« Home | Roger Federer K Factor Video » | Regentville Condo Versus Kowloon Tennis Club » | Gamma X-ES Review » | Mi Adidas Custom Shoes » | Yahoo versus Google Tennis Tournament » | Tennis Elbow Treatment » | Ordering from Tennis Warehouse » | Slow Motion Tennis Video Footage » | Andy Roddick's Unstoppable Serve » | Killer Tennis serve kills Bat » 

Yonex RDS 001 Review

I was deciding between the Head Flexpoint Prestige MP (my review on the Head Flexpoint MP here) or the Yonex Ultimum RD Ti-80 to get a feel of more player's tennis racquet models. I decided to stick with the Head Flexpoint Prestige 4 1/4 due to the smaller grip size. That would ultimately lead to a big mistake... i thought that the Head Flexpoint Prestige racquet being much stiffer specs wise than it's predessor the Head Liquid Metal Prestige - my personal racquet review here. I bought the Head Flexpoint Prestige Mid Plus used it for a week and didn't like it at all. Even after I switch to a lower tension (48 pounds) it didn't increase the power at all. Anyway my personal review on the Head Flexpoint Prestige can be found here.

After i decided that the Head Flexpoint Prestige Mid Plus was not for me, i decided to source for another racquet. It so happened the Yonex RDS 001 had been subconsciously on my mind. I might have noticed it from the last time i was deciding to get the Head Flexpoint Prestige Mid Plus or the Yonex RD Ti-80. I think it was its bright yellow glow which did the trick. I took a look at it but didn't really pay much attention to it. Without strings on it seemed to be severely head light but i noticed that once the strings was on, it still had a head light feel, but the weight of the strings compensated on its head lightness. After deciding the that the Head Flexpoint Prestige Mid Plus was not a racquet for me which felt very similar to the liquid metal prestige in terms of not having the ability to generate lots of power i was trying to figure out what was the problem. At that time i was experimenting also with the Wilson nCode N61 Tour 90 Asian version - review here. I had no problem with the power level with the nCode N61 90. I could hit the ball rather easily deep into the court without much issues on both the forehand and backhand side. It then strucked me that the reason would be a more dense 18/20 string pattern on the Head Flexpoint Prestige versus a more open 16/19 pattern found on the Wilson nCode N61 Tour. I thus decided the next players racquet i purchase should have an Open 16/19 string pattern and soon i was hitting with the Yonex RDS 001 MP on the tennis courts. I didn't have much of a choice as the smallest size available in this region for this particular model had a 4 1/4 grip size while the actual size i should be hitting with was a 4 1/8. I strung it at a low 53 pounds so that it won't flare up or aggravate my tennis elbow problem.

My initial response with the Yonex RDS 001 was wow! i could hit it deep without any issues. My theory with the dense string pattern which haunted me for both the Head Liquid Metal Prestige and Head Flexpoint Prestige was indeed the cause of not being able to hit deep. Next thing i noticed was the great control and stability it had on the slices as well as the forehand drives. I was however having trouble adjusting to my backhand as i was used to playing with a very balance racquet from my time with the Babolat Pure Drive Standard and the Head Flexpoint Instinct. With the Yonex RDS 001 I will have to get the exact timing and swing to hit a nice deep backhand with power and accuracy. I however found that my slices tend to float a little but it wasn't as bad as the Head Flexpoint Instinct. The Yonex RDS 001 MP has ability to produce nice top spin and you can generate heavy top spin if there is a need to, but its not as much and easy to execute compared to the Head Flexpoint Instinct this was mainly due to the slightly heavier players frame (315 grams) as compared to the Babolat Pure Drive standard or Head Flexpoint Instinct which are considered lighter tweener frames. Spin generation for the Head Flexpoint Instinct will beat this racquet hands down. Groundstrokes on the Yonex RDS 001 were also more solid and not as whippy compared to the Head Flexpoint Instinct of Babolat Pure Drive standard. Power wise, this is where the Yonex RDS 001 MP baffles me. I was able to also hit those unstoppable winners without any issue or ever thinking that it would be coming back to me no questions asked.

For a players racquet where a player will have to generate his or her own power, the Yonex RDS 001 MP has plenty or juice. I need not have to swing with much effort to generate that much power although that's what i thought. The lighter swingweight made it more easier for me to take a swipe at the ball and generate lots more power. But all this power came with stability and control as well. This was a player's racquet it terms of weight and stability but had the power of a tweener racquet! Its really amazing! I would say the Yonex RDS 001 MP had the power of the Babolat Pure Drive Standard packed in with the power and control of a traditional players racquet. Due to its more stable frame i was able to put away more volleys at the net as well as smashes, personally i am more of a baseliner so i rarely venture into the net unless i have to. But on those occasions where i do come forward the Yonex RDS 001 MP did its job volley were crisp and solid even on very hard drives from my openent, i was able to deflect the shorts rather easily with controlled execution. Overall i would say that the Yonex RDS 001 racquet is very good for volleying and in the hands of an experience serve and volley player or a net specialist it will be a lethal weapon to have. Drop volleys as well as my drop shots on the Yonex RDS 001 are more accurate and easier to execute and win points. I now rarely put a drop shot into the net or hit it long compared to my previous Head Flexpoint Instinct. I think the stability of the Yonex RDS 001 has a hand in more controlled execution of the drop shot.

What's most amazing for me about the Yonex RDS 001 is in the area of the serve. I was serving harder and bigger than and i have ever experienced before in my entire life with the Yonex RDS 001 this was really unbelieved as i always considered the Yonex RDS 001 as a player's racquet with very little power. I would be hitting more aces as well as hitting more bigger and better serves that my oponents couldn't or had difficulty in returning. I just don't understand where all this power was coming from, maybe its from its square shaped framework of the Yonex RDS 001? Furthermore, i was not even thinking of exerting any power, its just my standard serves i was hitting. There was even this time when i hit a serve and by fluke it had such a wicked spin and kicked up with a weird twist. So i guess with more time and at a hands of a really big server the Yonex RDS 001 mid plus can be a real weapon. I guess Joachim Johansson aka Pim Pim will find the Yonex RDS 001 a joy to serve with. A friend of mine also tried the Yonex RDS 001 MP out. He is not a big server, but you could tell that now he was hitting harder even on his 2nd serves! I believe it has everything to do with this racquet. The Yonex RDS 001 MP is considered to be a more stiffer racquet than its predessors, but at the end of the whole session of heavy hitting and big serving, I did not feel my tennis elbow flaring up. Do bare in mind that i have been suffering from a severe bout of tennis elbow for about over a year, and i am still feeling the effects of it as my elbow is not 100% i still feel pain in my elbow after every game (read on my personal experiences with tennis elbow here) but the Yonex RDS 001 Mid Plus did not flare up or give me any pain during and afer the game whatsoever. It felt very comfortable to hit with even while serving i had not felt pain at all whatsover. I would highly recommend the Yonex RDS 001 tennis racquet if you're coming back from a bad case of tennis elbow. It was only after the next day i felt my arm (not elbow) aching. The ache felt like i haven't been to the gym in a long time kind of feeling not an injury. So the heftier weight of the Yonex RDS 001 mid plus did catch up to me only after the next day. I think since i have been using lighter tweeners, a heavier racquet was giving my arm a real workout but i guess i will soon get accustomed to that.

The only downside to this racquet, though no actual fault of its own was that its grip size was too big for me. It was always moving and slipping out of of hand while hitting my groudstrokes. After about a week or so hitting with this racquet i decided to make it my racquet of choice. I decided to sell of my 4 1/4 grip size Yonex RDS 001 MP and purchase a pair of Yonex RDS 001 MP with a smaller 4 1/8 grip size direct from Tennis Warehouse USA (my experiences ordering direct from Tennis Warehouse). I am now the proud owner of this fabulous racquets but i am still taking some time to adjust to it. The moonsoon season here in Singapore is also not helping me get use to my new racquets as its been raining practically for days on end. Overall i think the Yonex RDS 001 Mid Plus is one of the best racquets i have ever used. In terms of comfort, control and absolute power especially on serves. It is a hefty players racquet with the power of a tweener. I hope you find my review of the Yonex RDS 001 Mid Plus useful to you.

One a final note, I found out that there are two versions of the Yonex RDS 001 although the Yonex RDS 001 is made in Japan, there apparently are two versions of them. One for the Japanese market and the other is for the International export market. The one available in Japan and only available in the Japanese market for sale in Japan only is called the RDS 001 Gummetal series. From what i understand, it racquet is exactly the same with exception of the Gummetal letterings on the side of the racquet. See image below.


Yonex also launched this cool video featuring Lleyton Hewitt using this Yonex RDS 001 Mid. Check out this cool Yonex RDS 001 video with Lleyton Hewitt below.

Regentville Tennis on Facebook

About me

  • I'm Nawin from regentville
  • Residing in Hougang Singapore
  • Racquets: X2 Prince EXO3 Graphite 100 (Main) X3 Wilson K Blade Tour 93 (Backup) Strings: Toalson Ultimate 115 Strung @ 48-50 pounds. Plays: Right Handed (Single Backhand). Shoes: mi Adidas Barricade V Apparel: Lacoste & Adidas Favourite Players: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic

Nawin's Blogger profile
Nawin's Friendster Profile
Nawin's Facebook Profile








XML
Google Reader or Homepage
Add to My Yahoo!
Subscribe with Bloglines
Subscribe in NewsGator Online

Add to My AOL
Subscribe in Rojo
Add to Technorati Favorites!
http://www.wikio.com

Tennis Ads

Buy your Hard-To-Get Tennis tickets today! RazorGator is your source for US Open tennis tickets and Wimbledon tickets.

Go to Vividseats.com for all your Tennis Tickets needs! We buy and sell at great prices all Masters Cup Tennis Tickets , Rogers Cup Womens Tennis Tickets , Davis Cup Tennis Tickets , US Open Tennis Tickets , Wimbledon Tickets , and Wimbledon Packages Tickets.

  • Powered by Blogger