Pro Staff 97 v10 current set up

Been using this racquet since early 2017 and bought another one in 2018. I changed the grip with leather grip last year because the original has frayed. From my posting in 2019, it mentions that the racquet was softer than SOT and it was started to send shocks to my arm. Replaced it with leather grip, got better control from the bevel feel, uses multi on both racquets and got less control, change one back to prince syn gut 16g at 55lbs. After a month long hyatus due to pandemic, back with it and got wrist pain. Two causes: tight string and (prob) bad technique of wrist lag. Changed my technique now and change the grip. The racquet now uses synthetic grip, thin overgrip, and long dampener. Now, mostly use this racquet on indoor court where the ball slides more; this racquet fits well on terms of power and weight. To compensate the weight during serves, raise both hand the same time, dont use modern technique because the power is already there.

  

Most innovative manufacture

 The most innovative tennis racquet manufacture is not Wilson or Babolat, but Prince. Seeing Prince racquet from 80s with CTS, OG, DB, Textreme, are very innovative. The others are very much traditional constant beam.

Racquets weight

 So I weight all my racquets with same digital scale, here are the results:

Racquet	Weight (grams)	Unstrung weight (TW weight) + Add. info
PS97 #1	336 (21/7)	315 (329): synthetic grip, overgrip, rb dampener
PS97 #2	338 (21/7)	315 (329): synthetic grip, overgrip, rb dampener
CX200Tour 18x20	337 (22/5)	315 (332): leather grip (incl.), 24 inch lead, overgrip
CX200Tour 16x19	336 (26/10)	310 (326): leather grip, 12inch lead, overgrip
HM 200G strung	346 (24/9)	322 (337): leather grip, overgrip, rb dampener
HM 200G unstrung	320 (-2)	322 (337): synthetic grip, unstrung
Aerogel 300	320 (30/11)	290 (309): leather grip, overgrip, 12inch lead
Radical OS	325 (30/10)	295 (315): leather grip, rb dampener
Warrior 107	328 (28/10)	300 (318): leather grip, overgrip, rb dampener
Tour 100L	300 (30)	270: leather grip, overgrip, 18inch lead
Six One Team	303 (14/0)	289 (303): synthetic grip, bab leads

The biggest jump would be the Radical OS: 30 grams from string (18x19) and leather grip and overgrip. For singles, I am now using the 100L and so far with the added weight is good for baseline play and topspin forehand. While the Six One team is just about the same as TW strung spec.

Hot Melt vs CX 200 Tour on Singles

So, I tried using modified HM in singles game. For the first six games, I can gel it but the weight starts creeping after that; few mistimed forehand and backhand. Then back to CX200T. For the next day singles game, I modified the grip with synthetic grip and no overgrip because already thick enough. I can play more game with it but in the end still change to CX200T. Using the HM is pretty good, can hit flat but feel enough pace and plow through, not getting push around. Once get little tired just can control the power and that is where CX comes in. In summary, both are comfortable racquets.

Tennis.com: GEAR Q&A: WEIGHTY MATTERS

https://www.tennis.com/gear/2020/10/gear-q-weighty-matters/91467/

Taken from article above:

... The traits of a heavy ball are open to interpretation, but it’s essentially a shot that carries a wicked combination of speed and spin that make it more onerous to return; all that rotation feels like a weight vest on the ball and it takes greater effort to turn it around. If one gets above your shoulders it can seem like you’re hitting a brick.

It’s different than a shot that only has a lot of pace. That kind of ball can travel through the court quickly, but lacks in “substance"—it doesn’t fight your racquet at contact quite the same way. It needs the accompanying spin to make it heavy. That means you need significant racquet head whip up and through contact. When that is combined with stiff polyester strings designed for spin, the ball compresses and stays on the string bed giving more of an opportunity to put work on it.  

...

And the truth is, the difference between 300g and 305g frames can be difficult to detect. For some players, the more mass translates to a heavier shot. But as long as you’re generating the requisite swing speed (and spin), there’s no reason your shots can’t carry serious weight.

[end from article]

From my experience, my hitting partner is using a 249 unstrung racquet but he can generate heavy ball. I agree with the article above except that it does not mention plow through.

Tennis Forehand: Classic, Modern, NG

 There were classic forehand (Edberg, Lendl, etc), then modern forehand (Agassi, Federer, Nadal, Murray, etc), the next gen (Kyrgios, Sock, etc). The take backs for them are different: classic - straight back, modern - racquet drop/tap dog, and next gen - whip/lasso. The grip are also different: classic - continental/eastern, modern - easter/semi, next gen semi/western. And then, I saw TW videos with Marcos Giron and he has sort of combination between next gen take back and modern grip; he uses eastern/semi grip but next gen take back. Current racquet manufacture is geared or suited toward modern or next gen. My modern technique felt suited to W PS 97 or Dunlop Hot Melt 200G  but I still coulf not maximize my Dunlop CX 200 Tour. Seeing Giron forehand and he uses Yonex Vcore 95 which is similar to 200X Tour, I think I might try his style. The different techniques produce different result, the next gen style produce more spin with less wrist snap. See his form in below picture.

So I had 2 sessions trying to apply a new FH techniques. The 1st session with Hot Melt 200G and PS97: the new technique is pretty hard to apply with HM (too heavy) and PS97 (erratic result). On the 2nd session with CX 200 Tour: better due to fast swing racquet but need to be careful due syngut unspin-friendly string. The new technique certainly works well to generate power while the modern/classic is more consistent and flat hit.

Session review (1 Nov 2020) - singles and doubles - HM 200G and CX 200 Tour 18x

 I played 4 games, 1 single and 3 doubles with results: 4-3, 6-4, 6-5, 6-5. The playing level was close, a bit above or lower. On the several sets, I started with CX 200 18x but then changed to Hot Melt 200G. The ball was new, playing outdoor, I thought the CX would perform better but the result shows that (I) felt more confidence using Hot Melt. Overall, the plow though was better; however, overhit two overheads. The softer but heavier Hot Melt can be very bouncy at times. 

PS97 v13 vs v10 (comparing TW scores)

The result from TW is out; v13 scored 85 while v10 was 83 though from averaging out the v13 is 83.9 while v10 is 83.1 (so 1 point different). The biggest difference between the two is the control which is 9 points more in v13. And one more important point, the v13 scores lower in power by 3 points (79). In my opinion, not much different; more control, less power, maybe tiny bit of comfort; still a modern player's frame.