Its still obviously possible to hit the back fence with this racquet, but there are definitely a number of balls that land in, that would have otherwise gone out.
Wilson made a claim about how much this frame lengthens the court, but I dont recall what the value was. I do recall that they claimed it effectively lowered the net by ~2 inches (as in one can clear the net by that much more and still have the ball land in)?
Lower the net by 2" and add 12" to the baseline was the claim. I have never missed a shot with the Steam.
Since I cant afford a new Ducati I am going to buy this toy. This place is bad for my wallet.
Just take your current 16X20 frame and skip every other cross. You can send me a check for the money I saved you later.
That's a common refrain as of late. This actually has been tried by a number of posters over the years here, dating back to TravelerAJM's experiments in 2008-2009 I think. None of those early, or more recent experiments have proved successful. The trouble is that skipping every other cross creates a very soft string bed, so much so, the racquet has to be strung extremely tight, in the high seventies to get any kind of predictable rebound response. Thats the same road Mark Woodforde went down 30 years ago, with his super high tensions, (hence the name Snauwert Hi Ten) requiring super fat string. Wilson has created a frame that allows the mains to slide freely at more typical typical tension ranges.
-Jack
Great racket for a target specific customer base.
Flat hitter reap little benefits.
Strong topspin hitters reap little benefits.
Target is 4-5.0's with good strokes, but not fast strokes like pro mens.
Hi Deuce Bag -
One thing I noticed right away when hitting with this frame (and most open pattern frames) is that the ball pops off the string bed and takes a pretty high arc over the net. I think what comes next is a matter of both perception and adjustment.
Player A: Will see that high arc, and think that the racquet is just producing low powered fluffers that land short for the opponent to pounce on. If the player makes no stroke adjustment, the demo will probably end on a sour note with the idea that the racquet lacks power.
Player B: Will see the high arc over the net, and will adjust to that by closing the racquet face, which will create even more spin. Once the player sees that the ball is diving sharply down into the court, with several feet to spare, and has little fear of sending the ball deep, that's when the player might make another adjustment and will start to swing a little more freely and with more oomph. I think that second adjustment is where the magic is. When your technique opens up, and you are swinging freely with confidence, thats the golden zone right there.
I know what people mean when they say you cannot hit it deep. Balls seem to drop in that have no business dropping in. But yes you still can hit it deep. I've seen the racquet in the hands of 3.5 - 4.0 players who hit fairly flat, and this racquet seems not to matter much in that scenario. But in the hands of somebody with decent top to start with, the additional spin is easily noticeable.
Jack
Probably a good assessment. If one had Nadals swingspeed, probably no need for this frame.
I would say though that even strong topspin hitters will notice a difference. I have alot of trouble flattening out a ball (and rarely do it) and this frame still makes my shots better. Those few extra rpm are just enough. If I was already hitting 5000 rpm, then 5200 probably wouldnt matter. But (and I am guessing here) that the average rec player who hits what would be called "heavy topsin" is maybe 2000-2500 rpm????, and therefore 200 rpm increase is noticed.
Now, rec players can probably exceed those rpm numbers, but at the expense of significant pace, as there is only so fast we can swing the racquet reliably.
I'm thinking if you get some 15L poly and string it relatively tight in a 100 or smaller head the results wouldn't be THAT far off from the 99S. Maybe put in some prince tournament nylon and grease it up before stringing.
Of course 15 vs 10 crosses is significant, but it's the same idea...if you use the thickest strings available it might de-mush the string bed.
But yes, I think Wilson is definitely doing some pioneering here. Others will follow suit shortly I assume.
Here's my take on playing someone with a 99s....every baseline ball hit with depth has to be hit above shoulder height or above. It was frustrating to consistently have to chop up on the ball to return pace and depth. Especially when the 99'Ser is hitting that loopy forehand to my 2hbh!
You don't need to skip EVERY other cross, skip 3 or 4 crosses in the center. Use a stiff, 93-98 sq in racket. The Yamaha Secret 04 would be about ideal but there are other rackets with dense patterns and high RAs out there. Skipping crosses has been done for as long as tennis has been played.
if you are flat hitter... don't bother with this racquet.
Everything (well almost...) will go long... There will no noticeable difference in spin.
I hit everything with top spin, and this racquet is amazing... except for the string durability bit and ugly PJ.
Have you tried a durable string like Luxilon 4g, 15 or 16 gauge, for more string durability?
I am going have the 4G in my next re-string.
Tour Bite is also good according to Ross.
Tour Bite is also good according to Ross.
It's just crazy how much tension loss this racquet gets after the 2 hour mark...
It plays beautiful freshly strung... but control and ball placement gets erratic with the spaghetti strings.
I can't be stringing my racquets every week...
Yes, as I said on the other thread yesterday, loved the performance of TB over 4G. However, the tension did indeed drop a bit too fast for my liking.
On another note, as someone referred to it previously, one area I'm increasingly finding this frame to be fantastic on is serve. Just such zipping pace and spin. Hitting down the middle is an effortless joy. And taking it out wide definitely working a treat for me ATM.
Aside from serve, for me the main big pluses of this frame are how sweet and fast it is to swing (that sense that you can really go after the ball very quickly); topspin-heavy groundstrokes (but of course!); all court performance (admittedly I'm no Stefan Edberg, but all court performance seems pretty good to me); and the relative solidness.
Stringing issues aside (and this a huge thorny area, no doubt about it), the other issue I've encountered relates to sometimes feeling the ball is sitting up too much for my opponent and I'm running about too much David Ferrer-style lol playing a retrieving game, being moved around too much when it's I who usually likes to try to dictate the points. I suppose this indicates I'm not quite putting the ball away well enough, or not with adequate penetration/flatness/directness or whatever. Re hitting long, I'd say I do this a bit, similar to my time with the APD actually, but it's not such a big factor for me. I still haven't quite dialed things in on the bh side. Lastly, though I said the frame is relatively solid (which it is), I do sometimes wish there was a bit more of an authoritative and fuller bodied feel to the frame. Maybe I should try leading up?
But that sounds like the racquet is just really low powered? I mean it's hard to hit the ball long with most low powered lightweight racquets.Lower the net by 2" and add 12" to the baseline was the claim. I have never missed a shot with the Steam.