Who makes the best 'quality' sticks?

Who makes the best 'quality' sticks?

  • Angel/Vantage

    Votes: 14 15.1%

  • Babolat

    Votes: 7 7.5%

  • Dunlop

    Votes: 9 9.7%

  • Donnay

    Votes: 4 4.3%

  • Head

    Votes: 15 16.1%

  • Pacific

    Votes: 12 12.9%

  • Wilson

    Votes: 7 7.5%

  • Yonex

    Votes: 28 30.1%

  • Volki

    Votes: 11 11.8%

  • Other... (please post name)

    Votes: 8 8.6%
  • Total voters
    93
Relinquis

Relinquis

Hall of Fame
I'm talking about build quality, quality control and the way it feels to touch.

I'm looking at the racquets I've bought over the past 6 months, Wilson, Babolat and Dunlop and it seems like Dunlop have spent more effort into making their stick look and feel like a quality product.

I haven't tried Yonex or Head yet.

Who do you think make the best 'quality' sticks?
 
E

El Zed

Banned
Relinquis said:
I'm talking about build quality, quality control and the way it feels to touch.

I'm looking at the racquets I've bought over the past 6 months, Wilson, Babolat and Dunlop and it seems like Dunlop have spent more effort into making their stick look and feel like a quality product.

I haven't tried Yonex or Head yet.

Who do you think make the best 'quality' sticks?
Click to expand...

Pacific makes racquets of outstanding build quality; far better than Wilson, Dunlop, etc.
 
N

NetNinja68

Rookie
I've tried them all and must say I concur with you on Dunlop. I have found the quality of Head to be very good as well. There will always be some variance on mass produced frames.
 
McLovin

McLovin

Legend
The top four synonymous with 'quality' at TT are (in no particular order):
  1. Fischer*
  2. Dunlop
  3. Volkl
  4. Yonex

Of those listed, I've used all but Dunlop and concur with the community. I put a * next to Fischer because they are no long around. I know Pacific acquired their racquet business (I use Pacifics), but feel they need a few more years to prove they've carried on the Fischer tradition.
 
T

tball

Semi-Pro
Chanel. At $999 a piece, the fit and finish is perfect, and it comes in a wooden case.
They also make a diamond-encrusted version. Even more spectacular!
No Wilson can compete.
 
R

recreationalplayer

Semi-Pro
Yonex is always a top contender

Several weeks ago I posted a question abount Yonex; as they constantly rate at or near the top on quality rankings why do not more players use them. The short answer I received is that the shape of the head turns people off. On these TW posts people love Yonex quality but few players use them, including myself, I use Babolat, I love the way they play. I have two of the exact same racquets and I will admitt one is slightly heavier than the other.
 
Blitzball

Blitzball

Professional
Volkl, Yonex, and Pacific.

I actually don't think Dunlops are up there-- they're more average to me, maybe because of the vibrations from the hollow handles. Wilson handles the dampening well, but their racquets are all too often off spec, weighing differently when they should be the same. Don't even get me started on Babolat.

Now, as for Head, I get a feeling that their sticks are just really cheaply made. One time my pal was serving before a set with a Radical Pro IG and the racquet slipped out of his hands (it was a summer day in Arizona) and the racquet hit the ground fairly quick, but not nearly hard enough to break it. So what happens? It breaks. And he only used it for maybe 12 hours before. Then I recalled all the times I abused my Wilson Blade 98 blx racquet: I must've slammed that stick on the ground a dozen times, thrown into a fence four times, and bounced it off the hoop's head twenty times until it finally broke. My bud hadn't let his Radical touch the ground even once before it broke on first contact.

Seriously? What's up with that? Maybe it was a defected stick but if so, that just gives me a horrible impression of Head racquets. So I put Head below Wilson and Dunlop -- which are average -- because of this experience.
 
Fintft

Fintft

G.O.A.T.
Mike2228 said:
Don't kill me for saying Wilson but I have had great results with their racquets.
Click to expand...

Me too, even started my own...BLX club (inside my tennis club and we hold invitational events- the other requirement being to look manly :D).

I also love Head. Third Babolat.
 
db10s

db10s

Hall of Fame
Blitzball said:
Volkl, Yonex, and Pacific.

I actually don't think Dunlops are up there-- they're more average to me, maybe because of the vibrations from the hollow handles. Wilson handles the dampening well, but their racquets are all too often off spec, weighing differently when they should be the same. Don't even get me started on Babolat.

Now, as for Head, I get a feeling that their sticks are just really cheaply made. One time my pal was serving before a set with a Radical Pro IG and the racquet slipped out of his hands (it was a summer day in Arizona) and the racquet hit the ground fairly quick, but not nearly hard enough to break it. So what happens? It breaks. And he only used it for maybe 12 hours before. Then I recalled all the times I abused my Wilson Blade 98 blx racquet: I must've slammed that stick on the ground a dozen times, thrown into a fence four times, and bounced it off the hoop's head twenty times until it finally broke. My bud hadn't let his Radical touch the ground even once before it broke on first contact.

Seriously? What's up with that? Maybe it was a defected stick but if so, that just gives me a horrible impression of Head racquets. So I put Head below Wilson and Dunlop -- which are average -- because of this experience.
Click to expand...

My Dunlops have silicon in the handle from the factory.
 
Herve

Herve

New User
Best manufacturing process and QC

Yonex, hands down.

Made.In.Japan need i say more?

Not like the glossy rubbish produced in chinese plants with shocking quality Control.

I hear the new range of Kneissls are being entirely manufactured in Austria again, so may be a good contender.

I agree with another poster: Wilson... 20 years ago. Was an avid Wilson user, and never looked back since they became cynical and took us players for cash cows by pushing chinese tat in our hands to boost their profits.
 
Stevo Karlovic

Stevo Karlovic

Rookie
It's not close

Pacific. The only other companies within the same conversation are Yonex and Volkl.

Side note to McLovin: Yo man - Pacific acquired the Fischer factory still stocked from floor to ceiling with all of the Fischer molds. All they did was turn the switch back on. The quality is identical.
 
cork_screw

cork_screw

Hall of Fame
I don't think the make of the racquet is as important as the specs you feel comfortable playing with.

All the racquets from all the manufacturers on TW's site are good enough where you shouldn't have to worry about the QC.

It doesn't matter if they're made in China or Japan, Austria or wherever. They are all good enough to play and not worry about their origins, more worry should be devoted to how something plays. I would go with a Chinese made Head (98 inch) racquet over the finest Yonex (Japan) made stick any day because of how it plays.

People talk about QC, but I would love to see the differences they whine about a gram off, here or there and how many times people just forget that they switched replacement grips and the "QC" issues are just changes they made that they absentmindedly ignored. Even playing with the same racquet with a leather grip, one might soak in more sweat than the other and throw off the weight. When you're talking about a gram, you're talking about a very minute number that is almost undetectable to human perception.
 
Last edited:
cork_screw

cork_screw

Hall of Fame
Shaochieh said:
Any sticks not made in China.
Click to expand...

Most sticks are made in China, more than 90% in fact. So you're telling me that Yonex is the only stick you would use, based just on its manufacturing location? That's utterly stupid. Do you realize that Austrian made Heads had specs that were grossly different from each other as well as other characteristics such as paintjobs? The St. Vincent wilson sticks all look slightly different from each other if you look at how it's painted and the mold contours. But people don't complain about them, in fact they are glorified.

Consider that most things high and low quality all come from China because China is a huge exporter. Your expensive apple computer comes from China and semiconductors are also manufactured in China. It doesn't make them low quality at all. The fact that almost all things manufactured come from China shouldn't replace the responsibility of just assuming that because something that was bought just broke, is because it's from China.
 
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nyc

nyc

Hall of Fame
Best Quality I would have to say Volkl. Quality molds and paint.

I have 3 HEAD sticks I had hand-picked from stock within a certain range and even after selecting the closest three, they're 3 grams apart with 1pt HL difference, and Grip diameters noticeably differ.

The same goes for Wilson. Equally as variable.

The problem is the manufacturing process that isn't terribly precise to begin with. Cutting and layering the pre-pregs is a massive source of variablility in the final mass.

That's why the only reliable way to have identical sticks is to customize them up to desired weight, SW and balance.
 
Herve

Herve

New User
Origins matter

cork_screw said:
Most sticks are made in China, more than 90% in fact. So you're telling me that Yonex is the only stick you would use, based just on its manufacturing location? That's utterly stupid. Do you realize that Austrian made Heads had specs that were grossly different from each other as well as other characteristics such as paintjobs? The St. Vincent wilson sticks all look slightly different from each other if you look at how it's painted and the mold contours. But people don't complain about them, in fact they are glorified.
Click to expand...

That's right, we are utterly stupid. Thank you very much for pointing that out from whatever lofty moral high ground you seem to find yourself.

We are utterly stupid to favor human craft (with its downside: variations in manufacturing that can easily be overcome by matching your sticks) over communist (surprise! it's still there!) poorly mass-produced junk.

Our stupidity knows no bounds when we also turn to products made in a democratic country renowned for its painstaking attention to detail and where perfection is elevated to the rank of a state religion: Japan.

Tsk, tsk,... how stupid indeed, we are truly very sorry we share the same forum as you, oh self-righteous enlighted one...
 
D

dman72

Hall of Fame
No one mentioning Prince here, which is most of what I've had. The only frame that's ever broken on me is one that I hit on a basketball hoop on the back wall of the club, attempting an overhead off a moonball.

Apart from the crappy butt cap trap doors falling off on my 03 sharks, I'm completely satisfied with the quality of all my prince frames...and I have about 8 different type frames. The NXG's in particular are high quality.
 
J

jaap deboeck

Rookie
Answer: 90%+ of pros who make their living at this use:
1) Wilson, 2) Head, 3) Babolat follwed well behind by 4) Prince and 5) Yonex. Dunlop has perhaps 3 active pro users in the top 200 (men and women).

If "better" quality were manifest elsewhere they'd rush to it.
 
Lilguy1456

Lilguy1456

Semi-Pro
jaap deboeck said:
Answer: 90%+ of pros who make their living at this use:
1) Wilson, 2) Head, 3) Babolat follwed well behind by 4) Prince and 5) Yonex. Dunlop has perhaps 3 active pro users in the top 200 (men and women).

If "better" quality were manifest elsewhere they'd rush to it.
Click to expand...

I think those companies probably put a bit more care into their pro stocks than their general stock, right?
 
N

ntinos1972

New User
Every company in the tennis market has made made something new for the game.there is no answer for the question.all of them try to make us happy.i love wilson but i would play with everything if i have too...
 
L

LeeD

Bionic Poster
If I were a pro, I'd use whichever racket company gives me rackets, like two sets a year, and pays me the most money, either directly or thru travel expenses.
Who cares which racket company I'm using, as most companies make similar playing characteristics to match my needs.
 
syke

syke

Professional
cork_screw said:
Most sticks are made in China, more than 90% in fact. So you're telling me that Yonex is the only stick you would use, based just on its manufacturing location? That's utterly stupid. Do you realize that Austrian made Heads had specs that were grossly different from each other as well as other characteristics such as paintjobs? The St. Vincent wilson sticks all look slightly different from each other if you look at how it's painted and the mold contours. But people don't complain about them, in fact they are glorified.

Consider that most things high and low quality all come from China because China is a huge exporter. Your expensive apple computer comes from China and semiconductors are also manufactured in China. It doesn't make them low quality at all. The fact that almost all things manufactured come from China shouldn't replace the responsibility of just assuming that because something that was bought just broke, is because it's from China.
Click to expand...

Once you have been and worked in China... I guarantee you will have a different mindset.
 
NeverGassed1212

NeverGassed1212

Rookie
In my experience the best have been Yonex and Donnay. My current Yonex Vcores are all within a 2 gram range and have a consistent feel between the 3. The difference is actually probably more due to my leather grips but all feel very solid and I can switch easily between them. My Donnay x dual golds were also pretty much dead on weight, balance, and feel.

My Babolat and Head frames have always been pretty close but a slightly off. Tecnifibre got the weight right but balance was off a bit between frames.

My Wilson BLX 6 1 95's were the worst as far as difference in feel between identical sticks.
 
Vertiz

Vertiz

Rookie
Solely based off what I've tried (haven't included what I haven't)
1. Yonex
2. Head
3. Babolat
4. Wilson
5. Prince
 
syke

syke

Professional
LeeD said:
If I were a pro, I'd use whichever racket company gives me rackets, like two sets a year, and pays me the most money, either directly or thru travel expenses.
Who cares which racket company I'm using, as most companies make similar playing characteristics to match my needs.
Click to expand...

The question was who makes the best quality racquets, and not racquets with the best playing characteristics.

Playability is way too subjective... Well made racquets are much likely to be agreed upon despite different abilities and playing styles...
 
Relinquis

Relinquis

Hall of Fame
Very interesting results so far!

Yonex and Pacific seem to be the most favoured in terms of quality. Begs the question:

Why are we not buying and playing with the highest quality sticks and are choosing others instead?!


Also, poll added.
 
power level 800

power level 800

Semi-Pro
Fine China

In my personal opinion I don't care where the stick could be manufactured. The issue with quality control should be more of a company responsibility not on whether it's made in x place. Why should the simple factor of "location" be the deciding "tell" to know if it's quality or not. I haven't used Yonex to know if it's a higher grade of product but I do own Prokennex's and Volkl's. and they are outstanding sticks... made in China.
 
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syke

syke

Professional
Relinquis said:
Very interesting results so far!

Yonex and Pacific seem to be the most favoured in terms of quality. Begs the question:

Why are we not buying and playing with the highest quality sticks and are choosing others instead?!


Also, poll added.
Click to expand...

Racquet purchases are an emotional thing.... Marketing, branding, pro endorsements, etc.. have a bigger influence...

The general tennis population probably wouldn't have a clue how bad these racquets really are in terms of quality.
 
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