Prince Precision Equipe

It was a dark and stormy night.... Actually, it was a warm, calm night, and I was sitting at home staring at the name on a brand new Prince Precision Equipe tennis racquet. I had taken five years of French in high school and I was pretty sure "equipe" meant "team" in english but I wasn't positive, and I didn't understand why anyone would name a tennis racquet "Team" since tennis is such an individual sport. There are a lot of four letter words I've heard people call their racquets, but Team isn't one of them. Besides, when I first saw the paint job on the Precision Equipe I figured the english translation for "Equipe" would be "ProStaff Classic 6.1" (more on that later).

Since I didn't want to leave any stones unturned I decided to head to the local bookstore to check the translation. Because I Iive in California I put on my sunglasses, climbed in my car, and drove the three blocks to the bookstore. When I got there I discovered that I had learned something in high school. "Equipe" means "team" not only in French, but in Italian as well. "Equipo" means "team" in Spanish. I couldn't find any translation in Korean, Turkish, or Russian, but I was convinced that this new racquet is indeed named the Precision Team. Incidentally, "equipe" is pronounce "a ( rhymes with "weigh" )-keep".

Having satisfied my need to know the translation of "equipe" , I decided to travel the two remaining blocks to the Tennis Warehouse Research and Testing Department to check something else that was bugging me about these new racquets from Prince. In their technical specifications Prince lists the Precision Equipe as being "very stiff". I was pretty sure this was a mistake because the power level for the Equipe is only 700 (midplus) and a very stiff racquet should have more power than that. Besides, control racquets are supposed to be more flexible, and the Equipe is designed for players who want more control.

When I got to the Tennis Warehouse Testing Facilities I grabbed a midsize and oversize Precision Equipe and checked their flex on our Babolat Racquet Diagnostic Center. The midplus Equipe scored a 76 (1-100 scale, the higher the score, the stiffer the racquet), and the oversize Equipe scored a 73. Both these scores would definitely put these racquets into the "very stiff" category. I tested a few other racquets to see how the Equipes compared and here are their scores:

Based on these numbers it seems the Equipes are comparable in stiffness with some of the most powerful racquets on the market. So what keeps it from being as powerful as these other racquets?

The biggest factor in the low power levels of the Precision Equipes is their balance point. Both the the midplus and the oversize Equipes have balance points around 12 inches (30.5 cm) from the bottom of the racquet. The center of these racquets is 13.5 inches from the bottom (27 in./2) so the balance point is an inch and a half below the center of the racquet. If you compare that to the Wilson Sledgehammer 3.8 PH midplus which has a balance point 15 1/8 in. from the bottom of the racquet you have a difference of more than 3 inches. This means a lot more of the weight in the Equipes is in the grip area of the racquet and not in the head. The less weight you have in the head the less power you're going to get. Using the Equipes is like holding a hammer (the kind you pound nails with) by the head and driving the nails with the handle. You're just not going to get as much power, no matter how stiff the hammer is.

I mentioned earlier that I thought "equipe" might mean "ProStaff 6.1" in english. If you've seen both racquets you'll know why. Prince borrowed generously from the cosmetics of the 6.1 when they painted the Equipes and there seems to be little doubt that they're going after Wilson's 6.1 market with this racquet. In addition to the similar cosmetics, both racquets are head light, straight beam, 27 inch racquets. Because of the similarities, our play-testers took some ProStaff 6.1s with them when they tested the Equipes so they could compare them.

Because Wilson only makes the ProStaff Classic 6.1 with a 95 square inch head we used the midplus Precision Equipe for the comparison. The general concensus of the comparison was that the Precision Equipe was similar to the 6.1 in playability, but the Equipe had less vibration and more control. In fact, the play-testers who had experience playing with Wilson ProStaff Original 6.0 (85 sq. in) thought the Equipe felt more like the 6.0 than the 6.1. They thought it had the same solid feel of the 6.0, but that the Equipe had a little more power. The similarity in feel is probably due to the rectangular design of the shafts of both racquets. The rectangular frame design is supposed to be more stable than the more aerodynamic oval design found on most wide body racquets (and on the ProStaff 6.1). The rectangular design has been making a comeback over the last few years after being replaced by the aerodynamic widebody design for a number of years. Prince combines the rectangular design and the aerodynyamic widebody design on their new Morph Beam Racquets and on the Equipes. The shafts of the racquets are rectangular and the racquet heads have the aerodynamic widebody design. This creates a racquet than is both stable and maneuverable. The ProStaff 6.0 has used the rectangular frame design for well over 10 years now. It weathered the widebody storm and is once again on the cutting edge of technology.

The Precision Equipe also has another technological advantage over the ProStaff 6.1 that should greatly reduce the amount of racquet vibration. Both the midplus and oversize Equipes have the Sweet Spot Suspension System, which uses a new grommet design to enlarge the string bed area and eliminate string bed vibration. All the racquets we've tested that have the Sweet Spot Suspension System have been described as very solid and easy on the arm by our play-testers, and the Equipes were no exception. The midplus Equipe was described as "solid overall", and the oversize was a "very comfortable hit".

Our play-testers also liked the playability of the Equipe racquets. Dan thought the midplus was great for chipping and charging the net, while Granville felt the oversize Equipe was one of the few oversize racquets he'd be comfortable playing with. All the play-testers thought the Equipes had good maneuverability but Drew thought the oversize Equipe was a little slow on volleys. Interestingly enough, our play-testers liked the oversize Equipe more on groundstrokes and the midplus Equipe more on volleys. The larger sweet spot on the oversize Equipe helped the accuracy of the play-tester's groundstrokes, while the high maneuverability and stiff shaft gave the midplus Equipe a solid, crisp feel on volleys.

The Precision Equipe 700 and the Precision Equipe 800 are both nice additions to the Prince Precision team of racquets. Prince has taken a good racquet (the Wilson ProStaff Classic 6.1), made a few minor changes, added some new technology, and created an improved version of a proven product. The Equipes are solid, all court racquets that should appeal to hard hitters and advanced players. Check 'em out.

Play-test racquets were strung with Prince Synthetic Gut 16 gauge (white) at 58 pounds (midplus) and 62 pounds (oversize).

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All content copyright 1997 Tennis Warehouse.