Wilson BLX Prostaff 95 vs Wilson BLX Juice Lite for an 11 year old

gplracer

gplracer

Hall of Fame
My son just turned 11 and he is trying to convince me that he wants to switch to a Wilson BLX Prostaff 95. How does that racket compare to the Wilson BLX Juice Lite that he currently has? He is big for his age at 5'3" and 105lbs. He is sectional ranked in the 12s. He has good strokes and hits a heavy ball with a lot of topspin. I am a little worried to about going from a 100 to a 95 for him. Thanks!
 
From memory the Juice lite is very stiff so going to pro staff 95 should be better from an injury prevent point of view. If he can handle the extra weight he should be ok. On balance it should be a good move.
 
Well, demoing the frame costs nothing. And actually, going for a smaller headsize will help with precision. Depends if he can handle the lower power and higher weight. Can also depends of the strings he has in the frame.
 
Stiffness is a concern. Right now he is taking two weeks off because of a sore shoulder. Granted he did have 4 weekends in a row of tournaments and the last two he had 5 matches.
 
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The prostaff is very low powered, and I would not recommend it to a younger player. For less shock, go with a slightly heavier tweener and put multi in it. Pro open is a good choice if he likes wilson
 
Let him have the racket he wants, at age 11 tennis is all about enjoying yourself. If you start to give him rules and regs about which racket he should be playing with now, your son will be doing something else with his time next year.
 
PimpMyGame said:
Let him have the racket he wants, at age 11 tennis is all about enjoying yourself. If you start to give him rules and regs about which racket he should be playing with now, your son will be doing something else with his time next year.
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"Let him have what he wants"...I don't think that's the best mindset for any parent to have with their 11 year old. If he is seriously having arm problems or whatever, then buy him the prostaff. But if hes just whining about wanting a new racket, I would honestly wait until Christmas or something.
 
He is not whining. He just got back from the sectional championships in the 12s. He turned 11 during the tournament. His arm issue is new and mild. It is just overuse from all the matches lately. He hit with a ps and loved it. He has good strokes and gets a lot of power.
 
^What are the strings and tension please?

If he's on overuse, I wouldn't put an heavy racquet for the moment. You don't feel it early in the match, but when it starts lasting a bit, you feel the extra weight no problem. Anyway, demo.
 
MikeHitsHard93 said:
Really low swing weight and no mass behind the shot. The ps 95 stock hits spinny balls with little penetration.
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My son uses these rackets and I can safely vouch that he doesn't hit with little penetration. I suspect it depends on the player, maybe even the quality of their strokes too. It's too light for me, but I can see that it is a nice racket for the modern game as you can get some decent RHS with it.
 
MikeHitsHard93 said:
"Let him have what he wants"...I don't think that's the best mindset for any parent to have with their 11 year old. If he is seriously having arm problems or whatever, then buy him the prostaff. But if hes just whining about wanting a new racket, I would honestly wait until Christmas or something.
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Most arm problems are due to poor technique and/or fatigue. Both are easily addressed for an 11 year old. However, if you are putting a racket in the hands of said 11 year old that he doesn't want to play with, the problem will be solved by him simply giving up the sport.
 
A number of us have had concerns with Wilson's Ampli-Feel technology and its effect on arm health. You can find a few threads covering that topic on TT.

Ampli-Feel is intended to provide more feel of the ball's impact on the frame. And it certainly achieves that objective. But that same increased sense of the impact may cause more shock. The other side of the Ampli-Feel coin is Ampli-Shock for some of us (note: other TT members reported no ill effects from Ampli-Feel).

I really enjoyed the BLX PS 95's control. Absolutely wonderful! Great access to spin too in spite of the smaller head.

Unfortunately, like some other TT members the Ampli-Feel system imparted a little too much shock to my hand. After using the PS 95 I developed terrible pain in my racquet hand. I had not experienced anything like that prior to using the PS 95 or since. On mornings after using the frame I couldn't close my hand since the pain was so excruciating. I didn't feel any discomfort during use, only afterwards.

I tried multiple solutions to reduce the shock such as my favorite comfort grip and replacing the basalt strips with silicone. Nothing worked.

Some folks at a local tennis shop and I then noticed that Wilson inserted metal shanks into the handle. We could see the sheared off ends when we removed the butt cap. Not sure if they're intended to enhance feel/shock or change balance and weight. Maybe a little of both?

In any case, I sold off the PS 95 and moved on. For months afterwards I experienced some stiffness in my hand but the ill effects gradually subsided. The pain was so significant it was definitely a very scary experience. I would never recommend this frame for a child.

A better alternative would be the AG 4D 300 if you can find one (my 11 year old loves his!). Very precise and arm friendly. He added extra weight and a heavier grip to his. He also enjoys our modified 315 Ltds with 16 mains.
 
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Why not let your son demo a few different frames and then the two of you analyze their strengths and weaknesses? Fun for you both and it teaches him a lesson about doing things the right way and not just picking a frame because one of his friends has it. If he is adamant about the PS after the demos, so be it. He's the one out there playing.
 
gplracer said:
He is not whining. He just got back from the sectional championships in the 12s. He turned 11 during the tournament. His arm issue is new and mild. It is just overuse from all the matches lately. He hit with a ps and loved it. He has good strokes and gets a lot of power.
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He's probably better than I am and hits a flatter ball. I hit with lots of topspin and the prostaff just kinda left balls sitting up in my scenario. If he loved it, and works really hard then I'd say let him try it.
 
PimpMyGame said:
My son uses these rackets and I can safely vouch that he doesn't hit with little penetration. I suspect it depends on the player, maybe even the quality of their strokes too. It's too light for me, but I can see that it is a nice racket for the modern game as you can get some decent RHS with it.
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Sorry, I should have made a more open minded post. Different strokes for different folks. :)
 
PimpMyGame said:
Most arm problems are due to poor technique and/or fatigue. Both are easily addressed for an 11 year old. However, if you are putting a racket in the hands of said 11 year old that he doesn't want to play with, the problem will be solved by him simply giving up the sport.
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So what you're saying is that you'll give in so that he doesn't quit the sport because he doesn't have the exact racket that he wants?...am I correct?
 
It's going to be huge difference...

Pro Staff 95:
Strung Weight: 326.02g
Balance: 7 pts HL
Swingweight: 306
Stiffness: 62
Beam Width: 18mm / 18mm / 18mm /

Juice 100L:
Strung Weight: 294.84g
Balance: 3 pts HH
Swingweight: 324
Stiffness: 73
Beam Width: 25.5mm / 26.5mm / 25.5mm /

It will take him long time to readjust his game / stroke...


The 6.1 95 Team sounds like more reasonable switch:
Strung Weight: 10.7oz / 303.34g
Balance: 1 pts HL
Swingweight: 318
Stiffness: 63
Beam Width: 21mm / 21mm / 21mm /

This spec leaves the space to customize towards heavier and more HL, if he wanted to and when ready.

-----

On the side note, the shoulder pain is most often from the serve... Going heavier static (yet sometimes static + SW combo) normaly makes it worse for me...
 
Lots of good suggestions. I will have him tru the 6.1 Team as well. He has Baolat Tonic+ at 56lbs on the mains and Luxilon 4g at 52 on the crosses. He hits a heavy ball with lots of topspin comapred to other kids his age.
 
Might want to also consider the Steam 99:
Strung Weight: 11.3oz / 320.35g
Balance: 3 pts HL
Swingweight: 328
Stiffness: 70

I'd get him the 6.1 95 team. If hes REALLY strong you could try the 99 if he can handle the weight.

I'd stay away from the pro-staff.
 
gplracer said:
Lots of good suggestions. I will have him tru the 6.1 Team as well. He has Baolat Tonic+ at 56lbs on the mains and Luxilon 4g at 52 on the crosses. He hits a heavy ball with lots of topspin comapred to other kids his age.
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How frequently do you restring him? Or at least, how frequently do you restring the crosses? That setup is very spin-friendly, however the problem is that poly dies quickly and dead poly isn't nice for the arm. In some way, gut compensates for this, since it's very arm friendly. Even if I partially think, like someone else in this thread that shoulder issues are maybe because of the serve.
 
His strings typically lasts about 4-5 matches before they break. He has broke strings in each of the last two tournaments he has played in.
 
MikeHitsHard93 said:
So what you're saying is that you'll give in so that he doesn't quit the sport because he doesn't have the exact racket that he wants?...am I correct?
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Sorry but again you need to be a little more open-minded. I'm not giving in to anything, because I have no preconceived ideas about what racket my son should be using. If enjoying the sport means that he wants a 230g head heavy granny stick, then so be it. As he continues playing tennis and his technique improves, he will naturally gravitate towards rackets which will suit his game.

My son is now 15 and has been playing for around 8 years. His first full-sized racket was a Dunlop AG500Tour IIRC. His coach at the time then pushed and pushed for him to use some Wilson K-Factor OS thing which wasn't my idea of a decent racket. But I always presumed the method in his madness was to get a racket which was light enough to progress with modern strokes. As he improved he gravitated towards 95 sq in head light rackets and before the PS95 was using an AG200 16x19.

The point of this is that I have allowed my son to choose what racket he likes without intervention (the only intervention being from his then coach who I had to trust to some point with regard to what was the right equipment at the time). If I had said "you must use such-and-such a racket" then I suspect this would have ended in rebellion - either blaming the equipment for poor performance or worse not wanting to play at all.

All good juniors end up playing with what is most comfortable for them, and in most cases they will ultimately select players' rackets even if they are a little lighter and more spinny than my generation prefers. That's why I say give juniors a free reign.
 
PimpMyGame said:
Sorry but again you need to be a little more open-minded. I'm not giving in to anything, because I have no preconceived ideas about what racket my son should be using. If enjoying the sport means that he wants a 230g head heavy granny stick, then so be it. As he continues playing tennis and his technique improves, he will naturally gravitate towards rackets which will suit his game.

My son is now 15 and has been playing for around 8 years. His first full-sized racket was a Dunlop AG500Tour IIRC. His coach at the time then pushed and pushed for him to use some Wilson K-Factor OS thing which wasn't my idea of a decent racket. But I always presumed the method in his madness was to get a racket which was light enough to progress with modern strokes. As he improved he gravitated towards 95 sq in head light rackets and before the PS95 was using an AG200 16x19.

The point of this is that I have allowed my son to choose what racket he likes without intervention (the only intervention being from his then coach who I had to trust to some point with regard to what was the right equipment at the time). If I had said "you must use such-and-such a racket" then I suspect this would have ended in rebellion - either blaming the equipment for poor performance or worse not wanting to play at all.

All good juniors end up playing with what is most comfortable for them, and in most cases they will ultimately select players' rackets even if they are a little lighter and more spinny than my generation prefers. That's why I say give juniors a free reign.
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Yeah, I'm getting your reasoning but I can't say that I agree with it. I guess my mindset would be different if I had an aspiring junior for a son.
 
PimpMyGame said:
Sorry but again you need to be a little more open-minded. I'm not giving in to anything, because I have no preconceived ideas about what racket my son should be using. If enjoying the sport means that he wants a 230g head heavy granny stick, then so be it. As he continues playing tennis and his technique improves, he will naturally gravitate towards rackets which will suit his game.

My son is now 15 and has been playing for around 8 years. His first full-sized racket was a Dunlop AG500Tour IIRC. His coach at the time then pushed and pushed for him to use some Wilson K-Factor OS thing which wasn't my idea of a decent racket. But I always presumed the method in his madness was to get a racket which was light enough to progress with modern strokes. As he improved he gravitated towards 95 sq in head light rackets and before the PS95 was using an AG200 16x19.

The point of this is that I have allowed my son to choose what racket he likes without intervention (the only intervention being from his then coach who I had to trust to some point with regard to what was the right equipment at the time). If I had said "you must use such-and-such a racket" then I suspect this would have ended in rebellion - either blaming the equipment for poor performance or worse not wanting to play at all.

All good juniors end up playing with what is most comfortable for them, and in most cases they will ultimately select players' rackets even if they are a little lighter and more spinny than my generation prefers. That's why I say give juniors a free reign.
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I would ignore Mike's "recommendations"......
 
P.Floyd said:
Come on, Mike, you're doing this guy no favors.
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I guess not, but I just don't like the idea that he's going to buy whatever racket his kid wants so that he's happy and won't quit the sport. How long has the kid been playing? If he wants a new racket because he's had his current one for a long time or feels like he's grown out of it, then fine. If he hasn't had this racket for very long and just wants something new because it's the "cool racket" or something, then I personally would make him wait.

I know this isn't parenting class or anything, but these are just my thoughts on the situation and I'm entitled to my own opinion. If he wants to ignore them, thats fine. My feelings won't be hurt. I'm just tired of the new generations getting uber spoiled.
 
MikeHitsHard93 said:
I guess not, but I just don't like the idea that he's going to buy whatever racket his kid wants so that he's happy and won't quit the sport. How long has the kid been playing? If he wants a new racket because he's had his current one for a long time or feels like he's grown out of it, then fine. If he hasn't had this racket for very long and just wants something new because it's the "cool racket" or something, then I personally would make him wait.

I know this isn't parenting class or anything, but these are just my thoughts on the situation and I'm entitled to my own opinion. If he wants to ignore them, thats fine. My feelings won't be hurt. I'm just tired of the new generations getting uber spoiled.
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Mike, you probably can tell how subjective this entire racquet search is. I don't know if you ever felt similar, but I've had concurrent days where I've gone from absolutely loving a racquet and contemplating stocking up, to hating the same frame the next day and wondering why I even bothered. Now imagine if someone dictated what you had to use. Gotta keep tennis fun, man.
 
P.Floyd said:
Mike, you probably can tell how subjective this entire racquet search is. I don't know if you ever felt similar, but I've had concurrent days where I've gone from absolutely loving a racquet and contemplating stocking up, to hating the same frame the next day and wondering why I even bothered. Now imagine if someone dictated what you had to use. Gotta keep tennis fun, man.
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Good point! Thanks for putting it into perspective for me :)
 
P.Floyd said:
By the way, I hope you don't take the banter personally - perhaps I was being overly harsh, so apologies if so.
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I think I did just because of our past discussions lol. And because you told him to not listen to my recommendations. But we're done now. Apology accepted, moving on.

To the OP: sorry for the unnecessary opinionated comments by me. The prostaff is a racket that he could use forever and grow into, so it wouldn't be a bad choice to purchase it for him. It's also very comfortable. Go for it.
 
MikeHitsHard93 said:
I think I did just because of our past discussions lol. And because you told him to not listen to my recommendations. But we're done now. Apology accepted, moving on.

To the OP: sorry for the unnecessary opinionated comments by me. The prostaff is a racket that he could use forever and grow into, so it wouldn't be a bad choice to purchase it for him. It's also very comfortable. Go for it.
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Well, I still don't think he should listen to you. :)
 
MikeHitsHard93 said:
Lmao if you would like to email me or something and explain why, that'd be great.
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Simple really, your posts are fun and entertaining and I'm sure many find amusement in your Gilligan-esque tennis endeavors, I know I do. But your "advice" could be detrimental to those looking for real help.
 
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Hey OP,
Got a solution for you!

Get your boy the Pro Staff 95 that he really wants.
Get it in one grip size larger then needed.
Get rid of the leather grip, replace with overgrip ONLY.
Place lead, 4g total at 65cm.
End result should be about 310g, 1 HL, 318 SW - very close to the 6.1 Team!
(I assumed the leather grip at 26g and overgrip at 6g.)

Then as his strength and his hand grow, you'd add layers to the grip, going thicker, more static weight and more HL:
one overgrip, 2 overgrips, synthetic grip, leather grip + overgrip...
 
I use a BLX ProStaff 95 and the main reason i like it is the flex and the thin beam. It is lower powered in stock form but i lead it up to 355g. Even with lead, it's not going to boom like a Six.One 95, which if i wanted to convert to a power game, i would switch to. That thing has sick power and spin (16x18 ), and is not as plush. The ProStaff 95 is for controlled strokes and slicing it up at net like a ninja. You can hit winners just fine, but you won't outright overpower your opponents. I find it plenty arm friendly, yes its the BLX.

So if your kid likes to hit BIG, i would say look elsewhere. But it excels in everything else.
 
Mike, Floyd and others thanks for your suugestions. I am only going along with a possible racket switch because the Juice Lite has a stiffness rating of 70. My son had some shoulder soreness but he had played tournaments 4 weekends in a row with the final straw being a 3.5 hour match, another match and then doubles for a total of six hours of play. When he played in the Southern boys 12s it did not bother him much but his arm was weak in long matches at then end. I will not let him play with just anything he wants. Dad has to approve it. I got a demo of the PS 95 and the 6.1 team. Today we will hit with them.

He has played tennis since he was 3. He was ranked 2 in our state in the 10s when he was 8. He now plays in the 12s. He is big at 5'3" before recently turning 11. In the last month he grew another 1/4". Movement is not bad but not his best area. Hitting a big heavy ball with good mechanics is his best area. Actually stroke mechanics is his best area. He has been real lucky so far. It is much harder for his sibling.
 
gplracer said:
Mike, Floyd and others thanks for your suugestions. I am only going along with a possible racket switch because the Juice Lite has a stiffness rating of 70. My son had some shoulder soreness but he had played tournaments 4 weekends in a row with the final straw being a 3.5 hour match, another match and then doubles for a total of six hours of play. When he played in the Southern boys 12s it did not bother him much but his arm was weak in long matches at then end. I will not let him play with just anything he wants. Dad has to approve it. I got a demo of the PS 95 and the 6.1 team. Today we will hit with them.

He has played tennis since he was 3. He was ranked 2 in our state in the 10s when he was 8. He now plays in the 12s. He is big at 5'3" before recently turning 11. In the last month he grew another 1/4". Movement is not bad but not his best area. Hitting a big heavy ball with good mechanics is his best area. Actually stroke mechanics is his best area. He has been real lucky so far. It is much harder for his sibling.
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Let us know how the testing goes. Sounds like he has a really good future in tennis.
 
Well he hit with both rackets and hated both. There you go! He said they have no power and he could not get enough spin on the ball. I wondered why it felt so good in the PGA Superstore court.
 
gplracer said:
Well he hit with both rackets and hated both. There you go! He said they have no power and he could not get enough spin on the ball. I wondered why it felt so good in the PGA Superstore court.
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Your son is probably right. I play with the PS95 and it is definitely a control racquet. I have added some weight to it and have a gut/poly hybrid which together has given the racuqet some decent power. I am surprised he said he couldn't get spin though, both are open string patterns. I don't have any trouble generating spin on my forehand and serves with my PS95. Have hit with the Team and could get spin with it as well.
Could you add some weight to both and maybe a diffeent set of strings?
 
I think the Juice Lite he plays with is so stiff that spin is easier with it. He got good spin with the 95 and the team. Just in his mind it was not as much as the juice lite.
 
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