Wilson Pro Staff 97 vs X (V14) 

The pro staff 97 wasn't even really on my radar until I played with one for a day while my friend was demoing racquets. I thought I would prefer something like the Yonex ezone 98, but consistently I felt the feedback and control with the 97 was hard to look past. I use my legs and torso a lot with my ground strokes so power generation wasn't an issue and the pro staff 97 lets me swing out without worrying about missing long. I was really surprised how much top spin I was able to generate with this racquet despite the smaller head size but I am guessing that's because the -10 pts head light balance allows for great acceleration through the final part of your ground strokes. Volleys and touch shots are superb as you would except with the pro staff 97. Probably the best slicing racquet I've used as well. I was a bit worried that the kick serve wouldn't get as much spin with the smaller head size but again was pleasantly surprised and I found the control on the serve worth the very slight loss in power. The one place I don't love the pro staff 97 is on the backhand. I have a two-handed backhand and admittedly I find I need to abbreviate my normal back swing with this racquet if I want to make good contact (probably a good idea anyway). If you don't find the sweet spot with the pro staff 97, I do find you lose a lot of power and the backhand is where I noticed that the most. I have to really dwell on the ball to get good contact on the backhand or it will produce a weaker shot that is easily punished by my opponents. I think for one-handed backhands this racquet is probably a dream because it is very manoeuvrable but for two-handers it takes a lot of discipline to get consistent quality shots out of this racquet. The only other thing is that producing power with this racquet does require good footwork and full body involvement on your strokes so if you're coming from a more powerful/larger frame you may find this racquet tires you out more quickly than your old frame. It certainly is demanding but way less so than I expected looking at the spec sheet. You just may need to work with it for a while to get the cardio built up. What I like the most about the pro staff 97 is that everything challenging about this racquet feels like it encourages me to be a better player and reinforces habits I should be doing anyway. It rewards good footwork and taking full strokes and punishes you when you aren't focusing enough on the ball. When you hit off-centre, it lets you know immediately and it feels bad. heh. If you're looking to improve your volleys and touch shots, this racquet is perfect for that because it has an extremely connected feel. I don't use a dampener but some folks I know find the feedback a bit too stiff without one. Even if you're coming from a very different racquet, I highly recommend demoing the pro staff 97 because you might be surprised how accessible it is despite its old school reputation.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Ashley.

I did enjoy the video! Excellent review! I'm also more of a Speed fan forsure 🙏🎾

Among all the v14 Pro Staff reviews I've seen (many) this is the very first to answer the lingering questions I have had in mind. Thanks so much, Ashley.

Fantastic Prostaff review ! Thank you my friend

Finally this video is out! We have been waiting for this one Ash.

I’ve played and taught with Head rackets for 30 years…btw…you hit a very nice ball, no doubt you can play with the Pro staff…but your basic explanation to me is spot on…the 100 to teach with…but the 97 to play with. I found the that the 97’s accuracy was almost intuitive…just HIT it!!!….simple as that….I’m also 68 years old….love the new 97 Pro Staff!

Thanks Ashley! I've recently moved from maybe my fave all time stick, the 90sq inch Blx Pro Staff to the V13 97. Similar feel between them and about 20 grams lighter for my battle weary arm 🎾😀

The Wilson dynamic flex point in the shaft of this recent iteration of the ProStaff came from the Yonex Regna 98. The Regna 98 is a very thin beam frame but due to this shaft design it has similar power to modern frames with thicker beam sizes.

very nice review, to the point and beats anything I’ve watched so far for me personally, thanks for putting this together. I’ve decided to go for a noir 97 and think the black finish looks very good, I was using Head after many years with Wilson so we’ll see how that goes for me, you only live once after all 😀

Great information aloha coach Mundo

Hi Ashley, thank you for the review. What are the key differences between the Prostaff X and your racket of choice, speed pro?

Is it a noticeable diffrence in power between blade98 and prostaff 97 v14 , since prostaff97 v14 injected with paradigm bending technology and pws ?looking forward to see a comparison between these two rackets

I am still using the v11 (315gr) for years and i still love playing with it! I have heard that the 14.0 version is a bit more flexibel, and that is my biggest concern. I want to try out the new version, but I'm afraid there is a big difference between the rackets

The 97 v14 there are also Light and Ultra Light version, have you had try too? And what your impressions?

I’m a 100% Head believer and I could never I feel play with another racket. I’m extremely happy with my 2001 I.prestige mids at 345 grams strung and with Alu power at 23/22. It’s all about control for me as I got the extreme power. Good luck with Wilson

I still use the Pro Staff 97 V10

The curious thing is that since Fed retired, Wilson don't actually have anyone to endorse the Pro Staff....

Talking about feeling - playing with damper. Pro Staff need to be played without damper!

The tan coloured logo looks really off after you put literally any colour of overgrip. If only it was black. I think the designers tried to be too cute by matching it to the base grip and missed a trick in the end. Now if Wilson were to release a tan coloured overgrip................... I'd probably still prefer the logo to be black 😂

I have a prostaff 88 Pete Sampras version

Hard to switch rackets unless you are on a racket search. That's why a lot of these racket reviews are biased. But that's just the nature of humans.

Id say 110 slams won.