Looking to switch from Prestige Pro and Pro Staff Six-one 95

[AlexKangaroo]

Hello,

Returning player here. Played in my junior years a lot and mainly used Head Prestige Pro (98) and Pro Staff Six-one 95 (red and white) back then which were hand downs from older siblings. Now I still have those and have been playing with them and I'm not really sure I like them any more as they feel pretty difficult racquets to play with. My baseline strokes aren't as good as I would like them to be. (I know self-improvement and playing more will fix this. In addition I am working on improving fitness and movement).

I like the Pro Staff more than the Prestige Pro. The serve is much better with Wilson and I get a really good feeling with it. From the baseline I found that against opponents who play much faster/harder it felt like I'm a bit more late with the Pro Staff then with the Prestige Pro.
With the heavier Wilson it feels like I could get a great shot, by really plowing through and hitting hard, but that makes it hard to control the ball. It could be that my current physicals aren't good enough for the heavy hitting this racquet requires. These are just some of the feelings I've had with these. In no way am I a volley player so a classic serve and volley playstyle is far from my comfort zone .

Now what could be the modern alternatives on the market? I think I got 2 ways to look at it from the current market.

Maybe a Wilson Pro Staff X v14 or another similar? Get a bigger frame to make the ground strokes easier to hit possibly? Do people have experiences with these types? So basically go with the same model, but a bit more forgiving variant of the racquet.

Or should I think of switching to a more "easier" racquet like Babolat Pure Drive or Yonex Ezone? At least I've read and researched that people find these ones maybe a bit more forgiving. A racquet that enables more spin than the older ones could be good also.

Any opinions and advice are welcomed. As I stated it's not that I want to immediately improve my game with a new racquet, rather I would like to update 10+ year old equipment with something new. I do plan on demoing the racquets before making the purchase.

 

[Trip]

@AlexKangaroo - Welcome to TT. All things considered, and knowing nothing more than what you've shared so far, I'd probably point you towards more forgiving, higher-power attacking-baseliner type frames, perhaps a bit lighter in static weight and equal or slightly higher in swing weight, with a mostly boxy beam shape, but a more modern and forgiving string bed with a larger sweet spot and less drop-off in consistency on off-center hits. Here are the kinds of frames I'm thinking of (alphabetical by brand/model):

- Babolat Pure Strike 98 16x19
- Babolat Pure Strike 100 16x19 (if you think you want even more forgiveness than the 98)
- Dunlop CX 400 Tour
- Head Boom Pro
- Head Speed Pro, maybe the MP, too
- Prince ATS Tour 98
- Wilson Pro Staff X
- Wilson Blade 98 v9
- Wilson Blade 100 v9 (if you want the added free defensive forgiveness and/or depth)
- Yonex Percept 100 and/or 100D, either one with 2-4g of lead at 10 & 2, plus maybe a bit heavier grip
- Yonex EZone 98 with 1-2g at 10 & 2 and maybe a heavier grip

You're of course welcome to try other style frames, too, aka lighter-spec, thicker/more-elliptical beam, tweener-style stuff (Drive/Aero, FX/SX, VCore/EZ100), but I have a sneaking suspicion the more boxy-beamed, player/pleener style frames I suggested above will be more compatible with you, at least initially.

Also, another thing to not sleep on will be strings, which have evolved a bit since you last played, mainly in the polyester world, whose earlier-gen, more harsh, lower tension-maintenance initial releases have given way to more supple, playable, comfortable options, from almost all brands. Elsewhere, though, natural gut has continued to get even more costly (as one might expect), synthetics have gotten slightly better in certain ways, and there are some newer/fancier options there as well, including certain monofilaments and synthetic-polyester "fusion" strings, which combine both materials, to give a middle ground on power/control/feel. Also, average tensions, especially with poly, have dropped a good bit over the last decade, to numbers that are probably a good deal lower than what you might remember. I would encourage you be as open-minded as you can about all of that, and give at least a few different string setups and/or tensions a try in whatever frame(s) you're evaluating, as that can change the playability drastically.

Hope some of that helps! Any questions, feel free.

 

[Tranqville]

Considering your player DNA, what would work best for you is either a modern control racquet like Blade 16x19 v9 or a "pleener" (hybrid between power and control racquet) - like Speed Pro, Babolat Pure Strike 98 16x19. Most of racquets suggested by @Trip fall under these two categories. So the feel may be a decisive factor, you really want to combine a familiar feel and plough with a modern playability.

My additional suggestion is Tecnifibre Tfight ISO 305. This racquet has some Six.One DNA in modern reincarnation. It's a bit unique in how it combines plough and feel with modern playabliity and forgiveness. Another racquet in this vein is the Blade Pro. You will feel right at home with the feel in a modern package. Blade Pro provides more raw graphite feel compared to ISO 305, but is less forgiving.

 

[leng jai]

As someone that used a Prestige Pro for basically my entire 20s the Gravity Pro has been an easy transition for a more modern "control"mfrs,e.

 

[AlexKangaroo]

Wow thanks a lot for the warm welcomes and very comprehensive list and advice. These are excellent to narrow down my preferences.

I did decide to order a demo from TW and chose the Wilson Pro Staff V14 X and Babolat Pure Strike 98. I kind of figured out that these two give me some width to my experiments. A bit of the same and another brand with a slightly different type of racquet.
Also I did notice the older model Babolat Pure Strike 18x20 [LINK] is on sale for under 100€. What kind of difference is there with the 18x20 compared to 19x16. I guess there is nothing really wrong with going with the older model.

My additional suggestion is Tecnifibre Tfight ISO 305. This racquet has some Six.One DNA in modern reincarnation. It's a bit unique in how it combines plough and feel with modern playabliity and forgiveness.

Never tried a Tecnifibre racquet before. It looks cool as hell and I am interested about that. Not sure if I want to take the plunge right now with them, but appreciate the suggestion.

Also, another thing to not sleep on will be strings, which have evolved a bit since you last played, mainly in the polyester world, whose earlier-gen, more harsh, lower tension-maintenance initial releases have given way to more supple, playable, comfortable options, from almost all brands

The Prestige Pro I used was strung with polyester at 23kg. I felt like the balls I hit were flying long always when putting a bit more power to my shots. This might be rusty technique and bad movement, but it's what I've felt playing with it. I think the vast amount of options and possibilities with Strings makes it hard to make decisions on them. I had a discussion with my local club stringer and he did convinced me that the 23kg are normal these days and my old racquets range is out dated. I've read somewhere that Polyester is the choice for advanced players, if you can handle it, it should be the best option. RPM Blast is frequently quoted to be good choice for a lot of Babola racquets, but I guess its up to what you want from the strings.

I think in the end I just want a all-around racquet that doesn't limit myself to any specific type. Focus on the baseline bread and butter shots.

 

[Tranqville]

Also I did notice the older model Babolat Pure Strike 18x20 is on sale for under 100€.

In previous (third generation), Pure Strike Tour is a fantastic racquet and can work perfectly for your game. Hits like a truck, yet very accurate. I still miss that feeling of rifle-like shots down the line, absolute bludgeon.

 

[Trip]

Very welcome Alex, and good initial demo pack with the PS X and Strike 98 16x19 Gen 4.

As for the Strike 18x20 Gen 3 vs the 16x19 Gen 4, the former will feel noticeably more firm and boardy in the string bed per identical amount of tension, and slightly more firm in the frame itself. With the 18x20, you'd gain perhaps 10-15% more precision on average, but the launch angle will be about that much lower and it will be that much harder to routinely get easy lift on your shots and/or free trampoline without as much racquet face movement. With sub-100" 18x20's, the benefits are really best had by either the flattest of hitters and/or those with consistently high levels of racquet head speed (like, college-level or higher), mechanics are 4.5+ level solid off both wings, and the demand for the additional string bed composure/precision really is justified. One could argue that all of that is a growing rarity these days, especially for most rec players, but every now and it can be a fit.

Additionally, the Gen 3 Strikes are a lot more muted/rubbery/vague in their feel, with the Gen 4's being a marked improvement on that front. So with the Gen 3's, you'd want to string as absolutely CRISP as possible (to drive as much feel through as you can), and with the 18x20, possibly a bit thinner in gauge to open up the pattern and roughly 15-25% lower in reference tension, to create a roughly equivalent DT. Honestly, though, if it were me, I would leave the Gen 3's alone, even considering the pricing. The Gen 4's are better in almost every way (minus the fact that there is no more Strike Tour, but even the relevance of that is at least some degree of debatable at this point (you'll certainly find vocal proponents here, mainly those who are predisposed to weightier frames from the get-go, including @Tranqville @socallefty and @gino, among others).

As for your observations with the Prestige Pro, control with poly at 23kg and and supposed superiority of poly, that really depends on you, your ability level and what plays best in any given frame for whatever play style. Many players and racquet setups are often better with at least some non-poly in the string bed, for more free pop, comfort and touch, among other things (with little-known players such as Djokovic, Federer and Murray being keynote examples with their gut/Alu hybrids in their 95/97" control frames). That said, if full-bed poly is your jam, then great, provided you have the racquet head speed, mechanical cleanliness and tissue health to take appropriate advantage. As for what poly's to choose from, that's where things get very personal again, but there are definite trends that one can leverage. For example, RPM Blast, while well-known/proven, great when fresh and available almost everywhere, is at this point fairly long in the tooth, and has been eclipsed by the majority of newer co-poly's on playable consistency over time and overall value, two things that may matter to you, or they may not. But there have been advancements, so potentially good to tap into those areas, if/when they become relevant.

Stepping back from all that, I'm interested to see your takeaways are from the Strike 98 G4 and PS X.

Hope some of that helps again.

 

[AlexKangaroo]

if full-bed poly is your jam, then great, provided you have the racquet head speed, mechanical cleanliness and tissue health to take appropriate advantage.

Yes this is the thing. I don't think it is my jam it was just the recommendation from my stringer and at that point I hadn't looked into strings at all. From what I read from guides Poly usually requires more power from the player themselves. I guess its a lot of trial and error in the future to figure out what I like and need for my game. In my junior years I just used some Kircshbaum I was handed. I do understand that strings are almost as important as the racquet itself, but at this point in time I can't really get my head around what I should be thinking of them.

I get the point with Strike 18x20 Gen 3 really aggressive flat hitter. While that does interest me in a way to just rifle these shots, but knowing me as well they would always just be out .
Lets see how the demos feel like.

 

[Trip]

Yes this is the thing. I don't think it is my jam it was just the recommendation from my stringer and at that point I hadn't looked into strings at all. From what I read from guides Poly usually requires more power from the player themselves. I guess its a lot of trial and error in the future to figure out what I like and need for my game. In my junior years I just used some Kircshbaum I was handed. I do understand that strings are almost as important as the racquet itself, but at this point in time I can't really get my head around what I should be thinking of them.

Considering your comment there, I would probably lean towards at least a softer option if you do decide to try full-bed poly, otherwise I'd probably recommend a non-poly/poly hybrid, or even a partial to zero poly string bed using more controlled synthetics, as you'll get a better balance of free power and forgiveness. If you get your demo's restrung at some point, perhaps relay that to your stringer, and hopefully he or she should be able to translate that to a proper choice for you, based on whatever strings they have in stock.

 

[gfwp]

Hello,

Returning player here. Played in my junior years a lot and mainly used Head Prestige Pro (98) and Pro Staff Six-one 95 (red and white) back then which were hand downs from older siblings. Now I still have those and have been playing with them and I'm not really sure I like them any more as they feel pretty difficult racquets to play with. My baseline strokes aren't as good as I would like them to be. (I know self-improvement and playing more will fix this. In addition I am working on improving fitness and movement).

I like the Pro Staff more than the Prestige Pro. The serve is much better with Wilson and I get a really good feeling with it. From the baseline I found that against opponents who play much faster/harder it felt like I'm a bit more late with the Pro Staff then with the Prestige Pro.
With the heavier Wilson it feels like I could get a great shot, by really plowing through and hitting hard, but that makes it hard to control the ball. It could be that my current physicals aren't good enough for the heavy hitting this racquet requires. These are just some of the feelings I've had with these. In no way am I a volley player so a classic serve and volley playstyle is far from my comfort zone .

Now what could be the modern alternatives on the market? I think I got 2 ways to look at it from the current market.

Maybe a Wilson Pro Staff X v14 or another similar? Get a bigger frame to make the ground strokes easier to hit possibly? Do people have experiences with these types? So basically go with the same model, but a bit more forgiving variant of the racquet.

Or should I think of switching to a more "easier" racquet like Babolat Pure Drive or Yonex Ezone? At least I've read and researched that people find these ones maybe a bit more forgiving. A racquet that enables more spin than the older ones could be good also.

Any opinions and advice are welcomed. As I stated it's not that I want to immediately improve my game with a new racquet, rather I would like to update 10+ year old equipment with something new. I do plan on demoing the racquets before making the purchase.

PS X can't be a wrong choice. If you like Pro Staffs, you probaly won't like Babolats. They are really like apples and oranges. To have an alternative from a different brand, you could check the Percept line.

 

[AlexKangaroo]

PS X can't be a wrong choice. If you like Pro Staffs, you probaly won't like Babolats. They are really like apples and oranges. To have an alternative from a different brand, you could check the Percept line.

Thanks for the feedback. Part of me wants to try new stuff in the hopes that I might actually like em. Never really dabbled outside the few racquets I had available. Maybe Babolat is perfect for me, even if its totally different from the normal Pro Staff variants. I’ll have to research the Percept line.

 

[Asquared]

Looks like we are on a similar journey - you can see my and others’ impressions on some of the rackets suggested here on this thread:

Thread 'Play tests for a forgiving player’s-ish racket/ help me choose'
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/inde...ng-player’s-ish-racket-help-me-choose.777398/

I’m also trying to decide how much to go down in weight/forgiving head size and technology vs how much control to hang on to so I can swing out without changing my swing path too much.

 

[AlexKangaroo]

Looks like we are on a similar journey - you can see my and others’ impressions on some of the rackets suggested here on this thread:

Thread 'Play tests for a forgiving player’s-ish racket/ help me choose'
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/play-tests-for-a-forgiving-player’s-ish-racket-help-me-choose.777398/

I’m also trying to decide how much to go down in weight/forgiving head size and technology vs how much control to hang on to so I can swing out without changing my swing path too much.

Great thanks for the link. Did you ever try a modern Pro Staff and compared it to the Blade? Some review videos say that the newest PS is better in serve and volley, but the Blade is better on the base line strokes. (probably personal preferences).

Went for a 2 hour session with my old Pro Staff six one and started to love the weight and force I was able to hit. Tested my friends Pure Drive (2021) and I now understand why people are calling it completely different . It was very light and felt like I was swinging a toy. It did give me easy power without much effort, but I had to really focus on my swing to get something out of it. I kind of understand that it would require a lot of effort from my part to change my game to suit these types of racquets more. Very excited to get my hands on the PS X. Still hate my old Prestige Pro after yet again testing it .

 

[AmericanTwist]

When looking to switch frames I always look at these things:

How fast will I improve if I stay with my current frame(s)? Use this as a baseline for frame selection aspirations
Flex - how much power, spin, and hence control will a different frame provide. Higher the stiffness the higher the power level, but potentially the less control especially on returns. Generally the softer the frame the more spin it provides all other things being equal.
Size - 95 is very playable, but 100 for example, will offer more forgiveness on mishits, but control may suffer on non-mishits and may feel more heavy to swing.
Sting pattern- 14x18, 16x15, 16x18, 16x19, 18x19, 18x20, 18x21 - How much control do you want while giving up easy spin? Note: some patterns are not offered by new frames and please take into account frame size.
Length - 27", 27.25", 27.5", 28" - Longer lengths provide more leverage and reach but will be heavier to swing increasing probability of being late to the ball.
Grip shape: Using Angell's grip selection: A is rectangular like the Head TK82, B is standard - most brands are B shape, that is kind of rectangular, kind of square. Shape C which is roughly octagonal aka Prince. some think it is easy to find the right grip with shape A but also others think it is easy to find the right grip with shape C.

Most "new technologies" are not new and the improvements are minimal. More importantly, do you like the design and colors? lol.... use the above list to make your decision as you demo a lot. Recognize that sting selection and tension make a HUGE effect on the shape and quality of your ball. Have fun!

 

[Asquared]

Great thanks for the link. Did you ever try a modern Pro Staff and compared it to the Blade? Some review videos say that the newest PS is better in serve and volley, but the Blade is better on the base line strokes. (probably personal preferences).

Went for a 2 hour session with my old Pro Staff six one and started to love the weight and force I was able to hit. Tested my friends Pure Drive (2021) and I now understand why people are calling it completely different . It was very light and felt like I was swinging a toy. It did give me easy power without much effort, but I had to really focus on my swing to get something out of it. I kind of understand that it would require a lot of effort from my part to change my game to suit these types of racquets more. Very excited to get my hands on the PS X. Still hate my old Prestige Pro after yet again testing it .

I have not tried the PS X yet, but decided to add it to my next playtest so I’ll be able to comment on that soon. The Blade 100 16x19 is pretty great so this will be interesting. The comfort of the Blade 100 and the control are reasons I should probably choose it over the Speed MP or Ezone 98 - I think I would win more. FWIW, I didn’t have to change my swing for any of these rackets - the greater spin potential made more shots land in.

 

[AlexKangaroo]

- Head Boom Pro
- Head Speed Pro, maybe the MP, too

Even though I have hated on the Prestige Pro on this thread I have also started to research newer HEAD models. What do you think of Head Extreme or Radical? Do they feel very different to Boom or Speed? Also how do the MP and Pro differ and should I probably look more towards the Pro models to get a bit more weight for the racquet?

I have been considering my preference to more spin oriented play style. Last game I played I found more success in moving my opponent with heavy top spin shots around the court and forcing them to commit the foul. Rather than more flat winner type of hits. This might be also due to not being that used to those aggressive flat shots due to not enough practice and rustiness.

 

[Donmikan]

Hello,

Returning player here. Played in my junior years a lot and mainly used Head Prestige Pro (98) and Pro Staff Six-one 95 (red and white) back then which were hand downs from older siblings. Now I still have those and have been playing with them and I'm not really sure I like them any more as they feel pretty difficult racquets to play with. My baseline strokes aren't as good as I would like them to be. (I know self-improvement and playing more will fix this. In addition I am working on improving fitness and movement).

I like the Pro Staff more than the Prestige Pro. The serve is much better with Wilson and I get a really good feeling with it. From the baseline I found that against opponents who play much faster/harder it felt like I'm a bit more late with the Pro Staff then with the Prestige Pro.
With the heavier Wilson it feels like I could get a great shot, by really plowing through and hitting hard, but that makes it hard to control the ball. It could be that my current physicals aren't good enough for the heavy hitting this racquet requires. These are just some of the feelings I've had with these. In no way am I a volley player so a classic serve and volley playstyle is far from my comfort zone .

Now what could be the modern alternatives on the market? I think I got 2 ways to look at it from the current market.

Maybe a Wilson Pro Staff X v14 or another similar? Get a bigger frame to make the ground strokes easier to hit possibly? Do people have experiences with these types? So basically go with the same model, but a bit more forgiving variant of the racquet.

Or should I think of switching to a more "easier" racquet like Babolat Pure Drive or Yonex Ezone? At least I've read and researched that people find these ones maybe a bit more forgiving. A racquet that enables more spin than the older ones could be good also.

Any opinions and advice are welcomed. As I stated it's not that I want to immediately improve my game with a new racquet, rather I would like to update 10+ year old equipment with something new. I do plan on demoing the racquets before making the purchase.

Speed Mp has decent swingweight paired with more modern weight, could be worth a try.

 

[AlexKangaroo]

Speed Mp has decent swingweight paired with more modern weight, could be worth a try.

I've read that it is a all-rounder racquet with capabilities to do pretty much anything. Do you know how it compares to say Wilson Blade another all-rounder racquet?

 

[Donmikan]

I've read that it is a all-rounder racquet with capabilities to do pretty much anything. Do you know how it compares to say Wilson Blade another all-rounder racquet?

Well i did use a blade v8 16x19 until it broke, but i had added a lot of weight to the hoop. In stock form it was too weak for me. Now i have a Head Graphene Radical Rev, 280g, 335 sw stock.

You can in a way compensate for higher swingweight with lower weight, keeping the same swing speed but getting more effective mass on the ball. Thats the direction my racket journey is going in.

If you would like to try out this setup, speed mp gets you moving slightly in that direction without lead, but there are also Pro Staff 97UL and Babolat Pure Drive Lite and Super Lite to which you can add lead tape at 3 and 9 or at 12 to get to 330SW. But even if you go to 340-350SW, racket head speed wont differ that much from say a 350g, 320sw racket, while being a more efficient racket.

 

[AlexKangaroo]

Thanks for the tips, but at the moment I am looking for kind of stock racquet experience. Buy a racquet, get some middle ground strings to it, overgrip, and on to the court. I know I would go too overboard with all the lead tape customizations. I'll force myself to work those tiny details in the gym

 

[Asquared]

I just recently play tested the Blade 100 v9 16x19 against the Speed MP both in stock form. Here are my fuller impressions than I described above:

Blade - so much control and a plush muted feel that made this very comfortable. Sometimes felt underpowered but when I really nailed the sweet spot this had good power: I did benefit in that some shots landed in that wouldn’t have landed in with my heftier less modern regular stick.

Speed MP - had a shade less control than the Blade, but more power. Less muted so it felt less comfortable but one could see it as having more feedback from the racket if you like that. Not sure if there is more weight in the hoop here than the Blade but it felt that way to me, and it resulted in some serves and forehands having an extra gear of power for crushing real bombs and being dangerous when I needed it or had the opportunity. At even cost I’d probably go with the Blade for comfort and that sweet feeling on every hit, but I might get the 2022 Speed MP at the $149 price instead - if I don’t find another racket that feels like a perfect fit all around.

 

[AlexKangaroo]

I just recently play tested the Blade 100 v9 16x19 against the Speed MP both in stock form. Here are my fuller impressions than I described above:

Blade - so much control and a plush muted feel that made this very comfortable. Sometimes felt underpowered but when I really nailed the sweet spot this had good power: I did benefit in that some shots landed in that wouldn’t have landed in with my heftier less modern regular stick.

Speed MP - had a shade less control than the Blade, but more power. Less muted so it felt less comfortable but one could see it as having more feedback from the racket if you like that. Not sure if there is more weight in the hoop here than the Blade but it felt that way to me, and it resulted in some serves and forehands having an extra gear of power for crushing real bombs and being dangerous when I needed it or had the opportunity. At even cost I’d probably go with the Blade for comfort and that sweet feeling on every hit, but I might get the 2022 Speed MP at the $149 price instead - if I don’t find another racket that feels like a perfect fit all around.

Thanks for the analysis. Yeah I think it is getting more concrete that I want to give the Blade and Speed as the 2nd round for Demo program. If the PS X or Pure Strike don't wow me out of the water immediately when I get them. I'm just a bit worried that I might not be able to test out the racquets with hard hitting opponents and fast paced points. Even the heavy PS 6.1 feels amazing when playing against a fairly light hitter. All the time in the world to execute a great swing. Its the matches where I get more tired and actually have to be on alert 100% the time for hard hitters that these heavy racquets show their weakness.

 

[AlexKangaroo]

First demo round arrived and got to playtest them for the first time (tomorrow again). Got the Wilson Pro Staff X v14 and Babolat Pure Strike 19x16. Don't know how they are strung, but the Wilson seemed to have the color matching strings, so I believe Luxilon 4G Desert Bronze. Very first feelings of both.

Babola Pure Strike:
+ Backhand seemed to be amazing with this one. Really got the spin to the ball and power was always on point.
+ Looks cool
+ Slice feels amazing to hit compared to old model

- Immediately I felt how my arms got a bit stiff and I could imagine prolonged use (with these strings at least) could lead to some problems
- Too launchy atleast on my forehand. Couldn't control it and wasn't sure where the ball would launch. This could be entirely down to not being familiar at all with the racquet
- Plowthrough wasn't there as much as I expected
- Swing weight did feel like a factor. Confusing feel as the weight is pretty light, but SW feels harder.

Wilson Pro Staff:
+ Forgiving with the 100sq head
+ Backhand was also very good
+ More familiar feel than the Pure Strike. Felt more natural as well
+ Forehand while also a bit of a challenge was better and I was able to get it going after 30 minutes
+ Could see myself probably playing with this, but not sure what else is for offer.

- The 100sq head feels a bit clumsy to swing around. (Not sure is this just in my head, because the head looks so big).
- Hard to commit to the hits, because I'm not 100% sure if the racquet will launch it more. (This is probably more of a question of familiarity)

+/- Slice wasn't as good as the Pure Strike, but still way better than with the old ones.

Didn't have a chance to serve yet, but will look at that card in the future session. I'm not sure with a lot of these Con's, because I just haven't tried that many different racquets before these ones. The familiarity of changing racquets and adapting to new things is kind of weird. I could buy the Pro Staff, but I think I would need to look for at least 2 other racquets still.

 

[AlexKangaroo]

The second and final demo round will be Wilson Blade and Head Speed however, I can't decide, if I want to continue testing with 100sq heads or take a swing at the Blade 98 for example. And with Speed the question would be as well Pro or MP.

- Head Speed Pro, maybe the MP, too

Any opinnions on these variants ? Pro has a bit more static weight and that would be more familiar coming from the classic Pro Staff feel and also the PS X has some weight on it. SW is pretty high on both Speeds.

Also, another thing to not sleep on will be strings,

My ongoing theory that I could try is to take a control racquet like Blade (and maybe Speed?) and string it with Multifilament like Head Velocity. Giving it a bit more power from the strings rather than the racquet itself. Also having a arm friendly multi would be nice.

 

[AlexKangaroo]

Final update on this thread.
All the racquets I demoed in order:
Babolat Pure Strike 98
Wilson Pro Staff X v14
Wilson Blade 98 v9
Yonex Percept 100 (was forced to me by the club pro shop, when I wanted to only test the Blade )
Wilson Blade 100
Dunlop CX 400
Babolat Pure Drive

The winner and what I put into the cart:
Wilson Pro Staff X v14

It felt like home from my previous Pro Staff and the biggest change was how I could hang with hard hitting opponents with it very well. I might have had luck that the Luxilon 4G @24kg was very fresh and felt good in the TW demo. The racquet has enough weight behind it so that I have to swing properly with it and have good plowthrough. The swing weight isn’t too high for me to handle.

I was most suprised how much I disliked the Blade racquets. Everywhere they are praised, but I failed to click with both head sizes.

Babolat Pure Drive was sooo close to being my choice. In rallies with my partner it felt so good and powerful racquet. However I decided to try some matches with it and I felt like I had no control of it. The lightness and power of the racquet made me instictly only hit loose with my arm and not the whole body. Skill issues yes, but you work with what you got. Against a powerful player the Pure Drive felt like it was pushed around. No weight behind it.

Dunlop CX 400 was also quite close to being picked, but I think the strings were dead on that demo. All felt pretty good, but no particular part of it was especially amazing.

The only thing I maybe regret in this demo round was that I never got around testing a true spin racquet Pure Aero, SX 300, VCORE or similar ones. It could have been fun to see how those behave and feel like hitting. Probably wouldn't have changed anything from the conclusion,.

I will try now to actually stick to my purchase decision and actually improve myself on the court .

 

[Trip]

@AlexKangaroo — Well done, nicely described and a solid endorsement of the PS X, all things considered. Re- the Blade, not super surprising you didn't get along with it, considering the mass distribution and balance you're already used to (in stock form, the PS feels like swinging a sword, whereas the Blade feels like swinging an axe — both effective weapons, but they require different biomechanical setups and timings, and if your "DNA" is used to one, it can often be hard to simply switch to the other, even with customization (in short order at least). So good on you for simply making a choice and moving ahead. Will be interested to see how you get on with strings, etc.

Lastly, just one Q for you: how did you feel the level of  precision was with the PS X? Which frame(s) might you be able to liken it to, as better, worse or similar? Thanks in advance!

 

[AlexKangaroo]

Lastly, just one Q for you: how did you feel the level of  precision was with the PS X? Which frame(s) might you be able to liken it to, as better, worse or similar? Thanks in advance!

I think the precision marketing for Pro Staff holds true in the PS X. From what I can remember I was able to get the ball where I wanted even in tough rallies. Actually Babolat Pure Strike 98 was similar and even better in that feel. When I really committed to the shots the Pure Strike hit the ball exactly where I intended in a very precise manner like a bullet. There was just something inherent elbow crushing in the Pure Strike that started to ache my wrist and elbow even after 30 minutes.

I went with Luxilon Element @24kg to start my string setup with the PS X. I did enjoy the Luxilon 4G from the demo, but it is very stiff, so I figured I could try with a bit of a softer feel at first.