Racquet Playtest Comparison: RDX 500 vs Diablo vs Ki 5 vs 200g
Yonex RDX500MP - This racquet had more power from the baseline than I expected. Was able to take long smooth swings with this racquet and generate good power without feeling as though I was trying to hit hard. It was also easy to get a consistent response when hitting with different paces. If I was forced out of position or got lazy, it was pretty easy to snap off a squash shot or otherwise get something back that didn't land short in the court where it could be gobbled up. Serving, I found it wasn't nearly as easy to generate pace as it was with groundstrokes. Ditto for volleys - volleys just did not pierce the court. This racquet was phenomenal for me on the return of serve. I could mix up the returns and hit whatever I liked and also take a big cut when I had the time and smoke a bomb of a service return. This is the best backcourt racquet I can recall hitting with and would suggest this racquet to any baseliner. Effortless smooth controllable power from the baseline, and I think this racquet would play well at a variety of tensions and string types. Prince DiabloMP - Found the fun factor on this racquet to be very high...you could take big cuts at the ball because it is so headlight and because it was easy to spin, you could still get the ball to land in the court. I was expecting low powered since the racquet is overall fairly light and also very headlight and flexy, but I found it easy to hit deep groundstrokes with plenty of power and topspin and depth. Sliced backhands kind of just sat there for me though and didn't shoot through the court as well as with other racquets. Also, it had more power on serves than I expected. Ditto for volleys. Recovery shots were easy to hit with this racquet. Return of serve was ok but not special, and the slightly longer length made it a little easier to get jammed. I view this racquet as primarily a baseliners racquet, but would work for a baseliner who also relies on their serve and occasional forays into the net. Think this racquet would play best with a softer string, strung tightly. ProKennex Ki5 - This racquet has it all in the power department. Power is big but controllable, and for those who enjoy a big sound coming from a hit, this racquet makes a very loud pop when you hit out with it. This racquet can produce power on all the shots and hits a nice heavy ball. It's powerful from the back, volleys are sharp and piercing, and the thing serves like a beast. At first it gave me a false impression as to how fast the ball was actually traveling because the big sound makes it seem as though the ball is traveling faster than what it is. I revised the power level downward after my second session with it, but feel it has the most power of the 4 if you can swing it as fast as the rest. Serves had the 'splat factor' for me, where you could tell a noticeable difference between the other racquets, and my first serve was getting up in my hitting partners face w. really good pace. I could get my serve to land in the box and hit halfway up the backfence without feeling I was really having to hit with everything I had. I would recommend this racquet as well matched to any playing style, but particularly an all courter, because it does everything very well...an all courter whose serve is a big part of their game. Also think those loyal PK fans will want to jump on this one if you have been happily using older PK models with similar specs. I recently briefly hit w. one of the classic PK racquets (cant remember which?? 5G??) and it has a similar feel but the Ki5 is on steroids in comparisonJ. This racquet might be a good choice for the PureDrive players who are into the power and hitting a ball that makes a big sound, because it performs well on all the shots and is a far more comfortable racquet. It is harder to move than the PD however. The graphics are also stunning I think. Think this racquet may become boardy playing at the top end of the tension range and too powerful at the lower end. I think of this as a high mid range string job. Dunlop 200G - This is the lowest powered racquet of the ones I playtested and also lower powered than my T10Mp's. You can generate power with it, but you need to do it through weight transfer rather than arm swings and wrist snaps. It is a racquet that is more demanding, but if you consistently do everything right, you get rewarded with excellent results and good power. I view this racquet as an old schooler in relation to the other racquets I am playtesting. It is more old school (make your own power) than the T10MP which has sneaky power I think. I don't think it would lend itself well to the western gripping open stanced forehand crowd. I hit too many weak and short shots with this racquet because it is demanding to use. In all fairness, I think this is a racquet that plays best at low tensions, and the one I hit with is strung a couple pounds over mid-range. Too tight in my opinion. A looser stringbed would expand the sweetspot and the balls would be landing deep in the court and it would be easier to generate pace. This racquet cries out to be strung with gut at pretty low tension in my opinion. I would highly recommend this racquet to someone younger than me who is fit and strong, and who has good stroke production..an all courter because this racquet does everything really well if you are trained well enough to use her. To me, it's strong suits are serving and also groundstrokes. Yonex RDX500MP - I found the control on all shots to be really good. Most noteworthy was that you could vary spins and pace and come up with some really good angles with good precision from the backcourt. If your game is based upon mixing it up from the back, this racquet would be a great choice. Volleys are very easy to control, but not penetrating. Angle control on serves was precise but wasn't so easy to get the ball deep in the service box. Passing shots (not that they are as big a part of the game these days) are very precise Prince DiabloMP - I found control to be a little dicey with this racquet mostly because it seemed to have a smallish sweetspot, and also had a hotspot just south of the center of the head where the ball would fly on me. This came into play a lot more on volleys or other shots where I didn't have time for precise setup and racquet-work and ended up hitting lower in the stringbed than I would otherwise. It was easy to hit deep balls with this racquet and control was fine but not pinpoint. Serve wise, the control was good and it was easier to create an angle with my serve and also hit it deep in the service box. Volleys were easy to control with good punch. Service returns were controllable and I could mix it up pretty easily and hit a variety of service returns. ProKennex Ki5 - Control with this axe is excellent on everything, which was a nice surprise given its higher power level. I couldn't quite create the angles I could with the Yonex on groundstrokes, but could hit just as deep and with more power, and the ball was heavier. It was also easier to rip a flattish shot since the racquet has fewer propensities for spin than either the Yonex or Diablo. Was able to get good short angled serves with good work on them and also hit deep in the box. Volleys were crisp and precise with this racquet and it was easy to go deep or hit short angles. Dunlop 200G - Oddly, I found the control on this racquet to be good but not great and really no better than the PK or Yonex or my T10's. The stringbed is consistent and tight, but that really didn't yield the exceptional control for me that I anticipated. Control on everything was good for me but not exceptional, and I had trouble with depth control, but I think that was a function of the racquet being strung too tightly for my game. Yonex RDX500MP - Found this racquet to be well weighted and balanced and maneuverability was fine. I would consider this a nice light middle-weight contender. Enough mass to hit a heavy ball but headlight enough to be maneuverable. It seemed easiest to move for me on groundstrokes. Maneuverability on volleys was fine, and just average on serves, I thought. Prince DiabloMP - A very maneuverable racquet especially for being slightly longer. The racquet was also very maneuverable on volleys. The extra length is slightly noticeable. This racquet seems to be uniquely spec'd being longer, yet pretty low swingweight, fairly light, and also very headlight. I think it is one of those racquets that you will either quickly fall for or not. ProKennex Ki5 - Maneuverability I would say is good but not great. The racquet feels fairly headlight and has good mass to it. It is definitely harder to move fast than the Diablo and slightly less maneuverable than the Yonex but still easy to hit reflex volleys with and also to make a sudden adjustment when you get a bad bounce. Swingweight and balance seemed similar to that of my T10MP's. Dunlop 200G - Not as maneverable as the other racquets for sure, but pretty maneueverable for a light-heavyweight. Pretty difficult to hit a good recovery shot with this racquet when out of position. This is a racquet for a stronger trained person IMO. Someone who is fit enough to swing this fast over the course of a long session . . . I found that if you don't swing it fast and weight transfer, you don't get much at all on the ball, and you've hit a ball your opponent can take control of the point with. It is a racquet that you can not force shots with. You have to get in position, have early racquet work, and stay on rythym and swing out. Yonex RDX500MP - This racquet has a nicely sized sweetspot, but I found the sweetspot didn't extend quite up high enough for my liking. Hitting just north of the sweetspot resulted in a dead hit. Laterally, the sweetspot size seemed fine, and I found the stringbed to be consistent and predictable. I thought this was a stable racquet, but think all quality racquets are stable if you can find the sweetspot. I thought this was a very solid racquet. Prince DiabloMP - Found this racquet to be very solid considering its lack of mass in the head. I thought the sweetspot to be on the small side, and balls hit outside this sweetspot didn't twist the racquet around on me, but were pretty unpleasant, yet still somehow yielded a decent shot. ProKennex Ki5 - Very very solid racquet especially considering its stiffness must be quite a bit more than the other racquets I am playtesting and what I am currently using. The sweetspot is expansive like the Tour10MP, and I felt as though I couldn't miss it. Balls hit a little high in the stringbed (where I tend to hit), produced a solid and powerful response. This had the most generous sweetspot of the 4. Dunlop 200G - Very very solid racquet and generous sweetspot for it's 95 headsize. Mishits werent loaded with jarring shock. This is a classic feeling racquet...no surprises here. Yonex RDX500MP - A very comfortable racquet. Found the gripsize to be a little smaller than 'standard' but nicely rectangularly shaped . . . Mis-hits did not send any jarring shock. This racquet was nice and soft feeling but felt precise and crisp at the same time..a very sweet and comfortable feel and a very well made axe in my opinion. If you throw in touch/feel as an element of comfort this racquet had really excellent feel. You can feel the ball on the strings really well and hit droppers and cute little angles with ease. Prince DiabloMP - Balls hit in the smallish sweetspot yielded a very soft pleasant plush feel. There seemed to be a secondary sweetspot that produced good solid results, but kind of a tinny stiffer feel, and balls hit outside of the sweetspot were pretty jarring. This racquet gave me some twinges of pain in my wrist and I don't think I have a wrist problem. The pain could have been coming from a grip-shape that didn't suit me. The grip is very boxy and smaller than 'standard'. I am calling this racquet a mixed bag comfortwise because of the sweetspot size and I consider myself a very good ball striker. Wouldn't rate this racquet very highly in the touchy, feely department. ProKennex Ki5 - Given this is surely a stiff racquet, it is very comfortable. It feels both stiff and soft at the same time which seems like conflicting info, but I don't know how else to describe it. It would take some getting used to for someone who isn't accustomed to the PK feel. The grip is very standard in size and shape to me and was rectangular enough where grip changes were very natural. I think touch and feel is something that can be developed with this racquet unless you are already used to hitting with a stiffer racquet, then no problemo. Dunlop 200G - Have mixed feeling about this racquet comfortwise. It was bothering my shoulder a bit when serving, and I don't think I have anything other than the normal shoulder of a guy who has been banging serves for many years. Other than that, this racquet has classic comfort, but played a little firmer (not stiff) than what I thought it might. The grip shape and size were both within the realm of standard I think and very comfortable for me. Touch and feel shots were very excellent. It felt a lot like my Tour10MP's, but less forgiving and lower powered. Yonex RDX500MP - Any kind of spin you wish for is possible with this racquet. This is the best racquet I have ever tried for creating angles by working your spins from the ground. I found it also very good at flattening out a groundstroke and ripping it. I could hit a hard flattish ball without too much concern of the ball flying on me. Servewise, this is a very spin friendly racquet. Sliced backhands stayed low and penetrated the court and it was easy to hit with depth on all groundstrokes. Prince DiabloMP - Like the Yonex, spin was very easy to create, but not as easy to control the ball with the spin I created. It was easy to get a lot of spin on the serve for me and create angles. Also topspin lobs from both sides seemed to be much easier for some reason. ProKennex Ki5 - Spin was easy to produce but not as effortless as the Diablo or Yonex. The stringbed feels slightly denser. I had no trouble generating spin but liked this racquet because the topspin is a more penetrating topspin as opposed to a topspin that sits up more. Backhand slices and approach shots stayed down and dirty and pierced the court with good weight. Kick serves got up nicely, too. Dunlop 200G - Least spinnable of the lot. Like the PK, hits a more piercing ball, and hits the heaviest ball of the lot. Had no trouble spinning the ball, but looping topspin took quite a bit more effort than with the other racquets. This is a racquet more for a moderate spin player who wants to hit a heavy ball that shoots thru the court rather than a looping higher bouncing ball, although if you know how to produce spin, this racquet is certainly capable. I was also able to hit a high kicking serve with this racquet. Backhand slices stayed down and were penetrating.
FOOTNOTES: I am not so familiar w. the TW guidelines on these rating numbers. I rated these racquets more as they related to each other. Would most likely have rated the Dunlop above the Yonex and in the #2 position if the demo was strung more loosely and I was better conditioned and stronger because the Dunlop was better at serving and volleying than the Yonex. Would have rated the Prince above the Yonex if it had a more predictable stringbed, again because it was better at more shots than the Yonex. To me, a predictable and consistent stringbed is the most important factor in a racquet designed for the better player. None of these racquets would cause me to abandon my Tour10MP's, but if I were looking for something with a stiffer feel and more power, I would migrate to the PK Ki5 although I think this racquet would become pretty heavy feeling in a 3rd set tiebreaker on a hot summers day (for me anyway). Also, if I was a baseliner and didn't rely on my serve and my volley, I would embrace the Yonex and it had the added benefit of being a great service returner. I found all of these racquets to be very controllable, considering I only had a brief encounter with them. Hoping this helps.
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