I had a chance to play this past Friday and frustration is getting the better of me. I expect my body to be doing all the things my brain tells it to do and then it doesn't happen. I know in my mind I can play this sport better than I am and my expectations of myself are not following through.
That being said here is where we introduce when the right equipment can help your game more so than you think. After playing with three paddles, Outbreak lat week, my Friday game started with the Onix React and I quickly had to put it back. More on that in my React Review coming soon. After my first game with the React I picked up the Voyager Pro. It's a quieter paddle once again passing the finger test due to the full polypropylene core unlike the react which has a Nomex sweet spot instead. The Voyager sits well in my hand, the one I have is a medium weight, rounded tennis handle and a smooth graphite face. I wouldn't say there is anything fancy about this paddle, it's just a well rounded product with the standard features, tried and true technology. I think part of me believes this is why it's played the best for me so far. The face is absorbing for my shots which I find the more I play a necessary paddle characteristic for me. Anything bouncy or reflective has horrible results for my ball control and soft touch dinks. I couldn't seem to get around that on the React paddle, perhaps more play with it would help but for me I am looking for a paddle that responds well to me. I can then dial in how I play with a paddle that already suits me rather than trying to adapt to the paddle and also correct my play. I think that makes sense, none-the-less the Voyager did as well as the Outbreak so right now those are my top two paddles.
I was able to control my shots quite well with this paddle. It did not have as much impact on ball spin as the Outbreak, I like that feature when it's intentional and found the Voyager doing that as expected where as the Outbreak required a little more control to prevent ball spin. That's a good thing for the Outbreak as it's doing exactly what Onix reports it will do for control and placement of the ball. In my case it was user error more than anything else.
So under normal paddle design the sweet spot should consume a large portion of the center of the paddle. The voyager felt consistent across more of the entire face so I wasn't forcing a center or center top hit to really get the response I was looking for. I don't want to force my hand, arm and eye coordination to 1/3rd of the paddle, there is too much going on to make that kind of commitment on each shot. I want the paddle to be more accommodating for a PB beginner such as myself. The Voyager delivered here as well and looking back I realize now that I wasn't working so hard to find that spot on the paddle to return with, I was just playing. The Outbreak has the same polypropylene core the biggest difference here is the face coating. Just graphite on the Voyager and not the Textreme reinforcement.
I had no equipment fatigue after 2 hrs of play just body fatigue again. This weight class seems right for me. I do feel a little strain in my right wrist after an hour of play. That could be related to a number of things at this point. I also seem to be over using my left quad and that starts to wear me down. I haven't been using my legs like this in 4 years and I don't care what kind of weight training you put your legs or body through none of equates to the repetitive stop and go endurance required of you for any racket/paddle sport. I always say being fit and being in shape are two completely different things and this just reminds me that I am fit more than in shape. I look forward to more PB and the final review of my Onix Paddle collection, the Z5 Graphite with a Nomex Honeycomb core.
Thank you for reading and please comment if you would like to.
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