First off let me introduce myself.
I'm 34, played tennis in highschool as a second seed of a large highschool. Tennis was more of a hobby, I just took to it easily. I'm 5'-10" 220lbs 10% body fat an swing a racquet rather well for being a meathead - though I won't argue about how being able to bench 500 helps your tennis game- it doesn't. I do however look rather funny playing it. Anyway, I do not have an official rating, but I can hang well with som 3.0-4.0 players and beat them at times, so thats probably a good range for those of you who depend on tennis ratings like martial arts belts.
I've played with a ton of different racquets over the years, and in my youth fell victim to all of the gimics and mind set of what racquet you have. I played with a wilson profile as my first expensive racquet, then moved on to some tweeny head racquets when I got smart - one I remeber that I loved and played with the most - the HEAD venturous.
I have since played with prince and HEAD for the most part in the 10oz slightly HH, 100 head size, 65-75 stiffness range, most recently the HEAD intelligence IXSPEED before I decided to look into more "players" racquets. I added a bit of weight to the IXSPEED in the handle and at 6'oclock until I decided to just get a new, heavier more flexible racquet. The HEAD is a bit too light and stiff and bothers my arm and wrist on serves - though the extra weight helped more than I though possible.
Here is what I recent grabbed for demo:
New Samprass 88 : solid but not forgiving. Maybe too heavy for me just yet. Maybe I could hae grown used to it, but the thing looks ugly and just felt like kind of a club. It might have been the demo strings I don't know. If you can hit the sweet spot though the racquet is amazing.
Prince Ozone Tour: thought about getting this one hard but a bit too mushy and dampened. I hit good with it though. Mushy on serves.
Roddic Pure drive + Cortex: (played about a month with it) solid as hell, too stiff. Not bad control but I felt like I couldn't hit out with it and keep the ball in the court.
Wilson Kblade Team: Solid racquet. Felt head heavy when I played it, but perhaps only because the other raquets I've been hitting with are so head light. Statis weight a bit too low, but I hit pretty well and could serve with good pop. The racquet was good just didn't speak to me.
I had seen the Kobra at a local Sheels outfitters, and actually like the looks. I didn't change the leather grip - looked terrible - and I've always used gamma cushion grips pulled tight and hard. I might try black leather eventually. I kind of liked the sampras 88 with the leather.
I strung it with Stinger 16/17 @60 I'm used to playing with Problend at 60-70so this feels soft to me.
The first thing I noticed about the Kobra, is it looked like a Babolat. It felt like a Babolat, smelled like a Babolat, even pinged like a Babolat when knocking the frame with my knuckle. Weird.... I like the matte finish, like you're just holding graphite. Nothing gimicy stuck all over the frame.
It plows through shots well. Not as well as the Pure Drive which I liked at first, but much more control. It's not as dampened, though I can't say if the cortex really does anything. The Kobra isn't really pingy, and I don't like using dampening devices, so thats always my first test. It dampens well.
Really low swing weight like the stats say. You really don't notice that its basically 12.0oz strung. I might add a little bit of weight. I swing kind of whippy, but a little weight at 3, and 9 might make it a big more solid on miss hits and bring the swing weight up a bit a tad. I think the frame starts as a good base for me to play with a little customization.
Power is good for a flexible frame - or so says the stats. It definately felt flexible, and you could really notice on miss hits; however even on a miss hit, there was enough power to get the ball over the net. Its got good power. Less than the pure drive - more control. Similar spin. It has enough power to really hit with pace when you want, but if you get lazy and hit flat and short it will still make it over.
Sping was good. I got a bit more spin with the Ozone Tour but it had 17G strings I think. Bit pretty good. I hit kind of loupy anyway, so I don't need a ton of extra spin help. Considering the tension and strings I have on it, I would say it hits spin pretty well. Again good pop for feeling rather flexible.
I think if you like the Babolat player oriented racquets but maybe want something less stiff and a bit more on the control side - this is a good alternative. I think the Kobra capitalizes on the Babolats solid feel, and solves the issues of control I had, and probably will solve the arm/wrist problems people get from the stiff Babolats. The Kobra isn't a good compromise, just a different twist and worth a shot. I'll stick with it a while. I'm still hankering to try some of the new Prince frames but I'm also a tech Junky. But I have found a frame I am comfortable working with I think for a while.
I'm 34, played tennis in highschool as a second seed of a large highschool. Tennis was more of a hobby, I just took to it easily. I'm 5'-10" 220lbs 10% body fat an swing a racquet rather well for being a meathead - though I won't argue about how being able to bench 500 helps your tennis game- it doesn't. I do however look rather funny playing it. Anyway, I do not have an official rating, but I can hang well with som 3.0-4.0 players and beat them at times, so thats probably a good range for those of you who depend on tennis ratings like martial arts belts.
I've played with a ton of different racquets over the years, and in my youth fell victim to all of the gimics and mind set of what racquet you have. I played with a wilson profile as my first expensive racquet, then moved on to some tweeny head racquets when I got smart - one I remeber that I loved and played with the most - the HEAD venturous.
I have since played with prince and HEAD for the most part in the 10oz slightly HH, 100 head size, 65-75 stiffness range, most recently the HEAD intelligence IXSPEED before I decided to look into more "players" racquets. I added a bit of weight to the IXSPEED in the handle and at 6'oclock until I decided to just get a new, heavier more flexible racquet. The HEAD is a bit too light and stiff and bothers my arm and wrist on serves - though the extra weight helped more than I though possible.
Here is what I recent grabbed for demo:
New Samprass 88 : solid but not forgiving. Maybe too heavy for me just yet. Maybe I could hae grown used to it, but the thing looks ugly and just felt like kind of a club. It might have been the demo strings I don't know. If you can hit the sweet spot though the racquet is amazing.
Prince Ozone Tour: thought about getting this one hard but a bit too mushy and dampened. I hit good with it though. Mushy on serves.
Roddic Pure drive + Cortex: (played about a month with it) solid as hell, too stiff. Not bad control but I felt like I couldn't hit out with it and keep the ball in the court.
Wilson Kblade Team: Solid racquet. Felt head heavy when I played it, but perhaps only because the other raquets I've been hitting with are so head light. Statis weight a bit too low, but I hit pretty well and could serve with good pop. The racquet was good just didn't speak to me.
I had seen the Kobra at a local Sheels outfitters, and actually like the looks. I didn't change the leather grip - looked terrible - and I've always used gamma cushion grips pulled tight and hard. I might try black leather eventually. I kind of liked the sampras 88 with the leather.
I strung it with Stinger 16/17 @60 I'm used to playing with Problend at 60-70so this feels soft to me.
The first thing I noticed about the Kobra, is it looked like a Babolat. It felt like a Babolat, smelled like a Babolat, even pinged like a Babolat when knocking the frame with my knuckle. Weird.... I like the matte finish, like you're just holding graphite. Nothing gimicy stuck all over the frame.
It plows through shots well. Not as well as the Pure Drive which I liked at first, but much more control. It's not as dampened, though I can't say if the cortex really does anything. The Kobra isn't really pingy, and I don't like using dampening devices, so thats always my first test. It dampens well.
Really low swing weight like the stats say. You really don't notice that its basically 12.0oz strung. I might add a little bit of weight. I swing kind of whippy, but a little weight at 3, and 9 might make it a big more solid on miss hits and bring the swing weight up a bit a tad. I think the frame starts as a good base for me to play with a little customization.
Power is good for a flexible frame - or so says the stats. It definately felt flexible, and you could really notice on miss hits; however even on a miss hit, there was enough power to get the ball over the net. Its got good power. Less than the pure drive - more control. Similar spin. It has enough power to really hit with pace when you want, but if you get lazy and hit flat and short it will still make it over.
Sping was good. I got a bit more spin with the Ozone Tour but it had 17G strings I think. Bit pretty good. I hit kind of loupy anyway, so I don't need a ton of extra spin help. Considering the tension and strings I have on it, I would say it hits spin pretty well. Again good pop for feeling rather flexible.
I think if you like the Babolat player oriented racquets but maybe want something less stiff and a bit more on the control side - this is a good alternative. I think the Kobra capitalizes on the Babolats solid feel, and solves the issues of control I had, and probably will solve the arm/wrist problems people get from the stiff Babolats. The Kobra isn't a good compromise, just a different twist and worth a shot. I'll stick with it a while. I'm still hankering to try some of the new Prince frames but I'm also a tech Junky. But I have found a frame I am comfortable working with I think for a while.
