New to forum. Here is my racquet search journey

0clouds0

New User
I am new to the forum. I haven’t played in 20+ years and was using a Prince Graphite2 MP. (The 2 racquets before that was a donnay with an exchangeable weight in butt cap, then prince thunderstick 90) string weight is 341 g, 93 sq in headsize. I was surprised my 20 years old prince synth gut 16 was still playable!!! I was looking for a lighter, a bit more powerful but still has good feel and control racquet. The PG feels like a brick when I swing it. I had some arm and shoulder issue so I need the racquet to filter out vibration.

I have tried:
Babolat pure aero - SPIN SPIN. The racquet goes through the air so nice. Balls just bounce right off the string and NO vibration in my arm. A bit too powerful.
yonex ezone 98 - didn’t like it, too much flex and vibration, felt worse then my PG. disappointed.
yonex vcore100 - I held on to this demo the longest. I was surprised how dead the string bed felt but this is where I found out strings matter. Nice frame, good balance of control and power and spin but still a bit too powerful.
Head Gravity - butter smooth when hitting the ball, a bit low on power. VERY nice feeling, I felt my arm won’t like the type of vibration coming through.
Pure drive - power power stiff. Too stiff. If I am looking for power, the aero is a better option.
Dunlop CX 400- another butter smooth racquet, very light. A bit too much power
VCore 98 - very good balance of control and power and spin. It had a full bed of poly (Poly tour pro) so I expected it to be a bit dead but I knew different string will fix it. Very forgiving.

winner: VCore 98.
here comes the other challenge: strings
I don’t want to go full bed of poly as I haven’t played with it long term. The demos had poly and that was the first time I have played with them. This hybrid stringing presents an almost infinite possibilities which is a problem.
After watching countless hours of YouTube, and re-strung my PG with Wilson NXT comfort, I found that multi is probably better for me at this stage. I am getting good power (and spin) from that string. I wanted to try TF triax. Surprised to find out the shop doesn’t carry it!! So I went with X1 biphase on the main and poly tour pro on the cross at 52.5 lb.
(If you folks have any recommendations that will be great.)

0Clouds0
 
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Lorenn

Hall of Fame
I wanted to try TF triax. Surprised to find out the shop doesn’t carry it!! So I went with X1 biphase on the main and poly tour pro on the cross at 52.5 lb.
(If you folks have any recommendations that will be great.)
Order your own string? triax is worth a try when using a new frame. I normally like to string with Triax or Head Velocity. Gives a good neutral feel to a racquet.
 
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0clouds0

New User
Order your own string? triax is worth a try when using a new frame. I normally like to string with Triax or Head Velocity. Gives a good neutral feel to a racquet.

Head Microgel Radical OS used would be a good balanced choice for most situations. TI series might be ok if you need something lighter.
Thanks! The shop demo program offers 50% off strings and labor when you buy a racquet. So it’s silly for me not to take advantage of that. I did buy 2 packs of Triax from TW since the are 20% off!
Haha. Too bad there is no string demo program!!
 

Lorenn

Hall of Fame
Thanks! The shop demo program offers 50% off strings and labor when you buy a racquet. So it’s silly for me not to take advantage of that. I did buy 2 packs of Triax from TW since the are 20% off!
Haha. Too bad there is no string demo program!!
Sorry accidentally combined two posts:) I like your list looks like you were hoping to find a good Yonex. I like the vcore series. I play with the Gravity Pro so I am biased, but you know your body. I like the Radical Pro, Radical Mp and Speed MP. Might be worth a test, but I have friends with the Yonex vcore 98 so I totally understand why one would like that model.

Head Velocity is close to Triax. Triax is slightly better:)
 
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