Prince vs Volkl

[stephenpinkus]

TW is playing favorites. I am a Volkl user and fan and am concerned that the brand is not being given the proper attention by TW. Volkl currently has 20 new racquets, the bulk of which are in the VFeel line. Only 6 of the new racquets have published reviews appearing on the website although more than 6 have actually been reviewed. For example, in early 2019 the VFeel V1 MP was reviewed (individual reviews by the reviewers appeared on the Message Board), but the composite review was never published although the individual reviews were consistently very positive. When I called TW to inquire, I was told that they have been swamped by new racquets and could not publish everything.
Now, let’s turn to Prince. I am not in a position to comment on the quality of the frames - my last Prince was the Woody. However I am in a position to point out that there are 8 new Prince racquets - all in the Phantom line - and 7 of the 8 have been reviewed. TENNIS WAREHOUSE - what is going on?

 

[chic]

I'm a big volkl fan, but they're definitely the less popular brand at least in the US. It makes sense for tw to focus on getting those reviews published.

Also how many of the 20 volkl racquets are meant to be players frames. Without looking it up I'm guessing 3 racquets in the 10 line, 2 in the 8 line, one in the 6 line more geared toward rec women specs? The the PB10 rerelease and the other popular one they always rerelease (v1 classic or something idr).

Assuming I guessed right and adding the vfeel v1 that's 9 racquets, 6 reviewed, 2 with prior reviews that are reissued so 8 out of 9-10 racquets.

The phantom line on the other hand I'm guessing are all in more normal players specs. Like how volkl has variations of the 10 line, all more similar to one another than vfeel 9 or 6 or something.

 

[PistolPete23]

Well, TW is the main (only?) distributor of Prince racquets in the US, so there's obviously motivation to sell Prince racquets from a business standpoint. Besides that, the new Phantom line has been HIGHLY anticipated, at least evidenced by the number of related posts on TTW, so it would be perfectly strategic for TW to respond to the demand. Concerning Volkl, apart from the C10 Pro and Power Bridge 10, their offerings in recent years have deviated from the characteristics that fans had enjoyed in the past. Even though the VFeel line touts the superior "feel" of the racquets, they're actually too stiff to offer any feel at all. I still own a V-Engine Tour 10 Mid and play with it occasionally; love the buttery flex of the older Volkl racquets. I might consider picking up a few more of the PB 10 mid before they phase out completely. This is just my personal opinion, but I also think their new logo is pretty ugly; there was nothing wrong with the original double-V logo.

 

[jbdbackfan]

Played both, Prince is far superior brand.

 

[tennis347]

I was a dedicated Volkl user with C10 Pro for many years and also played with the BB London for a while as well. I am sorry to say that Volkl has lost their way making these very stiff frames. Volkl should be like Prince and start making flexible frames. Right now, Prince is clearly way ahead than Volkl.

 

[chic]

I was a dedicated Volkl user with C10 Pro for many years and also played with the BB London for a while as well. I am sorry to say that Volkl has lost their way making these very stiff frames. Volkl should be like Prince and start making flexible frames. Right now, Prince is clearly way ahead than Volkl.

Oh yeah the C10 was what I was thinking of as the reissue!

Loved the bb London
Maybe I'm just young and still somewhat impervious to arm pain, but I like the feel of the vsense 10 Tour which is only at 66RA (the London was 63). Imo/ime that acceptably low if you like low tension poly

 

[PistolPete23]

I was a dedicated Volkl user with C10 Pro for many years and also played with the BB London for a while as well. I am sorry to say that Volkl has lost their way making these very stiff frames. Volkl should be like Prince and start making flexible frames. Right now, Prince is clearly way ahead than Volkl.

It's sad, even the C10 Pro has become stiffer over the years. And the marketing crap about biodegradable cellulose being part of the VFeel racquets, just ugh ...

 

[stephenpinkus]

Regardless of the merits of the respective racquets, it is wrong to withhold a review that already received the necessary input from the reviewing team.

 

[bleno567]

Maybe Volkl should send some product development reps to the board to gin up some enthusiasm. Prince is outclassing everyone right now, and I believe it will pay out in spades.

 

[PistolPete23]

Regardless of the merits of the respective racquets, it is wrong to withhold a review that already received the necessary input from the reviewing team.

TW doesn't review every single racquet; it would be foolish to do so, especially if a lot of the "new" models are beginner or beginner/intermediate frames. I'm sure market research also factors into whether they review a racquet. After all, TW is first and foremost a business.

 

[Rabbit]

Regardless of the merits of the respective racquets, it is wrong to withhold a review that already received the necessary input from the reviewing team.

I don't believe TW is withholding anything. It costs nothing for someone to take a demo and hit with it. It does, however, cost money in time and resources to film, write, compile, and publish a racket review for a website. TW has to prioritize their funds like any other business. Volkl may not bring in the money that Prince, Babolat, or Wilson does. Their frames may not garner the interest of other manufacturers.

I simply do not understand complaining about a perceived bias in marketing by a board user -- unless there is some vested interested.

If you feel that strongly, you can always compile the thoughts you referenced along with your own and post a thread. You could even add a video review. @sureshs or @Irvin can assuredly help you with posting video (for better or worse).

 

[SJSA]

I was a dedicated Volkl user with C10 Pro for many years and also played with the BB London for a while as well. I am sorry to say that Volkl has lost their way making these very stiff frames. Volkl should be like Prince and start making flexible frames. Right now, Prince is clearly way ahead than Volkl.

I totally agree with you. Volkl lost its way after Organix line like Head did after Youtek IG line.

 

[Dartagnan64]

Now, let’s turn to Prince. I am not in a position to comment on the quality of the frames - my last Prince was the Woody. However I am in a position to point out that there are 8 new Prince racquets - all in the Phantom line - and 7 of the 8 have been reviewed. TENNIS WAREHOUSE - what is going on?

TW is the US distributor for Prince. It is in their best interest to review these racquets from a business standpoint. The website is here to aid in sales of racquets and with limited resources and lots of racquets to review, they are going to focus on the ones that make the most business sense to review.

Wilson, Head, Babolat will of course get the lion's share of reviews. Prince will come in next because of the US distribution rights. Then you are going to pick and choose from Dunlop/Srixon, Volkl, Technifobre, Prokennex, etc.

Simply business not bias.

And tbh, it's never the frame but the turkey at the other end that determines a tennis match. Play racquets that feel good to hit with and enjoy yourself not worrying about incremental game improvements that don't really exist.

 

[2nd Serve Ace]

Having used both versions of the MP, really have the impression that the Vfeel and V sense models are so close that the earlier TW reviews are still valid for the newer line.

There was a review of the new v8 pro, but Chris said it didn't feel like an old school volkl so I lost interest. Volkl is seriously faltering on players frames lately. OS and intermediate stuff is still decent, imho.

 

[TW Staff]

Hi @stephenpinkus,

I can definitely help answer all of your questions. As far as playtesting racquets in-house, we tend to playtest racquets weighing 300 grams unstrung and above (of course there are always a couple exceptions to the rule). Our playtesters are rated 4.0+ and we have found reviewing the lighter racquets results in a lot of "the racquet was too light," "too powerful" "unstable" etc. However, we are looking into expanding in the future (towards the end of 2020) to include some of the lighter models.

As far as Volkl's current V-Feel line-up (17 racquets), there are 7 frames that are in our wheelhouse so to speak (compared to the Phantom line there was 7 of the 8 met our guidelines). We have fully reviewed 5, the sixth (V8 Pro) is currently in the final stages of editing and should be up shortly. We chose not to review the last racquet, the VFeel 9 in all honesty as the playtesters were struggling with it and couldn't complete the review for several reasons. We did do a message board playtest of the V1 MP (and a couple other V1 models) to give some of our users an opportunity to review the racquet and give feedback to anyone that was interested on the message board. We do not use message board reviews to write our TW reviews on the site.

Nonetheless, we are always taking requests. If there are slower playtesting times during the year we will try to fit them in if applicable. I hope this helps answer your questions and please let me know if there is any other questions you may have. We are always happy to help!

Thanks,
Brittany, TW

 

[stephenpinkus]

Brittany - thanks for the explanation.

 

[superjon027]

I was a dedicated Volkl user with C10 Pro for many years and also played with the BB London for a while as well. I am sorry to say that Volkl has lost their way making these very stiff frames. Volkl should be like Prince and start making flexible frames. Right now, Prince is clearly way ahead than Volkl.

Hi, I just got my first C10 Pro (current model) as an alternative to my stiffer RF97A. I really like the feel of it. Just curious if you've noticed this particular model increase in stiffness over the years. Is there a model/paint job considered to be the most plush? Also, what strings did you prefer with the C10?

Thanks,

Jonathan

 

[tennis347]

Hi, I just got my first C10 Pro (current model) as an alternative to my stiffer RF97A. I really like the feel of it. Just curious if you've noticed this particular model increase in stiffness over the years. Is there a model/paint job considered to be the most plush? Also, what strings did you prefer with the C10?

Thanks,

Jonathan

I have not used the C10 Pro for about 10 years so I don't know how the stiffness is on the newer versions. I have heard from other C10 users recently that Volkl has made the newer ones stiffer. I had the 07 and 08 version and use to play with Technifibre NRG 16 at 57lbs.