Prince O3 Legacy 105 Racquets Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 81

The Prince O3 Legacy 105 is a user-friendly racquet on groundstrokes that offers high levels of power, maneuverability and spin potential. Chris had fun tapping into the user-friendly spin potential from the baseline. He said, "The O3 Legacy 105 was a fast and easy-to-maneuver racquet from the baseline. I enjoyed my ability to whip this racquet through contact to create spin-loaded shots. My cross-court angles were sharper than ever, and I had fun spinning the ball to various targets. On compact swings, there was easy access to depth thanks to the combination of a powerful frame design, the large head size and the open string pattern that offers a high launch angle. There came a point where I would run out of mass when driving through the ball with this racquet. While my shots had pace, I wasn't hitting a heavy ball with the O3 Legacy 105."

Brittany generally prefers racquets that are 100 square inches, but she has playtested many oversized frames in the last 10-plus years, including one of her all-time favorites, the Prince EXO3 Silver 115. She said, "When I headed down to the court with the O3 Legacy 105, the first thing I noticed was how easy it was to use. Even with its slightly extended length, I never had to make any timing adjustments, even on my backhand side. However, I did have to alter my swing to a slower, more compact stroke to get the best results. On groundstrokes, the O3 Legacy 105 offered great maneuverability, which translated to excellent spin potential. I also had good power and depth from both wings. Slices were a little bit of a struggle due to the weight, but that was to be expected."

"I expect plenty of comfort when I see the O Ports on a Prince racquet, and the O3 Legacy 105 definitely delivered," continued Tiffani. "Even though it has a stiffness rating close to 70, I didn't experience any jarring sensation. The ports, along with a pretty cushioned grip, kept me comfortable on the court. I didn't find the racquet as whippy as I had expected considering its weight, and the balance of the racquet offered better stability than I had anticipated. I still thought topspin was easy enough to access, and I found I played my best with this racquet with a relaxed, easy swing. When I did that, depth and pace came easily. I tended to overhit when swinging bigger, especially on my backhand cross court (my eyes got too big!). I discovered that I was more successful when mixing it up, and I enjoyed chipping my backhand short up the line."

The overall playability of the O3 Legacy 105 impressed Mark. He said, "The first trait I noticed when swinging the new Prince O3 Legacy 105 was how light and maneuverable it is, and the second was how darn comfortable it was at contact on every groundstroke. After 15 minutes of exchanging groundstrokes I began to realize that the O3 Legacy 105 was also surprisingly stable for its weight, which I feel relates to the firm layup of graphite, the slightly longer frame and the 105 head size. Generating spin on the ball was very easy with the new O3 Legacy 105, which allowed me to keep a high percentage of my groundstrokes inside the lines, and gave me enough confidence to aim my shots toward them."

Volleys - Score: 80

Our playtest team enjoyed the comfortable and quick feel of the O3 Legacy 105 on volleys. Even with its lighter weight, Mark was confident ending points up at net with this racquet in hand. He said, "There were a few instances when the passing shot or volley was hit hard enough to cause the O3 Legacy 105 to wobble a bit in my hand, but for the most part it was very predictable, and it was easy to volley with anywhere inside the service line."

Tiffani would really turn up the heat at net with the O3 Legacy 105 in her hands. She said, "I enjoyed following my chip shots up to net. If I caught my opponents by surprise, they would offer up a high ball that I could easily punch deep into the court to win the point. The O3 Legacy 105's slightly extended length didn't hinder mobility at all, and the sweetspot felt large. I think this racquet played best at net when I was punching at the ball."

"The maneuverability of the O3 Legacy 105 made it a fun racquet with which to attack the net," added Chris. "Digging out tough half volleys, reacting quickly and flicking angles was a snap with this racquet. I was surprised by how stable the racquet felt considering how light it is. I think the large 105-square-inch head and forgiving O Ports helped the stringbed handle off-center contact. The feel was very, very soft and comfortable."

While Brittany prefers to camp out at the baseline, she does make it up to net to end points every now and again. She described, "This racquet had some positives, including a fast feel and forgiving sweetspot. It also has Prince's signature O3 technology, which produces a more dampened feel upon impact. I grew up using Prince racquets, so I like this feel (however, it could be something that takes some time to get used to). When passing shots started coming in on the faster, heavier side, or when I was in a heated reflex volley exchange, I noticed the racquet twisting in my hands due to its lighter weight."

Serves - Score: 82

The Prince O3 Legacy 105 offered easy power and spin that our playtesters could tap into serve after serve. The O3 Legacy 105 is the rare racquet that Tiffani would rather hit serves with rather than hitting returns. She said, "The generous head size, easy spin and good power gave my serves a boost in all the right areas. I wouldn't say I'm a big server by any means, but even I achieved some service winners by getting my slices to curve out wide on the deuce side. Flat serves were a bit harder to gauge for depth, but I did notice a considerable boost in pace."

This category proved to be an unexpected highlight of the playtest for Mark. He explained, "My favorite shot to hit with the O3 Prince Legacy 105 was the serve, which was a surprise for me since I typically prefer heavier racquets on serve. Within 20 serves, I was dialing up the pace without any sacrifice in accuracy; I loved serving with the O3 Legacy 105!"

With this racquet in her hands, Brittany found herself serving with better consistency than usual, but she wasn't hurting her opponent. She said, "The O3 Legacy 105 was easy to get up and over my head serve after serve. I loved being able to continuously have top racquet head speed from the start to end of a match. There was some power on my first serves, but they weren't the heaviest serves I've ever hit. I relied mostly on my slice serves both on the deuce side to pull my opponent out wide and also on the ad side where I would serve into the body. I was able to be consistent with my second serves as well. Overall, I was making a lot of serves, but not necessarily winning any free points off them."

Chris agreed, saying, "As with groundstrokes, I was able to access lots of spin and good pace on serves. I served very consistently with the O3 Legacy 105, but I did notice that my opponents were still able to attack my serves. Although my serves had pace and spin, I wasn't hitting a really penetrating and heavy serve. I was able to swing the ball outside of my opponent's reach with my slice serve, which resulted in some aces and weak returns. My favorite aspect of serving was the amount of spin I was able to get on my second serves. I could hit high over the net and still spin the ball well within the service box."

Returns - Score: 77

Our playtesters noticed the lighter weight of the O3 Legacy 105 the most on returns, but they were able to utilize the racquet's other characteristics to find success. Chris found the maneuverability of the O3 Legacy 105 to be very impressive. He said, "I had fun whipping the racquet through contact, and I could hit with a lot of variety. I felt like I could hold my returns a little longer since it seemed to be easier to change the direction of my contact with this racquet, giving my returns more disguise. I was able to put that disguise to the best use in doubles where I could change from a cross-court return to pulling it back down the line to keep a poaching net player honest."

The other playtesters had to make some adjustments to find success with the O3 Legacy 105 on returns. Mark felt somewhat limited by the racquet's weight against faster serves. He said, "My return of serve was the only part of this playtest where I struggled at all, and that was not apparent until serve speeds got excessive. Up to that point, the light and speedy traits of the Legacy 105 benefited my service return."

It took Tiffani a few returns to dial in the power and depth that the O3 Legacy 105 could generate. She described, "As I was practicing my first returns with this racquet, they were flying well past the baseline. After adjusting my swing and targeting, it was easy to get the ball over the net with good clearance and depth. I just had to be careful not to get overly ambitious or excited with my swings."

Similarly to Tiffani, Brittany had to rein in this racquet a bit when it came to returns. She said, "The first time I played points I was spraying my return all over the place, with most landing well beyond the baseline. I had to really dial back my return and be more conservative. After I got a couple of return games under my belt I started to get into a rhythm by slowing my swing down and adding some extra spin. I also had to aim for bigger targets because my control was still a little lacking."

Overall - Score: 82