Prince Textreme Tour 100T Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - 83

Controllable power and easy access to spin made the Textreme Tour 100T a solid match for our team of playtesters at the baseline. The addition of Textreme made the Textreme Tour 100T more stable than the version it replaces, the Tour 100T, which was a pleasant surprise when grinding out baseline points. Chris really enjoyed this racquet off the ground and thought it was a great fit for a 4.5 level player like himself. He explained, "It was easy to swing, the sweetspot was healthy, there was ample power and the racquet felt pretty solid for its weight. I liked the way I could easily accelerate the racquet through the strike zone. I was rarely late with this racquet even when I was pressured by my opponents. The speedy feel also made it easy to add spin or pace at will, which was perfect for when I was looking to make a quick transition from defense to offense. I liked the amount of topspin I was getting on both forehands and backhands. I thought Prince's Tour XC string was a perfect fit here because it upped the level of control and spin without taking away too much power."

Brittany noticed that the Textreme Tour 100T was easy to swing and made it easy for her to generate power. It took her two hitting sessions before finding her groove from the baseline. She said, "Once I was comfortable with the racquet my confidence increased and I could start going for my shots. According to my PlaySight data my groundstroke pace was around average. I was worried about stability since this racquet is light, but for the most part the stability held up from the baseline. I would have liked more plow through when hitting slices, but since that isn't a shot I hit often it wasn't really an issue. I found myself wanting a little more racquet mass when I was on defense, as there didn't seem to be much behind my ball when I had to reach for a ball."

Mark playtested this racquet alongside the heavier Prince Tour 95, and he was able to appreciate what the lighter Tour 100T had to offer. He said, "I feel I swing 11 ounce racquets a little differently than 12 ounce racquets. I expected the 11 ounce Tour 100T to feel like a hot rod in terms of it being a fast swinging racquet, but I didn't expect such a high level of stability. Within the first hour of play I was able to consistently impose my will by standing close to the baseline and clearing the net by 4-6 feet with my groundstrokes. My game is all about control, and I was able to do exactly that off the ground with this racquet. My slice backhand was not as effective, but that is something I do not really expect to get from a racquet in this weight range."

The first thing that struck Tiffani about the Textreme version of the Tour 100T was its updated cosmetic, which she liked, as well as the traditional grommets, which she also liked. She continued, "Although I didn't find this version as spin friendly as the 2014 version of the Tour 100T, I enjoyed the feel of this one much more. I preferred this racquet with a loosely strung poly or a softer string for added power. I didn't feel like I was hitting a very heavy ball and I liked using a livelier string to help produce more depth. The racquet swung quite quickly and felt comfortable on my arm, and I felt like I could take the ball early and move it around the court easily to take control of points. The only issue I had with it was when I was trying to hit quick pick-ups at the baseline. The Textreme Tour 100T just got pushed around in those instances."

Volleys - 80

The light, quick and maneuverable Textreme Tour 100T continued to get high praises at the net. Although one of the lighter specs we've hit with this year, our team seemed to have an easy time placing volleys exactly where they wanted. Tiffani also enjoyed the feel and directional control on her volleys. She said, "I'm used to a bit more 'stick' for put-away power at net than I found with this racquet, so I felt placement and touch were better options for me. I also experienced some instability with this racquet when I missed the sweetspot, although that didn't come as a surprise considering the racquet's weight."

Mark had almost mostly positive results when he went to the net, saying, "I loved this racquet anywhere near the net, with only the hardest of passing shots creating a slight flutter of instability."

When Brittany took the Textreme Tour 100T to the doubles court she struggled to get a consistent response due to the lighter weight. She explained, "Unfortunately, the light weight came into play here and there were times when I felt like the racquet was getting pushed around, especially when I hit outside the sweetspot. However, I feel the response has improved compared to previous Prince racquets I have hit with, and I felt more connected with the ball when it was making contact with the stringbed. The biggest positive up at net was that I was never late hitting a volley since the maneuverability was excellent. When I did have extra time I was punching the ball back deep in the court."

As already mentioned, this racquet is very fast and easy to maneuver. That let Chris have some fun at net in both singles and doubles. He said, "The feel was good. I was finding my targets when I was just looking to place the ball, and the response was soft enough to have me feeling dialed in on drop volleys. I really didn't have any complaints at net, but ideally would have liked a tad more mass to help me punch back defensive volleys. However, the racquet felt really impressive in stock form, and I was very happy when serve and volleying with it."

Serves - 83

Consistently finding adequate power and spin with the Textreme Tour 100T our playtesters didn't have many complaints when it came to serving. Brittany enjoyed how easy it was to generate racquet head speed and hit flat first serves. She said, "Although I couldn't necessarily hit heavy kick serves since I was missing a bit of plow through, I took the conservative route and hit mostly slice serves into the body. I never really gained a lot of confidence on my second serve so I was taking a little off my first serve. I was hitting two medium paced serves that were in between a first and second serve. According to my PlaySight data, my serve would peak around the low 90s and was averaging in the low/mid-80s."

Easy power and spin were a winning combination for Chris on his serve. He said, "When going deep into a match I liked how I was able to keep the pace of my serves up since it required very little effort with this racquet. My slice serve out wide was working very well thanks to the combination of pace and spin. I also had good success hitting slice serves into the returner's body. My flat serves had solid pace, and again, they didn't require much effort. Needless to say, this was a fun racquet to serve with!"

Mark found the Textreme Tour 100T to shine when serving. He mentioned, "The 11 ounce weight was easy for me to swing overhead. Add in the softer frame, a reasonably thin beam width and the open pattern and my results when serving were consistent and effective."

Tiffani also served well with the Textreme Tour 100T. She said, "I have to say I'm surprised with how well I served with the Tour 100T. I was hitting with power more easily than I could on my groundstrokes. Like my groundstrokes, however, I didn't find the spin coming as easily as I did with the previous version. With the quick swing I felt comfortable picking my spots in the service box and moving the ball around."

Returns - 80

With the quick response of the Textreme Tour 100T, and its new level of stability, our playtesters could block back returns defensively and were also effective when taking big, offensive cuts. Mark felt like he could do almost anything with his return, and said, "The maneuverability was there for me to either hug the baseline or chip the return back into play. I could also be effective by standing back and swinging through aggressively."

"The fast feel of this racquet worked great on returns," said Chris. "I was able to take a good cut at a lot of serves with this racquet. All of the spin I was getting helped me maintain control even when I was taking a good rip at the ball. When blocking back a fast serve there was just enough stability to allow me to be slightly off center, yet still hit a decent return. I think I could easily play around with the weight/balance of this racquet to make it a perfect fit for me because the swingweight felt very good, but I'd like to try it a little more head light."

Tiffani can always appreciate a maneuverable racquet when returning and she loved how quickly this racquet swung through the contact zone. She said, "With this racquet I really needed to rely on that ease of swing. When I didn't swing out and attack the ball my returns landed too short or with too little pace on them to be effective. My return game relied on my taking good cuts at the ball with this racquet. Anything else generally left me a sitting duck."

For the most part, Brittany also thought this racquet did its job when returning serves. She explained, "I could step in, get my racquet back and hit an aggressive return with little effort. I didn't have to do much to hit an effective return. However, when the time came to return some bigger first serves I could feel the racquet twisting slightly in my hand. I did expect this due to the lighter weight, so I didn't dwell on it and was able to adapt for the most part. I personally would have liked a little more accuracy from this racquet when returning, especially in doubles."

Overall - 81

Technical Specifications Length 27 inches 69 centimeters Head Size 100 square inches 645 square centimeters Weight 10.8 ounces 306 grams Balance Point 13 inches 33 centimeters 4pts Head Light Construction 22mm / 23mm / 22mm / Composition Graphite & Textreme String Pattern 16 Mains / 18 Crosses

Babolat RDC Ratings Score Grade Flex Rating 62 Range: 0-100 Swing Weight 317 Range: 200-400

Scores

(Scores are determined by averaging individual play test scores)

Playtester Profiles

Chris: 4.5 all-court player currently using the Wilson Six.One 95S. Chris uses a full-western forehand grip, has a fast swing style and hits a one-handed backhand.

Tiffani: 4.0 baseliner with a semi-western forehand and two handed backhand. Currently using a Babolat Pure Drive.

Mark: 5.0 lefty all-court player with a one-handed backhand. He currently plays with the Wilson Steam 99S.

Brittany: Open level player with a semi-western forehand and a two-handed backhand. She currently plays with the Yonex EZONE Ai 100.

Review date: February 2015. If you found this review interesting or have further questions or comments please contact us.

All content copyright 2015 Tennis Warehouse.

Click here to see all Tennis Warehouse reviews