***Official K Blade Tour Club Thread***
- Thread starter thejuice
- Start date
thejuice
Hall of Fame
Carlos Pinky and Teyko, welcome!!!
To any of you that have joined. Please share your experiences and specs. What racquet were you using before...what is your playing level...what is your playing style...what strings are you using? This info would help many people that are curious to how this racquet performs.
To any of you that have joined. Please share your experiences and specs. What racquet were you using before...what is your playing level...what is your playing style...what strings are you using? This info would help many people that are curious to how this racquet performs.
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Teyko
Banned
I was previously playing with the TT Rebel 95 before purchasing the K Blade Tour. In college, I was preparing for my 4.5 test when I had to undergo a tibial tubercle osteotomy for lateral displacement and patella alta of my right knee.
Currently, I would rate myself a 4.0. I have a two handed backhand and semiwestern forehand. I love to play doubles and have decent touch at the net but am much more comfortable at the baseline.
I was also a stringer for about 3 years for SIUC and fell in love with the sport and aesthetic of stringing.
Currently, I would rate myself a 4.0. I have a two handed backhand and semiwestern forehand. I love to play doubles and have decent touch at the net but am much more comfortable at the baseline.
I was also a stringer for about 3 years for SIUC and fell in love with the sport and aesthetic of stringing.
thejuice
Hall of Fame
Plain english please!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!
Thanks for the background info. The TT Rebel is/was a classic racquet in its own right (a lot of people played or still do play that frame). It's funny you mentioned doubles, I also love this stick for doubles.
Teyko
Banned
As I still cannot play because of my arm, I have not strung it yet. But I read the Technifibre loses about 2-3 lbs of tension the night after stringing so I will probably string at the max with X-one Biphase.
have you also noticed how many people you have in this group compared to the prestige club. honestly both good frames on paper. mg prestige is sick already own 2 lol.
thejuice
Hall of Fame
The Prestige Club should have at least 5 times as many members since it's been around since the late 80s-early 90s. The KBT has been out for what, two months??? :razz:
KBlade Pro
New User
Haven't noticed.... seems fine when I compare it to my prestige.
i just tried the demo of kblade tour and it felt really nice. suprised i was didnt play singles though volleys were solid SERVES sucked really bad with it........ only because it was strung with wilson sensation the worst string ever made.
i think wilson may have converted me into buying a ktour. i am suprised by how easy it is to go on the offensive. i lost power THANK GOD.......... gained spin which isnt to suprising. very little spin but it is still spin. i just love how easy it is to volley with this thing. still cant get used to serving good like i do with my prestige. i think i like stiff racquet's, who knew. i still wish Wilson made the k90 weigh .4 oz less but owell. this stick is the closest thing to it.
groundstrokes are very solid with it. i played doubles again ill be playing baseline 21 today will tell you how it goes.
ANYONE have the wilson kpro gold/black bag super six.
^if you do own it please tell me the quality and how it plays.
groundstrokes are very solid with it. i played doubles again ill be playing baseline 21 today will tell you how it goes.
ANYONE have the wilson kpro gold/black bag super six.
^if you do own it please tell me the quality and how it plays.
Teyko
Banned
I do...the bag is sweet. I am actually thinking of buying another racquet. As I usually always have 3 but only bought two. But then I was thinking that I could wait for another 8 months to a year and get them for half price and just buy like 4 or 5 of them.
jjordache
Rookie
Let's try to revive this... What strings/tension do you like with the KBT ? What strings you want to try next ?
As for myself, I currently have Tonic+ @ 56lbs. I like it but I want to try some other (thinner) strings too and maybe drop the tension a bit.
Strings I want to try:
Klip Legend 17
Tecnfibre X-one Biphase 17
Wilson NXT Tour 17
..ah, and maybe
Wilson Enduro Pro 17 <- I hit with a friend's racquet strung with this and I really really liked it. I was surprised to learn it was a poly.
Teyko
Banned
I only play with technifibre strings.
Currently, my favorite is tecnifibre NGR2, (16g) but I also have some tecnifbre X-one Biphase (16) that I want to try. Has anyone done a hybrid with those two?
thejuice
Hall of Fame
I like the NXT Tour when it's freshly strung but after a few hours, the tension drops and begins to feel mushy. I plan on trying some type of hybrid in one of my sticks and Klip Venom in another one.
jjordache
Rookie
What's "a few hours" ?.. I was hoping the NXT Tour would hold for a couple of weeks (2-3 times/week play).
thejuice
Hall of Fame
It felt crisp for about six sets strung at 58lbs and then went soft on me.
hit with the kblade tour again and this time serve was fine and the return suffered a bit. it played differently today, volleys once again INSANE! ground strokes were still good not as good as yesterday. im going to need to try this out for a couple more days to see if it is good enough for me. once again wilson sensation is by far the worst string ever made. its either this or more mg prestige mid
KBlade Pro
New User
I currently have Prince Synthetic Gut 17 w/ Duraflex. Always used it, but would like to try Technifiber X-One Biphase 17. Also bought a bag of Babolat VS Natural Gut 16. Let you guys know how it hits as soon as I break my PSG.
KBlade Pro
New User
The picture might be a bit exaggerated. When I compare it to my LM Prestige Mid+, the Prestige's grip is a bit longer, but definitely not as much as the picture on post 28 would suggest.
Just thought I'd share this:
The gold lettering really irked me, looks so much cleaner now. In case anyone's wondering, I used to same trim dye I usually use to 'restore' worn grommets (after a quick going over with sandpaper).
what is the stuff you used called. and what paint should i use to paint racquets?
thejuice
Hall of Fame
Don't blame it completely on Wilson. I wish you had a chance to play the KBT with real string.
yea me two lol. owell im not risking $600 on chance. i still wish i could make a k90 with just .3 oz less
Petekbladetour1
Semi-Pro
What strings is best for my Kblade tour 93?
thejuice
Hall of Fame
Strings go hand in hand with feel. It really depends on what you're looking for. I love how NXT Tour feels when it's freshly strung. I plan on trying a couple of hybrids next. This is a string sensitive racquet so you may have to experiment a little.
Vin2
Rookie
Haven't posted here for a long time....
I made some adjustments to my Blades; added lead tapes here & there... it plays much better now but still need to make more adjustments to be perfect... will post the specs once i'm finally done...
has anyone modified their blades? if yes, how does it play and what are the specs?
I made some adjustments to my Blades; added lead tapes here & there... it plays much better now but still need to make more adjustments to be perfect... will post the specs once i'm finally done...
has anyone modified their blades? if yes, how does it play and what are the specs?
mavsman149
Hall of Fame
My first kblade tour is coming in on wed. FINALLY!!! Count me in the club. BTW what strings do you suggest. I'm getting it strung for free with NXT 17 at 58 lbs (Wilson month at club the racquet was only $161.50 with free nxt or sensation.) I previously had Fischer M Speed Pro 1 SL MP (the old one) that I strung with Big Banger original in the mains and nxt 17 in crosses at 60 lbs. Any Suggestions?
thejuice
Hall of Fame
Mavsman, welcome to the club!!!
Actually, I think you'll like the NXT 17 in it initially. My feeling is that NXT and NXT Tour string lose their tension quickly after a session or two so my plan is to try a BB hybrid with either NXT or Gosen Micro Sheep 17g. My wife and I just bought a new car and mattress so that set my bank account back a few stacks which means I'll have to wait another week or so to try this setup.
Ahh where do I start. I went through a nCode nPro (too light), KSix-One 95 (too heavy) then to a nBlade.
The nBlade I had borrowed from a friend and by time I was ready to order 2 of my own they were no longer in stock so I got the K Blade 98.
The KBlade 98 feels just right in weight and doesn't make my arm tired what so ever. I can generate as much pace as I desire without having to work too hard.
Right now I'm experimenting with strings and tensions. I've got one racket with just Wilson Extreme SyntheticGut and the other with a Tecnifibre Polyspin and Price hybrid. I really prefer the Wilson string and I feel I may stick with it but it's a little early to tell.
The nBlade I had borrowed from a friend and by time I was ready to order 2 of my own they were no longer in stock so I got the K Blade 98.
The KBlade 98 feels just right in weight and doesn't make my arm tired what so ever. I can generate as much pace as I desire without having to work too hard.
Right now I'm experimenting with strings and tensions. I've got one racket with just Wilson Extreme SyntheticGut and the other with a Tecnifibre Polyspin and Price hybrid. I really prefer the Wilson string and I feel I may stick with it but it's a little early to tell.
bertrevert
Legend
Darn, missed what you said thejuice, woops sorry.
See below
Comfortable feel eh? You bet...
In another thread I offered my impressions of the kBlade 98 so far:
Bit of background:
Demoing for a while, am an LM->MG Rad user.
Demoed nBlade but got kBlade (no nBlades).
This is first Wilson racq besides trying a k95 (too heavy).
First of all, I have Australasian kBlade 98, main difference being it states on frame throat unstrung weight is 304 grams (TW has it at 315g 3pts Head Light). Added lead under buttcap and got it to 8 points HL.
Strung weight + lead = 325 grams (11.5oz). Same static weight as my LM Rad.
Groundstrokes: Good quality feel to this racquet. It's just solid and doesn't transmit shock. (Have had TE from polys and it evaporated with this frame.) Just the weight and the power are right. Nothing going long unless I'm trying too hard. Nothing left short unless I just haven't had enough time. End-to-end shots are bread-and-butter. Running forehands are a dream. Cannot quite get the angles I once did, but feathering shots will come with familiarity. Can do dippers at the net.
Volleys: have been a real surprise with what is, dare I say, more a baseliner's stick. Nevertheless, manouverability (now more HL) is good-enough and have achieved depth and accuracy on volleys. Anything hit hard straight at you this frame can absorb.
Return-serve: Stunning... and solid. Step in and take the ball early and the frame just absorbs all the spin and speed and blats the ball back in the corner. Or hang back and connect sending the ball deep or high.
Slice: Supreme and solid. I like to slice a lot of BH and it is scarily accurate with depth and bite delivered. Probably the biggest surprise of the racquet.
Serves: Just not there yet. I could get speed and accuracy if not plow-thru with my LM Rads, however it's just been a bit harder with the kBlade to get it going. Making it more HL has helped swing speed.
Overall: It's a stick that has exposed flaws in my game. I'm pleased. It has demands. I cannot flick anything I'm late/cramped on. Serve requires more wind-up from me. Yet it is the same static weight as my LM Rad. My footwork is under the spotlight.
Whew, what a racquet...
Ah remember the good old days...
NoBadMojo vs. Travlerajm go head to head on the nBlade:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=131182
thejuice
Hall of Fame
thejuice
Hall of Fame
Hey Bertrevert, you're added too!!! Thanks for the review!!! I'll add the post number to the front page.
I don't know if I should count as a member of the club yet, but I just got my KBlade Tour in the mail today. I had enough waiting around for a demo and figured I could sell it pretty easily if it doesn't work out for me. Strung it up with TF Multifeel @ 55lbs, put a wilson pro overgrip on and look forward to giving it a run through soon, unfortunately I got a nasty case of black toe from a league match on sunday so i might not be able to hit with it for a bit.
Current racquet is a K95 18x20, I like the idea of something a bit more flexible than what I have now, but I haven't been able to find a racquet that is in the right sweetspot for me and still has a similar crisp feel to my K95. Interested to see how this thing feels.
Current racquet is a K95 18x20, I like the idea of something a bit more flexible than what I have now, but I haven't been able to find a racquet that is in the right sweetspot for me and still has a similar crisp feel to my K95. Interested to see how this thing feels.
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I don't have much of a review, but I felt like writing something down. Even though my toes are still bothering me quite a bit, I couldn't stand sitting here in my room with the KBT so I took a basket of balls down to the courts to hit some serves.
I hit a half basket worth with my current K95 18x20 and then took out the KBT (both were strung with TF Multifeel at 55lbs). If I had had to make a decision based on the first serve I hit, I probably would've ordered three. That first flat serve that I hit with the KBT was the hardest one I had hit all night. It was surprising simply because that's one place where the stiffness of the K95 really shines, on flat bombs. But, the extra racquet head speed I was able to generate with the KBT seemed to give me plenty of pace. After hitting a few more, and comparing the K95 back to back, it became apparent that the K95 was a tad more forgiving on flat serves, as the KBT had a slightly larger dropoff of power on mishit (particularly at the top of the hoop) serves. I also did feel that I started to "max out" the power of the KBT ever so slightly when I was really cranking them. It's actually kind of a cool feeling, but I couldn't help but think that a few grams of lead would allow me to serve even bigger.
On spin serves, I felt like I had trouble getting quite the same bite on the ball on kickserves. The first few that I hit (kickers out wide on the ad side) the ball went well long. I expected the lighter swingweight to actually make it easier on those kinds of serve, but it took me a few serves before I could get the ball in the box consistently. My first instinct is to think that the slightly smaller head = slightly tighter stringbed = slightly less bite on the kickserve. I had the same feeling when comparing the K95 16x18 to the 18x20 previously. It didn't "feel" like the ball was coming off the racquet with as much pop, but watching the ball, it didn't seem to be losing much to the K95. I wish I had someone on the other side to comment on how the serves felt to a receiver.
There was a group of 2.5 or so level players doing an informal social, and they invited me to fill out a doubles game they had set up that needed a 4th. I was itching to hit something other than serves so I obliged. It was hard to really get any feel for the racquet in that context as I wasn't hitting against anybody that was hitting with any pace and I couldn't sit there and unload on shots. I did take a nice cut at a backhand return of serve and it felt wonderful. I was hitting alot of easy slices on both sides and touch shots at the net, and I could see that the KBT is probably has phenomenal touch and feel at the net. I hit a couple of overheads that felt very good but they felt slightly more demanding compared to the K95 in the same way that it did with the flat serve. Overall it felt very very much like I expected it to, but I will need to play with it against some true competition before I have any idea how that will play out at my level.
Even though the KBT is lighter than i'm used to, it never felt flimsy or unstable because of it. That being said, I can see myself adding some lead to 10 and 2 and a bit more to the handle to make it slightly more headlight. I'm tempted to do that right now, but I do not want to mess with it until I have a chance to really hit with the racquet in its stock form.
Edit: For purposes of context, I am a former 5.0 (weak 5.0 in singles, solid 5.0 in doubles) player currently playing at a 4.5 level after 7 years away from the game. I have a pretty strong one-handed backhand with a good slice and a very weak western grip forehand, an all-court game with a much stronger doubles game than singles.
Edit 2: I just weighed both my K95 and KBT and they weighed in at 348 grams and 338 grams respectively. The K95 has a TW leather grip added and a Wilson Pro Overgrip, the KBT is stock with a Wilson Pro overgrip added.
I hit a half basket worth with my current K95 18x20 and then took out the KBT (both were strung with TF Multifeel at 55lbs). If I had had to make a decision based on the first serve I hit, I probably would've ordered three. That first flat serve that I hit with the KBT was the hardest one I had hit all night. It was surprising simply because that's one place where the stiffness of the K95 really shines, on flat bombs. But, the extra racquet head speed I was able to generate with the KBT seemed to give me plenty of pace. After hitting a few more, and comparing the K95 back to back, it became apparent that the K95 was a tad more forgiving on flat serves, as the KBT had a slightly larger dropoff of power on mishit (particularly at the top of the hoop) serves. I also did feel that I started to "max out" the power of the KBT ever so slightly when I was really cranking them. It's actually kind of a cool feeling, but I couldn't help but think that a few grams of lead would allow me to serve even bigger.
On spin serves, I felt like I had trouble getting quite the same bite on the ball on kickserves. The first few that I hit (kickers out wide on the ad side) the ball went well long. I expected the lighter swingweight to actually make it easier on those kinds of serve, but it took me a few serves before I could get the ball in the box consistently. My first instinct is to think that the slightly smaller head = slightly tighter stringbed = slightly less bite on the kickserve. I had the same feeling when comparing the K95 16x18 to the 18x20 previously. It didn't "feel" like the ball was coming off the racquet with as much pop, but watching the ball, it didn't seem to be losing much to the K95. I wish I had someone on the other side to comment on how the serves felt to a receiver.
There was a group of 2.5 or so level players doing an informal social, and they invited me to fill out a doubles game they had set up that needed a 4th. I was itching to hit something other than serves so I obliged. It was hard to really get any feel for the racquet in that context as I wasn't hitting against anybody that was hitting with any pace and I couldn't sit there and unload on shots. I did take a nice cut at a backhand return of serve and it felt wonderful. I was hitting alot of easy slices on both sides and touch shots at the net, and I could see that the KBT is probably has phenomenal touch and feel at the net. I hit a couple of overheads that felt very good but they felt slightly more demanding compared to the K95 in the same way that it did with the flat serve. Overall it felt very very much like I expected it to, but I will need to play with it against some true competition before I have any idea how that will play out at my level.
Even though the KBT is lighter than i'm used to, it never felt flimsy or unstable because of it. That being said, I can see myself adding some lead to 10 and 2 and a bit more to the handle to make it slightly more headlight. I'm tempted to do that right now, but I do not want to mess with it until I have a chance to really hit with the racquet in its stock form.
Edit: For purposes of context, I am a former 5.0 (weak 5.0 in singles, solid 5.0 in doubles) player currently playing at a 4.5 level after 7 years away from the game. I have a pretty strong one-handed backhand with a good slice and a very weak western grip forehand, an all-court game with a much stronger doubles game than singles.
Edit 2: I just weighed both my K95 and KBT and they weighed in at 348 grams and 338 grams respectively. The K95 has a TW leather grip added and a Wilson Pro Overgrip, the KBT is stock with a Wilson Pro overgrip added.
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bertrevert
Legend
^^ great review JohnP
Looks like MIDs again on serve are just cooking... but you must eventaully compete with this racquet and see whether you can nail all the shots you would expect to, that is uner pressure will you be able to do all that yuou expect. Although the difference is minimal with the smaller head of the KBT perhaps drop tension a little... I'd like to hear how it goes for you in singles... cheers
Looks like MIDs again on serve are just cooking... but you must eventaully compete with this racquet and see whether you can nail all the shots you would expect to, that is uner pressure will you be able to do all that yuou expect. Although the difference is minimal with the smaller head of the KBT perhaps drop tension a little... I'd like to hear how it goes for you in singles... cheers
mavsman149
Hall of Fame
I got mine yesterday it is the greatest now to get 2 more! BTW I love the NXT 17 at 58 but what should I hybrid it with next time Big Banger or pro hurricane maybe?
thejuice
Hall of Fame
I actually playtested with Klip Detonator 17 hybrid for a couple of sets the other day and plan on doing a Kirschbaum PL2 17/NXT Tour 17 hybrid in the next couple of days on one of my other sticks.
I'll post a comparitive review when I get the other one strung up and test it.
