I love playing with different racquets so I decided to pick up an Ignite team from a forum member.
I've been playing with a Kobra Tour, handle weighted to 11.8 and strung at 60 with Gamma stinger.
The ignite felt heavy off the bat. It had a leather grip put on it with an overgrip so it was already above stock weight. Grommets are installed so it doesn't have as much of the 03 mushy feel.
It has great plow-thru and seemed kind of easy on the arm for as stiff as its rating is, but it really didn't feel all that stiff either. I don't know if that was the 03 holes or if the strings in it just play soft. It was strung at 55 with Luxion Banger mains, and bab xcel power on crosses. The didn't seem dead at all but the tension seemed much softer than I'm used to.
The racquet makes a bunch more noise that the Kobra and Kobra FX on impact, and didn't have the same pop of the strings but appeared to have quite a bit more power. Its more stable on miss hits especially towards the top of the racquet. It really seemed to keep the power towards the tip. Its for sure not as forgiving of a racquet as the Kobra, but more comfortable, and easier to control if you hit the sweet spot.
Groundstrokes:
Both Kobras are quite a bit more head light so at first I really seems to have trouble whipping around the racquet head. It's supposed to be a spin monster because of the 16x18 string bed, but I didn't seem to hit as much spin on groundstrokes. Serves were a different story though, and I would imagine I have to get used to it on the groundstrokes as the considerably higher swing weight threw my timing off a little and it didn't feel like I could really swing for extra spin just yet. Since the racquet is heavier, and less head light, it really was easy to return serves and I could really take heavy balls with more comfort - the racquet head plowed right through. The Kobras don't seem as stable when I return hard serves and groundstrokes.
I could get crazy slice ball action on both sides but my timing was off a little with the extra heft. I didn't notice the smaller string bed on slice shots like I didn't with regular full strokes.
Serves:
Serves were first off really comfortable. The racquet seem to do more of the work, and I didn't have to swing as hard to get pace. Serves really used the extra stiffness well, though again it didn't seem to kill my arm like the Pure Drive I tried for a while. Ratings aside, the Ignite didn't seem even close to being as stiff as the Roddic Pure drive. The Kobras have nice pop on serves but I have to really transfer my weight perfectly to get the same power. With the ignite it was more forgiving on a bad toss. I can control serves a bit better with the Kobras. Spin wise, the Prince is WAY better for serves. Kicks and skipping slice serves were pretty easy and sometimes not on purpose. I could really cut at the ball and get crazy movement.
Volleys: Very stable, but a little hard to get around to the ball. I really felt the extra swing weight.
For being a "team" series racquet its still a pretty hefty racquet. I ended up putting just at tad of lead tape in the handle to get the weight up to 12.0 oz on a letter scale, but I might go back to 11.8. It didn't make it feel any more head light. If I really decide for a big change in balance I'd probably have to go with the non-team ignite.
In summary, the racquet hits much less stiff than it is. Its loud on ball impact and pingy but still dampens well before it gets to your hand. Its not mushy like some 03 racquets with the grommets applied. Off center hits are pretty stable, but frame hits have no power at all. Spin on serves is great. For being a racquet 2-3 points head light, hitting balls towards the tip really didn't seem to loose as much power as usual. Has the sweet spot of a 100 head size in a 95 but looses a tad of forgiveness outside the zone.
I've been playing with a Kobra Tour, handle weighted to 11.8 and strung at 60 with Gamma stinger.
The ignite felt heavy off the bat. It had a leather grip put on it with an overgrip so it was already above stock weight. Grommets are installed so it doesn't have as much of the 03 mushy feel.
It has great plow-thru and seemed kind of easy on the arm for as stiff as its rating is, but it really didn't feel all that stiff either. I don't know if that was the 03 holes or if the strings in it just play soft. It was strung at 55 with Luxion Banger mains, and bab xcel power on crosses. The didn't seem dead at all but the tension seemed much softer than I'm used to.
The racquet makes a bunch more noise that the Kobra and Kobra FX on impact, and didn't have the same pop of the strings but appeared to have quite a bit more power. Its more stable on miss hits especially towards the top of the racquet. It really seemed to keep the power towards the tip. Its for sure not as forgiving of a racquet as the Kobra, but more comfortable, and easier to control if you hit the sweet spot.
Groundstrokes:
Both Kobras are quite a bit more head light so at first I really seems to have trouble whipping around the racquet head. It's supposed to be a spin monster because of the 16x18 string bed, but I didn't seem to hit as much spin on groundstrokes. Serves were a different story though, and I would imagine I have to get used to it on the groundstrokes as the considerably higher swing weight threw my timing off a little and it didn't feel like I could really swing for extra spin just yet. Since the racquet is heavier, and less head light, it really was easy to return serves and I could really take heavy balls with more comfort - the racquet head plowed right through. The Kobras don't seem as stable when I return hard serves and groundstrokes.
I could get crazy slice ball action on both sides but my timing was off a little with the extra heft. I didn't notice the smaller string bed on slice shots like I didn't with regular full strokes.
Serves:
Serves were first off really comfortable. The racquet seem to do more of the work, and I didn't have to swing as hard to get pace. Serves really used the extra stiffness well, though again it didn't seem to kill my arm like the Pure Drive I tried for a while. Ratings aside, the Ignite didn't seem even close to being as stiff as the Roddic Pure drive. The Kobras have nice pop on serves but I have to really transfer my weight perfectly to get the same power. With the ignite it was more forgiving on a bad toss. I can control serves a bit better with the Kobras. Spin wise, the Prince is WAY better for serves. Kicks and skipping slice serves were pretty easy and sometimes not on purpose. I could really cut at the ball and get crazy movement.
Volleys: Very stable, but a little hard to get around to the ball. I really felt the extra swing weight.
For being a "team" series racquet its still a pretty hefty racquet. I ended up putting just at tad of lead tape in the handle to get the weight up to 12.0 oz on a letter scale, but I might go back to 11.8. It didn't make it feel any more head light. If I really decide for a big change in balance I'd probably have to go with the non-team ignite.
In summary, the racquet hits much less stiff than it is. Its loud on ball impact and pingy but still dampens well before it gets to your hand. Its not mushy like some 03 racquets with the grommets applied. Off center hits are pretty stable, but frame hits have no power at all. Spin on serves is great. For being a racquet 2-3 points head light, hitting balls towards the tip really didn't seem to loose as much power as usual. Has the sweet spot of a 100 head size in a 95 but looses a tad of forgiveness outside the zone.
