud.
Mannarino APD Specs (I think he uses some heavier gauge ALU plus dampener to get up to around 330 SW)
Specs unstrung:
326g, 31.1bal, 289sw
Strung:
~352g, ~32bal, ~330sw
Think I can get a similar balance and SW at around 320 grams unstrung, I'd have to mess with it, but yeah - a little project I am considering.
Mannarino APD Specs (I think he uses some heavier gauge ALU plus dampener to get up to around 330 SW)
Specs unstrung:
326g, 31.1bal, 289sw
Strung:
~352g, ~32bal, ~330sw
Think I can get a similar balance and SW at around 320 grams unstrung, I'd have to mess with it, but yeah - a little project I am considering.
C10 Pro 98, higher swing weight 16 x 19- just a thought
The low tension game sounds fun. To that end, I have strung up one of my PSVS with Yonex PTP 1.25 at 30lb. Seems interesting. I also broke out some Ashaway Kevlar, and strung up another one kevlar in the mains at 40lb (in my experience, tension matters not with kevlar - it feels the same regardless), with Kirschbaum syngut in the crosses at 45lb. I'm playing some dubs this afternoon and will try both out.
I also recently decided to experiment with an old Volkl V1 classic that I had lying around. Those things are crazy. Strung with full YPTP, with a leather grip added, it weighs in at 310g, with a 33cm balance and a swingweight of 315. I only hit with it against the ball machine, but it felt good and was quite controlled - very tight spin and manageable launch angle. The beam is massive compared to what I usually prefer (22mm max), but it's kind of amazing to play with such a light racquet - there's no doubt it's good for the timing on my backhand. Sweet spot is huge. I'm also kind of in love with the gray/black cosmetic they have going in the previous version you can get for $149, but will probably hold off on getting any of those (translation, they will be ordered within 10 days...).
I'm also quite tempted by the V-Cell 10 300. Volkl somehow manages to make their stiff racquets very comfortable, without also killing the feel of the ball. And, I love their egghead aesthetic.
I also recently decided to experiment with an old Volkl V1 classic that I had lying around. Those things are crazy. Strung with full YPTP, with a leather grip added, it weighs in at 310g, with a 33cm balance and a swingweight of 315. I only hit with it against the ball machine, but it felt good and was quite controlled - very tight spin and manageable launch angle. The beam is massive compared to what I usually prefer (22mm max), but it's kind of amazing to play with such a light racquet - there's no doubt it's good for the timing on my backhand. Sweet spot is huge. I'm also kind of in love with the gray/black cosmetic they have going in the previous version you can get for $149, but will probably hold off on getting any of those (translation, they will be ordered within 10 days...).
I'm also quite tempted by the V-Cell 10 300. Volkl somehow manages to make their stiff racquets very comfortable, without also killing the feel of the ball. And, I love their egghead aesthetic.
Is the strung with extra dampener and OG?
No way you get 26g just from the strings.
I also have my APD (GT I think) waiting to be strung at a glorious 9kg tension. Sadly no poly thicker than 1.3 at home.
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Yeah its strung with OG and dampener. So I am thinking around 18grams for strings, 6 for OG and 2 for Damp.
I should add that I am not trying to hit his exact specs, but get the balance and SW pretty close. I think I can do that while staying at around 340 with everything. I will have to see.
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