Now, for update 2 of 2:
So despite occasionally trying new things, I stuck with the DR98 for most of the year. In the end, I decided to move on. The main factor being it's difficult to find grommets, difficult to find more DR98s in good shape, and this was exacerbated by the fact that I broke one of my DRs as well, not even in anger., just an accident. Pure pain when that happened. Stability also lacked sometimes at 3 and 9, and now I only have one left. It just felt like the right move to move on to something more widely available.
In early December, with the "contract" period over, I decided to try some new frames. I'm not gonna list everything, gonna keep it focused more on the important updates. I have switched to a frame for 2025, but i want to go over what I've tried up until 12/31/24.
1.) Nordicdots Model 99. A fun frame to use, good on serve, decent control when you strike it right. I could just never really find my groove with it. Not to mention the issues they gave TennCom rubbed me the wrong way.
2.) 2023 Yonex Vcore 98
Revisited just to be sure. There's many things I like about it, like the serve and the touch/feel, and versatility, but it's just so wild at times. Absolutely cannot trust it with my swing style, as I don't think I hit in the upper portion of the hoop enough like it wants to be hit. It's been like a crazy ex that you keep going back to, an abusive relationship to me, and I'm finally standing up for myself. lmao.
3.)Tecnifibre Tempo 298, aka the IGA. Surprisingly really, really good. I actually thought this was gonna be the one for most of the month. Stable for it's weight, good spin, slice was good, felt really nice on serve. The one I've been trying has a strung stock SW of 328 (probably why I like the stability so much), so all I did was tailweight it with a leather grip and 8g of tape under the grip on the pallet. Fun frame to use, but the main drawbacks are:
-I just CANNOT stand the TF grip shape. No matter how hard I try, I often find myself losing where I am on the grip, causing me to roll forehands over at weird times.
-Like the DR98, it's a discontinued frame, at least as far as I know. Much easier to still find grommets, but will eventually run in to the same problem. Does it make sense, ya know?
-The control was pretty decent, but there's just something about the frame that didn't give me the confidence to go for my shots in tight moments. Kind of like a sense that the ball is going to do something bizarre and launch to the fence. Felt this way in a league playoff match, but still thought I was going to stick with it anyways.
Then a few days before Christmas, I hit with one of my good friends who recently switched from the '21 Vcore 95 to the '23 Vcore 100 and hasn't looked back. He said he'd never considered going to a larger head size power/spin frame, but nonetheless he did, and it's made tennis just easier for him. We were hitting at a local school, and I'm good friends with the guy who strings for most of the school's teams and local players who happened to be there while we were hitting. I told him I was switching from the DR98, and he happened to have both the '22 Ezone 98 and the '22 Ezone 100 with him. I grabbed the 98, remembered that I liked it but just not quite for me. Then I thought f it, why not grab the 100, had never hit it before anyways. What's the harm?
How wrong I was about what I thought this frame would be. Great power, muted feel but not nearly as bad as I was expecting, ridiculous stability, yet still very maneuverable. The most surprising part of it though is that the control is... good??? Like, actually good. I felt an instant sense of confidence to just swing out, go for your targets. I can drive the ball through the court, or I can mix it up and put spin on the ball either for short angles, or for margin over the net. The one hander felt VERY good, which completely shocked me. I thought that's the wing I'd hate it the most, yet my one hander feels better than ever with this frame. I thought hold on here, let me try it with a set up I like. He had a kinda old set of PTP in it, so I yolo bought one, threw a leather grip on, strung it with Cyclone 16G at 52#, and said I'll play with it for a week until New Years, and if I don't like it or lose the honeymoon, I'll stick with the Iga and just sell it. Yet here we are today with my new frame of 2025, the 22' Ezone 100. It's been great.
What I love about it:
-Power. It is very ample, although not overbearing.
-Slice. it is weirdly so good and controllable. Penetrating too, not very floaty unless you just hit it wrong, and that happens with any frame.
-Stability. This thing doesn't get pushed around despite a strung 316SW. Played against one of the biggest hitters I know, a good 4.0 and now borderline 4.5 2 nights ago, and it didn't breakdown at net or from the back.
-Consistency. The string bed plays much more consistent than my Vcore 98. I haven't had crazy balls that fly to the fence randomly. When it happens, it just feels like it's my fault with lazy footwork, going for something low percentage. To be fair, it's probably been the same with every frame I've tried lol, but here I just believe it and move on, you know what I mean? I think this is where my confidence is coming from.
-Manuervability (for the most part, will address it in the cons). It feels close to whippy off the ground, good on reflex volleys at net, etc.
-Control. It's still not a 18x20 Prestige when it comes to control, but it's just way better than I thought it would be. The launch angle is also much lower than I expected. I thought it would be high, but I say it would be medium to medium low. I get enough clearance for comfort, yet low enough to feel confident to try and hit flat to my targets without fear.
It isn't perfect though. Cons:
-Maneuverability on serve. This is where that thick beam really comes in I think. I can just feel it enough where it drags a bit on my swing when serving. It felt a bit cumbersome the first couple of times actually, which given the low swingweight, I'm very surprised. However, I've now put about 15 hours with the Ezone 100 over the past 10 days, and it is already getting better. May just need to get used to that beam and get a bit stronger.
-VDM
. That muted Yonex feel is still here, and while it is better than the Vcore 98 for me, I still think it kinda sucks in this department.
-Customization. So with that cumbersome feeling on serve, I'm worried how this will feel if I add any weight and bump the SW even more, will it get worse? I would like to add some at 12 to see if I can get even more plow off the ground, but there is always a cost for adding weight, and that one concerns me a bit... but again, could get better with time.
So we took a peek under and that’s exactly what it is. There’s a ton of lead under the bumper. 
This is a tennis forum after all, I think I'm leaning the 2nd one to keep it tennis related. Most of my old frames have been sold off, but I still have some remaining that haven't been sold off yet and think this could be a better resolution. Thoughts?
