I played college up until 2006. I basically quit playing up until about a 2 months ago. I was using the pro staff tour (18x20). I bought a couple used pro 97 rf signature's since then and have been playing with those. I like them, but I'm interested in trying some light racquets since that what seems to have gotten more popular. I've been considering these to demo the Pro staff 97 CV, Wilson Blade 98 16x19, Babolat Pure Strike 16x19, Babolat Aero (not sure what model). I'm 6-01 200lbs. I hit a lot of top spin on my forehand and one handed backhand. There are so many choices now than 2004 when I last seriously looked for racquets. Any help on which racquets to try and why would be great.
Looking to change racquets
- Thread starter Jay M
- Start date
Fairhit
Hall of Fame
Well, you have a miriad of options to look around, first you have to establish what's your style and what kind o racquet you would like to use.
I play with a lot of topspin and also have a 1hbh and have been playing with a PS17, it has excellent control and power, is a nice blend of a player's frame and a tweener and also gives you more than enough spin a precision.
You could also try the Blade and the Ezone 98, they all are very good and around the same specs and performance, a solid place to start looking for you perfect racquet.
I play with a lot of topspin and also have a 1hbh and have been playing with a PS17, it has excellent control and power, is a nice blend of a player's frame and a tweener and also gives you more than enough spin a precision.
You could also try the Blade and the Ezone 98, they all are very good and around the same specs and performance, a solid place to start looking for you perfect racquet.
jbdbackfan
Semi-Pro
Prince phantom series will not disappoint.
Depends if you're looking for something with more control, more power, more comfort, more flex, more forgiveness etc
Since you're with wilson i'd suggest trying the wilson ultra tour. Very plush frame, 18x20 string pattern gives it nice control. Very comfortable, i'd also reccomend trying it with lead setups.
on the one handed backhand I really think yonex frames are quite nice. Quite a thin profile compared to the rf, cuts through the air. The vcore 95 and 98 are both great frames. The 95 has better feel and more control where as the 98 has more power and a quite open string pattern to really get some nice shape on the ball. Another yonex frame is the vcore pro 97 330. It's very similar to your rf, quite similar oldschool graphite kinda feel. Really nice frame. Yonex has been killing it lately
There's also the babolat pure strike, came out in 2017 although theres a new one soon. Quite a high stiffness although I thought it was decently comfortable. Would choose that if going to the babolat route.
Imo the pure aero is great on my forehand but on my ohbh feels abit awkward and off. Not really a fan of it, good on the slice though.
As for the cv, imo i wouldn't really recommend. Feel is very muted and kinda mushy, i found it was hard to really get a nice feel for the ball
Since you're with wilson i'd suggest trying the wilson ultra tour. Very plush frame, 18x20 string pattern gives it nice control. Very comfortable, i'd also reccomend trying it with lead setups.
on the one handed backhand I really think yonex frames are quite nice. Quite a thin profile compared to the rf, cuts through the air. The vcore 95 and 98 are both great frames. The 95 has better feel and more control where as the 98 has more power and a quite open string pattern to really get some nice shape on the ball. Another yonex frame is the vcore pro 97 330. It's very similar to your rf, quite similar oldschool graphite kinda feel. Really nice frame. Yonex has been killing it lately
There's also the babolat pure strike, came out in 2017 although theres a new one soon. Quite a high stiffness although I thought it was decently comfortable. Would choose that if going to the babolat route.
Imo the pure aero is great on my forehand but on my ohbh feels abit awkward and off. Not really a fan of it, good on the slice though.
As for the cv, imo i wouldn't really recommend. Feel is very muted and kinda mushy, i found it was hard to really get a nice feel for the ball
WestboroChe
Hall of Fame
If you’re hitting well and happy with the frames why switch? Lighter isn’t better necessarily and lighter frames have an increased risk of tennis elbow and other problems.
But if you really want to check out some new frames try the Babolats. They are extremely popular as you probably know. Given that you are a PS user you will probably hate the way they feel and then you’ll know you’re not missing anything.
If you’re looking for something a little lighter than I would suggest the new Prince Tour frames.
But if you really want to check out some new frames try the Babolats. They are extremely popular as you probably know. Given that you are a PS user you will probably hate the way they feel and then you’ll know you’re not missing anything.
If you’re looking for something a little lighter than I would suggest the new Prince Tour frames.
bleno567
Professional
I enjoyed the Wilson blade 16x19 (far more than the 18x20, which felt really HH & sluggish). I'd also recommend trying the Yonex Vcore pro 97 & 100 (I much preferred these to the vcore and ezone lines) and the textreme tour 100p. If it's light racquets you want, you probably want to start with the 310g version of the vcore pro 97, but I've found that I like starting with the 290 and bringing it up to weight myself with putty in the trap door and lead at 12 and/or 3 & 9.
fuzz nation
G.O.A.T.
You might consider checking the weight of your old racquet to give you a better target of what you're shopping for in a lighter alternative. It might be easy enough to get an accurate measurement at a post office. You might get a lot more quickness, etc. from a new frame that's only a few tenths of an ounce lighter than your current rigs.
But in my experience, jumping into a significantly lighter racquet having less inherent power and stability than my regular players is usually not good for my one-handed backhand, my net game, and my serve. I also tend to swing a lot harder trying to compensate for what feels like a less powerful rig when I lighten up too much. That's very rough on my shoulder. Just my observations, but something to consider in your search.
There are a couple of "10-series" Volkls that might be easy to tune with a little lead tape to give you a layout that's lighter than the RF 97 without being too lean for your game. I have a pair of the V-Sense 10 325g's, which seem to be working great with a little lead on their hoops and handles. I'm also curious about their V-Sense 10 Tour, but haven't tried one yet. Volkl's C10 is an interesting frame that's mildly lighter than the RF 97 and the C10 is also more flexible - super cozy for me strung with a snug bed of syn. gut. Not for everyone, but a nice hitter that fits great with my one-hander.
Although I'm a big fan of Volkl, I also think that Yonex is making great equipment and I agree with the recommendation to look them over, too.
golden chicken
Hall of Fame
I am one of those people who can pick up any racket and hit fairly well with it. I am mostly using a Hyper Carbon Pro Staff Tour 90 with a little bit of lead. I tried an RF97A and a Pure Strike 18x20 last year and found the Pure Strike a little closer to my Tour 90. My wife hits with a Wilson Burn 100 and I borrowed it for laughs. It is like cheating. Power and spin are off the charts compared to my Tour 90. So, I pulled out my old nCode 6.1 95 and it seems to be a nice compromise between the two, although I think I want to add a little weight to the handle and put in a more control oriented string.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I don't really have a reason to change other than I don't think I've ever really tried multiple racquets out to see if there is something I like more than the next. I'm already battling tennis elbow. The one I'm using now is 12.6 strung. Also I hit a few balls with my dads pure drive. It felt weird, but I'm also used to poly strings and it had synthetic gut.
Voytek Bunia
Rookie
I have a bunch of new racquets. My go to is still my 2006 ps90. Goes to show you, all these new racquet gimmicks are just that. 
