Prince Phantom 100G LB Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 86

On groundstrokes, every playtester got a taste of what this Phantom 100G LB can do when correctly wielded, despite some situational problems with maneuverability and timing. The Phantom 100G LB's extended length was right at home in Mark's hands. He described, "From the baseline, the new Prince Phantom 100G LB quickly became my favorite racquet to hit groundstrokes with. The 28-inch length afforded me extra reach, power and spin, with the thin beam providing a high degree of comfort and the graphite bridge across the throat helping to maintain its stability. Redirecting pace, developing a bit of my own and consistently landing my groundstrokes on smaller targets came pretty easily for me, even at the earlier stages of the playtest."

"Stepping up to a racquet that's a full inch longer than what I'm used to took some adjustment," said Chris, who definitely warmed up to this Phantom 100G LB over time. "Once my timing was dialed in I found lots of easy power from this racquet. Even when stretched wide, there was so much leverage to help me get the ball back with pace and depth. Getting spin was easy. We had the racquet strung up with a co-poly string, and I found excellent bite from that setup. The racquet felt very whippy in stock form, and even though the swingweight is already pretty beefy, I’d actually explore adding weight at 3 and 9 to improve stability. Compared to the original Graphite LB, I found similar levels of power and spin, but this racquet just felt more dialed and gave me a better connection to my shots."

Troy, who is no stranger to extended-length racquets with high swingweights, found surprising speed, great feel and impressive control with the Phantom 100G LB. He said, "I was actually surprised how maneuverable this racquet felt, considering its length. I thought it felt a bit more maneuverable than the Wilson Blade SW104 Autograph we playtested a while back. I loved the amount of control and spin I could generate with the Phantom 100G LB, which allowed me to swing big without fear of overhitting. Cross-court angles were fun to hit, especially on the two-handed backhand. I could get a lot of leverage, and the flexible feel allowed the ball to dwell on the stringbed just slightly longer, giving me a bit more feel and control. If I had an issue with the 28-inch length, it was when I tried to whip the racquet through contact on running shots. It wasn't too heavy, but I had to get used to manipulating the racquet to sort of curve around the ball."

For Michelle, timing and preparation were key to getting the most out of this 28-inch racquet. She explained, "First things first, this racquet was demanding! I quickly realized I had to channel my inner Serena and get my racquet back and ready no matter what ball I was hitting. I always admire how well she prepares her racquet, and knowing that she uses a racquet that is extended by a full inch, it was easy to get that visual in my head and try to emulate it. My shots felt dangerous, but only when my racquet was back in time, my timing was dialed in and I was swinging big and fast. This racquet really felt like it was only effective on offense and was harder to use defensively. It came around a bit slowly, and I felt I had to be swinging big to keep the ball deep. I liked it as a first-strike sort of racquet, but I would fall into the danger zone after three balls or so; it felt more demanding, and I would dig myself a bit of a hole. The more time I had to prepare and swing, the better off I was. Also, although the specs line up with what I normally like in a racquet, I prefer thicker, stiffer beams. The Phantom 100G LB has more of a classic feel, which was definitely comfortable on the tendons but also made me feel like I needed to swing harder to really get the ball to do what I wanted it to."

Volleys - Score: 82

As our team discovered on groundstrokes, the extended length of the Phantom 100G LB was a double-edged sword on volleys. The playtesters appreciated the extra reach, but there were also a few complaints about the maneuverability. For Chris, however, it was all good, especially the feel. He said, "I was surprised how maneuverable and versatile the Phantom 100G LB felt at net. The length didn't take any noticeable adjustment, and I was able to cut around the ball for angles and fend off body shots without issue. I loved the feel of this racquet at net. The response was plush, and I felt very connected to the ball. My drop volleys and angles were all working well with the Phantom 100G LB."

Although he found the Phantom 100G LB to be a tad sluggish on reaction volleys, Troy settled into some great volleying with it. He said, "I loved the comfort, feel for the ball and stability of the Phantom 100G LB when hitting volleys. The 28-inch length was amazing when I was stretched out and could use that extra reach. In doubles, I could cover a little bit more of my half of the court, so I felt confident in that sense. That said, the extra inch of length did make the racquet feel slightly cumbersome when trying to react quickly to a ball hit hard at me. For most of the playtest, I found myself choking up on the grip when I came to the net so it would be easier to handle. My favorite part was the comfortable feel on contact, and there was a lot of feel, which allowed me to utilize touch shots with ease."

The Phantom 100G LB's extended length and flexible construction created some problems for Michelle at net. She described, "I love having that extended reach at the net, but it comes with a price. The maneuverability was noticeably more demanding. Also, that low stiffness sometimes disguised itself as instability, especially if I made contact with the ball below the net. Again, the flexible feel doesn't always pair perfectly with my game, so I felt like I wasn't getting a hold of my volleys at times, and I wished I felt more connected to the ball."

Although Mark had some trouble positioning the Phantom 100G LB on the forehand side, he ultimately cracked the code and made this stick sing. He said, "If a shot was aimed at my body and I did not have enough time to catch the volley on the backhand side, the 28-inch length was a drawback. Other than that one exception, the overall specs of this racquet enhanced the quality of my volley to the point where I could say that I hit some of my best reaction and put-away volleys with the Phantom 100G LB."

Serves - Score: 86

At 28 inches, the Phantom 100G LB is just one measly inch longer than a standard-length racquet. However, when you factor that inch into the shot geometry of a tennis serve and account for the physics of motion enabled by a higher contact point, the result is an undeniable increase in power. "This was my favorite part of the playtest," said Michelle. "Because of that extra leverage and heft, and the fact I'm trying to simplify my service motion, I found a lot of success on first serves. The ball penetrated and helped me start points on the offensive. I could keep it simple, and as long as I got the racquet loaded and accelerated through contact, I was rewarded with power. It was fun to slice around serves too."

Troy also appreciated the extra leverage this racquet provided on serve. He said, "I definitely noticed the extra reach when going for flat serves. I know it is only one extra inch, but it seemed as though I was consistently getting more net clearance on those flat serves. The power came with ease due to the leverage and plow through I was finding. It didn't necessarily feel like a rocket launcher, like the Babolat Pure Drive Tour Plus, but I still found that I could reach my upper limits of ball speed. The racquet did feel a bit unwieldy on kick serves, and I had to get adjusted to the contact point, but once I did, I was finding a lot of spin, and the ball was jumping off the court. The open string pattern and thin beam frame helped maximize the spin window and allowed me to really brush up the ball to generate a lot of kick and topspin. I also loved this racquet on my lefty slice serve out wide on the ad side, where I could get a sharp angle from the higher contact point and there was a lot of slice on the ball from that open string pattern."

"The biggest advantage of this racquet is on serves," said Chris, who tapped into impressive power and spin. "The Phantom 100G LB seriously helped me bring some heat. Again, I found it easy to generate spin, and my slice serves were working very well. On second serves, I went with a mix of spin and as much pace as I could generate and still found very good consistency."

Although he initially found the Phantom 100G LB challenging to serve with, Mark eventually hit pay dirt with this racquet. He said, "Where groundstrokes were positive from the first swing, it took a little while to get used to that extra inch on serve. The more I served with the Phantom 100G LB, the more comfortable I became with it, and it has since seemed to help my serve in general. It's almost like a serving tool. Out of all the shots I can hit with the Phantom 100G LB, the overhead and serve were my favorites."

Returns - Score: 83

Despite the Phantom 100G LB's extended length, the majority of our playtesters found the racquet to be sufficiently fast and fluid on service returns. In addition to rewarding full swings with power and precision, this racquet performed exceptionally on chips and slices. For Troy, this extended Phantom could do no wrong on serve returns. He said, "The extra reach came in handy on returns. When I got stretched out and needed a little help flicking the ball back, this Phantom 100G LB allowed me to do so effectively. I also liked that the added length helped me hit returns with pace and depth, and as a bonus, the flexible frame provided a very smooth feel on contact. If I needed to rip a forehand return, I found that I could go big without fear of missing. Being that I have a rather stocky build with broad shoulders, I don't always feel like I have a lot of range of motion on my two-handed backhand. However, with this 28-inch racquet, I feel like I can generate easy power on my two-hander, and overall it just improves my returns."

Chris had good results returning serve with this racquet after a short adjustment period. He said, "I was surprised how early I could take returns with this racquet once I got used to the added length. The Phantom 100G LB felt pretty fast, and I think there's room to beef up the swingweight and improve stability. I liked hitting chip returns, as the leverage allowed me to slice with depth using only a little backswing."

Mark found success on both drives and chips. He said, "I like chipping my forehand returns, and I'm able to both slice and drive through the ball on my backhand wing. To my surprise, I was able to do the same thing with the Phantom 100G LB, albeit with a little extra power on the ball. Admittedly, I was relegated to the slice off of both sides once serve speeds eclipsed 100 mph with lots of spin on the ball."

"Short backswings were key here," said Michele. "There was no need to take a big backswing, and the short backswing worked really well and allowed me to feel in control of my targeting. Returns against big servers who were jamming me in the body were a bit trickier. Thankfully, our TW court is on the slower side. I could take a fairly big cut on second serves and start an aggressive point."

Overall - Score: 82