Was there more than one version of the Prince Pro (the black painted aluminum racquet). This year, for nostagia (I used to play with one many years ago), I bought one for cheap on ****. Unfortunately it came cracked, so I just threw it away. I bought another one, but afer using it for a few sessions, and really loving the way it felt, it cracked too. My third one just came, and when I compared it to the one I still had, it was not quite the same. It was about a half an ounce heavier, and the grip and throat piece were a little more robust looking. I'm planning on buying a few spares, and was wondering - did they change the design to prevent cracking, or was that just a random variation? I kind of liked the way the lighter one felt, but if they keep cracking I guess I shouldn't buy any more. Any users still out there?
Prince Pro aluminum racquet versions question
- Thread starter EBauman
- Start date
joe sch
Legend
Link below shows three diff Prince metals, woody, and some of the graphites.
I also have a few mint magnesium pros which many felt was the best metal ever.
Try playing the Head Ashe metals, they really play more like a wood racket, very nice.
http://www.woodtennis.com/prince/prince1.jpg
http://www.woodtennis.com/prince/prince3.jpg
http://www.woodtennis.com/prince/prince4.jpg
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Knife
Professional
I remember the alu Prince Pro, I started playing tennis with those frames. Very open string pattern, had to restring constantly, strings lasted less than an hour and yes the frames would eventually crack after just a few months. The grey and green Prince Classic was even worse, could break in no time.
Which head size do you got? 90 or 110?
Where did they cracked? On the Aluminum frame or on the plastic throat bridge?
They're the 110 size. The cracks were on the shaft above the grip, and one also had cracks around the hoop. The plastic throat pieces were fine. The newer version has a bigger plastic piece at the top of the grip, but I now see that a lot of the Prince racquets of the time, like the Precision Graphite for example, have that same design.
I recieved an interesting email that said that Prince changed the type of aluminum used in the Prince Pro. That could explain the weight difference from early to late models. The trick is knowing out how to tell by looking at it, and figuring out if one was more prone to crack than the other. Or if they played differently.
I guess the mass of the 110 was a bit too much for the older versions that used filmsier aluminum... which explained the crackings right above the handle.
Thanks for sharing the info!
thedunster
New User
I had two Prince Pro's in 1982. No problems with strings breaking [they worked best with less tensions anyway] and never any problems with cracking.
I do though remember seeing people with Prince Pro's that were starting to look more like Ergonoms after a few seasons of abuse.
Haven't looked at or used them for over ten years but when new I thought they were a lot of fun.
I do though remember seeing people with Prince Pro's that were starting to look more like Ergonoms after a few seasons of abuse.
Haven't looked at or used them for over ten years but when new I thought they were a lot of fun.
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Holy cr*p. That's a scary story. I just got another one in the mail today. It's the older, lighter version, in great condition, and still has the P on the srings. Perhaps I shouldn't restring it just yet. It hits great, btw. I'm going to be really disapointed if it turns out to be impossible to use these frames.
