Racquet Playtest Comparison:

About the play tester

About the racquets

Name: TripleB Playing Level: 4.5 Regular racquet, string & tension: Prince Original Graphite Mid; Mains: Luxilon ALU Power Fluoro @ 58 pounds, Crosses: Gosen OG Jim Courier Micro @ 56 pounds; 4 1/2 inch grip plus a Gamma Smart Grip overgrip Tell us about your game: All court player; full western forehand grip; two-handed backhand; heavy topspin and slice from both sides; medium length strokes; fast swing speed.

Racquet #1: Becker Pro

Weight: with 2 overgrips, rubber band dampner, and strung with a Kirschbaum Hybrix hybrid: 322.5 grams

Initial Thoughts (pre-court): great looking racquet, I like the orange/white combination, width looks similar to the Wilson nCode Open, handle (7.25 inches) a bit shorter than I typically like (about a half an inch shorter than the nCode Open I played with recently), feels slightly more head heavy than the 3 points headlight would indicate, you can tell the string pattern is much more open than the KBlades but not as much as you would think with the 16 vs. 18 mains.

Groundstrokes: Overall, groundstrokes with the Becker Pro were only slightly above average and were not good enough for me to use this racquet on a consistent basis. Although the comfort and stability of this racquet is far above average, I just couldn't get any consistency on my topspin groundstrokes to give me a high level on confidence. The results with my topspin groundstrokes, especially off the forehand side, were so varied that I wasn't sure whether the ball was going to fly with little topspin or dive right into the court with a great deal of spin. The lack of feel from the racquet, which seemed very muted even with the Kirschbaum Hybrix stringing, didn't help with shot control either. On the other hand, I loved the response I got from the racquet when I was hitting backhand slices. The ball had great pace, stayed incredibly low, and always had a lot of bite once it hit the court. Overall the Becker had a nice power level on groundstrokes with out right winners not too difficult to come by, but my number of unforced errors was also high because of the inconsistency of the ball coming off the racquet face. The power level reminded me of the Pure Drive Cortex but the overall feel of the Becker was more comfortable and much more muted. To be honest, a bit too muted for my taste. Control with the Becker was only slightly better than mediocre because of the inconsistent response off the string bed. It was difficult to gage the swing speed needed to hit balls crosscourt with angle because of the inability to tell how the ball was going to come off the racquet face. I had a bit more success going up the line but had to make sure I played it safe with my depth of shot.

Volleys: This was the area in which I struggled most when using this racquet. The feel of this racquet is somewhat muted so the level of touch and feel at the net was very disappointing. When I tried the occasional drop volley the ball typically sat up and tended go a bit deeper than my intended target. The Becker offers some nice pop on volleys but when up against big hitters the ball tended to fly (often out of bounds) off the racquet face. The only saving grace on volleys seems to be the excellent maneuverability and rock solid stability of the racquet which allows you to get the racquet into position quickly and adjust as needed for the incoming missiles. The racquet was steady and never seemed to even think about twisting in my hand. Compared to the other two racquets in this playtest, this racquet allows you to put the ball away at net with much greater ease. But I was never totally comfortable at net (in spite of the rock solid stability) because the touch shot was not an option and fall tended to fly if I became lazy.

Serves: Serves were somewhat of a mixed bag with the Becker. Although there is plenty of easy power found in the racquet for serving the big bombs, I was never able to dial that power in and get the control I needed to hit service winners. I really enjoyed the power and spin potential when it came to second serves and found that my kick serves had a little more juice on them when they bounced compared to a racquet such as the Wilson nCode nPro Open. But because of the much more open string pattern on my regular racquet, the kick with the Becker was nowhere near what I get with my Prince Original Graphite Mid. I think increasing the tension slightly would allow you to keep the higher mph's on the serve and also help you control the ball a little better so you could get some easy points when serving with the Becker. I found much more success in doubles when I came in behind a second serve because with this racquet I seemed to have better control with the kicker than the flat first serve.

Serve Returns: I was more impressed with this racquet on service returns than on groundstrokes because of the ease with which I was able to get some pace on my returns. When I was returning serve with the Becker I seemed to be more conscious of taking a shorter back swing and making direction count for more than I did with groundstrokes. The rock solid stability, better than average power, and decent maneuverability allowed you to put your opponent on the defense with returns that had excellent pace and amazing depth. I was able to direct the ball crosscourt or down the line and still have pretty good pace with an abbreviated backswing. My best returns with this racquet were off the ad side using slice to go up the line. The ball had pace, stayed low, and never came up with very little effort from me. However, I seemed a little slow on the ad side when trying to get a forehand crosscourt and found myself hitting the ball wide quite often when playing high quality doubles. With this racquet it's best to take a shorter backswing, guide the ball, and allow the racquet to take over a majority of the work.

Additional comments: Although the power level of this racquet is somewhat addictive (similar to the Pure Drive Roddick), the lack of touch, feel, and control would make this racquet tough for me to transition to from my Prince Original Graphite mid. The lack of consistency with this racquet seems to overshadow the fantastic stability and comfort it offers. In stock form I would say this racquet would make an excellent fit for someone who take a medium length/medium speed swing looking for a racquet to help in the pace department.

Racquet #2: Wilson KFactor KBlade 98

Weight: with 2 overgrips, rubber band dampner, and strung with Signum Pro Poly plasma mains and Prince Synthetic Gut multi crosses: 323.5 grams

Initial Thoughts (pre-court): the looks of this racquet do not impress me much, the blacks nice but the funky gold print and the gold at the top just don't do it for me, on the sides of the throat it looks as though Wilson didn't know what to put so they just threw something on there, handle is the same length as the Becker Pro's (7.25 inches) , nice solid feel to it, great weight...really feels like you could plow through the ball with this racquet, weight and balance feels similar to my nPro Opens, the 18x20 string pattern on this KBlade seems much more open than the 18x20 on my Head LM Radicals.

Groundstrokes: The KBlade, even with the 18x20 string pattern, was the closest of the three in allowing me to play my normal game without a huge transition time. I didn't get the same quality of play out of it as I do my Prince Original Graphite, but of the three it was the closest. While the power level of the Becker was way more than I'm used to and the power level of the Yonex was way less than I'm used to, the Wilson fell in line pretty close and it was easy to switch from my usual racquet to the KBlade. The areas where the KBlade fell behind my POG mid, and the Yonex in this playtest, were the areas of control, slice, and topspin. I assumed with the 18x20 string pattern I wouldn't get as much slice as with my POG mid, but I thought that I would be getting more control with this racquet than it allowed. I think two areas that caused a slight lack of control were maneuverability and comfort. I really wasn't able to get the racquet into position quick enough (very noticeable on returns) to play my normal shots because of the lack of maneuverability. A large portion of the maneuverability problems could probably be blamed on the fact that this racquet is only 3 points headlight. My normal racquet, although weighing 347g, is 12 points head light which allows for quick movement. Although the excellent stability allowed some high paced groundstrokes, the comfort level, or lack there of, also seem to cause control problems because it felt like the ball didn't dwell on the strings no time at all. I found myself having great difficulty hitting shots at my opponent's feet in doubles because of the lack of topspin. Although topspin better than I expected from the 18x20 string pattern, it was still not quite up to what I get with my POG mid (but then again, not many racquets offer that much topspin). Better success on groundstrokes is found when you have ample time to set up with this racquet.

Volleys: I never thought I'd prefer any racquet at the net more than at the baseline (where I live when on the tennis court), but the KBlade is one where I found most of my success away from hitting groundstrokes. The stability and touch of this racquet make it a natural at net. Although the lack of maneuverability at net was noticeable, it didn't seem quite as prevalent as it did at the baseline. I think part of the reason for that was because I was enjoying the incredible angles and amazing touch volleys I was hitting shot after shot. Other than the Prince O3 White and Yonex RDS002, this is the only racquet that made me want to get to the net as soon as possible. Typically, even in doubles, I stay camped out on the baseline and refuse to budgeÉit was a different story with the KBlade. I attempted to get to net almost any time the opportunity presented itself. With better than average serving, and the characteristics that make this racquet a top choice at net, this racquet may be a serve and volleyer's dream. It sure helped this baseliner who is hesitant about moving forward.

Serves: With the KBlade, serves, as well as overheads, had nice pop and excellent placement throughout the playtest. For some reason, control on my serves seemed to be a couple notches above the control I got out of the racquet on groundstrokes. Placement, whether going up the T or out wide, was spot on and there was just enough pace to count on a few service winners per set. Control was just as consistent on second serves however I found myself slowing my service motion down some in order to make up for the lack of spin I was getting on my kick serve. I was a little timid in going for a big kicker when I didn't feel like I was going to get the spin I needed in order to bring the ball down into the service box. I still knew where the ball was going to land, which made me feel comfortable coming to the net behind the serve if I chose to do so. I just knew there weren't going to be as many sitters when I made my first volley.

Serve Returns: Service returns are a bit of a mixed bag with the KBlade. The lack of an effective slice return really took away a part of my game that is essential. However on the flip side, the top notch stability offered some nice, and often unexpected, returns. I found my best returns when I was able to take a huge cut off the backhand side and met the ball with a much flatter stroke than I typically take. If I tried to baby the ball or hit with excessive topspin I found the ball hitting the bottom of the net Ð if it made it that far. It is not a 'swing for the fences in order to get the ball deep' feeling like with the Babolat AeroPro Drive, but a bigger swing is needed on returns with the KBlade than recent racquets I've played with such as my POG mid, nCode Opens, or even the LM Radical midplus racquets. As mentioned in the Groundstrokes comments, heavy topspin was difficult to come by and it was difficult hitting returns at a serve and volleyers feet. Although stability is incredible, it's just not a racquet where you can stick it out and expect to hit an offensive type return. You have to go into each return knowing your going to have be offensive minded.

Additional comments: Although control problems are prevalent with this racquet in stock form, with some weight added to the handle and a softer cross string, I think I could play with this racquet if I were willing to hit a somewhat flatter ball than normal. Of the three, I think the KBlade is the only one I could possibly make my regular racquet of choice. It doesn't come close to giving me the quality of play I get from my POG mid, but overall not a bad racquet.

Racquet #3: Yonex RQiS 1 Tour Light

Weight: with 1 overgrip, rubber band dampner, and strung with Yonex ATG 850 mains and crosses: 317.5 grams

Initial Thoughts (pre-court): incredible looking racquet, my favorite of the three as far as looks are concerned, the specs on the outside of the throat look a little busy but overall a sweet looking racquet, great handle length (7.9 inches) for two handed backhand players such as myself, racquet weight seems pretty balanced, doesn't have the 'plow through the ball' feel like the KBlade 98 does, seems very similar to the weight and balance of the RDS002 Light I playtested a while back, nice open string pattern...looks even slightly more open than the Becker's.

Groundstrokes: There were so many things I loved when hitting groundstrokes with the RQiS: the topspin, the control, the maneuverability, and the feel. But the one thing that makes all of those positives mute points is the lack of power this racquet offers. As good as the topspin is with this racquet, it just doesn't hit a heavy enough ball to hit winners on a consistent basis. As amazing as the control is with this racquet, you just can't put the ball away (even if it hits the line) because of the lack of speed that the ball has when it comes off the strings. Side to side control was amazingly simple with this racquet because of the quick maneuverability, but keeping the ball deep took way too much work. With it's light weight and superior maneuverability, I could stay out there and hit groundstrokes all day long with my opponent. Unfortunately that's what I had to do because hitting a winner with the Yonex was next to impossible. My best groundstroke, believe it or not, was the dropshot. The maneuverability, touch, and feel of the racquet made the dropshot the easiest shot to hit for a winner because I have to rely on power. If you were able to take the power of the Becker and put into this racquet, while keeping all the other characteristics the same, this would be an almost perfect racquet. But then it would be called the Yonex RDS002! The Yonex RDS002 I playtested a while back offers everything that is great about this racquet (RQiS 1), but with the pop of the Becker.

Volleys: I thought volleys with the KBlade were incredible until I ventured up to the net with the Yonex. You hear a lot of people use the word scalpel when discussing how certain racquets feel when they're up at the net. The RQiS (as well as the RDS002) encompasses the term completely. The touch, feel, control, and maneuverability of this racquet make it an absolute dream when hitting highly deceptive drop volleys, touch angles, and drop shots from the service line. With the ability to get more bite on second serves without losing any of the control, I would say that this racquet lends itself to a serve and volleyer even moreso than the KBlade. Again, the only area that was lacking up at the net was the power and at times it was tough to put volleys deep in the court with pace. I found myself swinging a lot bigger than I should have when trying to put balls away with force when at the net, which caused several unforced errors at net. Still, overall I loved this racquet up at net and found it to be better suited to quality doubles than either of the other two racquets in this playtest.

Serves: If the score I gave this racquet in the serve category was solely based on control, I would have given this Yonex a 92. Unfortunately when coming up with the Serve/Overhead score I have to take into account the pace of my serves as well as the overall effectiveness of my serves. The lack of pace really made it tough to hit any service winners with the Yonex. I could direct or guide the ball exactly where I wanted in the service box with some incredible kick action, but the lack of pace tended to leave a sitter for my opponent and eventually a tough volley for me or my partner in doubles. In singles I was more likely to get away with the lack of pace on my serves because I seldom chose to follow the ball in, but it made doubles a much tougher fight than it should have been. If you were to drop the tension down to the lower end of the recommended range, I think you would get a much better response on serves with this racquet and with the control it offers, an ability to hit service winners any where you wish.

Serve Returns: This is the one area I struggled the most with this racquet mainly because there isn't any free power to be had. I felt like I had to take huge cuts at the ball in hopes of getting any depth off the return. Unfortunately this threw the timing of my shots out the window and I was flailing balls all over the court with my returns. My two handed backhand (my much better side) offered a much 'calmer' return, and the maneuverability helped in having the racquet in the correct position. But even when I got the racquet exactly where I wanted, I still didn't feel like I was getting any pace on the ball. Against an aggressive net player in doubles, this racquet may just get your partner killed. As mentioned in my comments about the serve, I thinking dropping the tension down to 52 or 53 would get you some extra pace without hurting the control level that this racquet offers on returns. Most of my service return success (what little there was) came when playing doubles and hitting that heavy topspin dipper just over the net at my opponents feet. Unlike the KBlade, this racquet gave you the ability to hit heavy topspin returns. In singles I didn't find much success on my returns and became easily frustrated by my opponent hitting winners from the service line after every return.

Additional comments: Although this racquet really stood out among the other two in a lot of areas, I don't think I would have much success with if I had to play with it on a regular basis. The lack of power would eventually take its toll on me because of the extra effort needed to put balls away. The Yonex RDS002 is a much better option if you're needing the racquet to give you some help with extra pace, and in my opinion, a much better racquet overall.

Becker Pro Scores Power 80 Control 76 Maneuverability 78 Stability 82 Comfort 84 Touch/Feel 75 Serves & Overheads 76 Groundstrokes 76 Returns 80 Slice 85 Topspin 77 Volleys 77 Overall 79

Yonex RQiS 1 Tour Light Power 71 Control 83 Maneuverability 86 Stability 78 Comfort 78 Touch/Feel 87 Serves & Overheads 83 Groundstrokes 78 Returns 76 Slice 77 Topspin 82 Volleys 81 Overall 76

Wilson KFactor KBlade 98 Scores Power 76 Control 77 Maneuverability 75 Stability 84 Comfort 77 Touch/Feel 79 Serves & Overheads 80 Groundstrokes 78 Returns 77 Slice 77 Topspin 79 Volleys 81 Overall 77

Playtest date: February, 2009.

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