Coda
Semi-Pro
I got my X1's last week and have been hitting with them everyday since them. I thought I would write a review on it to try to help other people if they are considering this racket and since I have nothing better to do at 11 at night.
I'm a solid and quickly rising 4.0 S&Ver and I chip and charge whenever possible on return games. I have a long fast stroke and prefer player’s rackets rather than tweeners like so many people suggest for me. The X1 had Tonic Gut at around 60#.
Groundstrokes
On first impression, the racket felt solid yet very maneuverable. Control and power was all there. This power came from the fact that I could swing fast and generate my own power without it feeling like a brick every time. This was a very controllable kind of power rather than the power you get from a tweener. In fact, this racket had much more power than the recent nPro I demoed just from the fact that I could swing it fast and it had considerable weight behind the ball...maybe a tad too much power. Control was excellent although not as pin point as something like a PS 6.0 85. I was not disappointed by the control and very pleased that I could put the ball where I wanted with as much power as I was getting. I could hit topspin or underspin with a great deal of authority. Again, this spin is due to the head speed I could obtain. This racket really is a spin monster. On returns I could get the racket in place easily and hit an offensive shot rather than a defensive block. Overall, groundstrokes with the X1 were really excellent as I had the power, control and spin I've always looked for. The only problem is that I had a some trouble keeping the ball deep on occasion and some trouble from keeping the ball from flying. 8.5/10
Volleys
This racket is a volleyer's dream. The racket had wonderful pop and I was having little problems putting the racket near the baseline with authority so my opponent couldn't do anything but chip it back to me or miss the ball completely giving me an outright winner in the corners. I also had decent touch as I could angle the ball off the court or drop shot, all with good effectiveness. The solidness I felt at the baseline translated to excellent stability when balls were blasted at me. I could just stick the racket out and take pace off the ball and place it offensively. I could make stabs at far reaching balls and get them back in to play without completely giving my opponent an easy sitter as isn’t usually the case with other rackets. Again, there may have been a little to much power under these situations. Overall, I was extremely pleased with this racket at the net. I felt like I had every situation under control and I felt very confident in dominating when at the net. There were a few times when the ball sailed long on me or I couldn’t get it in the lines when angling it off. 9.5/10
Feel
The one thing that surprised me however was the dampening system in the X1. Usually I hate dampening systems as they take away too much feel, but for some reason this dampening system took away any harsh vibrations but let me still feel the ball well. It was muted, but not excessive at all, it really felt like the racket was pocketing the ball more so than other rackets. It didn’t feel like a PS 6.0 85 but it does feel similar to the HPS 6.1 without the harshness or the high stiffness. It really felt sweet, smooth and comfortable on nearly every hit. 9/10
Serves
This racket is extremely capable of huge serves. This racket is reminiscent of the HPS 6.1 I used to use in terms of the results I got. I could serve wonderful flat serves, high kicking kickers all with great accuracy. I became pretty confident of my serving ability and I was able to hold service games well. I was able to produce weak returns for put away volleys and sometimes outright aces. I felt that my best serve of hitting a fast kicker to the backhand was especially effective with this racket. I could pick and choose where I wanted the ball to go, with what spin and with what speed with effectiveness. The only drawback I saw was that it was perhaps a bit too powerful at times and at first I had difficulty with my timing. The dampening system perhaps took away the most from the serve as it was sometimes a bit difficult to feel the ball on the strings during the serve. The low swing weight allowed me enormous topspin and power on my groundstroke and allowed me to stab at previously un reachable balls on volleys but on serves it made me early quite a few times on my serve (this problem is easily fixable with some more practice with the racket). Overall, the X1 is a serving master. It serves with precision, speed, and spin all with great success. I had no trouble holding serve if I got my timing down well. 9.5/10
Overall, this racket is truly something special. I will have to wait to compare it to the PS 6.0 95 before I make a final decision, but I really couldn’t go wrong choosing this stick. The only glaring problem I had throughout was that it was a tad to powerful. This is probably due to the gut and I will probably string the gut at 62# next time to cool the string bed down a bit. This racket did all that I asked. It excelled in nearly every area with excellent performance. This is truly a wonderful racket for S&Ving or attacking the net. 9.5/10
Coda
I'm a solid and quickly rising 4.0 S&Ver and I chip and charge whenever possible on return games. I have a long fast stroke and prefer player’s rackets rather than tweeners like so many people suggest for me. The X1 had Tonic Gut at around 60#.
Groundstrokes
On first impression, the racket felt solid yet very maneuverable. Control and power was all there. This power came from the fact that I could swing fast and generate my own power without it feeling like a brick every time. This was a very controllable kind of power rather than the power you get from a tweener. In fact, this racket had much more power than the recent nPro I demoed just from the fact that I could swing it fast and it had considerable weight behind the ball...maybe a tad too much power. Control was excellent although not as pin point as something like a PS 6.0 85. I was not disappointed by the control and very pleased that I could put the ball where I wanted with as much power as I was getting. I could hit topspin or underspin with a great deal of authority. Again, this spin is due to the head speed I could obtain. This racket really is a spin monster. On returns I could get the racket in place easily and hit an offensive shot rather than a defensive block. Overall, groundstrokes with the X1 were really excellent as I had the power, control and spin I've always looked for. The only problem is that I had a some trouble keeping the ball deep on occasion and some trouble from keeping the ball from flying. 8.5/10
Volleys
This racket is a volleyer's dream. The racket had wonderful pop and I was having little problems putting the racket near the baseline with authority so my opponent couldn't do anything but chip it back to me or miss the ball completely giving me an outright winner in the corners. I also had decent touch as I could angle the ball off the court or drop shot, all with good effectiveness. The solidness I felt at the baseline translated to excellent stability when balls were blasted at me. I could just stick the racket out and take pace off the ball and place it offensively. I could make stabs at far reaching balls and get them back in to play without completely giving my opponent an easy sitter as isn’t usually the case with other rackets. Again, there may have been a little to much power under these situations. Overall, I was extremely pleased with this racket at the net. I felt like I had every situation under control and I felt very confident in dominating when at the net. There were a few times when the ball sailed long on me or I couldn’t get it in the lines when angling it off. 9.5/10
Feel
The one thing that surprised me however was the dampening system in the X1. Usually I hate dampening systems as they take away too much feel, but for some reason this dampening system took away any harsh vibrations but let me still feel the ball well. It was muted, but not excessive at all, it really felt like the racket was pocketing the ball more so than other rackets. It didn’t feel like a PS 6.0 85 but it does feel similar to the HPS 6.1 without the harshness or the high stiffness. It really felt sweet, smooth and comfortable on nearly every hit. 9/10
Serves
This racket is extremely capable of huge serves. This racket is reminiscent of the HPS 6.1 I used to use in terms of the results I got. I could serve wonderful flat serves, high kicking kickers all with great accuracy. I became pretty confident of my serving ability and I was able to hold service games well. I was able to produce weak returns for put away volleys and sometimes outright aces. I felt that my best serve of hitting a fast kicker to the backhand was especially effective with this racket. I could pick and choose where I wanted the ball to go, with what spin and with what speed with effectiveness. The only drawback I saw was that it was perhaps a bit too powerful at times and at first I had difficulty with my timing. The dampening system perhaps took away the most from the serve as it was sometimes a bit difficult to feel the ball on the strings during the serve. The low swing weight allowed me enormous topspin and power on my groundstroke and allowed me to stab at previously un reachable balls on volleys but on serves it made me early quite a few times on my serve (this problem is easily fixable with some more practice with the racket). Overall, the X1 is a serving master. It serves with precision, speed, and spin all with great success. I had no trouble holding serve if I got my timing down well. 9.5/10
Overall, this racket is truly something special. I will have to wait to compare it to the PS 6.0 95 before I make a final decision, but I really couldn’t go wrong choosing this stick. The only glaring problem I had throughout was that it was a tad to powerful. This is probably due to the gut and I will probably string the gut at 62# next time to cool the string bed down a bit. This racket did all that I asked. It excelled in nearly every area with excellent performance. This is truly a wonderful racket for S&Ving or attacking the net. 9.5/10
Coda
