Wilson Ultra (Tapered Beam) Firebird

Wilson Ultra Firebird

Yet another Wilson racquet with the signature PWS bumps at 3 and 9 oclock - This is the first I've owned with the tapered beam, and although the strings are saggy and need replacing, its looking good - plenty of feel and enough power not to be hard work like I feel the PSC 6.1 is. I believe it is the same mould as the Wilson Ultra FPK 95, and is a European-only release.

As an aside, I have a Staff from the High Beam series, and it is a bit too powerful to be reliable, like the Graphite Aggressor I had from the same mould.

 The tapered beam feels quite different, not too stiff - I'll put some new strings in it, and if I gain a bit more control without losing too much power, this might be a keeper


<edit>   Ok, well putting some RPM Blast poly in this did it no favours;  it's now a rather sullen underpowered beast, and maybe playing with more flexy-throated racquets like the PK Destiny recently has coloured my impressions.  In the meantime it goes back to the cupboard until I can spare it some livelier nylon.

Wilson Ncode Ntour

Wilson Ncode Ntour

Ok, some think that racquets like this  are too modern to have earned their stripes as "classic", but there are a few like the Ntour that are already on their way to classic status - Babolat Pure Drive, for example (which is really a remould of my beloved PK Destiny, but I digress)

As you may already know this Wilson family started with the Hammer 5.2, dubbed "the least hammer-ish Hammer" by TWH testers - and its true, they are a lot closer to even balance than the rest of the line.

Successors were the Htour/Ktour/BLX tour, all to the same successful recipe.

Davenport and Henin were early adopters of these, and I can see why.

Mine's been given a bit of weight in the handle, as I felt the the static weight (in the low 10 oz region) was a bit light - the weight also moved it into slightly head-light mode, and that plus the extra heft made it better for service returns, as well.

Its still quite a stiff racquet, but not overly so, particularly for a Wilson - mid sixties in stiffness rating, perhaps? Anyway even as stock, its a real nice solid stick off the ground with plenty of feel. That extra weight in the handle helped make it a bit more manoeuvrable, too - its a competent volleyer as stock, but there's no doubt the more head-light a stick is, the easier it is to flick around. It gives me more spin than my PS 5.0, too, and seems to find a wider service angle than the PS.

 It's a racquet I use often, especially in singles.