P
PrestigeClassic
Guest
I finally hit with this new racket yesterday. It was for only a half-hour or so, but the start of a great relationship--I can feel it. I'm not sure what the strings are, but it has a new Gamma leather grip wrapped with Tourna Grip--excellent in itself. In a word, this stick is remarkable. The racket's high flex (RA 56?), enables the user to not only return hard, deep shots with ease, but low-bouncing short balls just as well. With all the ~13.7 ounces (388 grams) that this racket weighs, it really is as stable as a stock Prestige Classic in a respectably-sized hitting area.
Another aspect of a racket to which I pay attention is how well I am able to hit angles with it. I was only able to try hitting a few sharp groundstrokes, like when my hitting partner came into the net. I don't know about you, but sensing my opponent coming in means I go into kill mode. What, is that Ivan talking? Just kidding, anyway, the few sharp angles I attempted had so much bite to them! I don't know what I could attribute it to on this flexible frame, but I just heard a nice *click* among the string bed and some sweet ball fuzz in the air. But, on those few shots, I did hit the net tape or hit the ball into the doubles alley. Apparently, I still have much time before I get myself acquanted with the small head/sweet spot size and low power level. I don't know much about these kinds of racket dynamics, but maybe it was the fact that the racket face on this ~80 sq. in. stick is that much farther away from the hand, creating more leverage of some sort. Probably not related here, but does anybody remember Ivan choking up on his racket for his kills? I'd guess it was to lose some swingweight, but it is really astonishing to know how hard he hit the ball while he was choking up on a standard-length frame.
Volleys? They are just as great. I could volley back low balls deep and direct volley winners with good angles. I tend to hit some slow-approaching higher put-away volleys with a very slight swing and with a bit of topspin (kind of like a reverse-slice, or left-hander's slice, otherwise with the racket head in its proper position, up above the hand). The consensus is that flex generally isn't good for volleys, and I believe it, too, but the flex of this Pro-T really helped me carve those volleys. Half-volleys and other tough shots: those will have to wait for another hitting session.
Of course, the small head size leads to mis-hits being more pronounced. Even if the ball hits just a little high on the string bed, it is not a good result on any shot other than maybe on a drop volley. One of the first things you might notice after seeing at least a head-on picture of the frame is how wide the frame is where the throat bridge meets the rim. Not to mention, that wide area is very near where the sweet spot would be on a more modern frame. I hit one shot right on this really wide boxy area, and the ball went almost straight forward right to the other side of the net! By comparison, frame shots on a more aero, thinner profile frame cause mis-hits to go over the side fence or something! You also won't feel the mis-hit on a newer racket because the graphite is so stiff, thin, and brittle, so you don't even know where in the air to look for the ball. Talk about total feedback on the hand of the GTX Pro-T.
With some rackets with really stiff hoops like the Hyper Pro Staff 6.0 Tour 95 and the Pure Drive(?), the player can easily turn defensive positions into offensive ones. I mean, in an effort to return your opponent's shot, you can be stuck in no-man's land and be scrambling to the back court, and hit the ball a little off-center not to mention 26" from the end of the butt cap, even do a Roddick-style defensive forehand block, and practically hit a winner without thinking. Now, this Lendl racket doesn't do anything funny like that. You won't win as many matches, and you'll even lose winning rallies due to a small mistake, but if you're just hitting for fun, this racket is spellbinding.
Even the grip shape is interesting. It seems to be somewhere in the middle of Wilson and Head. I can definitely feel how wide the bevels are that run parallel to the face. And just like holding a Head handle in its most comfortable position produces something along the lines of a semi-western grip; on a Wilson most comfortable is a more Eastern grip; on this adidas, the grip feels in between the two. Let me now tell you how important it is to have the correct grip shape to match your preferred playing grip. Only when you have the entire ends of your last three fingers placed square on only one bevel without them running over the next corner of the handle can you attain optimal feel on all of your shots. You can laugh, but it really seems to help having as many nerve endings as possible firm against the handle. Maybe it is also the hardness of a Gamma leather grip, something also new to me. Not a bad grip at all.
Needless to say, I can't wait to mess around more with this stick. But it likely in no way will replace my game-day Prestige Classic. I used to think that if I was stuck on a desert island for the rest of my life with only one stick, it would be a late St. Vincent Pro Staff like that Sampras played. But now, I might have to reconsider.
Has anybody else hit with this racket, or the similar-sounding Kneissl White Star Master or White Star Lendl Pro? I know that at least a couple people here have . . . How about the adidas GTX Mid-T? Does anybody know from where I can get an adidas stencil?
Another aspect of a racket to which I pay attention is how well I am able to hit angles with it. I was only able to try hitting a few sharp groundstrokes, like when my hitting partner came into the net. I don't know about you, but sensing my opponent coming in means I go into kill mode. What, is that Ivan talking? Just kidding, anyway, the few sharp angles I attempted had so much bite to them! I don't know what I could attribute it to on this flexible frame, but I just heard a nice *click* among the string bed and some sweet ball fuzz in the air. But, on those few shots, I did hit the net tape or hit the ball into the doubles alley. Apparently, I still have much time before I get myself acquanted with the small head/sweet spot size and low power level. I don't know much about these kinds of racket dynamics, but maybe it was the fact that the racket face on this ~80 sq. in. stick is that much farther away from the hand, creating more leverage of some sort. Probably not related here, but does anybody remember Ivan choking up on his racket for his kills? I'd guess it was to lose some swingweight, but it is really astonishing to know how hard he hit the ball while he was choking up on a standard-length frame.
Volleys? They are just as great. I could volley back low balls deep and direct volley winners with good angles. I tend to hit some slow-approaching higher put-away volleys with a very slight swing and with a bit of topspin (kind of like a reverse-slice, or left-hander's slice, otherwise with the racket head in its proper position, up above the hand). The consensus is that flex generally isn't good for volleys, and I believe it, too, but the flex of this Pro-T really helped me carve those volleys. Half-volleys and other tough shots: those will have to wait for another hitting session.
Of course, the small head size leads to mis-hits being more pronounced. Even if the ball hits just a little high on the string bed, it is not a good result on any shot other than maybe on a drop volley. One of the first things you might notice after seeing at least a head-on picture of the frame is how wide the frame is where the throat bridge meets the rim. Not to mention, that wide area is very near where the sweet spot would be on a more modern frame. I hit one shot right on this really wide boxy area, and the ball went almost straight forward right to the other side of the net! By comparison, frame shots on a more aero, thinner profile frame cause mis-hits to go over the side fence or something! You also won't feel the mis-hit on a newer racket because the graphite is so stiff, thin, and brittle, so you don't even know where in the air to look for the ball. Talk about total feedback on the hand of the GTX Pro-T.
With some rackets with really stiff hoops like the Hyper Pro Staff 6.0 Tour 95 and the Pure Drive(?), the player can easily turn defensive positions into offensive ones. I mean, in an effort to return your opponent's shot, you can be stuck in no-man's land and be scrambling to the back court, and hit the ball a little off-center not to mention 26" from the end of the butt cap, even do a Roddick-style defensive forehand block, and practically hit a winner without thinking. Now, this Lendl racket doesn't do anything funny like that. You won't win as many matches, and you'll even lose winning rallies due to a small mistake, but if you're just hitting for fun, this racket is spellbinding.
Even the grip shape is interesting. It seems to be somewhere in the middle of Wilson and Head. I can definitely feel how wide the bevels are that run parallel to the face. And just like holding a Head handle in its most comfortable position produces something along the lines of a semi-western grip; on a Wilson most comfortable is a more Eastern grip; on this adidas, the grip feels in between the two. Let me now tell you how important it is to have the correct grip shape to match your preferred playing grip. Only when you have the entire ends of your last three fingers placed square on only one bevel without them running over the next corner of the handle can you attain optimal feel on all of your shots. You can laugh, but it really seems to help having as many nerve endings as possible firm against the handle. Maybe it is also the hardness of a Gamma leather grip, something also new to me. Not a bad grip at all.
Needless to say, I can't wait to mess around more with this stick. But it likely in no way will replace my game-day Prestige Classic. I used to think that if I was stuck on a desert island for the rest of my life with only one stick, it would be a late St. Vincent Pro Staff like that Sampras played. But now, I might have to reconsider.
Has anybody else hit with this racket, or the similar-sounding Kneissl White Star Master or White Star Lendl Pro? I know that at least a couple people here have . . . How about the adidas GTX Mid-T? Does anybody know from where I can get an adidas stencil?
