Prince Phantom

JOSHL

JOSHL

Hall of Fame
Tordne said:
Everything else has come out of my bag for the moment. I'm left with a couple of Phantom Pro 100's and a Phantom 100. I played a match yesterday and started with my customised Pure Aero. After losing the first set I had this feeling of not being in control, like is was having to make to many adjustments/allowances for the racket. I switched to my Phantom Pro 100 and for the rest of the match (which we won) I didn't have a single time where I felt like I was having to accomodate the racket. Played again today and the same experience, total confidence in every shot.

The only other racket that i will be trying when it comes out if the Yonex VCORE Pro 97. That looks like it could be really nice if the RA is 64 or below.
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Same with the Yonex. That’s the only other frame that could tempt me as right now my go to frame is the DG 330. I did start playing my old o3 tour Mp due to wrist problems though. Think I’m going to get the pro 100p first. Love the box beam. Then maybe I’ll get the pro 100 as a backup. But like you said if that new Yonex is 62ra or below.........
 
Dartagnan64

Dartagnan64

Legend
Well I just have to update my experience with the Phantom 100. Last week I added 3 gms of tungsten to the 12 o'clock position just to see if it would give more pop to my service game. I really think that helped the stick tremendously all round. Better groundstrokes esp my 2HBH, more stable volleys and a bit more oomph on the serve. So those that have said, add some weight to the hoop I agree.

And the best thing is, any hint of arm pain is completely gone since I added the tungsten. Coincidence? Maybe. But I'll take it nonetheless.
 
haqq777

haqq777

Legend
Dartagnan64 said:
Well I just have to update my experience with the Phantom 100. Last week I added 3 gms of tungsten to the 12 o'clock position just to see if it would give more pop to my service game. I really think that helped the stick tremendously all round. Better groundstrokes esp my 2HBH, more stable volleys and a bit more oomph on the serve. So those that have said, add some weight to the hoop I agree.

And the best thing is, any hint of arm pain is completely gone since I added the tungsten. Coincidence? Maybe. But I'll take it nonetheless.
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You have ported Phantom if I recall, correct? Did you try playing around with weight at 3 & 9 o' clock as well? Just curious. I love mine with same 3g at 12. I rarely try putting weight at sides because it makes the stick too sluggish for me but Phantom is pretty whippy and I am guessing weight on sides will be okay. I should try it next.
 
Dartagnan64

Dartagnan64

Legend
haqq777 said:
You have ported Phantom if I recall, correct? Did you try playing around with weight at 3 & 9 o' clock as well? Just curious. I love mine with same 3g at 12. I rarely try putting weight at sides because it makes the stick too sluggish for me but Phantom is pretty whippy and I am guessing weight on sides will be okay. I should try it next.
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I usually put at 3 and 9 if I feel the torsional stability is poor and the sweetspot is narrow. That's not the case with the Phantom. I wanted to move the sweetspot a bit higher in the frame so I added tungsten at 12 o'clock and like the results. Not sure I'd want to add much more to the hoop since the static weight is just over 12 oz and it's still HL which is ideal for me.

I do have one more 3 g tungsten tape lying around, so I could look at putting it on one of my Phantoms and comparing to the other but I'm not convinced its worth the bother.
 
Dartagnan64

Dartagnan64

Legend
Well a few more matches with the lead at 12 o'clock and I'm really happy with this experiment. My arm feels great, the pace on my balls has been better (even got a few unsolicited comments from usual opponents), Serves are popping nicely and more penetration from slices.

So if anyone is fussing about power levels with the Phantom, a little lead at 12 seems to help a surprising amount.
 
M

Mac33

Hall of Fame
I am definitely not a fan of the Phantom but today did hit quite a few good shots with it.

It's my friends frame which he ordered from TW. He paid an extra 10 dollars for it to select the heaviest one they had. Quite a bit over spec!

My impressions of it are it feels very flimsy despite its heavy weight. With off centre hits it feels there's not much weight behind the ball.

The feel is weird and ridiculously soft with the Alu Power.

At low racquet head speed it felt to me power was low,but when I swung out hard and made good contact the spin was very high to extreme with exceptional velocity.

So I'm going to play a full set with it tomorrow against a tough opponent for me and see how it goes.

My favourite frame is Solinco Pro 10 with Cyclone at 45ilbs.
 
Dartagnan64

Dartagnan64

Legend
Mac33 said:
I am definitely not a fan of the Phantom but today did hit quite a few good shots with it.

It's my friends frame which he ordered from TW. He paid an extra 10 dollars for it to select the heaviest one they had. Quite a bit over spec!

My impressions of it are it feels very flimsy despite its heavy weight. With off centre hits it feels there's not much weight behind the ball.

The feel is weird and ridiculously soft with the Alu Power.

At low racquet head speed it felt to me power was low,but when I swung out hard and made good contact the spin was very high to extreme with exceptional velocity.

So I'm going to play a full set with it tomorrow against a tough opponent for me and see how it goes.

My favourite frame is Solinco Pro 10 with Cyclone at 45ilbs.
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I think it looks ridiculously flimsy but doesn't play that way. I have no problem plowing through balls even from heavy hitters. And I'm sitting at a static weight about 12.1 oz.

It does play soft and muted which takes some getting used to. But that doesn't mean it can't do all the things you need it to do. I find it's a true tweener between the Pure Drives/ Pure Aeros of the world and the Pro Staff 95's of the world. Spins better than a control racket and controls better than a spin racket. All with an arm friendly experience. But you do need to bring a bit of your own power.

Adding some lead to 12 o'clock moved the sweetspot up and helped it's performance, at least for me.

Is it the worlds best performing racket? No. But its the best performing arm friendly racket I've tried. And i hope Prince keeps us old codgers with old elbows in mind moving forward since Head, Babolat and Wilson have been abandoning the flexy players frame for light and whippy super stiff frames.
 
The Big Kahuna

The Big Kahuna

Hall of Fame
PBODY99 said:
Now if they would release a 27.5 " Phantom similar to the TX-150-7TT84; I would be a very happy consumer.
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That would be cool. Maybe make the head size in that stick a little larger and you have the replacement for the 2015 Wilson Blade 104.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
M

Mac33

Hall of Fame
I was going to play a set today with the Phantom but only ended up playing with it in the hit up and the first game which I lost.

If I had to describe the frame in two words - extremely flimsy!

Off centre strikes near the frame are met with a feeling of NO WEIGHT BEHIND THE BALL.

Ok,i will be a bit kind - it feels like there's maybe 100g behind the ball on off strike hits.

Hit it well and it has excellent power,that's the huge contrast I found.

Like no other frame I've ever tried. Lower powered on off centre strikes than the Exo 3 Tour.

Were I to continue to use it I'd put around 10g of lead tape between 10 and 2.

The response - much more muted than my Prince Tour.

Do not buy this stick till you've tested it first.

It feels like hitting with a lightweight junior frame on off centre strikes - trust me!
 
dgoran

dgoran

Hall of Fame
Mac33 said:
I was going to play a set today with the Phantom but only ended up playing with it in the hit up and the first game which I lost.

If I had to describe the frame in two words - extremely flimsy!

Off centre strikes near the frame are met with a feeling of NO WEIGHT BEHIND THE BALL.

Ok,i will be a bit kind - it feels like there's maybe 100g behind the ball on off strike hits.

Hit it well and it has excellent power,that's the huge contrast I found.

Like no other frame I've ever tried. Lower powered on off centre strikes than the Exo 3 Tour.

Were I to continue to use it I'd put around 10g of lead tape between 10 and 2.

The response - much more muted than my Prince Tour.

Do not buy this stick till you've tested it first.

It feels like hitting with a lightweight junior frame on off centre strikes - trust me!
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Unless there is some crazy qc issues going on This does not seem like the same racquet I had / or still have pro but I am looking for a frame with zero power because anything that gives me power I tend to sail. Perhaps we have different games?
 
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warney

warney

Rookie
I normally use PCG LB (shortened to 27.5) with 3 gm lead at 12.
I am demoing Phantom from TW (got a brand new one with plastic on handle!). This is strung with Prince Tour XC 15L (seems like within 48 to 52 lbs). I played 4 long games with it yesterday. I put it down after 4 games because I thought it will play better with some more weight.

I am partially there with what @Mac33 is saying. Phantom does have very good plowthrough. But this is not a racket to keep hitting neutral rally balls. My neutral ground stroke swings landed the ball shorter than I like and from defensive position I struggled. Tour XC is too control oriented, so some other string will suit better for me.
But every time I went aggressive with good racket head speed, the speed and depth on the shot was exceptional resulting in outright winners where you can just bit opponent with pace. May be there is a hotspot in this racket. It reminded me of Wilson Pro Staff 97 that I tested 2 years back.

I think Phantom will be great racket with some lead at top (10 & 2 I guess). So for my use I think along with lead, I can extend this by 0.5 inches (Despite 328 swingweight it's really fast moving racket).

dgoran said:
Perhaps we have different games?
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I think Phantom is better suited more to the aggressive style game.
 
Dartagnan64

Dartagnan64

Legend
PBODY99 said:
Now if they would release a 27.5 " Phantom similar to the TX-150-7TT84; I would be a very happy consumer.
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I would be happy with that. I find the major drawback of the Phantom line is the weaker 2HBH I have with them. I used to use PD+ and SW Wilson Blade and those racquets powdered the ball with a 2 hander. I find I'm slicing a lot more with the Phantom. So an extended length would get me excited.
 
Dartagnan64

Dartagnan64

Legend
Mac33 said:
I was going to play a set today with the Phantom but only ended up playing with it in the hit up and the first game which I lost.

If I had to describe the frame in two words - extremely flimsy!

Off centre strikes near the frame are met with a feeling of NO WEIGHT BEHIND THE BALL.

Ok,i will be a bit kind - it feels like there's maybe 100g behind the ball on off strike hits.

Hit it well and it has excellent power,that's the huge contrast I found.

Like no other frame I've ever tried. Lower powered on off centre strikes than the Exo 3 Tour.

Were I to continue to use it I'd put around 10g of lead tape between 10 and 2.

The response - much more muted than my Prince Tour.

Do not buy this stick till you've tested it first.

It feels like hitting with a lightweight junior frame on off centre strikes - trust me!
Click to expand...
I agree that the frame shots are quite underpowered, but I feel the sweetspot is actually quite generous. But I've never purchased a racket based on the quality of the frame shots. TBH the worst frame shots I get are from wide beam racquets where the ball careens off to the side somewhere.

And I also think the Prince Textreme Tours are worse for off center power loss. I definitely had to add lead at 3 and 9 in my TT 100T. Whereas the Phantom seems to be better off with lead closer to the tip.
 
Moonarse

Moonarse

Semi-Pro
andre2110 said:
I live in Brazil, ITN 5;

I use a Prince Tour 100 - 16x18 - L3 (4-3 / 8), which I consider a great racket because I have a lot of comfort and spin and good control, although low power.
I want to make a pair, but unfortunately I can not find the racket to buy, either in Brazil or the USA.
I researched Phanton, but it has less power and so I read comments, it 's inferior to Prince Tour 100 - 16x18.

The question is, will Prince re-launch the Prince Tour 100, or will it get us in hand?

Which rackets have the same comfort and spin as the Prince Tour 100 (I have tennis-elbow).
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If you are still looking for this frame, there is a guy selling one 16x18 at the OLX.
 
M

Mac33

Hall of Fame
Today put a thin strip of lead weight on the Phantom from 2 o'clock to 10 o'clock.

Felt like a different frame.....especially when i miss hit the ball. Feel /response were much better too.

Its growing on me....

It reminds me a lot of the Prince Exo 3 Tour,in that its almost unplayable without the extra weight added to the upper hoop.

Lost the first set 6-1 with my Solinco then swapped over to the Phantom with the added weight and lost the second 6-4.

Was 3-1 up in the third before we stopped.

My favourite shot with it was a steep angled forehand crosscourt.

Springy is another word to describe this frame. The huge flex in the frame sort of acts like a catapult producing added power.

Time will tell.
 
Dartagnan64

Dartagnan64

Legend
I agree that a bit of weight near the top improves the frame. I've got mine right at 12 O'Clock but 10 and 2 is a good location too probably.
 
T

tata

Hall of Fame
I think the new pro models and 93p is getting all the buzz. This is probably a frame i can play with since I really did enjoy the exo3 tour but in the closed pattern. But I am now one with the pro 100p. I just can't resist a thin box beam.
 
S

scotus

G.O.A.T.
tata said:
I think the new pro models and 93p is getting all the buzz. This is probably a frame i can play with since I really did enjoy the exo3 tour but in the closed pattern. But I am now one with the pro 100p. I just can't resist a thin box beam.
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This is the only Phantom I own ... so far. Can't wait for my foot to heal, so I can try out this baby!
 
Dartagnan64

Dartagnan64

Legend
I'd love to try some of the other phantoms but they are rare up here in Canada. Next time I'm in the US I'll try to hunt some down. With TW owning the distribution rights it's hard to track down brick and mortar Prince dealers.
 
S

scotus

G.O.A.T.
PBODY99 said:
@Dartagnan64
I have wound up several Phantoms one of which needs a larger grip. Rather than try to sell it I think I'll find someone stateside to bring it to 27.5 as Ring Ro11.de did for these
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The easiest and most economical way to securely extend by 1/2 inch is to buy an extended-length butt cap. You can google it. There's a paddle/pickle ball place in California that sells these butt caps.

If you want to go for a longer extension, remove the PU foam and then apply Volkl pallets (S pallets if you prefer the Prince shape) and then plug the hairpin and the rest of the empty space with rigid material, such as moldable plastic or epoxy putty.
 
sredna42

sredna42

Hall of Fame
scotus said:
The easiest and most economical way to securely extend by 1/2 inch is to buy an extended-length butt cap. You can google it. There's a paddle/pickle ball place in California that sells these butt caps.

If you want to go for a longer extension, remove the PU foam and then apply Volkl pallets (S pallets if you prefer the Prince shape) and then plug the hairpin and the rest of the empty space with rigid material, such as moldable plastic or epoxy putty.
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Thanks mate, never heard of extended buttcaps before, and I had been wondering if there was a way peeps out there had figured out to backyard mod their frames to extend them without butchering them.

I tried the DR98+ today, and dunno what to think.
I can't say anything bad about it, it did everything well, I I didn't feel a single harsh vibration on any shot no matter how mis-hit, but I didn't see any insane power or crazy spin or anything,

Would like to try my usual frame with the extra length, the buttcap trick makes the idea feasible to entertain now.
 
dgoran

dgoran

Hall of Fame
I'm usually 18x20 guy but but for whatever reason phantom does not bother me in its current string pattern. But I do switch to 16 gauge when using phantom /pro vs 17 gauge when using 93p
 
haqq777

haqq777

Legend
stephenclown said:
Cant believe prince might be coming back and their ports being the pick :eek:
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Haha, I'm from the "pro port" party so I have no issues whatsoever. So far I have played with a lot of racquets and none have been able to dethrone Phantom 100 in comfort department for me. Thats why it's all the more fascinating to see it on tour, toe to toe, with the big boys hitting big and heavy.
 
time_fly

time_fly

Hall of Fame
I've never heard of Jozef Kovalik but I googled him and found pics of him playing with all sorts of Prince frames. Looks like he was using the ported Phantom for a while.
 
haqq777

haqq777

Legend
Dartagnan64 said:
Maybe its my aging vision. Looks more rectangular than my Phantom's throat.
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This is my Phantom 100:


This is Kovalik


These are pics I pulled from the net of 100P:






The box beam is easy to identify at this angle Kovalik has his racquet up. Doesn't look like its a box beam.

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable on Kovalik stick can chime in too perhaps and confirm.
 
S

stee

New User
n8dawg6 said:
he is playing phantom paint but nothing else about that racquet is a retail phantom (either one).
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What mold is it? I've got no clue, haven't heard of this guy until a few hours ago. It seemed to me as though ATP Pros playing Prince weren't rushed to use their older molds with new paintjobs. I find that refreshing when compared to what's happening with Head/Wilson/etc pros.
 
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