I've recently starting playing tennis regularly again and feel its time to upgrade from my mid 90's Wilson Hammer (Skunk) racket. I plan on demoing a couple but was looking for some recommendations. I am a little partial to Wilson but will try others.

The new Wilsons are pretty nice. My son has three now. His preference is the BLX racket line and most favorite is the Juice Pro.

Adding - his team mates prefer Babolat but he found his elbow had pain after demoing a couple of them. He has had no pain with the Wilson.

[This message has been edited by TXAggieMom11 (edited 9/2/2012 9:57p).]

I posted a similar thread a few months ago, here's the advice I received.

http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=2110123&forum_id=10

Thanks for the link, it was very helpful. I think I'm going to give these three a try:
1) Babolat 2012 Pure Drive Plus Tennis Racquet
2) Head Youtek IG Extreme Pro Tennis Racquet
3) Wilson 2012 Surge BLX Tennis Racquet

Those three sticks are in the exact same class of rackets, and are almost the same specs. You will find different things you like and dislike about all three. Try out the Babolat Aero Pro Drive as well

You won't find many head heavy rackets like the skunk anymore, though. Probably gonna have to go with something like those three, something fairly even balanced.

lighter weight rackets and poly strings can be the start of elbow problems in the future. The Wilson line, although a bit heavier IMO have better shock absorption on off center hits. Have played an OLDER version of the Surge and have played the Ncode, K6.1, BLX series for several years now and have had no problems with elbow issues. Currently playing the BLX 6.1 with added weight to grip. If you have a high swing speed, go with the lighter rackets, just understand the trade off for lighter rackets is less weight to absorb shock and a solid feel especially when teamed with Polyester strings

So I went and hit today with these four demo rackets:
1) Babolat Pure Drive Plus Tennis Racquet
2) Head Youtek IG Extreme Pro Tennis Racquet
3) Wilson Surge BLX Tennis Racquet
4) Babolat AeroPro Drive GT

Here are my thoughts on each of the rackets from least favorite to most favorite:
1) Wilson Surge BLX - Really thought I would like this one the best. The racket felt really weak and loose, with little control. I was hitting shots all over the place.

2) Babolat AeroPro Drive GT - Similar results as the Wilson, but not quite as bad. Slightly more control but not enough for my liking.

3)Babolat Pure Drive - Liked this one almost as much as the Head racket. Nice combination of power, feel, and control.

4) Head Youtek IG Extreme Pro - I almost didn't even demo this one but I'm glad I did. This one ended up being my favorite. It felt the most comfortable and I was able to hit just about every shot where I wanted to with the control and pace.

I do have a question about both the string type and tension and how that might influence the performance of the individual rackets if they are different. I play in a Wednesday night league and I think I'm going to give the Head a try to see how I like it in match play.

Thanks for all of the input.

String type and tension will affect the way they hit a LOT.