My Top 5 Rackets That Could Replace Wilson Blade 98 

I know I already told you but I had the same racquet journey (coming from a blade 98) and also like the same racquet (except the solinco that I havent tried) and the best option I found ATe the end was the blade 100 with lead at 3/9 +handle with strings like tourbite soft, 4s, black widow and cyclone orange. 😊

My favorite is the Auxetic Extreme Tour. For me, it checks the most boxes of things I seem to like in a racket. Control, spin, feel, comfort and the ability to hit a wide variety of different shots. I tend to hit a pretty heavy topspin forehand and a one handed backhand and the Auxetic ET allows me to hit all those shots well without aggravating my tennis elbow.

Might want to try the Blade 100. With a bit of lead at 3 and nine for stability, it performs very well.

I am also a Blade 98 V8 16x19 current racquet of choice. After having tried dozens of rackets, the only contender for a switch that I have left is the vcp 97L weighted up to about 300 - 305g. I have not tried the Percept line yet. I find that it has better directional control on serves, better spin generation, and better touch volleys. The cost is worse court penetration and instability which really shows when trying to return big serves or other heavy shots.

Hi Tan. Great job on this comparison. Regarding the WO 18x20 string tension issue, it may have been your string choices more so than the frame. TB Soft is notorious for dropping a large initial and gradual amount of tension over time, so IMHO it should just be avoided altogether if tension maintenance is a top priority. HG Soft should have been noticeably better; most accounts say that is has almost identical characteristics to regular HG, but a slightly softer feel. That said, you can stack the tension maintenance odds most in your favor by playing the stiffest polys with the best inherent tension maintenance at the lowest tension you can still control (versus softer poly's at higher tension -- which don't hold tension as well, and starting at higher tension, there is more tension to lose to begin with). To drive adequate feel through the WO's foam filling, I would look to a silver, lightly shaped string, such as Head Lynx Tour Anthracite or Champagne 1.25 or even 1.20, Tourna Silver 7 Tour 1.25 or Gamma AMP Ocho Silver 1.25, all strung around 40-ish, maybe even down into the upper 30's. Or if you want a bit more consistency from the string bed, do a poly/poly hybrid of lightly-shaped mains and round, slick crosses -- Head Hawk works wonder as cross to firmer mains. That approach should take care of your tension maintenance issues pretty much full stop. Best of luck!

Perfect timing. I'm just about to change from my v6 blades. Wasn't getting enough spin and height over the net with the way I swing. Definitely a flat hitter racket.

i put a VT Advantec leather grip on my ezone 98 and it fixed all the problems that you seemed to deal with, it stays whippy but feels more solid (please use VT Advantec as it has comfort)

Great video. I have been doing the same process to unseat my Blade. I have tried the Diadem Elevate, Speed MP, Shift 99, Blade Pro, ProStaff v14, VCore 98. At this point I am about out of options but for two rackets left on the MUST TRY list.1. White Out, and 2. Ezone 98. I have played the TFight 315 for several months and just don't feel like I serve well with it. Pure Aero 98 is just not my style of racket -- too hollow and chunky. You really need to test out rackets in many different scenarios. For instance, I did a "rip it" drill yesterday with the Blade Pro. Hitting down the middle and trying to rip every ball as hard as possible. Did great with the Blade Pro, wouldn't even consider trying with the ProStaff -- my arm would fall off after swinging a 315g racket as hard as possible. There are some great forums on Tennis Warehouse about racket weight and finding the right balance between power, control and versatility. Most 315g rackets will force most players to compromise technique after 1-2 sets. As great as stability and plow are, when selecting a racket you must consider your ability to control the ball after 1-2 hours. Most heavier sticks will not be easy to control. I didn't realize the genius behind the development of the Solinco -- Roman Prokes. This guy worked with Agassi and also was the guy Djokovic went to a few years back when he make changes to his spec. Roman lowered Novak's static weight while keeping the swing weight the same. I've also heard Roman say the EZone 98 is one of the best rackets on the market because it's so versatile.

I watched some of your videos and always found a really nice and relaxed style of tennis . I think you should try the Babolat Pure Strike VS which is the best spinning/control 310gr racket around IMHO and with 61/63RA the less stiff between babolats… I own and play all the raquets you mentioned but the Tecnifibre … I really prefer the T4016x19 which I ended buying! More control and with some amount of free power ( less than the stiffer cousin). I prefer among all the raquets the Blade 98 18x20 … I play eastern and OHBH … As I said I watched some of your previous videos and I like your playing but probably is too relaxed if you want to generate good amount of spin from the Blade you would need more hand accelaration , the pace of the rally in general is on the slow side so is difficult to judge how it performs . It would be nice to see some points from You ! Nice content btw , cheers !

Do you have Prince Racket selling at your place? In my opinion you may like to try something like Prince ATS Textreme Tour 98/100P. The Speed Pro might be your cup of tea too. Looking forward for your next review!

Just from video it does look like you are hitting your best with the Whiteout! Try RS Lyon if you are trying to increase string longevity - it's crazy durable both in tension maintanace and abrasion. If the friction increases I apply a bit of silicone lubricant (with paper towel) and stringbed feels like new again. 25+ hours of hitting easily.

I'm in a similar situation with the Balde 98 v8. My biggest hurdle with other options was beam thickness. Anything that was larger than 23mm was just too slow and thick through the air. Same for 100" racquets...just too much drag on the stick. I came down to two options: Pure Aero 98 Radical MP Auxetic I bought the PA 98 and while I loved how fast it felt, the feeling was pretty bad. Disconnected and board-like. Hard to control too. Small sweet spot. The Radical MP, for me, is the better option in terms of feel. While not as much power as the PA 98, there's more there than the Blade. The only challenge I have with it is controlling return of serve. You do have to cover the ball a bit more on the Radical.

Great video, I'm have the same blade 98 v8 16x19 and I want to try another racket. Maybe the Pure Aero 100 could be an interesting option to add more spin and power and a more "friendly racket" with a bigger head size, I'm not convinced of the 98 small sweetspot because I'm a beginer/intermediate player. what do you think?

thanks really clear vid with good info!! Just wondering have you tried the newest pure aero 100 and if so how did it compare to speed mp auxetic?

I see you're still unable to demo Whiteout 305 XTD 18x20, but the standard next best racquet. I play with the XTD but i just ordered standard 18x20 for Doubles play. It seems bit cumbersome in Volleys and quick exchanges with the XTD. But in Singles is very nice, it can handle heavy balls and drive the ball back deep. Currently, using full bed of Zero 17g but i don't check on my tension. Started at 46lbs. I am going with VS Gut in mains and RPM on crosses in my standard 18x20. Let me know your thoughts . Thanks

Can you please review Prince ATS Textreme Tour 98, which is scored the highest (91) in TW by far. Thanks,

I had the aero 98, great racquet. I just hate the kiddy paint job. Got a Speed MP. I tightened the strings to 55lb. Control is awesome. decent power, good at everything, cool new paintjob, cant complain.

Please post a video of you playing some competitive points. Would be a good addition to your channel!

I play the previous gen TFight 300 with leather grip. Not much different than current gen. Love it. Switched from eZone a couple months ago. Maybe give that a try?

I am currently using a weighted up Ezone 98 and am still in love with that stick. I also tried the blade and really wonder why it should be more maneuverable than the Blade. I have the opposite feeling. I recommend trying the Head Radical, that may tick all your boxes to be honest

If you like the Blade 98 16x19 but need more spin and higher launch angle, you could also check out the Blade 98S V8.0 18x16. I would also be interested in a review of the Blade 98S V8.0 18x16 and how it compares to the 98 16x19 Blade. Thx I like your channel and I just subscribed.

Great...why you didn't include speed pro? How would you compare it with gravity tour auxetic?

For ur type of technique zero body into the shots and slow to medium speed u need a medium-fast swing speed racquets radical mp, ezone 100 ,percept 100,head extreme tour,no offens but is like watching slow motion .forget about blade and other advanced racquets.All of this are confortable , have sweetspot generous , no demanding and good control.

For me, I switched from Wilson blade v6 16x19 no cv seamlessly with head speed pro auxetic. Very easy transition.

Recently demo'd for a week Blade 98 16*19, Extreme Tour and Boom Pro, looking to move on from my Dunlop Biomimetics 200L (weighted up to 370g) The ET was fun but was very "pingy/twangy" and I started noticing elbow pain for first time in years. (I'm surprised none of the reviews have mentioned this?) With small weights at 10 and 2 plus a shock absorber it played much better but felt a bit less whippy than before. Boom Pro was similar to the ET but with more control, a bit of weight at 3 and 9 again improved the feel and overall felt it was better than ET if very slightly down on spin potential. Given its name I was surprised at how balanced this frame was and could have easily played it as my main stick if there were no other options The Blade had no vices and was overall solid. I added weight but felt it played better stock. Unfortunately the demo strings were not great which may have contributed to lack of spin compared to the other 2. Also had some concerns that it would be hard work towards the end of matches on hot summer afternoons. I played with the original nblade 98 years ago and had fond (although maybe not accurate) memories of how it played and really expected to like the Blade best of all but at this stage as I'm an older player and not exactly improving I think I'll demo the Blade 100 and maybe Dunlop 400 tour to see if they help with spin and free power without sacrificing too much control and maneuverability.

I own both the ezone 98 and blade98, and I am getting into more double matches now. So I am looking for more manoeuvrability and can volley well. I want to decide which one to use, or you have other recommendation for me to try. I might also consider head speed pro

I have heard a lot of good things about the Dunlop CX 400 tour. would you consider reviewing that one?

what string set up you use on your blade now? i use confi and i feel a bit stiff like a board

Ezone98 is the easier raquet (power, forgiviness, sweetspot, maneuverability) of your choices and all inch 98 raquets ? more powerfull and sweetspot forgiviness than Vcore98 ? I was playing since 4 year with GravityTour and VcorePro100 and i am thinking change for Vcore98 or Ezone98. Which one is more powerfull and better sweetspot ?

Why in a specs of wilson blade 16x19 swing weight 325 in your video ? In tenniswarehouse the swing weight is 317

Is the sweetspot of Blade similar to RF97? Does T-Fight 300 ISO have larger sweetspot? Could You compare Aero VS with 300 ISO, please?

They do make a Tfight ISO 305 in a 18x19. Are you referring to a 16x19 version? Also, on the Technifibre, how is the grip shape? I've heard can be annoying.

Why is the Extreme Tour not on your list?

i have the blade and head speed, which one is better? I played with both and noticed the speed mp has an unstable head, but it has great spin.

How is the grip size on the Solinco compared to Yonex? What do you use on the Whiteout and the Ezone

Which is heavier (strung weight) the blade 98 v8 or the solinco whiteout 18x20 and swing weight

Why didn't you consider the Yonex VCore 98? I am debating between the pure aero 98 and the vcore 98.

What are your thoughts on blade v8 18x20? If so, do you prefer solinco white out 18x20 or blade 18x20?

I think Radical pro is great for alternative. Pure aero 98 and Radical MP are too stiff for Blader…

try the angell k7 lime and dunlop cx 200 tour 18x20. theyre better than the blade i in my opinion. best 18x20 with maximum control

what about the ezone 98?

in your opinion, which raquet is the most "wristy"?

Why not Yonex Vcore 98?

why not Head gravity Tour?

What version of the ezone 98 is that because my personal ezone is 323 grams

What's with the Head Extreme Tour?

hi is tension maintenance still a problem with the solicno whiteout? thanks!

what about the blade Pro?

Wilson pro staff 100 V13..Blade 100 V8..Try them.

my friend what raquet you use now? 02.2024

Why not the Pro Staff X? 🙂

Tan…. What are you playing with right now? strings and tension? 🎾

No Gravity line rackets?

Why’s everyone going Solinco?! No!!! Try Yonex prospect. also I am thinking Wilson ps 97L also to add weight. L seems stiffer which I like but lacks weight. Is that why you had the 97L and not regular 97?

Try ultra pro 16x19

There's not much sense in doing this switcharoo between rackets soooooo different. If you like the Blade so much you just customize it to improve the CONS you dislike. All though if you have an underpowered backhand stringing soo low than maybe you have a technique issue more than a racket issue. Or you can just switch to a hybrid setup and put a lively multi/gut in the crosses for more power. You can open up the sweetspot a bit with some lead/tungsten at 9 and 3 o clock (and balance with smome in the handle if you wanna keep the same balance). The Blade is a great platform racket to start with if you're advanced and enjoy control more than free power.

I wonder Speed MP.

You say the EZone lacks plow, but looking at your strokes (which are very solid) you're not exactly driving your shots. You appear to mostly be hitting rally balls. It's not free power, but you have to put the work it to get the result.