POG (PCG) OS Comparisons

[B Cubed]

Has anyone used both the PCG 107 (2013 version with white lettering and new cosmetics) and the regular (current) one - Prince Graphite Classic (gold lettering with 'Tour Series')? I posted a question over on the TW Questions site about their stats, and I'm still curious. As an example, it shows in almost all categories (speed, power, plow) the PCG 100 was better than the Prince Graphite OS. I loved the 100 back in the day, but its anemic power just couldn't let me hit out the way I prefer to.

I have a 2013 model, and I just really groove with it. A little bit more brassy than the other. Way back in the day, I did play with the 'Graphite Classic' as my go-to stick, and it felt 'weaker' than the PCG 107 (2013), but that could be conflated with my layup at the time.

I demoed the T-Dub one the other, and I really couldn't tell much of a difference. But it was only one session. So, if someone out there has deeper experience, I love to hear your thoughts. I'm particularly looking at power and weight. Through various tinkering I was able to get mine to about 11.8-ish ounces, which is around my ideal weight.

Thanks -

 

[jonestim]

I had two of the 2013 versions and they were the two lightest POG OS that I had out of probably 8. One was around 335g strung with overgrip and was super fast to swing, but a bit anemic and needed lead. The second was around 342 strung with overgrip and was my favorite of the POGs I owned. It was a little more "brassy", but completely acceptable and was a great weight for the racquet. It was also the biggest QC weight swing I have had in a Prince racquet out of the many, many I have owned. I would be curious what the specs were on the one you were hitting.

The Tour versions I owned were around 348-352 with OG, and the 4 stripes were 356-364.

I believe TW said they are getting it back in stock early next year. You could call them up and have them pull you a light one.

 

[B Cubed]

I had two of the 2013 versions and they were the two lightest POG OS that I had out of probably 8. One was around 335g strung with overgrip and was super fast to swing, but a bit anemic and needed lead. The second was around 342 strung with overgrip and was my favorite of the POGs I owned. It was a little more "brassy", but completely acceptable and was a great weight for the racquet. It was also the biggest QC weight swing I have had in a Prince racquet out of the many, many I have owned. I would be curious what the specs were on the one you were hitting.

The Tour versions I owned were around 348-352 with OG, and the 4 stripes were 356-364.

I believe TW said they are getting it back in stock early next year. You could call them up and have them pull you a light one.

That's a good call on the direct ask to them. Do you recall off the top of your head any noticeable power difference between those 2013 versions and the others?

 

[jonestim]

That's a good call on the direct ask to them. Do you recall off the top of your head any noticeable power difference between those 2013 versions and the others?

Power comes from a few ways, one of which is swingweight and another is racquet head speed. If you could swing the Tour model as fast as you could swing the 2013 then the Tour would give more power because it had a higher swing weight. If you could swing the 2013 faster (which I could) then you may be able to get more power from the 2013 just because your racquet has more speed. The differences aren't huge, but it's really going to come down to "swing the heaviest racquet you can swing quickly" - and since the POG is at the high end of that range for me, it mattered.

 

[B Cubed]

Thank you, I appreciate the insight. And I don't mean this facetiously; I've seen and appreciated a lot of your comments on various threads over the years. Let me give some additional behind the original question. I'm familiar with the factors going into racket power, and to that in-line quote, I couldn't agree more. Every racket in my collection has lead on it, in some specific fashion/area, even my old school Head Radical Zebra. I've noticed that as I've been getting older, my racket weights have steadily risen as I've wanted more mass based power, to let the racket do the work. And I just really love good plow through; and I also hate racket flutter.

To your question to me, my PCG OS is at about 11.8 oz. (~334.5 grams). I have the leather grip off, I use the new version of Babalot's skin feel grip - reducing further the weight. Side note: I have some tape on the palette, the purpose to give it a more rectangle shape (home jimmy, if you will). To keep it head light, I've got a few inch-long lead strips overlapping on the buttcap. I usually use a 17 gauge string, so that also helps with the headlight feel. I don't have any weight (lead) anywhere else, nothing hoop or throat. I have no idea what it's swing weight is; I would love to find someone with a machine to know.

The PGO (T-Dubs Tour Series version) I demoed the other day was as is, so definitely heavier with the leather grip, as well as a 16 gauge string. So I didn't really use an opportunity to spec it like mine, to really do a comparison. But I couldn't really tell a discernable difference between the heaviness of my shots between the two rackets.

To my original question -

My POG understanding (and I thought I read this a long while back, but I could be amiss), is that the 2013 POG had a slightly more modulus graphite in its layup, and was thus able to be a little stiffer, stronger, and also slightly lighter than the other generation POGs. And due this, that's why the others feel more plush, and the 2013 version a little more brassy. Again, I could be off with this assessment, and I just don't remember correctly. That said, if my understanding is on target, the mass wouldn't be the determining factor alone for inherent racket power. But most likely the answer would come back to mass and its allocation for swing weight.

Ultimately the goal is to get a version of a POG as close to the swing weight and inherent power of my current PCG OS. And preference would be to have one in production (understanding that T-Dub is on back order until ~Feb. '23).

 

[jonestim]

It could be that the '13 had more high modulus and that's why it was a touch more brassy. At the time I thought it was because it maybe had less foam, which made it lighter as well.

I would guess that if you could get a Feb release one and get one on the lower end of weight/SW you should be able to match your current feel close enough that it wouldn't personally bother me. String both similar and grab whichever has the cleanest grip.