Official 2012 Wilson Playtest Discussion and Reviews

[samalo0]

Hey again Geoff! I just wanted to share some of my experiences that I had today with you and the other TTW members. I walked in to my local tennis superstore, and I asked them when they were getting their 2012 demos in. they told me that that'd be in January, but they have some advanced models in for the BLXProstaff models. So, I tried the 90 and 95. I did enjoy the 90, as it was very similar to my current k90. I was, however, blown away by the 95. I didn't find the weight hard to get used to at all. My ground strokes were as accurate as usual, but far far more powerful, which I was hoping for. I didn't get to serve, but I got to hit forehands and backhands. IMO, it is very similar to the 90 in feel and control, but more powerful. Can't wait to buy a few next year

Great! This is what I wanted to hear about, thank you very much. I do enjoy the feel of the K90/BLX90 but I can't play with them as they are way too heavy for me to handle. A lighter, more powerful version is exactly what I'd be interested in. Now to just wait to be able to demo...

 

[verite]

Wilson Blue & Yellow Review

Hi Folks, sorry this took a while to get up. Was working out of town and wanted to get some solid time behind this stick before I post.

Racquet - Blue and Yellow Stripes.

Me: 3.5 -4.0 player. Baseline. Semi-Western forehand. 2 handed backhand. Some topspin, but I like to flatten things out a lot and also mix in reliable drop shots. I come to the net as little as possible.

Ignore the footer, my current stick is a Hybrid Hornet, with Babolat Gut stings. Leaded up to about 11.7 oz, 6 pts HL.

Stick setup. Looks like Luxilon BB Alu Power. Weighed about 11 OZ (see pic). 1 pt headlight. Nice grip / overgrip material.

Black PJ looked super cool, of course.

Groundstrokes - Racket felt maneuverable for being relatively headheavy. Very easy to 'sweep up' on the ball and get topspin. Lots of pocketing. When you nail a ball in the sweetspot, there is a generous amount of pace and power. A well hit forehand on this racquet travelled well and stayed down.

However, it lacked plow through, and did not have a good margin of error. Mishits really shanked off the sides of the racquet. Struggled to dial-in a good backhand - accuracy was really critical, very little margin of error. Not a good fit for my style of game. Hard hit balls would push the racquet around. Opponents said it did not hit a particularly 'heavy' ball.

Volleys - Racket was too light and stiff for me to volley well with it. Mishits hurt my elbow and felt that the racket didn't have the heft to withstand a volley to the edge of the frame. Drop shot volleys were fun to lay down if the right ball came around.

Serves - This was my favorite part of the this racquet. Both power and maneuverability. Power serves and spin serves could be hit with accuracy easily. Very little time necessary to adjust to this racket, and it was easy to generate a lot of headspeed.

Overall - This racquet was not for me, but I would recommend it to anyone that has a flowing, accurate technique and prefers to play with a lighter frame. Serves were fantastic. Volley required a very soft touch to get the best out of the racquet.

Given more time, I'd be curious to try this racquet with some lead tape on both sides (polarize) and softer stings.

This was an interesting racquet, and it did not seek to imitate other sticks on the market. I'd be curious to see if it finds an audience.

 

[Torres]

Racquet - Blue and Yellow Stripes.

A 16x18 312g stick? What stick is that then? Bold? Juice? Khamsin or whatever they're called?

 

[samalo0]

A 16x18 312g stick? What stick is that then? Bold? Juice? Khamsin or whatever they're called?

It's a 6.1 Team. They apparently changed the string pattern. Although that does sound a bit heavy for a team - maybe that was with an overgrip.

 

[davedomart]

^^ They will offer both string patterns. Could be a team, one of mine was 11 ounces stock (strung)

 

[samalo0]

^^ They will offer both string patterns. Could be a team, one of mine was 11 ounces stock (strung)

I'm curious if they will offer both. I've seen the European catalog, and it does list both. But I did ask a local shop, and he said that they were only going to offer the 16x18 in the US.

TW Europe had the 18x20 version on there for a few days, then removed it. The mystery continues!

 

[thomas_kim]

Hey guys, a longtime lurker but new member, I have a quick question for you guys. So, I've been playing with the Wilson K Blade for about 2 years now, but i've been wanting to switch to a slightly bigger frame. I really like the feel and control about the K blade, and I decided to switch to the wilson K Six one 95. But, my question is should i switch to the k six one 95, or wait for the new BLX line to come in and try it out. would be great if you guys who have played with the racket could help me out here!

 

[Power Player]

I'd wait on the new one or buy a for sale blx.

 

[thomas_kim]

how similar do you think the new 2012 racket's are to the k factors in terms of feel?

 

[b.termite]

Hey guys, a longtime lurker but new member, I have a quick question for you guys. So, I've been playing with the Wilson K Blade for about 2 years now, but i've been wanting to switch to a slightly bigger frame. I really like the feel and control about the K blade, and I decided to switch to the wilson K Six one 95. But, my question is should i switch to the k six one 95, or wait for the new BLX line to come in and try it out. would be great if you guys who have played with the racket could help me out here!

Well, if you want to go to a bigger frame then you're going in the wrong direction with the Six.One 95. I talked to my rep from Wilson about the new line a couple days ago and he said the Six One series will still stay with the same basic feel. I personally, hate the 95, play with the Six One Tour (no, I'm not a Federer wanna be, I just like the racquet. Back to what you were asking... If you like the K series, I would demo the K 95's as well as the new BLX model (which is most likely just a new paint-job). I have a K 90 and I think it plays quite a bit different than the BLX 90, but that's just my opinion, so I assume the same would apply to the 95's.
Hope I remotely answered your question.

 

[Power Player]

Blx version is more muted and less harsh than the k.

 

[borgpro]

Blx version is more muted and less harsh than the k.

That goes for all wilsons except for the blade, at least in my opinion. I thought the BLX blade was more harsh and had less feel then the K, probably because of less flex in the hoop.
Why not try the new prostaff blx 95? Thin beam, 95 si. Might need a little lead in the top to increase the SW a bit..

 

[thomas_kim]

Well, if you want to go to a bigger frame then you're going in the wrong direction with the Six.One 95. I talked to my rep from Wilson about the new line a couple days ago and he said the Six One series will still stay with the same basic feel. I personally, hate the 95, play with the Six One Tour (no, I'm not a Federer wanna be, I just like the racquet. Back to what you were asking... If you like the K series, I would demo the K 95's as well as the new BLX model (which is most likely just a new paint-job). I have a K 90 and I think it plays quite a bit different than the BLX 90, but that's just my opinion, so I assume the same would apply to the 95's.
Hope I remotely answered your question.

I've tried the blx 95, but i don't really like them because they feel too dampened compared to the K factor line. I was pretty set on buying the k six one 95 18x20, but then i found out about Wilson's new line (late, i know) and i've been questioning myself of which one to get

 

[GoSurfBoy]

I had a hit with the new 6.1 95, 16 main. I thought it much more plush than the previous two, powerful, good spin. I use a 6.1 Tour, and the 95 would take some work to get used to, but I thought I might take a second look down the road a bit, when the 95 ProStaffs are out to compare to.

 

[borgpro]

I had a hit with the new 6.1 95, 16 main. I thought it much more plush than the previous two, powerful, good spin. I use a 6.1 Tour, and the 95 would take some work to get used to, but I thought I might take a second look down the road a bit, when the 95 ProStaffs are out to compare to.

Did the new sixone also have more feel? Somebody else wrote that it seems to flex a bit more in the hoop than the previous version, that could be nice. I will also test the new PS 95 en the new sixone, comming from a BLX tour 90. I am looking for the same feel in a little more forgiving package. PS 95 seems a bit light. Sixone I always found them too stiff in the hoop precluding nice touch, but if that is better in the newe version it would be nice because I think I will like the 333 weight much better..

 

[GoSurfBoy]

Yea, I think so. I don't have a lot of time to put into a demo frame right now (too many tourneys coming up), and I....kind of liked the K version, liked the BLX a bit better, but this, to me, kind of felt like a different animal. Felt a bit softer (more flexy hoop?), but crisp, good pop, possibly a bit more forgiving. A nice feel. Very 'connected', I guess would be a good term.

To me, I feel it is a definite improvement to the line, but that's subjective, like anything. This one just had a multi in it, too. Will have to request a Lux' strung demo for a better report.

 

[borgpro]

Yea, I think so. I don't have a lot of time to put into a demo frame right now (too many tourneys coming up), and I....kind of liked the K version, liked the BLX a bit better, but this, to me, kind of felt like a different animal. Felt a bit softer (more flexy hoop?), but crisp, good pop, possibly a bit more forgiving. A nice feel. Very 'connected', I guess would be a good term.

To me, I feel it is a definite improvement to the line, but that's subjective, like anything. This one just had a multi in it, too. Will have to request a Lux' strung demo for a better report.

Thanx, that sounds good, I will definitely give it a try!

 

[JRProstaf9]

My Wilson Playtest Review

First off... my deepest apologies to TW for not getting my review up sooner! Between getting the racket the day before Thanksgiving... waiting over a week for the weather to be nice enough to get out and hit some balls... and getting caught up in work travel and the holidays I'm finnally getting around to posting my review!

That said I hope my review is still informative and helps everyoneout!

Your Personal Racquet of Choice: Previously the Wilson K Six-One 95 Team (lead tape at the 3/6/9 spots and leather grip/Wilson Pro Overgrip), but within the last 3

months I've switched to the Babolat Pure Storm GT (No lead tape but still w/ leather grip/Wilson Pro Overgrip). String choice is usually Babolat RPM Blast 17 or 18g strung to 60lbs. Depending on surface will change set up to Babolat RPM or Pro Hurricane for Mains (58 lbs) and Babolat xcel or Gamma Fat Core 16 or 17 g for the crosses (63lbs).

The color code on the racquet: Two Black stripes.

How many hours did you play with the racquet: total 4.5 (2 hours match play, 1 hour hitting/teaching w/ my 10 yr old niece, 1.5 general hitting).

OUT OF THE BOX: The moment I opened the box I new this had to be a new version of the ProStaff Six-One tour 90 BLX. The box beam, 95 sq. in. head, a 16x19 string pattern, and PWS all screamed of Wilson's trademark Pro Staff and I was excited to test. The first thing I immediately noticed was the weight... it seemed substantially lighter than previous Pro Staffs (even lighter than my 95 Team!) and wondered if Wilson decided to start tapering off the weight on one of its signature models or if this was a friendlier version of the Tour 90. The 95" head along with the light weight made me think it was the latter option and Wilson was gearing this racket towards the mid-advanced older player looking to maintain the traditional feel of the Pro Staff but didn't want to deal with the weight of a 11.5+oz frame or...

possibly market this racket to developing juniors looking to add more variety to their game (server & volley). The other thing I noticed from the 95" head was that the racquet reminded me of the old Hyper Pro Staff 6.0 (yes thats correct 6.0) which was a limited release frame when the 6.1 line made the jump to Hyper Carbon and featured a traditional frame like the original Pro Staff 8.0 or the tour 90 but was a full 95" head like the Pro Staff 6.1 95. Either way I was excited to test this baby out and was immediatly scared that if i liked it too much I might be putting my 3 new Babolats up for sale!

GROUNDSTROKES: Very first thing I noticed was swing weight. If I thought it felt light out of the box, it was even lighter swinging around! My forehand grip falls between a traditional eastern and a semi-western (similar to the way Federer holds his forehand) to allow flexibility to hit heavy and flat balls w/out much problem...

with this racket however I felt my wrist snapping through the ball quicker than usual which resulted in a "slapping" motion when hitting my forehand. This resulted in more than a few shots off center or off the frame. I immediately adjusted my grip (full eastern) and adjusted my swing speed a bit so I could find the sweet spot (which didn't take long) and once I did I felt the familiar SOLID ball impact of the Pro Staff. Like my previouse collegues mentioned "If you've played with Pro Staffs before, you know what I'm talking about".

Hitting with the eastern grip for a while did give me an opportunity to really get a good sense of the swing weight's range. I did find that I was able to swing faster and through the ball as well as get a god brush up the back of the ball and snap my wrist to impart heavy spin. This is where stringing the racket w/ a full bed of Luxilon made sense. Initial spin production of the ball was ok... nothing great but I did find that I really have to focus on it in order to generate my usual amount of spin. The same effect was noticed when I did move back to my usual grip which normally allows me to put a decent amount spin to most shots.

On the backhand side I found myself abandoning my usual compact 2 handed backhand for my looping 1 hander which I normally reserve only for teaching or messing around on the court. The lightweight of the racket made it easy to swing and found that I was able to swing through the ball on each backhand. Like the forehand spin generation was ok but flat shots had the best results.

Overall power was limited and really found myself drivign through the ball in order to get it to land deep in the court. Unfortunatly the combination of stiffness and its lightweight, power didn't seem to come naturally as I was used too w/ heavier Pro Staffs however the control was phenomenal!

Serves: One thing I did enjoy with thei racket was how easy serves were. Again the lack of power was noticable... but control and ability to place serves was a HUGE plus. Like on the ground strokes, flat serves were very solid upon contact. Spin production was interesting as I found myself able to easily snap my wrist on kick and slice serves but often found the ball dropping short in the box.

Volleys: This is where the racket really began to shine! Forehand and backhand volleys came very easy and placement was phenomenal. The rackets lightweight made this a VERY maneuverable stick up at net. The stiffness in the frame offered great feedback on every hit and allowed me to put the ball almost anywhere I wanted!

Returns: Again the racket's lightweight made it easy to take the ball early and react to hard flat serves. I was impressed with chip returns off the backhand side and found myself able to get allot of balls back in play when taking a more defensive approach. Attacking off the return was a bit had as I had to rely more on placement than sheer power.

General comments on overall performance: Overall I think thought this was a great racket and am impressed with Wilson's ability to blend a true players frame with a more player friendly frame. I'd highly reccomend this racket for doubles players and teachign pros looking to have a light maneuverable racket that is easy on the arm and offers great feel from inside the service line.

Once again a HUGE thanks to TW for including me on this playtest and sorry again for the late post!

 

[Cavaleer]

THIS was the review I was waiting on....

Test racquet: two blue stripes (looks to be a tour 90)
16x19 pattern, 90 inch head, full alu power string

Personal racquet: Tecnifibre 320 with blackcode 16 12.5 oz, leather.

Also have kps88, k90 etc. etc. been a fan of this lineage for sure.

hours played: approx 10

Overall: this racquet is an absolute plow thru monster. It is more solid than the blx90 and the k90. It is not quite an 88 but what is. The headguard is a little bigger than k90. The handle is filled with silicone. It felt like more SW than blx and k90.

Groundstrokes 9/10: This racquet stressed my preparation. Once I got the higher swingweight dialed in, it felt perfect. There was a degree of put away power that I dont find in the k90 or blx90. Like the 88, flatter shots were verrrrry good. Overall, the racquet is slightly more demanding than its predecessor.

Topspin, Slice 10/10: like all tour 90s this thing cut the ball in half. I could not whip out emergency shots as well as blx/k90 due to the heftier feel. Rally re-setting slices were awesome. I hit a ts return on match point that jumped sideways. Awesome!

Serves 9/10: keep a loose arm and get free points. Straight crushin. Better than BLX. 88-esque. Keep a loose arm! Slice serve out wide to the duece was really good. I love the way this racquet grips the ball.

Returns: 8/10 excellent on blocks. Takes excellent timing to come over the one hander on returns. Thats just life with a midsize. Thats the limitation of this thing, you cant play bash-ball on the bh return. On the forehand side I was lovin life.

Volleys, half volleys: 9/10 the frame is so stable, it's all up to you. It volleyed like an 88 but better mobility. It's heavy though. Gotta stress the good technique. On half volleys the stability does the work for you.

Scrambling 6/10 here is the one area where this frame is not outGOATing the blx and k90. Maybe its just wilson QC but this one is heavier and more sluggish feeling. I could still snap off the squash shot but it wasn't as gnarly and surprising as it is with the k or blx90.

Conclusion: this racquet has more power, more plow, better half volleys, better serves and slightly worse scrambling ability than its predecessors. The feel on contact is muffled stiffness. It is not as soft feeling as the blx90 but there is absolutely no vibration coming through even with full alu and even on shanks. SOLID RACQUET, put it between k90 and kps88 on the beef scale for Wilson lovers.

Thanks TW for the playtest, expect my order in January.

Always a pleasure to read your posts bro!! I'm a 88 for lifer like yourself but I'm most curious about the new Fed stick. It seems like Wilson has given us 88ers something to think about!!! I didn't like the blx AT ALL but fell in love with the 88 on first stroke.

Thanks to your review I may stop stocking up on 88s. lol A demo is in order for the new Wilson King. I actually prefer the new paint-job, I must admit.

Thanks again.

 

[Warren]

As a devotee of the Babolat Pure Storm Ltd GT, there seem to be a lot of similarities between the new Wilson Pro Staff 95 and my Bab. Identical head size, thin box beam, very head light, similar static weight, low swing weight, and both sticks are absolutely screaming for customization. The only tangible difference appears to be the string pattern (16x19 in the Wilson v. 18x20 in the Bab). Perhaps the boys at Wilson have created an homage to the PSTLTD with this new release: A player's stick without the heft of Fed's PS 90.

I really love the PSLTD's control and ability to let the player swing away, but I occasionally feel hampered generating wicked spin on second serves due to the tight string pattern. I'm really looking forward to taking out the Wilson PS for a demo and kicking the tires on that animal for a few sets.

Any word on when these bad boys will be available to the general public?

 

[Fed Kennedy]

Always a pleasure to read your posts bro!! I'm a 88 for lifer like yourself but I'm most curious about the new Fed stick. It seems like Wilson has given us 88ers something to think about!!! I didn't like the blx AT ALL but fell in love with the 88 on first stroke.

Thanks to your review I may stop stocking up on 88s. lol A demo is in order for the new Wilson King. I actually prefer the new paint-job, I must admit.

Thanks again.

Thanks man. I was a little shocked to see the published spec on this frame to have a lower sw than blx90. It seemed to play so much beefier. Kal el seemed to think this too but I will try it again when it comes out. I would like to have a frame that swings like an 85 on serves but with the added spin of the 90.

 

[ptb5021]

So when is the new Wilson line available? I'm pretty excited to demo the PS 95 and the Steam.

 

[anhuynh16]

I had the opportunity to try the PS95 and I'll be adding lead tape for sure, it's very light but it's also pretty solid.

 

[Cavaleer]

Thanks man. I was a little shocked to see the published spec on this frame to have a lower sw than blx90. It seemed to play so much beefier. Kal el seemed to think this too but I will try it again when it comes out. I would like to have a frame that swings like an 85 on serves but with the added spin of the 90.

This is going to be a very intriguing frame. From your description of the blx 90 and the 88 having a child, I can't help but be very curious. I saw a review with pic at tennisnow and I must say it's a very sharp aesthetic.

Also, if this is in fact the frame Fed will be using, it says his answer to these newer schools frames and players is to go more old school and classic. Very interesting indeed.

Head to head with the 88, how does this feel? For me, the rawness and stiffness, I sometimes call it "hardness", of the 88 is a dream. Is this new one close or still kind of soft like the blx?

Overall, I hope this means Wilson plans to always make players frames, the way Head has always made player's frames, regardless of the trends. We'll see. I doubt many pros will use this frame.

 

[TW Staff]

So when is the new Wilson line available? I'm pretty excited to demo the PS 95 and the Steam.

The line will be available for pre sale on January 6, 2012.

Brittany, TW

 

[FireMan12]

As a devotee of the Babolat Pure Storm Ltd GT, there seem to be a lot of similarities between the new Wilson Pro Staff 95 and my Bab. Identical head size, thin box beam, very head light, similar static weight, low swing weight, and both sticks are absolutely screaming for customization. The only tangible difference appears to be the string pattern (16x19 in the Wilson v. 18x20 in the Bab). Perhaps the boys at Wilson have created an homage to the PSTLTD with this new release: A player's stick without the heft of Fed's PS 90.

I really love the PSLTD's control and ability to let the player swing away, but I occasionally feel hampered generating wicked spin on second serves due to the tight string pattern. I'm really looking forward to taking out the Wilson PS for a demo and kicking the tires on that animal for a few sets.

Any word on when these bad boys will be available to the general public?

That is a great comparison. I played with the PSTLTD for a good part of the year. My local tennis shop has the new Prostaff 95 for demo and I've had it for the last 5 days and have put roughly 6-8 hours in. The one I demoed strung weight was 11.8oz. Slightly lighter then the PSTLTD but same great control and very solid. Noticeably more powerful and with the open string pattern and low swing weight spin is very easy to access. Good thing is if you like higher swing or static weight it is easily customized. In my opinion this could be the racquet of the year. I know I'm finally done looking!

 

[AR15]

Now that the racquets have been released, I have a question.

I demoed the one with the Yellow and Blue tape. I did not take any measurements on it, but others said is was 95 si and 10.7 ounces. There are no NEW Wilson racquets listed with those specs, so which new model is it? Were the testers wrong, and it is actually 100 square inches instead of 95?

 

[TW Staff]

Now that the Wilson racquet line is released, here is the color combos of the racquets:

Black/Blue- Wilson BLX Six.One 95 16x18
Black/Yellow- Wilson BLX Six.One 95 18x20
Blue/Yellow- Wilson BLX Six.One Team
Blue/Blue- Wilson BLX Pro Staff Six.One 90
Black/Black- Wilson BLX Pro Staff Six.One 95
Yellow/Yellow- Wilson BLX Pro Staff Six.One 100

Brittany, TW

 

[movdqa]

Is there going to be a Head playtest too?

 

[crism54]

It's possible to remove the graphite (amplifeel) in the handle and replace whith normal pu foam to reduce weight and change balance?

 

[TW Staff]

Is there going to be a Head playtest too?

Movdga,

Unfortunately, there will not be a Head playtest.


Brittany, TW

 

[FEDERERNADAL13]

I'm not part of the playtest, but I demoed the 3 prostaffs from TW, so I thought I'd share my thoughts:

Background: I use a BLX90, strung with ALU rough @47 Lbs.

Racket Info: BLX Prostaffs are all strung @57 Lbs. with NXT. The 90 had an overgrip on it, but neither of the others did.

BLX Prostaff 90:

I'm going to keep this racket's review short, as I found it extremely similar to my 90. The slice was the same, the power was slightly lacking, topspin was good. Serving was better than my current set-up, but not by much. If I rate my BLX90 at 7/10, then this racket would be a 7.5/10. Overall a good racket, but I wouldn't buy it, as I already have the BLX, which is extremely similar.

BLX Prostaff 100:

This racket was simply put: Everything a racket that I wasn't looking for. It was very spin-friendly and very low-powered. Also, the volleying was very difficult, maybe the 100 square inch did the trick. When serving, I had an extreme amount of difficulty generating power. Also, I have 1HBH, and I could not do anything with this racket! For Someone looking for spin, baselining 100 square inch racket, this may be the one for you. But, 1 handed backhanders beware, this is not our type of racket Overall, for me it would be a 1/10, but for someone who would like an Babolat with less power, then this is around an 8.5/10 IMO.

BLX Prostaff 95:

This may have been the greatest racket for my game ever. No joking, this racket was unbelievably suited to my game. At first, I found it under-powered, but after a few shots I got all my usual power and more, while maintaining control.

My 1HBH was better than ever, my forehand was great, and my slice was very poisonous. It was very easy to swing through the ball, so I could generate loads of racket head speed. Volleys were, simply put, incredible! I consider myself a pretty good volleyer, but this racket made me an exceptional volleyer.

On serves, I could easily sling in 75 MPH+ serves, which, for me, is usually difficult, as I serve with a lot of spin. When flattening it out, I found huge amount of power, but I still operated at 80% 1st serve percentage . On serve returns, I found that I could swing through the ball and really thump the returns (compared to with my BLX90, where I had to chip back my backhand returns, and only consistently hit my FH).

In my opinion, this racket is very suited for the modern game, with its light weight and awesome spin potential. Overall, for me, this racket was a 10/10 . Simply amazing!


In Grand Conclusion:

I loved the 95, liked the 90, and hated the 100. Wilson did a great job on this next batch of rackets, and I will be sure to buy quite a few 95s. If you like the current 90, you will like the new one, as many have guessed. If you want a lower powered Babolat, then you will love the 100. If you are anything like me, you will love the 95.

I also want to thank TW for the opportunity to demo these rackets, quite a great experience.

I hope this helps anyone who wanted some info on the racket