PT57A vs H19 – New racquets to test

I’ve just acquired some extra racquets to test alongside the Wilson Pro Staff RF 85 and the Pro Staff CV 97. It’s a Wilson H19 and a PT57A! Good times for a racquet nerd!

I posted a pic and survey on my Instagram account yesterday between the HEAD PT57A and the Wilson H19 pro stock racquets (click the link to find out what a pros stock racquet is) and Wilson won the survey 63% to 37%. Whether that means people like the brand “Wilson” over HEAD these days or H19 has more fans than the PT57A is unclear, but it’s hard to argue about the legend status of the PT57A (the pro stock version of the Head Pro Tour 630/280).

Both the Wilson H19 and the PT57A are known as very flexible sticks that do most things well. I’ve always been a fan of the HEAD Pro Tour 630, but in stock form it usually sailed up around 360 grams which has turned out to be a little heavy for me to use in competitive matches. It will therefore be interesting to play around with the weight of the PT57A and see if I can find the sweet spot in weight and balance of that racquet (usually for me that is 345 grams and 5-6 pts HL balance strung).

Another thing that will be interesting with properly testing the PT57A is that this is a slightly extended version and I’ve never really properly tested extended racquets. Playing with an extended racquet is supposed to give you added reach and power at the cost of manoeuvrability so it will be interesting to see if that is a good transaction or not for me. Extended racquets were all the rage in the 90s and are used by some pros today and most famously by Serena Williams who has her own Autograph Blade that is 28 inches long! (Check out the Wilson Countervail Blade SW104A here.)

So maybe the low-powered PT57A will thrive as being slightly extended? More info to come on that note.

Besides testing the PT57A and the Wilson H19 side-to-side, I’ll also be interested in comparing the Wilson Ultra Tour that I really enjoyed to the H19 which it is said to be modelled upon. Getting a hold of a H19 pro stock racquet is difficult and expensive, while the Wilson Ultra Tour is available in most tennis shops so the H19 needs to be much better to really make it worth the expense.

Oh, last but not least. I got two great paint jobs: the iPrestige MP for the PT57A XL and the kBlade for the H19. Yum!

Do you have any experience with pro stock tennis racquets? Have you played the H19 and/or the PT57A? Which one is your favourite and why? Are pro stock racquets worth the money? Please comment below!

What racquets do the ATP pros use?

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

Buy the Wilson Ultra Tour and other tennis gear.

EU
Racquet Depot
Pro Direct Tennis

USA
Tennis Express
Do It Tennis
Amazon.com

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