Finally, My Holy grail?

[ScotsCrazyTennis]

I've been through it all over the last 24 months, tweeners, extended length rackets, players rackets...and I think I've finally found it! To give you some background, I'm a 4.0-4.5 player(better on some days than others) and have an all court attacking game. I prefer to serve and volley but because of a shoulder injury I've been staying back at the baseline more than I usually do. I read the boards here very often for tips and suggestions...maybe too often.

Anyway here's my summary on the rackets I've tested:
1)Wilson HPS 6.1 - Nice solid feel but too hefty for me
2)Prince NXG mid - Didn't like it, sold!
3)Head i.radical OS L5 version - Nice doubles racket but too light to tackle really heavy ground strokes from the baseline
4)Yonex Ultimum RQ1500 - My first extended length racket, Very nice but too powerful and started giving me wrist pain. Not too good for a single handed BH.
5)Prince NXG OS - Good baseline racket, Good spin and control, not for the single handed BH, sold!
6)Wilson Prostaff tour 95 - Way too light, sold it quickly
7)Wilson N-code 6.1 - Played alright, but it felt dead to me, maybe the strings but sold it quickly
8 )Wilson Prostaff original 95 - Nice but top hoop felt dead, Leaded it up at 11 and 1 o'clock, much better but still not right
9)Wilson Prostaff original 85 - whoa,what a nice feel, for a heavy racket it swings really fast, killer serves, but too demanding, I'm probably not good enough for it
10)Head i.prestige MP - Nope! sold
11)Head i.prestige Mid - Nice but small sweetspot, good for flat shots.
12)Head Prestige Tour 660 - Wow! Now I know what you mean by 'plough-thru' effect, So nice I bought another one. Just not powerful enough.
13) Babolat Pure Control Team 320g version- This is the one!Same plough-thru effect with the prestige tour but more powerful. I've never hit so many winners before in my life. It's quite forgiving as well and has a large sweetspot. It also serves well and volleys well, important as I get to the net often after hitting an apporach shot to the corner. Spin is good, not as good as the Yonex but good enough.

All in all, I'm gonna stick with this racket as I've never played so well before in my life. For those experimenting with racket just keep demo-ing....there is light at the end of the tunnel! Thanks for your time.

 

[cabernetjunkie]

Congrats. on finding a racquet, good luck with it.

 

[VGP]

No Dunlops? Shame on you......

 

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

seems like the PRTi would have been your perfect racquet. But yeah i agree, no dunlops? shame on you

 

[ScotsCrazyTennis]

Damn, guess I'll have to go back to the drawing board!
Yeah, dunno why i never tested the dunlops....was interested in the m-fil 200 but too expensive.... Sorry what's the PRti?

 

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Damn, guess I'll have to go back to the drawing board!
Yeah, dunno why i never tested the dunlops....was interested in the m-fil 200 but too expensive.... Sorry what's the PRti?

PRTi = Prince Precision Response Ti., the one before tt warrior.

Other than the small sweetspot of Iprestige Mid.... what else did you not like about that racquet? Spin wasnt a problem for me

 

[ScotsCrazyTennis]

The i.prestige mid? I liked it. I could hit really good flat shots but thought spin could have been a bit better(it could be down to technique). I also felt it was quite under-powered. I used this before the Prestige Tour 660. Started using the prestige tours and fell in love with them instantly...till recently that is. Gosh I feel like an unfaithful husband!

 

[ScotsCrazyTennis]

The funny thing is, I dunno why but I was quite resistant to trying babolat rackets, it just seemed too 'common' and 'commercial'. There was a cool factor playing with those PS85's and Prestige tours for sure. I also thought, these are real players rackets and that todays rackets probably haven't changed that much. Then I tried the Pure Control(with babolat attraction strings) and well, to put it short, changed my mind. I must say however that the 'pro-est' feeling ever was when i was using the PS85. What a sweet stick!

 

[hedonist]

Have you ever thought of trying the Wilson HPS 6.0? It has a stiffer upper hoop and it is more powerful than the Wilson PS 6.0 95. It was just another idea;-)

 

[Deleted member 6835]

yonex rds 001...

 

[brucie]

Maybe all the prostaff wilsons you tried didnt suit you, a hammer or n pro surge/ n tour tweener type may have been better choices!
Hows about Yonex rdx too then again scrap what i said if you really are after plough through!

 

[goober]

What no Volkls either?

Don't worry the honeymoon will be over shortly.

 

[ScotsCrazyTennis]

Never had an opportunity to try Volkls here. Been on the courts most of the week because of the great weather recently.The Pure Control has been great, my impression of it still stands, not really found a weak point yet. However, have had to restring the racket twice already! Snapped the mains once and the crosses the next time. I kinda like multifilaments for their softer feel but I may be heading towards trying a poly. Does the woofer system predispose to string breaking? Maybe it's the more open string pattern?

 

[louis netman]

Looks like an incomplete demo process without the inclusion of Volkl and Dunlop. IMO and lengthy (and ongoing) research, these two companies have some very qualified candidates...

 

[thejerk]

where did you find the 320g version?

 

[snoflewis]

where did you find the 320g version?

the pure control team standard is 320g unstrung, and approx. 335g strung.

 

[barry]

the pure control team standard is 320g unstrung, and approx. 335g strung.

Actually it depends on the grip size, larger grips weigh more.

 

[ace of spades]

i cant see how you would think that he had a short and incomplete demoing process. when i demo i try maybe a half a dozen rackets and choose one. he tried 13...

 

[snoflewis]

i cant see how you would think that he had a short and incomplete demoing process. when i demo i try maybe a half a dozen rackets and choose one. he tried 13...

i think if he was really in search of THE holy grail, he would have tried a couple of frames from most of the major companies, such as babolat, head, wilson, prince, yonex, volkl, tecnifibre, dunlop, slazenger, prokennex, fischer, etc.

however, most his selections were wilson and head. also, if you've noticed, they weren't all different models, a lot of them were just different headsizes.

i dont know...but personally, i wouldve demoed at least 1 or 2 from each company that fit my specs. but im glad that he found a racket that he is satisfied with.

 

[louis netman]

i cant see how you would think that he had a short and incomplete demoing process. when i demo i try maybe a half a dozen rackets and choose one. he tried 13...

Upon examination of the frames, it seems the demo process was somewhat haphazard. The headsizes, flexes and weights are all over the charts. For effective demoing, you need to hone in on certain characteristics like headsize, SW, flex, etc. Then select 1 or 2 frames from each manufacturer that meet your specific criteria...

Your efforts are not wasted however, because from all of this you've discovered a preference for med stiff/stiff frames, 98-100," that weigh about 315 to 325g static weight...next comes string and tension...good luck ;-)!!!

 

[ScotsCrazyTennis]

Thanks for your comments. I would be the first person to raise my hand and say that my demo was flawed....not entirely scientific in my approach but it sure was fun though. I guess, alot of it depended on what I was able to get my hands on at the time. I've been playing tennis for a long time now and have finally reached the stage where I can buy rackets without feeling too gulity about it. Hence the Prostaff Originals (Pete Sampras was my favourite) and numeorus other rackets recommended from these very forums! It sure was an eye opener how different the rackets felt. I could have done more with tension tuning but I found that to be quite an expensive process. So I would use a racket for a few weeks with 2 string setups before deciding if it was right or not. Some racket's playability were pretty apparent from the start while others took a few sessions on the courts. I've kept a few of my rackets for 'my collection' and these include the prostaffs, head prestige tours but all the others are in the process of being sold. I'm still very happy with my Babolat Pure Control and am hoping to get a few more soon(read somewhere on the forum that they were perhaps discontinuing it!)

 

[mileslong]

among my others, im currrently playing the FXP prestige mid, i have a babolat pure control. its the racket i fall back on if im not playing that well in a match etc. its like in golf, when im swinging well i play blades due to their amazing accuracy but if im not playing well i fall back to my callaways due to more forgiveness. when im at my best in tennis i can play better with the prestige but im not always at my best of course so its good to have old faithful around just in case. babolat = callaway, prestige = mizuno blades

it s good all around racket, i like the control of the prestige a bit more, its also better at the net. i can serve great with the babolat as far as kicks are concerned, harder to hit hard, flat bombs with it though like i can with the prestige. plenty of spin potential but not penetrating deep groundies like the prestige.

i think it is a great all around racket though and i wrote babolat this week to see if they were discontinuing them as i had heard but they said there were no plans to at this time. they didnt answer my question though about whether or not they were going to put the cortex system in the pure control...

 

[ScotsCrazyTennis]

Good to hear that. Prices for the Pure Control have been dropping recently which made me suspicious. Do you break strings on your Pure Control? I'm going through them like crazy, certainly more frequently than I normally do. I have been using Tecnifibre X-one 17's which probably doesn't help. Thinking of trying a poly/multi hybrid but don't know in which order. I've broken the mains twice and crosses once over the last month. I've tried the Tecnifibre Pro-Redcode Poly and will probably use that in my combination.

 

[Rincon]

No ProKennex? Dunlop? Volkl? Avery, Power Angle, Gamma, Fischer, Technifibre, Slazenger, Estusa, Kneissel or Vantage racquets?

 

[LowProfile]

Looks like an incomplete demo process without the inclusion of Volkl and Dunlop. IMO and lengthy (and ongoing) research, these two companies have some very qualified candidates...

As does Yonex. But great to hear you found your perfect racquet.

 

[mileslong]

Do you break strings on your Pure Control?

no, actually i dont break my strings on the PC more or less than any other racket really. my dunlop MW200G never hardly breaks though, i think due to the tight string pattern and flexible hoop.