If you thought that Prince had given up the famous super comfortable (but muted) O-ports, you were wrong. Coming to a tennis racquet shop near your computer soon is the Prince Phantom 100 – a beautiful looking racquet with the following specs:
Technologies: TeXtreme, O3 ports
Material: Graphite
Size: 645 cm²
Weight: (unstrung) 310 g
Length: 68.6 cm
Stiffness:Â 60 Ra (slightly stiffer than previous Tour 100 racquets)
Balance: 31 cm
Frame width: 16 – 20 mm
String patttern: 16 X 18
Grip: prince Resipro black
Looks really intriguing and I’m really curious to test this racquet. Especially since I’m a big fan of the arm-friendly Prince racquets and the Textreme line-up is probably the best one yet. I was a happy user of the Prince Textreme Tour 95
for six months (long time in a racquetholics life) and still regret selling them although I probably enjoy the Tecnifibre Tfight 315 ATP
Limited even more.
I’ve also heard many good things about the Prince Textreme Tour 100P
and comparing it to the specs of the Prince Phantom 100, I would say the 100P is more powerful and the Phantom is more muted. But they have raised the stiffness from the spaghetti-like flexibility of the Prince EXO Tour 100
 and kept it closer to the previous Prince Tour 100
.
I hope I can get my hands on a test racquet to do a review of the Prince Phantom 100. If you do, please comment on your experience below. Us racquetholics are in this together!
Places where you can buy the Prince line of racquets and other tennis racquets.
EU
Racquet Depot
Pro Direct Tennis
USA
Tennis Express
Do It Tennis
Amazon
Racquet buying guides
Here is a great racquet buying guide to get you started.
What tennis racquet should I buy?
Top tennis racquets to buy right now
The Gear of the Year 2016
Tennis racquets for juniors
Tennis racquets for kids
13 comments
Any word on when this is coming out? Thought it would have been in stores by now!
It seems to be coming out on May 30th, will double-check with Prince. It is available for pre-order at Tennispro.eu for example.
http://www.tennispro.eu/catalog/racquets/tennis-racquets/prince-phantom-racquet-100-310-g.html
Haven’t been able to find anything in the U.S. about when this racquet will be made available. And our connection at the local club said Prince is in Bankruptcy and having a difficult time locating a quality investor.
Yes, I’ve also heard that Prince is in trouble. A great shame since the last Textreme series was excellent! I’ve seen the release date of May 30th in Europe, not sure about U.S but should have been sooner than that. I’ll keep you posted if I hear something. Cheers / J
You can find them on eBay right now. Also, Prince has been owned by PE firm Waitt Co. for several years now and moved HQ to Atlanta. They’re not going anywhere as far as I can tell. Their only setback is not having a major singles player carry their brand. I think this new racquet is designed to appeal to players like me who carried Prince in the 1980s and prefer really skinny beams. I don’t see juniors flocking to it. I’m considering buying one soon but unsure about the 11.5 oz weight. 10.6 oz Tour 100T is what I play now.
Hi Chris,
Yes, you’re right, it’s not going to be a bestseller among hard-hitting junior players, but slightly older ones looking for feel and comfort.
If you buy one, let me know how you get on with it. Cheers / J
I saw the new Phantom yesterday at the Prince shop in Wimbledon village. On way to the tournament.
Sales rep told me it has just come in and they “only” have 500 in the UK. Price is £220, unstrung presumably. Tempting and it looks lovely but too expensive for me right now. I would love to read a review if you can get hold of one.
I currently play prince tour pro 100 17/18, and prince tour 100T ESP 16/16. Both have the orange and black frames. Love both these rackets. It looks like prince had stopped doing any rackets with the 16/16 pattern.
Hi Michael,
Yes, that sounds very expensive. Would love to review the frame if I get the chance.
Prince racquets in general are high quality and I’ve always enjoyed playing with them. The Textreme line is excellent in my opinion.
Cheers / Jonas
Hi Jonas. I would be interested to hear what you think of Prince port holes versus traditional grommets. What are the pros and Cons in your opinion please?
Hi Michael,
The main pro with port holes is the amazing comfort they provide. The strings really pocket the ball. The downside is that you lose some power and you might get a lack of connection to the ball due to the muted feel.
It is a lot about personal preference. Some people love the ports, I’m more of a traditional racquet guy myself.
I hope this gives you some idea. Best thing is to test. And if you can’t demo, selling a racquet second hand is not that difficult and you won’t lose too much money that way.
Good luck! Cheers / Jonas
Short review: The Prince Textreme Phantom 100 delivers pro-racquet feel without the pro-racquet unwieldiness.
Overly long review: I’m a 46 year old 3.5-4.0 player (depending one the stroke and the day!), and I’ve had my Prince Textreme Phantom 100 for about 10 days now. I played doubles, singles, and a clinic. All in all, I like it. For some reason I was really getting sore in my deltoid and shoulder blade. So, I blamed my Prince Textreme Tour 100T. Also, I hated the modern thick-beamed racquets and missed the O ports of my old Prince 03 White 100.
Flexibility: The Phantom is so flexible it’s hard to believe it’s only a 60 rating (versus a 62 for the 100T, which feels A LOT stiffer at 62). When I hit the ball the first few times, it felt like the racquet should make a “sproi-oi-oing” sound. It came strung with discontinued Wilson Super Spin 16 at mid-range. I’ll eventually replace it with my Tourna Big Hitter Blue 16 at some point.
Power: It is noticeably lower-powered (775) than my previous racquets (03: 1000; 100T: 850). But, I don’t really buy into all of this talk about how you can’t hit out with a low-powered stick. Sure, a few out balls fall in at first, but then your other in balls can come up short or clip the tape. So, you have to compensate. But, I think it has opened up the angles a bit.
Weight: The 11.5oz/326g strung weight is nice. Pro racquets over 12oz/340g have always seemed a bit too heavy–like swinging a rubber mallet. But, the Tour 100T at 10.8oz/306g seemed too light on approach and reflex volleys. The Phantom seems to deliver a lot more weight for only being 20g heavier. My first serves are forcing a lot more return errors, and I think it was mostly the over-swinging on my serves in singles that was hurting my shoulder. With the Phantom, I feel like I can really throw the racquet into the ball much better without straining my arm.
Volleys, etc.: The weight also helps with volleys. I feel like if I can just get the strings in front of the ball, I can make a play. This is REALLY good for defensive volleys and poaches, as well as stabbing at tough returns and overhead smashes.
The O Ports: I don’t know why I like the O ports so much. Do they make the racquet more maneuverable? I can’t tell. Do they help pocket the ball better? I can’t tell. I attribute that more to strings and tension. Anyhow, the teenager I played said, “That racquet looks cool with the holes in the side.” That surprised me.
The Best for Last: Having started out playing in the 80s, I love the super thin 16-20mm beam. It really feels like it can cut through the air like my trusty old Graphite Comp 110. I know I’ve already kept a dozen framed balls in play just due to fact that that the inside edge of the frame hasn’t killed the shot. I play mostly on clay with lots of bad bounces.
One negative: This racquet feels odd on overheads. I’ve been catching some at the top of the strings, which drops them short and with enough bounce to keep them playable for my opponents. Maybe this is due to the head-light balance (31cm vs 33cm for the 100T) or the weight. What can I say? I’m just a lowly club player.
Finally, I’ll wrap up “War and Peace” by saying that my shoulder is feeling better for the first time in months. No more ibuprofen every night just to avoid being awakened by the pain. If the Phantom is responsible for the improvement, then that alone is good enough reason to stay with it.
Thanks for this excellent review, Chris! Keep em coming.
When it comes to the flex of the Phantom and similar racquets like the Angell TC 97 Custom I’m currently testing, I have to say that they simply make tennis more enjoyable to play. Not always easier, but the feel you get for the ball is a sensation on its own. And for me, tennis is not only about winning, but mostly about enjoying myself on court and getting a heck of an exercise session from it.
Enjoy your Phantom and your tennis! Cheers / J
Belated thanks for your review Chris D.
If price drops a bit in Uk I will be seriously tempted.