Wilson Steam 100, Blade 98 glossy paintjob | review

[Anni.Angel]

After playing 2 brand new Steam 100, Blade 98 glossy paintjob, for almost a year. I can have a feedback.

I strung the racquet with Luxilon Alu Power, RS Lyon, Black Knight. Most of the times I played with these 3 strings. My tension is always 24 kg in the mains, 22 kg in the crosses. Also I don't string first and last cross in the mains.
I tried playing it with fullbed Head Velocity MLT. It was a nightmare. Totally impossible for me to play a fullbed of Velocity MLT in this racquet. Couldn't win a point with that string.

The sweetspot of this racquet is quite smaller than other regular racquets. It takes quite some time to get used with the racquet as it has a considerably smaller sweetspot.
During play times people were curios about this racquet that has no specs and comes in a shiny glossy painting. So I swapped it with an Ezone midgame twice. Also swapped it with a RF 97 315.

Instantly the feeling was it was far easier to serve with a RF97 and a quite easier to play as the racquet felt more forgiving. The eZone felt a lot easier to play than my Steam 100. I mean easier even than the RF 97.
All the opponents playing my Steam 100 said it is very difficult to serve with Steam 100. They did not enjoy hitting the groundstrokes either. And they said I should not be stubborn to such a tricky tool and move to something easier to play.

The question is: Is it worth paying 300-600 Eur/USD for a professional racquet? Most probably not. Does it come with benefits? Absolutely.

This racquet forced me to hit a lot cleaner. If you don't hit really clean your shots will go everywhere. It is very unforgivable. On the serves I learned to toss almost perfect. Also learned to not hit the serve when my toss is bad.
If my toss is not very good my chance of sending the ball into the court is slim to zero.

Also usually this racquet drains out most of my power and stamina. After playing a match with it I sleep like a log for 2 days. It is a lot of fun to play it after you get used to it, but it took me 6 months to adjust to it's physics.
Most likely you won't like it. I don't know too many people ready to waste 6 month to get used to a racquet just to see how good it is.

Now I use it with my special stringjob: First and last 4 mains are Head Velocity MLT, the 8 mains in the middle are Black Knight. The first and last 4 crosses are Head Velocity MLT while the 10 crosses in the middle are RS Lyon.
The racquet feels amazing right now. I can hit very powerful forehands and especially very powerful backhands. I can find amazing angles. Also serves work perfect; flat, slice or top spin serves. I love it right now.

Will I buy it again? Well, as I got used to it, most probably yes. And I am hunting for a NOS, to compare it with the pro stock.

But I would never go again into the whole process of getting used with one. It is a bit of a nightmare. You keep playing and hope next time it will be better. People you used to beat now are beating you. Until you click with it and you start enjoying it.

 

[magnusforce55]

After playing 2 brand new Steam 100, Blade 98 glossy paintjob, for almost a year. I can have a feedback.

I strung the racquet with Luxilon Alu Power, RS Lyon, Black Knight. Most of the times I played with these 3 strings. My tension is always 24 kg in the mains, 22 kg in the crosses. Also I don't string first and last cross in the mains.
I tried playing it with fullbed Head Velocity MLT. It was a nightmare. Totally impossible for me to play a fullbed of Velocity MLT in this racquet. Couldn't win a point with that string.

The sweetspot of this racquet is quite smaller than other regular racquets. It takes quite some time to get used with the racquet as it has a considerably smaller sweetspot.
During play times people were curios about this racquet that has no specs and comes in a shiny glossy painting. So I swapped it with an Ezone midgame twice. Also swapped it with a RF 97 315.

Instantly the feeling was it was far easier to serve with a RF97 and a quite easier to play as the racquet felt more forgiving. The eZone felt a lot easier to play than my Steam 100. I mean easier even than the RF 97.
All the opponents playing my Steam 100 said it is very difficult to serve with Steam 100. They did not enjoy hitting the groundstrokes either. And they said I should not be stubborn to such a tricky tool and move to something easier to play.

The question is: Is it worth paying 300-600 Eur/USD for a professional racquet? Most probably not. Does it come with benefits? Absolutely.

This racquet forced me to hit a lot cleaner. If you don't hit really clean your shots will go everywhere. It is very unforgivable. On the serves I learned to toss almost perfect. Also learned to not hit the serve when my toss is bad.
If my toss is not very good my chance of sending the ball into the court is slim to zero.

Also usually this racquet drains out most of my power and stamina. After playing a match with it I sleep like a log for 2 days. It is a lot of fun to play it after you get used to it, but it took me 6 months to adjust to it's physics.
Most likely you won't like it. I don't know too many people ready to waste 6 month to get used to a racquet just to see how good it is.

Now I use it with my special stringjob: First and last 4 mains are Head Velocity MLT, the 8 mains in the middle are Black Knight. The first and last 4 crosses are Head Velocity MLT while the 10 crosses in the middle are RS Lyon.
The racquet feels amazing right now. I can hit very powerful forehands and especially very powerful backhands. I can find amazing angles. Also serves work perfect; flat, slice or top spin serves. I love it right now.

Will I buy it again? Well, as I got used to it, most probably yes. And I am hunting for a NOS, to compare it with the pro stock.

But I would never go again into the whole process of getting used with one. It is a bit of a nightmare. You keep playing and hope next time it will be better. People you used to beat now are beating you. Until you click with it and you start enjoying it.

Great review, thanks! It's an interesting racquet so I have some questions
Could you please provide your Steam 100 specs assuming prostocks can vary (weight, balance, swingweight)? What is your level and playstyle?
In theory Steam 100 with its 23 mm beam and relatively open string pattern should be absolutely opposite, forgiving and with a large sweet spot...
Also I'm guessing what was the goal of skipping 2 crosses?

 

[Anni.Angel]

Great review, thanks! It's an interesting racquet so I have some questions
Could you please provide your Steam 100 specs assuming prostocks can vary (weight, balance, swingweight)? What is your level and playstyle?
In theory Steam 100 with its 23 mm beam and relatively open string pattern should be absolutely opposite, forgiving and with a large sweet spot...
Also I'm guessing what was the goal of skipping 2 crosses?

First, why am I skipping the first and last crosses? I feel like the racquet gets a bit plushier as I play without a dampener. Also I feel it gives me a little more power while retaining the control. It doesn't seem like much but it still makes a difference. Then I save some string, which is something when you restring after every 2-4 hours played, sometimes even earlier.

The Steam 100 is 16x20 and not as open as Steam 99 which is 16x18 and a lot more open. I have a few of those too.

What is my level of play? That's a bit difficult to say. I usually play level 5 competitions but sometimes I feel like I am playing level 4 opponents and sometimes I feel like I am playing level 6 opponents. I guess some people sandbag so that's debatable. Also lately I started playing a lot better and started winning against some people playing in level 6 competitions. So that's quite relative and debatable. I am not that much of a good player. Whenever I watch tennis on TV I feel like the worst tennis player but when I get out and play I always deal with some people that are playing worse than me so I'm fine.

My playing style? First of all, I love to hit the ball hard and I love to see the ball flying fast. Do I hit with top-spin? Not too much top-spin. I can get those loopy heavy top-spin trajectories but don't love them. I only use top-spin to keep the ball inside the lines, nothing more than that. Do I come at the net? I come at the net in every match but only when I feel there is a good opportunity. I mean there are players that allow me to play 50% of the points at the net and there are players who would keep me behind the base line for 75% of the game. If I think more about it there is one player that keeps me back for like 90% of the time. For example if I play someone who si also hitting hard and ball is flying very fast I am not I am fine with drop shots and slices, I am confident and 98% of the time they are successful. The volleys are good but nothing special. What I love the most are the drive volleys. The overheads are not always clean but most of the time they do the job. I always try to get those boomy overheads but I am not that good there yet. On the serve, I can hit all 3 types of serves, moderate power. Used to hit serves harder but I worked on changing technique a bit, and lowered the speed lately.

The racquet came in 295 gr. unstrung. I added a Babolat leather grip as I do to all my racquets.
I just measured the racquet right now, strung. It weighs 326 gr. strung, balance is 31.5 cm strung. I don't really know the swingweight as I don't have that magical Babolat tool that includes a tool for measuring the swingweight.
I am not that technical with equipment.

 

[magnusforce55]

First, why am I skipping the first and last crosses? I feel like the racquet gets a bit plushier as I play without a dampener. Also I feel it gives me a little more power while retaining the control. It doesn't seem like much but it still makes a difference. Then I save some string, which is something when you restring after every 2-4 hours played, sometimes even earlier.

The Steam 100 is 16x20 and not as open as Steam 99 which is 16x18 and a lot more open. I have a few of those too.

What is my level of play? That's a bit difficult to say. I usually play level 5 competitions but sometimes I feel like I am playing level 4 opponents and sometimes I feel like I am playing level 6 opponents. I guess some people sandbag so that's debatable. Also lately I started playing a lot better and started winning against some people playing in level 6 competitions. So that's quite relative and debatable. I am not that much of a good player. Whenever I watch tennis on TV I feel like the worst tennis player but when I get out and play I always deal with some people that are playing worse than me so I'm fine.

My playing style? First of all, I love to hit the ball hard and I love to see the ball flying fast. Do I hit with top-spin? Not too much top-spin. I can get those loopy heavy top-spin trajectories but don't love them. I only use top-spin to keep the ball inside the lines, nothing more than that. Do I come at the net? I come at the net in every match but only when I feel there is a good opportunity. I mean there are players that allow me to play 50% of the points at the net and there are players who would keep me behind the base line for 75% of the game. If I think more about it there is one player that keeps me back for like 90% of the time. For example if I play someone who si also hitting hard and ball is flying very fast I am not I am fine with drop shots and slices, I am confident and 98% of the time they are successful. The volleys are good but nothing special. What I love the most are the drive volleys. The overheads are not always clean but most of the time they do the job. I always try to get those boomy overheads but I am not that good there yet. On the serve, I can hit all 3 types of serves, moderate power. Used to hit serves harder but I worked on changing technique a bit, and lowered the speed lately.

The racquet came in 295 gr. unstrung. I added a Babolat leather grip as I do to all my racquets.
I just measured the racquet right now, strung. It weighs 326 gr. strung, balance is 31.5 cm strung. I don't really know the swingweight as I don't have that magical Babolat tool that includes a tool for measuring the swingweight.
I am not that technical with equipment.

Thank you very much for such a detailed reply!

Wow, your level of tennis impressed me. Beating players at 6 NTRP even if they are real 5.5 is very impressive!

I will probably also consider skipping 1-2 crosses just for experiment, it’s interesting. In theory it should only lower stringbed stiffness a bit, but maybe it gives also something else in reality. BTW, do you break strings every 2-4 hours or just restring because of the tension loss?

Regarding your prostock Steam 100, with such a low balance point (even considering the leather grip installed) your racquet should be very close in swingweight to retail BLX Steam. Analyzing the characteristics of some Steams sold on prostocktennis, I guess your SW is around 310-315 which is quite low and probably it explains why ezone and pro staff seemed much easier to play with. Its even more impressing that using such a low SW racquet you are playing so high-level leagues! I think with 2-4 grams of lead tape on its head Steam should be more user-friendly and stable, but of course if you like your specs and keep winning matches there is no sense to change the SW.

BTW, there is a great iphone app called Swingtool that helps measuring SW at home using TW method without any expensive equipment. I’m using it and highly recommend for real tennis nerds

 

[TennisHound]

After playing 2 brand new Steam 100, Blade 98 glossy paintjob, for almost a year. I can have a feedback.

I strung the racquet with Luxilon Alu Power, RS Lyon, Black Knight. Most of the times I played with these 3 strings. My tension is always 24 kg in the mains, 22 kg in the crosses. Also I don't string first and last cross in the mains.
I tried playing it with fullbed Head Velocity MLT. It was a nightmare. Totally impossible for me to play a fullbed of Velocity MLT in this racquet. Couldn't win a point with that string.

The sweetspot of this racquet is quite smaller than other regular racquets. It takes quite some time to get used with the racquet as it has a considerably smaller sweetspot.
During play times people were curios about this racquet that has no specs and comes in a shiny glossy painting. So I swapped it with an Ezone midgame twice. Also swapped it with a RF 97 315.

Instantly the feeling was it was far easier to serve with a RF97 and a quite easier to play as the racquet felt more forgiving. The eZone felt a lot easier to play than my Steam 100. I mean easier even than the RF 97.
All the opponents playing my Steam 100 said it is very difficult to serve with Steam 100. They did not enjoy hitting the groundstrokes either. And they said I should not be stubborn to such a tricky tool and move to something easier to play.

The question is: Is it worth paying 300-600 Eur/USD for a professional racquet? Most probably not. Does it come with benefits? Absolutely.

This racquet forced me to hit a lot cleaner. If you don't hit really clean your shots will go everywhere. It is very unforgivable. On the serves I learned to toss almost perfect. Also learned to not hit the serve when my toss is bad.
If my toss is not very good my chance of sending the ball into the court is slim to zero.

Also usually this racquet drains out most of my power and stamina. After playing a match with it I sleep like a log for 2 days. It is a lot of fun to play it after you get used to it, but it took me 6 months to adjust to it's physics.
Most likely you won't like it. I don't know too many people ready to waste 6 month to get used to a racquet just to see how good it is.

Now I use it with my special stringjob: First and last 4 mains are Head Velocity MLT, the 8 mains in the middle are Black Knight. The first and last 4 crosses are Head Velocity MLT while the 10 crosses in the middle are RS Lyon.
The racquet feels amazing right now. I can hit very powerful forehands and especially very powerful backhands. I can find amazing angles. Also serves work perfect; flat, slice or top spin serves. I love it right now.

Will I buy it again? Well, as I got used to it, most probably yes. And I am hunting for a NOS, to compare it with the pro stock.

But I would never go again into the whole process of getting used with one. It is a bit of a nightmare. You keep playing and hope next time it will be better. People you used to beat now are beating you. Until you click with it and you start enjoying it.

Was there a glossy Blade 98 is there somewhere? Also it’s important to factor in the 27.25 length of the Steam 100. It’s only .25” but plays a role in feel. I’m guessing you started off with the pro stock? The Steam frame was not the most forgiving. It was a high RA (around 69-71) and felt a little dead on impact. I’m sure the pro-stock feels different and it is very popular on the WTA.

 

[Anni.Angel]

Was there a glossy Blade 98 is there somewhere? Also it’s important to factor in the 27.25 length of the Steam 100. It’s small but plays a role in feel. I’m guessing you started off with the pro stock? The Steam frame was not the most forgiving. It was a high RA (around 69-71) and felt a little dead on impact. I’m sure the pro-stock feels different and is very popular on the WTA.

My subjective feel with the Steam 100 in glossy Blade 98 paintjob was this frame demanded better technique. If previously I was proud of my shots and my technique, after playing this frame I felt like I am a beginner and never knew that. So I started working a lot on my technique. I already contacted a good coach to help me with my overheads and this winter we will work on that. I felt like it revealed every single hole in my game and in my technique.

Previously I played Wilson Blade 18x20, Yonex eZone 98, Babolat Pure Drive, Babolat Pure Aero. My very first frame was Babolat Pure Drive.

 

[Anni.Angel]

I just bought a Steam 100 NOS, for comparison. Played first 3 games with the Pro Stock and then 3 games with the Steam 100 NOS.

Then I finished one set with Pro Stock. And played the second set with Steam 100 NOS.

The NOS is a bit stiffer but not much stiffer. Slightly more power, marginal less control. You have to be a tad more careful. But if you started with Pro Stock and make the transition to NOS, you'll get around quite fast.
This racquet is unbelievable. Bought two more. Absolutely amazing racquet. Overall the stock and the pro stock are very similar.

Once you get used to it you can torpedo your opponent like a true battleship.

I don't know why people say Steam 100 is not special. I tried the Blade before but didn't like it. I played Babolat Pure Aero, Pure Drive, Yonex eZone 98. None of these gave what Steam 100 is giving me, pure dopamine.

 

[TennisHound]

I just bought a Steam 100 NOS, for comparison. Played first 3 games with the Pro Stock and then 3 games with the Steam 100 NOS.

Then I finished one set with Pro Stock. And played the second set with Steam 100 NOS.

The NOS is a bit stiffer but not much stiffer. Slightly more power, marginal less control. You have to be a tad more careful. But if you started with Pro Stock and make the transition to NOS, you'll get around quite fast.
This racquet is unbelievable. Bought two more. Absolutely amazing racquet. Overall the stock and the pro stock are very similar.

Once you get used to it you can torpedo your opponent like a true battleship.

I don't know why people say Steam 100 is not special. I tried the Blade before but didn't like it. I played Babolat Pure Aero, Pured Drive, Yonex eZone 98. None of these gave what Steam 100 is giving me, pure dopamine.

Blade Team is a smaller version (same grip, head and beam shape, but 99” and 27”, and .5oz lighter)

 

[magnusforce55]

I just bought a Steam 100 NOS, for comparison. Played first 3 games with the Pro Stock and then 3 games with the Steam 100 NOS.

Then I finished one set with Pro Stock. And played the second set with Steam 100 NOS.

The NOS is a bit stiffer but not much stiffer. Slightly more power, marginal less control. You have to be a tad more careful. But if you started with Pro Stock and make the transition to NOS, you'll get around quite fast.
This racquet is unbelievable. Bought two more. Absolutely amazing racquet. Overall the stock and the pro stock are very similar.

Once you get used to it you can torpedo your opponent like a true battleship.

I don't know why people say Steam 100 is not special. I tried the Blade before but didn't like it. I played Babolat Pure Aero, Pured Drive, Yonex eZone 98. None of these gave what Steam 100 is giving me, pure dopamine.

Interesting review, thanks for sharing!
Current Blades 98 are good racquets in my opinion, but with all these modern slow courts and fluffy balls its better to have something more powerful and versatile like Steams, especially for competitive match play.
Probably current Blade 100 could also be an option, but for me its more roundish headshape is a bit strange

 

[Anni.Angel]

Blade Team is a smaller version (same grip, head and beam shape, but 99” and 27”, and .5oz lighter)

Blade Team comes in 16x18 string pattern just like Steam 99. My first impression is Steam 99 is slightly stiffer but have to play it for a while to know for sure.

I already bought a Blade Team 99, Steam 99 NOS and Steam 99 Pro Stock in Blade 98 glossy paintjob.
I will play them and compare all 3 of them. I don't expect much of a difference between them.
That review will come some time, next year.

 

[TennisHound]

Blade Team comes in 16x18 string pattern just like Steam 99. My first impression is Steam 99 is slightly stiffer but have to play it for a while to know for sure.

I already bought a Blade Team 99, Steam 99 NOS and Steam 99 Pro Stock in Blade 98 glossy paintjob.
I will play them and compare all 3 of them. I don't expect much of a difference between them.
That review will come some time, next year.

There’s a couple of Wilson Steam 100s on the pro stock tennis dot com site

 

[Anni.Angel]

There’s a couple of Wilson Steam 100s on the pro stock tennis dot com site

Seems like their website is down. I'll check later.

Thanks a lot.

 

[Anni.Angel]

Some of these days I took one of my Steam 99 in glossy Blade v7 paintjob and played it against the Steam 100 also Blade 98 glossy paint-job.

The Steam 99 was significantly stiffer. It means I could feel it and the ball was significantly faster without much of an effort.
But the strange thing is I also played a Yonex eZone 98 in the same session strung with the same string, the tension was very little different. The Steam were strung 24-22kg and the Yonex was 24-23kg.

The Yonex was the stiffest of the three. The Steam 100 was the most plushy of the group and Steam 99 was in the middle.
So, if eZone 98 is 64 RA then Steam 99 is probably 60 and Steam 100 would be a 55.

These estimations come from the top of my head as a comparison, I didn't measure them or anything.

Also, despite being the stiffest, the eZone was the least powerful of the three.

The Steam 99 was by far the most powerful, the Steam 100 came second and eZone was the least powerful.
When it comes to control Steam 100 was the best with Steam 99 second and eZone the worst of the pack.

All these are personal impressions and I didn't conduct any scientific measurements. It is what it felt like.
I started thinking why I didn't like the Steam 100 when I played it first time. I guess it was because I never played a racquet this flexible before.
I needed time to adjust to it. Also it was lighter than the racquets I played before.

And one thing I noticed about all the pro stocks I played. They all come with a very flexible hoop. I see that when I string them. I have to be very careful.
Also I think the Steams pro stocks come in a very polarised setup because they feel very solid even before any customisation.

And I know you know this, but I need to say it once again: I love these racquets to death. They are pure joy to hit with, they are my drugs, my favourite food, my favourite time. I just love them.
I'd like to see more pros using the Steam 99 so that I feel safe about finding Steam 99 leftovers for sale in the future.

 

[Anni.Angel]

After playing the Steam 100 NOS and Steam 100 prostock for a few months, the differences surfaced more and more and started to be obivous.
I played them one set each, whenever I played tennis.

At this point I can say they are two totally different racquets. I tried to see if I could use weight to make them feel more similar but nothing helped.
They are definitely not the same thing, so very different. I cannot explain how different they are.

I recently bought a Steam 99 prostock and a Steam 99 NOS and will compare them as well.

 

[lyw1995]

I really like the blx steam 100 the plebeian version lol! The 100 square inch head with the 16x20 string pattern and 8 mains in the throat all make sense to me. Plus I like the extended length; it reminds me of my first racquet, head microgel extreme mp. Tennis warehouse reviewers said the racquet is good at creating spin. It does, but it's controllable and not launchy like a head extreme or APD/pure aero. The spin potential comes the ability to swing fast. On paper, the balance is more head heavy than I prefer, but the racquet swings fast without feeling sluggish! I'm looking forward to using it against hard hitters and see if I need to add lead anywhere. Although I really enjoy this racquet, i prefer the generous sweet spot and the control of my blade teams with 18x19 string pattern.

Hey Anni.Angel, how does steam 100 NOS compare to the pure drive? I have one of each racquet; I'm wondering if I should sell the pure drive for another steam. I like the pure drive because it helps my serve a lot which is the weakest part of my game. But even with syn gut, I don't like the feel. I don't look forward to playing with it. It's effective for sure, but idk :/

 

[slipgrip93]

I had tried a steam 100 blx retail over a year ago. I liked it as a lighter racquet than my usual, and the throat support is fantastic and easy on the wrists, unfortunately, I guess I'm still not used to the extended length and the head size still feels larger than I'm regularly used to. And I had since given it away as a gift.

Recently I couldn't resist a secondhand steam 99 retail offer close to $50, and it was in great condition and just had a little paint chip wear at the top half of the head. It's just amazing, where it reminded me of the lighter yet supportive feel and power of the steam 100, but the steam 99 head somehow feels more like a 95 to me, and the swinging felt fast and "natural flowing" and where I didn't really mind the 24mm beam. Even though the steam 100 and 99 frames' design are over a decade old, I would add my opinion that these must be special racquets.

 

[Anni.Angel]

Hey Anni.Angel, how does steam 100 NOS compare to the pure drive? I have one of each racquet; I'm wondering if I should sell the pure drive for another steam. I like the pure drive because it helps my serve a lot which is the weakest part of my game. But even with syn gut, I don't like the feel. I don't look forward to playing with it. It's effective for sure, but idk :/

I find it difficult to compare Pure Drive with Steam because I played many versions of Pure Drive. At some point I played a version that had so much control that I wanted more power and I strung it 16x17 and dropped the tension.

Most of the time I played the 2015 version which is the most controllable and it was customized for pros or it simply was a prostock. For me Pure Drive was always very controllable. I always feel like living in parallel worlds when I hear people complaining about Pure Drives being too powerful and lacking control.

This is the reason I bought a Steam 100 NOS. I was sure I would be living in a different galaxy compared to people who played the stock version.
At this point to me the Blade 101L feels closer to prostock Steam 100 than NOS Steam 100. But please, just don't trust me it's my impression and what I personally feel.
I don't want people to treat it as truth and then they have a totally different experience. It happened to me before.

 

[lyw1995]

I find it difficult to compare Pure Drive with Steam because I played many versions of Pure Drive. At some point I played a version that had so much control that I wanted more power and I strung it 16x17 and dropped the tension.

Most of the time I played the 2015 version which is the most controllable and it was customized for pros or it simply was a prostock. For me Pure Drive was always very controllable. I always feel like living in parallel worlds when I hear people complaining about Pure Drives being too powerful and lacking control.

This is the reason I bought a Steam 100 NOS. I was sure I would be living in a different galaxy compared to people who played the stock version.
At this point to me the Blade 101L feels closer to prostock Steam 100 than NOS Steam 100. But please, just don't trust me it's my impression and what I personally feel.
I don't want people to treat it as truth and then they have a totally different experience. It happened to me before

I play with the 2015 pure drive too, and I agree it has the most control. I kept that and sold 2006 pure drive cortex. Thanks for your input! I guess you’re right; steam and babolat are not that similar except for static weight. I’m looking forward to taking them out for serves (hopefully the snow has melted).

Hahaha you and your prostocks! Off topic but I’m curious about the pure drive pro stock you have… cause surely it’s not 70 in stiffness. Also, are you sitting on the steam 100 pro stock until ostapenko wins her 25th slam? Jk I love her. I wonder if all the wta players use the same steam pro stock. Or if wilson customizes to the stiffness the players prefer

 

[aarenes]

Seems like their website is down. I'll check later.

Thanks a lot.

 

[Anni.Angel]

I play with the 2015 pure drive too, and I agree it has the most control. I kept that and sold 2006 pure drive cortex. Thanks for your input! I guess you’re right; steam and babolat are not that similar except for static weight. I’m looking forward to taking them out for serves (hopefully the snow has melted).

Hahaha you and your prostocks! Off topic but I’m curious about the pure drive pro stock you have… cause surely it’s not 70 in stiffness. Also, are you sitting on the steam 100 pro stock until ostapenko wins her 25th slam? Jk I love her. I wonder if all the wta players use the same steam pro stock. Or if wilson customizes to the stiffness the players prefer

No it is not the same prostock, For example I have a pair that is matched and the handle had size 3 printed on it and the but cap has a 3 stamped on it but it is thiner than a 3 and thicker than 2.

So not all prostocks are the same. And I sold the Pure Drives prostock. It is my idea that after a while the racquets wear out. I feel them different and not as crisp as they were when I first bought them.
I did an experiment once and compared the same model, one was played for one year and the other one was kept on the shelf and as crazy as it might sound they felt very different.

 

[TennisHound]

I play with the 2015 pure drive too, and I agree it has the most control. I kept that and sold 2006 pure drive cortex. Thanks for your input! I guess you’re right; steam and babolat are not that similar except for static weight. I’m looking forward to taking them out for serves (hopefully the snow has melted).

Hahaha you and your prostocks! Off topic but I’m curious about the pure drive pro stock you have… cause surely it’s not 70 in stiffness. Also, are you sitting on the steam 100 pro stock until ostapenko wins her 25th slam? Jk I love her. I wonder if all the wta players use the same steam pro stock. Or if wilson customizes to the stiffness the players prefer

Lol, he’ll probably be sitting on the 100 pro stock a long time

 

[tophersuwita]

Would you prefer Blade Pro or suggest people to use Blade Pro rather than learning Steam pro stock? Ultra Tour 100 (Japan) would be another good choice for customizing