Which K-Blade should I use and what strings should I use?

Question

I'm a 3.5-4.0 (NTRP) baseliner with pretty powerful strokes, but I tend to hit the ball long a lot, so i need this racquet to have control and power. I've narrowed it down to the k-blade series, and I've demoed all models, but can't decide which one to get. These are the models: K-Blade Tour (93" headsize, 12.0 oz strung), The K-Blade 98 (98" headsize, 11.3 oz strung), and the K-Blade Team (104" headsize, 10.8 oz strung). For strings,

I've narrowed it down to Babolat VS. Natural Gut, Wilson NXT Tour, or Wilson K-Gut. I don't want to spend too much money on strings. Thanks

Answer 1

Thanks for giving the main racquet specs in your question.  Saves me time jumping between them at tenniswarehouse.com

So, if you tend to hit long, you will want something with more control than power.  Basically, you want a racquet that won't add much to your power, so that you won't hit long a lot.  Going strictly by this, the KBlade tour is probably the best option.  But that might not be the case.  

It has a really small head, which means you have to be really consistent in your strokes to keep hitting the sweet spot.  I don't know how consistent you are, so the evaluation would be up to you.  

That brings me to the 98. If the 93 inch head is too demanding for you, the 98 is your next best bet.  It will have a little more power than the tour, but is still very control-oriented.  

As for the Team, I'm not sure I would go for that one.  It's got a large head, and is rather lightweight.  This would be a good racquet for an advancing intermediate player.  I think it just wouldn't have enough control for you.

As far as the srings, those are all pretty expensive.  I mean, the NXT tour is the cheapest you picked, and it's 17 bucks for the strings itself.  Add 15 to 20 more for labor, and that's an expensive stringing job.  So, of the three, I'd go for the NXT, because you probably dont' really need the extra stuff you get from natural gut, or K-gut.  You would probably be just fine using a normal syn. gut string, like Prince syn. gut with duraflex.  It's only about 5 bucks for the set, and they work just fine.

Answer 2

The Kblade has good specs, but once you demo it you find it still hits those same balls long (power). I'd go with the K Pro Tour, best in the K line for control. But, sounds like you picked your racquet so on with the question.

I would choose a hexagonal co-poly like MSV focus hex String of the year) to bite into the ball to give it extra spin to help even more with your control. Some co-poly can be expensive, but you can string a racquet for $5 with something lke MSV.

Answer 3

I use NXT in my Wilson Nblade and they have been pretty good after getting used to them. I like them at a lower tension of around 50lbs though.