Prince Textreme Tour 100P Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 87

From the baseline, the Prince Textreme Tour 100P offered the TW playtesters a surprising amount of power and comfort. Jason was impressed, saying, "For a racquet with a tight string pattern that weighs around 11.5 ounces, this Tour 100P sure does have some pop to it. I really enjoyed it on my groundstrokes because it did just about everything well. It had more power and more spin than I thought it would have, although it did have a smallish sweetspot. There was a noticeable drop in power when I did catch a ball near the frame, but otherwise it was very solid from both wings."

Tiffani agreed. She said, "I had to do a double take to check that this racquet really had an 18x20 string pattern. The power level for a tighter string pattern was impressive. I haven't synced this quickly with a racquet in a while. Both my forehand and backhand shots were in a groove within just a few strokes. The balance of power and control was right on for me, and I found myself hitting a nice variety of shots, from driving the ball flat to hitting well-placed topspin lobs. Like with other Prince Textreme racquets, I enjoyed the feel. There's a good mix of arm-friendly comfort and ball feel."

"This racquet was maneuverable, felt great on contact and offered an even combination of power and control," added Karly. "I didn't have to put much effort into generating power, and I could hit my targets or change the direction of the ball easily. I especially enjoyed the crisp and solid response. The Tour 100P seemed lighter than its actual weight, but it still provided a stable and comfortable feel when I hit the ball. There was just enough plow through to keep it from getting pushed around, but I could've used a little more weight in the head to help with control. When I sped up my strokes I noticed that most of my shots would fly long without a noticeable difference in pace. I found I could get better power and control when I wasn't trying to go for bigger shots."

Brittany enjoyed this racquet after a small adjustment period. She said, "When I looked at the specs of this racquet I expected it to be more control-oriented. However, when I got on the court it felt more evenly balanced between power and control. After a couple hits I decided that the Textreme Tour 100P was slightly more on the power side. I absolutely loved this racquet on my backhand. I could really get the racquet around and get great depth and pace with my two-hander. I had a bit of an adjustment period on my forehand side, and I wasn't as consistent with my forehand as I would have liked. It took a couple hitting sessions before I was able to reel in my forehand and find a more consistent response."

Volleys - Score: 79

Our playtesters found exceptional feel from the Prince Textreme Tour 100P at the net. Karly preferred the Textreme Tour 100P more at the net because she didn't have any issues with the weight or power. She said, "At net this racquet still offered that same solid response, good mobility and even power and control. I could move it quickly from side to side and hit in the direction I wanted with a lot of pace behind each shot. I especially liked the stability and comfort on contact. It was an easy-to-use racquet with great feel at net. I have no complaints when it comes to volleying with the Tour 100P."

Jason continued, "The Textreme Tour 100P had great feel and I felt well connected to my shots, which came in handy when I was attempting drop volleys. I had enough power on my punch shots to put them away, but shots that hit outside the sweetspot lacked power."

"I played a fair amount of doubles with this racquet, so I definitely put it to the test on volleys," said Brittany. "I wasn't as comfortable at net as I would have liked to be, but that may be more user error than racquet error. The Tour 100P felt solid in my hand, and I could volley back any ball hit at me. I had no trouble punching my volleys deep in the court, and when I did miss it was usually past the baseline. I had to make a conscious effort to soften my hands and not go for as much. Once that adjustment was made I felt more in control up at net."

Tiffani could hit a variety of volleys with the Textreme Tour 100P, saying, "For me the standout feature at net was the feel. I also felt the Textreme Tour 100P was more stable than other racquets at a similar weight, so I was comfortable hitting drop volleys or sticking the ball for a deep put-away."

Serves - Score: 84

When it came to serving with the Prince Textreme Tour 100P, our TW playtesters were unanimous in their praise. All four playtesters found plenty of power to start the point off aggressively. The serve was Brittany's No. 1 shot to hit with the Textreme Tour 100P. She said, "This is one of my favorite racquets to serve with. Everything just clicked. I was able to create plenty of racquet head speed for easy access to power and spin. I had no trouble placing my serve anywhere in the box and I could hit a variety of serves to keep my opponents guessing. I was winning a lot of free points on my serve that I don't typically get. I had to make sure I was really going up and after the ball on my second serve because when I was tentative I was dumping my serves in the bottom of the net."

Karly found more power when serving with the Textreme Tour 100P. She said, "I could hit a hard first serve naturally without wasting a lot of energy. However, with that extra power I had to be careful where I was aiming my shots. When I missed a serve it generally landed long, and I wasn't able to rely on spin as much with the dense string pattern. The power wasn't extremely overwhelming, but I could generate it easily and I had to be more cautious about keeping the ball in when serving."

"It wasn't too hard to get decent power out of my serves with this racquet," added Jason. "It didn't feel sluggish or cumbersome, like the Textreme Tour 95 did. I thought I had good directional control and was able to spin my serves in at a high percentage."

Tiffani found success when serving with the Textreme Tour 100P, saying, "The power level was the first thing I noticed on serves. I'm always looking for some free power on this shot, so I happily walked up to the line to serve with the Tour 100P. I hit only moderate spin on my serves, but with this racquet I could hit my serve out wide on the ad side and see the ball swing out and away from my opponent. It was my favorite serve to hit during this playtest."

Returns - Score: 84

Our playtesters were extremely happy to start off returning serve with the Textreme Tour 100P due to its responsive and solid feel. Tiffani raved, "Once again, I have only positives to report. I really enjoyed the controlled power I got on returns. This racquet offers plenty of stability for my game, and it also comes around very quickly. The stringbed played evenly, so even when I struck returns outside the sweetspot I felt in control of the ball's direction and didn't feel any jarring sensations."

The standout feature for Karly was the exceptional feel and response. She described, "The stringbed was forgiving throughout so I didn't have to worry about hitting directly in the sweetspot, and this racquet felt stable and comfortable on contact. Like my groundstrokes and volleys, it was an easy adjustment to return serves with the Tour 100P. It allowed me to get into position quickly and hit aggressive returns with its easy power. I was confident I could get on the offensive quickly by hitting hard because of the good control and great feel."

"This racquet felt solid in my hands when returning serve," stated Brittany. "Like with my forehand, I had to shorten my backswing so I would not be late when hitting returns. I would have appreciated a tad more control because I really was able to blast my returns back, and sometimes I found myself holding back to keep the ball in the court on my backhand side."

Jason summed up his experience by saying, "This racquet really did just about everything well. I was returning with depth and power when going for aggressive returns, and I could knife the ball in when I was slicing returns back. I wish I could've had a more open string pattern so I could put a little more spin on my returns."

Overall - Score: 85