Prince Ozone Tour or "Pro" Tour?

[jaydubbs15]

I looked on Prince's web-site and saw that many pro's play with an Ozone Tour. Curious, I looked on TW and it sells the Ozone Tour as well (but apparently does not sell an Ozone "Pro" Tour In the sell/trade section of TW and on **** I see that there are Ozone "Pro" Tours being sold, but not new by TW. Can anyone enlighten me as to the difference between the racquets? When did each come out? Is the Ozone "Pro" Tour a racquet being used by pro's? Thanks!

Jay

 

[goran_ace]

There are a few differences between the Ozone Tour and the Ozone Pro Tour - basically the Pro Tour has a denser string pattern (18 x 20), is a little heavier (12.1 oz vs 11.6) and a little stiffer (65 vs 60).

 

[jaydubbs15]

Thank you Goran.

 

[DustinW]

The Ozone Pro Tour was just discontinued a few months ago. I'm not sure why they stopped making one and not the other. Davydenko is the only pro that I know of that uses the Pro version.

 

[jaydubbs15]

Thank you Dustin. Has anyone tried the Pro version?

 

[DustinW]

Thank you Dustin. Has anyone tried the Pro version?

I've been playing with the pro version from more than a year now, and I've also tried the non-pro version. Anything in particular you want to know about it?

 

[jaydubbs15]

Yes. What did you think of both racquets? How do they compare? I've mostly played with Head racquets since learning the game but I've always admired Prince racquets and used to play with a Prince Classic many years ago. I am playing with a Head Liquidmetal Radical OS now. But I'd like to demo other racquets and am enticed by the Ozone Tour because of its comfort, access to spin (topspin is a big part of my game), and control, hopefully with a little pop on serves too. And I'd like to move to a mid-plus sized frame. This is neither here nor there but I tried a friend's Avery mid-plus frame and really like the weight distribution. It kind of reminded me of my old Head graphite edge (although I didn't compare the stats on the frames so I could be off.) Thoughts?

 

[DustinW]

The Ozone Tour and Ozone Pro Tour are very similar. I spent a few months playing with the Tour after the Pro Tour was discontinued thinking I would switch over, but I just didn't like it as much as the Pro Tour. I found it very easy to switch between the two. I'll go into more detail, but the bottom line is the Tour gives you more pop and that softer flexy feel.

I usually had both strung with SPPP Pure 16L at 58#.

weight:
There is about 0.6 oz difference in static weight, but its hardly noticeable. Maybe its the Ozone/O3 technology, but I find all of the Prince rackets really easy to swing. I would say though that I found the Tour to be just a bit quicker to get around on groundstrokes and stab volleys.

power:
They are both low-powered frames, but the Tour definitely has more pop the Pro Tour. I found it to be a noticeable difference on all shots (groundstrokes, serves, and volleys).

control:
Equal. Even though the Tour has a more open string pattern and more pop, I didn't think it had any less control than the Pro Tour. They are both excellent for control.

spin:
I thought I'd notice a huge difference here because of the string pattern (Tour is 16x18, Pro Tour is 18x20), but I found them to be nearly identical. Topspin is easily accessible with both frames.

serves:
I preferred serving with the Tour because it gave me a bit more pace without losing any control. Although, oddly enough, I get more kick (topspin) on my 2nd serve with the Pro Tour.

groundstrokes and volleys:
Nearly identical, but the Tour gives you a bit more help with the power.

I hope that helps. Like I said, I went back to the Pro Tour after spending some time with the Tour. For me, the stiffness is what made the decision. The Tour just had more flex than I like.

 

[jaydubbs15]

Thank you Dustin. It's interesting to me that you thought the Tour edged out the Pro Tour in almost every category yet still prefer the Pro Tour for its stiffer feel. Perhaps I should try them both.

Jay

 

[eman resu]

I felt my Ozone Tour stiffer after I replaced the rubber grommet and put a rubberband as dampener.

 

[Meaghan]

I played the OPT for a while and loved it. My main problem and the reason I moved on from this frame was that I found it difficult to serve with it and get the kind of pace I found with smaller headed frames. The 100" head i found difficult to manouver on serve.

Other than that this racket is just the best groundstroke machine on tour, easy and gives you a ton of confidence, I was wacking winners all over the place esp f/h.

Volleying was fine and touch shots surprisingly good, ok it doesnt have the stability of a pro staff but it doesnt go wanting in that department.

Also I had to add several gramms at 12", one reason was to up the SW but the other was to get more penetration as this racket gives you so much topspin.

If this racket came with a smaller head then Id prob still be using it. I played with the kps88 after it and that was better for serve but I found f/h difficult. I found my compromise between the OPT and the kps88 in my Vantage 95, has the best bits of both rackets

 

[ipitythefool]

I played the OPT for a while and loved it. My main problem and the reason I moved on from this frame was that I found it difficult to serve with it and get the kind of pace I found with smaller headed frames. The 100" head i found difficult to manouver on serve.

Other than that this racket is just the best groundstroke machine on tour, easy and gives you a ton of confidence, I was wacking winners all over the place esp f/h.

Volleying was fine and touch shots surprisingly good, ok it doesnt have the stability of a pro staff but it doesnt go wanting in that department.

Also I had to add several gramms at 12", one reason was to up the SW but the other was to get more penetration as this racket gives you so much topspin.

If this racket came with a smaller head then Id prob still be using it. I played with the kps88 after it and that was better for serve but I found f/h difficult. I found my compromise between the OPT and the kps88 in my Vantage 95, has the best bits of both rackets

The specs of your racquet are quite similar to my PT57A, which also comes with lead at 12. But I think the OPT most likely produces higher trajectory/spin (due to bigger gap/spacing of strings in sweetspot. But I may be wrong, since this is a Vantage and the spacing of strings may be different) and more forgiving, due to bigger head. Overall, good luck with your Vantage!

 

[Meaghan]

The specs of your racquet are quite similar to my PT57A, which also comes with lead at 12. But I think the OPT most likely produces higher trajectory/spin (due to bigger gap/spacing of strings in sweetspot. But I may be wrong, since this is a Vantage and the spacing of strings may be different) and more forgiving, due to bigger head. Overall, good luck with your Vantage!

You are right th OPT is a rallying machine due to that trajectory just gets difficult sometimes to really put the ball away.

 

[lefty10spro]

I have a lot of experience with both frames and unlike Dustin, I found the Tour to give me substantially more spin. Lead it up like dozens of male ATP players do (non-polarized only!) and rip it! Can't go wrong with either frame and you better get 'em before they're gone!!!

 

[MTennisMan]

Which one of the two do you recommend more