I'm switching from my BLX prostaff 90 to the 2013 blade 16x19. Anyone thoughts? Is this bad or good choice? Any information will help. Thanks for the help.
Depends, have you tried the blade? If so do you like it? If you do then yeah it's a good choice. I wouldn't make the switch if you haven't tried the blade. 90' to 98 is a big jump. btw if you've tried the blade could you let me know how it plays? I'm quite interested in that racquet.
Hello Bobo96, I already have the racket. I just wanna see other people opinion. It a great racket actually. I always love the blade 98 it only problem was it pattern. With this 16x19 pattern it is unstable at times, but all rackets are like that until u customize the racket to your personal needs. I always customize my racket. I use to play with the wilson six.one 90 it was not to my liking until I added some extra weight to it. Overall don't underestimate this racket. It just as good as the 18x20 version and with the 16x19 you do feel the open string pattern. It feels AMAZING!? If you have any question on this racket. Let me know.
I had the Pro Staff 90 and I actually prefer the 2013 Blade 16x19 mainly because it offers a larger sweet spot for hitting two handed backhands. It's not very common to see two handed backs using a 90 sq inch racquet . It's also lighter than the Pro Staff without sacrificing much power though the PS 90 will offer better precision. The Blade is a great serving racquet given it's lighter than the PS 90 but still offers power. Only thing you might need to do is modify the balance to make it a bit more HL.
Lleyton Hewitt in his heyday used a 90 sq inch with a 2 hand back hand. I'd be stoked if I could use a 90 with a two hander like you!
I did customize the Blade 98 with about .3 oz of lead in the handle to make it more head light. Probably around 4pts HL after the modification. It's just a very solid racquet and due to the bigger sweet spot, a whole lot easier to hit a slice than the PS 90.
really? i made mine up too about 7 or 8 Points HeadLights but the weather been terrible i haven't got to try it yet
Has it been that easy of a switch for you though? I would think the transition from a tour specced stick with a 90 sq. inch head size to a junior-specced 98 sq. inch stick would require a period of two weeks - two months to adapt. But hey, coincidentally I took my old BLX (2010) Six.One Tour 90 out for a hit and played exceptionally well with it, then switched to my Dunlop Bio 300 Tour (almost exact same specs as the blades) and still played very well.
I got it up to about 4pts HL. The thing about the Blade 98 is that it has a higher SW than the PS so you have to be careful where you add the extra weight. The higher SW of the Blade is offset by the lower static weight of the Blade compared to the PS, so the only issue you might experience is the timing when you hit the ball. It took me about 20 hours of use to adjust to the Blade but haven't look back since. I still get to hit with the BLX PS when one of my tennis partner shows up with one. The Bio 300 tour's SW is 308 compared to the Blade 98's SW of 331 so that is probably why you could handle the switch easier from your PS. If you do switch, it might take you a while to get use to the higher SW. I think the BLX PS is one of the easiest Pro Staff to use but those darn slices are so difficult to hit with such a smaller frame. I always end up framing the racquet a few times which hardly happens when using a 98 sq. inch racquet.
Now that i got to test the blade. i found that it just not the same as my 90. i feel hold back by the 98. i think i'll stick with my 90 i feel like i can hit any ball.
The 98 takes time to adjust is all I can say. It's SW is higher than the PS 90 and of course you not going to get that precision compared to the PS 90. So if precision is what you are looking for, stick with the PS 90.
