What should I play test?

[time_fly]

I'm looking for suggestions on racquets to play test. I am a physically-fit 4.0 player with long topspin strokes, and I am currently playing a Prince EXO3 Ignite 95 with Luxilon ALU Power 17s at around 54lbs. I am a bit more comfortable at the baseline but I play so much doubles these days that I still consider myself to be an all-court player.

What I like about the Ignite 95 is the stable plow-through which lets me have good control and generate power at the baseline. It is also good for popping deep aggressive volleys. However, it's a bit slow and doesn't offer a lot of feel for sustained, placement-oriented net rallies in doubles or defensive shots from mid-court.

Generally liking Prince, I've tried the EXO3 Tour 100 18x20, but honestly haven't been playing that well with it and I mostly fall back to the Ignites. With the much thinner, more flexible frame I feel like I end up whipping the racquet too much to get comparable power to the Ignite and lose control and stability.

I recently tried the Head IG Prestige Pro, Blade 98, and Babolat Pure Strike. I generally liked the Head and Babolat, and hated the Blade (might have been a stringing issue), but want to try some other racquets before deciding. I think I'm looking for something with more stability than the Tour 100 but less total heft than the Ignite.

 

[time_fly]

Impressions of my 3 demo racquets

I didn't want my first post to be too long, so I am posting a follow-up with more details of the 3 racquets I tried separately.

I immediately felt the most comfortable with the Prestige Pro. However, this particular racquet came to me with lower-tension poly string bed, so it was also the most similar of the 3 to my current stringing setup. The grip is just slightly shorter than the others', forcing me to remember to keep my hands tightly together on the two-handed backhand, which is probably a good thing. I am considering trying the Graphene update; I've heard mixed things about it.

I also played pretty well with the Babolat. However, it is a hefty, stiff racquet similar to the Ignite so I'm not sure if I would see much benefit or difference from switching. I used to hit the Babolat AeroPro Drive GT, and it was too stiff --- it's the only racquet that has ever given me elbow trouble. The Pure Strike in comparison is more plush and forgiving.

The Blade 98, well it looks pretty cool and gets good reviews, so there is that. It was strung very tightly -- probably over 60lbs -- with Wilson NXT 16 and it played more like a paddle than a racquet in my hands. There was little dwell time and a flat swing would launch the ball like a rocket, while a topspin swing would have very unpredictable pace and action because of the lack of pocketing. It's possible that a new string job would have made a vast improvement, but I don't re-string my demos. Would it be worth trying one of the more openly strung versions? Possibly. I wanted to like this racquet because it's relatively light weight but still has a reputation for stability and plow-through.

Thus far, if I absolutely had to buy one of these racquets, it would be the Head.

 

[fuzz nation]

The Ignite is a pretty neat racquet. I tried it a while ago and thought of it as Prince's best alternative to the Wilson Six.One 95; hefty, head-light, and stiff. Compared with my old 6.1 Classics, I found similar performance with the Ignite, but the Prince had a layout that was easier for me to churn out good spin both with my serves and my strokes.

I decided to switch away from those stiffer frames and found a good fit with Volkl. Their C10 had similar heft and balance, plus the softness and extra control that I wanted at that time. We were happy together for several years, but I was always aware that the spin potential in the C10 was no more than acceptable. Otherwise it was quite a nice performer for my all-court game.

Last year through a "happy accident", I inherited a Volkl Organix 10 325g and it was no fun in its stock layout. After lead tuning to get it into the weight/balance layout that we both seem to prefer, it was a night-and-day improvement. I had everything that I liked about the C10 in this new frame, but I also got all the spin I had been missing for a long time. Plus, this O10 is a slightly quicker, leaner package and that's after tuning it with lead tape.

A couple of other racquets that might be worth checking out include the Pacific X Feel Pro 95, the Gamma RZR 98T (on sale!), Prince's new Graphite Classic 100, and maybe a heavier option from Tecnifibre.

Oh yeah - I had a quick outing with a Prestige Pro maybe two winters ago and while it felt okay, it was strung with a full bed of old poly (NOT good for me) and its feel was stiff and clunky. If I were to experiment on one of these, the first thing I'd want to do would be to add a little weight to the handle. I've always liked about 10 pts. HL balance in a 12+ oz. racquet. That Head frame could easily be your next "good fit".

 

[time_fly]

Thanks for the suggestions. I had never heard of Pacific X until recently and TW doesn't have a review of this frame, but I found one on YouTube and it sounds promising. The specs look in line with what I am searching for. The frame normally is uber-expensive, but it's on sale right now.

I am also intrigued by the Yonex Ai 98. The reviews on the forums have been good and the TW testers positively gushed. I hit a VCORE 97 (330g) for about 10 minutes last fall when a friend demoed it, and I liked it a lot. The control was amazing and the power was slightly less than my Ignite, but close enough that stringing could make the difference. Again, not such a huge difference from the Ignite that I would spend a lot of money to switch. The Ai 98 seems like it's a little less cumbersome and could be more in line with the difference I'm looking for. My only hesitation is that one of the Ai 98's top comps is the Blade 98, which wasn't working for me at all yesterday.

 

[McLovin]

Thanks for the suggestions. I had never heard of Pacific X until recently and TW doesn't have a review of this frame, but I found one on YouTube and it sounds promising. The specs look in line with what I am searching for. The frame normally is uber-expensive, but it's on sale right now.

The X Feel Pro 95 is the 'Black Granite' version of the Fischer M-Comp 95 (Pacific bought Fischer's racquet division over 4 years ago). You may find user reviews of the non-Black Granite M-Comp 95 here:

http://web.archive.org/web/20090217193537/http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/feedback.html?pcode=FMC95​

I believe the only difference between the two is the 'Black Granite' version (as well as the X Feel Pro version) are ever-so-slightly stiffer. Other than that, they're pretty much identical. Great frame if you can generate your own power.