Is the Blade 98L with some added weight a good racquet?

[Pitti]

Hi. I'm searching for a 2nd Wilson racquet.

I own an Ultra Tour with a very little bit of lead. It is great, but slightly unpowered if I'm not at 100%, or my footwork is a bit off. The point is that somedays I have to play matches with a migraine and need something more lively and forgiving than my Ultra Tour. I had thought of getting a Blade 98L and adding some weight to it, matching both racquets. Could it be done with some lead/tungsten in the head and blutack in the trapdoor? Is the blade 98L with some added weight a good racquet, a bit more powered than the UT?

Thank you!

 

[Mark-Touch]

I own two Blade 98L's and have added weight to both of them, bringing them up close to 340 gm.
They play much better with the added weight.
It's a powerful racket.

 

[Pitti]

That's a good thing to read. My current UT is around 330 gm. and I'd thought of bringing the Blade up to that weight. May I ask you how did you exactly customize your 98Ls? Thank you.

 

[Mark-Touch]

Sure, I'm looking at one of them right now.
I have a few grams of tungsten tape at 9, 12, and 3 o'clock.
I also have two head protector tapes from 10 to 2 o'clock.
I have a leather grip and an over grip.
It's up to 338 gm in total with this.

 

[Pitti]

My UT with an overgrip, a little bit of lead at the top of the handle near the throat, and a gram at 10 and 2 o’clock is a very comfortable racquet. Slices are great, my 1hbh is also good, and the volleys are great. But it lacks a little bit of power both on ground strokes and serves. The 98L would require more weight at the handle to make it more HL, but I think it is a very feasible option for an alternative racquet. Thank you very much.

 

[jersey34tennis]

i added silicone to the handle and leaded under the bumperguard before stringing. def more powerful and stable than the ultra tour even when the weight matches up. more spin. doesn't have as sweet of a feel at impact but the ball leaves the stringbed much faster noticeably. I like them both for different reasons but I can be on my b game and play well with the blade. I can't with the ultra tour. I can be on my c game and play well with a modified volkl v1 classic. just throwing that out there

 

[Pitti]

i added silicone to the handle and leaded under the bumperguard before stringing. def more powerful and stable than the ultra tour even when the weight matches up. more spin. doesn't have as sweet of a feel at impact but the ball leaves the stringbed much faster noticeably. I like them both for different reasons but I can be on my b game and play well with the blade. I can't with the ultra tour. I can be on my c game and play well with a modified volkl v1 classic. just throwing that out there

Thank you very much. I'll probably end up getting a 98L and start going to my matches with both frames.

 

[TennisHound]

Hi. I'm searching for a 2nd Wilson racquet.

I own an Ultra Tour with a very little bit of lead. It is great, but slightly unpowered if I'm not at 100%, or my footwork is a bit off. The point is that somedays I have to play matches with a migraine and need something more lively and forgiving than my Ultra Tour. I had thought of getting a Blade 98L and adding some weight to it, matching both racquets. Could it be done with some lead/tungsten in the head and blutack in the trapdoor? Is the blade 98L with some added weight a good racquet, a bit more powered than the UT?

Thank you!

The good thing about the Blade 98L is a leather grip and OG will bring it up to 5-6 pts HL and about 11.2 - 11.3oz strung with dampener. I had lead in the hoop on mine but took it off and just use the leather grip. It has plenty of power and feels very light. About 60-75% more power than the UT at that same weight.

 

[n8dawg6]

yes. especially when theyre camo.

 

[Pitti]

The good thing about the Blade 98L is a leather grip and OG will bring it up to 5-6 pts HL and about 11.2 - 11.3oz strung with dampener. I had lead in the hoop on mine but took it off and just use the leather grip. It has plenty of power and feels very light. About 60-75% more power than the UT at that same weight.

And in your experience, is it stable enough against big hitters just with a leather grip + OG?

yes. especially when theyre camo.

The camo looks cool, I won't deny it!

 

[TennisHound]

And in your experience, is it stable enough against big hitters just with a leather grip + OG?



The camo looks cool, I won't deny it!

Umm, it’s still a light racquet, so it twists a little on hard shots, but I’m able to get it around quicker than my PD or PA. It’s my go to racquet for right now, after not playing for about a month and a half.

 

[n8dawg6]

yeah the blades just have more pop than the ultra tour, and the pt 2.0 for that matter (at least with the factory strings).

 

[TennisHound]

I’ve played 3 matches of 4.5 doubles (we’re on the low end of 4.5) and had some hard flat shots at net and hard serves drilled at me, but I had no problem handling these, it was easy to get the racquet in position and control the response. All my returns were easier to control as well, compared to my PD, PA, and 93P 14x18. So far I've won all but one of my matches. Its a nice plain racquet, with no bells or whistles. I will keep using it as my main racquet, since I feel like I can play hard with it, and it doesn't stress my shoulder out when serving (I have an old shoulder injury and if I use too heavy of a racquet without warming up, I’ll feel it the next day).

 

[Pitti]

I’m not from the US so I’m not very familiar with that rating system. I like “nice plain racquets” as you defined it. Thank you very much.

 

[slal1984]

Anyone know the specs of the Blade V9 98L?

 

[A_Instead]

See TW Europe site