Want a Prince - Recommendations?

[Gadz]

Hi all,

I have been looking at the Prince Tour Pro 100, Prince Tour 100 (16x1.8). The Prince Tour 95, Prince Tour Pro 98 and The Prince Tour 98. I have always wanted a Prince racket to be fair as I remember playing with a friends a few years ago and I thought it was really nice. He had the port system I think though. I have read reviews and from what I have read it is between the Tour Pro 100, Tour 100 and the Prince Tour 95. I was wondering if anyone has hit with these and could give me more of an insight to what they feel like. It is hard to demo get hold of demos where I am so if someone could give me a bit of an idea to what they feel and play like that would be spot on. I hope to hear from you.

Thanks.

 

[robbo1970]

Soft feeling, often described as a muted feel. Good control, comfortable to use. Considered amongst the most arm friendly racquets.

I personally don't have the ones you mention, but I do have a Prince with the ports and I like it a lot.

 

[fuzz nation]

If those disappoint, maybe consider their Classic Graphite 100. I haven't tried any of them, but I'm keen to have a test drive eventually with this Graphite 100. I've only heard positive things about it so far.

Oops... Actually I think I tried and older version of the Tour 95 a year or two ago and it was strung with a poly hybrid. I typically avoid poly, but this frame was a very composed and controlled baseline hitter. I only noodled with it for a few minutes, but it seemed like a honey.

 

[The_Racketeer]

+1 for the Tour 100 16x18. Baseliner's dream.

The Tour 95 is pretty low powered as I understand it, so better for serve & volley play or doubles.

 

[rpr006]

Prince tour pro 100. Soft. Nice flex. Tons of spin! Very maneuverable. Can be a little erratic off the ground because of all the spin but strings and technique can help with that.

 

[TimothyO]

Prince tour pro 100. Soft. Nice flex. Tons of spin! Very maneuverable. Can be a little erratic off the ground because of all the spin but strings and technique can help with that.

^^^ This.

My son really enjoys his for these reasons.

 

[TennisCanada1]

Prince Tour Pro 100 all day

 

[LeeD]

If you're a pauper like me, try the RedOS, or the White.
Both are very good mid range player's frames around 11 oz and 318 SW's, and a little lead makes them solid as anything on the market, for around 50 bucks strung used.

 

[Tyler91]

Prince tour pro 100. Soft. Nice flex. Tons of spin! Very maneuverable. Can be a little erratic off the ground because of all the spin but strings and technique can help with that.

I agree with this ^. Love the Tour Pro 100. The only issue I've had with them is that the matte black paint doesn't seem to be very durable. Prince needs to address this, IMO.

 

[mhkeuns]

Just got a Response 97 and a Tour 95. Loved the EXO3 Rebel 95. Hope to string them upsoon.

 

[The_Racketeer]

Just got a Response 97 and a Tour 95. Loved the EXO3 Rebel 95. Hope to string them upsoon.

How does the Response 97 feel hitting groundstrokes? Heavy or lighter than its 12oz?

 

[eman resu]

How does the Response 97 feel hitting groundstrokes? Heavy or lighter than its 12oz?

Lighter. It is very easy to swing, especially considering its weight. But I have to say TW specs were off, in my experience. Both my responses, old and new, weighted close to 335g strung. My new 97 is 336, with headtape, 1,25 syn gut at 56 and overgrip. I added 4 g along the handle to reach 340g or 12oz.
I found the new version much more baseline oriented than the ti, but i still havent compared them with the same string, could be the poly vs syn gut factor. Hopefully tomorrow i can check this out now that i got rid of the poly and increased tension.

 

[rolleroh]

+1 for the Tour 100 16x18. Baseliner's dream.


Believe it or not the 2014 Tour 100 18x20 creates MONSTER kick off groundstrokes & TS serve ----- took some time & strings to dial it in bc NOT used to the water bed comfort/ muted feel, but I cannot believe the kick on my TS groundstrokes.........

I called it spin at first (which it is), but from the perspective of hitting spots/ depth it is similar to a typical open pattern players frame or 18x20 Blade, but the TS kick is FAR superior to any other raquet I've hacked around

Liking it more and more, but when push comes to shove YY AI 98 still best racquet top to bottom I've ever owned

 

[Roland G]

The 16x18 is a super racket for hitting powerful skinny strokes. It does take a bit of.getting used to the very soft and muted feel though.

 

[Roland G]

The 16x18 is a super racket for hitting powerful skinny strokes. It does take a bit of.getting used to the very soft and muted feel though.

Skinny, not skinny

 

[Roland G]

Spinny!! Damn auto correct

 

[junior74]

I have used EXO3 Tour 100, Response 97 and Classic Graphite 100.
I would say the Tour 100 is the most user-friendly of them. Very spin-friendly and is easy to swing. Really good for spin serves. It has the least solid feel of the three, and is a little "flimsy" feeling on return of serve.
Response 97 is the stiffest and the heaviest, it also has the most plow-through and is one of the best racquets for players who like to come to the net. Incredible on volleys. Really solid.
Classic Graphite 100 sits somewhat inbetween, not overly flexy, but still a soft and solid response, offers good control on groundstrokes. It is perhaps the best frame of the three for the all-court game, as it "does everything well".

A little "off topic" here, but just wanted to share my impressions, for what it's worth

 

[rolleroh]

Another Tour 100 update

While getting more dialed in, I gave it a few seconds of thought, and I simply would not consider switching to this frame, nor would I even play a singles match with it..........

Hitting some nice balls & FLIES through the air for tremendous RHS, but I now know what being disconnected feels like ---- literally have no feedback on bad result unless you frame it// anything on the strings feels seriously numb

 

[rpr006]

Another Tour 100 update

While getting more dialed in, I gave it a few seconds of thought, and I simply would not consider switching to this frame, nor would I even play a singles match with it..........

Hitting some nice balls & FLIES through the air for tremendous RHS, but I now know what being disconnected feels like ---- literally have no feedback on bad result unless you frame it// anything on the strings feels seriously numb

The tour 100 16x18 and 18x20 felt even more disconnected to me.. The feel was MUCH more muted. The solid beam of the tour pro 100 allowed me to feel a lot more connected to the ball versus the exo3 holes on the two other prince tours.

 

[The_Racketeer]

I'd say give it some time and reps. I remember hitting the very first ball with my EXO Tour 100 and I stared at the stringbed wondering if I even made contact. But after some time I got used to its feel and got more confident swinging away. And even coming to net for volleys and drop shots I can feel the ball.

I think its problem is that initially it feels VERY muted compared to every other racquet. But its feel is unique and once you get dialed in it's fantastic.

Just my $0.02 though.