Hey guys and gals,
As ya'll know I've been looking for a good OHBH racquet. I currently have the 2015 Blade 18x20, but really want to optimize the swing speed with a smaller head. I got the recommendation of the re-release PS 6.1 95 but it is so hard to find! I have narrowed it down to a few that I have read on the message board, any recs would be greatly appreciated.
Wilson 6.1 95 BLX
Volkl C10 pro
Phantom 93P
Anything else? Thank you,
joe
Years ago I had been playing the 6.1 Classic (strung with 17 ga. syn. gut) for a while. Loved that racquet for doubles and for serve and volley play, but realized that I could benefit from a more flexible alternative with similar heft and balance. The softer frames I tried gave me a little more comfort, but also gave me a substantial boost in control around the baseline that I needed.
The C10 was a perfect switch for me at the time and I still use these frames off and on now. Lots of easy power (and superlative comfort) when I want to slug in a singles setting. But the other Volkl model that I use both for playing and almost exclusively when teaching/coaching is the Organix 10 325g. The more current version of that O10 is the V-Sense 10 325g - I also just got a pair of these (on $ale at TW) because my O10's are getting older. I should note that I still string all my own racquets with mostly 17 ga. syn. gut, but I sometimes use 16 ga. in the summer heat. I'm not a poly player at all.
Here's the catch: I didn't much care for these O10's until I added some lead tape to both their hoops and handles. Once I went ahead and did this though, the racquets absolutely came alive for me. After tuning, mine weigh about 12.8 oz. and balance at about 10 pts. HL (rather close to my old 6.1 Classics). Nicely comfortable, better control for me than my C10's, and all the spin that I've ever wanted in any racquet (the C10's will turn the ball, but with a little extra work).
Any racquet I use for hitting a one-handed backhand simply has to have enough weight and inherent stability to work for me. If it's heavy enough to be stable through the ball, it also needs enough HL balance for me to get a familiar degree of handling with it - that's just me.
I've tried to get along with a LOT of different racquets since I parked both the C10 and O10 in my bag. I picked up the PS 97 two years ago and couldn't tune that into a good fit for me, picked up a pair of the 2015 Blade 98 with the 16x19 pattern - no luck, and I also found the more recent generations of the Six.One 95 and even the RF 97 to be just too harsh and demanding compared with my Volkls.
Aside for my strong recommendation for the Volkl options, I think that the Phantom 93P looks interesting as well as the Dunlop Srixon 2.0. I have a soft spot for racquets with a little bit of an old-school design, but I've also found a little less inherent liveliness with frames having smaller hoop sizes. It seems that my 98" Volkls have become my personal "normal", but I'm really not fond of anything larger than these.
