Returning player, requesting raquet advice

I

improv1take1

New User
Hi everyone,

I've been lurking around these forums for quite some time now and it seems like a lot of you know their stuff in the tennis world, so I figured this would be a great place to get some opinions on raquets.

I'll start with telling a bit about myself/playstyle to give some context. I started playing tennis when I was 9 and continued to do so until I was 17. Took lessons most of those years, went to tenniscamps and played competition for 4 years too, with moderately good results. At the age of 17, I quit the game, but started missing it so started playing tennis again last September at the age of 22.

Of course I was quite rusty, but tried to play as I used to in the past, to no avail. So during winter I took lessons and my training helped me develop a new kind of game. I now changed my grip from eastern to semi-western, my service has a lot more spin and overall I'm quite content with the new game as it feels more comfortable. However, I am still the net-loving player I used to be and will seize every opportunity to get to the net.

Anyhoo, I'm looking for a new raquet as I believe my current raquets have exceeded their lifespan. I still have 2, really different raquets I use. A babolat pure drive team and a prince thunder ultralite titanium oversize.

I loved my prince raquet when I was about 13, but it doesn't seem quite up my alley anymore. It's good for keeping the ball in game, but in tournaments I feel like it's a bit slow at the net and I can't hit the ball very deep if I use a lot of spin.

The babolat is great, but it's near broken. I sometimes also feel like it doesn't swing as fast as I want it to, but that's probably just me.

Well, to get to the point, I've been looking at some raquets and for some reason I seem to be quite attracted to a few Völkl raquets, more precisely the Völkl Power Bridge 10 mid and the Völkl Organix 10 295g (or even 325 or mid).

I'm mostly favouring the Organix 10 295, because it is lighter and the frame isn't that much smaller than the babolat I have.

I've read a ton of reviews on the pb 10 mid and can't say I saw anything bad about it, but I'm a little worried about the weight and the smaller headsize.

I see all these NTRP ratings floating around in these reviews and I looked it up but it's kind of hard labeling myself. Given the descriptions I've read I would think I'm in the 4-zone.

So in the end I'm mostly worried about either one of these raquets being out of my league and I'll end up not hitting anything anymore.

Any tips/advice/opinions are welcome. Also other raquet suggestions would be great.

Thanks for your interest!
 
improv1take1 said:
Hi everyone,

I've been lurking around these forums for quite some time now and it seems like a lot of you know their stuff in the tennis world, so I figured this would be a great place to get some opinions on raquets.

I'll start with telling a bit about myself/playstyle to give some context. I started playing tennis when I was 9 and continued to do so until I was 17. Took lessons most of those years, went to tenniscamps and played competition for 4 years too, with moderately good results. At the age of 17, I quit the game, but started missing it so started playing tennis again last September at the age of 22.

Of course I was quite rusty, but tried to play as I used to in the past, to no avail. So during winter I took lessons and my training helped me develop a new kind of game. I now changed my grip from eastern to semi-western, my service has a lot more spin and overall I'm quite content with the new game as it feels more comfortable. However, I am still the net-loving player I used to be and will seize every opportunity to get to the net.

Anyhoo, I'm looking for a new raquet as I believe my current raquets have exceeded their lifespan. I still have 2, really different raquets I use. A babolat pure drive team and a prince thunder ultralite titanium oversize.

I loved my prince raquet when I was about 13, but it doesn't seem quite up my alley anymore. It's good for keeping the ball in game, but in tournaments I feel like it's a bit slow at the net and I can't hit the ball very deep if I use a lot of spin.

The babolat is great, but it's near broken. I sometimes also feel like it doesn't swing as fast as I want it to, but that's probably just me.

Well, to get to the point, I've been looking at some raquets and for some reason I seem to be quite attracted to a few Völkl raquets, more precisely the Völkl Power Bridge 10 mid and the Völkl Organix 10 295g (or even 325 or mid).

I'm mostly favouring the Organix 10 295, because it is lighter and the frame isn't that much smaller than the babolat I have.

I've read a ton of reviews on the pb 10 mid and can't say I saw anything bad about it, but I'm a little worried about the weight and the smaller headsize.

I see all these NTRP ratings floating around in these reviews and I looked it up but it's kind of hard labeling myself. Given the descriptions I've read I would think I'm in the 4-zone.

So in the end I'm mostly worried about either one of these raquets being out of my league and I'll end up not hitting anything anymore.

Any tips/advice/opinions are welcome. Also other raquet suggestions would be great.

Thanks for your interest!
Click to expand...

If you like Volkl racquets, the Volkl Organix v1 MP is a great racquet!
 
ANY racket heavier than 10 oz, SW over 310.
ANY racket lighter in weight than 12.5 oz, and less SW than 350.
Any racket you want to be seen at the tennis courts with.
Good players can use any racket in those ranges.
 
ArliHawk said:
If you like Volkl racquets, the Volkl Organix v1 MP is a great racquet!
Click to expand...

I looked into that one as well, but was a little put off because it seems like a really powerful racquet. I'm not quite sure whether a power racquet would be something for me, but I'll keep it in mind.

LeeD said:
ANY racket heavier than 10 oz, SW over 310.
ANY racket lighter in weight than 12.5 oz, and less SW than 350.
Any racket you want to be seen at the tennis courts with.
Good players can use any racket in those ranges.
Click to expand...

So a racquet with over 10 oz and SW over 310. That would exclude the previously recommended racquet and put the Organix 10X 295 at the bottom of those specs.

I guess the specs you described fit all player's racquets, but I'm a bit in doubt whether I'm ready yet to go for a player's racquet or stick with a tweener. The Organix 295 seemed a bit like a preparation to a player's racquet, but I could be wrong.
 
Im not sure what your exact style is except you like to rush the net. Some versatile rackets any level players (imo) can use are the Pure Drive and Instinct MP.

I feel like you could grow to love the Instinct. Really easy to swing, maneuverable at the net, spinny and powerful. I've seen beginner use the stick all the way to guys like Noah Rubin (no. 1 junior player in the USA who I had the chance to talk to in a tournament).
 
Try the Yonex Vcore Tour 97 (310g)

The Prince EXO Tour 100 or EXO Rebel 98 might be good too.

Perhaps a Head Prestige.
 
If you want to attack the net ( a good thing to do IMHO ) you need a frame that can carve it up.

Head 18x20 frames especially Prestige MP models can shine on the attack...volley brilliantly, serve fantastic and yet can hang at the baseline with the right string set up....not a topspin monster but certainly can roll the ball over.

Radical MP's are sweet too but at PL 4 ( vs. 6 of prestige models) sound like might just have a bit too much pop for you....give the rad a demo too tho, side by side if you can...again the TW program allows you to do this.

Demo, demo demo and demo some more - the TW demo program is amazing and you should take advantage of it if you can.

Nothing wrong with Volkl btw, nothing at all.

You can see by my signature where I am at.

:)
 
Unfortunately, my country falls outside of TW's region of service, so demoing is going to a bit more difficult. But on the plus side, head and prince racquets are very accessible in my country so I'm sure I can find some store that would loan me one for a few days to try. For Völkl/Yonex I think I'll have to make a trip to Germany.

Thanks for all the help already by the way!
 
If you can try the blade 98, if you can get the old one for $99 in TW it's the best deal you can get right now and I think it would fit your game perfectly.
 
Hi, it's me again. I've been looking into these NRTP ratings again and checked some videos of nrtp tournaments on youtube. But I'm questioning the conversion a bit. My country uses a ranking system similar to france but you can only get a ranking by playing lots of tournaments. I haven't played tournaments for 6 years and so I lost ranking. If I use the conversion chart, I would currently be a 1.5 NTRP player. If I read the description of 1.5 and check some videos of it, it implies I can barely hit a ball.

If I check some higher ratings (3.5,4.0,4.5), I feel like I play more similar to this and the descriptions are more accurate to my abilities.

However if I convert it again, I should need to gain about 15 rankings in my country.

How is this NTRP thing used in the US?
 
It is just an estimate of skill level so rec players can find matches on an even level.

In leagues you can be moved up and down like relegation in football(soccer) leagues. It is just trying to keep every match competitive. If you check threads in the adult league forum you will see it seems the ranks don't mean the same thing in different regions of the US.
 
improv1take1 said:
Hi, it's me again. I've been looking into these NRTP ratings again and checked some videos of nrtp tournaments on youtube. But I'm questioning the conversion a bit. My country uses a ranking system similar to france but you can only get a ranking by playing lots of tournaments. I haven't played tournaments for 6 years and so I lost ranking. If I use the conversion chart, I would currently be a 1.5 NTRP player. If I read the description of 1.5 and check some videos of it, it implies I can barely hit a ball.

If I check some higher ratings (3.5,4.0,4.5), I feel like I play more similar to this and the descriptions are more accurate to my abilities.

However if I convert it again, I should need to gain about 15 rankings in my country.

How is this NTRP thing used in the US?
Click to expand...

Don't worry about USTA / NTRP nonsense, it is primarily based on match results with similar players in a general geographical area regardless of technique in an attempt to avoid huge disparity in level of play, players rate themselves as best they can then try to back it up on the court moving up or down based on league results.....you described your game fine...between the Head and Prince line you should find a frame that will make you smile.
 
Kasmatsu said:
It is just an estimate of skill level so rec players can find matches on an even level.

In leagues you can be moved up and down like relegation in football(soccer) leagues. It is just trying to keep every match competitive. If you check threads in the adult league forum you will see it seems the ranks don't mean the same thing in different regions of the US.
Click to expand...

hrstrat57 said:
Don't worry about USTA / NTRP nonsense, it is primarily based on match results with similar players in a general geographical area regardless of technique in an attempt to avoid huge disparity in level of play, players rate themselves as best they can then try to back it up on the court moving up or down based on league results.....you described your game fine...between the Head and Prince line you should find a frame that will make you smile.
Click to expand...

Oh, so if I understand it right, players initially rate themselves, play some tournaments and based on the results they check whether their NTRP was correct/too high/too low?

If so, I guess it's quite a different system than here, so I'll just ignore it.

jcollura4 said:
A popular racquet loved by many and myself is Babolat Aero Pro Drive, give it a shot
Click to expand...

Aha, this one does seem fairly similar to my current racquet, so I might give it a shot.

Fintft said:
Wilson 6.1 95 BLX or Amplifeel.
Click to expand...

Mhm, I feel a bit insecure about the weight 12+ oz seems like too much for me, or am I just missjudging racquets by weight?

Ronaldo said:
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Wilson_Pro_Staff_60_85/descpageRCWILSON-W6085.html
Click to expand...

This one seems even heavier and has a really small headsize. I don't think this one is accessible to every kind of player, or am I mistaking?
 
improv1take1 said:
Hi everyone,

I've been lurking around these forums for quite some time now and it seems like a lot of you know their stuff in the tennis world, so I figured this would be a great place to get some opinions on raquets.

I'll start with telling a bit about myself/playstyle to give some context. I started playing tennis when I was 9 and continued to do so until I was 17. Took lessons most of those years, went to tenniscamps and played competition for 4 years too, with moderately good results. At the age of 17, I quit the game, but started missing it so started playing tennis again last September at the age of 22.

Of course I was quite rusty, but tried to play as I used to in the past, to no avail. So during winter I took lessons and my training helped me develop a new kind of game. I now changed my grip from eastern to semi-western, my service has a lot more spin and overall I'm quite content with the new game as it feels more comfortable. However, I am still the net-loving player I used to be and will seize every opportunity to get to the net.

Anyhoo, I'm looking for a new raquet as I believe my current raquets have exceeded their lifespan. I still have 2, really different raquets I use. A babolat pure drive team and a prince thunder ultralite titanium oversize.

I loved my prince raquet when I was about 13, but it doesn't seem quite up my alley anymore. It's good for keeping the ball in game, but in tournaments I feel like it's a bit slow at the net and I can't hit the ball very deep if I use a lot of spin.

The babolat is great, but it's near broken. I sometimes also feel like it doesn't swing as fast as I want it to, but that's probably just me.

Well, to get to the point, I've been looking at some raquets and for some reason I seem to be quite attracted to a few Völkl raquets, more precisely the Völkl Power Bridge 10 mid and the Völkl Organix 10 295g (or even 325 or mid).

I'm mostly favouring the Organix 10 295, because it is lighter and the frame isn't that much smaller than the babolat I have.

I've read a ton of reviews on the pb 10 mid and can't say I saw anything bad about it, but I'm a little worried about the weight and the smaller headsize.

I see all these NTRP ratings floating around in these reviews and I looked it up but it's kind of hard labeling myself. Given the descriptions I've read I would think I'm in the 4-zone.

So in the end I'm mostly worried about either one of these raquets being out of my league and I'll end up not hitting anything anymore.

Any tips/advice/opinions are welcome. Also other raquet suggestions would be great.

Thanks for your interest!
Click to expand...

I have two PB 10 mids and 1 Organix 10 Mid. I say you can't go wrong either way, but the PB 10 Mid is a phenomenal racket.
 
Late update: I ended up buying the Prince EXO Rebel 98 and I'm loving it. It's allowing me to hit angles I could never reach before and my serves have never been better. It's pretty fast at the net, though it took some adjustment on hard court as the balls come faster. I do notice myself hitting shorter than I did before when I'm using a lot of spin, but it's mostly still behind the service line. Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase.
 
improv1take1 said:
Hi everyone,

I've been lurking around these forums for quite some time now and it seems like a lot of you know their stuff in the tennis world, so I figured this would be a great place to get some opinions on raquets.

I'll start with telling a bit about myself/playstyle to give some context. I started playing tennis when I was 9 and continued to do so until I was 17. Took lessons most of those years, went to tenniscamps and played competition for 4 years too, with moderately good results. At the age of 17, I quit the game, but started missing it so started playing tennis again last September at the age of 22.

Of course I was quite rusty, but tried to play as I used to in the past, to no avail. So during winter I took lessons and my training helped me develop a new kind of game. I now changed my grip from eastern to semi-western, my service has a lot more spin and overall I'm quite content with the new game as it feels more comfortable. However, I am still the net-loving player I used to be and will seize every opportunity to get to the net.

Anyhoo, I'm looking for a new raquet as I believe my current raquets have exceeded their lifespan. I still have 2, really different raquets I use. A babolat pure drive team and a prince thunder ultralite titanium oversize.

I loved my prince raquet when I was about 13, but it doesn't seem quite up my alley anymore. It's good for keeping the ball in game, but in tournaments I feel like it's a bit slow at the net and I can't hit the ball very deep if I use a lot of spin.

The babolat is great, but it's near broken. I sometimes also feel like it doesn't swing as fast as I want it to, but that's probably just me.

Well, to get to the point, I've been looking at some raquets and for some reason I seem to be quite attracted to a few Völkl raquets, more precisely the Völkl Power Bridge 10 mid and the Völkl Organix 10 295g (or even 325 or mid).

I'm mostly favouring the Organix 10 295, because it is lighter and the frame isn't that much smaller than the babolat I have.

I've read a ton of reviews on the pb 10 mid and can't say I saw anything bad about it, but I'm a little worried about the weight and the smaller headsize.

I see all these NTRP ratings floating around in these reviews and I looked it up but it's kind of hard labeling myself. Given the descriptions I've read I would think I'm in the 4-zone.

So in the end I'm mostly worried about either one of these raquets being out of my league and I'll end up not hitting anything anymore.

Any tips/advice/opinions are welcome. Also other raquet suggestions would be great.

Thanks for your interest!
Click to expand...

Well, it did not take you long to zero in on two very good racquets. The Organix 10 295 is one of my favorite racquets and is definitely not too much stick for someone in your situation. I prefer it to both the PB mid and mid-plus due to the better dampening of the Organix system and the open string pattern. It is just a blast to play with. Although my regular racquets are Pacific/Fisher, I keep including the X10 295 in my TW demos and keep my eye out for one in my grip size at a good price. You would not be going wrong with this one.

Edit: Regarding the X-10 295 and 325, there is more than just the weight difference separating these two closely related racquets. Both are extremely comfortable, but the 325 has a more muted feel IMO. Not enough to put me off the racquet, but there is a different feel between the two. You should demo both through TW.
 
Last edited:
ANY racket heavier than 10 oz, SW over 310.
ANY racket lighter in weight than 12.5 oz, and less SW than 350.
Any racket you want to be seen at the tennis courts with.
Good players can use any racket in those ranges.
Click to expand...

It's very hard select racquet without being able to test play but the following quote is a good safe selection. Racquet selection should be based on your style of play and your build / strength.

If you're going to a Semi-western grip I'd recommend a 95-100" head, it has larger sweet spot, BUT, there are some really tinny 100" racquets out there best to check TW review.

General racquets for style.
Server and volley - Mid 90-95, heavy static 340+ & swing weight 330+.
Flat hard base liner - Mid 90-95, heavy static 340+ & swing weight 330+.
Heavy topspin base liner - Large 100, Mid static 310+ & swing weight 310+.
Grinder - Large 100, Mid static 300+ & swing weight 310+

If you go for something with 95-100" head, low power, weight 315g & swing weight 320, you can add weight to increase static and dynamic weight to suit.

Also I'd recommend getting an older model as generally technology does not change enough in 5-6 years to make the cost worth it. Although I have not hit with all the following but they're good start, you missed the 2013 big sales,

  • 2013 Wilson Six.One 95 BLX - $120 (I'd go 18x20)
    Wilson Pro Staff 95 - $160 (Very low power need to be solid build)
    Babolot AeroPro Drive - $199 (Too expensive)
    2013 Volkl Power Bridge 10 Mid - $120
    Volkl C10 Pro - $159 (More power than PB10 Mid)
    Head Prestige Pro - $160
    Pro-Kennix Ki5 PSE - $130 (My old racquet heavy but powerful)
    Pro-Kennix Ki QTour - $170 (Nice on arm)
 
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