Hi all
Be blessed...hope you had a great Christmas and new year.
Ok...so at last i have been playing rather extensively with my two exo3 tour 100 rackets. I put in babolat pro hurricane tour strings at 55lbs. On one of the rackets, i have placed 6g lead total at 3 & 9...as well as 3g total at bottom of handle under grip to counterbalance a tad. The other racket i have kept stock.
Here is my general review and rating:
First impressions:
The racket had a little more power than i expected at first. I could immediately play with the racket and had no problem adjusting to the feel, balance or anything else. I think this racket suits me well.
The first serve: As expected, this is the department where this racket really lacks for me when it comes to power on either setups. With the lead setup, one has to almost have different technique to generate pace, as one would with the stock setup. I struggled so much with generating my own power with good technique, that i struggled clearing the net with the flat power serves. As soon as i went for more of a "Federer" type serve, the racket adjusted better. Direction is good, but power on flat serves is NOT what this racket is about. The racket serves better for doubles and it struggles with singles. score: 6
The second serve: This is the best shot of my game. I have no problems with this racket generating good second serves. The lead setup had more plough through, but i had more control and head speed on the stock racket. Accuracy good. score: 8.5
Forehand: Great control. Great feel. Moderate power which is okay. My forehand is my second best stroke, so i didn't need any time to adjust. I can play a good forehand with most rackets, so there wasn't much this racket could benefite above others. Nor dit it do itself any harm either. score: 7.5
Backhand:
Slice: Plays fine/good, hard to control at times (floats), but not as much as i struggled with the speedport black. Slice not as good as the kblade 98 though.
Double backhand: My main backhand: I hardly ever play this shot and will need to test this more. It seemed fine and errors on this stroke will probably be because of my own technique rather than the racket.
Single backhand: Ideal single backhand racket in my opinion.
score: 7
Return of serves:
Returns well...absorbs hard serves well. Great racket head speed so one has a easier time timing the ball.
score: 8
Volleys:
This part impresses me most with this racket. Racket is fast...has enough control for me...much more than expected. Thought people would hit through me. Even my worst shot, the high backand volley has drastically improved.
score: 8.5
Other:
Drop shots: are great, better than even the k-blade.
Lobs: are fine from what ive seen.
Overheads: Best overhead hitting racket ive ever had. Improved my overheads by 20% at least.
score: 8.5
Conclusion:
Great overall racket. Have no problems with this racket, except for the first power flat serve. It really is the only real problem i have with this racket. It has however forced my hand into other techniques and other type of serves to consider. I certainly have variation with this racket, except for real power. Lead does however not seem to be the solution for me on this racket. All the hype about lead does not weigh up to what the lead actually does. The lead made the racket have a funny feel i sometimes dislike. Whilst one may gain a "little more power", it is not enough to really take note of, especially compared to what one actually loses when adding lead. The racket feels much heavier with even small amount of lead i placed, but it does not justify itsself to be there in order to gain power - yet. I am still deciding on the lead and still giving it a try. I will however not be open to adding even more lead, as even the smaller amount has significantly altered the manueverability of this frame for me...much of it being the most important thing for me of this frame, so even more lead, will equal more discomfort. My arm also seems to tired much faster with the lead than without. I expected this frame to be more unstable, but the vibration or so called instability is something i started to like...one can feel the flex of the frame and it kind of gives one guidance of what you are actually doing when striking the ball.
More control than the speedport black, but less power.
Very similar to the kblade for me, except that its much more forgiving and thus overall better. Basically what i was looking for...except for the first serve which i wish was like the speedport black. Guess you can't win em all...