Prince Ignite vs Wilson BLX95

[JackB1]

I just noticed that these sticks have very similar specs:

Ignite: 345g 11HL 341sw 69stiff 22mm

BLX95: 346g 8HL 338sw 67stiff 22mm

I have the BLX in 18x20 and have never tried the Ignite, but would love to hear from someone who has. I LOVE that dark red paintjob! I have tried the Rebel and liked the flexy/muted feel of the Rebel, so is the Ignite similar?
Biggest difference for me would be the open vs closed string pattern, but a
16x18 on a 95" head shouldn't be "too" open I would think.

If there is anyone out there who has played both of these or just the Ignite, I would love to hear your opinions. In TW's comparison tools, it has the Iginite with a little more power than the BLX and also a larger sweetspot. If it is like a more forgiving BLX, what would be wrong with that?

 

[Power Player]

It's not even close..don't waste your time and ENJOY YOUR RACQUET!!! You have a great racquet and don't need a new one.

I demoed one in December. It is not in any way like a more forgiving BLX. It was kind of like a Rebel, but not as good. It makes an annoying whistling sound when you swing. Serving is not very fun. This is a racquet that is designed for a net player IMO. I seriously doubt you would have any reason to switch or even consider it. The PJ is not even that cool.

It also felt damn stiff..so the 69 does not surprise me.

 

[JackB1]

It's not even close..don't waste your time and ENJOY YOUR RACQUET!!! You have a great racquet and don't need a new one.

I demoed one in December. It is not in any way like a more forgiving BLX. It was kind of like a Rebel, but not as good. It makes an annoying whistling sound when you swing. Serving is not very fun. This is a racquet that is designed for a net player IMO. I seriously doubt you would have any reason to switch or even consider it. The PJ is not even that cool.

It also felt damn stiff..so the 69 does not surprise me.

I was waiting for you to pop up and say "It's not as good as the Rebel"

The PG seems exactly like the Rebel, but red instead of green. I would just like to try it to see what it's like. Somehow this one eluded me up until now Seriously, I dont dislike anything about the BLX at all....just curious about the Ignite...that's all.

 

[Power Player]

I'd seriously stop demoing racquets. You clearly have no problems with your Wilson, and now it's time to obsess about gear like shoes, strings and vibration dampeners!!

It's not like the Rebel. It is a S&V frame and seems suited for doubles players. It is also very stiff. Master your racquet you have now..you don't need to even think about new sticks for at least a year. There is no point in it.

 

[JackB1]

I'd seriously stop demoing racquets. You clearly have no problems with your Wilson, and now it's time to obsess about gear like shoes, strings and vibration dampeners!!

Oh, I already do that as well

I just wanted to make sure you were still "on the case" as my racquet shrink

I have been tweaking strings lately. I currently use Maxim Touch, which is great, but I wish had more "bite". Next I am trying Gamma Asterisk Tour, which is supposed to be a little "crisper" and more "spin access" while still being soft. I am going to hybrid it with the Maxim Touch first to make sure it's not "too crisp" for me. But you are right, I "shouldn't" be looking at other frames, but it's fun But I am just "looing"....not "switiching"!

 

[10ACE]

Prince has no feel- stick with the BLX.

Try some MSV Co Focus 18 in your BLX U'll love the bite!!!

 

[Deleted member 19728]

Lol- when I think feel I know the blx is the first frame to come to mind. :?

 

[JackB1]

Lol- when I think feel I know the blx is the first frame to come to mind. :?

are u being sarcastic?

 

[Deleted member 19728]

I wanted to do the rolling eyes emoticon, but my iPhone is being less than compliant with opening up the emoticon menu at the moment.

 

[JGads]

Seriously, I dont dislike anything about the BLX at all....just curious about the Ignite...that's all.

Curiosity leads to very bad things among us. Stop before you start. The BLX is a keeper. The Prince is just a short skirt that can only lead to trouble.

 

[JediMindTrick]

I honestly don't know why you gave up on the Ozone Tour, that's one of the best racquets out there. The only racquet that I liked better is the RDX 500 MP, but that's very hard to find, plus there not a big difference between them anyway.

Do you feel that you play better with the BLX95 or the Rebel compared to the Ozone Tour?

 

[EC230]

Hi Jackb1,

If you're still interested I've been hitting with the Ignite for the past 6 months, actually switching to it from a Prince Original Graphite Mid. I've never hit with the BLX 95s (have however, hit with k95s and n95s and also Prince EXO3 Rebel) but hopefully you can find my experience with the Ignite helpful:

Groundstrokes:
The Ignite does have a pretty big and comfortable sweetspot, especially when compared to the Rebel making it slightly more forgiving than some of the similar racquets in the segment. It plows through the ball pretty well and the open pattern provides it with very good spin potential resulting in a heavy ball. What I miss with though with the Ignite compared to the POG is the extra bite/action but control seems to be equal. Against bigger hitters, the racquet does very well with great stability which is probably one of the reasons I've stuck with this racquet. The balance of the racquet also makes it somewhat maneuverable on defensive and improvisational situations.

Volleys:
Big plus here for the Ignite, even with the its beam width (something that took a while to get used to), swingweight, and overall weight. Again, maneuverability is good with enough mass to counter hard shots. Good control, does not require much for pace on volleys. Touch and feel shots are somewhat harder to pull off, but I'm currently experimenting with multis that hopefully will help. It's not that the racquet does not have feel, it's just that I feel the balance and maneuverability of the racquet just takes some time to adapt to hitting feel shots.

Serves:
Good power, control, and spin too, but might require a bit of work to get head speed with the racquet. Even though the racquet is around 11-12pts head light, the weight of the racquet still needs some work to get moving. Once that's down though, very comfortable and powerful serving stick.

Returns:
Great returning stick, but like DonBot has said, might initially be ahead of some returns but if you let the racquet be firm and through, very good results. Solid against hard serves but still maneuverable enough to attack/adjust against second serves.

Other notes:
Slice is actually one of the nicest shots to hit with for me with the Ignite, it just needs total commitment on hitting through the shot otherwise the ball will stay up. So in that regards, I actually like this racquet with slices.

Anyways, that's my take on the racquet. Still trying to find the optimum string setup and am currently also thinking about switching out the resi-Pro grip with a leather item.

E

 

[JackB1]

I wanted to do the rolling eyes emoticon, but my iPhone is being less than compliant with opening up the emoticon menu at the moment.

Actually the BLX 95 has better "feel" than you would think.

 

[JackB1]

I honestly don't know why you gave up on the Ozone Tour, that's one of the best racquets out there. The only racquet that I liked better is the RDX 500 MP, but that's very hard to find, plus there not a big difference between them anyway.

Do you feel that you play better with the BLX95 or the Rebel compared to the Ozone Tour?

I'm playing my best tennis ever with the BLX, but it's a tough call because I have been steadily improving since I had the Ozone Tour about 1 year ago.
I actually considered the Ozone Tour Pro for a while, but never tested it. Only think I didn't like about the Ozone was the thin 18mm beam. I thought it lead to instability on off center hits. The BLX does everything the Ozone Tour did, but a little better IMO.

 

[JackB1]

thanks for the review EC30. I got to try one out today a little hitting a demo against a wall. The racquet felt much heavier than my BLX and kind of sluggish. Had kind of a "dead" feel to it where you cant tell where you hit the ball on the racquet. Very soft feeling, like the Rebel and the Ozone, but I just got an overall blah feeling from the racquet. Not even close when compared with the BLX. OK...thread closed