Wilson n4 Racquet Review

Spadea's rap to Williams went . . .

"Yo imagine if my name was Vince Williams,
I'd be worth tens of millions,
Billions now working on zillions . . .
I'd be looking more familiar,
Like Serena and Venus Williams-
People say I look Brazilian Chilean
I'd rather look like Williams
I'd be the hottest civilian,
Forget Timbaland,
they'd call me Tibillion,
Vince Williams Yo
if you rearrange my name, to Venic,
I'd be on the court like the leanest and meanest
Kinda like Venus, only she's a genius.
I'm not as crazy as Charlie Sheen is
And not as fly as Serena and Venus,
But somewhere in the middle The riddle,
My backhands got a fine-dime sizzle
For shizzle my nizzle,
But Vince needs the name more than just a little
Feeling brittle, fitter than a fiddle,
I, like the Williams,
Get me a passport filled with the brilliance
I'm like the grinch who stole gazillions
'Cause Vince just stole the name Williams . . .
I got sted up at the Fed Cup,
I'm fed up, Venus-never let up,
I know your girls are singing the black eyes peas
Shut up, Vince . . . peace"

Inspiring stuff, perhaps, but after extensive analysis we decided while Spadea may have the vanilla, he doesn't have the ice.

That left us with only once source of inspiration - the nCode n4 Oversize. Every tennis player knows the joy of playing with a racquet they love, and this was never more apparent than during Williams' run at Wimbledon. To see if we could capture some of her joy we hit the courts for a three-week playtest of the nCode n4 Midplus and Oversize racquets.

n4 Midplus

Groundstrokes

Our team enjoyed hitting groundstrokes with the Wilson n4 Midplus. Having a blast was Brad. "The n4 Midplus was awesome off the ground. I found that I could generate a good amount of topspin or change it up and hit the ball flat if I wanted to. The racquet had plenty of power as well. I was able to get depth and pace on my groundstrokes without having to put out any extra effort. Surprisingly, I had good control with this racquet and was able to place the ball where I wanted, l though at times I struggled to get my slices to stay low and deep." Also hitting well from the baseline was Chris. "I found the n4 Midplus quite enjoyable off the ground. There was enough weight and control that I could play aggressively and not feel like I had too much power when playing against strong opponents. I preferred hitting topspin with this one as I found it easy to whip through the contact zone and get plenty of brush on the ball. I wasn't knifing my slice backhand as much as I would have liked, but I think I could have improved this by adding some weight to the racquet. Even at stock weight, the n4 Midplus felt stable and comfortable. I think for stronger players, this one would only get better with the addition of some lead tape."

Finding good control and accuracy was Josh. "The Wilson nCode n4 Racquet was comfortable to hit with despite its weight of 9.8 ounces. I had expected to feel the pounding of the ball in my elbow and wrist because of the lighter weight, but the n4 felt quite solid and stable. The n4 was also very maneuverable in both singles and doubles play. My forehand and backhand strokes felt solid and I was comfortable hitting both in tight situations. The n4 played smaller than its 101 square-inch head size, and the majority of my shots were controlled and accurate. While the racquet offered a fair amount of pop, the pace of the ball fizzled by the time it reached my opponents. I was forced to depend more on hitting angles and topspin to find success rather than patiently playing out a point and forcing my opponents to make a mistake. When left to the latter tactic, my opponents had too much time to size up the ball and crush a winner. For those interested in comparisons, the Wilson nCode nPro offered better punch and was more effective on slices." Wendi found the light weight of the n4 Midplus a good fit for her game. "I liked the light weight and feel of the n4 Midplus immediately. It gave some good punch as well as a surprising amount of control from the baseline. The generous sweetspot made even my off-centered hits playable. There was a lot of spin-potential with this racquet, especially on topspin shots. Slicing with the n4 also gave me good results, but I preferred using my topspin more."

Volleys

Moving forward to the net, our team continued to find some promising performance from the n4 Midplus. Finding her groove on the volley was Wendi. "I charged the net and found incredible results on almost every shot. The n4 Midplus was very maneuverable and light. I wanted to stay at the net the entire set. Half volleys, touch volleys and put-a-ways were easy with the responsiveness of the n4." Finding some good depth on his volleys was Brad. "The extra half inch of length did not really hinder my ability to volley due to the racquet's light weight. I found that I was able to get decent depth on most of my volleys. On touch volleys, my accuracy and control was fairly good, but I would have liked a bit more control."

Josh was left looking for more punch on his volleys with the n4 Midplus. "Volleys were easy to pick up with the n4 from all angles of the court. However, the racquet was lacking the necessary punch to end a point. Even with good placement, my opponents had chances to run down most of my volleys. As with my groundstrokes, I had to be more creative with angles and spin to end points early. The lighter weight was helpful in quick doubles exchanges, and there was still enough control to play the necessary angles." Having better results at net was Chris. "I volleyed well with the n4 Midplus. I was surprised to find plenty of stability and control when playing doubles against hard-hitting opponents. The racquet never felt pushed around, which was impressive considering it's a sub 10 ounce stick. I was able to consistently find my targets whether going for a deep volley or finessing a short angle. It wasn't the racquet's fault when I didn't find my targets."

Serves

Our team was split when it came to finding success on serve with the n4 Midplus. Both Brad and Wendi were left wanting. Brad said, "I really struggled to hit serves with this racquet. Even though it is a bit longer, I just wasn't able to get any pace on the ball. It felt like I was swinging as hard as I normally do, but the ball just wasn't going anywhere. Even though most of the weight is in the head, I didn't feel like there was anything behind the ball." Struggling to find consistency was Wendi. "On serve I couldn't really find my groove. I wasn't sure if it was me or the racquet, but my results were very up and down. I didn't feel that I had the consistency that I was expecting from the n4. I was hitting a lot of tape and then an ace would follow a double fault. I would probably need some more time with the n4 to get my serve in working order."

Both Chris and Josh had better results. Chris offered, "I liked the amount of spin I was finding serving with the n4 Midplus. The racquet seemed to grip the ball well and I was able to consistently pull opponents wide with a slice serve to the deuce court. My kick serve was also working well with this racquet. Again, I think a little weight would have added some penetration to my shots and I would have found a little more ball speed." Also finding plenty of spin on his serves was Josh. "Players looking for consistency and spin potential should take a look at the n4. The racquet stayed true to its control potential and gave me every opportunity to place first and second serves where I desired. My second serves had good topspin and my first serves stayed low and flat. Unfortunately, I just couldn't generate enough pace to keep my opponents from taking a crack at every serve."

Serve returns

On the return our team found plenty of control and good maneuverability with the n4 Midplus. Hitting his targets on the return was Chris. "The n4 Midplus offered a nice blend of power and control on the return. When playing doubles I was able to get my returns crosscourt and down at the approaching volleyer's feet with some nice spin and angle. Again, I found it easy to generate lots of racquet head speed and had some fun really going after my shots." Having more success returning rather than serving was Wendi. "The n4 Midplus gave me good, consistent returns. I didn't have any problems with hard serves, body serves or placement serves. Overall, a great racquet for returning."

Brad would have preferred a little more mass for returning. "As with serves, I found that the N4 lacked some weight on returns. When returning first serves, I didn't feel like the racquet was stable enough to handle my opponent's pace. I did find that the racquet held up okay on slower hit second serves." Josh found the weight and balance of the n4 Midplus fitting for reaction returns. "Again, the n4 Midplus gave me consistency in my strokes and was flexible enough to handle strong first serves and kickers hit to my backhand. The lighter weight and head-heavy balance allowed me to respond quickly to flat serves hit to either side of my body. As long as I drove through my backhand slices I was able to return most second serves with decent pace. Still, my returns didn't have enough pace to put my opponents on the defensive, so I had to make the conscious effort to mix things up and stay creative with my play."

Overall

The n4 Midplus offered a surprising amount of control. We were expecting a more powerful stick, but were pleasantly surprised that we could aggressively hit our shots without being worried about over-hitting. At less than 10 ounces strung, stronger players will find plenty of room to customize the weight and balance to their liking. As is, the n4 Midplus offers some solid all court performance in a racquet that's both easy to get around and very comfortable in play.

(Scores are determined by averaging individual play test scores)

n4 Oversize

Groundstrokes

Our team found the n4 Oversize, Venus William's choice, offered a generous sweetspot and was easy to maneuver from the baseline. Noticing some increased power compared to hitting with the n4 Midplus were Brad and Wendi. Brad said, "the first thing I noticed about the Oversize version of this racquet was it had more pop compared to the Midplus. In addition to the increase in power I found that I was able to generate a bit more spin as well. I did find it a little harder to control the ball due to the extra power. Slices with the oversize were a bit easier for me and I was able to keep the ball lower." Wendi also found plenty of spin and pace. "The n4 Oversize was powerful and big. I was a little out of control with the strength behind this racquet. I felt the racquet had great potential for hitting sharp angles, but I seemed to always be just wide or long. My opponent did mention the weight behind my shots when I switched to the Oversize from the Midplus. There is a ton of spin-potential with either topspin or slice from all areas of the court."

Along with finding plenty of spin, Chris also found good control. "I didn't feel like there was enough mass behind the n4 Oversize for me to hit with any discernable weight or pace. I think this one needs to be either slightly more head heavy, or just heavier overall, as the swingweight just felt too low. While I may not have been blowing my opponents off the court, I was finding good control and spin. I was able to hit some really solid angles with this racquet. Coming around a slice backhand to hit a short angle proved very successful, and I was able to pull it off fairly consistently - leaving my opponent out of position and left hitting a tough, low ball. All in all, a decent racquet off the ground that could be a much better fit for my game with the application of some lead tape." Enjoying the maneuverable feel of the n4 Oversize was Josh. "Groundstrokes were easy to hit from the forehand and backhand side. I was able to generate good topspin from both sides, and I didn't feel burdened by the size of the racquet. The weight and balance of the n4 Oversize allowed me to pick up faster and heavier shots without having to prepare as early as usual. The downside of having a lighter, more powerful racquet was adjusting my strokes to keep from over-hitting."

Volleys

The maneuverable feel of the n4 Oversize continued to impress our team at net. Enjoying her time at net was Wendi. "My time at the net was very fun. The n4 Oversize has all the pop I'd ever need. The responsive stringbed came in handy more than once on a half-volley that I almost gave up on. I had to watch myself and not go overboard with easier volleys, given the high power level." Finding the racquet much less powerful was Chris. "I liked the feel of this racquet at net. I actually found it fairly low-powered. I think the fact that the racquet is so light and not that stiff provides it with more of a controlled and less powerful feel compared to many oversize racquets."

Finding good power but missing some feel was Josh. "The n4 Oversize lacked the necessary touch and feel one might prefer at net. The racquet was maneuverable enough to use for singles and doubles play, but touch shots tended to go a bit wide and put-away volleys sailed a bit long. Overheads were easy to hit, and the racquet performed well on the backhand side as long as I prepared early enough." Brad said, "volleys with the n4 Oversize were a bit harder to control compared to the Midplus. I was still getting good depth on them, but I wasn't able to place them as well as I wanted to."

Serves

our team was divided when it came to serving with the n4 Oversize. Having a tough time was Chris. "I could not find the groove with this one on the serve at all. I was constantly fighting to get any pace or depth on my serves. I felt like I had to aim two feet past the service box just to get my serve over the net. After going down 0-40 in one doubles service game, I switched back to the n4 Midplus and proceeded to hold serve while barely having to hit a volley. Although I found plenty of spin, I just needed more weight to get the job done." Also struggling on serve was Brad. "Just like the n4 Midplus, I struggled to find my serve with this racquet. I think if it was just a bit more head heavy it would have performed okay, but there just wasn't enough weight to get any power behind the ball. Kick and slice serves seemed to work a whole lot better than hitting a flat serve."

Finding much greater success on serve was Josh. "I was really pleased with the n4 Oversize on serve. My first serves were fast and consistently at the back of the service line. The racquet lacked a bit of control, but the pace generated by the n4 Oversize made up for that shortcoming. Second serves had a decent amount of kick and still had enough pace to keep my opponents on their toes. Again, my serves weren't heavy, but they were effective." Wendi found plenty of power on serve. "Serving with the n4 was also pretty fun. The power was almost too much for me to handle. Again I didn't have the consistency that I would have liked, but then again, I really got some pace going. I didn't have the control in placing my serves either, but with so much power I didn't really need it."

Serve returns

The maneuverable feel and large sweetspot had our team returning well with the n4 Oversize. Finding some solid response on the return was Wendi. "The n4 Oversize gave me some good returns, especially on body serves. The responsiveness and power of the n4 really helped me out on quick adjustments when I normally wouldn't have the punch to recover. The huge sweetspot proved to be a real advantage when I couldn't quite get into the perfect position." Brad had more success when given time to set up for his return with the n4 Oversize. "Just like the n4 Midplus, the n4 Oversize held up well on slower serves, but when returning bullets it wasn't very stable, making it hard to block the ball back and get anything on it."

Josh found a shorter than usual backswing worked well on the return. "The extra length on the racquet and higher power level made returning serve less of a challenge. The larger headsize didn't offer as much control as the n4 Midplus, so I had a tendency to play conservative tennis and charged the net as often as possible. I also found more success shortening my backswing and letting the racquet do the bulk of the work on returns." Finding plenty of control was Chris. "I found good control on my return of serve. I was able to use the server's pace and direct the ball deep to the corners or get it down at the feet of a serve and volleyer. Spin was easy to generate on faster, longer cuts at the ball. Again, not enough power to blow someone away, but I'm sure this could easily be found with the application of some lead tape."

Overall

The n4 Oversize offers a large and forgiving sweetspot. The lively stringbed combines with a medium flex rating (66 RA) for a feel that is very comfortable from all areas of the court. At only 9.7 ounces, our team found the n4 Oversize very maneuverable both at the baseline and at net. Players who like to mix up spins and angles will find a suitable partner here. All in all, this is an appealing racquet for beginning to intermediate players looking for a light, forgiving and comfortable stick.

(Scores are determined by averaging individual play test scores)

Review date: Aug 2005. If you found this review interesting or have further questions or comments please contact us.

All content copyright 2005 Tennis Warehouse.