I’m wrapping up a week-long demo of the Gravity Pro and I have a lot of thoughts.
Context: I’m a lefty all court mostly doubles player. I’m also among the 93P fans looking for a little help on defense versus big hitting opponents. Lately I’ve been hitting with a Pure Aero Tour (the older, neon and black one), which has been kind of a roller coaster, so I’m looking for some more consistency. I play tested the GP alongside the 18x20 version of the Phantom 100. I preferred the GP. The Prince felt too noodly.
What I liked about the GP:
- You get out what you put in. This frame doesn’t give you much for free, but that made me a sharper player as a result. My play with the PAT could really shine, but I was prone to mental lapses, hoping I could get “free” winners with it, which made me play stupid. Not so with the GP.
- Plenty of variety. I felt like whatever shot I felt like hitting, I could hit with confidence (minus two exceptions I’ll address later). I was comfortable taking it easy with cross court exchanges or following big shots to the net for easy putaways. This threw my opponents off a bit, which is always a plus.
- Serves. My first serve isn’t wicked big, so placement is important for me. Similarly, my second serve is reliable, and has some kick, but is mostly effective cuz I’m left-handed. But If I’m playing with a frame where I can place the ball in the box wherever I want, I’ll still hold really easily, and that’s exactly what happened with the GP. In this morning’s match, a 6-2, 2-6, 10-4 for my partner and me, I had the third best serve of the four players there, but I held the most consistently cuz I had pinpoint control on first and second serves. At one point I had an ace called back on an incorrect call, and put the ball in the exact same spot on the second serve for a service winner. It was righteous.
-Volleys. I didn’t expect the GP to be as nimble at net as it was. I had some great stabs with it, and the better of our two opponents told me after the match that he stopped going after me at net, even though on most days, my partner is the better volleyer. Control and consistency were great.
Issues I had with the GP
-Overheads. I didn’t hit a single one cleanly. I only had 3 or 4 chances, and the sun was brutal, so this isn’t the worst thing, but it’s something to keep an eye on if I demo again/buy.
-Slices. This could be another sampling issue — since I was enjoying my other shots so much, I only tried a handful of slices. But I never quite felt comfortable going to that shot.
Need more time before I give a verdict
-Serve returns. This is my weakest shot, and at times I felt the GP responded sluggishly in this area, but at other times I hit some great returns. So I’m not sure yet.
I really enjoy this frame, but I’m wondering if I should try the new Blade since people really seem to dig it. What are y’all’s thoughts? Has anyone compared the two?