Author Archives: RacquetQuest
Our Favorite String
A frequently asked question by our clients at the World Headquarters of Racquet Quest, LLC is “what is your favorite string?”
I am going to tell you what it is, and tell you why it is, and why, I believe, it should be your favorite string as well!
VS Team v VS Team
It should come as no surprise that natural gut is our favorite string! Well, of course, you say! It is probably everyones favorite but it is way too expensive for most recreational players! You are correct that natural gut is everyones “favorite” string, however, you may not be correct about it being too “expensive” for recreational players!
What follows is predicated on the belief that “performance” is the primary factor in selecting a string.
On the positive side:
- Natural gut plays better longer than any other material.
- Natural gut is more stable than most string materials.
- Natural gut is more forgiving (comfort) than most other materials.
- Natural gut is more eco-friendly than other materials.
- Natural gut is a good hybrid component.
On the not so positive side:
- Natural gut is expensive @ $70.00 to $75.00 (installed).
- Natural gut is more expensive than other materials.
- Making natural gut string is very labor intensive.
- Making high quality natural gut is limited to a “few” major manufacturers.
- Natural gut can be affected by moisture.
And, how do you quantify “plays better”, anyway? Some players are fine with string that has long since offered any performance! Some strings have a “play”life of a couple of hours! So, the player must decide on what is important.
But, if you ask us, natural gut is our favorite string!
String Evaluation Program
Racquet Quest, LLC has for years been doing the extensive evaluation of racquets and string for the benefit of our client’s customization requirements.
Now we are making this evaluation “program” available to anyone that wants to dig deeper into the workings of the string in the racquet!
This is serious stuff and requires significant resources but it is worth it!
Please contact us of you would like to take advantage of our evaluation program!
Prince Vortex 300
The new Prince Vortex design is a new offering of an older string pattern with 14 main strings and 21 cross strings in a variable taper beam…whew! You can see by the throat design that the main strings are longer that a conventional throat design. The longer the main strings the more energy they can return…sort of, and in some cases!
Vortex 300
The beam starts at the grip with a strong 25mm then tapers into a 23mm at the throat and then back to 25mm at the tip. Do not let the beam dimensions fool you! The RDC flex of 59 after stringing is quite acceptable for most every player style.
We have been taking coefficient of friction (COF) data for years but have not included it this review format, until now. The 14×21 string pattern is unique enough that it is worth including. You will see the numbers on the review specs so we won’t go into them now, however the numbers are interesting.
The 14 main strings contribute to a very “open” area right about where most extreme “spin” shots are hit according to our data of string failure positions.
The frame geometry is sort of “Aero” like. The shaft is trapezoidal that transitions into a “reverse” trapezoid around the head. It makes the racquet look stiffer than it is!
Take a look at the specs then pick up a demo to see what the numbers mean to you!
| Manufacturer | Prince |
|---|---|
| Racquet Model | Prince Vortex 300 |
| Reference Tension | 56 lbs - 25.4kg |
| String | Victrex 7718 |
| Machine Used | True Tension Professional |
| ASPS, RDC | 45 |
| ASPS, FlexFour | 58.5 |
| Racquet Flex, RDC | 59 - After stringing |
| Racquet Flex, FlexFour | 40.0 |
| Racquet - In Plane Stiffness | 526.3 lbs/Inch |
| Weight, Grams | 322 |
| Weight, Ounces | 11.36 |
| Balance, mm | 320 |
| Balance, Inch | 12.60 |
| Length, Cm | 68.6 |
| Length, Inch | 27.008 |
| Head Width | 9.94 |
| Head Length | 12.94 |
| Head Area, cm2 | 652 |
| Head Area, Sq. Inch | 101.1 |
| Number of Main Strings | 14 |
| Number of Cross Strings | 21 |
| Ratio Cross/Mains | .512 |
| Main String Grid | 7.30 |
| Cross String Grid | 9.50 |
| Density (% of head filled with string) | .686 |
| Average Cross String Space | .452 |
| Average Main String Space | .521 |
| Dynamic Tension, Kp, ERT | 32 |
| Dynamic Tension, Lbs/in | 176.98 |
| First Moment, Nm | .790 |
| Polar Moment | 336 |
| Torsional Stability | 17 |
| Swing Weight, Kg/cm2 | 319 |
| Swing Weight, Ounces | 11.25 |
| Swing Weight Calculated | 329.7 |
| Power, RDC | 47 |
| Control, RDC | 52 |
| Manueverability, RDC | 74 |
| Power, Calculated | 1921.1 |
| Head Points | 7.24 |
| Head Weight, % | 46.6 |
| Center of Percussion | 21.7 |
| Dwell Time, ms | 9.48 |
| Efective Stiffness - lbs | 30.2 |
| K, Lb/In | 144.23 |
| Recoil Weight | 165.41 |
| Twist Weight | 237.56 |
| End Weight | 134.5 |
| Tip Weight | 189.0 |
| 9 O'Clock | 96.2 |
| 3 O'Clock | 96.1 |
| Butt Cap | 131.4 |
| Coefficient of Friction: M | .400 |
| Coefficient of Friction: X | .262 |
Prince RipStick 300
I am not saying the is not a serious tennis racquet but the first descriptor that come to mind is “fun”! And who does not want to have a little fun while playing tennis, huh?
RipStick 300
This is one of the remaining racquets with the “O” Port technology which is very large string openings instead of small grommet holes. The design allows for much more string movement and the 16×18 string bed helps! The “O” Ports create an effective head size of 105 in a racquet that measures 100 square inches.
But, just look at those colors! I think they are awesome!
This is a constant taper beam starting at 22.5mm going up to 27mm so if you are “thin beam” person you may hesitate to hit with this racquet, but we think you may be missing out!
If you just look at the racquet you may think it to be quite stiff. That is not the case! With an RDC stiffness of 62 after stringing we arrive at an effective stiffness of 30.2 with this string setup. Not bad!
Take a look at the specs then come get the demo and see what all these numbers mean to you!
| Manufacturer | Prince |
|---|---|
| Racquet Model | Prince RipStick 300 |
| Reference Tension | 60 lbs - 27.2kg |
| String | Prince Premier 16 |
| Machine Used | True Tension Professional |
| ASPS, RDC | 59 |
| ASPS, FlexFour | 64.5 |
| Racquet Flex, RDC | 62 - After stringing |
| Racquet Flex, FlexFour | 46.6 |
| Racquet - In Plane Stiffness | 504.2 lbs/Inch |
| Weight, Grams | 328 |
| Weight, Ounces | 11.57 |
| Balance, mm | 323 |
| Balance, Inch | 12.72 |
| Length, Cm | 68.6 |
| Length, Inch | 27.008 |
| Head Width | 10.00 |
| Head Length | 12.87 |
| Head Area, cm2 | 645 |
| Head Area, Sq. Inch | 100.1 |
| Number of Main Strings | 16 |
| Number of Cross Strings | 18 |
| Ratio Cross/Mains | .694 |
| Main String Grid | 7.56 |
| Cross String Grid | 9.12 |
| Density (% of head filled with string) | .679 |
| Average Cross String Space | .531 |
| Average Main String Space | .469 |
| Dynamic Tension, Kp, ERT | 36 |
| Dynamic Tension, Lbs/in | 201.35 |
| First Moment, Nm | .814 |
| Polar Moment | 337 |
| Torsional Stability | 17 |
| Swing Weight, Kg/cm2 | 320 |
| Swing Weight, Ounces | 11.29 |
| Swing Weight Calculated | 342.2 |
| Power, RDC | 43 |
| Control, RDC | 58 |
| Manueverability, RDC | 73 |
| Power, Calculated | 2095.5 |
| Head Points | 6.14 |
| Head Weight, % | 47.2 |
| Center of Percussion | 21.2 |
| Dwell Time, ms | 8.28 |
| Efective Stiffness - lbs | 30.2 |
| K, Lb/In | 189.10 |
| Recoil Weight | 159.2 |
| Twist Weight | 256.05 |
| End Weight | 134.9 |
| Tip Weight | 194.5 |
| 9 O'Clock | 100.8 |
| 3 O'Clock | 97.3 |
| Butt Cap | 130.2 |
Prince Phantom 107G!
Prince! What can you say about the brand that “normalized” over sized racquets!
So, instead of talking about “what was” we will talk about “what is!” And “what is” is exciting, I think! With so many really good tennis racquets to choose from why would you choose a Prince racquet? With this review we will explore the reasons you may want to consider it!
THE PRINCE PHANTOM 107G
Prince Phantom 107G
If this racquet had a high gloss finish and some green lines instead of the current matt finish you could not tell it from the original Prince Graphite. In other, words it looks terrific.
The beam tapers slightly from about 17.5mm at the top of the grip up to about 21mm at the tip, but by just looking you would say it is a straight beam design. The proportions of the racquet are “classic” and the “torsion bar” in the throat contributes to that classic look.
And speaking of classic, the grip shape and the “torsion resistance system” at the 10 and 2 o’clock positions are classics!
So, take a look at the other specs of this racquet and if you like what you see come by at take it for a “demo”
| Manufacturer | Prince |
|---|---|
| Racquet Model | Prince Phantom 107G |
| Reference Tension | 58 lbs - 26.3 k2 |
| String | Victrex 224 |
| Machine Used | True Tension Professional |
| ASPS, RDC | 50 |
| ASPS, FlexFour | 62 |
| Racquet Flex, RDC | 61 - After stringing |
| Racquet Flex, FlexFour | 51 |
| Racquet - In Plane Stiffness | 425.5 lbs/Inch |
| Weight, Grams | 333 |
| Weight, Ounces | 11.75 |
| Balance, mm | 324 |
| Balance, Inch | 12.76 |
| Length, Cm | 68.6 |
| Length, Inch | 27.008 |
| Head Width | 10.25 |
| Head Length | 13.25 |
| Head Area, cm2 | 688.4 |
| Head Area, Sq. Inch | 106.7 |
| Number of Main Strings | 16 |
| Number of Cross Strings | 19 |
| Ratio Cross/Mains | .652 |
| Main String Grid | 8.00 |
| Cross String Grid | 10.43 |
| Density (% of head filled with string) | .783 |
| Average Cross String Space | .550 |
| Average Main String Space | .500 |
| Dynamic Tension, Kp, ERT | 33 |
| Dynamic Tension, Lbs/in | 184.57 |
| First Moment, Nm | .830 |
| Polar Moment | 342 |
| Torsional Stability | 17 |
| Swing Weight, Kg/cm2 | 325 |
| Swing Weight, Ounces | 11.46 |
| Swing Weight Calculated | 349.6 |
| Power, RDC | 53 |
| Control, RDC | 49 |
| Manueverability, RDC | 70 |
| Power, Calculated | 2136.6 |
| Head Points | 5.98 |
| Head Weight, % | 47.2 |
| Center of Percussion | 21.1 |
| Dwell Time, ms | 9.00 |
| Efective Stiffness - lbs | 27.5 |
| K, Lb/In | 160.26 |
| Recoil Weight | 160.29 |
| Twist Weight | 260.14 |
| End Weight | 135.5 |
| Tip Weight | 197.2 |
| 9 O'Clock | 98.4 |
| 3 O'Clock | 100.2 |
| Butt Cap | 133.2 |
Racquet Quest, LLC
