Racquet Playtest Comparison:
| About the play tester | About the racquets |
Name: BreakPoint on the Talk Tennis message boards
Playing Level: 4.5
Regular racquet, string & tension: Wilson ProStaff 6.0 Original 95, Gosen OG Sheep Micro 16g @ 59lbs., cable grommet "O" dampener, and Gosen Ripple overgrip over Wilson leather grip
Tell us about your game: All court player playing both singles and doubles, serve and volley 50% of the time. Long, loopy, fast swings on both sides. Can hit flat, topspin, and slice off of both sides, and will mix things up during rallies. One-handed backhand, semi-western forehand Strengths are serve and backhand.
Initial Impressions:
Wilson nSix-One Tour: A heavy, "old school" player's racquet with a thin beam (although the beam width seems a tad wider than its 17mm spec.). Has nice heft and the weight is noticeable when you pick it up and when you first swing it. Has a fairly open 16x19 string pattern and a headlight balance, although not nearly as headlight as my usual PS 6.0 95. With dampener and overgrip, it came out at a hefty 12.9 oz. on the scale. Has a beautiful, red and white, high-quality looking paintjob. Makes me feel like Federer just holding this racquet.
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Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85: Also a heavy player's racquet and is the definition of "old school". This is the first generation ProStaff which eventually evolved to become the nSix-One Tour. Also has a thin 17mm beam but seems a bit thinner than the nSix-One Tour. The 85 sq. in. head looks noticeably small by today's standards and the all matte black finish, which hasn't changed very much in over 20 years, does indeed look a bit dated. With dampener and two overgrips, the static weight was an even 13.0 oz.
Slazenger Pro X-1: A fairly light feeling racquet despite its weight, and the lightest feeling of the four racquets in this playtest. Very easy to swing fast due to its headlight balance and aerodynamic beam. At 95 sq. in., it has the largest head size of the four racquets. A very classic looking player's racquet. Has the same 16x18 string pattern as my usual PS 6.0 95. With dampener and overgrip, the weight came in at an even 12.0 oz. Also, very sleek black and blue paintjob and cosmetics.
Yonex RDX 500 Mid: Obviously different from the other three racquets in this playtest due to its rectangular shaped head, typical of most Yonex racquets. This racquet feels heavier and more evenly balanced than its specs would indicate. Has a hexagonal beam which is very unusual, as most racquets have a square, rectangular, or oval beam. The grip felt noticeably smaller than its indicated 4 1/2 grip size. I had to use two overgrips to compensate for this. With dampener and and two overgrips, the static weight was 12.1 oz. A very colorful and high quality looking finish.
Power
Wilson nSix-One Tour: A pretty low powered racquet requiring full, long strokes. The power on shots comes mostly from the sheer weight of the racquet rather than from the frame itself, although there is a very slight "pop" coming off of the stringbed which doesn't exist on my usual PS 6.0 95. The stiffness of the frame also adds a bit of power on some shots, but on the most part, the player needs to generate their own power. However, you need to be pretty physically strong to generate the racquet head speed required to produce the power. Once you get the racquet moving, momentum takes over, and if you can hit it in the sweetspot with a fairly fast swing, you can hit a very hard and deep shot. Although serves were solid, I was surprised that I could not hit the ball harder on serves with this racquet given the extra mass I have behind the ball. I guess the heavy swingweight made it harder for me to generate the racquet head speed required for extra pace and spin on serves. It was also somewhat hard for me to generate the same racquet head speed as I do with my usual racquet on groundstrokes, but the more I played with it, the more I got used to it and was able to adjust for the most part. You feel like you can really "plow through" the ball with this racquet. Hits a very heavy ball.
Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85: Also a low powered racquet requiring full, long strokes. This racquet is more about control than power, although if you can hit the tiny sweetspot consistently, there is enough inherent power (thanks largely to its heavy weight) in this racquet for most advanced players. I could get plenty of pace and spin on serves. I think the combination of the thin beam, small head, and headlight balance allows you to swing it quickly and snap your wrist easily to produce great serves. This racquet is a serving machine. Groundstrokes and volleys were a bit more difficult as there is no "technology" in this racquet to give you any extra power. It's all you. Overall, slightly less powerful than the nSix-One Tour.
Slazenger Pro X-1: Easily the most powerful of the four. The extra power comes from the stiffness of this racquet. It feels like it has both a stiff throat and a stiff head, although it's not overly stiff. Even with compact strokes, you can still hit the ball fairly deep and with decent pace. This is the only racquet out of the four in which you don't need to swing all out to get the ball over the net and deep. The low swingweight of this racquet also allows you to swing it very fast if you want to and generate the racquet head speed needed to produce lots of pace and spin. Pretty easy to generate both power and spin on serves due to the headlight balance and overall weight which allows you to swing fast and still have enough mass behind the shot. Very nice punch on volleys, too.
Yonex RDX 500 Mid: Another low powered racquet, although due to its more even balance, you can get some nice power on some groundstrokes and volleys from the extra mass in the head. This racquet feels like it's flexible in the throat but stiff in the head. The stiffness in the head, along with the weight in the head, does provide some extra punch on some shots when you need it. Serves were decent but not with a lot of power. Placement, however, was excellent. Requires a long, full swing to get the most out of this racquet.
Control
Wilson nSix-One Tour: Control was very good as long as you take a full, complete swing with good follow-though. This is a demanding player's racquet that requires well-honed mechanics to fully realize its innate control. Placement on serves and volleys were very accurate. On groundstrokes, hitting the ball in the sweetspot offered pinpoint control, whether you're going for a down-the-line or crosscourt winner. Very high "plow-through" factor and the ball pretty much goes where you aim it as long as you can handle swinging a heavy racquet repetitively during a long rally. Control is there. Consistency depends on how good and physically strong of a player you are.
Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85: Very good directional control on shots due to the feedback this racquet gives you. Once you get the racquet moving and pointed in the right direction, the ball will go pretty much where you aimed it as long as you can hit the sweetspot. Control was best on serves in which placement was very accurate on both flat and kick serves. Hitting the sweetspot consistently on groundstrokes and volleys, however, was a little more difficult due to this racquet's small head size. Overall, control was on par with the nSix-One Tour, perhaps even a tad better.
Slazenger Pro X-1: Control with this racquet is very good as long as you have a very smooth stroke. Any hitches in your stroke could cause the ball to spray. Since this racquet feels stiffer than the others, there's a bit less feedback available to enhance control. Sometimes when I swing hard, the ball will go long unexpectedly because the feedback is different than what I'm used to with my PS 6.0 95. However, control was excellent on both serves and volleys. Control was particularly good on backhand slices.
Yonex RDX 500 Mid: This racquet probably had the most control out of the four. Excellent control on almost all shots. Best racquet I have ever used for hitting drop volleys. Pinpoint placement on serves, even if not all that powerful. This racquet offers lots of feedback - the right kind of feedback that makes this a sweet control racquet. Very large sweetspot for a 90 sq. in. head which helps you maintain control even if you hit the ball a little bit off-center.
Maneuverability
Wilson nSix-One Tour: The heavy static and swingweight makes this racquet the least maneuverable out of the four. Reaction volleys were quite challenging which is why I preferred using this racquet more for singles than for doubles. The thin beam helped with its maneuverability on groundstrokes despite its weight. Once I got used to the weight, it wasn't so bad, but I worry about how long I could last swinging this heavy racquet over the period of a long match.
Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85: Surprisingly more maneuverable than the nSix-One Tour even though it is slightly heavier (13.0 oz. vs. 12.9 oz.) in static weight. However, the small head size means that you need to maneuver the head into position that much more accurately. Needing to be more precise somewhat offset its maneuverability as far as minimizing off-center shots. On the positive side, the small head also means it doesn't get in your way on serves nor on one-handed backhands. I've always found smaller heads better for serving and for hitting one-handed backhands and this racquet is no exception. It's just easier to snap your wrist and whip through the serve and also to get the racquet ready to whip through the backhand.
Slazenger Pro X-1: A surprisingly maneuverable racquet given its static weight due to its headlight balance and relatively thin beam width. Very easy to get the racquet head into position on both groundstrokes and volleys. Easily the most maneuverable racquet out of the four. Would make an excellent racquet for doubles as it makes serving and volleying very easy.
Yonex RDX 500 Mid: Even though this racquet is on the lighter side for a player's racquet, the more even balance makes it feel a little heavier than its specs would indicate. Still a pretty maneuverable racquet, however. But not as maneuverable as the Slazenger X-1. I found myself a bit late on some forehands at times due to its less headlight balance than my usual racquet. Maneuverability at net and on serves, however, was not an issue.
Stability
Wilson nSix-One Tour: An extremely stable racquet. Although the head is quite stiff, it still maintains a somewhat flexible feel to it resulting in a fairly consistent stringbed without being overly harsh. The sweetspot seems quite large for a 90 sq. in. head, and feels even larger than my usual PS 6.0 95. The HyperCarbon and/or nCode technology must be doing something right here in increasing the size of the sweetspot. The sheer weight of this racquet adds to its stability and helps to keep it from twisting on hard hit shots. On groundstrokes and serves, you can hit the ball pretty much anywhere on the stringbed and you'll at least get the ball over the net. This isn't always the case with my usual racquet.
Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85: Also a very stable racquet on par with the nSix-One Tour. The sheer weight and the small head size keeps twisting on off-center shots to a minimum. The ball pretty much goes exactly where you aim it. The hoop is slightly more flexible than on the nSix-One Tour which, while enhancing its feel, did not noticeably deter from its stability. It's just hard for the ball to push such a heavy racquet around.
Slazenger Pro X-1: Surprisingly stable given that this racquet is quite a bit lighter than the two Wilsons. The upper hoop is pretty stiff which makes for a very consistent stringbed. The stiff throat also adds to its overall stability and keeps the racquet from twisting on hard hit shots. The sweetspot is quite large so that you can hit the ball just about anywhere on the stringbed and you'll get a pretty decent feel and a pretty decent shot out of it. A very solid feel no matter where you hit it. The excellent stability applied to all shots but particularly good on volleys.
Yonex RDX 500 Mid: Another very stable racquet. I think the hexagonal shaped beam in the head increases its stiffness and prevents it from twisting very much on off-center shots. The extra weight in the head also adds to its stability and solid feel. This racquet feels like it has a flexible throat and shaft but a stiff head which gives it an overall flexible feel but maintains its excellent stability at the same time, unlike most lighter, more flexible racquets which can feel like a wire coat hanger. The stability is noticeable on all shots and the sweetspot feels unusually large for a 90 sq. in. head. I think Yonex's exclusive rectangular shaped head does indeed work and results in a larger sweetspot.
Comfort
Wilson nSix-One Tour: This racquet can be strange in that it can feel stiff and flexible all at the same time. If you hit the sweetspot, it feels very flexible but if you hit it way off-center, you can definitely feel the stiffness in the head, which sometimes can be jarring. Overall though, this racquet has a somewhat muted feel to it. The weight helps to absorb a lot of the shock and vibration. The stability also adds to its comfort as there's not a lot of twisting in your hand. If you're not physically strong and in great physical shape, however, this heavy racquet may cause you arm and shoulder discomfort over a long match.
Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85: A very comfortable racquet with a soft but still crisp feel. The sheer weight, along with the racquet's graphite/kevlar composition, absorb a good deal of the shock and vibration. This racquet has that "old school", "wood-like" feel, which makes sense since it was first introduced when most tennis players were still using wood racquets. It's feel is flexible by today's standards, and does not have that overly stiff and harsh feel of many of today's more modern racquets. As with the nSix-One Tour, however, the weight may cause shoulder discomfort if you're not in good physical shape or are not used to swinging a 13 oz. racquet.
Slazenger Pro X-1: A pretty comfortable racquet despite its stiffness. Slazenger's new System X technology inside the handle seems to work well in absorbing a lot of the shock and vibration at impact, thereby, giving this racquet a very solid feel. You can still feel the stiffness, however. It's just that it's not as harsh as most stiff racquets tend to feel. A very strange anomaly in tennis racquets. Not as much of that "plow-through" feel as with the two Wilsons but that's expected since this is a lighter racquet.
Yonex RDX 500 Mid: I actually found this racquet to also have a "wood-like" feel similar to the PS 6.0 85, even though this would be considered a modern racquet with the latest technologies. It has a soft and flexible feel that can be best described as "sweet". The large sweetspot also means that you experience this feel pretty much anywhere on the stringbed that you hit the ball. This is probably the most comfortable feeling racquet out of the four. I would describe it as a lighter, modern, more forgiving version of the PS 6.0 85. Looks like we've come full circle.
Spin
Wilson nSix-One Tour: If you're strong enough, this racquet is fairly easy to generate spin with. Of course, you need to have the upper body strength to whip the racquet head quickly to produce the spin. Spin serves were deep and penetrating. Both slice and topspin groundstrokes were deep and controlled, although backhand slices were not as good as with my usual PS 6.0 95, as the ball seemed to sit up more. The weight and 16x19 string pattern of this racquet produces very heavy groundstrokes. A great racquet for hitting very heavy and penetrating balls.
Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85: Probably the least spin friendly out of the four racquets. I think the small head size just makes it more difficult to hit heavy and consistent topspin with from the baseline. It can be done but it just requires so much more work since you just don't have as much stringbed surface area to brush up on the ball with. Slice shots, though, were pretty good. I also had no problems in generating spin on slice and kick serves. I think on serves the maneuverability of the small head along with the headlight balance offsets the smaller stringbed surface area by allowing you to whip through the racquet head quickly and to easily snap your wrist to produce spin.
Slazenger Pro X-1: A very spin friendly racquet. The open 16x18 string pattern, the large string surface area, the aerodynamic thin beam, and the headlight balance all contribute to its excellent spin potential. Both topspin and slices were pretty easy to hit. Well timed slices, in particular, were very deep and penetrating, and very effective. However, if your timing was just a bit off, the ball tended to sit up. Spin serves were also fairly easy to produce.
Yonex RDX 500 Mid: Probably the most spin friendly of the four. Also has an open 16x18 string pattern, and the flex of this racquet makes it easy to produce spin with. Topspin, slices, slice and kick serves were all very easy to hit. The excellent feedback that this racquet provides also allows you to adjust your spin level for each shot. Although this is a low powered racquet, its spin ability still allows you to keep the ball deep and force errors or to hit winners using heavy spin.
Final Thoughts:
Wilson nSix-One Tour: This is probably the closest thing to what Roger Federer actually uses on tour. If your style of play is like Federer's, and you like to hit the ball hard from the baseline, mix in some serve-and-volley, and you're pretty strong and in good physical shape, then you should consider this racquet. Bottom line: This is an aggressive racquet for aggressive all-court players. Best suited for strong 5.0 to 7.0 players that can generate their own power with a heavy racquet.
Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85: A blast from the past! If you liked the way wood racquets felt and played, you'll like this racquet. It certainly didn't hurt Pete Sampras to use this racquet to win his 14 Grand Slams. Yes, it's a demanding racquet but the sweet feel is unmatched. If you're an advanced player with well-honed, full, fast strokes and can hit the sweetspot consistently with a small 85 sq. in. head, then you should consider this precision instrument. Players who need more help from their racquets should look elsewhere. Bottom line: Best suited for strong 5.0 to 7.0 players that can generate their own power with a heavy racquet with a small head.
Slazenger Pro X-1: This is a well-rounded racquet with a very solid feel. It can do most things pretty well with an added boost of power. If you're a Wilson ProStaff 6.1 Classic or Hyper ProStaff 6.1 user looking for a lighter package, you should take a look at this racquet. Probably a little better suited for serve-and-volley players more than pure baseline players. Especially good if you like that stiff, dead, muted, vibration-less feel. Bottom line: Best suited for 4.0 to 6.0 players that want a lighter, classic headlight player's racquet with some added power.
Yonex RDX 500 Mid: Good choice for players looking for a flexible, lighter player's racquet with a traditional feel. If you liked the feel of the PS 6.0 85 or Head Prestige Classic, you'll probably like the feel of this racquet. If you like the feel of a stiff, modern racquet with lots of power (e.g., Babolat Pure Drive, etc.), you probably won't like this racquet. However, don't let the 90 sq. in. head size scare you as it does indeed play larger due to its generous sweetspot. Bottom line: Best suited for 4.0 to 6.0 players looking for a solid player's racquet with lots of feel and control.
A Last Word:
I liked the nSix-One Tour, the X-1, and the RDX 500 Mid quite a bit (the PS 6.0 85 was just too demanding). All are very good racquets with pros and cons to each but more pros than cons. In fact, these three racquets are good enough that I would seriously consider switching to one of them from my PS 6.0 95. The question is: Which one?
| Comfort |
| Yonex RDX 500 Mid | 80 |
| Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85 | 77 |
| Slazenger Pro X-1 | 76 |
| Wilson nSix-One Tour | 72 |
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| Control |
| Yonex RDX 500 Mid | 84 |
| Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85 | 80 |
| Wilson nSix-One Tour | 78 |
| Slazenger Pro X-1 | 76 |
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| Groundstrokes |
| Wilson nSix-One Tour | 82 |
| Slazenger Pro X-1 | 78 |
| Yonex RDX 500 Mid | 77 |
| Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85 | 76 |
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| Maneuverability |
| Slazenger Pro X-1 | 82 |
| Yonex RDX 500 Mid | 70 |
| Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85 | 64 |
| Wilson nSix-One Tour | 58 |
|
| Power |
| Slazenger Pro X-1 | 75 |
| Wilson nSix-One Tour | 66 |
| Yonex RDX 500 Mid | 62 |
| Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85 | 60 |
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| Serve Returns |
| Slazenger Pro X-1 | 76 |
| Wilson nSix-One Tour | 75 |
| Yonex RDX 500 Mid | 74 |
| Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85 | 72 |
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| Serves and Overheads |
| Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85 | 84 |
| Slazenger Pro X-1 | 80 |
| Wilson nSix-One Tour | 78 |
| Yonex RDX 500 Mid | 76 |
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| Slice |
| Slazenger Pro X-1 | 82 |
| Yonex RDX 500 Mid | 81 |
| Wilson nSix-One Tour | 76 |
| Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85 | 74 |
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| Stability |
| Wilson nSix-One Tour | 82 |
| Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85 | 79 |
| Slazenger Pro X-1 | 78 |
| Yonex RDX 500 Mid | 77 |
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| Topspin |
| Yonex RDX 500 Mid | 80 |
| Slazenger Pro X-1 | 78 |
| Wilson nSix-One Tour | 76 |
| Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85 | 62 |
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| Touch/Feel |
| Yonex RDX 500 Mid | 86 |
| Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85 | 84 |
| Wilson nSix-One Tour | 82 |
| Slazenger Pro X-1 | 78 |
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| Volleys |
| Slazenger Pro X-1 | 86 |
| Yonex RDX 500 Mid | 83 |
| Wilson nSix-One Tour | 74 |
| Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85 | 72 |
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| Overall |
| Slazenger Pro X-1 | 82 |
| Yonex RDX 500 Mid | 81 |
| Wilson nSix-One Tour | 80 |
| Wilson ProStaff 6.0 85 | 76 |
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| Playtest date: November, 2004. |
| All content copyright 2007 Tennis Warehouse. |