ProKennex Ki 10 Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 78

The whippy feel of the ProKennex Ki 10 from the baseline was confirmed and praised by every playtester. Familiar with the ProKennex Kinetic technology, Tiffani said, "I've been a fan of several ProKennex racquets in the past, so I'm always happy to take a new one out for a spin. When I picked up this Ki 10 I could hear the familiar sound of the Kinetic technology. It's something I never notice once I start playing, but I like to always give the racquet a good shake for fun before heading out to play. On the court, this racquet swings really fast -- faster than the 313 swing weight would indicate. I found myself ahead of ball initially, but after I adjusted I came to really appreciate how quickly I could whip this racquet around. I generated good pace and spin because of how fast this racquet swung. It didn't have the plow through something heavier would have, so I relied on ball placement to work through points. The feel is firm but comfortable when strung with a multifilament, and this racquet is relatively stable considering the weight."

Mark found his baseline experience to be similar to Tiffani's. He noted, "At a strung weight of around 10.7 ounces, I definitely expected a maneuverable set-up with the Ki 10, and I hoped that it would feel pretty stable as well. I pretty much got what I expected. I really liked how easily the Ki 10 cut through the air when I swung it from the baseline. At first my shots were landing a little short, but once I adjusted my swing a little I was getting the depth I need to construct a point. Access to spin was easy with the Ki 10's 16x19 pattern, and for a racquet that weighs a little less than 11 ounces, it was stable against the heavier struck ball."

Unlike Tiffani, the ProKennex technology was foreign to Karly. She offered, "This was my first time hitting with ProKennex's Kinetic System technology, which was really noticeable when I first picked it up. I thought I'd need to get used to the sound and feeling of the micro-bearings moving within the frame, but it didn't distract me at all. Instead, I needed more time adjusting to the Ki 10 because it was so whippy. The Ki 10 was very light and swung much faster than what I'm used to. I was making contact too early and spraying balls out if I tried to go for big shots. I needed several hitting sessions to get the hang of its maneuverability. While I liked that it was fast and easy to swing (which made for good spin, too), the racquet felt too light and powerful for me. I thought it needed more weight because it lacked stability and sufficient plow through. It didn't offer enough mass to drive through my strokes smoothly, and on contact the racquet fluttered in my hand. I think the lightweight feel also made it hard for me to put depth on my shots -- many of my groundstrokes landed near the service box."

Chris agreed that the challenges of such a light swinging racquet is having to find a way to hit a penetrating ball, but he found that the flip side could be rewarding, too. He explained, "With its super light and fast feel, the Ki 10 was a very easy racquet to swing from the baseline. I could generate a lot of racquet head speed, which helped me get a lot of spin. While hitting heavy was more of a challenge, finding angles was super easy. I was able to use the spin I was getting to make the ball dip sharply and pull my opponents off court. I also had good depth control on my lobs and touch shots, despite the racquet's dampened feel. After a month of hitting I much preferred the response of this racquet with a multifilament string. My favorite set-up was with Wilson Optimus at mid tension. The result was pleasingly crisp groundstrokes, and the Optimus helped add some power when I was looking to get the ball away."

Volleys - Score: 77

The Ki 10's maneuverability and weight at the net were talking points for the playtesters. Chris' experience with the Ki 10 at net was bittersweet, and he preferred this racquet for his baseline game. He said, "The Ki 10 provided ample control at net, but volleys and serves were where I struggled the most. I prefer a much heavier racquet for both shots. I needed more mass to help me dig out low and stretch volleys. I found punching through the ball more helped improve the response. Adding a tad more swing was easy on high and sitter volleys, but tougher on reaction and stretch volleys. Still, I felt like I volleyed pretty well with this racquet and managed to successfully finish off a winning percentage of points at net."

Because of its mobility, Karly favored hitting volleys with the ProKennex Ki 10 more than groundstrokes. She said, "I was able to move the racquet quickly in any direction and set up for the next shot in plenty of time. It made hitting reaction volleys look easy. The natural power was also there without being too overwhelming, making the Ki 10 a nice point-and-shoot racquet. All I had to do was move it into position and it did most of the work for me. However, the instability continued to be an issue for me. Like it did at the baseline, the Ki 10 fluttered in my hands too much on contact at net."

Tiffani really appreciated how quickly she could get the Ki 10 into position. She noted, "I liked this racquet for its simplicity at net and I didn't want to make things too complicated, so I stuck to blocking back volleys rather than trying to feather shots with touch. I didn't have too many issues with the weight. It was only when I was stretched out wide and didn't make solid contact with the ball that I missed the stability a heavier racquet would provide."

Mark, on the other hand, thought the Ki 10 offered more than enough stability at the net. He said, "Getting the racquet into position on time was not an issue, and the Ki 10 was stable too, as long as the ball was traveling at less than freeway speeds. When I took the Ki 10 with me to the local public courts, where there is a mix of player types, mainly in the 4.0 or lower range, it allowed me to be a wizard at net."

Serves - Score: 73

It was when they were serving that our testers would have liked some extra weight in this racquet. Karly raved about how easy it was to swing the ProKennex Ki 10 up and over her shoulder. She offered, "I could get great racquet head speed for some extra pace with this racquet. I also wasn't overwhelmed by that power. I still had decent control, and I was able to place my serves where I wanted. While the power was good, the Ki 10 didn't have enough mass to hit huge serves, which I noticed the most on my second serves. The maneuverability allowed me to put good spin on kick serves, but I noticed they floated and hung in the air more than usual. I wasn't able to drive the Ki 10 through the ball with enough force to produce an extremely aggressive serve."

Chris agreed that there was a trade-off between the increased acceleration and the lack of force. He said, "I got more power from the Ki 10 once I stuck to multifilament strings, but I still missed the power of my Babolat Pure Drive Plus. Again, getting spin was easy since the racquet felt so fast and maneuverable. I could accelerate the Ki 10 easily and turn that racquet head speed into some solid slice. I was getting nice action on my slice serve out wide, and I used that serve well throughout the playtest."

Similarly, Tiffani was impressed by how easy this racquet was to swing. She noted, "It went up over my head easily. However, I like a little heavier racquet for serving because heavier racquets pull through my swing more readily. I was forcing my serves a bit with this racquet. I was hitting with decent pace, but this was my least successful shot with the Ki 10."

Mark also commented that this lightweight racquet hindered his ability to create the desired force on his serve. He said, "My consistency on serve was very good with the ProKennex Ki 10, but due to the fact that it is a pretty light racquet, I had to work a bit harder to get the sort of velocity that I wanted."

Returns - Score: 80

Stability and maneuverability are often factors for our testers when returning serves, and with the ProKennex Ki 10 being such a lightweight racquet, it's no surprise that more than one playtester made note of those aspects. Hitting returns is where Mark was really able to take advantage of the weight of the Ki 10. He said, "Usually I chip the serve back into play, but I was able to take a more confident swing through the return due to this racquet's combination of weight and balance."

Tiffani's returns were a lot like her groundstrokes. She said, "I could really get the racquet around quickly and was actually surprised that I was ahead on some returns. The mobility gave me confidence to try to do more with my returns, and I was moving my shots around more than I usually do. I just felt like I had a lot more time to react. As I said earlier, this racquet had some nice stability for being under 11 ounces strung."

Karly felt most confident when returning serves with the Ki 10 because of how easy it was to swing. She said, "I could move the racquet extremely fast and get into position instantly. Setting up in time to hit a return, no matter how aggressive the server, was never a problem. I loved getting ready to hit serves so quickly. However, like all the other areas of the court I think the racquet needed more weight to eliminate its unstable feel. I felt some harsh vibrations on contact, and if I hit outside the sweetspot, the racquet felt dead and my shots landed short. I really had to concentrate to make good contact in the center of the stringbed, but luckily I didn't have to focus on setting up in time, too."

Chris expected his aggressive returns to work well with this racquet due to its maneuverability, but he was pleasantly surprised at how well he could chip returns. He explained, "Usually light racquets get pushed around too much on block and chip returns against heavy serves, but the Ki 10 held up well. I was able to get all of my returns firing to an acceptable standard during this test. The racquet felt comfortable, and I had good confidence when going after the ball."

Overall - Score: 77