Squash Equipment Blog
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A nice scoop by Laurent Cossa and Jordan Mansfield: Amr Shabana has signed a 3-year sponsorship deal with Eye squash rackets.
He’ll be playing with the X.Lite 120 Control.
Note: I’ve been working on a major cleanup of all the data and posts on Squash Source. Hope 2013/2014 will be the best year yet!
Today I had the chance to play a match using the ‘Eye X.Lite 120 Control’, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts about this particular model.
PROS:
-Even though the frame is very light in deed, the balance seems quite nicely distributed slightly towards the head. This translates in easily generated racket head speed while still offering the ability to ”mess around” with quick flicks at the front of the court.
-It took me about ten minutes to adjust to the racket and then I was quickly playing tight lengths, precise drop shots and even cross-court nicks off the serve against a (much) higher ranked opponent.
-The string pattern allows for a lot of ‘cut’ on the shots and gives great power through a small swing. The factory strings are really good as well, I don’t know what gauge or what type of strings they are but they play really well. I reckon the tension must be around 26 or 27 pounds, which is coincidently my preferred tension on my Dunlops.
CONS:
-I felt extremely afraid of breaking this racket for the entire length of the match; it feels as if any little bump against the floor or the sidewalls might crack it…perhaps I was just paranoid.
-The size of the grip ‘out of the box’ is very small. I’m used to playing Dunlop rackets with a single karakul PU grip on, and this felt as if I was holding a pencil instead of a racket handle. So anyone out there with big hands (unlike me) might have to use at least two grips on the handle just to be able to comfortably grasp it.
Overall I really enjoyed using this model, it plays a lot ”quicker’’ compared to my Dunlop Ultimate and felt really nice on my hand. The racket offers huge amounts of control and great power. The only reason why I would hesitate from buying a couple of them would be their durability, which (based on the impressions of an hour of play) seems little.
I would rate this racket 4.7/5.0: great playability but durability might be questionable, although Eye does offer a one year warranty on all their frames whenever they break below the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock points.
-Juan
Has anyone been able to get their hands on one of these? I am in the US, and I haven’t been able to find a retailer for them and am wary of purchasing one without being able to try them out, not to mention the overseas delivery.
I haven’t personally – if someone else has I hope they’ll write in!
I broke down and finally ordered the X Lite 110 Control racket from Eye’s website. The racket arrived exactly a week from the day that it shipped. The rackets do not come with a cover, and it was shipped in a collapsed cardboard box that had the edges taped together, which terrified me when I first saw it sitting on my front porch. Their customer service rep was very helpful with my questions during the ordering and shipping process. Overall, I am enjoying the racket very, very much. I was previously playing with the Head Xenon 135, and the weight difference is noticeable, and it does allow for much easier volleying and “wristed” shots. It is relatively flexible, much more so than the Head and Prince rackets I have played with beforehand. I am a little worried about how quickly it will crack on me given the light weight, but once I get used to it, I am almost certainly going to buy an extra pair of these.
Keep us informed.
I am interested in trying these if for no other reason than to have something different that you can’t get in this country ;o)
Currently using the Head Graphene Cyano 115 but long time user of the “Xenon” frame style.
Thanks Hushmi!
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