Say Chi Sin Lo
G.O.A.T.
I'm back where I belong guys.
THE MIGHTY PRO STAFF 90 THREAD
- Thread starter Bender
- Start date
I'm back where I belong guys.
Stringerboy
New User
I got my hands on the Hyper Pro Staff Tour a couple of months ago and today I have gotten two near mint K Six One Tours. Like playing tennis with a club
asifallasleep
Hall of Fame
Ok so I am back to this stick. Makes me wonder why i switched to my beloved RF97. Gheez this thing is sublime. I think frames 95 and below allows one to play "natural" tennis, while bigger frames make us work against ourselves, still able to get good results but we work against ourselves.
asifallasleep
Hall of Fame
I am back to believing that the 90 can still compete in the modern game against the bigger modern sticks. Anyone on tour using a 95 could easily use a 90 IMO. I think everyone bought into the bigger is better and the younger guys that's all they ever played with. All these guys use a 95 and could easily use a 90:
Novak Djokovic
Daniil Medvedev
Denis Shapovalov
Stan Wawrinka
Dan Evans
Andy Murray
Aslan Karatsev
Alexei Popyrin
Marcos Giron
Marin Cilic
Philip Kohlschreiber
Reilly Opelka
Roberto Bautista Agut
Leonardo Mayer
Thomaz Bellucci
Lukas Rosol
Dušan Lajović
Bruno Soares
Horia Tecau
Taylor Fritz
Koepfer
Ivashka
Diego Schwartzman
Garin
Hanfmann
Dusan Lajovic
Kyle Edmund
Novak Djokovic
Daniil Medvedev
Denis Shapovalov
Stan Wawrinka
Dan Evans
Andy Murray
Aslan Karatsev
Alexei Popyrin
Marcos Giron
Marin Cilic
Philip Kohlschreiber
Reilly Opelka
Roberto Bautista Agut
Leonardo Mayer
Thomaz Bellucci
Lukas Rosol
Dušan Lajović
Bruno Soares
Horia Tecau
Taylor Fritz
Koepfer
Ivashka
Diego Schwartzman
Garin
Hanfmann
Dusan Lajovic
Kyle Edmund
So you have left behind the H19?
asifallasleep
Hall of Fame
I'm always rotating my sticks. The good thing is I haven't purchased any new ones to add to my collection.
asifallasleep
Hall of Fame
The i-prestige mids were the best Head mid IMO, but I still preferred my K90's over it. That stick in a 16X19 would have been awesome.
Funny you say that, I like this 93 but I'd love to see how it felt in 18x20.
asifallasleep
Hall of Fame
i-prestige mids can be found on the bay. the newer Head prestige frames felt hollow to me.
slipgrip93
Professional
I have a 2010 youtek IG prestige MP (98) from about 8 years ago from the tennis warehouse resale page then. It seems barely used, but I never really used it because it felt "strange" compared to my regular wilson use, and has that weird "whistling" sound on swing. I'm considering giving to a relative this holiday season. Is it still considered a classic prestige racquet as a MP and not a midsize?
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
Classic-TXP-IG MID
Hall of Fame
Yes, it's a great racquet. It will make a very nice gift.
slipgrip93
Professional
Thanks guys. Glad to hear the racquet 'sounds' authentic with its 'whistling' quirk. My relative has a son in grade school, so I'm also sending them a junior walmart wilson racquet I restrung. And no racquet in their home, so I hope to preempt with gifting a decent racquet before pickleball infects them haha. (and shouldn't every home have a racquet even for casual playing families with growing kids?)
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What do you mean by whistle? When you swing or when you hit the ball?
Sorry, but they are not supposed to have whistle sounds, unless you mean the sound from swing it fast through the air. Thin beam racquets make a sound while swinging.
Your 90 should do that. But that's all…
Prince with O'ports whistle for obvious reasons.
Babolats have a kind of metallic sound to them while hitting a ball, kind of a whistle, specially with no damper.
But Prestiges would be a first for me
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
Ok sir, if you say so...
I have a PC 600 Classic, and had an iprestige, both mid, never noticed any whistle - and I tested an youteck MP once, from a friend of mine. No whistle noted.
lelopez
Semi-Pro
My Graphene Touch Mid whistles like a mo'fo when swung, which was weird coming from Wilson. Interestingly enough, the 360+ Mid does not whistle at all.
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
Classic-TXP-IG MID
Hall of Fame
What they are referring to is the sound the racquet makes when you swing it fast enough through the air. I would call it a "whooshing" sound. Kind of like a "lightsaber" in Star Wars when they move it around.
Most racquets will make that sound if you swing them hard enough... but some make a louder noise than others.
At least that's how I interpret it.
Yes, that's what I though too. Depends on how fast a player swings.
My Pro Staffs don't make that noise, at least that I'm aware. Probably I don't have that much of a fast swing…
O'Port Princes whistle very loud, those bother me a lot.
Something very annoying are dampers with a whistle, I used to play with a guy who had one of those, and that thing got me a bit nervous at times
asifallasleep
Hall of Fame
I whistle when i am destroying people with my K90's. LOL.
Hi Pro Staff 90 fanatics, I just did a video on my YouTube channel about why Wilson should re-release the PS90 (preferably the kfactor). Please support and share; like, subscribe, comment, etc. I'm going to try to communicate directly to Wilson as well. Thanks, every bit helps.
I wish they would release limited edition to. Fair well roger’s retirement but it’s not possible to release for commercial purpose because 1) not many sh bh out there 2) not enough strength to swing effectively 3) by the time to achieve sufficient skill level for this racquet, people already picked up preferred racquet already.
it’s fun, it’s joyful, but not friendly or usable for new comer.
Great points all around. I'd be interested in Wilson's commercial model for this. Would it be sufficiently profitable for them? Or would it be fine for them that they are honoring RF and also showing loyalty to their fanbase? I see your point in that I really like playing with the 90 but I've gotten comfortable with my modern racquet of choice already. With regards to the two handed backhand, you can do it but it just requires concentration and focus on driving through the legs (things I should be doing anyhow lol).
brian anderson
Semi-Pro
great video. put me down for five of these frames when wilson re-releases them; u know they will eventually! been using it since 2012. can’t be beat with any “modern” frame!
slipgrip93
Professional
Nice video, I felt very much same when you said you tend to gravitate back to the 90 frame, even among other racquets. I'm still missing out not having tried the ps six one 90 (post blx). I have tried the n90 and the k90, and as mentioned before here on ttw, the n90 retail version is different from Fed's own stock n90 frame where the cross strings are more dense at the pws with 5 grommets for the retail instead of the 4 grommets at the pws which Fed used, and also the k90 retail which may be the closest to fed's stock frames.
I also found the n90 (ncode ntour sixone 90) heavier and kind of clunky rather than a more smooth gliding and rotational feeling swing of the k90(secondhand acquired). And my (secondhand acquired) n90 is crazily heavy, strung weight at 13.5 oz/ 383g, 8pts hl, even more than my main racquet the kps88 at 374g strung (2pts hl). Maybe the n90's graphite is "older"(?) with pre-k-factor carbon as a 2004 racquet.
Yes, I'd like to try someday, and would like to see the ps six one 90(post-blx) reissued, including even the 95 version, both of which still had 17-18mm box beam frames.
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Thanks. I think it’s worth a one shot deal with roger’s fan base. The expensive mold was already made if not lost. The problem is the racquet was designed for single handed backhand and a serve/volley game style. Nobody is going to use it at competition level. Sadly. I trained my son too successfully, not he stay firmly at 85” and refused to move with larger head size except ps k90. But I am not going to let him touch it.
i have one RF85 and I love it. I stopped using it because I felt the 90 and the modern racquets were more versatile, and I felt weird using a racquet that is listed for several hundred dollars on the ****bay site. The limited release RF90 will be consistent Wilson’s previous behavior.
Nadal shall rise again
New User
graycrait
Legend
Asian K90. Tell me if this is misplaced. I have friend whose favorite all time racket is the Asian K90. He is a racket holic, maybe worse than me, but at a young 58 yrs old and still a 5.0 I listen to him about rackets. We have traded nearly 3 dozen rackets. He told me the only racket that reminds him of his beloved Asian K90s is the Twistpower X97 once modded to his specs: 343g/32cm/325SW. He plays a bare handled X97 4&1/2" grip with one OG, 7.5g of lead above and below his grip (1HBH) and 6g at 3/9 (which reminds me of PWS). I took 2 of my X97s and modded to his balance and static weight, one polarized the other near his mod style. I left one stock, which I like. Unfortunately in the town that I live the only 8 public access courts are closed till mid March for new light installation. Dang it, I want to try these things out.
I have an Asian ncode90. Absolutely love it. The one downside is the 16x19 pattern is quite open so there's a lot of string movement with full synthetic gut.
Bender
G.O.A.T.
to be fair you're going to get a lot of string movement with a full set of synthetic gut regardless of string pattern
You would think that, but I get very little out of my tight 16x19 (Prestige Mid 93) and 18x20 (VCoreHD). The Mid, despite being a longer head than the PS90, top and bottom crosses sit well within the span of the top and bottom crosses of the 90. It's a much tighter pattern.
lelopez
Semi-Pro
So how do you turn a K90 into a platform racket? You sand the crap out of it.
I gave up playing with my k90s about 2-3 months ago coming to the harsh conclusion that I had let my fitness go and was not worthy of wielding that racket appropriately on a best-of-three set of matches. Don't judge me, but getting back to the gym may happen at some point, but not anytime soon. So I moved away from my trusty Wilson and started playing with the modern Prestige mid. That is a great racket by the way, in a slightly lighter package.
However, the back of my mind always wondered if I could still play well with a much lighter version of a K90 if it was available. Ideally something in the 340g and 340 sw. Yeah, yeah, the asian version is the answer but coming across them nowadays is the same as running into a unicorn.
So as I was bored sitting around last weekend I decided to take one of my beaten up 90s and sand it down to the graphite. This, for science of course. Several hours later of the most tedious thing in the world and I had my lighter k90 platform. Unfortunately, it turned way lighter than I ever imagined. BTW, for such a fragile, crappy paint on that k90, it did have A LOT of it. Primer, thick white base coat, red coat, and black coat in certain areas. I had read of people sanding racquets down and shaving off 15-20g of paint off, but my k90 lost 30g of total weight. I ended up with about 323g static but even more shocking was the sw: 297.
So now starts the process of bringing weight back up via lead treatment. I'll start with a pretty polarized setup, with weight just at 12, likely 10-12g to start, to see how it feels and experiment from there. This will be fun, or maybe it won't, but interesting nonetheless.
I gave up playing with my k90s about 2-3 months ago coming to the harsh conclusion that I had let my fitness go and was not worthy of wielding that racket appropriately on a best-of-three set of matches. Don't judge me, but getting back to the gym may happen at some point, but not anytime soon. So I moved away from my trusty Wilson and started playing with the modern Prestige mid. That is a great racket by the way, in a slightly lighter package.
However, the back of my mind always wondered if I could still play well with a much lighter version of a K90 if it was available. Ideally something in the 340g and 340 sw. Yeah, yeah, the asian version is the answer but coming across them nowadays is the same as running into a unicorn.
So as I was bored sitting around last weekend I decided to take one of my beaten up 90s and sand it down to the graphite. This, for science of course. Several hours later of the most tedious thing in the world and I had my lighter k90 platform. Unfortunately, it turned way lighter than I ever imagined. BTW, for such a fragile, crappy paint on that k90, it did have A LOT of it. Primer, thick white base coat, red coat, and black coat in certain areas. I had read of people sanding racquets down and shaving off 15-20g of paint off, but my k90 lost 30g of total weight. I ended up with about 323g static but even more shocking was the sw: 297.
So now starts the process of bringing weight back up via lead treatment. I'll start with a pretty polarized setup, with weight just at 12, likely 10-12g to start, to see how it feels and experiment from there. This will be fun, or maybe it won't, but interesting nonetheless.
Sounds good. I was thinking of something similar because Asian versions are so hard to find.
I was thinking of buying a 90 in a grip size bigger than what I need (so grip 4), then removing the leather grip (so reducing total weight by 20g), then applying over-grip directly to the bare handle. That should bring racquet to final strung weight and balance very similar to asian version 90.
lelopez
Semi-Pro
So I got a chance this AM to hit briefly with the recently sanded down k90. Keep in mind that I did not have a partner to play with so the first impressions were against a wall opponent and then some serve practice.
I had been looking forward to hitting with the racquet since Tuesday, like waiting to see an old girlfriend that had lost weight and gotten hotter, but non-stop rain every afternoon over the last week has made getting on court practically impossible.
First impression in a few short words: I like it!
I was worried that the massive loss of weight from taking the paint away was going to make the racquet feel awkward and unstable. Not the case. Still felt like the old K90 rock solid feeling on contact on pretty much every ball. I ended up adding 2 ~12" strips of 0.5 g/in lead at 12 o'clock to bring the 323g / 297sw up to something closer to my liking. Specs came in at 335g/332sw after lead. A little off from my 340g/340sw goal, but close enough. I'm sure this helped with the feeling on contact. Particularly my OHBH. I had never jived 100% with that stroke with my most recent racquet, but hitting with the Wilson reminded me of the feeling I remembered and loved hitting that side. Again, take it with a grain of salt as this was against incoming balls from the wall, so the case may be a little different hitting against a heavy hitting opponent.
The next big thing that stood out was the obvious: boy oh boy have I missed the Wilson 90 open pattern! The lift I was able to get on the ball was pretty effortless and substantially different than the racquet I've been playing with. I have been playing with the new Prestige mids for the last few months and those certainly have a much tighter pattern, even in a 16x19. I am not a 3000 rpm groundstroke guy, and so ease of spin generation was quite noticeable to me when I switched over initially to the Prestige mid. Just felt I had to work a little extra to get good action on my FH and BH with that racquet. I had the Prestige mid with me in this wall hitting session and interchanged racquets every few minutes for groundstrokes comparison and the difference was clear as day. I was just able to do things with the ball with the Wilson that I could not do with the Head. Of course, some of this can be attributed somewhat to the sanded k90 now being suuuuper whippy compared to what it was prior to the weight loss.
Where I felt the racquet may have the largest room for improvement was on serve. I jumped over from the practice wall to an open court to hit serves. Did this for maybe 30-45minutes. I could notice the lower SW from what the Wilson was, but also from the Prestige (currently at 344g/340sw). While I could get the k90 moving fast through the air, the ball was just not coming off it as heavy as I remember. But I could get some really good action on 2nd serves, both slice and TS by being able to easily whip the racquet around.
Final thoughts: Will have to judge performance after playing a few matches against opponents. Definitely want to judge how the racquet feels / responds against and incoming heavy ball. I'll also experiment with a tad more lead to beef up both static and swingweight. But if all comes out good.......well, it is going to suck to have to sand another one or two of these down, I hated doing that. But if it allows me to play better and more comfortably, then you do what you got to do.
I had been looking forward to hitting with the racquet since Tuesday, like waiting to see an old girlfriend that had lost weight and gotten hotter, but non-stop rain every afternoon over the last week has made getting on court practically impossible.
First impression in a few short words: I like it!
I was worried that the massive loss of weight from taking the paint away was going to make the racquet feel awkward and unstable. Not the case. Still felt like the old K90 rock solid feeling on contact on pretty much every ball. I ended up adding 2 ~12" strips of 0.5 g/in lead at 12 o'clock to bring the 323g / 297sw up to something closer to my liking. Specs came in at 335g/332sw after lead. A little off from my 340g/340sw goal, but close enough. I'm sure this helped with the feeling on contact. Particularly my OHBH. I had never jived 100% with that stroke with my most recent racquet, but hitting with the Wilson reminded me of the feeling I remembered and loved hitting that side. Again, take it with a grain of salt as this was against incoming balls from the wall, so the case may be a little different hitting against a heavy hitting opponent.
The next big thing that stood out was the obvious: boy oh boy have I missed the Wilson 90 open pattern! The lift I was able to get on the ball was pretty effortless and substantially different than the racquet I've been playing with. I have been playing with the new Prestige mids for the last few months and those certainly have a much tighter pattern, even in a 16x19. I am not a 3000 rpm groundstroke guy, and so ease of spin generation was quite noticeable to me when I switched over initially to the Prestige mid. Just felt I had to work a little extra to get good action on my FH and BH with that racquet. I had the Prestige mid with me in this wall hitting session and interchanged racquets every few minutes for groundstrokes comparison and the difference was clear as day. I was just able to do things with the ball with the Wilson that I could not do with the Head. Of course, some of this can be attributed somewhat to the sanded k90 now being suuuuper whippy compared to what it was prior to the weight loss.
Where I felt the racquet may have the largest room for improvement was on serve. I jumped over from the practice wall to an open court to hit serves. Did this for maybe 30-45minutes. I could notice the lower SW from what the Wilson was, but also from the Prestige (currently at 344g/340sw). While I could get the k90 moving fast through the air, the ball was just not coming off it as heavy as I remember. But I could get some really good action on 2nd serves, both slice and TS by being able to easily whip the racquet around.
Final thoughts: Will have to judge performance after playing a few matches against opponents. Definitely want to judge how the racquet feels / responds against and incoming heavy ball. I'll also experiment with a tad more lead to beef up both static and swingweight. But if all comes out good.......well, it is going to suck to have to sand another one or two of these down, I hated doing that. But if it allows me to play better and more comfortably, then you do what you got to do.
wangs78
Legend
Grip size?Cleaning out my closet.
Selling 2x BLX2 Pro staff 90. I have to admit to myself i am not good enough for them.
Located in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
mag8
Rookie
forzmr_b
Rookie
Discovered this thread and it convinced me to try the 90s. Managed to get my hands on a used 2013 BLX 90 and an Asian K90, and had one hit so far.
Coming from the RF97A (2014), must say that the comparisons and analogies have been very apt. The RF really does feel sluggish and like sledgehammer, while the 90s really cuts through the air like a scalpel/sword.
With the 90s I think I'm getting less pace on the ball, but more depth and slightly more topspin (when I hit the sweet spot) due to more racket head speed. So I think that's still a better tradeoff. But, it is a lot less forgiving in defensive situations.
Overall good 1st impressions even though I only found my sweetspot 1/3 of the time
Will need a few more sessions to dial in my timing and of course improve on my footwork and ball sense.
Some highlights of my session here. I'm at the near side. BLX with whitish strings (Ace crossed with syn gut), AK90 with green strings (Hyper G). Whenever I'm hitting with one of the 90s, but hitting partner is hitting with the other. His first try of the 90s too!
Coming from the RF97A (2014), must say that the comparisons and analogies have been very apt. The RF really does feel sluggish and like sledgehammer, while the 90s really cuts through the air like a scalpel/sword.
With the 90s I think I'm getting less pace on the ball, but more depth and slightly more topspin (when I hit the sweet spot) due to more racket head speed. So I think that's still a better tradeoff. But, it is a lot less forgiving in defensive situations.
Overall good 1st impressions even though I only found my sweetspot 1/3 of the time
Will need a few more sessions to dial in my timing and of course improve on my footwork and ball sense.
Some highlights of my session here. I'm at the near side. BLX with whitish strings (Ace crossed with syn gut), AK90 with green strings (Hyper G). Whenever I'm hitting with one of the 90s, but hitting partner is hitting with the other. His first try of the 90s too!
thewallalwayswins
New User
YES.
Hello World.
maiden post , been a lurker for ages.
coming out of the woodwork
to contribute to racquet count
2 x k90 x 4-3/8
1 x k90 x 4-1/2
1 x k90 x 4-1/2 x asian
1 x blx90 x 4-1/2
9 x Grommets.
Hello World.
maiden post , been a lurker for ages.
coming out of the woodwork
to contribute to racquet count
2 x k90 x 4-3/8
1 x k90 x 4-1/2
1 x k90 x 4-1/2 x asian
1 x blx90 x 4-1/2
9 x Grommets.
JustTennis76
Hall of Fame
I’ll never forget the PS 90. You know which one I’m talking about, the yellow/black one that came out in 2003/2004. I won my first USTA tournament with that racket. Ended up selling them few years after for cheap. I can’t play with them anymore but wish I kept them as collectible.
wangs78
Legend
That model is usually near the top of best Pro Staff paint jobs ever. I had a matched pair and sold one. I still have one in my collection though. For some reason that model (HPS90) and the subsequent gen N90 had a different mold/layup than the 90 that Federer used. Wilson sync’d things up with the next K90 where the retail version actually matched what Fed was ostensibly using in actual matches.
forzmr_b
Rookie
Discovered this thread and it convinced me to try the 90s. Managed to get my hands on a used 2013 BLX 90 and an Asian K90, and had one hit so far.
Coming from the RF97A (2014), must say that the comparisons and analogies have been very apt. The RF really does feel sluggish and like sledgehammer, while the 90s really cuts through the air like a scalpel/sword.
With the 90s I think I'm getting less pace on the ball, but more depth and slightly more topspin (when I hit the sweet spot) due to more racket head speed. So I think that's still a better tradeoff. But, it is a lot less forgiving in defensive situations.
Overall good 1st impressions even though I only found my sweet spot 1/3 of the time
Will need a few more sessions to dial in my timing and of course improve on my footwork and ball sense.
Some highlights of my session here. I'm at the near side. BLX with whitish strings (Ace crossed with syn gut), AK90 with green strings (Hyper G). Whenever I'm hitting with one of the 90s, but hitting partner is hitting with the other. His first try of the 90s too!
Got a K90 US and PS85 Chicago to try. The Chicago was way too hefty for me at 373g strung with 1 overgrip, not HL enough for my game too. But I had to try a PS85 at least once! Really liked the K90 US, will probably be my default stick moving forward, while the K90 Asian will be my secondary whenever I want a more whippy forehand. Also, I've adjusted to the 90s after 3-4 sessions and am hitting the sweet spot most of the time now.
The PS90s are truly a unique series. I am officially a convert! Still in the hunt for a PS90 2014 and PS 90 Tour to try!
wangs78
Legend
The PS90 (not any particular iteration, but the model line) is my favorite racquet of all time. Has plenty of plow through, is still maneuverable and has loads of touch, while still being able to hit precise targets that usually require an 18x20 string pattern. It's not for a defensive player, to be sure, but for someone who has variety and the initiative to end points, there's nothing better.
Blakefan17
Rookie
Hi Friends! Was curious what we think the odds of a reissue are now given the news?
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