The big box store K-mart style ProKennex from the early 2000's

[Casey 1988]

I use the ProKennex Jr Ace Pro Power Contour with the Power Contour on the head of the racquet in Aluminum mainly in the red & blue Taiwan model as my original one from 2002--2003 winter for my first usable racquet that I have 5 of now as of 2024 with 4 of the yellow & black Chinese as of 2024 and I remember seeing an adult model in a K-mart that was a 100--102 square inch head that was basically a sized up version of the ProKennex Ace Pro in same colors as the red & blue though no Power Contour on the model. Also was a 24.75 inch they called a 24 inch model of ProKennex in same name as the Aluminum as the that was Titanium at the time and had a 102 square inch head and had the super wide frame shape on the head if scaled up for an adult frame would have been wider then the normal head design Hammer like my dad got cheap at a garage sale along with a small hopper of balls and a racquet more for my mom. Yeah, I am guessing around 3 inches or 7.5 cm at the widest point.

I was 12--13 when I got my first useable racquet being this ProKennex as I was before using a Wilson Duke 16 os that was fixed in factory and if you looked had been redone overtop a 14 oz that was so slow I neeeded to as a 12 year old swing as soon as my brother would hit the ball it was that heavy at 1 pound . My mom tried to before I used the wood force me into a foam handle Wilson in this odd yellow fade to orange Cheese color Willson Jr Open model becuse she heard the Aluminum models had vibration fearing the shock I got the few times I tried to use an older cheap department store Wilson Steel frame that was 90 square inches in the head but when I tried that Wilson Aluminum model I swapped it on my brother for the wood model he hated due to being a 27 inch long model and had great success with the one becuse he loved using a tennis racquet single handed and I could not use the model he had of Wilson Jr Open. Eventually she saw how bad I was with the Wilso Duke super heavy Pro model and decided I needed to get a new racquet.

The ProKennex were good for a cheap racquet, had higher tension in the Jr/kids models where the strings could not be easily and the adult models were not skinny fame width the way most of the Aluminum models were at the time from brands like Dunlop, Wilson, or the rare Babolot aluminum model was these Aluminum ProKennex were more like the average non wide body Titanium model only a hair thinner but still wider then the average Aluminum frame that Wilson & Dunlop made at the time where they were more like older Jr Teen frames for the Adult models at the time being very whippy with some Jr 23--24 inch long models of Wilson with the foam handle being about 7 mm in width with strings tensioned so low on a harder but not max power swing I could see the string moving in or out without ever having hit a ball even with the cardboard on them in the store.

I am wondering did anybody use these ProKennex Ace models or other ProKennex from big box stores like K-mart?

 

[BumElbow]

For years I used a ProKennex Power Dominator and developed a really good forehand with it. I had difficulty transitioning to graphite and graphite composite racquets after using the aluminum Power Dominator because they were too stiff. I replaced it with a PK Composite Dominator but found that it had no feel and was very stiff though my friends said it had more power. Fortunately, one of my buddies really liked it and bought mine - he played with it for years. Frankly, I thought aluminum racquets played great but they lacked some power compared to the new graphite racquets. Hitting hard with an aluminum racquet could lead to vibrations on off-center hits. I ended up injuring myself trying to keep up with harder hitting opponents so the Power Dominator had to be replaced.

I tried several other ProKennex models at the time. The brand then was very affordable and they tried to knock-off the name brands by mimicking the Yonex Isometic head shape and other brands too. PK also had a few original designs (e.g., the Asymmetric) but their bread and butter racquets were the 85 sq. inch Ace models especially the Silver Ace and the Black Ace. I now own a Black Ace 300 with the Kinetic tech and it's a really good racquet. It felt great having the PK grip shape again in my hand.

In the 80's, PK was a mass producer of racquets under their own brand as well as other name brands; it also created different models sold exclusively at certain stores. I miss those days when there were budget but quality brands of tennis racquets. Now, if you want a budget racquet, you have to settle for an older version of an existing model. Also, now, exclusive racquet lines with limited distribution at one major retailer are harder to find because the market has changed, e.g., Artengo racquets are no longer sold in the USA. The closest thing you can now buy from PK that could be classified as a budget racquet is the Kinetic Classic line consisting of the 5G and the 7G sold at $129. For old time's sake, I've been wanting to get one.

 

[Casey 1988]

For years I used a ProKennex Power Dominator and developed a really good forehand with it. I had difficulty transitioning to graphite and graphite composite racquets after using the aluminum Power Dominator because they were too stiff. I replaced it with a PK Composite Dominator but found that it had no feel and was very stiff though my friends said it had more power. Fortunately, one of my buddies really liked it and bought mine - he played with it for years. Frankly, I thought aluminum racquets played great but they lacked some power compared to the new graphite racquets. Hitting hard with an aluminum racquet could lead to vibrations on off-center hits. I ended up injuring myself trying to keep up with harder hitting opponents so the Power Dominator had to be replaced.

I tried several other ProKennex models at the time. The brand then was very affordable and they tried to knock-off the name brands by mimicking the Yonex Isometic head shape and other brands too. PK also had a few original designs (e.g., the Asymmetric) but their bread and butter racquets were the 85 sq. inch Ace models especially the Silver Ace and the Black Ace. I now own a Black Ace 300 with the Kinetic tech and it's a really good racquet. It felt great having the PK grip shape again in my hand.

In the 80's, PK was a mass producer of racquets under their own brand as well as other name brands; it also created different models sold exclusively at certain stores. I miss those days when there were budget but quality brands of tennis racquets. Now, if you want a budget racquet, you have to settle for an older version of an existing model. Also, now, exclusive racquet lines with limited distribution at one major retailer are harder to find because the market has changed, e.g., Artengo racquets are no longer sold in the USA. The closest thing you can now buy from PK that could be classified as a budget racquet is the Kinetic Classic line consisting of the 5G and the 7G sold at $129. For old time's sake, I've been wanting to get one.

Yes, I miss the budget models of higher quality and right now only Wilson and Dunlop seem to be making several higher quality budget models in a aluminum alloy/good titanium even a few $60--$90 graphite models for Willson most of these graphite are in a more normal looking Hammer line. Sure Babolot has a few titanium models but they are titanium steel alloy around $60--$70 that for some of these models are very hard on the hands like the bad steel models from the 1970's to early 1980's with an issue that these Babolot titanium never seem to have more then 2 grip sizes of, 4 & 3/8 inches and the next up that is often the biggest size for most brands in a 4 & 5/8 inches.

1980's to 2000's ProKennex cornered the market on cheap but not adult beginner/teen Jr racquets, making all Jr racquets as if a 5 year old is going to be using the racquet. Even older titanium models are better then what is out now as now they vibrate more then in the past to where people need to either do a foam fill with the expanding insulation foam or use silicon in the handle. I have found Kawaski still makes or is remaking cheap carbon fiber models under $100 also carbon fiber with graphite core models somehow more expensive becuse they come with a cheap tennis backpack both models sold mainly on AliExpress with strings and also without on the carbon fiber only model but is mainly known for the badminton that is popular in China, South Korea, and Japan as well as the soft tennis gear for Japan many use the 85 square inch head racquet for Royalty Tennis as reading one of the reviews saying he used model for kings tennis in a place in Canada building made before USA was even a country for when the Queen of Great Brittan came to Canada.

I know the deal, ProKennex has the flattest rectangle octagon shape of any of the big brands racquet models and for some reason the only brand with a full lineup having a 4 & 1/4 inch grip, the smallest adult size on all models. Most brands stop at a 4 & 1/3 for adult models only having a 4 & 1/4 for some models under 300 grams.

 

[Casey 1988]

For years I used a ProKennex Power Dominator and developed a really good forehand with it. I had difficulty transitioning to graphite and graphite composite racquets after using the aluminum Power Dominator because they were too stiff. I replaced it with a PK Composite Dominator but found that it had no feel and was very stiff though my friends said it had more power. Fortunately, one of my buddies really liked it and bought mine - he played with it for years. Frankly, I thought aluminum racquets played great but they lacked some power compared to the new graphite racquets. Hitting hard with an aluminum racquet could lead to vibrations on off-center hits. I ended up injuring myself trying to keep up with harder hitting opponents so the Power Dominator had to be replaced.

What model of ProKennex Dominator Did you have? I can find the model with double throat and not with even a blue 270 gram Graphite model made/sold into the 2014 on an old Amazon listing that looks like a modern ProKennex with an early Kinetic technology called Micro Shift, pre Kennetic branding.

 

[BumElbow]

The aluminum Power Dominator had a 90 sq. inch headsize. It had a nylon throat piece and looked like this: https://www.****.com/itm/3651032447...HctcIm0lmQiUxGk6OGetfLNZd7o-4aJRoC71AQAvD_BwE

The Composite Dominator was a 50/50 graphite and fiberglass 90 sq. inch racquet that played stiffer than its composition would indicate. Usually, the more fiberglass added to the graphite matrix resulted in a more flexible racquet. Like the Power Dominator, it had a rectangular head shape similar to the Yonex Isometric design. It looked like this: https://www.****.com/itm/2858397838...aUORf7Lj1nVGGc1fXy4GK4vu6Q==|tkp:BFBM3r2s9NNk

 

[Casey 1988]

The aluminum Power Dominator had a 90 sq. inch headsize. It had a nylon throat piece and looked like this: https://www.****.com/itm/3651032447...HctcIm0lmQiUxGk6OGetfLNZd7o-4aJRoC71AQAvD_BwE

The Composite Dominator was a 50/50 graphite and fiberglass 90 sq. inch racquet that played stiffer than its composition would indicate. Usually, the more fiberglass added to the graphite matrix resulted in a more flexible racquet. Like the Power Dominator, it had a rectangular head shape similar to the Yonex Isometric design. It looked like this: https://www.****.com/itm/285839783857?_skw=prokennex+composite+dominator&itmmeta=01JAFMB3VA38MH9Z24Y6XFGG75&hash=item428d60f7b1:g:2aUAAOSwxGZmModT&itmprp=enc:AQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx+KZ9MfhVJKnoHbXQfJKu8Cb40UWxRas8QEpRMwdvQ4Mvy6L+veqyV5LVtqsn0xWqubL9WeDC6fvdsRP/2OpiXN9B/9AcLcQpeeg58zLaNeAj6fYOGjKn7PmkWh6QGXwfNU1vWSJ4D8F9IfR8FjQfGm5XjNnyyUUDK5t6KS+U4IW1arnfP6mBWQz00eHCoHz+G1veCMKTQ5wpUHDgQAUURfCoqV7K8SYKQM4smIZL+Wz0cTNMavqblUdrPNpkyNTQJOQUmZQKJQX7UwKkyD5O9NisExonaUORf7Lj1nVGGc1fXy4GK4vu6Q==|tkp:BFBM3r2s9NNk

Composite Dominator later was called the Bronze Dominator 60% Graphite 40% Fiberglass in a silver color made as a model into the 1990's for a big box sports only type store as the budget model, and the other kind of faded as was moved into the Ace line as a very similar racquet on the cheap end for the Kmart/Walmart type stores and in late 1990's to early 2000's became shortened into some kind of 25 inch Jr. Pro Ace Power contour and very rare in adult line for a very short while as the Power Ace/Power Ace oversize a with a very hard to find 98--100 square inch head for normal or more common 110 square inch head options that the

Dominator was only 1 aluminum model in early 2000's was only ever a 27.25 110 square inch head that later name was taken over by a 27.25 inch titanium and graphite model made as a cheaper alternative to the all graphite models using the modern braid to keep the racquet together

 

[BumElbow]

Composite Dominator later was called the Bronze Dominator 60% Graphite 40% Fiberglass in a silver color made as a model into the 1990's for a big box sports only type store as the budget model, and the other kind of faded as was moved into the Ace line as a very similar racquet on the cheap end for the Kmart/Walmart type stores and in late 1990's to early 2000's became shortened into some kind of 25 inch Jr. Pro Ace Power contour and very rare in adult line for a very short while as the Power Ace/Power Ace oversize a with a very hard to find 98--100 square inch head for normal or more common 110 square inch head options that the

Dominator was only 1 aluminum model in early 2000's was only ever a 27.25 110 square inch head that later name was taken over by a 27.25 inch titanium and graphite model made as a cheaper alternative to the all graphite models using the modern braid to keep the racquet together

Not accurate. The Composite Dominator and the Bronze Dominator were different models and played differently. Frankly, I don't know what you're talking about.