Prince Original Graphite (POG) Mid versus OS

[OneHander]

I have been playing with the Prince Graphite II for a long time and and have gone through the demo process with several different rackets. I am trying to find a racket that is better on my arm in terms of vibration. I have narrowed it down to the POG Mid or OS and another racket from a different maker. My concern in going to the POG mid is that the head size is smaller than my Prince Graphite II. I play doubles more than singles and wonder whether the step down in frame size will be an issue. The only area that I really worry about is serve return. I had the POG mid as a demo this week and it felt pretty good (compared to my Prince Graphite II) including returns in singles. I have not tried the POG OS and wonder what others have to say about it versus the mid.

I hit the ball fairly flat, have a one handed backhand, play both from the baseline and at the net, and hit slice, kick, and flat serves.

I used the POG mid in the late 80's but it seems that how they make this racket (in terms of materials) has changed a little bit. I appreciate any feedback.

 

[markwillplay]

I just bought a used new POG mid and ther is no question that my OS hits much better for my arm. If you miss the sweet spot the mid jars you. I am going to trade it ASAP. Also played with an older POG mid (had 90 and single green stripe) that hit much sweeter...much. That is my take.

 

[OneHander]

I have never used an OS frame so what should I expect versus the mid or mid+ that I have been using for the past 20 years?

 

[Xevoius]

I just switched back to using POG mid after about 3 years using Babolat and POG OS. I used to try and use the equipment that catered to hitting a big forehand but as I played more tournaments I started realizing that my game is only as good as my weakness - my one-handed backhand. Players just kept peppering my backhand until I produced an error and I felt that I could not ever really come over the ball effectively on serve returns on that side.

I realized that I could get better racquet head speed and shot feedback from a smaller headed graphite based frame so I demoed the Pro Staff 85 and the POG mid and decided on the mid. The POG allowed me to hit my topspin forehand and kickserve better but both felt extremely nice on backhands and flat serves. The Pro Staff was a little high on the swingweight and again was difficult to come over serve returns.

I have also tried going down in grip size back to a 4 3/8 grip instead of a double wrapped 4 5/8. I now seem to get more wrist action into my shots that allow me to "hold" the shot a bit longer and allows me to cut the ball more effectively though I sometimes have to remind myself to play with a looser arm.

The only downside to the POG mid has to be the short lifespan of the string. I strung up some Klip gut/poly hybrid and was only able to get 1.5 hours of hitting with it but to counter that, I am able to string the racquet very quickly as it only has 14 mains.

I now feel very confident with my one-handed backhand and have even been able to hit some serve return winners on that side.

 

[Xevoius]

Btw, I am using the 4 stripe 80's POG mids and if you commit to using it, you will find the sweet spot

 

[OneHander]

Btw, I am using the 4 stripe 80's POG mids and if you commit to using it, you will find the sweet spot

So are you saying that the POG OS was not backhand friendly? Is it a question of being able to get around with the OS versus the mid? I have a one handed backhand as well and worry that with smaller head size the return of serve will require that much more precision versus the OS. What about shots hit out of the sweetspot? Thanks for the input.

 

[Bengt]

I found that the OS made me put more topspin on my OHBH than I wanted (ie: more of an upward brush at the ball instead of a sound swing). I had a hard time flattening it out compared to the mid. I'm sure there are exceptions, but a 107 sq in head is too big for a OHBH, IMO. And you have to have a really strong wrist to get the OS through the zone because it's pretty heavy. I'm a 4.0 and have used both.

 

[Xevoius]

Of course this is just my perspective...

My findings have been that a good one-handed backhand racquet allows me to almost whip it through the stike zone allow me to put a little bit of wrist to add spin or power to the shot and this is very hard to accomplish with a larger headed frame.

There are many exceptions to this and your idea of a good one-handed backhand may have more of a locked wrist approach. I try and use the heaviest swing-weight setup that still allows me to whip the racquet head through my shot.

I used to use a very heavliy weighted racquet (approx. 13.6 oz) POG OS and though my forehand was a weapon, I had to lock my wrist on my backhand causing me to broadcast my shot and yeilded very little topspin. As I gain more upper body muscle, I will most likely start adding lead to the top of the frame increasing the swingweight but for now I am satisfied with the stability of the frame against heavy hitters.

I would also suggest adding the Dunlop 200 models to your list of one-handed racquets to demo as it is very one-hander friendly as well or if you are a slighter build the 300 models.

 

[Xevoius]

Bottom Line:

I just don't think you are going get the optimum racquet head speed out of your one-hander using an OS racquet. Sure it will feel comfortable but if you spend a week or two with a smaller headed frame, you will forget you are playing is a smaller string bed.

If you use the smaller headed frame and simply focus on CLEAN HITTING and technique, the rest will fall in place and your game will improve.

 

[Bengt]

Of course this is just my perspective...

I would also suggest adding the Dunlop 200 models to your list of one-handed racquets to demo as it is very one-hander friendly as well or if you are a slighter build the 300 models.

That's precisely what I'm doing now (trying the 200 and 300). So far the 300, while light, feels good on my OHBH. It's a tad too powerful, but I'm going to try poly to tame it. I wish Prince made a 97 in POG at 11.5 oz or so in a 27 in length. But since they don't I'm retiring my POGs. They're just too demanding for this 4.0 with wristy strokes.

 

[Xevoius]

"What about shots hit out of the sweetspot?"

Part of the beauty of the smaller frame is that if you do not hit the ball cleany, "the majority of the time" the ball simply does not go over the net. This may seem brutal at first but this feedback forces you to improve your technique, footwork and focus on every ball.

The feedback is what is going to help you understand what you did wrong and ultimatley improve your game.

I put some time in with the ball machine when I switched back to the POG mid to make sure I was able to hit out on the ball before I started playing matches.

"...worry that with smaller head size the return of serve will require that much more precision..."

Don't let the smaller headsize get into your head. It probably will require more precision but then again with the faster racquet head speed, you will be able to hit with more precision and once you adjust, your returns will be that much better.