First Impressions
Picked up my TC95 from the stringer today - 330/305 (12 HL), 27in, 70RA, 16x19, Leather grip L4 - strung with Tour Bite 16L at 50lbs. Due to the circumstances I did not have time to put an overgrip on before hitting some serves and also the balls I just dropped to myself for ground strokes.
I could not find anyone to play with and literally had 20 minutes of free time after picking it up. It was below 50, cloudy and cold but surprisingly there was a wait for the courts at the park. It was all super beginner couples playing too. But two people were leaving shortly after I arrived and I asked the next two in line if I could just try out my new racket for 10 minutes before they started. I also had slightly tweaked a muscle in my right neck/shoulder lifting weights earlier in the week so serves were a little uncomfortable.
First of all the racket looks and feels amazing in my hand, just need the overgrip for the grip size to be perfect. The weight is great, it feels so solid. I actually fell in love with my pro staff 6.0 classic (95 head size) a few years ago and this feels like a slightly heavier, way more solid, slightly more head heavy version of that to me when just holding it in my hand.
Dropping all balls to myself for my ground strokes. I play with a lot of top spin on both sides, two handed back hand, one handed backhand slice. I really mix up my pace and spin and depth a lot to keep opponents on their toes. Big serves and also mix it up with flat, slice, kick and placement as well. I like to come in to net probably a little more frequently than today's baseliners too.
My first swing with this baby was a forehand and I surprised myself. Normal stroke with flush contact that felt fantastic and it flew about a foot and a half higher over the net than my usual strokes with other rackets but then dipped in the cross court corner within the last square foot with tons of spin. My goodness this thing feels like a mix between my pro staff 85 and pro staff classic 6.0 95 (that I added a little lead to) but better. And to me has a flexier and for sure foam filled difference and better feel than my current RF97A. Next ball same thing, a little more launch than I'm used to but great depth and top spin that just dives at the last minute.
After this i wanted to try one of my favorite shots in tennis. It's a short cross court-crazy angle aiming for about where the service line meets the sideline. I achieve this by taking some pace off. I'm not sure if anyone can relate but I do this by utilizing a little off the sweet spot more toward the hoop on purpose in order to be able to fully swing out and still control the pace to get the sharp angle i want if that makes sense. I'm really starting to love this racket, I made one and missed the other two - one by inches the other in the net.
Two handed back hands were the same fantastic solidness, felt great and a higher launch but all dived in with huge spin- a little less depth than my forehands but I'm a little off on this side lately and I find self-dropped two handed back hands kind of tough. I Couldn't really get a great feel for slice back hand with dropping the balls to myself either.
Serves: Whoa, didn't believe the hype but you guys are right. This racket serves bombs, my flat and slices were mostly all getting stuck in the fence with one going through. And I could really feel a nice slight flex when hitting hard first serves. I won't beat around the bush, I was hitting all types of serves beautifully. Missed a few long but I was rushing back and fourth with three balls but the kick serve seriously kicks too. This in spite of a slightly uncomfortable neck muscle.
Negatives: There were a couple cons as far as ground strokes were concerned. First of all, it was a little stiffer than I would prefer, my first thought was I need to try a 63 RA (this is I think why I'm not completely satisfied with the RF97 as well - too stiff). Maybe this will change when I'm actually hitting balls coming at me with some velocity. Also on my serves I did definitely feel a nice flex which reminded me of pro staff classic 95 that to me feels flexier than its stated specs in my opinion.
-On two handed back hands, the grip feels a little shorter than the pro staff's I'm used to so it feels like my left hand pointer finger is off the grip entirely. Maybe just need to adjust to this.
-Thirdly, there was a distinct ping sound, so I put a sampras dampener in, but still got a slightly less ping. I like a solid thud but this is a very small complaint.
Overall first impressions on by myself ground strokes and serves, this is the closest thing to my ideal racket I have found. I'm going to go out on a limb and say in my older age it is even better for me now than the pro staff 85 that I held to such regard in my younger competitive years. It just feels so solid with a great balance of power and control. A heavy ball for sure. And the serves were soooo satisfying.
As for the strings, Tour Bite 16L at 50lbs. These are definitely a stiff string but nothing that felt out of the norm for me. These along with the 16x19 probably contributed to the crazy launch and spin combo. I liked it. I might prefer something a little softer strung at a higher tension but we'll see. Hope to find a hitting partner and open court tomorrow.
EDIT: I'd also like to note that all day I cannot stop picking this racket up at home and just looking at it and swinging it through the air. It feels like home.
I've also always wanted to try the 63 RA TC95, so just curious, does the 63RA TC100 play about the same?
