Tennis Warehouse Playtest: Dunlop SX 300 Racquet Family
joah310
Professional
Same here
Rohith Kolli
New User
I will be looking forward to your review given I was not selected to play test.
jangotango
Semi-Pro
Got my confirmation! So excited, first racquet playtest for TW. First ever Dunlop experience too 
Casius_Juventus
Rookie
I had my second outing with YPTP 1.20 in my "Mutant" SX300T strung @43lbs and the feel was beautiful. Far better than MSVFH 1.27 @47lbs. For my feel, SX plays far better with a thinner string just to counteract the muted feel of the hoop and the tight-bed in the middle, as well as increasing even further the extra pop and spin generated.
badmice2
Professional
Awesome, thanks!
Ihatetennis
Hall of Fame
I strung at 49 and it was a delight, I own the tour
TennisHound
Legend
Congrats you guys, we’ve all been on multiple play tests and it’s good to see it spread around.
I may try and get a demo and do a review of my own - see how it measures up to the PD and PA.
I may try and get a demo and do a review of my own - see how it measures up to the PD and PA.
Casius_Juventus
Rookie
Yes I think that's ultimately the problem with the higher SW. Of course, it is possible to ease the pressure by adding counteracting weight to the handle in order to increase racquet head manoeuvrability. But even so, I think we all have limits on how much static weight we can handle.
I would of course URGE CAUTION to anyone moving Very Quickly towards the higher end of SW, in fear of putting too much stress on the elbow tendon Too Quickly. You can certainly train your elbow to get used to higher SW, but only Gradually. With regards to reviewers, I'm almost certainly sure that many if not all, will absolutely love the high SW almost immediately, seeing an increase in all their stats. The Real Test here, is how long The Honeymoon lasts.
That said, I have been playing racquets close to 350 SW for over a year now and I've been loving it, but I certainly know my limit and I'm definitely there with my "Black Swan" SX300T. My only fear with it is that I literally have no room to manoeuvre if due to injury or stress I need to reduce SW.
But, so far so good. I had another 2 hour hard-hitting drill session with it yesterday and certainly, the Comfort level is very good as far as Muscle Fatigue is concerned. The Infinergy certainly works well and if I had one other knock with it, it would be that I wish it was just slightly less stiff, perhaps closer to the 60 RA mark rather the mid. But that's only because of my higher SW. I think those reviewing lower SW racquets might prefer the stiffness as is.
Best of luck to all and I hope you all enjoy your tests.
taydbear7
Professional
I was trying to get the MVP status where I can be on the playtest team. lol
Thiem's 1HB
Rookie
Wow, the QC looks terrible!
Thiem's 1HB
Rookie
Adding weight to the handle will just make it even more clunky.
joah310
Professional
adding weight to the handle makes it more whippy, not clunky. Higher twistweight makes a racquet more clunky.
Thiem's 1HB
Rookie
Of course it doesn't. Play with the RF97 and all the weight in the handle. It swings like a tree log.
joah310
Professional
The clunky feeling in the rf97 is caused by its ridiculously high twistweight, not the weight in the handle
Thiem's 1HB
Rookie
Twist weight is a factor but not the primary cause. Take Nadal's racquet for example which has a similar spec to this and stick 10-20g of silicone into the handle and see how less 'whippy' that makes it.
TennisHound
Legend
How true it is. That is probably the biggest misnomer lol. Adding weight to the handle does put more weight there, and less in the head, but it does increase the “clunkiness” technically speaking.
joah310
Professional
can someone help me undestand this? it goes against what I have experienced and know. are you talking about the top of the handle or upper part, or the butct cap area? IME the adding lead to the buttcap made the racket feel more whippy, and sometimes too whippy for my liking.
Thiem's 1HB
Rookie
When you swing a racquet, you don't swing around one single fixed pivot point. The whole racquet moves. Adding some weight to the handle of a light(er) racquet might improve it how it handles, but once you start adding a load of weight to the handle of a 333g/353 SW racquet, it's not going to make it more manouverable because the static weight becomes so high and don't forget that you're having to move all of that static during serves, volleys, groundstrokes etc. 99.99% of non-professional players do not play well with a 350g/353SW racquet. The thing is just too damn heavy and difficult to swing, particularly on serves.
McLovin
Legend
Not sure if you know this, but the best way to get picked for a racquet playtest is to apply for a bunch of the string & shoe playtests, and if chosen, provide good feedback.
There are other factors (like frequency of posts in the forum section where the playtest is listed), but having a good playtest record is definitely at the top of the list.
Ihatetennis
Hall of Fame
Y’all realize different strings have different weights right?
The only spec you should compare is unstrung specs.
joah310
Professional
i get it thanks, will be experimenting on my rackets
TennisHound
Legend
Well in this case of the SX300 Tour with a SW of 350+ There’s no amount of weight in the handle that is gonna bring that down enough. Lol
jangotango
Semi-Pro
I'm hoping for the lighter version, A) for stroke consistency and production, B) for customization.
Lighter racquets should really be more popular. In Asia they're all over the place, primary racquet for more people. And if you need something heavier, customizing is easy
jangotango
Semi-Pro
Came home to a nice surprise, 300LS! Exactly what I was hoping for. I removed the little rubber band grip thing and took measurements.
286g unstrung
324mm balance (don't come after me, measured by hanging the racquet off of a table edge and ruler.)
Will string it up with Gosen OG Sheep 16 to get the raw feel of the racquet, and then use my go-to BHS7T 17. Should be able to hit tomorrow afternoon.
286g unstrung
324mm balance (don't come after me, measured by hanging the racquet off of a table edge and ruler.)
Will string it up with Gosen OG Sheep 16 to get the raw feel of the racquet, and then use my go-to BHS7T 17. Should be able to hit tomorrow afternoon.
time_fly
Hall of Fame
What tension are you using? That string pattern is pretty tight in the middle, so I think I will go a little lower than I use on my Pure Aero Plus. I plan to use my own strings initially so that I'm not confounding the frame's behavior with an unfamiliar string's. I will probably try the Explosive Spin in the frame later in the play test.
jangotango
Semi-Pro
55lbs. One piece ATW, on a electric constant pull. Whenever I demo new racquets I always try it out with either Gosen Sheep or Wilson Synthetic Power at middle tension first.
The middle crosses are much tighter spaced than my usual TT310, but I don't think it'll be much of a difference/problem. Isn't that what those "Spin Grommets" are for? Lol.
Ihatetennis
Hall of Fame
I’ll say
I’ve never had to readjust poly until now, even on a fresh set. If I liked the pure aero I might’ve noticed this earlier but can’t stand it.
time_fly
Hall of Fame
Received my SX 300 today. It came in at 300g on the nose, and 8.5 pts HL. The spec on the frame, btw, is 7 pts HL so it's not too far off, but more HL than I was expecting. The demo I used for a week was only 3.5 pts HL strung with 16 ga Dunlop Silk, so either those were some heavy strings or my play test racquet is a bit more head light. I am still looking into getting an official swingweight done, since I don't really trust the DIY pendulum measurement.
The "spin grommets" are very interesting. Unlike the Pure Aero, which has oval-shaped grommets oriented to allow the strings to slide more from side to side, the spin grommets on this frame have different orientations and widths. Some are front-to-back, some are side-to-side. According to the insert in the hoop, this will help keep my lousy off-center shots inside the court if I hit with topspin. I will definitely be testing this claim extensively.
The "spin grommets" are very interesting. Unlike the Pure Aero, which has oval-shaped grommets oriented to allow the strings to slide more from side to side, the spin grommets on this frame have different orientations and widths. Some are front-to-back, some are side-to-side. According to the insert in the hoop, this will help keep my lousy off-center shots inside the court if I hit with topspin. I will definitely be testing this claim extensively.
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TennisHound
Legend
Did it come strung?
time_fly
Hall of Fame
No, unstrung. The strung SX 300 that I mentioned trying was a TW demo, not part of the play test. I will string it up tonight; still trying to decide what setup to use. Since it's a "spin" racquet there will definitely be poly in the mains.
jangotango
Semi-Pro
On the Dunlop, the spin grommets are only at 12 o'clock also. With the Pure Aero, the oval grommets are at 12 and 6. With the Pure Drive, the weird diamond grommets are all throughout I think?
jangotango
Semi-Pro
First impressions on 300LS strung with Gosen OGSM 16 -
A bit lackluster. Stiff but not jarring, very reminiscent of a Pure Drive rather than a Pure Aero. Very whippy though, easy power and spin. Feel isn't the greatest, I prefer the feel of my Prince and even Pure Aero.
A bit lackluster. Stiff but not jarring, very reminiscent of a Pure Drive rather than a Pure Aero. Very whippy though, easy power and spin. Feel isn't the greatest, I prefer the feel of my Prince and even Pure Aero.
badmice2
Professional
Finally found time to string up my playtest.
I toy with the idea of going hybrid, but decided to string up the SX300 with a full bed of Dunlop Explosive Spin Yellow 17. Coming out of the Dunlop Explosive 16 playtest, I was curious to see how different the 17 may play. Racket was string at 50 lbs with 5% prestretch.
Initial observation is that the racket does not feel 7 point headlight. Through eyeballing and feel, it is even balance to borderline head heavy. Mass of the racket seems to live mid- to lower hoop. I'll have to dust off the balance board to get a better sense.
More to come...
I toy with the idea of going hybrid, but decided to string up the SX300 with a full bed of Dunlop Explosive Spin Yellow 17. Coming out of the Dunlop Explosive 16 playtest, I was curious to see how different the 17 may play. Racket was string at 50 lbs with 5% prestretch.
Initial observation is that the racket does not feel 7 point headlight. Through eyeballing and feel, it is even balance to borderline head heavy. Mass of the racket seems to live mid- to lower hoop. I'll have to dust off the balance board to get a better sense.
More to come...
tennisgurl
Semi-Pro
I read about some QC issues at the beginning of the thread. A little surprised because the CX Srixon Dunlops I came across were all pretty good about being on spec. Can people who got their confirm their specs atleast static weight and balance?
JBH
Rookie
Racquet received: 300SX
String and tension used for test: Dunlop Explosive Spin Yellow 17 52lbs
Tennis experience/background: 4.0 / Play around 8 hours per week.
Describe your playing style (i.e. serve & volley): Lefty with a nasty serve
Current racquet/string setups: Prince Textreme Tour 100 (310) / Blast 17 52lbs
How many hours did you play with the racquet? 6+2(wife)
Weight was within cutting error of the grip material. Balance was better than my ability to detect variance. The frame was packaged in normal retail form, with cardboard insert and plastic wrapped handle. There’s pretty much no way it was cherry picked for weight and balance IMO -
Comments on racquet performance:
-Groundstrokes: In statistics we call it bimodal. In psychology, there are other terms. This is a light, stiff, high power frame with spin enhancement featured and a fairly balanced (4 pts. head light) mass distribution. And that’s exactly how it plays. A full, modern stroke with effective spin generation produces excellent results. Lateral control is very good, and the ability to put away winners with pace and spin from well within the baseline is excellent. The challenge is that shots where you’re unable to produce a high level of spin, either from position or form breakdown, tend to go long, often significantly so. Attempting to dial back power in those situations tends to produce lame ducks that incite gleeful retribution from the other side of the net.
-Serves: Same as above. As a light frame, it swings fast and produces good ball speed. The relatively heavy head balance creates the need to consciously accelerate your wrist to impart adequate spin at the appropriate attack angle. The result is that the effort isn’t overly fluid and produces a significant amount of variation.
-Volleys: Volleys are a 300SX’s strength. The overall light weight makes it easy to get into position, the the head balance makes both drive and touch shots both easy and effective. Volleys with the 300SX are excellent without reservation. A heavier frame may be able to absorb more force, but the majority of players won’t be facing the type of cannon shots where that becomes apparent.
-Serve returns: Typically, a frame’s serve return behavior is primarily based on its weight. The 300SX is light, but it doesn’t play light. A player tends to make a conscious decisions to either block a serve back or take an aggressive full stroke. As long as you commit and execute, the 300SX is capable of producing quality results. If you’re caught out, or fail to commit, the results will fully describe your intent (or lack there of).
General reaction/comments on overall performance:
If you watch the 300SX’s TW video, they make the point that this is an ‘intermediate’s racquet’. My take is that if there is a low to moderate powered intermediate with impeccable spin mechanics out there, this is definitely a must demo frame...
To me, it’s rather obvious that what we mostly have here is-
A Pure Aero semi-clone. Same weight and balance, string configuration, spin-enhancing grommet configuration, beam width.....
Fortunately, we have a Pure Aero to compare, and we find that they actually play quite differently, rather oddly, and perhaps not intentionally so. The Pure Aero’s magic has been and continues to be the ability to create effective shots from defensive or completely out of control positions. The 300SX doesn’t know that tune. The PA is also one of the great serving racquets. It’s sense of flow and placement precision are sublime. Played back to back, the difference is stark. One advantage on the Dunlop’s side is volleys, where the PA, at least in stock form, is no where near as stable.
As with most things, there is a potential down side to greatness, and for the PA, it’s that it lets the beginner to intermediate player get away with murder. With no significant error feedback, its not necessarily an effective way to learn. The 300SX, on the other hand, will tell you very clearly what you did wrong, and reward you when you perform well. I had my wife, an intermediate modest power hitter, (Pure Control 16x19) play the 300SX and she didn’t want to change back, which is unique in her experience. As she said “With this racquet, I really know when I’m hitting a good shot”.
String and tension used for test: Dunlop Explosive Spin Yellow 17 52lbs
Tennis experience/background: 4.0 / Play around 8 hours per week.
Describe your playing style (i.e. serve & volley): Lefty with a nasty serve
Current racquet/string setups: Prince Textreme Tour 100 (310) / Blast 17 52lbs
How many hours did you play with the racquet? 6+2(wife)
Weight was within cutting error of the grip material. Balance was better than my ability to detect variance. The frame was packaged in normal retail form, with cardboard insert and plastic wrapped handle. There’s pretty much no way it was cherry picked for weight and balance IMO -
Comments on racquet performance:
-Groundstrokes: In statistics we call it bimodal. In psychology, there are other terms. This is a light, stiff, high power frame with spin enhancement featured and a fairly balanced (4 pts. head light) mass distribution. And that’s exactly how it plays. A full, modern stroke with effective spin generation produces excellent results. Lateral control is very good, and the ability to put away winners with pace and spin from well within the baseline is excellent. The challenge is that shots where you’re unable to produce a high level of spin, either from position or form breakdown, tend to go long, often significantly so. Attempting to dial back power in those situations tends to produce lame ducks that incite gleeful retribution from the other side of the net.
-Serves: Same as above. As a light frame, it swings fast and produces good ball speed. The relatively heavy head balance creates the need to consciously accelerate your wrist to impart adequate spin at the appropriate attack angle. The result is that the effort isn’t overly fluid and produces a significant amount of variation.
-Volleys: Volleys are a 300SX’s strength. The overall light weight makes it easy to get into position, the the head balance makes both drive and touch shots both easy and effective. Volleys with the 300SX are excellent without reservation. A heavier frame may be able to absorb more force, but the majority of players won’t be facing the type of cannon shots where that becomes apparent.
-Serve returns: Typically, a frame’s serve return behavior is primarily based on its weight. The 300SX is light, but it doesn’t play light. A player tends to make a conscious decisions to either block a serve back or take an aggressive full stroke. As long as you commit and execute, the 300SX is capable of producing quality results. If you’re caught out, or fail to commit, the results will fully describe your intent (or lack there of).
General reaction/comments on overall performance:
If you watch the 300SX’s TW video, they make the point that this is an ‘intermediate’s racquet’. My take is that if there is a low to moderate powered intermediate with impeccable spin mechanics out there, this is definitely a must demo frame...
To me, it’s rather obvious that what we mostly have here is-
A Pure Aero semi-clone. Same weight and balance, string configuration, spin-enhancing grommet configuration, beam width.....
Fortunately, we have a Pure Aero to compare, and we find that they actually play quite differently, rather oddly, and perhaps not intentionally so. The Pure Aero’s magic has been and continues to be the ability to create effective shots from defensive or completely out of control positions. The 300SX doesn’t know that tune. The PA is also one of the great serving racquets. It’s sense of flow and placement precision are sublime. Played back to back, the difference is stark. One advantage on the Dunlop’s side is volleys, where the PA, at least in stock form, is no where near as stable.
As with most things, there is a potential down side to greatness, and for the PA, it’s that it lets the beginner to intermediate player get away with murder. With no significant error feedback, its not necessarily an effective way to learn. The 300SX, on the other hand, will tell you very clearly what you did wrong, and reward you when you perform well. I had my wife, an intermediate modest power hitter, (Pure Control 16x19) play the 300SX and she didn’t want to change back, which is unique in her experience. As she said “With this racquet, I really know when I’m hitting a good shot”.
badmice2
Professional
So I had my racket on the balance board just now; it's showing 1 pt head light strung. I'm a little stun given stock is supposed to be 7 pts, and TW tested at 4 pts - no where close to the headlight balance it's quoted.Finally found time to string up my playtest.
I toy with the idea of going hybrid, but decided to string up the SX300 with a full bed of Dunlop Explosive Spin Yellow 17. Coming out of the Dunlop Explosive 16 playtest, I was curious to see how different the 17 may play. Racket was string at 50 lbs with 5% prestretch.
Initial observation is that the racket does not feel 7 point headlight. Through eyeballing and feel, it is even balance to borderline head heavy. Mass of the racket seems to live mid- to lower hoop. I'll have to dust off the balance board to get a better sense.
More to come...
joah310
Professional
Maybe 7 point hp unstrung? That would explain tw's testing, but otherwise i think poor qc got the best of u
jangotango
Semi-Pro
Should be 7pts. Unstrung, but even with strings adding about 15 grams throughout the head, the final balance would end up around 4-3pts. Depending on if you use an overgrip, and if you keep the rubber finishing band on the racquet (mine weighed three grams, so I took it off.)
jangotango
Semi-Pro
This racquet is growing on me. Everything is just easier to do after 100 swings compared to my Prince, no doubt due to the reduced weight. I'm playing my schools #1 doubles spot, and the stability at net is only slightly worse than my prince. It is a lot more maneuverable too, with good control and power. The only area that's lacking for me so far are the serves, but that's to be expected tbh.
time_fly
Hall of Fame
Mine appears to be a bit of an outlier. As I mentioned above, unstrung it was 300g but about 8.5 pts HL. Strung (Solinco Tour Bite 17), wtih a Wilson Pro OG and O-ring dampener, it checks in at 323g and almost 7pts HL. I did locate a Babolat RDC machine vaguely in my area, but it's about an hour away. I'm trying to psych myself up to haul the racquet up there. I suspect mine is a much lower SW than many of the others discussed here so far.
