I think Prince has to be involved in this conversation. They took huge risks with O3 ports and arguably paid a dire price for it. Even today, they produce some really unique racquets. Ripstick has so much personality and doesn't feel like any other spin frame. Phantoms bridging classic and modern. Weird innovations like Vortex and Twistpower. And of course their Tours are still tour-level frames. I know you've said it's hard to get Prince in Canada but I think you'd have fun at least trying them out if you ever get the chance.

I always discuss with my friend that Prince was / is the most innovative company , they have to take a bow😊

I can’t agree with you more. I had written a response to this video and it ended up being two pages along, so I deleted it and started over. You’ve touched on a major issue here with not just consumer products or tennis rackets but with our culture right now on the whole. To condense the two pages I wrote previously into the shortest amount of space. The bottom line is this: There are too few people with passion, willing to take risks in their far too many large corporations that are trying to copy each other and reproduce whatever the average consumer will buy the most of. This is a sad reality of a culture that’s driven by crowd source information, and trying to create products that are fit for the amalgam of those in our society or sport. This is not only true of tennis rackets, but it’s true these days of art, music, fashion, and just about any other aspect of our lives and culture IMO. I also agree with you about your observations on the string companies. Maybe these upstart companies like Toroline and Grapplesnake and Restring or where all the Mavericks and free thinkers have gone right now or maybe it’s just because that niche of the market has less pressure on it to produce massive profits for big companies. It seems like these Mavericks, who are willing to take chances in the string industry. The only ones really doing anything interesting. Kudos to them. In the end, maybe that will be the most interesting and exciting part of our sport over the next 5 to 10 years to see who can innovate and produce strings to put in basically the same racket to give those rackets the personality that you desire. It’s good there are people like you that even think about such things and speak truth to power to the Tennis industry. Keep up the good work.

My biggest gripe is the need to constantly “update “ a good racquet and then take the current version out of the market. I loved the Pure Aero VS and the Blade V7 18*20 but I haven’t found a connection with the newer models. Granted, it is a lot of personal taste, but I do think there should be a way to buy previous models for the average consumer.

It should be noted that a lot of the companies tried something funky in the last 10-15 years and it always seemed to fail on the market so you can't blame them too much. Dunlop tried an iDapt series or something in which you could bolt and unbolt the handle and it was good that Srixon saved them after that. Head had a Magnesium something racquet, Head had a line of Speeds and Radicals with changable string patterns, etc. Angell has a very unique Asi racquet which I haven't tried. There is also a top comment regarding Prince. New stuff is tried it just doesn't "stick".

Thanos made an appearance

I love this video, Beckett. I feel what you’re saying. I think it’s why it’s taken me so long to replace my RF97 for years now, as no mainstream frame widely available has grabbed me and kept me loving it. They’re all starting to run together with frames feeling of anywhere between fairly to super muted 98s and 100s, while they also don’t differentiate much in their playability. They’re not ALL like this, before anyone jumps down my throat in the replies lol, but a large portion of the market feels like it’s overlapping a ton. What frames have grabbed my attention though in that time span? RF97. Ezone DR98. Volkl C10 Pro. Furi Arma Pro 98. Solinco Whiteout 18m XTD. Pro Kennex 7G. I’ll even throw the Vcore SV95 in there because it was good in the limited time I got to use it. Super interesting frames, most but not all being classics, all with very unique identities, imo. I’d say your issue you’ve pointed out is even leaking in to tennis footwear. Nike and Adidas offerings are just… bad. The Vapor line doesn’t even know what it is anymore. Barricades are different than what they used to be. The two giants in footwear don’t even have an exciting option on market. Not to say others like ASICS, New Balance, Lotto haven’t stepped up and made great stuff, but the when the supposed two giants are just offering products that are so…. uninspiring, it sucks!Ironically, when Nike released the Agassi heritage line for the US Open in 2020, everyone I know loved it. It’s just sad that a giant like Nike has to rely on a re-release to get any excitement in their tennis line. Even the recent re-release of the Vapor 9.5 Tour garnered buzz, but that’s kind of my point. Idk, these are just some of my thoughts. I could be wrong, I’m sure many will disagree. All that to say, I feel where you’re coming from. …. Although I do like the current Vcore 98 though, as you know since you’ve helped me out with that, haha. Great video man. This is the S tier stuff from your channel that I really love. -Curtis

I feel like the big brands have kinda lost their identities with their rackets. Im surprised that the rackets i play the most fun tennis with are the smaller brands like the Solinco Whiteout and now surprisingly the racket im having the absolute most fun with and considering a switch, the Prince Textreme Tour 100P. Hope you can try its really good with a slightly more spin friendly 18x20, super maneuverable and a pretty decent feel.

Prince has always been s risk taker. Since the 1980 s they always took a chance and were doing well. They started the cts (constant taper beam)head heavy , then Wilson followed with hammer ,(head light). Then they tried the (vortex) string pattern. But once babolat came out, the pure drive. Because that frame seemed to cater to everyone's style. It just to took the tennis world by storm. That frame was designed to fit everybody's game and level.. I wish they still produced the Yonex rd-ti70. One of my favorite rackets of all time it had such a unique feel to it. No other racket could compare. Not even it's taller brother rd+ti70 long. Felt completely different. Another racket is the Wilson rok. Oh that racket was a tank. But also a unique feel. What as out the Yamaha secret. That racket was a a bad ass racket was like the first tablet to be made of carbon fiber. That racket was lighter than a feather but stiff adas steel. . Strings at the end of the day is sun the synthetic gut, nylon, kevlar , which I loved. Or polys. Polys have a such broad appreciation

Hey Beckett I hear you. Lost the fun in rackettesting to be honest in the last couple of months. The amount of 98 with 305g and 16/19 is amazing or the 100s with 300g 16/19, and 23mm beam is overwhelming. So many play very similar. I really like the stuff Diadem is doing with their two lines (nova and elevate). They make it a little different than anyone else. I also think HEAD does kind of a good job with the vision of their rackets but also there are way to much lines But other than that I find it to be very easy to separate the lines of Head and they are all playing pretty good. Radical (versatile, spin and control) - Speed (power and control) - Prestige (classic control) - Gravity (Spin, Control and Forgiveness) - Extreme (Spin and Power) - Boom (Power ). And at least in Europe they are selling rackets like crazy.

I am just glad there is a Wilson Clash 98. that racket saved my fun, playing tennis without wrist pain. It has unique feel, decent control, enough power. I string 18/17 KG. Just love that racket. Went from luxilon to tourna big hitter blue rough lately. That string is such a bang for the buck.

@tenncom the background music is a bit distracting I think... but great informative video. and love the new aspect ratio :)

I'd really like for you to review the Prince Twistpower; that's one interesting racquet - just looking at it almost dares you to take the risk of taking it on court. Nice to see love for Prince here; took my Prince x Hydrogen Chrome Beast 100 out to play this week - forgot how nicely it plays.

I bought a pro staff X after watching your amazing video and demoing it. It has been a blast for the past year. I appreciate the forgiveness, but man does it crush the ball from the baseline, and really stable at the net. I still have never seen anyone else playing it, so I totally understand where you're coming from! But I think it's a great stick, and I've come to enjoy its personality.

This is a really great video, excellent content, detailed, nuanced and informative. I totally agree with your sentiments actually here, racquets feel like they’re becoming more vanilla. Strings are getting creative and spicy.

I'd also say Pirnce is definitely the most innovative but would like to break a lance for wilson as I think both the shift and the clash are very interesting and original offerings (although I haven't tried any). And it's in fact awesome that they managed to sell so many clashes being a racket actually marketed towards amateur players. Sure, maybe the PS and the Blades overlap a little, but they are both great frames and I feel with enough personality to differentiate from each other. Head actually overlaps a lot between all lines, (which is difficult not to do when you have that many), specially now that the prestiges have not ony run away from the 90 sq inchers but also from the 95s. Particularly the radical overlaps with all the others, but it's nice to have that kind of jack-of-all-trades frame out there. And it's difficult to call HEAD not innovative or experimental, too. If I had to go with the brand that seems the less innovative in the last decade, it surely has to be Babolat. It's painful because they're actually making great frames and their little changes over the years have worked great. And maybe it's ok they are doing so. They took the gamble initially with a diferentiative concept with the pure drives (and XL), and made a great audacious innovation with the aero, and then they slowly settled into these concepts with minor tweaks. But the fact is the most exciting release from them in the last years has been a 98 version of the aero 😅. Yonex is another company that I love, but other than the Vcore 95 which is an amazing frame that feels like no other, the ezone feels like just imitates the pure drive models (although to be fair maybe it's the other way around, not sure who got to the 110 ultra light extended length frame first?), and the new percept 100s are fresh and interesting but at the end of the day, the control oriented 100er 18x20 superthin beam feels like a trend more than a surprise now. But although I don't like much their strings, I do appreciate they are actually innovating a little there too. Poly tour rev is a direction I'd like more widespread brands would take, and not only little companies like ReString, Toroline or Grapplesnake. It has got pretty bad reviews (PT rev) although, I was not amazed by it myself, so not sure that will encourage many.

Really interesting points! I have been hitting with the ezone 98 for 3 months because I wanted to know what a more forgiving stick was like. I got used to it and my game improved. But, my game got a little more boring as well. Shot speed went down and I had to swing insanely fast to get a big serve. This is because of the super low swing weight... anyway. A few days ago I was like 'man I'm bored of this stick!" haha and I got my hands on the pure strike 98 16X19 and fell hard for it. 305 with a 330 swingweight is a beautiful thing. My ball speeds are way up, and serves are ticking up 5-10 mph faster. Spin is a great option, and it also loves to hit through the court. 1 hand backhands are marvelous. I think Pure Strike has a very strong personality. I would buy it a 7up and bitters anytime. - I also love Toroline strings. By far the most exciting and interesting string company. 2nd is Restring. 3rd is VS Touch LOL. Great stuff man.

There are arguments for and against racquets losing their "personality". The more frames start to play the same, the easier it is for players to move on to something else when what they're currently using is inevitably discontinued. Most players aren't professionals, and aren't provided an unlimited supply of PT57As to hit with. At 28, I feel like I'm part of the last generation - maybe second to last - that lived through manufacturers having truly unique frames across the board in our youth. I have a really hard time playing with racquets other than my original YouTek Speed Pro, or my heavily modified Aero Storms/Pure Aero VS. I think the next generation of players will have a much more seamless transition between frames/companies. Maybe pro stocks will lose a lot of their value outside of being a collector's item. Maybe the choice in a new racquet can boil down to what paintjob players like best. My biggest fear with racquets losing their personality is that the players wielding them would lose their personality as well. If all rackets for a given category start playing the same, then it shouldn't come as a surprise that everyone also starts playing the same. We're already seeing glimpses of that, such as a lack of emphasis of net play at the professional level, and the one-handed backhand going the way of the Dodo bird. So sorry for the Solinco XTD+ length post here, but this is an interesting conversation for a lot of players the current market no longer seems to be marketing to. I'm interested on what any possible solutions would be for rackets to have more personality. Historically, these gambles are not well-received. Like you said, The Wilson Clash isn't doing so well these days. The Prince O3 frames are now treated like a horse with three broken legs by consumers. I'm also not sure how many people remember Dunlop's attempt at selling DIY racquet kits to customize dampening, length, etc., but that put them in a position Srixon needed to save them from. HEAD - If you're reading this, I think a racquet with some real personality would be a 95-inch, 305 gram stick with an 18x19 string pattern. There's a gap in one of your lines; call it the "Speed Tour" or something (winks VERY obnoxiously).

Can you review some racquets specializing in comfort, such as ProKennex?

Great commentary thanks Beckett, and I agree. Current state: homogeneity. Specs have been figured out, optimised and now mass marketed to death by all major brands. There is almost no risk taken or creativity displayed because gosh that sounds expensive... "risk? Hmm no thanks. No, we'll stick with what sells, and only what sells." I see this with most things these days, not just tennis racquets. Music, movies, products of all types. It's logical but logical often isn't desirable. I'm not feeling tempted to switch racquets at the moment because most of them have the air of being a Toyota Camry. A fine bestseller with almost no logical flaws. But as a buyer, not something to covet. Middling by design. I use a racquet that probably doesn't complement my swing style if we follow conventional racquet marketing tropes. But I enjoy using it. I play tennis primarily for enjoyment as I presume most racquet buyers do. I like that my older racquets have high swingweights that can be a pain the ass, or are bordering on too stiff or soft, or have an ego-crushingly small sweet spot. I like that they have diverse looks that aren't part of some standardised, templated, boring campaign. Because that is their character. And character has a powerful appeal.

Really interesting!!

I recently tried the Dunlop cx lines and I am in love with the cx 400 tour, my slice was never that great but with this racquet it have become one of my weapons, as well as my serve I feel like I can just hit my spots and not even worry about missing. 10/10

does the nova v3 have similar playing ability with spin and control to the pure drive vs? i would buy the vs but i’m worried about arm comfort.

I completely agree with this. I took 20 years away from tennis having played a lot as a junior and came back when my son started playing. I still use my Ti Radical MP 18x20. Ive demoed a few modern rackets and I can't find anything as fun. I expected a 20 year old racket to be just completely outshone my modern offerings but it doesn't seem to be. I keep thinking I must be missing something

love the video

Love the freewheeling "rant" style. I'm another upvote for Prince. I have the Ripstick, Synergy, Twistpower 105, Tour 100P, Phantom 100P. Almost picked up a Vortex, but managed to control my acquisition disorder in the nick of time....My current favorite is the Ripstick with some edgy poly (Ultra Cable currently), the O ports take the edge off of a normally stiff feeling string like that, and the UC matched with the Ripstick's propensity for spin in the first place make a nice combo, the racquet doesn't need any power boost from the stringbed. All of the different Princes have had unique playing characteristics, but all had a similar sort of smooth feel.

Great video. Thanks for sharing. I also think Yonex is doing better. When we look at the percept line, we have plenty of options . Unfortunately Yonex do not ship the "D" nor "H" models to Brazil (march 2024). We also do not have PS 100 x here, so I ended up trying gravity pro 360+ , and immediately fell in love with it. I was thinking of updating it to an auxetic model , but changed my mind after seeing some comments that its not worth making the switch for now

Too many racquet families and too many models (within each family) from all the manufacturers-each could kill 50% of their offerings without hurting market coverage.

Hello Beckett, great video. I wanted to know at what level you play. Thank you and keep going !

I tested the CX400 Tour and it just played too close to my Head Speed MP 2022. I've used the gut/alu combo for a long time and like it but you are correct and since you said it the ALU doesn't have very good tension maintenance. Am going to try to get those Restring Syncs and see how that is. Thanks

Do you think one reason might be the ~2-year refresh cycle? It takes a lot to develop a product, let alone the distribution and the logistics behind it. Racket companies are setup to optimize the current process down to a razor's edge. To me it's almost like the car industry, where you see a new Corolla/etc. every year. Yes, there are small improvements that add up over time, but a 2010 model gets me from point A to B just as comfortably as the 2020 model, which is the whole point of that car. Cars that have personality and evoke emotion (generally) aren't produced like that. If racket companies were to focus on "personality" it would require a departure from how they currently operate. I'd love to see it too and I agree with your thoughts, but it would take a bold executive to put something like that in motion. As someone pointed out below, Prince is an example of this with original O3 ports. It was huge in squash too, with Nicol David (a squash GOAT) playing with some version of a Rebel O3 for most of her career. Prince's decline coincided with Babolat coming on the scene (in tennis), and Tecnifibre (in squash). They're both the #1 brand in both of those sports, and it happened at the expense of Prince and the risks they took. P.S. I think the person that talked about Prince is right about the Ripstick. If you value spin and fun then it's worth a look. Super unique frame 👍🏽

That's why I believe that tennis nerds have received a great gift from manufactures - which is opportunity to add some personality onto each frame, by making some customization. I personally play with Yonex Vcore 95 2023 (switched from previous generation - 2021), and maybe I am weird, but without a leather grip, and adding some weight onto 12', 3'&9' it would not be that great at all! Stock frames are... average. So maybe we just think about them as only a pretty good foundation for further adjustments? So ppl, do not be afraid of getting some advice from more experienced staff, and work around specification of own racquet because once you find your best specs then frame can give you much more fun - in compare to basic setup.

What’s your aero 98 or 100 string setup

For me if it works (like my Ezone 98 2020) it works. Don't need anything else, or the "newest toy". Besides stocking up on grommets and bumpers. That a racket can last you a lifetime if you take care of it is actually a major plus for me in this world of overconsumption. I think Yonex's lineup on the whole is fairly solid and well thought out. One gripe I have in general is the neverending tinkering that may lead to losing a design that was on point. Sth that already was 'the perfect racket'. Kinda feels like the need to regularly bring out new "updated" models is sort of artificial to drive sales. If you've discovered a model/design that is well liked and sells well, don't change it. The old "don't fix what is not broken".

As someone else mentioned, it’s perhaps a convergence on the style of play people are adopting. Federer was recently interviewed and asked about how there are no top 10 one handed backhand players. Here’s an excerpt of his response: “What we get more and more nowadays is that I wish that sometimes we had a little bit more variety, and also back and forth coming to the net a little bit more, not just side to side. We’ll see where the game will go. But obviously the problem is when you have a lot of similar players playing against each other, a lot of the points end up being played in a similar fashion. … So for me, seeing two guys play against each other and have 20 same points back to back to back, come on. “

Furi Arma Pro 98 is a new experience. It's unlike anything else out there. A bit steep in price for the level of QC, but totally worth a try if you can find a used one.

Thank you for this video, I have been following your channel for a while now and I have my personal experience on this subject, and I would like to make two small remarks concerning tennis equipment, in 1 it is the technique and the way of playing which defines the specifications of the rackets and strings which are produced and not the opposite for several years now pro players play almost all the same as a result the equipment does the same too so if you are looking for rackets with character you ll have to find them with players who have character!!! for the moment and in my humble opinion the best racket would be the most neutral without any character which does according to your desire and produces the tennis which is yours.

Interesting words, Beckett, but I actually have two more: lead tape. It's a crass comment I know, but I just couldn't help myself. Keep up the good work.

Have you done any collabs with Angell? Seems like his approach is right up your alley of offering custom setups and targeting fairly particular experiences.

the percept 100D is soooooo good (for me at least!). Seeing a lot of percepts around my area, but that's in Australia

As a fan of unique modern rackets, Prince is making the most interesting frames these days and it's not even close. I also have to give a shout out to Donnay circa 2010-11. The old school and modern frames they released that year were fantastic and innovative. It's a shame they couldnt bring on any big named sponsored players to get their name and brand out there a bit more.

I overall agree with your observation. The perfume industry was in a similar state just 20 years ago, with mass-market designer frags losing concpets and identity in endless focus groups and mindless EFRA-induced reformulations (that you can compare to vibration-dumpening tech). Fortunately, a burgeoning niche category brought back creativity and excitement. I have recently been thinking about this homogenization trend in our tennis racquet industy: I think overall it's good for the market and the players. With each new generation, the industry is zeroing in on specs that optimize for the modern strings and stroke production. The optimal headsize has been found in 98 and 100 formats, the use of weight is more efficient, and the feel of the racquets is improving, reducing some excessive vibration dumpening tech. Racquets are overall more stable and efficient - and, just like you said, there are few real duds. I work in branding and I see how few companies and designers are capable of producing concepts. Take the Percept line - its color scheme was not folloing the concept, but was chosen because mint was a trendy color. It's all about pushing units.

I'm like you, I think there is way too many models, HEAD per example could easily eliminates three classes, and, why so many sku per model, as a consumer we get nuts, maybe Dunlop, Yonex or Babolat have resumed in the more concentrated product today, three classes!

I noticed that i don't like twist weight above 13,0 next to my swing weight of 330. It takes away from manoeuvrability. I prefer i little bit less twist stability for a higher manoeuvrability.

I am looking for a racket that allows me to send the ball exactly where I want it. Since I have strong power, I am focusing solely on control. I aim to hit the ball hard and accurately, like Marat Safin or Sinner. Is the Prestige Pro the most suitable racket for me among the models currently on the market?

Do you have a recommendation for an all around racket for an advanced college player?

- My hypothesis on the racquet market is that manufacturers are now prioritizing comfort and stability when constructing frames. This is likely effecting other characteristics in a dynamic way which tames a lot of their wilder tendencies. - The DUNLOP clarification is more a Japanese marketing thing because even in industries outside of tennis it can be tricky to navigate their product lines - just look at how long it took for YONEX to realise having a VCORE and VCORE PRO line would be slightly confusing. - Currently starting the TOROLINE journey with my club here in Australia. The owners train a lot of Juniors so the wild colours appeal to them - and personally I do prefer softer setups unless I'm playing with a low 60's RA frame.

Exellent video. Great rant. Thank you to publish, for me it's a mess and the distribution weak. I started tennis again since childhood in : 2018 : ezone 100 (the green one 300g) 2021 : head extreme 360+ (300g) 2022 : head speed mp auxetic (300g) what i've understood by watching a lot of content is that there's a trap in searching raquets and strings. I've watched the US open quarter final, 7 september 2022 between carlos and jannick and the level was soo high, I was shocked. I was also shoked by novak being ... novak. Some weeks later I buy two speed mp with the same paint job. The idea was : I'm going to see this freaking paintjob on every strokes, it must remind me my two favorite player. (nick from intuitive tennis is right : I want pro players raquets, or at least paintjob) Aside, I worked my serve and footwork religiously. I won a tournament and I improved with the speed, a lauchy, sluggy raquet. You cannot strike full-on, it's umpredictable. But it's my raquet and It serve my gameplay. I believe doing interval training twice a week cannot be bought. I belive doing 300 serves per week cannot be bought. I believe stretching, mobility and workout cannot be bought. What I was searching in this raquet was a problem solver and mine allow me to change gamestyle, and found solutions. but it's pretty laonchy. Since the yonex percept is out, I want one. But each time I go to the shop... I really don't know how it's going to improve my game for 500$ (I buy 2). I don't know what to do : my speed are pretty beaten up i want to try 18-19 string pattern i don't know if i wanna buy speed mp 2024... doesnt look exiting at all, waiting until 2026 ?! I know I've settled on head hawk and head hawk touch. The big problem : I'll want to change next year, HELP !

All of my club hits with a Blade, but I'm too much of hipster for that lol, so I need something else

Yonex is the best for me, and I used to be a devoted Head user, Prestige for over a decade, then the Speed Pro, but quality just stung me too many times. The lighter yonex Ezone and Vcore are fantastically balanced to provide actual useable characteristics and although they are "average" or are similar, they have some differences. I think this "average" is good for rec players, there isn't too much missing on the shelves of a tennis sop that can make a rec player win more matches .

Recently got the rf97 v11 (used new to me) and love the weight. Most Racquets are too light for me.

I have a problem (had the same problem with soccer cleats), when you like a gear..it s really disappointing that you can t rebuy it 2 or 3 years after...only the pro have the luxury to stay with their favorite gear in new conditions.

salut j'avais une question je joue avec la blade v8 16/19 avec le solinco confidetial.que penses tu du tour bite ?

All I am going to say is that I wish that HEAD would offer the PT57A to us amateurs. We all want it, and I don't ask for much.

How does the new PA 98 fit into the “going for a beer” conversation? Does it have the same issue with twist weight as the base 100?

You want personality? Try prince racquets , they try different things all the time. I love my phantom pro 100. That racquet is just spin for free, zero slice, unstable, but very fun to play with

Wilson is not doing as bad as you say. New Wilson racquets are soooo beautiful. They are definitely the winners in the design category. You still see some Ultras in WTA. They are good for teenage girls. Middle age+ players at my club have Clash V2. That red is so beautiful. WTA's most popular racquets are Blade. It is very popular among competitive high schoolers up to ladies club players in their 30s. I even saw someone with the new emerald green one the other day. Most common racquets among university student level are Blade along with Strike, Radical, and V-Core, I think. Too bad they lost Rublev now that Roger is gone. They always had a big star playing ProStaff.

Midway in the video, talking about exciting rackets, the answer is Prince with several waaaay more different molds than anyone else. Also, Volkl and Pro Kennex are just different.

I feel the racquet manufacturers in the 80s and 90s to more risks in terms of innovation and design. They had more personality. Still prefer the vintage racquets

Sadly the same thing is happening with cars. Companies used to have different philosophies I.e. bmw was high revving small displacement NA and RWD and Mercedes was large displacement, big V8 and RWD and Audi was turbo and AWD and now all cars have converged to smaller engines with turbos and AWD. Racket companies are doing the same. It’s a bummer and probably why the old Austrian Fischers are my favorite rackets ever. The mold. The vacuum process. The feel it gave. The layup made it stand out and you either liked it or didn’t. Now rackets are all similar

The implementation of this so-called "success formula" is seen in just about any other industries. Reasons being that the potential benefit of a successful innovation (which costs more in R&D and user education) far underweighs the benefit of selling a market-proven product. As a result, companies will only introduce new products within a thin margin of error, resulting in product homogenization. Honestly I think the best selling rackets are those that are heavily endorsed with annual paintjob updates. Kudos to Prince for bringing out new stuffs to the market once in a while, but they do pay a heavy costs as their rackets are some of the most discounted ones on TW.

Yonex does have 330 sw 98s though…The Ezone Tour and VCore Tour are both around 330

This is what happens when decisions are based on the marketing department's recommendations instead of the engineering department, and unfortunately it is happening in increasingly more industries.

sometimes racquet without personality is a "better listener" than a racquet that tries to overproduce something when it's not needed. Blades and Radicals are kinda there - perfectly positioned in the middle. You can then push them slightly towards different directions with a string selection. Unlock the personality ;p

Weight can be easily increased on a racquet, so the trend towards lighter racquets doesn't bother me. I just wish we had more options with size. Seems like every racquet is 98-100 sqi these days Some genuine mid sized options would be great.

There's a lot of truth in this video. The reason why everyone seems to be making racquets a certain way is because they are trying to be good at everything because it's statistically going to be the most playable to the most people and the companies are all trying to sell the most racquets. That creates jack of all trades and master of none sticks. Ive noticed that these are all becoming very clone like. I feel like I can get a brand new pure drive and a brand new radical and they pretty much be the same. Head used to have its own feel just like babolat but the lines are very blurry now. Id like to see a return to the old signature head grip profile and all the little things that made these brands stand out. Yonex still has such a unique head shape and I really like that. It would be my ideal situation to have everyone's unique traits back in the racquets. We have enough brands that I feel everyone can find thier feel but basically its like everyone has just turned into Wilson but with better paint jobs.

Excellent video. I'm a HEAD guy and believe they've lost their way. Too many silos. Time to dump Boom and Instinct or offer them with 18 mains. Face it, most tennis players I know have no idea what their racquets RA is. Many don't know the weight. Most have never heard of twistweight. I play lots of USTA League play. You'd think this would be the group using Dunlops, Solinco's and Technifibre's. Nope. All I see are Wilson's, HEAD'S and Babolats. Occasionally I see a Yonex but it's an older version. Percepts? Never seen one on court. I agree that Prince pushes the envelope the most and their Tour series is very good. My preferred string setup in my Prestige is Caviar with Ghostwire crosses. Confidential good too.

dropped 1 minute ago, let’s see my man cooking up. Also, fresh strings today can’t wait to hit the courts with them

All these new rackets are kind of same - more muted, lighter with bigger heads and agreed on no personality. No matter which one of these modern sticks I try, always return to the goat of tennis rackets, Pro Staff 6.1 - 95 (18x20). Obviously not the easiest one to swing with, SW can go up to 350+ stock but it’s as solid and as controlled as it gets. Besides, at least my BLX and BLX2 frames aren’t string sensitive as all. 6.1s couple real nice with spiny, snappy, softer polys like Torolines you mentioned. BTW, Restring Zero in mains with Wasabi X in crosses is a killer hybrid. String WasX 2-3lbs tighter though!

I like the way of the racquet industry. I have to like it, because I have a flat backhand (one handed) and a spinny forehand. So I cannot stay with a Pure Aero (or similar racquets like Head Extreme) without butchering my backhand, and neither can I use a classic players' frame such as Prestige Classic and still expect my forehand to work the way it used to. There is destinction, but not up to the point that all shots just suck except the one feature. And one thing about "following the pros": that was never a good idea. I cannot use strings that are dead after 9 games (Alu Power desease), because I don't change them that often. My strings have to last a couple of weeks up to half a year in winter season (I don't play that often in winter, way too expensive). Same goes for balls, clothing, shoes and all the stuff I use. Heck, I don't even use a professional coffee grinder.

Yes, companies want to sell as many racquets as possible. But WHY then don´t they sell ALL of their racquets in ALL countries??? 🤔

Head was always a"head" of times (sorry for the joke). Gravity line is the most innovative line on the market, everyone is copying that. 100 Sq 18x20 amazing power spin and control...hands down best racquet on the market

Maybe racquets are hitting a similar innovation-plateau as smartphones all being brick style.

Your are sleeping on Prince. I play the Phantom 100x 305. Its amazing you can customise also

You are completely right. I'm gonna vomit if I see one more 22-23 mm, 65 RA, 98 inch spin oriented racket.

❤❤❤

Hmmm, what about the Prestige? Still love my old original model, which is available again as Prestige classic . The actual MP is easily useable and has some of the DNA: The joy of hitting a perfect ball. In this Zen like moment I do not care whether racket XYZ might have produced 1.2% more power. We are hitting the ball not because it is easy, but because we want to improve 😊

2019 prince 100p 18x20 is better then your whiteout 18x20...see if you can get one to compare...it has most spin of any 18x20...it has more spin then my ezone n vcore 98 but still stable and can rip my flat backhands. Also best serve racket

Hmmm... To watch FAA get beaten in straights yet again OR Watch another epic TennCom video 🤔 Rhetorical at its finest 👊

You’re asking manufacturers to make niche raquets which will be purchased by select few? That doesn’t make commercial sense. And adding more models to a line only confuses the masses. I think tennis nerds tend to find these type of raquets in a specific point in their tennis journeys. But we always will demo everything in search of that “special” one. Keep on keeping on.

All racquets niw have a high twist. Who has a low twist weight??

Also we should give some credits to Wilson. Both Clash and Shift were innovative although I didn't like both. They deserve praise, but they gotta stop "braid 45" type of bullshit in Blade and Pro Staff line. You can't sell me 45 degree bended graphite as a mind blowing technology Wilson, don't you dare that again

This video was cut off as you were naming your top eight MAIN STRINGS! What up?!

Strings are cheaper to bring to market than frames. Ramping up the twistweight & or swingweight allows players to tinker, as removing weigh is at best difficult. Of course this comment comes from a Prince _Ported frame player since 2006

Alex de minaur! Shots fired! 😂

The sad truth is that vast majority of players don’t give a shit about the racket or why it is the way it is

>>>>Volkl

STRINGS,,, msv hex soft yellow 1.20mm is the Original hex string that all these other companies are copying and are all coming from same company in taiwan...msv bussard is also being copied n called sync....try these 2 msv strings asap n save money cause they are half the price of the COPYCATS

I dont think its just the rackets, i think its the full poly setups eveyone is using with dampeners (along with slightly more muted frames of today A lot of club players are using poly and dampeners despite having low racket head speed and pushy hesitant technique ala Norrie Backhand.... and wonder why rackets and shots dont "feel" good... I find myself playing against people who using advanced level sticks IE Blade 98 with full poly who can barely hit the ball past the service box, with a 1mm net clearance and all their serve returns are shanky blocks which turn into accidental drop shots / extremely short balls ...

The next chapter will be the oversize resurgence

Juice100S

They're all 'Cheat-sticks', same with golf clubs...

RAHHHH FIRST

Your looking for the magic stick that never has existed nor will ever

Great off the cuff content. Wasn't too interested in the Toroline part.

In my opinion, the early 2000s racquets were much better! Everything felt good, was glossy and played very well. Also, growing up with the Prestige 600 balance, I need a higher weight racquet (at least 350g) and a head light balance to feel at home. Playing with head heavier racquets, they feel sluggish to me and I don't have any control. Swing weight can vary from 325 to 345 for me, but the balance has to be head light and I am fine.