The light players racquet dream..., and the heavy players racquet reality check!

db379

Hall of Fame
Great memory! I still have my BB11SE's, but those are not headlight enough for me. I was thinking of removing the lead, or maybe shifting it to the handle, but alas, I haven't had the time to really tinker with them (plus I'd like to keep them in their original state for now).

Yea, never quite found the PT280 replacement. Was funny though, I had a similar experience like you, I pulled out the PT280 one day a few weeks ago and won a great 6-0 set. I still may circle all the way back to it soon enough.

Right now, I'm actually enjoying the new Prestige, YTPP. Strung with overgrip, it's right around 12.5 oz, but more HL than the PT280. The added stiffness and open pattern make it a spinnier, more powerful version of the PT280, with a touch more maneuverability, without sacrificing stability or flat-winner controllability. Not quite the feel or flex of 'ol blue or the classic prestiges, but I guess that's the trade-off.

I guess my "back to prestiges" motto was a little misleading, I'm more "back to the prestige line", except in their newer form in the YTPP. It is a nice blend of classic and modern frame tech, imho. I still also keep the Prestige Tour 600 (Mid) handy for casual hitting, but the forgiveness and free power of the YTPP's 98" in comparison is nice, especially in competitive settings.

I did remove the lead off the BB11SE, and it then becomes very manageable, around 325g unstrung I think. The racquet is still very stable and has this nice flex. I may have a spin with it again some time soon. To me this racquet plays more like a 93 than a 98, very controlled and tight string pattern, great serve placement and overall very good from anywhere on the court. I actually often think of it as a modern PT630.
 

Gee

Hall of Fame
Hi Gee! I read your posts about the BA98. I think this is a very interesting racquet for any serious player. I was surprised at how good it feels, and I like the no frills look, no new nanotech graphite whatever... just old, simple solid graphite stick. Anyway, I demoed the 295g some time ago when I was in my light player's period, and I liked it so much I bought it and used it as a platform to customize. I really liked the stability and feel at such a low weight, but I needed to make it heavier to work for me. Mine has quite a bit of lead all over really. In retrospect, I maybe should have bought the 325...
Hi,
When the BA325 came out I was really interested because of the specs and nice paintjob but after one demo session I have been disillusioned because it didn't have that exceptional PK feel like the regular BA98. It had a somewhat electric and metallic feel that I really disliked. Other TW TT members confirmed this as well.

So I prefer to stay with my BA98s.
 

db379

Hall of Fame
Hi,
When the BA325 came out I was really interested because of the specs and nice paintjob but after one demo session I have been disillusioned because it didn't have that exceptional PK feel like the regular BA98. It had a somewhat electric and metallic feel that I really disliked. Other TW TT members confirmed this as well.

So I prefer to stay with my BA98s.

Interesting. I didn't know the BA325 was a lesser racquet. Could your negative experience with it be due to a bad string job?

Also, is your regular BA stock or leaded? Which string job do you have?

I'd be interested in hearing more about experiences with the BA325.
 

basil J

Hall of Fame
I used the BA 98 2 years ago for about 2 months and found it unstable and it played Lighter & stiffer than it's specs would indicate.
 

Gee

Hall of Fame
Interesting. I didn't know the BA325 was a lesser racquet. Could your negative experience with it be due to a bad string job?

Also, is your regular BA stock or leaded? Which string job do you have?

I'd be interested in hearing more about experiences with the BA325.
I customized the demo with a leather grip and lead at 3 and 9 like my regular frame. Only the demo had a thicker string gauge (Head RIP Control 16 vs 17) but I can't imagine that such a minor difference with the strings would feel so much more different. Otherwise I would have noticed that the BA325 had a special touch and feel. Unfortunately it didn't IMO.

Here you can find a thread that I joined (from post #10) and another poster shared his experiences with the BA325 as well.
 
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Gee

Hall of Fame
I used the BA 98 2 years ago for about 2 months and found it unstable and it played Lighter & stiffer than it's specs would indicate.
Though I really like the touch and feel of the BA98 I must admit that I also think the BA98 is not rock solid especially into the tip. But some lead did help in my case.

I put 6" of lead at 3 and 9 on my BA98 and counterbalanced with a leather grip. This is a good improvement. It feels a bit more solid however the sw is still not high enough to me. So I consider to add another 3 grams of lead at 12.
 

db379

Hall of Fame
Gee, thanks for the info.

Could you report the full link... I cannot open the one you just posted.
 

Power Player

Bionic Poster
Have my EXO Tours at 11.9 and a SW around 330. They hit great. The EXO is a nice flexy graphite stick with no gimmicks besides the port holes (which work like a charm).

I am not sure if 11.9 is light, but I do know that larger holes in the stick seem to make it come through the air a lot faster than similar weighted racquets.
 
Hello

Is Aero storm tour or Technofibre 320 to demanding for a 3.5 who plays 3-4 times a week and improve rapidly? Play with a bio 300tour and that's fine but I wonder if a players racquet like the above mentioned is something I should wait for a couple of months/a year until I hit 4.0.

How do you know when you are ready for a plyers racquet?
 
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