Racquet Playtest Comparison:
| About the play tester | About the racquets |
Name:NoBadMojo on the Talk Tennis Message Boards
Playing Level: 5.0+ and Veteran Teaching Pro
Regular racquet, string & tension: Volkl Tour10MP, BowBrand mains/Prince Synthetic Duraflex crosses, 60 pounds usually. Fischer Vibrastop. leather grips w. Wilson Pro overgrip.
Tell us about your game:
Aggressive all court almost exclusively on the dirt. One hand backhand. Mostly eastern forehand. Strengths are serve and volley and a variety of spins and angles, but no longer serve and volley.
A word about each frame
SlazX1 - Crisp and solid, pinpoint control, and really good at everything. Impressive bat. All courters read on.
Estusa - Classic serve/volley frame with a retro feel. A sliced backhanders dream.
Volkl Tour 10 V-Engine - Plays like an oversize. A baseliners tool in large part, but adaptable to any game. I'll compare this a lot to my Tour10MP's below since some 10 series users may be interested in the comparison
Would like to preface my review by saying that I thought all 3 of the frames I playtested were good and solid, and I rate them in this order : SlazX1, Volkl, the Estusa. Obviously, some were better at some things than others. I am having troubles comparing these frames because they are very dissimilar to me, unlike the previous 4 I tested which seemed to have lots more similarities.
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I chose to playtest these in the following manner with each frame, and did the sequence over two different sessions: Cross court forehands, cross court backhands, off forehands, volleys (crosscourt deep and crosscourt angled, up the line, drop volleys), overheads, serves and service returns, open court drill (play points with no serve up to 11), and 2 two games of 7/11 (server needs 11 to win the game and returner 7). Also my hitting partner hit with these frames briefly so I could better tell what kind of ball the racquet hits (ie. Is it heavy, power levels, how the spin reacts to the court, etc).
Power
SlazX1 - I found the serving power to be terrific (the ball was jumping with lots of weight ), volley power fine, and least powerful from the ground. This frame yielded decent power with full swings from the baseline, but is more about the control. It was easy to get the ball deep from the ground, but the ball didn't seem heavy and penetrating. My volleys had punch to them, and serves were easy to hit deep in the service box. There was sufficient put a way power when presented with a weak short ball. Suggest stringing within their narrow specified range with a lively string (unless you are very strong). I liked returning serve with this racquet and was able to pop some returns because I was confident in the control.
VolklTour 10 V-Engine - The most powerful of the three, but the power was a bit erratic for me. I had several balls fly on me (this racquet doesn't let you get away with hitting a little late as much as some others do). Strong suit seemed to be big power on groundstrokes. This frame hits a heavy ball from the baseline and seemed to really kick in when you swing out. Serving power was just ok for me. This frame would work well with a number of strings at different tensions, but generally either a less lively string or a lively string at tighter tension seems ideal. Power level seems similar to that of the T10MP although seems to be a bigger on groundies with the V-Engine. .
Estusa Power Beam Braided - The least powerful of the three. You really need a long aggressive stroke and weight transfer with this frame to make it work. This was especially true with the slice backhand. At first I was hitting them into the middle of the net, but then I started taking very long swings with better weight transfer and the slices started really digging. It's fun to hit sliced BH's with this frame but you gotta really go for them. Someone with a compact swing wouldn't be able to work this frame well at all. Serving and volleying were this racquet's strong suits power wise, and I had trouble by hitting too many short and weaker balls with this frame from the back. A lower tension may have remedied this, but this racquet initially just felt dead to me. This is a racquet that requires you to do everything correct and in a classic sort of way. I suggest a lively string strung at mid tension.
Control
SlazX1 - In a word pinpoint. Precise on everything and I found myself quickly being confident with this frame and willing to hit out more knowing the ball was going just where I wanted it to. I could pinpoint the T when serving and also 'Y' serve really well, with lots of heat or spin. Volleys are crisp and precise and groundstroke control was exceptional.
Volkl Tour 10 V-Engine - As stated above, I didn't have excellent control with this frame (mostly from the ground). Also some volleys were flying on me and not feeling so precise. I didn't have great touch with this frame especially on volleys as the ball tended to fly on me and angled volleys just seemed to go wide on me no matter how much I sliced them. The T10 has much better control for me at similar tension. Tighter tension would have helped some.
Estusa Power Beam Braided - Control was pinpoint on serves and on volleys and ok but not great on groundstrokes (very headlight). This is not a baseliners frame.
Maneuverability
SlazX1 - The Slazenger kind of surprised me. When you hold her, she feels kind of heavy, but she is nice and easy to swing fast for me. Very easy to pop serves if you stay smooth and nice and maneuverable at net with enough mass to sting the volleys. Was able to take long full cuts from the ground without tiring. Even though this frame has heft and isn't very headlight, it was somehow pretty easy to move and I don't know why.
Volkl Tour 10 V-Engine - Felt a little sluggish to me. Would either be a little more headlight or more overall light for my tastes, and I think this swings about the same as the stock T10MP. I was expecting lighter swingweight as a new generation frame.
Estusa Power Beam Braided - Classic maneuverability by being very headlight but overall pretty substantial. Maneuverability is great for serves and volleys. I found it pretty sluggish when trying to hit over on my backhand, but it seemed fine on slices and TS forehands, and you really need the maneuverability because this is very much a make your own power frame from the ground. It's fun to use because you can take big cuts at the ball without worry of a sprayed ball.
Stability
SlazX1 - A very solid frame given it is fairly stiff. This frame requires a good ball strikerÉat least a 4.5 I would say. Mishits felt stiff but weren't really harsh which was a nice surprise. The sweetspot if of decent size. Doubtful this frame would be damaging to tender arms and wrists and shoulders in the long haul, but I would definitely use a softer string, not strung too tightly.
Volkl Tour 10 V-Engine - Very solid platform, and would be well suited for a 3.0 and up if they are strong enough to swing her fast for the duration. This axe is very easy to hit flush and there really didn't seem to be ways to hit it really awful to the point where you would get a nothing ball out of. Similar to the T10MP in that pretty much the entire stringbed feels like sweetspot, although the T10MP does seem to be more solid when struck high in the hoop.
Estusa Power Beam Braided - this one requires lots of precision and is more for a 5.0 and up. It's very broad in the shoulders though and that seemed to make it feel very solid. It's flexy enough to absorb the shock of a mis hit. Mis hits produced weak and short balls and this racquet was the most demanding of the 3 as far as finding the sweetspot and being penalized when you didn't.
Comfort
SlazX1 - A nice surprise. Was expecting it to be uncomfortable given it is a firmer playing frame, but it has a sweet feel to it. It was firm and precise but comfortable, and I found the feel very pleasant and addictive and not harsh. The grip was nicely rectangular in shape and of standard size. This frame has great touch for a firmer playing frame.
Volkl Tour 10 V-Engine - Very comfortable in the typical Volkl fashion, but a far different feel than the T10 standard. This frame feels a little 'noodley' in the upper hoop and stiffer in the throat and the T10 feels firmer in the hoop. This frame feels just a little sloppy to me, but maybe lovers of the C10 may like the feel of it. The grip is the typical very rectangular Volkl shape and is true to size. I was getting inconsistent ball feel within the sweetspot but not harsh by any stretch.
Estusa Power Beam Braided - A very classic feel almost reminding me of a woodie in that you could sense as though the frame was flexing but it still didn't feel whippy like wood. For you woodie lovers out there, this one may be a way to compete well and still have a classic feel. Excellent touch on drop volleys and short angles - great ball feel.
Spin
SlazX1 - Loved this frame for being able to produce a variety of spins. I could go heavy top to the backhand from either side and come to net, could go short and wide and spinny, could drive through the ball and hit a flattish ball, and also slice the backhand w. lots of spin Volkl Tour 10 V-Engine - Oddly, I didn't find this a really spin friendly frame in spite of the 16 mains pattern. I hit a slower spinning ball from the ground that had more weight to it. Hitting over on the backhand took more effort than with the Slaz. This could have been a function of the weight and balance of this frame that I found to be too neutral. It seems like a racquet that tries to be for everyone.
Estusa Power Beam Braided - Spin, spin, spin on the sliced backhand. If you take a long swing on that wing and lean into your slice you get something really awesome. The ball comes off hard and slides through the court staying very low. Spin factor was also excellent on the serves, and was easy to knife the volleys with underspin and have them dart through the court.
| Comfort |
| Tour 10 MP VE | 90 |
| Slazenger X1 | 80 |
| Estusa Power Braided | 75 |
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| Control |
| Slazenger X1 | 95 |
| Estusa Power Braided | 80 |
| Tour 10 MP VE | 75 |
|
| Groundstrokes |
| Tour 10 MP VE | 85 |
| Slazenger X1 | 75 |
| Estusa Power Braided | 75 |
|
| Maneuverability |
| Slazenger X1 | 80 |
| Estusa Power Braided | 80 |
| Tour 10 MP VE | 70 |
|
| Power |
| Tour 10 MP VE | 85 |
| Slazenger X1 | 75 |
| Estusa Power Braided | 75 |
|
| Serve Returns |
| Slazenger X1 | 90 |
| Tour 10 MP VE | 75 |
| Estusa Power Braided | 70 |
|
| Serves and Overheads |
| Slazenger X1 | 95 |
| Estusa Power Braided | 90 |
| Tour 10 MP VE | 75 |
|
| Slice |
| Estusa Power Braided | 90 |
| Slazenger X1 | 75 |
| Tour 10 MP VE | 75 |
|
| Stability |
| Tour 10 MP VE | 90 |
| Slazenger X1 | 80 |
| Estusa Power Braided | 70 |
|
| Topspin |
| Slazenger X1 | 90 |
| Estusa Power Braided | 75 |
| Tour 10 MP VE | 70 |
|
| Touch/Feel |
| Estusa Power Braided | 85 |
| Slazenger X1 | 80 |
| Tour 10 MP VE | 70 |
|
| Volleys |
| Estusa Power Braided | 90 |
| Slazenger X1 | 85 |
| Tour 10 MP VE | 70 |
|
| Overall |
| Slazenger X1 | 90 |
| Tour 10 MP VE | 80 |
| Estusa Power Braided | 75 |
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FOOTNOTES:
SlazX1- Would be for someone liking a firm but not as harsh frame with pinpoint control and plenty of power on the serve (perhaps a ProStaff 6.1 user not wanting the weight or harsher hit, and wanting a less demanding frame). I am contemplating making the move to this frame because of how it enhances my serve and because of the pinpoint control and variety of spins, and because my service return was better. This is a very classic looking frame , and should be far more popular because of its most excellent playability in all aspects of the game.
Tour 10 V-Engine - Had no quality that would enhance a player's strength like the other two frames. In typical Volkl fashion it has no weakness, but isn't really great at any one thing. It's a good solid all around frame designed for someone who can swing a fairly heavy frame, and best from the baseline IMO. Unusual feeling frame for a Volkl (like it has multiple personalities, and plays more like an oversize than a MP) Is not something that feels like the classic Volkl soft muted thud. The cosmetics are stunning on this one. This one may be ideal for someone transitioning in or out of a mid plus or oversize. .It truly feels like it is between the two. Bring on the Tour10Gen2!
Estusa Power Beam Braided - If I was still playing serve/volley tennis, I would be all over this one. This one is a throw back IMO.
| Playtest date: October, 2004. |
| All content copyright 2007 Tennis Warehouse. |