Prince - Prince release O3 Black for 2007
Published: 14 Feb 2007 - 23:41 by nickhitter
Updated: 02 May 2007 - 22:44
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More news than a review of course.
Looks like we have the first new racket of 2007 though. Word is it's similar to the tour but 10grams lighter. So I imagine this being similar to the TT soverign. You can see John White playing with it at http://www.squashsite.org.uk/wco/semis.htm
And yes it is called Black even though it is silver! Hopefully they will have addressed the problems of durability that have been reported in the tour model. If anyone gets one post your review here!
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From bazookame - 02 May 2007 - 22:44
From paul01323 - 01 May 2007 - 07:11
I use two over grips on my rackets and my O3 Tour weighs in at 200g and the O3 Black is 185g (please bear in mind that I got my scales from a pound shop so they won't be very acurate!). It feels slightly more head heavy than the O3 Tour in the hand but on court there didn't seem much difference.
From rskting - 01 May 2007 - 05:53 - Updated: 01 May 2007 - 05:56
From paul01323 - 01 May 2007 - 05:48
Thanks for the link to the ebay store, I ordered mine straight away and recieved it today. I've just played my first game with it and I won 9-0 9-1 9-0 against someone I've never beaten before, so right now I think this racket is the best thing since sliced bread! Being a little more constructive...
On court I found the racket felt a lot lighter than my O3 Tour (on my scales its 15 grams lighter).
My drops suffered, especially when faking a drive before playing the drop, I imagine this is due to me having to get used to the light weight and should rectify itself with some practise.
Faking a drop then playing a drive was a lot easier on the wrist than with the heavier O3 Tour.
When in trouble i found it was easier to get the ball to the back of the court which gave me more recovery time and put my oponent under constant pressure.
I cant wait to get it restrung with Technifibre 225/305 and see what it can do.
One final thought, do you think John White plays with an O3 Black or an O3 Tour painted to look like an O3 Black?
From drop-shot - 24 Apr 2007 - 20:47 - Updated: 24 Apr 2007 - 20:47
The guy is fast, reliable and solid. If you live in Germany, you can get your goods in 24 hrs.
So, if I may recommend, put this link into squashgame.info links
From nickhitter - 23 Apr 2007 - 04:31
From bazookame - 22 Apr 2007 - 22:55
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/dlSPORTSworldwide_PRINCE_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ104198519QQftidZ2QQtZkm
good luck all!
From rskting - 21 Apr 2007 - 03:24 - Updated: 21 Apr 2007 - 03:31
The 03 black is finally available at pwp.com, but only pre-order in June. Not as expensive as Rebel in Australia I hope. Anyways, will update when I get one. Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread.
From stevo - 01 Apr 2007 - 23:10
Unusual for them to arrive in Australia before the UK.
From nickhitter - 01 Apr 2007 - 11:28
interesting about Prince's website...it's probably more likely down to budget and squash is maybe not highest priority within Benetton or whoever owns them now. Although having said that Dunlop sports entire site has been down for about 6 months now! I mean how long does it take to put a new site up! honestly my mate can do pro sites in like a week or two max, so whoever they are paying to do it is ripping them off, not to mention loosing them customers probably....
From rskting - 01 Apr 2007 - 02:00 - Updated: 01 Apr 2007 - 02:24
From bazookame - 31 Mar 2007 - 23:17
is accepting orders on o3 Black rackets for May/June delivery.
its amazing how even Prince's own official web site doesn't have any information on their new products!!??? why?? they don't seemed to be keen to market their own products.... even when o3 models was launched last year. maybe because they don't want their competitors to copy their ideas??
I'm desperate to get hold of a new black because i have a massive crack on my o3 Tour after 1 yrs use - beautiful racket, well balanced and gives excellent control so i'm confident that Black can only be an improvement to Tour ..... i hope. I've had 4 Prince rackets up to now, and each new model have always been an improvement to the previous one.
From noffy48 - 31 Mar 2007 - 13:36
From rskting - 16 Mar 2007 - 15:58
From noffy48 - 18 Feb 2007 - 16:21
From rskting - 17 Feb 2007 - 03:17
when is it available? I've seen it here as well: http://www.daiwaseiko.co.jp/tennis/squash/rackets/shouhin/o3black.html
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O3 Tour = 180g
O3 Black = 165g
i've had the O3 Black for a week now and have played 4 games with it. the immediate impression of the Black racket is that apart from the colour, it is exactly the same shape and dimensions and that 15g gain isn't so obvious until you start playing with the racket. It is then that you realise how much easier it is on the wrist and how light it is to maneuver around the court. It also allows greater racket head speed through the snap of my wrist, so i would highly recommend it to wrist players like me. Lobbing balls from the front of the court to the back corners is where this racket excels, giving plenty of feel and control.
However, the transition from O3 Tour to Black wasn't so easy for me. Although the Black is supposedly head heavy, like the Tour, if not slightly heavier, the weight advantage plus different tension to the strings that i'm not used to, affected the timing of my shots. i found myself hitting the shots a bit too early on both of my backhand and forehand shots, hence, playing the balls loose towards the centre of the court or too wide on cross courts. But all this was due to getting use to and as soon as i got the timing right, it just does what Tour was good at but with much less effort on the swings. I too can't wait till i restring my racket but with Ashaway Supernick XL Pro, great on spins but not so good on durability.
I'm not sure whether this is the trade off having a lighter racket, but due to it's lighter weight, i find that there is less power behind the shots........ or maybe i still need to improve on my timing and or string tension?
Also, just a minor issue but the colour of the racket blends into the wall... that took a little getting use to, having to judge how close your racket is against the wall, could lead to an expensive mistake :)
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