I have been testing the Wilson Ultra Pro for a few days and here are is my review. The racquet replaces the Wilson Ultra Tour.
I was a big fan of the Wilson Ultra Tour when it came out. It was basically a pro stock style racquet in the way that it had no fancy technology, great feel, and control and needed customization. If you play with it in stock form, the racquet will be too anemic. You won’t get any power and stability. This is why I think this racquet should come with some Wilson lead tape
or tungsten tape
(some players would also prefer a Wilson leather grip
).
This racquet plays pretty much identical to the Wilson Ultra Tour and from what I’ve heard it should be the same racquet in a new paint job. I haven’t been able to play them side by side, but I do sense that this is a little stiffer. Sometimes the paint might affect a racquet, so perhaps that is what is going on here. It definitely looks a lot better in my opinion in the shiny dark blue paint with silver on the sides.
Wilson Ultra Pro Unstrung Specs
Head Size: 97 sq. in.
Length: 27 inches
Balance: 31.5 cm / 9 pts HL
Weight: 305g (around 320g with strings)
Flex: 63 strung (around 66 unstrung)
Power: Low
Materials: Graphite
Stringing pattern: Mains skip 9T, 8H, 10H
Swing weight: 290 (320 w strings)
I added 2 grams at 12 o’clock and 4 grams at 3 and 9 (total 6 grams) and counterbalanced underneath the base grip by 5 grams. My final strung specs were: 341g, 32.2 cm balance and 331 SW including overgrip and dampener. I am very happy with this spec and this racquet is now up against the HEAD Pro Tour 2.0 as a possible switch for me.
But if you don’t do any customization, this racquet will not give you the plow through and power to be effective, so I think Wilson and retailers need to be clear that this racquet is made to be customized and not to be played in its stock form. If you want a 305g racquet without need for customization, you should get a Wilson Blade 98 V7.
How does it play?
The Wilson Ultra Pro is a low-powered racquet for advanced players. You need to be up for some tweaking and customization. When you get it up to your specs the racquet will give you plenty of control and feel. It really is a pro stock racquet in the way that it is just a platform for your own specs. If you don’t know what specs you need, it is tough to recommend.
Customized to my liking and strung with Luxilon Alu Power 1.25,
I enjoyed this racquet a lot. It is all about control and all the power comes from your own technique and the weight added to the frame. It is supposed to play exactly like its predecessor, but I sense it to be a tad stiffer. This might be my imagination or just a quality control thing, but I don’t mind it. It is still controlled and comfortable.
You won’t get any free power with this frame, you have to bring your own game. But if you do, it gives you exactly what you put into it. It will be on my short-list for switchable racquets in 2020 and is currently head-to-head with the HEAD Pro Tour 2.0. The HEAD PT 2.0 offers slightly better feel (plusher), but the sweet spot of the Ultra Pro feels a bit bigger. Both offer great control, while the HEAD is ready to go straight from the box and the Ultra Pro needs some tweaking.
PS. The video review below will be live on YouTube by 8:30 pm CET. DS.
Summary
The Ultra Pro is a no-nonsense frame for advanced players who like to customize a racquet to their own specs. Without weight added to it, it offers little in terms of plow-through stability and power, but when you have added weight to it, it is an excellent frame – one of the best control-oriented racquets on the market. It is perhaps a tiny bit stiffer than the Ultra Tour, but plays equally well and looks better with the glossy finish.
Great frame, I am actually quite happy that they didn’t do anything to it or add any technology. It is just a pure, raw, control-oriented racquet. It is based on the Wilson H19 pro stock mold and if you can generate your own power, I am sure you’ll like this one.
Have you tried the Wilson Ultra Pro? What are your thoughts?
22 comments
I have used an un-modified Ultra Tour a few times and very much enjoyed it. Despite being quite head-light and only 97 sqinch, it seemed to have great control, a large sweet-spot and a solid feeling. As you mentioned, the one area I also struggled with was serving and slice backhands, where it didn’t seem to have adequate power. So when it comes to customization, I would do something similar to you, but with not quite as much weight added.
You went for 10g in the hoop and 5g in the handle. I would probably just go for about 6g in the hoop, which would have a similar balance effect, but with a smaller increase in SW. That begs a question, what is most closely linked to plow-through, SW or balance? I would suspect balance is the most important element regarding plowthrough, so I would go for just 3g at 10 and 2 at least to begin with, and keep the SW a bit lower.
It was actually 6g total in the hoop, 2g at 12 and 4g total at 3 and 9 (2g on each side). Cheers / J
Great video Jonas!! Thanks a lot man! You mentioned this new Ultra Pro being a tad stiffer than the prev Ultra Tour. How does the original Ultra Tour compare vs the PT2.0? Which is plusher and flexier?
The PT2 is still the plushest and most flexible.
(Due to the pj probably)
Despite the other hitting partner not being bad at all, this video only makes me appreciate even more how heavy Mike’s ball is.
Also, even with customization you can see it’s a pretty low powered frame. Your shots seem to go a lot slower.
Nice review, looks like a solid racquet after customisation! How does it compare to Angell Custom TC97 18X20?
They play really close! It’s difficult for me to find any major differences, the Angell Custom might feel a bit more solid due to the foam-filling, while the Ultra is a bit faster through the air.
The Ultra Tour is foam filled as well.
In your last video, you said you’ve gone back to the Soft Drive for match play. You talked about the PT2.0 being a little too demanding during match play, but wondering your thoughts on this one. I have similar predicament to you: love the feel of players frames, but might need a little more free power from a racquet.
Currently going between the Prince Tour Pro 98 and the Head Graphene 360 pro (both modded to about 340g and 330s SW). Love the feel of the PTP98 but the sweet spot is small (the hoop is elongated and not very round), like the HG360p on serve and defense, but struggle with it hitting out, or on approach shots. Thinking of grabbing the Wilson.
Any thoughts about match play would be great! Love your content Jonas!
Thanks! How do you feel about them in matches? Which racquets helps you feel the most comfortable playing percentage tennis? It does sound like the Ultra Pro might be a decent middle ground modded to a similar spec. Cheers / J
Hi Jonas. Great review and video. I am coming from the Yonex VCore Pro 97 (310) modded to 330grams. I am shopping for two of the Wilson Ultra Tour/Pro’s. I have modified racquets for several years so this one should be no different.
The weakness, in my opinion, of the Yonex is feel and volleys. How can I mod the Tour to stay below the 12oz/340g threshold? At 323g strung, where should I place the additional 7-17 grams? I’d want to keep the 6pt headlight. Six at 12 O’clock and six in the handle? Your thoughts?
Jonas:
Apologies but I had one additional question. Would you string this with natural gut (58lbs) or would you simply string a poly much lower (48lbs) to get the desired “power” from the frame?
I love gut but it can be too powerful. I could consider gut mains with Wilson poly crosses.
I would string it with a poly at a lower tension. Works well in this frame.
I was wondering how this racquet compares to the tecnifibre tfight 305 RS, because I demoed and loved that racquet. Is this racquet any better with customization?
This is quite a bit different. The RS is powerful and spin-friendly, the Ultra Pro is more control-oriented and comfort-focused.
5.0 former small D1 player 29 years old. Primary stick is Prince Phatom 100 (03 ports Green/ Black w/ 8g in hoop/ 6 in handle) or Phatom 97P. 16g Solinco Outlast mains 50-56 Crosses always +2 lbs. Aggressive Baseliner, lots of spin, one handed back hand, stand somewhat far back to attack ball and move forward. Switching as phantoms break down, and hitting with college players I need more stability to put winners away easier.
I added 6grams to the hoop (Silver coloring part of stick) Six grams to handle on the bevels.
I was very surprised by the lack of spin compared to both racquets above. I thought it was going to be much closer to the 97P in regards to spin potential and launch angle. Coming from muted and plush sticks I thought this would be more “bitey” and I would hear more action. That was not the case. I don’t like shaped strings and how they affect trajectory. It was much more challenging to bring my forehand down so my net clearance suffered. Was surprisingly more powerful that phantoms. Ball had way less action on it and not nearly as penetrating in post bounce velocity.
Overall a really nice racquet. You have to be able to generate your own pace and be an accurate ball striker. I am coming from a very unorthodox racquet and under estimated the difference between 16/18 and 16/19. Need to make some adjustments to string set up. I’m gonna drop tension to below 50 and use a very very smooth poly for crosses to allow outlast to snap back with less effort. Looking forward to what This has to offer. Bought a second and will give it the month of tinkering to see how it does.
Hello, have you tested the ultra pro 16/19 version. I love the 18/20 version but my game would surely be easier with this version .. Stephane. France.
Hi,
Sadly, I haven’t tested the 16×19 – would love to though! Cheers / J
Hi Jonas, thanks for the review.
Do you think this racquet would still be comfortable for the arm after adding weight ?
It doesn’t have any technology, can this be an issue for the elbow ?
Thank you!
Thanks for this review. You came up in search results when I was looking for a review on this racquet so good job with your SEO.
I have a Prestige Pro with a 95sq in head. I like it but the small sweet spot can be a challenge on some days. I was looking at this Ultra Pro as a possible replacement. I’m assuming that just because of the larger head size it already has a larger sweet spot than the Prestige plus if you customize it and add lead at 3/9 it will make it even bigger. Do you agree? How else would you think it compares against the Prestige Pro?
Thanks for the great content
It’s a good stick, not much more forgiving than the Prestige Pro. You need lead at 3 and 9 and possibly 12 too to match it. Good feel and control in both racquets.