Racquet Playtest Comparison:

About the play testerAbout the racquets

Name: Netman on the Talk Tennis message boards

Playing Level: 3.5

Regular racquet, string & tension: Pro Kennex 5g modified to 11.7 oz, 12 pts HL. Strung with Gosen SM 17 at 55. Backup is Dunlop MaxPly McEnroe modified to weigh 11.7 oz. Both have Yonex Supergrap overgrips.

Tell us about your game: Mostly doubles on hard courts. Prefer to serve and volley. Swing fast and generate own power. Serve flat and slice, continental grip. FH and BH Volley continental. One hand BH, topspin and slice. FH mainly flat and slice, have added some topspin. BH is my primary weapon on both groundstrokes and volleys. Use angles, spins and placement to construct points, not a baseline basher.

Test scenarios:

Scenario 1: Used all racquets in a series of stroke drills from baseline and net. Rotated racquets every 5 minutes.

Scenario 2: 3 sets of doubles. Used each racquet for one set

Scenario 3: Prince ball machine. Set at 4.5 level, random FH/BH program which generates a mixture of spins, placement and speeds. 100 balls each frame. Mix of ground strokes, half volleys and volleys. Then hit 60 serves with each frame.

All racquets weights matched TW published weight. All were strung with Wilson Sensation 17. Was not provided tension info. I did not use vibration dampeners. Added an overgrip to all 3 which added 4 grams of weight.

Power

Pro Kennex Ki 10 - Having used the Laver Type S a few years ago I was looking forward to testing this one. The Type S was a wonderful serve & volley racquet but hard on my shoulder and arm. The Ki 10 looks essentially like a Type S with Kinetic. The hope was it would play like a more joint friendly Type S. In some ways it did, but overall differed a good bit. The Type S excelled at hitting big, flat shots. The Ki 10 was more suited to hitting big topspin shots. The sweetspot is large, but tended to be a bit hot, causing balls to fly when not enough spin was added. It was easy to generate topspin to tame shots, but it required a good rip to get pace and depth. Serves. Not a power serving stick, but generated good spin. I could hit flat serves deep in the box but they lacked pace. However slice was easy to come by. Adding some slice made it easy to hit pinpoint placement and sent serves jumping up into the returner. Volleys. Nice volley stick. Good preparation was rewarded with solid, well placed volleys. However power was lacking due to the lighter frame weight and it was pushed around by hard hit shots.

Wilson nPro Surge - An interesting design. It is very stiff, very light, has a small, hot sweetspot and provides almost no feel. There is power in this racquet; it's just hard to control. When I did occasionally hit the sweetspot, the ball just rocketed off. I stuck at least two line drives into the back fence. I needed to hit with a lot of topspin to keep balls in play. Serves: I could serve with this one if I really cut the ball hard. When I did this, the serve dropped in with good speed and would jump off the court. I could not hit flat serves with any consistency. Volleys: On volleys the light weight and stiffness makes for a frame with little power and no touch. I found any volley other than perfect strikes barely clearing the service boxes. Hard hit shots really push it around.

Volkl DNX-8 - Basically felt like a lot like a 27 inch version of the BB10 I tested last month, but with more stability. Most powerful of the three. At first everything I hit was out of the court. So I slowed down my swing a bit to more of a medium pace and was rewarded with a solid hit and a deep ball. I felt like I could stay out on the court all day since I wasn't having to work hard to get good deep shots. Pretty easy to impart topspin on the ball. Serves. A smooth, medium paced swing rewards you with a solid hit and a deep serve. Another frame that can give you big spin. You can also hit powerful flat serves using the big wrist snap that can be generated due to the lighter weight. Volleys. You can react quickly to shots at the net, and the huge sweetspot means everything goes back into play with pace. Only downside is that the lighter weight means the DNX-8 can get pushed around by hard shots.

Control

Pro Kennex Ki 10 - Control on topspin shots is good. Had to take some pace off on flat shots to keep them in play. Slice and under spin were tougher to control. Both tended to sit up and overshoot the target. Serves. I could put the ball on a dime with reasonable power and spin. Return of serve requires good preparation and taking the ball early. It is easy to pick up half volleys and return them with pace and precision. Very maneuverable at the net. The flexy throat helps with volley control and placement. Volleys require good preparation and a firm wrist, as the Ki 10 can get pushed around by hard hit shots.

Wilson nPro Surge - Control takes some work with this frame. I needed to add a good amount of top spin on the ball or it was heading for the fence. Slice and underspin were tough to control due to the lack of feel. Miss the sweetspot, which is very easy, and the ball just died on the strings. This came into play a lot more on volleys and rushed shots when there wasn't time for proper setup. On serves, spin was easy to generate which helps with control. Without lots of spin, serves went way out of the box. As mentioned earlier, the light weight, stiffness and lack of feel made volleying a random event. Very hard to control where the ball was going. Plus you needed to punch it hard to get any depth and weight, which further compromised control. Service returns were easy to block back, but lacked pace. Hard hit balls pushed the Surge around. The lack of feel and stiffness also compromised control on any type of touch shot.

Volkl DNX-8 - You can move the ball around with topspin, slice and under spin. Take a little more pace off and you can flatten out the shot without fear of it going long. Was able to hit big slice and topspin serves with good movement on them and depth in the box. Return of serve is easy and even blocked returns had pace and depth. Volleys were crisp and precise with this racquet and it was easy to hit short angles. Reaction and stab volleys were easy to hit and the huge sweetspot meant everything was put back in play with some pace.

Maneuverability

Pro Kennex Ki 10 - Found this racquet to be well weighted and balanced. Maneuverability was very good, especially at the net. Very quick on half volleys and reaction shots at the net. Did not feel as maneuverable as the Volkl.

Wilson nPro Surge - The light weight of this racquet makes it easy to get around. I could easily generate a lot of racquet head speed. Which was good since about the only thing I could do well with it was hit topspin groundstrokes and slice serves.

Volkl DNX-8 - The DNX-8 is a beautifully balanced racquet that feels and swings lighter than its static weight would suggest. This coupled with the solidity of the frame makes it very easy to hit deep, well placed shots over and over. It also makes the DNX-8 very quick at the net. Even reaction volleys and half volleys are easy to control. Regardless of your court position, the DNX-8 gives that sense of confidence that you can recover quickly, even if you guessed wrong on the shot.

Stability

Pro Kennex Ki 10 - This racquet has a nicely sized sweetspot but it is centered toward the upper end of the hoop. The Kinetic technology makes for a solid hit when you find the sweetspot. However, shots outside the sweetspot resulted in a lot of vibration and a fairly weak shot, a bit of a surprise on a Kinetic frame. A little lead on the head would probably help.

Wilson nPro Surge - As noted earlier this is a very stiff and light frame. It actually feels solid on cleanly struck balls, but miss the small sweetspot and you get shock and vibration that reaches all the way to your shoulder.

Volkl DNX-8 - It feels like the entire head is the sweetspot on this frame. The racquet feels rock solid and plays much heavier than its actual weight. It is very hard to unsettle this frame, with even desperation stabs getting back over the net with some pace. The DNX technology really seems to deliver on the promise of an 11 oz frame that plays like a 12 oz one.

Comfort

Pro Kennex Ki 10 - A nice solid hit when you find the sweetspot. Mishits jolt the arm which was a surprise since the Kinetic frames I play have never done this before. The thin throat really flexes and I think that contributes to shock and the low power on balls hit outside the sweetspot. This was something I noted when playing the Type S.

Wilson nPro Surge - It is very stiff, very light, low powered, has a small sweetspot and no feel. Even though it has no feel, it jolts my arm on almost every shot. On top of that I had to swing hard to get any kind of pace, which just amplifies the shock and vibration when I missed the rather small sweetspot. Not for the weak of joint.

Volkl DNX-8 - Plush ride. Even though this is a mid-weight, medium stiffness frame, it is very comfortable. It feels stiff, but you rarely feel any shock or vibration, except on shots near the frame. As indicated earlier, I felt like I could stay on the court all day without tiring as much since the DNX-8 requires less effort to generate pace and depth than the typical 11 oz. frame.

Spin

Pro Kennex Ki 10 - Easy to generate topspin from the baseline. Slice and under spin were tougher to control. Both tended to sit up and overshoot the target. You can put plenty of spin on serves. You can get decent under spin on volleys as long as you prep well.

Wilson nPro Surge - Topspin is easy to create, but control of the spin was not very easy. Don't even think about trying to rip a flat shot. It will simply shoot off and keep going until it runs into something solid (like your opponent or the back fence). It was easy to put big spin on serves. I had little luck with slice or under spin shots, probably due to the lack of feel.

Volkl DNX-8 - You can hit any kind of spin you wish from the baseline. It is particularly good at flattening out a groundstroke. I could hit a hard, flat ball without too much concern of the ball flying off. You can put plenty of spin on serves. Sliced backhands stayed low and it was easy to hit with depth. Under spin can be added to volleys easily. Drop shots are easy to place, but tended to sit up a bit.

TECHNOSPEAK AND FIT/FINISH:

Pro Kennex Ki 10 - Typical Pro Kennex high quality construction. Big bold lettering lets everyone know what frame you are playing. Interesting electric pea soup green color with black and white accents. Definitely stands out.

Wilson nPro Surge - Solid construction. Same electric pea soup green color has the Ki 10 with black and white accents. Must have been a fire sale on this paint color. Understated lettering offsets the "in your face" color.

Volkl DNX-8 - Another beautifully crafted Volkl frame with a high quality finish in metallic red with silver and black accents. Bold silver lettering. Both Volkl frames I have tested have the look and feel of high dollar, luxury items.

SUMMARY:

The numerical rankings are based on how these three racquets related to each other. As you can probably tell, I really liked the Volkl. When I first picked it up I thought it was too light and would not suit my game. Throughout the testing I kept coming back to it again and again, always choosing it when in a tight spot during match play. A very versatile racquet that would suit either a doubles specialist or an all court singles player. If I ever wanted to try a lighter frame, this would be at the top of the list. The Pro Kennex is also a nice racquet, but don't expect it to play like a Laver Type S with Kinetic. Its lighter weight made it tougher to generate the pace and hard hit flat shots I prefer. It was too easily pushed around at the net and did not generate the kind of pace I use to get on serves when using the Type S. If you like frames like the Pure Drive, but want something easier on the elbow, the Ki 10 is worth a try. I'm not sure what to say about the Surge. I simply could not get comfortable with it. Its very stiff, very light, has a small, hot sweetspot and almost no feel. It jolts your arm on almost every shot. Seems best suited for players who rely on massive topspin. I thought the original Surge was a decent racquet. Not sure what Wilson did to make this one so different, but they might want to revisit the original design.

Groundstrokes
DNX-8 85
Ki 10 80
Surge 70
Control
DNX-8 85
Ki 10 82
Surge 70
Comfort
DNX-8 90
Ki 10 85
Surge 60
Power
DNX-8 85
Ki 10 80
Surge 80
Stability
DNX-8 95
Ki 10 85
Surge 70
Maneuverability
DNX-8 90
Ki 10 85
Surge 80
Topspin
DNX-8 85
Ki 10 82
Surge 80
Slice
DNX-8 80
Ki 10 80
Surge 65
Volleys
DNX-8 80
Ki 10 80
Surge 65
Touch/Feel
DNX-8 80
Ki 10 75
Surge 60
Serves and Overheads
DNX-8 90
Ki 10 85
Surge 80
Serve Returns
DNX-8 90
Ki 10 80
Surge 75
Fit & Finish
DNX-8 95
Ki 10 80
Surge 80
Overall
DNX-8 90
Ki 10 80
Surge 70


Playtest date: March, 2006.
All content copyright 2006 Tennis Warehouse.