stevenole08
New User
Hello TalkTennis,
So over the past few months I've been making a push to get out of 4.0 and into 4.5, went from playing 2 times a week to 4-5. I absolutely love my Ultra Tour, but since day one its always bothered my elbow and with the increase in play its starting to become and actual problem. (Tentative on hitting thru returns and such) I've been doing the necessary PT which has helped, but its time to face the music and get a racquet that I can play with a lot, and not do any dmg. I am looking for something that has the feel/touch of this racquet that will be more arm-friendly. It is an 18x20, which I like, but maybe more spin, and more arm friendly string pattern wouldnt be a bad switch for me. I am also racquet-illiterate so I've been browsing this forum, and the tennis warehouse compare tool to sort of get some similar racquets ideas. That being said, I have no idea what I'm doing and was hoping I could get some suggestions from some experts on the internet (you guys are all experts right?). Because demos get pricey with all the stringing, I was hoping to go into it knowing which demos I want, and keeping the list reasonably small.
Current setup.... Wilson Ultra Tour 97 ver2 (Tennis warehouse labels this as 6 pt headlight, but the racquet actually says 9)
General play style is big serve, mostly baseline game. I'm working towards becoming more all court, but trading baseline shots in my biggest strength, I generally look to overpower opponents.
18x20 string pattern
Volkl Psycho strings, with the Polys in crosses. (not by preference, just softer) 52lbs https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Volkl_Psycho_Hybrid_17_String_Black_Silver/descpageACVOLKL-VPSY17.html
Few grams of lead tape on the sides of the racquet head.
(I don't think it matters but I use some babolat dampener in the strings)
Some demos I'm looking to pick up:
Wilson Ultra Countervail- there's a 100 and a 95, going to a 95 feels wrong, I'm not exactly a technician out there and the 97 I hit with currently feels as small as I really wanna go. The 100 is probably a bit more powerful.
Wilson Blade Countervail - I heard this thing has no feel, but at least it wont wreck my elbow
Babolat Pure Strike - Feels more powerful than my ultra, but similar overall, still hurts my elbow a bit. I didn't demo this one myself but my partner hits with it so I tried it out. His string job was foreign to me, very low.
Prince Phantom Pro 100 - Recommended to me by the tool on this site. Low confidence in this one, haven't hit a Prince since I first started (ozone I think... its been like 10 years)
Thanks for any and all help!
So over the past few months I've been making a push to get out of 4.0 and into 4.5, went from playing 2 times a week to 4-5. I absolutely love my Ultra Tour, but since day one its always bothered my elbow and with the increase in play its starting to become and actual problem. (Tentative on hitting thru returns and such) I've been doing the necessary PT which has helped, but its time to face the music and get a racquet that I can play with a lot, and not do any dmg. I am looking for something that has the feel/touch of this racquet that will be more arm-friendly. It is an 18x20, which I like, but maybe more spin, and more arm friendly string pattern wouldnt be a bad switch for me. I am also racquet-illiterate so I've been browsing this forum, and the tennis warehouse compare tool to sort of get some similar racquets ideas. That being said, I have no idea what I'm doing and was hoping I could get some suggestions from some experts on the internet (you guys are all experts right?). Because demos get pricey with all the stringing, I was hoping to go into it knowing which demos I want, and keeping the list reasonably small.
Current setup.... Wilson Ultra Tour 97 ver2 (Tennis warehouse labels this as 6 pt headlight, but the racquet actually says 9)
General play style is big serve, mostly baseline game. I'm working towards becoming more all court, but trading baseline shots in my biggest strength, I generally look to overpower opponents.
18x20 string pattern
Volkl Psycho strings, with the Polys in crosses. (not by preference, just softer) 52lbs https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Volkl_Psycho_Hybrid_17_String_Black_Silver/descpageACVOLKL-VPSY17.html
Few grams of lead tape on the sides of the racquet head.
(I don't think it matters but I use some babolat dampener in the strings)
Some demos I'm looking to pick up:
Wilson Ultra Countervail- there's a 100 and a 95, going to a 95 feels wrong, I'm not exactly a technician out there and the 97 I hit with currently feels as small as I really wanna go. The 100 is probably a bit more powerful.
Wilson Blade Countervail - I heard this thing has no feel, but at least it wont wreck my elbow
Babolat Pure Strike - Feels more powerful than my ultra, but similar overall, still hurts my elbow a bit. I didn't demo this one myself but my partner hits with it so I tried it out. His string job was foreign to me, very low.
Prince Phantom Pro 100 - Recommended to me by the tool on this site. Low confidence in this one, haven't hit a Prince since I first started (ozone I think... its been like 10 years)
Thanks for any and all help!