Prince Phantom Pro 100 18x20 Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 84

The Phantom Pro 100 18x20 was loaded with control and feel from the baseline. To get power on his shots, Chris needed to use a full swing and transfer his weight into the court. He began, "I played my best tennis when moving the ball around the court with a focus on placement and consistency. It was a great fit when counterpunching against a big hitting opponent, as I could redirect pace with accurate shots. This racquet felt very natural when I was right up on the baseline and taking the ball on the rise. I liked the control and feel I had with my slice backhand and felt very confident with that stroke. I was also able to generate plenty of topspin to get my shots to drop well inside the lines. I was taking full swings with this racquet since it is so low powered, and that offered up lots of racquet head speed to turn into spin."

"Hitting and drilling with this racquet was sublime, but this playtest proved to be an interesting one for me," said Michelle, who normally uses a stiffer, more powerful racquet. “The Phantom Pro 100 18x20 felt great and was so control and feel oriented that it messed with my head at times! I didn't feel like I could be effective playing my aggressive game. The 18x20 offered nice control, and I wasn’t hindered in terms of depth or spin too often. The flex was nice and buttery, and the racquet had a lower powered feel. I felt comfortable hitting big and ramping up the pace in a rally. However, the second I got into a pressure situation my brain flipped a switch, and I was very aware that this racquet offered me less raw power and had a tighter, more controlled stringbed than most racquets I play successfully with. Instantly, I started trying to do too much with each shot. Instead of waiting for the right ball to attack, I felt pressured to attack quicker in the point, which led to inconsistency and frustration on my end. I found myself pulling up and rushing through the ball rather than lengthening my shots and hitting out. This has nothing to do with the racquet and its playability, so to combat this I need to spend more time playing with it to feel comfortable in match situations. I did add a bit of mass to the tip of the racquet for more plow through, and that helped me subconsciously more than anything. With that being said, I would say players used to a stiffer setup and thicker beam should check this racquet out, but they should expect an adjustment period."

Erik felt extremely connected to the ball on groundstrokes. He said, "My slices were staying very low; I could knife the ball effectively and as hard as I wanted. It took me a while to get used to the launch angle and the control-oriented feel, but the Phantom Pro 100 18x20 was very maneuverable and made it easy to generate racquet head speed. This racquet wasn't great for my game unless I was taking the ball early and really driving through it, or coming to net constantly. I tended to hit a lot of slice with this racquet, and I felt like I had to hit a flatter ball to get a better result, as opposed to my usual loopy topspin ball."

It was all about feel for Kristen on groundstrokes. She explained, "The feel was incredible. I noticed right away that this racquet was more stable than my Prince Phantom Pro 100 16x18, and that it offered more plow through. However, it was also apparent that this racquet was beefier in weight, and that weight, combined with the tighter string pattern, meant I had to work a lot harder to get depth and pace and to win points from the back of the court. My racquet just swung so much freer through the air, and I didn't have to exert as much energy to construct points."

Volleys - Score: 89

The net is where our playtesters felt that the Phantom Pro 100 18x20 shone the brightest. Michelle had no complaints at all about the Phantom Pro 100’s volleys. She said, "This racquet absorbed power well and let me feel in command of every volley I hit. Anything that was blasted at me was easy to block back. Touch was outstanding. I loved the feel when volleying, whether I was approaching aggressively or playing defensively."

This was Erik's favorite part of the playtest. He described, "The feel of this Phantom Pro 100 18x20 was exceptional. It was very responsive up at net, and I felt like I could put my volleys anywhere. I found myself hitting shorter, more angled volleys, but I could also punch my shots deep if I wanted to. I felt extremely connected to the ball and loved the response up at net."

Although Kristen had issues with the weight of the Phantom Pro 100 from the baseline, the weight was an asset at net. She said, "While I preferred my own Phantom from the back of the court, I definitely liked this model more at net. The stability was top notch; I never found it getting pushed around. It offered great touch for dropping a volley short and packed a punch when playing a put-away volley."

The inherent feel and control in the Phantom Pro 100 18x20 made it a fun racquet for Chris at net. He said, "I felt very dialed in on my touch volleys. The stable response allowed me to take a heavy incoming ball and drop it for a short angle. My placement was very precise, so I could be aggressive with my targeting. There wasn't a ton of free power, but I found enough to put the ball away."

Serves - Score: 77

All of our playtesters quickly noticed the lower powered response of the Phantom Pro 100 18x20 on serve, but Erik also found a good amount of control. He said, "I really liked serving slices out wide, and I could place the ball effectively. I didn't get a ton of pop from this racquet on serves, but I could hit nice angled shots. I was confident and felt like the response was very predictable. My favorite serves to hit were the slice serve out wide on the deuce side and the T serve on the ad side."

Serving was one area where Kristen struggled with the Phantom Pro 100 18x20. She explained, "The racquet came around a bit slowly overhead, so I never felt like I got dialed in on a consistent service motion. I had the most success with slice serves, and I could get them to land pretty deep in the box. However, as my energy for serving started to drop as I played more points during a session, and I was hitting more serves into the net than normal. While this racquet felt a bit more solid on contact compared to the 16x18 in stock form, I missed the whippy nature and easy head speed of that racquet."

Chris was also looking for more power on serve. He noted, "I served well with this racquet when feeling fresh, but as a match wore on I found it tougher to maintain good pace. I'd likely add a little weight to the tip of the racquet and string it lower to juice it up a bit. Still, I always had lots of control and found spin easy to generate. I could get the racquet through contact easily, which was good because I had to maximize racquet head speed to get power."

Michelle found the racquet to be mediocre when serving. She said, "This racquet performed just fine on serves, but it didn’t excel. Precision was solid, and I could hit my targets well. Like the other playtesters, I craved a bit more power and pop. I felt limited with the 18x20 string pattern and missed more than I would have liked into the top of the net. I didn't start points off as offensively as I prefer to, which led to me feeling rushed to attack quickly off the next shot, even if it wasn't the right ball. I eventually added a bit of weight and upped the mass behind the ball, which helped."

Returns - Score: 85

While they struggled a bit on serves, our team had a fine time returning with the Phantom Pro 100 18x20. In fact, Kristen thought that returning with this racquet was one of the best parts of the playtest. She said, "I didn't have the same issue with maneuverability that I did on serve, so I could swing big and attack serves when I had the chance. I felt like I was hitting a heavy ball off returns and was getting a controlled response, which allowed for great placement. Returns and volleys were the two highlights of the playtest for me."

Chris concurred, adding, "The comfortable and controlled response of the Phantom Pro 100 18x20 made it a great racquet for returns. I returned consistently and found I could take a generous swing without overhitting. I liked driving returns off both wings and was able to generate good pace off an incoming serve. My slice backhand return also worked well with this racquet. I was able to drive the slice, float it deep or hit a short angle depending on how I wanted to develop the point."

Contrary to her expectations, Michelle never quite clicked with this racquet on returns. She explained, "I was expecting to love returning with this racquet, but I have to admit that I struggled initially. The sweetspot never felt huge, and if I wasn't making contact right there, I didn't feel super connected to my shot. This is where I realized I really do prefer thicker beams. I was missing a bit of stability and plow through on my returns. I could hit my targets effectively, but I couldn't attack as well as I can with other racquets. Honestly, I think this might be an adjustment period issue, and I think I would feel better about executing bigger returns if I had more time to get comfortable with this racquet."

Erik played aggressively when returning with this racquet. He said, "Due to the ample control, I could rip the ball off the return and still get it to drop in the court. This racquet was very solid on first serve returns; I could chip the ball back nice and low. On second serve returns I could attack the ball with no fear of missing long. This racquet was very maneuverable and easy to get around my body."

Overall - Score: 84