Guest blogger Frans has the Prince Textreme2 Tour 100P tested . This racket follows the well-known Tour 100P and retains excellent comfort, but gains stability!
Specifications of the Prince Textreme Tour 100P
Brand: Prince
Model: Textreme2 Tour 100P (2019)
Blade Size: 100 Sq Inches
Weight: 305 grams
Balance: 31.0 cm
Stringing pattern: 18×20
Length: 27 Inch
RA: 66
Stringing: Prince Tour XR, 23 kg
This new TXT2 Tour 100P from Prince is now available in our webshop!
Test scores
Power: 8.5
Control: 6
Spin: 9
Comfort: 8
Agility: 8.5
Touch: 8
The Updates
The previous version of the racket was already used by Lucas Pouille, who came from a 95 inch head at the time. It was a fairly all-round racket, with a number of weak points. Two weak points were often mentioned in reviews. Firstly, the stability. The racket was somewhat unstable, with the racket quickly starting to twist in the hand with a small off-center hit. Secondly, people were not always happy with the feel. Although many praised the racket for its comfort, there were also many who found the racket too “muted”, they did not get enough feedback from their strokes. Now the question is, has Prince done something with these criticisms? It certainly seems that way! The stability of the Prince Textreme2 Tour 100P has been improved. Prince claims this himself and this was also noticeable in the test! In addition, the twist weight gives a higher result (a measurement for the stability of the racket). In addition to the stability, Prince has also done something with the feel. They have changed the construction of the frame a bit by adding a new material, they call it themselves: Textreme X. In fact, this is an addition of Twaron to the Textreme material in the heart of the racket. It results in a higher RA rating: 66 (was 62). This is noticeable again, the racket is still very comfortable but the feel is a bit more direct, in my opinion this certainly benefits the racket.
Baseline
The baseline is where this racket performs well. The racket is very manoeuvrable and has a lot of spin and quite a bit of power. In that sense, it is quite easy to keep pressure on your opponent with this racket. The disadvantage I found in this test is that the racket, despite being an 18×20, still lacks some control. This could possibly be remedied by tightening the strings a bit or using a stiffer string. Prince XR is also a fairly soft polyester string that does have a lot of power. Another point that could be a disadvantage is that the racket is still not the most stable frame on the market, a Wilson Blade or a Babolat Pure Strike is for example a bit more stable, however this racket has a lot more spin than those frames. Personally I found the racket stable enough and I had no problems with it.
Service
A cannon! The power and maneuverability make this racket very easy to serve, it is easy to put speed in and the kick serves are also great to play. All in all, this is a great racket to serve with.
Just
This racket flourishes more from the baseline than at the net. The racket does little wrong at the net, but does not really excel there either. The racket lacks a bit of stability and precision, which is why there are better rackets on the market for volleying. All in all, the racket performs fairly average at the net.
Power/Control
Power dominates, at least with the string and the number of kilos the racket was tested with. It was sometimes difficult to keep the ball within the lines. The nice thing is that a string and the number of kilos change this to a certain extent.
Comfort/Feeling
The racket has a slightly higher RA than the previous version, however the racket is incredibly comfortable and has a lot of feeling in my opinion. This version has more feeling than its predecessor. In this category it is one of the most comfortable rackets on the market.
This new TXT2 Tour 100P from Prince is now available in our webshop!
Bottom line
Spin, Agility, Comfort, and Power, that's what this Prince Textreme2 Tour 100P is all about. The racket was a pleasure to test. Especially from the baseline it is a wonderful racket. What perhaps makes this racket very attractive is that the racket is incredibly versatile, and you can string it in many different ways. The racket doesn't really have any weaknesses in that regard. There are rackets with more control, but it remains an 18×20 so there is always more control to be had with the right string. There are also more stable rackets, but this racket is not exactly unstable. So for players who are really looking for a versatile racket, this is definitely recommended for a test session!