Tennis Warehouse Playtest: Head Graphene Touch Prestige Tour/Mid Racquet

movdqa

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
TW Staff said:
Fun facts for this playtest: We had over 80+ applicants and 10 racquets to playtest. I would say 42% selected the Mid while 58% selected the Tour. We are excited to get everyone's comments and are already getting ready for another playtest!

Thanks,
Brittany, TW
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A lot more interested in the Mid than I was expecting. So glad that there is a mid option for players that want it.

Looking forward to the reviews and, hopefully, some videos.
 
SeeItHitIt

SeeItHitIt

Semi-Pro
Congrats to the selected play testers - I'm really curious how each of these play (even though they're kind of opposite sticks).
 
tennisaddict03

tennisaddict03

Rookie
TW Staff said:
Fun facts for this playtest: We had over 80+ applicants and 10 racquets to playtest. I would say 42% selected the Mid while 58% selected the Tour. We are excited to get everyone's comments and are already getting ready for another playtest!

Thanks,
Brittany, TW
Click to expand...
Brittany, I know it's too late but if you have any spare rackets, I would love to be able to test the racket out since I have a lot of court time lined up over the holidays. I would love to be notified for any future playtests as I love to test out new gear and strings since I love recommending items to my teammates on my league teams.
 
TW Staff

TW Staff

Administrator
tennisaddict03,

Thank you for showing interest but we unfortunately do not have any extra racquets. The playtests will appear at the top of each forum on Talk Tennis with information on how to apply throughout the year. You will have to keep an eye out for the playtests as they pop up randomly throughout the month and normally fill up with playtesters anywhere from a couple hours to a couple days. We tend to have two string playtests a month plus any other additional playtests that come up. We pick playtesters based on the playtest. Some
playtests we have enough samples to give to everyone that has applied (strings especially). Other playtests are more selective and we base them on several factors such as message board experience, message board posts and previous playtests.

Hope that helps,
Brittany, TW
 
tennisaddict03

tennisaddict03

Rookie
TW Staff said:
tennisaddict03,

Thank you for showing interest but we unfortunately do not have any extra racquets. The playtests will appear at the top of each forum on Talk Tennis with information on how to apply throughout the year. You will have to keep an eye out for the playtests as they pop up randomly throughout the month and normally fill up with playtesters anywhere from a couple hours to a couple days. We tend to have two string playtests a month plus any other additional playtests that come up. We pick playtesters based on the playtest. Some
playtests we have enough samples to give to everyone that has applied (strings especially). Other playtests are more selective and we base them on several factors such as message board experience, message board posts and previous playtests.

Hope that helps,
Brittany, TW
Click to expand...
Thank you Brittany, I appreciate the info and I'll definitely be on the lookout for future playtests.
 
El_Yotamo

El_Yotamo

Professional
TW Staff said:
Fun facts for this playtest: We had over 80+ applicants and 10 racquets to playtest. I would say 42% selected the Mid while 58% selected the Tour. We are excited to get everyone's comments and are already getting ready for another playtest!

Thanks,
Brittany, TW
Click to expand...

Ooh another playtest! I hope it has to do with a certain 93 sq in Prince frame I was told was in the making, or another frame from its family :D

Actually, whatever it is I'm very excited and hope I finally get in to one of these :)
 
TennisHound

TennisHound

Legend
TW Staff said:
Fun facts for this playtest: We had over 80+ applicants and 10 racquets to playtest. I would say 42% selected the Mid while 58% selected the Tour. We are excited to get everyone's comments and are already getting ready for another playtest!

Thanks,
Brittany, TW
Click to expand...
We're all pumped, this one should be especially good :)
 
topspn

topspn

Hall of Fame
Looks like the racquets are being sent out since I got a UPS notification! Good timing since I have some time off to hit more.
 
movdqa

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
topspn said:
Looks like the racquets are being sent out since I got a UPS notification! Good timing since I have some time off to hit more.
Click to expand...
Sounds good. It can take a surprising amount of time to do a good playtest, especially if you're doing video.
 
J

John Z.

Rookie
Been saying for years that we need at least one good arm friendly player mid frame (93) with open string pattern (18x20 in mid size is obviously getting old). Looks like Head might have been listening after-all, and not just to the mass of players who can't tell the difference. Most mature companies end up dominated by salesmen, which almost inevitably end up with poor product quality on the long term. Kuddos to Head for realizing they were on a bad tangent with their mids, a small step but one that give me optimism wrt future lineup of rackets from these folks.
 
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movdqa

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
John Z. said:
Been saying for years that we need at least one good arm friendly player mid frame (93) with open string pattern (18x20 in mid size is obviously getting old). Looks like Head might have been listening after-all, and not just to the mass of players who can't tell the difference. Most mature companies end up dominated by salesmen, which almost inevitably end up with long term disaster in term of product quality. Kuddos to Head for realizing they were on a bad tangent with their mids, a small step but one that give me optimism wrt future lineup of rackets from these folks.
Click to expand...
Head certainly does the level of volume to support such a frame.

I wonder if they will have a sponsored player with this frame.
 
J

John Z.

Rookie
movdqa said:
Head certainly does the level of volume to support such a frame.

I wonder if they will have a sponsored player with this frame.
Click to expand...
Would be nice but i doubt it - top players will likely be poster boys for high volume frames (even as they do not play with them).
 
haqq777

haqq777

Legend
topspn said:
Looks like the racquets are being sent out since I got a UPS notification! Good timing since I have some time off to hit more.
Click to expand...
Awesome! I haven't gotten a notification yet, I usually do with all my UPS packages. A bit curious.
 
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TennisHound

TennisHound

Legend
John Z. said:
Been saying for years that we need at least one good arm friendly player mid frame (93) with open string pattern (18x20 in mid size is obviously getting old). Looks like Head might have been listening after-all, and not just to the mass of players who can't tell the difference. Most mature companies end up dominated by salesmen, which almost inevitably end up with poor product quality on the long term. Kuddos to Head for realizing they were on a bad tangent with their mids, a small step but one that give me optimism wrt future lineup of rackets from these folks.
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Head should have made the (RevPro) Mid right in the first place, then they wouldn’t have been on a bad tangent :)
 
J

John Z.

Rookie
TennisHound said:
Head should have made the (RevPro) Mid right in the first place, then they wouldn’t have been on a bad tangent :)
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Indeed, although better late than never my friend. To put things in perspective, Wilson is not even trying... and their pro staff lineup is not much better imo, it simply has been federered :)
 
Faris

Faris

Professional
Although i was late as always and missed the deadline to apply, i am super happy that TW picked some great guys this time for playtest....most I know who got in always have great insight which i find super helpful!! Perhaps next time i will not be so lazy and atleast apply on time lolz
 
haqq777

haqq777

Legend
movdqa said:
Might be a difference in destination: East coast vs West Coast. I think that there was a difference in ship dates on my playtest too.
Click to expand...
First thing I thought of too, but that doesn't seem to be the case this time. Topspn and I are from neighboring states (mid west).
 
loosegroove

loosegroove

Hall of Fame
TW Staff said:
Fun facts for this playtest: We had over 80+ applicants and 10 racquets to playtest. I would say 42% selected the Mid while 58% selected the Tour.
Click to expand...
Interesting stats. I wonder if they reflect applicants' true preferences, or if people were more thinking, "free playtest, what the hay, let me try a 93'er”.
 
McLovin

McLovin

Legend
I did not receive a notification either, but logging into UPS shows a package from TW arriving Thursday. I’m in VA/DC.
 
P

parasailing

Hall of Fame
If this was a Babolat playtest, there would be more than 80 applicants applying for the playtest. TW - Can you provide some stats on how many applicants applied for the Babolat Pure Drive or Wilson Ultra Tour playtest?
 
CopolyX

CopolyX

Hall of Fame
TW Staff said:
@Boyd Clary,

I just looked up your playtest email and you were not eligible for this playtest as you did not provide a full shipping address (only the street address). We need a full shipping address in order to ship the racquets.

For the future, we want to give a couple tips on how to improve your chances on getting selected. Apply for string playtests first and leave detailed, thorough reviews. We generally have a larger amount of strings to send out for playtests and your chances are much higher of being selected. Additionally, it helps if you have a good history on the message board and are participating in a positive way especially in the shoe, string and racquet sections.

Thanks,
Brittany, TW
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Thanks got it,
I will and totally appreciate the advise and tips.
Done added my address to the location field.
That was the only field that seemed applicable.
PS...love the bloppers video for 2017 you all created....!
Also if you see Devin S., tell hi thanks!
Oh yes,,Drew is not to bad either...lol
 
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TW Staff

TW Staff

Administrator
All playtesters have replied and racquets were sent out on Friday. Playtesters, depending on where you are located you should get them by the end of this week. Please note you may not get a email notification from UPS.

Thanks,
Brittany, TW
 
StringingIrvine

StringingIrvine

Semi-Pro
Sorry no unboxing pictures. It was just the normal box that TW ships with racket. The pallet is the normal rectangular one, feels the same as my IG Prestige MP.

Unstrung 315g / 10.5 pts HL
Strung with Hyper G 16L, Yonex Super Grap (not cut), Rubber band = 340g / 8 pts HL.

The play test came with Head hawk strings, but I opted to not to use them as I've never used them before. I don't want to introduce any new variables to my review.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS:
I love black colorways, I think the limited edition IG Prestige MP is the best looking racket ever with the black RF coming in second.

This new prestige has a lot of grey and red. The red is almost neon, it reminds of the of red that was on the original pure strikes (bright and in your face). In my honest opinion, i'm not too excited about how it looks. Its all personal opinion, and to me the graphene, graphene xt, both look better than this racket.

When I think of prestige cosmetics I always think, plain, subdued, i'm going to let my performance on the court speak for me. This new cosmetic is a lot louder than any of the recent renditions of the prestige (excluding the bright red grommets from graphene line).

My close up pictures got messed up somehow, i'll post additional pictures later tonight.



Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
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SpinToWin

SpinToWin

Talk Tennis Guru
StringingIrvine said:
Sorry no unboxing pictures. It was just the normal box that TW ships with racket.

Unstrung 315g with a 10.5 pts HL
Strung with Hyper G 16L, Yonex Super Grap (not cut), Rubber band = 340g 8 pts HL.



Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
TTW demands detailed cosmetic pics ;)

(not me, no no no, TTW, really!)
 
StringingIrvine

StringingIrvine

Semi-Pro
@movdqa

Yup, rectangular grip, same as my IG prestige MP. Honestly I prefer the rectangular pallet vs the square on wilsons.

UPDATED previous post with initial impressions.
 
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moon shot

moon shot

Hall of Fame
StringingIrvine said:
Sorry no unboxing pictures. It was just the normal box that TW ships with racket. The pallet is the normal rectangular one, feels the same as my IG Prestige MP.

Unstrung 315g with a 10.5 pts HL
Strung with Hyper G 16L, Yonex Super Grap (not cut), Rubber band = 340g 8 pts HL.

The playtest came with Head hawk strings, but I opted to not to use them as i've never used them before. I don't want to introduce any new variables to my review.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS:
I love black colorways, I think the limited edition IG Prestige MP is the best looking racket ever with the black RF coming in second.

This new prestige has a lot of grey and red. The red is almost neon, it reminds of the of red that was on the original pure strikes (bright and in your face). In my honest opinion, i'm not too excited about how it looks. Its all personal opinion, and to me the graphene, graphene xt, both look better than this racket.

When I think of prestige cosmetics I always think, plain, subdued, i'm going to let my performance on the court speak for me. This new cosmetic is a lot louder than any of the recent renditions of the prestige (excluding the bright red grommets from graphene line).

My close up pictures got messed up somehow, i'll post additional pictures later tonight.



Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I haven’t seen pictures before so this may be old hat.

Do the grommets have a split at 12? The grommets appear to be stylistically similar to what Cilic uses.

It looks like the throat right above the handle is raised like the graphene prestige pro. I think this is different than the prestige team models people were comparing to.
 
movdqa

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
StringingIrvine said:
@movdqa

Yup, rectangular grip, same as my IG prestige MP. Honestly I prefer the rectangular pallet vs the square on wilsons.

UPDATED previous post with most impressions.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the comments.

It will be interesting to see a comparison between the IG and this new generation.

I used the YT and use the IG now and am most used to the almost all Red Prestiges. I didn't like the Red on Black with this Prestige though I do like the RF97 cosmetics a lot. I've never had a LE IG Prestige though I recall that they look quite sharp. It would take quite a bit to pry my IG Prestige MPs away from me.
 
mhkeuns

mhkeuns

Hall of Fame
Too bad the MP is not.being playtested, but both Mid and Tour are interesting frames. Hope to see some detailed reviews.
 
Faris

Faris

Professional
just hit with the mid today at my club....took some time getting used to the headsize for me...maybe its just placebo as I know head is notorious for the head sizes they put out..but still...lots of off center hits in the beginning....also felt it was super low powered and that too perhaps because I have been playing with Dr98 last few weeks...will hit again as the racquet is at clubs pro shop for a week or so...i like the PJ but thats subjective so some may love it, some might not. Definitely looks sexy to me and better than last gen GXT
 
ToastyTilapia

ToastyTilapia

Rookie
Just got my mid in the mail! I'm really loving the paintjob. Definitely one of the best prestige PJ's. One of the first things I did was take off the butt cap.... and it was something I've never seen before. Looks like the trap door is weighted. Mine weigh's 7 grams exactly. My stick weighed in at 318 grams. Just strung it with Gamma TNT2 Tour 17g mains at 51 lbs and Babolat RPM Team crosses at 48 lbs. I have a match tomorrow in which I'll be using my Youtek Prestige MP but will hit with this a little bit as well.

 
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