TW Racquet Reviews

[legkickbackhand]

TW racquet review are way too friendly now. Way too friendly. The average score for the last few racquets is around 77 or 78. It all started with the Head Liquidmetal Radical. This to me if a ploy to sell more racquets. TW is still the best tennis products website, but come on guys, let's be honest. Go back do doing real reviews that have the old and good balance of critical evaluation and praise!

 

[kninetik]

Maybe they demo'd really good racquets. But I agree, reviews need a bit more criticism. I don't see it as much as a ploy to sell racquets but rather for people to demo them.

 

[Morpheus]

While this may not be the case with TW's reviews, it is not uncommon for retailers to get substantial $$ from manufacturers for these types of things. That would explain the friendly reviews and the tendancy for some brands to get more airtime than others. Look at all the Babolat and Head reviews, and did we really need to have so many LM rackets reviewed?

 

[womackD]

Not too long ago, Babolat pulled their racket line from another online tennis site for giving a poor review to the Pure Drive. So, you really can't fault TW for being less critical on some rackets that really don't deserve their scores.

The good thing about TW is that they listen to their customers. "We" asked for reviews from players with NTRP ratings under 4.0-4.5 and they did just that for us. I also noticed that they compared the new Yonex RDX 500 with rackets it competes with and the older Yonex frames it is replacing.. That is a big help, and much appreciated.

 

[Nosoupforyou]

Yah I think the reviews haven't been critical enough, but alot of them have been good racquets I must admit

 

[b.]

True - reviews have mostly affirmative tone. But when read it entirely, one can have good idea what to expect of racquet.

I was about to suggest in TW comments that something like + and - highlights in shoes reviews should be introduced. Cause the best racquet has something that it is not best suited for.

Something like mandatory criticism. But, than again - it is not so bad now.

 

[gmlasam]

TW racquet review are way too friendly now. Way too friendly. The average score for the last few racquets is around 77 or 78. It all started with the Head Liquidmetal Radical. This to me if a ploy to sell more racquets. TW is still the best tennis products website, but come on guys, let's be honest. Go back do doing real reviews that have the old and good balance of critical evaluation and praise!

Of course TW reviews can be "biased". What would you expect? They are in the business to sell, and of course they want to sell what they review. What retail business would want otherwise? The review is pretty much an advertisement.


Its Capitalism!! Money, money, money!! Thats how we survive, its how TW survives!! :lol:

The reviews are fun to read and entertaining. Thats how we should read and view the reviews. Take it like a grain of salt.


The best review TW offers is their "demo program" where they allow "you" to "actually" review the racquet for yourself based on your preference.

That is the best review.

 

[Morpheus]

They should just do away with the rating system. It is meaningless and misleading.

 

[AAAA]

I don't see what the big problem is. The TW review comments are often very similar to the demo experiences of other posters. For example the Tou 90 was said to be a solid hitting stick which felt great if you hit the sweet spot but it's weight made it difficult to use for the duration of a match. Other posters stated similar demo experiences. TW also said the Yonex MP Tour 1 is extremely solid and stable, excellent for heavy low slice and topspin but the weight and balance made it difficult to generate much pace on serve. I bought and then sold my Tour 1 and it played just as TW described.

 

[backhand]

No conspiracy with the manu's; TW reviews have the right thrust, but you have to look for the pattern instead of getting hung up on exact numbers. And demo! Because probably a ton of interobservor error - the older reviews included different folks, probably tougher overall, no apparent attempt by TW to calibrate the older against the newer. That's why everything inflated with the infamous Head LM Rad review. I pay more more attention to the carry-overs, like Granville. Be thankful you have something detailed to read besides the glowing slop most online retailers throw up.

 

[JohnThomas1]

I find the reviews quite good. As long as you can read between the lines and get enough information to narrow down play test choices is the key. The be all and end all is still the playtest, these reviews make it a lot easier and faster process.

 

[rondallrp]

I have found the reviews to be very helpful. Particulary the numbers at the end of the review. I see they give one racquet a 63 for power and I can look at the power level they gave other racquets I have played with. From my experience they have been fairly true. Particulary the power and control ratings.

I don't just depend on the TW review. I look for common threads in the TW and customer reviews. As others have said the best review is the Demo program.

I had problems getting the Diablo MP as a Demo. I very carefully read the reviews and demoed other racquets that it was compared to. I finally took the plunge and bought it. It was exactly what I expected.

So thanks TW and all you guys that reviewed it. Proof that it can work.

I do not want TW to tell me it is a great racquet just what is great about it or not so great. I never even look at the overall score.