n Code Blade was 06 I believe. I think, could be wrong though, that the Blade was made specifically to compete with the Head Radical, the older versions before it evolved into a 16x19 with lighter specs. Wilson also created the H22 for pros, to lure Radical players away from Head.
Higher Sw, stiffer, slightly wider beam. No tech, just a raw frame(which some people prefer) Basically harder to play with in every way. Retail Blade better for 99% of players out there.
It’s very tempting to me because I have a friend who’s selling a blade pro V7 which is an exact match in terms of specs of one of my retail V7s: 306gr, 32cm and 301sw. Both the retail and the pro are 18x20 and L4.
I’m looking to switch from my prince 2019 tt310. I have two and they are about worn out. How’s the power level?
the power level is medium.. its not a high powered frame. but its not a low powered frame either. but the feel and stability is excellent. just experiment with lead and strings to tweak power. i have 5g of led along the handle. and 1g and 3 and 9. feels solid as a rock. great plowthrough. and power when you need it. mine is 330g. 5pt headlight. beast mode. im gonna have to get another one and maybe call it a day with all this holic stuff. and there will never be a better looking frame. they nailed it with this paint. only gloss could have out done this. but they will only ruin the pj going forward. this will be a legacy blade going forward.
Did you use the v8 100 , assume the difference is minimal ?
yes. the diff is minimal.. maybe the feel of the v9 feels slightly beefier . less hollow. just ever so slightly
The BP is slight;y thicker in width, with a little less flex. That translates to more power. Ive always had to lead the stock blades but this one is bang on.
yeah. wilson make some good ones. so ive come to a fork in the road when it comes to equipment. so i have been using the PD 21 modded .. since its inception. i have it leaded up and re gripped and altered the balance. im at 11.7 oz strung to make a long story short. anyway. i love it. its the best power frame out there (for me). the grip is perfect.. power is off the charts.. and i just play a great spin power game with it. but because its a tweener, like many of us, i always had my mind open to a player style frame. well the blade 100 v9 also modded very similarly, is that frame for me. so the differences are there. the babs has over the top spin and power but also translates to winning tennis for me .. because my serves are bombs and my groundies are explosive. the blade in contrast. has amazing pin point type control, and top tier feel. the power is there when executed correctly, but its noticeably less powerful than the pd. most sticks are. its not underpowered.. just less put away power than the pd. the pd helps you in every scenario. but the blade helps you control and feel your way into winners as well. so its an interesting fork in the road as you can see. i will switch back and forth between these two. and see if time will make me want to stay with one or the other. or if i will simply want to keep both in the bag. game on.
I agree. But it chips like crazy
mine is fine so far. but either way. its gorge. so be it if it scuffs.
Actually yeah, that’s the only thing I will say about the Blade if there’s anything it doesn’t do amazing, it’s if you prefer super powerful frames. It’s a control stick through and through so a PD, PA, EZONE etc may be preferable for certain players. Personally I never liked extremely powerful racquets, I feel underconfident taking big swings at the ball and often times am forced to use heavy topspin. Blade 100 has more power than the other versions anyway, and with some lead tape in the hoop I’ve found it to be plenty powerful with that pin point precision as well.
Don’t open that can of worms, there’s many better looking frames than a solid green blade…. But it is a very nice pj, especially with the options available today.
I actually prefer the pj of the older blades idk I’m probably in the minority on this
I totally hear you, but for me it’s an honest fork in the road because I can play well with both. I really am looking forward to seeing how the next few sessions with the same partners will affect my feelings towards the frames. It could be that I just wanna have both in my quiver
You know where I’m coming from with this. If you’re a fan of the prestige, IG purple PJ or should I say wine PJ, then you’ll understand that this is the same counterpoint but in green. And the fact that it looks almost black at night, but then brightens up to an Emerald green under the lights is just dynamic and phenomenal. Something that a black gloss cannot do even though I do love black gloss, but it would not be able to pull off what this is pulling off.
You’re actually in the vast majority, most think the k-blade, 2013, n-blades are better looking than the v6-8, the v9 is very nice but way too simple.
Do you feel v5 needs a ton of lead at 3&9 to play normally? Generally I felt it needed a high sw and total weight to play well, like 340kgcm2 strung and 320g unstrung and higher
Tour hex is low powered. HG would do justice
I have both v7 and v8. For me the power level is the same. The difference is only due to the swing weight. My v7 are like 330 and v8 more like 320. Therefore v7s hit heavier ball but it is harder to sustain 3 set match
V7 had a high SW. 330s for 16m. They lowered that on the V8.
I haven’t played the v8 but I will say yes. The v7 beats it in swingweight and stiffness, and from my experience if you know how to use your body weight and weight transfer the v7 can CRUSH the ball, even in the 18/20. Gotta string low for help, I liked hyper g/ hyper g soft 1.20 at 44-48 pounds in the 16/19, my only mid I had was a leather grip. Loved that racquet but the swingweight was too much for me.
Gotta echo what another has already said, V7 on average and outliers had a much meatier swing weight. I had a couple Roland Garros edition V7s that were around 338 strung with just normal polys.
I play with both V7 and V8 18x20 and at equal swingweight they are very similar in terms of power. All things equal I think the V8 is more powerful because it flexes less, but it’s close. Having said this, all my V8s required a fair bit of lead in order to bring them up to 295kg.cm2 whereas only one of my V7 is 295 (the other three are 299-301 and I even had to sell a couple which swung at 307 and 309). Hence it’s fair to assume that your perception comes from a difference in specs.
Gotcha. I guess I could add lead somewhere, but I don't want to affect the balance too much. If I do, I want it to be more headlight.
The leather grip makes a huge difference on the blade v7, it raises the solidity to 110% and is ultra stable. It does lower overall mobility of the racquet but if you can handle the extra 10-15 grams it is a very good frame.
I have leather grips on both v7 and v8.
Good insight and post. Maybe one day I'll try that string setup. I have a reel of ALU Power to start soon haha.
Decided to dust off the ol' V7, toss on a leather and try out @J011yroger 's Everyman Rig: Lynx Tour/Head Hawk #46/44. I haven't tried leather since about 5 years ago when I dropped it on a Vcore 95 and absolutely hated it. That was my only experience, so I wasn't expecting much but I actually ended up really enjoying it this time around, (I overgripped it with much thicker layers could have helped).
I completely forgot what a great racquet the V7 is, I think adding the leather added a bit more manoeuvrability which I'm finding I need more these days. And re the string setup, I'm usually very much a multi/poly hybrid kind of guy, but I really liked this setup. Out of the gates it was a little boardy, but an hour in, it settled into a very predictable stringbed I could swing out on. Still more time needed on it, but while it was less plush than my usual setup I think with a bit of tweaking I could add this to the rotation. Either way thanks for the reco Jolly!
Will do, yup 46/44. I'll wait and see how it holds tension before dropping it by a pound or two just based on personal preference.
It was just so dang ugly. But I agree. Like it more than the v8, which I currently use.
I mained the v7 with leather for about two years. You're absolutely right about the added maneuverability to a frame with decent swing weight. That is one racquet I regret getting rid of...
Decided to dust off the ol' V7, toss on a leather and try out @J011yroger 's Everyman Rig: Lynx Tour/Head Hawk #46/44. I haven't tried leather since about 5 years ago when I dropped it on a Vcore 95 and absolutely hated it. That was my only experience, so I wasn't expecting much but I actually ended up really enjoying it this time around, (I overgripped it with much thicker layers could have helped).
I completely forgot what a great racquet the V7 is, I think adding the leather added a bit more manoeuvrability which I'm finding I need more these days. And re the string setup, I'm usually very much a multi/poly hybrid kind of guy, but I really liked this setup. Out of the gates it was a little boardy, but an hour in, it settled into a very predictable stringbed I could swing out on. Still more time needed on it, but while it was less plush than my usual setup I think with a bit of tweaking I could add this to the rotation. Either way thanks for the reco Jolly!
That's good to know. I have stuck to 4G in my v7's for a few years now but I've been recently considering the switch back to ALU Power, which I used to use religiously since I was a teen pretty much, but in a Radical.
