Wilson Blade V9 18x20 - strings and tension

[Skl17]

Hi all!

I'm a 3.5-4.0 player and use the following racquets:
- Yonex Ezone 98 Tour
- Yonex Ezone 100
- Head Extreme Tour 2022

...and recently purchased the new Wilson Blade v9 18x20 after testing the racquet. The proshop that loaned the demo to me had it strung with Solinco Confidential 3.0 at 58lbs. The racquet felt great and I felt I could swing out without fearing the ball would go long or wide. I figured the tension on the demo racquet probably dropped a bit since it was strung so I decide to string my new Blade with Luxilon Alu Rough at 54lbs (not 58lbs). (Note: I usually string my racquets with poly strings at no more than 52lbs.)

Well it wasn't a great move because I developed tennis elbow pretty quickly and badly. Also the racquet felt like a wooden board and not at all forgiving. The sweet spot was also very small.

After 2 frustrating weeks of play, I cut out the strings.

I like my Yonex Ezone 98 tour and 100 but when I'm not hitting well, the ball would go long/wide. I really like the Head Extreme with weights added to the hoop but I was really impressed by the feel of the new Wilson Blade and would like to switch.

TO the tennis experts in this community, can anyone recommend a string setup [STRING(S) & TENSION] for the Blade that:
- plays well with the new Blade v9 18x20
- allows me to swing out without fear of hitting long/wide
- has good control/ some pocketing (not feel like a board) so i can place the ball
- not give me arm issues
- additional: although i prefer polys, i'm open to other string types and hybrid setups

Thanks!!
S

 

[Mischko]

Hi, your tension for Alu rough was waay too high, don't go over 22kg/48lb with 1.25 poly in that Blade

Your Ezones are power racquets with wide beam, stiff, this Blade is the exact opposite, flexier, thinner beam, and dense string pattern

Try Solinco Tour Bite Soft, Babolat RPM Team, Yonex PT Drive, perhaps Luxilon Alu Vibe and Solince Hyper-G Soft too, all in 1.25

But if you just stick to Tour Bite Soft at 46/44 or so you're good

 

[Deleted member 775108]

They strung the demo with a pre-release string? The Solinco Confidential 3.0 was a Blue string?

What strings don you normally use and what gauge? Those rackets you normally use are stiffer and typically TE recipes for people with poor technique, timing and weak elbows.

Always try to keep your existing string when trying a new racket - also typically 18x20s can go 1 gauge down and a few lbs down.

For example
Ezone 98 - 50 x 50 lbs with 1.25g
would change to the following for me with same string
Blade 98 18 x 20 - 44 x 42 with 1.25g
OR
with one gauge lower
Blade 98 18x20 - 46 x 44 lbs with 1.20g

This would recover power, spin, depth and yes NOT feel like a board.

 

[EggSalad]

1.20 Hyper G @ 46lbs.

 

[Skl17]

Hi, your tension for Alu rough was waay too high, don't go over 22kg/48lb with 1.25 poly in that Blade

Your Ezones are power racquets with wide beam, stiff, this Blade is the exact opposite, flexier, thinner beam, and dense string pattern

Try Solinco Tour Bite Soft, Babolat RPM Team, Yonex PT Drive, perhaps Luxilon Alu Vibe and Solince Hyper-G Soft too, all in 1.25

But if you just stick to Tour Bite Soft at 46/44 or so you're good

I actually went with the same setup as Youtuber - Tennis with Dylan on the Blade v9 18x20. Same strings, same tension - which is higher than my usual at 50-52lbs. Surprisingly, a lot of Blade v9 reviewers have chosen tensions in the mid 50s. The racquet with the ALU Rough at 54lbs felt fine except it felt too much like a board especially at the net. I couldn't pocket the ball and it would just sail. The biggest problem was my elbow/arm felt like it was going to fall off the day after a match!

 

[Deleted member 775108]

I actually went with the same setup as Youtuber - Tennis with Dylan on the Blade v9 18x20. Same strings, same tension - which is higher than my usual at 50-52lbs. Surprisingly, a lot of Blade v9 reviewers have chosen tensions in the mid 50s. The racquet with the ALU Rough at 54lbs felt fine except it felt too much like a board especially at the net. I couldn't pocket the ball and it would just sail. The biggest problem was my elbow/arm felt like it was going to fall off the day after a match!

Are you as good as Dylan? He is almost good enough on tour. He plays tennis leagues above almost everyone here. If anyone plays like Dylan then they are just wasting their time on Rec player forums like this with us losers.

16x19 is 304 intersections
18x20 is 360 intersections

You can imagine how much more string bed stiffness theae 56 additinal string intersections provides along with resistance to spin. So straight away this is 4-5 lbs lower for me. In addition a gauge drop almost always helps recover some spin.

18x20 at 54+ lbs with a stiff string is not for us rec players. My opinion.

 

[Skl17]

They strung the demo with a pre-release string? The Solinco Confidential 3.0 was a Blue string?

What strings don you normally use and what gauge? Those rackets you normally use are stiffer and typically TE recipes for people with poor technique, timing and weak elbows.

Always try to keep your existing string when trying a new racket - also typically 18x20s can go 1 gauge down and a few lbs down.

For example
Ezone 98 - 50 x 50 lbs with 1.25g
would change to the following for me with same string
Blade 98 18 x 20 - 44 x 42 with 1.25g
OR
with one gauge lower
Blade 98 18x20 - 46 x 44 lbs with 1.20g

This would recover power, spin, depth and yes NOT feel like a board.

Thanks @gold325! Yes, I demoed the Blade v9 18x20 at the Proshop at the US Open (USTA NYC). They threw on the new Solinco Confidential 3.0. The blue strings look really nice on the v9.

My go-to string is Solinco Confidential at 50-52lbs. I ended up cutting out the ALU Rough @54lbs and just dropped off the racquet at the Wilson store. I told them to string with Head Hawk Touch 1.25g @48lbs. For an 18x20, maybe I should have asked for a lower tension and more powerful strings? Let me know if I should call the store to change. in any case, the 48lbs will be a huge improvement over the 54lbs ALU Rough.

The problem with eZone at a lower tension for me is it gets too powerful. I also need to figure out the best strings for my alternate racquet - Head Extreme Tour

BTW, you suggested 44x42 for the blade. To clarify, do you mean 44lbs for main and 42lbs for cross? Can I get away with the same tension on a full bed?

Any hybrid or non-poly string suggestions?

 

[Skl17]

Are you as good as Dylan? He is almost good enough on tour. He plays tennis leagues above almost everyone here. If anyone plays like Dylan then they are just wasting their time on Rec player forums like this with us losers.

16x19 is 304 intersections
18x20 is 360 intersections

You can imagine how much more string bed stiffness theae 56 additinal string intersections provides along with resistance to spin. So straight away this is 4-5 lbs lower for me. In addition a gauge drop almost always helps recover some spin.

18x20 at 54+ lbs with a stiff string is not for us rec players. My opinion.

haha - i dream to be as good as Dylan one day soon. He did mention that at 54lbs, one may feel a bit of arm issues. Other players at his level are dropping into the low 40s on poly!

 

[ClownCar96]

There’s more mass at the head of the racquet with a higher swing weight on the blade 18x20, avg is 330+. the balls goes long with high swing weight racquets (like ez tour) because you’re not getting the racquet head speed needed for control. increasing tension isn’t the answer, youre asking for arm problems. Try a lower swing weight racquet

 

[Deleted member 775108]

Thanks @gold325! Yes, I demoed the Blade v9 18x20 at the Proshop at the US Open (USTA NYC). They threw on the new Solinco Confidential 3.0. The blue strings look really nice on the v9.

My go-to string is Solinco Confidential at 50-52lbs. I ended up cutting out the ALU Rough @54lbs and just dropped off the racquet at the Wilson store. I told them to string with Head Hawk Touch 1.25g @48lbs. For an 18x20, maybe I should have asked for a lower tension and more powerful strings? Let me know if I should call the store to change. in any case, the 48lbs will be a huge improvement over the 54lbs ALU Rough.

The problem with eZone at a lower tension for me is it gets too powerful. I also need to figure out the best strings for my alternate racquet - Head Extreme Tour

BTW, you suggested 44x42 for the blade. To clarify, do you mean 44lbs for main and 42lbs for cross? Can I get away with the same tension on a full bed?

Any hybrid or non-poly string suggestions?

My example was for me. You can adjust to you similarly with 4-6 lbs drop + 1 gauge drop to your preferences in your setups.

Yes 44x42 was 44 mains x 42 cross. You can stick with same as mains. Apparently launch angle is slightly higher if cross lower than mains.

PERSONALLY I would stick with my KNOWN string and do the tension + gauge drop. For example Confidential 16L DOWN TO 17 OR 17 down to 18 And 50-52 DOWN TO 46....

Hawk Touch 1.25 @ 48 lbs should be fine, dont change.

 

[Deleted member 775108]

There’s more mass at the head of the racquet with a higher swing weight on the blade 18x20, avg is 330+. the balls goes long with high swing weight racquets (like ez tour) because you’re not getting the racquet head speed needed for control. increasing tension isn’t the answer, youre asking for arm problems. Try a lower swing weight racquet

The main initial difference could be he is not getting the TIMING needed for control as he is us used to a different racket.

I see really weak players using ultra dense patterns and low swingweight rackets BUT they are used to the timing to get the racket in front to let the mass do the work and not get injured.

I bet the demo had lost a lot of tension or was strung lower by some noob stringer and thats why he had no problems with the demo

 

[AmericanTwist]

OP I will give you some data points. I am 4.5 - 5.0 NTRP for your reference. I strung my v9 18x20 blade at 50 lbs with ALU power 1.25 for high 40s - low 50s T temps. Still felt good in 70s F temps. Also strung it with prince nylon 15L at 55 lbs. It felt good too. Better touch than with poly but maybe a tough less spin but not much different. Power about the same. Also strung it up with NXT 16 at 56 lbs. also for the same temps. This felt pretty good too. Slighlty less power than the other 2 set ups with highest string tension (to be expected) but as much spin as the nylon 55 lbs. set up.

I did a review for TW on this frame. On my next string job I would increase tension by 3 maybe 4 lbs for ALU Power 1.25 and probably the same for the other two strings. Since temps are now low 50s-low 80s.

For you since you got tennis elbow try a solid core syn gut 16 or 17 or a multi 16 in the 49-53 lbs range. Drop it 5 lbs if you use a poly 1.25 and maybe drop it 3-4 lbs if you use poly 1.20. The v9 is a great frame that can grow with you. Stick with it and work on your technique. Good luck!

 

[ttlapointe]

I'd also be interested in strings and tension recommendations for this frame.
I'm 4.5-5.0, usually stringing with PTP or Hawk Touch around 45 lbs in Yonex frames.
Just got a V9 18x20 to try and now need to get it strung since it's strung with Wilson Sensation (maybe I'll try it once with this setup but never liked the feel and/or lack of spin with non-poly strings).

Here are the strings I have at the moment : Hawk Touch 18, Hyper-G 17, Lynx Tour 17, Tour Hex 123, Tour Bite Soft 17.
Which of these should I try first and do I keep the same tension I've used to using in frame like the Vcore Pro, Percept, Vcore 95?
Arm-friendliness is an important factor for me.

Thanks!

 

[gioca]

I'm your level, @Skl17 , and play the v8 Blade 18x20. I love Restring Zero 1.23 full bed at 50 lbs. I get a solid 20 hours out of it, maybe 25. It took a half dozen attempts to really dial in the best tension for me.

I've also played NRG2 full bed @ 58 lbs when I was having an elbow concern (from Lux ALU Power, would you believe it), and it was outstanding for about 5 hours before it got mushy.

I've experimented with hybrids too, but nothing I loved, even gut. The best was also the cheapest:
- Mains: Prince Original Synthetic Gut 17/1.25 (Gold) @ 57 lbs
- Crosses: Tourna Big Hitter Silver 17/1.25 @ 53 lbs

 

[AmericanTwist]

ttlapointe - Give sensation a try. It should be at least 55 lbs, preferably 56 or 57 lbs. You shouldn't have to worry much about the v9 shattering your elbow lol. It is soft and forgiving. But if you are concerned you can try Tour Bite soft 17 first or hawk 18 at 51-52ish lbs first. VCP and percept are 16x19 so those need to be strung tighter. The vcore 95 should be strung 2-3 lbs lower than the v9.. I am assuming 80F ambient temps.

 

[ttlapointe]

ttlapointe - Give sensation a try. It should be at least 55 lbs, preferably 56 or 57 lbs. You shouldn't have to worry much about the v9 shattering your elbow lol. It is soft and forgiving. But if you are concerned you can try Tour Bite soft 17 first or hawk 18 at 51-52ish lbs first. VCP and percept are 16x19 so those need to be strung tighter. The vcore 95 should be strung 2-3 lbs lower than the v9.. I am assuming 80F ambient temps.

Thanks for your advice! Tried it once with Sensation. It wasn't bad, very comfortable but a little bit too "pillowy" and very powerful, tough to control with the lack of bite/spin. It made me wanna consider some form of hybrid if a full poly setup hurts my arm. Will string it with Tour Bite Soft first and see how it goes. First impressions with the frame are good, looking forward to trying it with more typical string setups for me.

 

[Orezap]

can anyone shed some light on their experience playing Blade V9 98, 16x19 with the following Hybrid combos:

1) Head Lynx Tour Champagne 1.25 Mains / Head Hawk Touch Anthracite 1.25 Crosses
2) Head Lynx Tour Champagne 1.25 Mains / Head Velocity MLT Black/Natural 1.25 Crosses

 

[what_army]

I played the V8 18x20 with your #2 combo with the only difference being my V crosses were 1.35 gauge. Overall it was pretty good, very comfortable, nice feeling, decent power and OK control with predictable launch angle but lasted me only 3h30.

 

[jxs653]

16x19 is 304 intersections
18x20 is 360 intersections

This is good info. Thanks.