Hello my good tennis folk! 4.5-5.0 OHB player here.
so I’m an RF97 user at heart. That is my favourite stick—for 30min.
Frustrating because conflating the first half hour of play vs an entire session has been costly for me at tournaments and the lighter PS97 just feels like a different racket all together. So I made the tough decision and maybe the worst decision to go down the rabbit hole of racket switching/testing for a couple of months each time with different strings/tensions/grips/mods.
I tried the Pure Strike 16x19, too much spin and power, launch angle is too pronounced for me, so I landed on the 18x20 which was amazing for everything but for the most important part of my game. Serves. I like this stick so much that is my plan B racket in case I can’t find something “better” for my game.
Switched to the VCORE 95, underpowered but with mods, loved the serves and the feeling behind the baseline, but wasn’t my favourite at net or the slice, yet my tournament results suggest it was a vast improvement than playing with the RF97.
I went on vacation without my tennis gear thinking I needed a break except I was staying at a resort which had beautiful maintained courts in the mountains. So I drove to the local tennis shop and gambled on the 97D.
I’d previously tried the HD, but it felt as sluggish as the RF97 without the legendary feel and precision. I described my ideal racket and the guy said I was describing the 97D that was slightly lighter 320g. they didn’t have a demo in, so ai gambled and he gave me a stick with a swing weight of 322? (292 unstrung) and a static weight of 321g.
I’ve had the racket for a month now, strung it at 55, 50 and 48, I tried Gut/poly, full-bed poly, decided I wanted more spin so ended with RPM blast 18g at 48lbs. Maybe a bit too spin friendly now but I’m still working on finding the best set up at least I have a feel for the racket with different gauges and tensions!
The one handed backhand is where this shined brightest for me. I felt I could confidently swing and generate good depth, spin and pace (regardless my setup). 10/10
Backhand slice was a little less effortless and controlled as I would like, I felt I was creating different launch angles each swing, with the RF I feel each swing is going to produce a beautiful and identical knifing low slice, with this, Ifelt like I really had to time the ball perfectly and hit it below the shoulder level, something I didn’t have to worry about as much with the ProStaff, but the OHB was so good that this was probably better for my game since I was on the offensive more and at the same time, the slice was better than the Vcore 95, but not as good as the strike 18x20.
7/10
Forehand slice, I never really use this shot, but felt the same 7/10
Volleys. Felt great, good pocketing, nice depth, good control 8.5/10
Feel was good, a little dampened but I hit few drop shots without any issues, again, like the slice, cutting the ball after coming from the RF97 is going to make any racket feel slightly duller but it did it’s job each time 8/10
Forehand, maybe it was the swing weight (320-322) I think) but this felt whippy, I generated a ton of spin. Felt like the Vcore 95 with great directional control and more forgiveness, very nice behind the baseline BUT with the same lack of power of its smaller brethren which made it tough to put away winners. Need to add some led. I’m thinking a swing weight of 327ish would be ideal for me. So will try adding 1g at 12 and will report back. No grade for now.
Serves. Perfectly arm friendly and precise with A LOT of pace. My arm always tingles or has a day of tenderness after 2-3 sets with the RF97 or the PureStrike. Loved serve and volleying. I found myself serve and swing volleying winners a lot with this stick too. I had a lot of confidence for my service games. I was able to produce a lot of kick and the slice of my second serve, in fact I won more second serves than with my flat firsts oddly enough 9/10.
In conclusion, I really like this stick. I’ve only played it in stock form for now, but I’m confident with my strokes so I’m ordering a second stick, hopefully matched to these specs. I definitely felt this had more manoeuvrability than the HD or the RF97, obviously, the swing weight being as low as it was helped. Looking forward to playing this in my league. Still not sure if it’s better than the Pure Strike 18x20, but I’m winning more service games, but losing more return rallies! All in all 8/10 or 8.5/10 for me!
best,
Professor Moriarty!