I started playing tennis last October and purchased the Prince Phantom 290X without any research and grew accustomed to playing with the frame with Head Velocity 16 at 51lbs. I usually play 1-2x a week and just recently started feeling confident in hitting my Eastern FH and 2HBH without pushing the ball with my FH Volleys being my weakest shot. I've been doing a lot of research in purchasing my first "big boy" racquet and gravitated to the Yonex frames with the requirement to find a racquet that's easy to use for a beginner/intermediate player like myself.
I demo'd the EZ 100 & 98, Vcore 98, Percept 100, Wilson Blade V9 100 & 98, Clash 98, and Shift 99 and felt out of all the racquets I demo'd the EZ 98 felt the best at the time. So after a few more months of research I finally pulled the trigger and purchased the Ezone 98 (2024) strung with Volkl V Square and Lux Alu Power at 48lbs (purchased from the classified section so this was the prestrung configuration). I had two hitting sessions with this new frame and something felt really off (I demo'd the EZ98 back in March 2024). My groundstrokes that were consistently going in when I strike the ball were flying out too long with the EZ98, but my flat serve on the ad side felt powerful and my FH volleys felt crisp and stable. I didn't think a new frame would affect my entire gameplay so drastically, but could it be just the string set up that's too advance for my current level? I'm just wondering maybe I'm just not used to the frame yet and I need more time to dial in, but the question is for a player like myself should I look for a racquet that complements my current playstyle or should I learn to conform and grow to my new racquet instead? Appreciate any insight or similar experience regarding this.
I demo'd the EZ 100 & 98, Vcore 98, Percept 100, Wilson Blade V9 100 & 98, Clash 98, and Shift 99 and felt out of all the racquets I demo'd the EZ 98 felt the best at the time. So after a few more months of research I finally pulled the trigger and purchased the Ezone 98 (2024) strung with Volkl V Square and Lux Alu Power at 48lbs (purchased from the classified section so this was the prestrung configuration). I had two hitting sessions with this new frame and something felt really off (I demo'd the EZ98 back in March 2024). My groundstrokes that were consistently going in when I strike the ball were flying out too long with the EZ98, but my flat serve on the ad side felt powerful and my FH volleys felt crisp and stable. I didn't think a new frame would affect my entire gameplay so drastically, but could it be just the string set up that's too advance for my current level? I'm just wondering maybe I'm just not used to the frame yet and I need more time to dial in, but the question is for a player like myself should I look for a racquet that complements my current playstyle or should I learn to conform and grow to my new racquet instead? Appreciate any insight or similar experience regarding this.