I have the Dunlop SX300, put some lead tape in the Y of the racket and it helped a little bit with stability. Still, I recently bought a new racket as I was performing better with my much older Wilson spin racket (the Juice 100s), that I was trying to replace. Will keep the SX300 as a secondary racket though. I still believe I can make it work with some practice. But it's still not an easy beast to tame after almost a year of playing with it.
@@ZeroLoveTennis never saw the response, I have been messing around with the racket. Now I added a leather grip and 1 gram lead tape at 3 and 9 to balance it. The floppiness is now totally gone and the racket is a beast. It just needed some static weight!
Aero 98 user and big fan here. I’m using Solinco confidential at 52 now with no complain. But could you compare it with your setup if you tried it before?
A lot of Confidential users like the Zero string. It's familiar in feel/cripsness. Depends on what your reasons are but I'm certain my strings of choice (Zero and Wasabi) will notably outperform Confidentail for topspin and durability with many other qualities being about the same.
I haven't! It's got that crooked cross detail on it haha otherwise I might have thought to try it but IDK if I will. I might, just to give Dunlop the exposure it deserves... Will do the cx200 tour though and this! If I get more requests I'll definitely think about it for Dunlop.
I think the Dunlop is better with lower tension (not sure what your playing at) but a guy I played absolutely loved it and he had 34-40 pounds which is really low but absolutely king hitting the ball Like would 50-53 would have a bit more forgiveness hitting it harder with that one
@@ZeroLoveTennis mate 4 of your first five hits were so far off centre they were on the frame, look at your own videos in slow mo before trying to tell me you don’t miss hit 😂
I couple were but you think the contact was better on the pa98? Either way, the observation still stands. This is just a short. I've hit thousands of balls with the racquet and that's been the impression the entire time.
@@ZeroLoveTennis u hit 4 out of the 15 balls in the center string, it aint the racket bro. the only thing u need to worry about at ur level is the head size, weight and string patter
When AI gets to the point that we start wondering what life or consciousness really is, I'll have to be more careful not to hit the machine which feeds me. Until then... Anything goes 😅
@@ZeroLoveTennis in the world of 78 gender diaspora I am surprised that a savvy person like you did not realize ball machine is a living thing and it spits out ball. All you have to do is TURN IT ON and not abuse it geeeezzzz people WHERE IS HUMANITY.... poor tennis balls being crushed by crazy tennis fanatics..... Lord where ARE THE RIGHTS GROUP
Jesus, I consider myself a pretty big swinger, but you were taking massive cuts in this video. Sadly, the SX 300 Tour seemed a lot less predictable at full speed than the Aero 98. In my market at least, the SX 300 Tour is ~$100 less a per frame so I was hoping for a magic bullet.
Haha thanks! Gotta go full power to test the racquets limits at my full range. You don't always get that full range run in a match since you play more carefully most of the time but I need to know what I'm working with. Are you saying this from my videos or is that how you felt as well about the Dunlop here? Racquet seems great. If I didn't hit quite as hard, I might not ever notice that weird sensation. Probably an issue on my serve as well but I didn't test it too much there since it kills my forehand anyway.
@@ZeroLoveTennis from the video the ball's trajectory off the strings seemed less consistent. Of course there are many factors there but it makes sense if it was less stable.
Also, you seem to be hitting the frame on a few of those. Definitely off center. Looks to me you are swinging harder with the dunlop too. You are looping the ball in with your Babalot, putting more spin. I think you need more time with the Dunlop. Don't think you can conclude so quickly.
I liked how it felt in terms of comfort but there was an instability sensation to it. IDK, I hit a few in. I'll consider trying again and filming in 60 fps haha.
It did have a slightly lower swingweight but only a few points. Balance nearly on point with the PA98 as well but I did notice a slightly slower swing with the PA98 now that some have said so.
I think I am! But I don't think that's why. It feels super weird and not in a way that's because it's too light. It feels like the head shape is collapsing on itself or something. I've hit with lighter racquets and this issue doesn't happen. Very odd. Never felt it before. Almost like something feels a little defective about the contact point but only near full power... Hope that makes sense.
@@ZeroLoveTennis It's the Infinergy material in the hoop that's probably giving you the odd feeling. Though, I never had that issue with the CX200 line.
There are too many variables here to just conclude areo is better. String, tension, your play style etc . I personally have played with both and liked sx300 tour so much better!
Yeah but in my case it's just not working out and that's why. I've tried 3 tensions. 2 strings. Whereas I've done many more with the aero and it's never felt that way. But in some ways I wanted to prefer the SX. It's unique in the sense I've never felt that specific type of weirdness on contact.
it's called skill issue, pretty common among tennis players, such as myself, use to have a 11 UTR but u don't see me blaming the racket, it will always be my fault if I can't hit the ball right 😂
Seems that way! Idk I just couldn't gel with it. But there's always a pro using something someone doesn't like 🤷♂️ I mean take all the guys not using Zero or Wasabi 😂
It was an unstable racquet but I fixed it later and ended up switching to it. At first the swingweight was just different enough to mess up the swing. So the reality was as it played out in the video but the reasons went a little deeper than I initially understood. So, it was the racquet but it was fixable and I fixed it and then switched to it for quite some time. Never went back to the pure aero 98! What do you think about that?
@@ZeroLoveTennis Vcore 95 2018 version, always. It's the best racket I ever picked up. I string it with RPM Blast 18 gauge at 45 pounds. I have seen your review video of the Restring Zero, I want to try that out next time, but it's not available where I live.
Some live in a world as though differences in a racquet don't relate to differences in reality whatsoever. Even though more powerful rackets are more powerful, or softer ones are softer, it is never the fault of the racket for percieved struggels or differences, it is always the player. It's not the strings, it's not the tension, it's not anything except the player. They might as well use walmart rackets.
Your swings are not consistent. When you hit long, you swing high. You hit the net when you swing low. Watch your video carefully, looking for angle of attack. If possible, watch in slow motion if you can. It seems your control corelates to your swing and hitting off center on times.
I guess this video looks to show that as well but I hope people can find some truth in what I am saying instead of thinking the opinion I express not having merit because of the maximum limit of 60 seconds I can show on a clip. Reality is I spent a few weeks and a few stringjobs/tensions/lead, etc, and the result was always the same. There was never a moment in all the many many variations I've done with the PA98 that gave me any such feelings whereas literally everything I did to the Dunlop always did. So it is frustrating that my entire experience is somewhat discarded because of a clip that can only barely capture what I express, true or not. Anecdotal or not.
@time410s check out my other reply. I really think by watching your video that it was the same thing I was doing. Arriving a few milliseconds early and thus hitting just off the sweet spot. I corrected this over time by just relaxing and delayed my arrival of the racquet. What you say makes sense. The racquet isn't going to feel right, when off the sweet spot. I think this is mostly due to timing. At least is my nest guess after watching your video a few times. I know the racquet is dampened compared to Babolot.
I grabbed it again haha. Put a lot more lead at 3/9 and I think that helped a lot and used different strings. We will see...I always wanted to like it more since it was so spin crazy and still comfortable somehow.
Yeah, I had a bias against Dunlop because they don't sponsor many. So, you wonder if it's because of an inferior product. But, after a lot of testing. It is my favorite. I know it's not perfect, but I can confidently it's a solid racquet and I would highly recommend it.
*Semi western. Not necessarily unstable. You can feel the deform a lot. The 98 holds it's shape much better. You think I'm hitting completely differently with the 98 than the Dunlop?
For the put away balls. Do you not ever use your full power? I do. Been hitting with some high level players and it's pretty necessary to hit quite hard nearly every ball or things get very sketchy very quickly. It's a pretty violent game after the 4.5-5.0 hitting level. This racket kind of falls apart at that pace for me.
You got to dial in the racquet with the perfect tension and strings. It makes all of the difference! That is one of my racquets. I dial it in with Black Widow 17 at 52 lbs. It is perfect for me. I hit with incredible spin with it. I also have a Babolat Pure Aero, which I find gives me less spin, and my arm hurts using it. Thus the SX is my gamer.
There is a chance I try it again but I found it more powerful, no matter what. I generally don't like this pattern but liked a lot of other details about it. I tried low 50's, mid 50's and high 50's and then lead. Nothing helped. I have been tempted to try again but I may or may not.
@time410s the SX are heavily dampened. You probably don't like that feel. It also has a lower RA. I am a stringer and I experiment a lot with my racquets. I was going back and forth with SX and Pure Aero and my feeling is that I hit the sweet spot more with the Babolat. I figured out this was because the weight balance and what I am used to that my swing arrived at the right time. When using the SX, again due to the weight balance, I was arriving a bit early causing me to hit lower than planned. I kind of see you are doing the same. Some of those hits you are hitting the lower part of frame (side) as you follow through. Relax just a bit and you will find the racquet will work a lot better for you. I can see you are doing what I was doing. So, I was using the Pure Aero as my gamer but kept getting golfers elbow. It's a re-injury from years ago. When I really start feeling it, I switch to the SX. Pain goes away. But, I noticed I just had more spin potential with the SX. My general feeling was the other way around. But, my buddies and I could both see the ball diving better with every topspin I hit with the SX over a lot of hitting. So, I am currently sticking with it. The one advantage I get with the Pure Aero is I can pronate better on serves, and therefore can get a little more kick. I am sure if you hit the sweet spot on the SX, you will have a different opinion.
I will continue getting to know it. I actually like the feel of it. Feel is good, comfortable. I don't feel numb to the sensations but it feels soft as well, whereas some of the stiffer Yonex types might be a little hard as well as numb. So something interesting achieved with the Dunlop here. Lots more weight at 3/9 this time around. After comparing twistweights strung to racquets I prefer the feel/stability of that still get a ton of spin, I decided I could bring this up to that level in these ways (and others) and compare with a more leveled playing field and different strings this time. What tensions do you tend to do? I'm messing around 53 now. Did 55 and 58 previous times but it is winter now and I am using other strings and changed the racquet a lot.
@time410s I use 52 with Dunlop Black Widow 17. It is soft, yet with amazing control. The tension I use often depends on the strings hardness and thickness. If I was using Solinco Confidential 16, then I would go 48 lbs. For me, it's more about how my arm feels. I definitely notice control isn't as good for me when tension drops. I'm guessing around 40 lbs.
My gamer was SX300 for a few years. Then I got the Pure Aero. I was liking it more at first. The way it's weighted, I can turn the racquet really quickly. I thought I was hitting nice topspin. However, when I tested topspin, I found that the Dunlop offered me a lot more spin. I don't know, but I think it's because of the spin grommets and racquet softness. I use the Black Widow 17 in both racquets.
