Reviews 113 pieces

All reviews.

Every string and racquet we've put through the testing cycle, newest first. Scored against a long-running reference set, with the testing protocol shown on each page.

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025
Racquets ·5 min · July 2026

Women's Tennis Racquets: Do You Actually Need a Lighter Frame?

There's no such thing as a women's tennis racquet in the engineering sense — no frame is molded differently for women — but there is a real question hiding inside the marketing category, and it's the…

026
Racquet Tech ·6 min · July 2026

Tennis Racquet Review: Do New-Generation Technologies Actually Change How a Frame Plays?

There is a story every competitive player has heard, usually from a stringer, a coach, or a forum thread at midnight: each new generation of a racquet line is a genuine engineering step forward, and…

027
Racquet Review ·9 min · July 2026

Wilson Blade 98 v8 Tennis Racquet Review: Where the Upgrade Advice Holds — and Where It Breaks

The common advice goes like this: if you're a serious intermediate or advanced player and your Blade is more than two generations old, upgrade — the new one is always meaningfully better.

028
Racquets ·6 min · July 2026

Tennis Racquet Specifications: How to Read Head Size, Weight, and Balance Before Your Second Racquet

Somewhere between the first racquet a shop hands a beginner and the frame an advanced player commits to for years, there is a purchase that goes wrong more often than any other: the second racquet.

029
Racquet Review ·10 min · July 2026

Wilson Python Racquet Review: Is the P100 Actually a Better Buy Than the Aero 2026?

If you play with a Blade and you've spent the past year wondering whether your next frame should chase more spin, you have probably asked yourself a very specific question: does Wilson's new Python…

030
Wilson ·6 min · July 2026

Wilson Pro Staff 97 v14: A Tennis Racquet Review Built From the Evidence, Not the Legend

Every serious player has heard the mythology: the Pro Staff won Grand Slams in the hands of Sampras and Federer, and its modern descendant, the 97, supposedly carries that DNA forward.

031
Racquet Reviews ·5 min · July 2026

Diadem Elevate V4 vs. the Control-Racquet Field: A Racquet Reviews Synthesis

Reviewer's note (first person, one observation): I keep a spreadsheet of manufacturer-listed stiffness ratings for every control frame that crosses this desk, and the entry that started this piece was…

032
Racquets ·10 min · July 2026

Tennis Racquet Length: Standard 27" vs. Extended Frames for the Intermediate Player

There is a strange gap in how recreational players shop for racquets. Head size gets argued about endlessly. String pattern has its own forum wars. Stiffness ratings get quoted like scripture.

033
Strings ·5 min · July 2026

The First Polyester Strings for Players Leaving Multifilament: A Sourced Guide to the Transition

If you have played with multifilament long enough to trust it, you already know its ceiling: the comfort you love starts to feel like a lack of control on your biggest swings.

034
Gear ·11 min · July 2026

Reading Tennis Racquet Specs: Why Does One Control Frame Play Nothing Like Another?

You have two racquets in front of you. On paper they are nearly twins: both 98 square inches, both around 11 ounces strung, both 16x19 patterns, both listed with a mid-60s stiffness figure.

035
Polyester ·5 min · July 2026

ALU Power Alternatives: Better Luxilon Strings (and Rivals) When Tension Loss Is the Problem

A coach we trade notes with sent over a photo last month: a stringbed of Luxilon ALU Power, 16L, strung at 52 pounds, pulled out of the racquet after eleven days of doubles.

036
Wilson ·6 min · July 2026

Wilson Pro Feel Vibration Dampener Review: Does "Feel" Really Mean Less Dampening?

Wilson is better known for frames and strings than for the little rubber button that sits in the throat of your stringbed, but the Pro Feel is one of the more talked-about accessories in that category…