Racquet Playtest Comparison: Tour 10 V-Engine MP vs Ki 5 PSE vs NXG Graphite MP
The Volkl Tour 10 V-Engine Midplus was the most powerful of the three, and was definitely more powerful than I thought it would be. I found that slices were easily hit long, and the stringbed just didn't feel consistent to me. It seemed to be plagued with hotspots, and the sweetspot was pretty small for the head size. Off-center shots with this racquet were pretty uncomfortable, but still had enough pop to stay deep. This racquet reminded me a little of the C10 Pro, the power seemed to be coming out of nowhere. I found it much more powerful than the specs indicate. It could be because of the longer mains due to V-Engine technology. It still volleyed well; the pace didn't hurt it in this category. The ProKennex Ionic Ki 5 PSE can generate surprising power because of the sheer weight of the frame. The swing-weight is 345, by far heavier to swing than the other two. When I got all that weight moving in the same direction, I found, as expected, that I could really wallop the ball with heavy, controllable pace. This stick doesn't have such a high stiffness rating, but it is a powerful racquet for those who can wield it. The thick 22mm beam was a contributing factor also. So the frame is not inherently powerful, but can be generated on demand by a player with a long, fast swing. I enjoyed the power on volleys. If I got the racquet in the right place, I was rewarded with a very solid volley that really flew off the strings. Serves were fun to hit for awhile, I was generating surprising pace on serves, this thing really punishes the ball(very heavy ball) when you cream one. The Prince Tour NXG Graphite Midplus had a nice power level, I found it to be plenty for a player with a fast swing, but definitely not in an uncontrollable way. The stringbed was very consistent with this racquet, which didn't deliver any surprises. High balls were easy to hit with good pace. The amount of power with the Prince was also good on serves, as they had good pace and delivered just what I expected. The Prince came out on top in this category, it has great control, and is easy to hit targets with. What else can I say? The control is perfect. The ProKennex is harder to control just because it is such a club to haul around. I have played with heavier racquets, but I think the kinetic material adds to the difficulty of getting the racquet in place and around on groundies. I felt the racquet had good control for what kind of racquet it is, but few players can swing this kind of weight around and stay consistent with it for more than 15 minutes. It takes A LOT of work, however, you get what you give. If you prepare well and use good footwork, you will be rewarded with a shot that won't surprise you. If you can use this racquet for a match, the control you will be rewarded with will allow you the confidence to go after aggressive shots. The Volkl seemed lacking in the control area. On groundies and slices I found some shots unexpectedly sailing long, this probably had more to do with the small sweet spot than anything else. Still, when you nail it in the center of the stringbed, you will be surprised sometimes, and rewarded other times. I just cannot say I think this is a very good control racquet. It is so two-faced, I wouldn't want to be stuck in an important match using this one. Both the Volkl and the Prince excelled in this area, as neither racquet is overly heavy or head heavy. The Volkl was slightly easier to maneuver, but the Prince was nothing to scoff at. I had no problems with either one. Then we have the ProKennex. As I have indicated before, this is a lot of lumber to have attached to your hand for any amount of time. The 22mm beam doesn't help either. The game has gotten much faster and this racquet is too much for almost anyone to handle with the speed of today's groundstrokes. In the same vein, when you have a fast groundstroke coming at you, the weight makes it very tough to get into position for volleys. Not terribly surprising, but hopefully no one who wasn't athletically gifted would pick up this club and try to play. The kinetic technology puts more weight into each shot, but makes it harder to move around. The ProKennex was easily the winner here. This racquet could crush a ball twice the size of a regular tennis ball. It is easily the most stable racquet I've ever hit with, even though it's not the heaviest. The kinetic technology helps a lot in this category. Even off-center shots felt pretty solid, and you can literally hear the ball cry when you nail it in the sweetspot. The Prince came in second and had stability corresponding to its weight. Off-center shots still had enough weight behind them to not get killed, and the racquet generally feels solid and stable on all shots. I couldn't feel any twisting even when balls were hit off center. The Volkl was the worst as far as stability and I could feel some twisting somewhat often, though that factor alone wouldn't be enough to discredit this racquet. It is less stable than a stable racquet and a very stable racquet, which doesn't make it flimsy by any means, but it is a racquet with a flexible throat. The ProKennex was the most comfortable frame I've hit with when I got the average sized sweetspot, and it was still very comfortable when I hit off-center. Hitting high up in the stringbed wasn't too unpleasant either. Anyone who would use a vibration dampener with this racquet is crazy. The middle of the stringbed is very muted. The sweetspot responded with a nice solid "thud" and I felt ALMOST NO SHOCK AT ALL. The feedback was a little lacking though. The Prince was also a very comfortable frame, not to the level of the Prokennex, but the Prince also offered more of the feedback that is valued by advanced players. Serves, volleys, and groundies were all comfortable when hit on the sweetspot, but not bad when shots were hit off-center. The air-handle design is likely what delivers the semi-dampened feeling. I expected the Volkl to mirror the C10 Pro in its muted comfort, but instead I was punished with a "ping" sound at impact and a stringbed that had more feedback than I expected. I had to use a dampener and then it improved some, but I was just disappointed in that category with the Volkl. I didn't expect the thin-beam to hurt it so much in this category, but apparently it did. It's not the most uncomfortable racquet I've hit with, but I've hit with player's frames that felt much better. I expected the fiberglass to give it a more buttery feel(which I love), but no dice there. The Prince was enjoyable in the spin category as it was the most spin-friendly racquet of the three. The 100 inch Head provided plenty of room to brush on the ball with, so I expected this racquet to be a spin-meister. The string pattern is conducive to nice kick on serves and also deep, biting slice. The amount of spin I could easily generate with this racquet was just right for me. The Volkl seemed easier to hit flat with, even though it was pretty good for hitting spin .The racquet is very head-light, so it is easy to get that upward brushing motion with your swing in order to generate heavy spin. Kick serves and slices had nice bite, the lack of weight in the head and thin beam allowed the racquet to really cut through the air for a troubling spin for opponents. I found it hard to know what I was going to come up with when trying for heavy topspin on groundstrokes at times, because of the inconsistency in the stringbed. The ProKennex took a lot of effort to generate spin, but delivered nice spin when I went for it. I found it easier to just bludgeon a flat ball with this frame, but spin worked well because this racquet creates such a heavy ball when good racquet head speed is used. The Prince worked best for me because it is a solid all around racquet that is good at everything and bad at nothing. I found it to be the most forgiving of the three, and most rewarding to hit with. I was surprised that I liked it, because I'm not much of a Prince fan. The ProKennex is for not only advanced players, but very strong advanced players with very good fitness/conditioning. It can be very rewarding for you and overpowering for your opponent to play with this racquet because of the great potential for power and excellent control. It is a challenge to play with! The Volkl was not as good as I expected because of the hot spots and I often was surprised to see my shot sailed long after good preparation and a solid hit. It was good in spin and slice, but just seemed to have too many holes in its repertoire to be a great racquet. I would be interested to try the midsize versions of the Volkl and Prince, as I am accustomed to playing with a smaller head than these racquets had.
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