Looking for new racket, more power than nBlade 98

[adelkrigare07]

I currently use the nBlade 98 strung at 60 lbs. My coach suggested I look into a more powerful racket, admittedly my shots aren't consistently powerful. My shots don't frequently go too deep, which is the problem. So I thought of two solutions, get it strung about 5 lbs. less, or look into a new pair of rackets.

So, as far as more powerful rackets, compared to the nBlade, what would you recommend? I was thinking in the direction of the nTour or nPro Open, or switch brands into something like the Pure Drive. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[fgs]

going 5lbs lower on the strings will most probably be the cheapest way. but what strings are you using?
what is your gamestyle? if you'd take a full and fast swing and go for higher net clearance, you'd have both longer balls and heavier ones.

 

[adelkrigare07]

I'm currently using Babolat Hurricane 17 Mains with VS Touch 16 crosses. I try to go for heavy topspin, with a fast swing, but my lack of power seems to keep my strokes from generating much pace. My game usually involves keeping the ball in play until my opponent makes a mistake, but I'd like to become more aggressive with a slightly more powerful frame.

 

[Bottle Rocket]

If you have good form and consistantly hit the ball in the court and place it well and only lack depth on your shots, it is possible the drop in string tension could be exactly what you need.

Whether or not a more powerful racket is the best solution for a depth problem can be debated. I am not sure where I stand on this.

The fact that your coach is recommending a more powerful racket is interesting though, since coaches usually know better, but I guess I'll side with him on this one...

The nPro Open is a unique racket. It is powerful and extremely manueverable, but sometimes hard to control. It doesn't seem like any type of progression from or step up from the nBlade.

Are you a pure baseliner? How often do you come to the net? Do you feel a lack of power on your serves?

You might want to try the Babolat Pure Storm, it is a great racket that has about as much power as you can ask for it. It as also extremels spin-friendly as well as comfortable. There are hundreds of threads (and a thread with hundreds of posts!) around here on the Pure Storm. A search or some mouse scrolling on this page ought to give you all the info you could ask for on that racket. In that weight range, I have never found anything better.

The Pure Storm plays very similar to the Pure Drive except it is more comfortable, possibly has more feel, and because of a tad less power gives the impression of more control. It is also a little more manueverable.

I have not had any serious hit with the nBlade so I don't know what kind of power the nBlade can produce, but I'll bet the Pure Storm has the edge. I never string my rackets anywhere near 60 lbs though, it can really give the impression of lower power.

The 300 series from Dunlop will probably be recommended by a few as well, but I have never hit with one.

Hopefully some nBlade users will see this and have some string recommendations for you. Before even touching another racket, I'd try the tension drop you mentioned. What kind of string do you use?

 

[Bottle Rocket]

Ok... I took too long to post that!

My recommendations have changed a little bit now... I think the Pure Drive might be just the thing for you.

Either way, go for lower tensions, at least on the poly.

 

[pNoyr3D]

Bottle Rocket said that the M-Fil 300 would probably be recommended. I would recommend it but, I was in the same boat as you. I could not hit many shots deep and I tried lowering the tension and it wouldn't go much deep and I was losing control while doing it. I am switching over to Babolat racquets.

I would say, try dropping the tension first 5-7lbs. Than if you don't feel that you like it, try a different racquet.

 

[fgs]

the frame will make up for 5% - if you want to make a more agressive game with heavy topspin (exactly my gamestyle), you'd have to adjust your footwork first, you'd have to step more into the ball and take it earlier, on the rise, and have a faster foreward motion as opposed to a steep low-to-high motion that will give you the defensive style spin. go for higher net clearance and put more angular momentum into your strokes. you'll be amazed how much power you get from your blade.
the point is that you'll also need a lot of control, and this is exactly the area the nblades excel.
try this up on your next practice and also have your next stringset done at 57 mains 55 crosses. i'd like to hear about your experience.

 

[adelkrigare07]

Thanks for the responses

I actually demoed the Pure Storm with the nBlade together about a year ago, and the nBlade just felt better to me. I like to think I'm a fairly different player now than I was a year ago, but I believe I made the right decision.

I did suggest lowering the tension to my coach, and he agreed that may solve the problem, but a new racket was his first suggestion. I may look into demoing a Pure Drive, possibly when I next head to my local racket club. I currently have my spare nBlade unstrung, so I'll probably get it strung at 55 lbs. (edit: or perhaps 57/55) and see how that compares to a Pure Drive demo.

 

[fgs]

adelkrigare07,
i'm playing blades, 106s though, have them strung with soft multis of the likes of nxt tour or pacific space power tx at 51lbs mains and 49 lbs crosses, have an agressive baseliners game with lots of topspin off both sides, eastern fh and eastern 2hbh, fast and loopy swings, and i get all the power i need from my set-up. i go for 1-2m net clearance with my topspin, this makes a long and heavy ball, jumping high onto the opponent, which usually yields sooner or later a shorter ball enableing me to try for a winner or an easy put-away volley. the main point why i switched from the nsix-one95 to the blades was control and feel. all the other playing characteristics would not differ much in my opinion, but in respect to control and feel, the blades are unequaled (from the racquets i could hit so far, like wilsons, babolats and heads - but this is my take of things, and there will be a lot of other players that will prefer other racquets, and that's the way it should be).

 

[ipodtennispro]

K surge

Try the new Surge, feels great:

http://iws.punahou.edu/user/lcouillard/2007/03/spread_the_fingers.html

 

[ps60]

unless u are a net runner or play double, the NBlade should be a very good racket, in back court.

wonder why people use Poly mains. and waste $$$ on a gut X. Just use a Multi or Syn Gut at 57~58 range. they can give u excellent spin, unless u don't know the trick (But i don't think so). With the multi/SG, your feel 100 times better, the power is ample.

Never change the racket unless you've tried out all the string set-ups for it and it still let u down.

 

[Bottle Rocket]

I still am not sure a new racket is going to solve your problem.

I have recently been using a Pure Control. I've got the Pure Control strung at 50 lbs and I was having depth issues all night yesterday. It was clearly my fault, not the lack of power from the racket. It may be the most powerful 98 inch racket on the market and I was hitting everything short. Even my serves were landing short! The only thing I could imagine helping my slightly would be some string changes, but in the end, I am to blame.

No matter what you use, I feel you will naturally adjust your swing. I think you will adjust it so everything ends up going the same way it is going right now. I'll bet you end up with the exact same issues with a new racket as you have with this one.

You must be able to hit with depth with any racket, within reason. Like I said before, it makes me curious about your coach...

 

[Pusher]

I'm currently using Babolat Hurricane 17 Mains with VS Touch 16 crosses. I try to go for heavy topspin, with a fast swing, but my lack of power seems to keep my strokes from generating much pace. My game usually involves keeping the ball in play until my opponent makes a mistake, but I'd like to become more aggressive with a slightly more powerful frame.

A low powered racquet with poly mains can be a recipe for poor shot depth.
I string Nblades at about 53 lbs with a synthetic gut. If you can't get good depth from that set-up it is unlikely that a change in racquets will help.

 

[h238hk]

The only problem i find with nblade is to return a big serve, as it is quite light.
Go for RDX MP if u want little more power

 

[Firestarter]

get softer strings
polyester may not be the best strings if u lack power