Mdubb23
Hall of Fame
Recently, in the wake of all hype surrounding pro stock Wilson frames, I've decided to create this thread in an attempt to coherently organize all thoughts about Wilson pro stock frames into one thread. We, as a TT community, have over the past couple years unlocked many secrets pertaining to Head Pro Stock frames, and I feel we should have no problem doing the same for Wilson. That said, here are my thoughts so far:
Wilson Pros essentially fall into two different categories. The first category represents Wilson pros who enjoy and demand that classic, stiff Wilson feel on all of their shots. These pros tend to use Six.One or Pro.Tour/Pr
pen paintjobs on top of older Wilson frames, always with PWS, and often with the word "classic" in the throat. Examples of such players are the following: Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, Jarkko Nieminen, Feliciano Lopez, and Mardy Fish. TT User Indiana Puffed, in particular, has a great collection of these "classic" racquets:
On the contrary, the other category represents primarily former Head PT630 (PT57A/PT57E) users, who don't care for that stiff feel on their groundstrokes, but demand it on their serves and on their volleys, two areas where PT57's are noticeably lacking, according to pros. However, these pros demand the plush, soft PT57 feel on their groundstrokes. The answer? The Wilson H22, a prototype frame without PWS and seeming to duplicate the PT630/PT57 mold, but yet what former Head pros claim feeels much better on serves and volleys. These, as far as I know, are always found in Blade paintjobs, whether the Tour or the 98, and are incredibly hard to find--much more so than the "classic" paintjobs. I've seen arguments that the 22 stands for the beam width in millimeters, but I cannot confirm or deny that. There is much speculation as to whether or not Djokovic used the H22 under a KBT paintjob. I believe he did. VSBabolat believes he did not. Examples of pros undoubtedly using the H22 are as follows: Philipp Kohlschreiber, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Arnaud Clement, Dmitry Tursunov, Frank Dancevic, and Lester Cook. A TT member, Biciomac, posted a great picture of his H22:
So, to wrap it all up, it seems as though there are two categories of Wilson pros: those using older Wilson racquets with PWS under paintjobs and those transferring from Head to Wilson using the Wilson H22 with a KBlade paintjob. Again, this is only a crude conjecture (I'm hoping we can all work to refine it), and there are many exceptions to my observations. One, for example, is Taylor Dent. He used to use stiff-feeling Wilson racquets with PWS (I'm pretty sure the HPS Zone 7.1 with Prostaff ROK and n6.1 95 PJs) long before the concept of the H22 was even conceived. Now, however, he uses the H22 (or at least a KBlade 98 PJ without PWS, and that's good enough for me). That completely contradicts my theory. As a result of his back injuries, does he now demand a flexier feel on groundstrokes? Who knows. And also, to clear up any confusion, when I grouped Federer with those using "classic" Wilson frames, it's because he uses a stiff, custom Wilson frame with PWS, very similar to the Six.One Tour out today, therefore meeting the criteria of a Wilson pro who likes the stiffer, classic Wilson feel as opposed to one who likes a flexier feel on groundies.
All in all, I'm hoping we can get a ton of good information out of this thread. Tuners, stringers, please bless us mere mortals with your wealth of information.
Wilson Pros essentially fall into two different categories. The first category represents Wilson pros who enjoy and demand that classic, stiff Wilson feel on all of their shots. These pros tend to use Six.One or Pro.Tour/Pr
pen paintjobs on top of older Wilson frames, always with PWS, and often with the word "classic" in the throat. Examples of such players are the following: Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, Jarkko Nieminen, Feliciano Lopez, and Mardy Fish. TT User Indiana Puffed, in particular, has a great collection of these "classic" racquets:
On the contrary, the other category represents primarily former Head PT630 (PT57A/PT57E) users, who don't care for that stiff feel on their groundstrokes, but demand it on their serves and on their volleys, two areas where PT57's are noticeably lacking, according to pros. However, these pros demand the plush, soft PT57 feel on their groundstrokes. The answer? The Wilson H22, a prototype frame without PWS and seeming to duplicate the PT630/PT57 mold, but yet what former Head pros claim feeels much better on serves and volleys. These, as far as I know, are always found in Blade paintjobs, whether the Tour or the 98, and are incredibly hard to find--much more so than the "classic" paintjobs. I've seen arguments that the 22 stands for the beam width in millimeters, but I cannot confirm or deny that. There is much speculation as to whether or not Djokovic used the H22 under a KBT paintjob. I believe he did. VSBabolat believes he did not. Examples of pros undoubtedly using the H22 are as follows: Philipp Kohlschreiber, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Arnaud Clement, Dmitry Tursunov, Frank Dancevic, and Lester Cook. A TT member, Biciomac, posted a great picture of his H22:
So, to wrap it all up, it seems as though there are two categories of Wilson pros: those using older Wilson racquets with PWS under paintjobs and those transferring from Head to Wilson using the Wilson H22 with a KBlade paintjob. Again, this is only a crude conjecture (I'm hoping we can all work to refine it), and there are many exceptions to my observations. One, for example, is Taylor Dent. He used to use stiff-feeling Wilson racquets with PWS (I'm pretty sure the HPS Zone 7.1 with Prostaff ROK and n6.1 95 PJs) long before the concept of the H22 was even conceived. Now, however, he uses the H22 (or at least a KBlade 98 PJ without PWS, and that's good enough for me). That completely contradicts my theory. As a result of his back injuries, does he now demand a flexier feel on groundstrokes? Who knows. And also, to clear up any confusion, when I grouped Federer with those using "classic" Wilson frames, it's because he uses a stiff, custom Wilson frame with PWS, very similar to the Six.One Tour out today, therefore meeting the criteria of a Wilson pro who likes the stiffer, classic Wilson feel as opposed to one who likes a flexier feel on groundies.
All in all, I'm hoping we can get a ton of good information out of this thread. Tuners, stringers, please bless us mere mortals with your wealth of information.
LOL
. 
)
