Diary of a Racketaholic

AlexKangaroo said:
Holy Crap I wasn't expecting to hate the Blade 100 this much. Zero power when hitting with it. Don't know what the strings are and in what condition they came in. I chose the 24kg vendor option. The CX 400 Tour came with a bit worn out strings, because they started moving immediately when I picked up and started hitting. The racquet was also very launchy and I couldn't control it (ironic given it is a control racquet). Although sometimes the shots were very heavy with spin and looked like hard shots to hit back at. First impression of these frames is not good after 1h session. It might be that I just had a bad day on court with my technique all over the place.

Although I tried the Pure Drive (strung with Head Hawk @23kg) and it felt again amazing. Very powerful shots that landed nicely and I could rely on the accuracy. I might just need to give up trying to invent the wheel and buy a Pure Drive for myself. I have a casual group tournament coming on Sunday. I might try the Dunlop in a match just to actually see how it is against potential big hitters and competitive environment.
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That’s odd. I found the blade 100 to have quite a bit of power. It does need a little lead because the stock SW is lowish. I think it’s 300g stock, so it’s easy to add weight and not get too heavy of a stick. I’d be willing to bet, your demo is a casualty of the Wilson QC lottery.
 
EggSalad said:
That’s odd. I found the blade 100 to have quite a bit of power. It does need a little lead because the stock SW is lowish. I think it’s 300g stock, so it’s easy to add weight and not get too heavy of a stick. I’d be willing to bet, your demo is a casualty of the Wilson QC lottery.
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Yes I think I got unlucky in some kind of lottery. Maybe because the Dunlop was so launchy feel I was so thrown off and was too afraid to go for power with the Blade. My only saviour was the Pure Drive so that means it wasn't 100% my own bad skills :D
 
emhtennis said:
Part of my current mental turmoil is whether or not to remove some lead from under the bumper. I hate messing with the original intent of the frame setup - but then again, a different client with the same hairpin would have different specs. So maybe I am the client now! :eek:

The need new cap grommets anyway. When that trigger is pulled i can make a full assessment of what I'm dealing with. Would be hilarious if there was Nalbandian full hoop lead or something.

Worst case, I can always re-add it to the inside of the hoop.

Point being, I don't want to stop playing them, and I don't want them to lose their plow/power magic, but I also don't know if i can become good enough to not be late all the time unless I've had 4 days rest.
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Assuming you're talking about your 293.1 here, mine arrived with 10 grams under the bumper, 10" doubled up on each side of the frame spanning 10-2, couldn't believe what I was looking at when I pulled the CAPs back. I played a few hours with it like this just to see what I could muster with a 340SW stick, but after I cut the first string job out, I moved half of the lead (so it's spanning more like 11-1 now) to the throat, brought the SW down to ~326-327 and it feels much easier and natural for me to handle at that spec. I've been thinking about moving that extra 5 grams from the throat to the grip in the near future for an even more polarized setup. I like to think I'm decently fit but there was no chance I'd be able to keep up with that original setup in actual match play for any meaningful amount of time
 
AlexKangaroo said:
Yes I think I got unlucky in some kind of lottery. Maybe because the Dunlop was so launchy feel I was so thrown off and was too afraid to go for power with the Blade. My only saviour was the Pure Drive so that means it wasn't 100% my own bad skills :D
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if you are gelling with the Pure drive, sometimes its just that simple. In this thread we try everything, and it's fun, but also can make little details mean more than they should.
 
snoflewis said:
a few of us here are diehard fans...at least until we try the next one. my take is that it's the best all-around stick relative to the power level. i can easily find a more controlled stick but the drop off in power would be too big, and vice versa. it does everything well. i haven't found a stick that clocks a higher 1st serve speed on a radar gun than the last 2 generations of ez98s. other than that, two major complaints:

1) the feel sucks, but there is plenty of feedback from the stick. just awful feel but it communicates everything you need to know about what's going on. maybe too much. i don't quite get why folks are finding it muted because i found the opposite, but everyone's different.

2) very string sensitive. it's been super hard to find a proper setup for this stick. idk if it's the dense stringbed and thick frame that contributes to this, but the stick is hard on strings and there just isn't that much pocketing to begin with. also, it's easy to make the feel go from bad to hilariously awful (e.g. hyper g round).

at the current specs for the 2022, it's basically a platform stick. my sticks all came in at the low 280s unstrung. the nice thing is that you can make the stick swing as easily or as clubby as you want. i had 3.5g at 12 and 5g in the buttcap for 323 sw, and it swung quite fast. as with any stick, it works for some and not others. i just haven't been able to find any 98" 305g stick that swings as easily.
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That's absolutely bang on!

Regarding the feels. I'm one of those people who might just like 'muted' racquets. Or I don't mind the 'muted' feel. I still get the feedback I want from the racquet. Compared to the feel, I'm more about the connection to the ball, if I know where I'm hitting and it's predictable then I'm good, Ezone 98 does exactly that. I rarely launch the balls with Ez98, if I did, mostly I know that was me.

In order to get the 'connected feel', Ezone 98 required the right strings. That echoes your string-sensitive comments. Opposite to others saying Ezone needs a crisp string to counter the muted feel, I found soft strings actually work the best for me in Ezone 98. My top choices are MSV Hex Soft, PTP, Pure Rush, Otoro/Absolute, Hex Soft/Bussard... They are all kinda soft but provide a good pocketing. Due to the dense center pattern, Ezone needs more pocketing to feel the connection, mid to high 40s worked for me, and Ezone's DT usually shoots higher than other racquets, so if you string at 50s, you will feel a more stiff string bed.

I also ended up with 323 sw coincidentally. I agree that it plays heavier than the specs suggest. So people who try to play Ezone with their regular specs usually don't work. I suggest starting with 317 ish sw, getting used to the frame and then gradually increasing the sw to the point you can comfortably swing fast with it.
 
AlexKangaroo said:
Holy Crap I wasn't expecting to hate the Blade 100 this much. Zero power when hitting with it. Don't know what the strings are and in what condition they came in. I chose the 24kg vendor option. The CX 400 Tour came with a bit worn out strings, because they started moving immediately when I picked up and started hitting. The racquet was also very launchy and I couldn't control it (ironic given it is a control racquet). Although sometimes the shots were very heavy with spin and looked like hard shots to hit back at. First impression of these frames is not good after 1h session. It might be that I just had a bad day on court with my technique all over the place.

Although I tried the Pure Drive (strung with Head Hawk @23kg) and it felt again amazing. Very powerful shots that landed nicely and I could rely on the accuracy. I might just need to give up trying to invent the wheel and buy a Pure Drive for myself. I have a casual group tournament coming on Sunday. I might try the Dunlop in a match just to actually see how it is against potential big hitters and competitive environment.
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Why are you surprised that the mega ultra destroyer power frame Pure Drive at 23kg has more power than the thinnish beam control frame at 24kg?
 
ulunxtns said:
That's absolutely bang on!

Regarding the feels. I'm one of those people who might just like 'muted' racquets. Or I don't mind the 'muted' feel. I still get the feedback I want from the racquet. Compared to the feel, I'm more about the connection to the ball, if I know where I'm hitting and it's predictable then I'm good, Ezone 98 does exactly that. I rarely launch the balls with Ez98, if I did, mostly I know that was me.

In order to get the 'connected feel', Ezone 98 required the right strings. That echoes your string-sensitive comments. Opposite to others saying Ezone needs a crisp string to counter the muted feel, I found soft strings actually work the best for me in Ezone 98. My top choices are MSV Hex Soft, PTP, Pure Rush, Otoro/Absolute, Hex Soft/Bussard... They are all kinda soft but provide a good pocketing. Due to the dense center pattern, Ezone needs more pocketing to feel the connection, mid to high 40s worked for me, and Ezone's DT usually shoots higher than other racquets, so if you string at 50s, you will feel a more stiff string bed.

I also ended up with 323 sw coincidentally. I agree that it plays heavier than the specs suggest. So people who try to play Ezone with their regular specs usually don't work. I suggest starting with 317 ish sw, getting used to the frame and then gradually increasing the sw to the point you can comfortably swing fast with it.
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Yeah it's interesting cause I'm currently having a love fest with the Vcore 98 (sand beige lured me in), and I tended to stay away from Yonex cause of the dampening technology. However, with a crisper poly (ie Lynx Tour or Confidential), I think the feel is great and doesn't feel overly muted at all (I don't use a vibration dampener)
 
Power Player said:
if you are gelling with the Pure drive, sometimes its just that simple. In this thread we try everything, and it's fun, but also can make little details mean more than they should.
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Exactly - I've tried so many racquets over the last two years, and if I don't like the feel straight-away I stay away from it - so many options, no need to try to force something to work if it doesn't feel right out of the gate. The one racquet I really didn't like recently but might be worth spending more time with and customizing was the RF01, but generally I find so racquets feel great there's no use trying to force something to work that doesn't.
 
emhtennis said:
Part of my current mental turmoil is whether or not to remove some lead from under the bumper. I hate messing with the original intent of the frame setup - but then again, a different client with the same hairpin would have different specs. So maybe I am the client now! :eek:

The need new cap grommets anyway. When that trigger is pulled i can make a full assessment of what I'm dealing with. Would be hilarious if there was Nalbandian full hoop lead or something.

Worst case, I can always re-add it to the inside of the hoop.

Point being, I don't want to stop playing them, and I don't want them to lose their plow/power magic, but I also don't know if i can become good enough to not be late all the time unless I've had 4 days rest.
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Your frame, your specs. That's the great thing about those pro stocks, spec them however you like.
Doubt the racquet has more than 280SW unstrung without the lead so are you gonna find a lot of it.
 
veelium said:
Why are you surprised that the mega ultra destroyer power frame Pure Drive at 23kg has more power than the thinnish beam control frame at 24kg?
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Hahaha now when you put it like that it does sound a bit ridiculous :laughing:. Maybe the stark difference was the suprising bit and also how good I was able to control the mega destroyer PD. Also due to lack of power in the Blade I had to really put power into it thus making the technique and control suffer. At least during this hitting session against a low powered partner.
 
TOP 4 frames selected :) Here I made a highlight of each round and matchups between the frames. Sharing a little bit of my decision making process... any thoughts guys?
The finals will be between:
Tecnifibre Tfight 305, Head Gravity Pro, Solinco Whiteout 16x19, Diadem Elevate Tour
3 frames are foam filled, 3 frames are on a heavier side (I modded the Whiteout quite heavily). As we know Tfight has big SW but at 305 unstrung weight I kinda put it aside the other 3 frames that are at least 315 grams.

frames that are still in my head but for some reason didn't make it:
Head Prestige Tour, Head Prestige Pro, Head Prestige MP, Yonex Vcore 98 Tour. Out of those 4 I think Prestige Pro and MP even more....
would appreciate your feedback :)


 
gsinko1 said:
Assuming you're talking about your 293.1 here, mine arrived with 10 grams under the bumper, 10" doubled up on each side of the frame spanning 10-2, couldn't believe what I was looking at when I pulled the CAPs back. I played a few hours with it like this just to see what I could muster with a 340SW stick, but after I cut the first string job out, I moved half of the lead (so it's spanning more like 11-1 now) to the throat, brought the SW down to ~326-327 and it feels much easier and natural for me to handle at that spec. I've been thinking about moving that extra 5 grams from the throat to the grip in the near future for an even more polarized setup. I like to think I'm decently fit but there was no chance I'd be able to keep up with that original setup in actual match play for any meaningful amount of time
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Yes, this sounds exactly like my situation. I will get home and see if I can risk pulling my grommet up. Some of them are pretty flared, so i risk not being able to re-seat them afterwards.
 
emhtennis said:
Yes, this sounds exactly like my situation. I will get home and see if I can risk pulling my grommet up. Some of them are pretty flared, so i risk not being able to re-seat them afterwards.
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Yeah, caps are great to work with when they’re brand new, but I had to take a heat gun to mine to re-seat after just the 1 string job
 
emhtennis said:
Bad Tuesday last night. Removing the excuses, the XL 293.1s are heavy and high in SW.

The benefit to this is that it forces work on all the fundamentals: early preparation, weight transfer, watching the ball into contact, etc.

Doubles last night was rough because i felt like I let all three players down + plus let thr 293 down. Lots of bricked volleys, missed shots just wide or deep, net tapes hit, etc.

Playing indoors tonight for the first time in 3 years. Looking forward to hearing my shots reverb off the walls.
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Maybe you'll also find a standard length one (ligther or at least with a tad lower SW)?
Also did you change the syn grip to leather?
B/c even 10g more kinda mess me up on one of my 293.1s (albeit at the same SW as the other two). Sure you get more power, but I am late too many times. Even more so with the XLs.
 
gsinko1 said:
Assuming you're talking about your 293.1 here, mine arrived with 10 grams under the bumper, 10" doubled up on each side of the frame spanning 10-2, couldn't believe what I was looking at when I pulled the CAPs back. I played a few hours with it like this just to see what I could muster with a 340SW stick, but after I cut the first string job out, I moved half of the lead (so it's spanning more like 11-1 now) to the throat, brought the SW down to ~326-327 and it feels much easier and natural for me to handle at that spec. I've been thinking about moving that extra 5 grams from the throat to the grip in the near future for an even more polarized setup. I like to think I'm decently fit but there was no chance I'd be able to keep up with that original setup in actual match play for any meaningful amount of time
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What's the strung weight? And nice, btw!
 
Fintft said:
What's the strung weight? And nice, btw!
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It comes in at 338g, 32.1cm balance, 326SW with Lux nat gut 1.25 and restring sync 1.20. I thoroughly enjoy this setup but I’m still struggling to decide between this and my APDs and PDTs for tournament matches. The babolats just make it easier when I’m fatigued or tight but when I’m swinging freely it’s tough to beat the balls the 293.1 produces
 
galapagos said:
TOP 4 frames selected :) Here I made a highlight of each round and matchups between the frames. Sharing a little bit of my decision making process... any thoughts guys?
The finals will be between:
Tecnifibre Tfight 305, Head Gravity Pro, Solinco Whiteout 16x19, Diadem Elevate Tour
3 frames are foam filled, 3 frames are on a heavier side (I modded the Whiteout quite heavily). As we know Tfight has big SW but at 305 unstrung weight I kinda put it aside the other 3 frames that are at least 315 grams.

frames that are still in my head but for some reason didn't make it:
Head Prestige Tour, Head Prestige Pro, Head Prestige MP, Yonex Vcore 98 Tour. Out of those 4 I think Prestige Pro and MP even more....
would appreciate your feedback :)


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Nice ambition, and congrats on getting a Gravity 98 sample from Head. It sounds like the Prestige (especially the 99?) is still calling you? These old feelings often mean something. Of course sometimes they only mean you go back and confirm what you thought in the first place. Are you playing matches with all of these? That would definitely be a big decider, especially in the last rounds, I would think.

Best of luck on your channel and pozdrawiam!
 
Bounce test doesnt always translate to hitting, but the O-Toro has a wonderfully crisp, yet pockety feel to it. Just seems like a string that can provide a ton of feedback to the hand, which is a bit different than the more plasticky and muted feeling of the similar colored HyperG. Am I expecting too much for it to feel this way when hitting?
 
Fighting phoenix said:
Exactly - I've tried so many racquets over the last two years, and if I don't like the feel straight-away I stay away from it - so many options, no need to try to force something to work if it doesn't feel right out of the gate. The one racquet I really didn't like recently but might be worth spending more time with and customizing was the RF01, but generally I find so racquets feel great there's no use trying to force something to work that doesn't.
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Exactly how I felt with the Artengo TR960 with a full bed of monofilament co-poly. Threw the first 3 balls into the net. It just felt off from the start, I then gaslit myself for 2 months before I gave up on it.

Power Player said:
if you are gelling with the Pure drive, sometimes its just that simple. In this thread we try everything, and it's fun, but also can make little details mean more than they should.
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I hear this so much that I kinda dislike the Pure drive purely because of this lol. I never even hit with one and regardless of my inherent dislike of babolat, it just feels like it's a cop out for players that don't want to try hard enough.
 
gsinko1 said:
Yeah, caps are great to work with when they’re brand new, but I had to take a heat gun to mine to re-seat after just the 1 string job
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Fintft said:
Maybe you'll also find a standard length one (ligther or at least with a tad lower SW)?
Also did you change the syn grip to leather?
B/c even 10g more kinda mess me up on one of my 293.1s (albeit at the same SW as the other two). Sure you get more power, but I am late too many times. Even more so with the XLs.
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Well, i was super impatient and removed the lead tonight from one of the 293.1s before an almost 3 hour hit with a great Wednesday group.

Had to cut out the tie-off big grommets and put single replacements back in, worked fine. There was less lead than I thought. Around 12in on both sides from 10 to 2 with one side with a second lead layer of about six inches. So guess around 24-30in of lead in total removed.

Was definitely easier to play with and had much more rackethead speed. It lost some sting, but I'm optimistic with the choice. I restrung with Hit Pro at 48lbs. I'll try about 8 total inches of lead at 12 and see if I can find a happy medium.

I will also be interested to put 1.30 strings in the frame to see what gaining back some SW that way feels like.

And yes, I've also switched them both to leather with an MSV Cyber Wet overgrip, which i love in colder weather. I like the balance the leather gives, and the extra bevel feel on the smaller L2 grip.
 
FlatShot_V said:
I hear this so much that I kinda dislike the Pure drive purely because of this lol. I never even hit with one and regardless of my inherent dislike of babolat, it just feels like it's a cop out for players that don't want to try hard enough.
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i admire your true holic philosophy. it's the "why use a midplus when you can use a mid?" debate all over again!
 
FlatShot_V said:
I hear this so much that I kinda dislike the Pure drive purely because of this lol. I never even hit with one and regardless of my inherent dislike of babolat, it just feels like it's a cop out for players that don't want to try hard enough.
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That might be true and simply improving the game would benefit a lot, but does that mean I should now buy a Blade that simply does not feel good to hit and grind with it until it feels better. Only because some holic didn't like the idea of a user friendly racquet? :D But whatever I will probably be here asking for racquet advice soon again, because of tennis elbow caused by the PD hahah :D .
 
Decided to justify my constant racket acquisition by using one of them in my night league. But I picked a 1981 Pro Kennex Black Ace with no power and weighs a ton. But it has touch, I'll give it that. Playing against a guy who is entertaining for sure. I think I drove him half crazy. First time saving match points and going on to win.
I'm in yellow.
 
JGads said:
Nice ambition, and congrats on getting a Gravity 98 sample from Head. It sounds like the Prestige (especially the 99?) is still calling you? These old feelings often mean something. Of course sometimes they only mean you go back and confirm what you thought in the first place. Are you playing matches with all of these? That would definitely be a big decider, especially in the last rounds, I would think.

Best of luck on your channel and pozdrawiam!
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Most of the frames in my „tournament of racquets” were tried also in match / tournament situations.
From the top 4 only Whiteout wasnt tested in more „emotional” environment. Practice sets doesnt count. But I already played with the whiteout vs other prestige mp users and managed to win the practice.

Tfight 305 and Elevate Tour were in my bag the longest and i think i played most of the competitive matches with those frames.

I think Prestige will always be calling but I am not sure if the line has that perfect frame for my needs. Always something. Pro i love it on drills but competing and serving is a little harder. Maybe 1.20 string could change it a lot. Or 2g at the bottom to unlock the whip a little bit…i am kinda believing in the wave of 18x19 patterns. Going back to 18x20 could mess up my tennis identity that i was working on a lot lately.
Prestige Tour is a little tricky and quite demanding but when you click with it its really great.
Prestige MP can sometimes leak the power potential. Its that soft. Maybe stiffer strings could „focus” the frame a little more….
I totally agree that at this point tournament matches would give me much more feedback playing vs different playstyles and balls. Everything under pressure…thats the most exciting thing in testing frames for me. Looking for the edge
 
kevin qmto said:
Decided to justify my constant racket acquisition by using one of them in my night league. But I picked a 1981 Pro Kennex Black Ace with no power and weighs a ton. But it has touch, I'll give it that. Playing against a guy who is entertaining for sure. I think I drove him half crazy. First time saving match points and going on to win.
I'm in yellow.
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What level is that? Also, did you stencil the PK logo on there?

Haven't seen one of those in a string bed in FOREVER..
 
Head TGT 344.4 arrived yesterday. Got my first hit in with it today and this racquet is like riding a bike. I played with the gravity pro a couple years ago; 360+ version. I loved it, then hurt my knee and was out for several months and for some reason the I jury holic but bit and I moved on to a Diadem Elevate. I should have never left the gravity.

I grew up playing thin beam racquets and ultimately that’s just what feels right to me. But the gravity does such a good job being a thin beamed players stick while having a massive sweet spot and some pop.

310g / 31.5 / 300sw

I think I’m in love.

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FlatShot_V said:
I hear this so much that I kinda dislike the Pure drive purely because of this lol. I never even hit with one and regardless of my inherent dislike of babolat, it just feels like it's a cop out for players that don't want to try hard enough.
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I disliked the pure drive out of principle for years. Hit one, you’ll enjoy the ride. Especially a swirly or PD team. It’s definitely not a cop out, all sticks have trade offs. What you gain in power form let’s say a gravity pro, you’ll lose in control
 
@dr. godmode appreciated your latest vid. The VC95 collector sidebar was great, analogous to my stock pile of 6.1 95 frames that I can’t really compete with anymore. I’ll always own and hit with them, but to your sports car analogy, maybe meant for a few drag races instead of a marathon race.

Also appreciated your shout to the bolt, cool to highlight a smaller brand and talk about its nuanced features. Interested what kept your objectively “best” frame of the year, strike 98, from this list. Cheers mate
 
gino said:
I disliked the pure drive out of principle for years. Hit one, you’ll enjoy the ride. Especially a swirly or PD team. It’s definitely not a cop out, all sticks have trade offs. What you gain in power form let’s say a gravity pro, you’ll lose in control
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So you’re on the PD bandwagon now? What’s your main?

I’ll never use a Babolat racket.
 
FlatShot_V said:
So you’re on the PD bandwagon now? What’s your main?

I’ll never use a Babolat racket.
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I come from a long lineage of flexible thin beam frames. I was a pro staff guy in my development years. From there, I went to the head prestige and speed that has the same mold as the gravity pro. In the past 10 years I’ve equally used the RF 97 and the pure strike 9816×19. Those frames Would be classified as player sticks relative to the pure drive, but I find that some of the pure drive iterations have exceptional feel despite the beam width

It’s a bit of a cop out to just say that all Babolat are bad. Not all were created equal, the molds and the layups obviously differ drastically throughout the years. I encourage you to open your mind to some degree because there’s a lot of great gear out there made by that french brand

I hit for an hour with an old buddy who played D1 college tennis the other day. I used my strike for most of the hit and the Pro staff 97 as well. Towards the end, I whipped out a few old pure drives, and his remarks were: “The ball is coming off nice but it’s not the frame for you.” These aren’t really frames I’m considering using as a main, but they are fun to hit and collect. Tennis should be fun and you are in a thread about people being addicted to trying new frames
 
gino said:
I come from a long lineage of flexible thin beam frames. I was a pro staff guy in my development years. From there, I went to the head prestige and speed that has the same mold as the gravity pro. In the past 10 years I’ve equally used the RF 97 and the pure strike 9816×19. Those frames Would be classified as player sticks relative to the pure drive, but I find that some of the pure drive iterations have exceptional feel despite the beam width

It’s a bit of a cop out to just say that all Babolat are bad. Not all were created equal, the molds and the layups obviously differ drastically throughout the years. I encourage you to open your mind to some degree because there’s a lot of great gear out there made by that french brand

I hit for an hour with an old buddy who played D1 college tennis the other day. I used my strike for most of the hit and the Pro staff 97 as well. Towards the end, I whipped out a few old pure drives, and his remarks were: “The ball is coming off nice but it’s not the frame for you.” These aren’t really frames I’m considering using as a main, but they are fun to hit and collect. Tennis should be fun and you are in a thread about people being addicted to trying new frames
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I get where you're coming from. I'm not saying babolat is all bad, far from that really.

My gripe with the brand isn't even with how they play or how stiff they are, it's mostly other weird holic reasons. I mostly don't like their paintjobs, nor do I like the babolat logo or stencil on the strings...

I was tempted to get a pure strike in the heyday of thiem because he made it look cool. I also dig their bag designs, especially the wimbledon specials and had one in the past.

Regarding how they play, I usually get more tempted to get sticks that are quirky, niche and/or very hard to play with, like 95s or 93s.
 
gino said:
@dr. godmode appreciated your latest vid. The VC95 collector sidebar was great, analogous to my stock pile of 6.1 95 frames that I can’t really compete with anymore. I’ll always own and hit with them, but to your sports car analogy, maybe meant for a few drag races instead of a marathon race.

Also appreciated your shout to the bolt, cool to highlight a smaller brand and talk about its nuanced features. Interested what kept your objectively “best” frame of the year, strike 98, from this list. Cheers mate
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Thanks man! The Strike just doesn't really do anything for me that my Aero can't do. I think the Strike is a great frame, definitely a stand out for 2024, but ultimately, I don't think 2024 was a great year for racquets. I think there are a few 2023 frames that are better than the Strike and I've already tested at least 2 2025 frames that are better than the Strike too.
 
dr. godmode said:
Thanks man! The Strike just doesn't really do anything for me that my Aero can't do. I think the Strike is a great frame, definitely a stand out for 2024, but ultimately, I don't think 2024 was a great year for racquets. I think there are a few 2023 frames that are better than the Strike and I've already tested at least 2 2025 frames that are better than the Strike too.
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What's the oldest vcore 95 you own? Can you show us some pictures of it?

And can you elaborate a bit on the difference to the latest models 21/23?
 
4x days playing in a row and my body is burnt!

Tonight was a 1 on 1 with a friend who play Phantom Pro 93P gen 1s with Head Velocity at like 60lbs. He has great movement and is a natural counterpuncher. We mostly did groundstroke drills and games and finished the night with a pair of 10pt breakers.

I played most of the night with the now-lighter 293.1 with just 8in of lead at 12 (4in per side) and this setup felt almost perfect. Still had plenty of swing speed, but more sting and stability on the ball. I may add 2in more per side at 12 so I can feel the tip weight a bit more, but I also may try a 1.30 string before I do that.

Serving with this new lighter setup was amazing.
 
emhtennis said:
4x days playing in a row and my body is burnt!

Tonight was a 1 on 1 with a friend who play Phantom Pro 93P gen 1s with Head Velocity at like 60lbs. He has great movement and is a natural counterpuncher. We mostly did groundstroke drills and games and finished the night with a pair of 10pt breakers.

I played most of the night with the now-lighter 293.1 with just 8in of lead at 12 (4in per side) and this setup felt almost perfect. Still had plenty of swing speed, but more sting and stability on the ball. I may add 2in more per side at 12 so I can feel the tip weight a bit more, but I also may try a 1.30 string before I do that.

Serving with this new lighter setup was amazing.
Click to expand...
Weight and sw?
 
I took the Head Graphite Pro out for another spin tonight and boy was that fun. I was not really challenged by my opponent (1 and 2), but I hit it well. My new and improved backhand was loving it. I played it for most of the first set and then switched to the PSVS for the second, until I broke a string and decided to go back to the Graphite Pro. Pure bliss. Probably not something I'll ever play a serious match with, but who knows? I'm not sure I've played a better-feeling racquet ever. Crunchy, crispy, and delicious.
 
dr. godmode said:
Thanks man! The Strike just doesn't really do anything for me that my Aero can't do. I think the Strike is a great frame, definitely a stand out for 2024, but ultimately, I don't think 2024 was a great year for racquets. I think there are a few 2023 frames that are better than the Strike and I've already tested at least 2 2025 frames that are better than the Strike too.
Click to expand...

i tend to agree 2024 wasnt a great year for the racket industry. strike was really just gen 4 with a little more comfort, same updates for the blade

can you let on a bit about the PD98 you playtested or nah? curious about that upper hoop box beam
 
Last edited:
So, I believe in the spirit of self deprication. As such, I must admit that after a long night of tennis this week, I went to the grocery store and when I knelt down to look at something on a bottom shelf I completely blew out the center seam of my black shorts. Luckily I was wearing full length black spandex... :laughing:

The shorts were at least 10 years old, so they had had a good life.

What are everyone's go-to shorts these days that ideally don't cost almost as much as a racket?
 
emhtennis said:
So, I believe in the spirit of self deprication. As such, I must admit that after a long night of tennis this week, I went to the grocery store and when I knelt down to look at something on a bottom shelf I completely blew out the center seam of my black shorts. Luckily I was wearing full length black spandex... :laughing:

The shorts were at least 10 years old, so they had had a good life.

What are everyone's go-to shorts these days that ideally don't cost almost as much as a racket?
Click to expand...

New Balance 7” RC with the built-in brief. Can usually get them on sale for $30 or less, and they’re comfy, last a long time, and the pockets hold balls well.
 
emhtennis said:
So, I believe in the spirit of self deprication. As such, I must admit that after a long night of tennis this week, I went to the grocery store and when I knelt down to look at something on a bottom shelf I completely blew out the center seam of my black shorts. Luckily I was wearing full length black spandex... :laughing:

The shorts were at least 10 years old, so they had had a good life.

What are everyone's go-to shorts these days that ideally don't cost almost as much as a racket?
Click to expand...
I've tried a few recently, and found Wilson shorts to be the best - I like the spandex underneath to help with keeping my muscles warm and prevent injuries (at least mentally I feel that way), pretty affordable also. I bought a pair of lululemon shorts which I thought would be cool, but they're kinda gender neutral and it's like shorts/skirt combo, really weird lol.
 
kevin qmto said:
Decided to justify my constant racket acquisition by using one of them in my night league. But I picked a 1981 Pro Kennex Black Ace with no power and weighs a ton. But it has touch, I'll give it that. Playing against a guy who is entertaining for sure. I think I drove him half crazy. First time saving match points and going on to win.
I'm in yellow.
Click to expand...

That beautifully constructed point by your opponent at 3.45. Goddammit!
 
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