yourtennisfit
Professional
Can't blame them - the H22 is so much better than any blade besides the KBlade maybe...
Musetti boom
- Thread starter Slodge630
- Start date
All brands do it, not only Wilson
The 6.1 has been copied by several brands (Donnay, Slazenger, Dunlop,etc)
I mean if you want to get technical about it Wilson is the only brand that does actually sell these racquets; the Ultra Tour (or is it Pro now?) and Blade Pro are basically as much an H19/H22 as anyone this side of the top 500 is going to need.
dr325i
G.O.A.T.
Except they are NOT an H19 or H22…
You need to learn about the layups and other things…
With all due respect I've probably forgotten more about layups and, as you put it, "other things", than most people will ever know. I'm well aware of the differences between the Wilson Pro line and 'real' H19/22s, I've been a longtime PT10/57 user, and I'm telling you straight up that aside from a few very minor/player-specific details the Ultra Tour/Pro is as close to an H19 as anybody actually needs. It's even close enough to a good PT57 that, when set up, it basically plays the same and I've got more than enough hours on those to know.
McEncock
Professional
TennisD,
Although my experience with h22 is very limited, I have hit with 2 matched h22 18x20 with the burn pj, and they felt totaly different from the Wilson retail stuff. I too am a pt10/pt57 user, so I got a bit sensitive about lay-ups with time.
Good to hear that the h19 is close to retail, I have 0 experience with those.
Cheers
Although my experience with h22 is very limited, I have hit with 2 matched h22 18x20 with the burn pj, and they felt totaly different from the Wilson retail stuff. I too am a pt10/pt57 user, so I got a bit sensitive about lay-ups with time.
Good to hear that the h19 is close to retail, I have 0 experience with those.
Cheers
yourtennisfit
Professional
The H22 definitely is different to the Blade Pro - this might be due to the weight distribution on my specific H22s, but nowhere near the ProLabs racquet.
However I agree with you, that 90% of even local tournament players do not need a specific layup or more individualization.
But I wonder sometimes why nobody made that a market, as e.g. the golf players basically get every club they have specced out if they want to
dr325i
G.O.A.T.
That is like saying the PT2.0 is as close as it gets to the PT57A. Yes, they are the same mold, but different layups.
wilson never released the H19 to the public. They offered the same mold but totally different frame (layup) with the Ultra tour/pro.
similar situation with the H22 and Blade Pro…
Yeah that's kind of my main point; each H19/22 is going to be different from player-spec to player-spec, and of course different to retail, but the overall feel is there. The layups on the retail stuff aren't going to be quite as custom-tuned/soft/whatever as the player-spec stuff, but when you consider the differences between two of the "same" pro stock racquets set up for different players you start to see that it's almost useless to compare them - you can have two PT57s with the same layup that feel completely different because of other player-spec differences. If you know what you're doing with setup (which really means "if you know what you need for your game") you can get the retail H19/22 versions pretty much within spitting distance of the 'holy grail' pro stocks. The main key is knowing what your game needs!
To your second point, I think the market doesn't really exist because most players don't actually know what they need for their game and they're constantly chasing new solutions or new setups. Not really worth it from a marketing and manufacturing standpoint since the likelihood of those players being happy with their "custom spec" is pretty low while presenting a pretty large extra step in the production process; plenty of people here have had success with pro stock racquets but just as many (if not more) have found that they just don't work for their game, which also makes perfect sense. Again the manufacturers aren't keeping some magical, skill-enhancing racquets away from average players, it's just that those racquets aren't very likely to help.
dr325i
G.O.A.T.
There is no such thing as “retail H19 or H22”…
chrischris
G.O.A.T.
PT10
Extreme Tour still
Shaolin
Talk Tennis Guru
Thanks
jmacdaununder2
Legend
Fake Boom/Extreme vs fake Speed/Radical(ish) Wimbledon semi - where will it end?
At least in the other semi things aren't quite as deceptive.
At least in the other semi things aren't quite as deceptive.
heavyD
Professional
Don't forget Gauff's Boom/Speed MP. Also a lot of pros with Blade paint jobs aren't even using Blades. It is what it is and this stuff doesn't bother me too much as I only care if a racquet is good for my game. I simply don't understand the mentality of using a frame just because your favorite pro does.
VanDerVaart23
Semi-Pro
You're so mean
dr. godmode
Hall of Fame
Aura
GodlessEndeavor
Professional
Part of it is wanting to emulate a playing style.
Of course the racket is only tangentially related to playing style, but it could help mentally - and tennis is a very mental game. If a racket gives you confidence it can help your game, even if it's for dumb reasons.
Bhagi Katbamna
Legend
My favorite was Martina Navratalova using a Dunlop Max 200G painted with Yonex logos.
guilhermefdc
Semi-Pro
“Image is everything” — much like how people dress in order to send some sort of message to others about how/who they are, humans also use their tennis gear in order to send a message, whether it’s “Nole is the GOAT”, “I play classic tennis” or “I’m going to spin you like Rafa”
jmacdaununder2
Legend
My longbody says: 'I'm going to slice you into the clubhouse with this serve'.
yourtennisfit
Professional
That Blade argument isn't really one - most of the "Blade" players use either an older blade, or Steam/H22, which are both not open to public
Head deliberately changes between existing racket silos at times
