Squash Equipment Blog
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This is called the Prince O3 Pro Tour Black:
Product Notes
I can’t find any links to my usual affiliates, but this racket is for sale at sportsdirect.com.
Reviews
A reader, Lior, says:
I have bought the Prince O3 Pro Tour Black after having played with several other Prince rackets and was deeply disappointed.
You can read the rest of his detailed comment below.
I agree
I have used Prince rackets for 30+ years and my three lads who play squash have followed tradition. I bought one of my sons two Prince Pro Tour 750 sticks which he absolutely loves….. but strings last no more than three games. I use a brilliant professional stringer who works both squash and tennis pro tours. He has tried sleeving the strings through the ports and sanding out the rough edges – but nothing works. This is an absolutely awful racket, not befitting the Prince name. It should be recalled – but Prince is not interested in providing any customer care.
I Couldn’t agree more, Lee.
I won’t be commenting the racket as I have done so before but I too would like to express and underline the great disappointment from Prince’s nonexistent customer care.
I really cannot understand how a serious racket manufacturer such as Prince allows itslef to completely ignore such a serious problem which keeps being brought up by so many users.
Just like yourself my expert stringer had tried sleeving all the strings around the O3 holes but the result was the same (maybe a week of “string life” was added) as this racket’s frame (and as it seems, those of its “relatives” too) constantly cuts into the strings tearing them in a frequency that is way over what anyone would consider to be reasonable.
Prince customer care – if you are reading this, please know that it is time for a massive recall or better yet, a refund.
Topias,
How was the O3 Black? (not the pro tour) Did strings break easily? What about the frame? It seems that people tend to say that they are not very reliable, and I guess those big holes make it a weaker racquet?
thank you very much
Fernando, I definitely think the O3 Black is one of the best rackets ever! I actually bought more of them from PDH Sports – they had become availabe again. Many Prince models tend to break easily but this one isnt that fragile. The older O-ports are much more durable than the newer EXO-ports in my experience. String consumption is average… Tecnifibre 305+ 17 plays well with it. Ashaway Powernick 18 breaks easily.
It’s a very head heavy racket but still somehow magically light to handle, has a “light saber feel” to it 😀 Very powerful, good touch and feel for hitting softer shots to the back as well. You have to be careful when hitting drop shots – if you start a higher swing, it’s hard to slow down and the drop results too heavy (if you dont put just the perfect cut to it).
Topias, thanks a lot for your comments. Really helpful. Final question: How would you compare it with the technifibre carboflex 140 (if by any chance you have tried it).
Thank you very much
Kind regards
You’re welcome! I think I’ve had a couple of hits with Carboflex 140, that one isn’t at all so head heavy so it’s faster to handle but you have to generate more power by swing speed. Very different kind of racket. It feels more simple and bulky, lacks the “finesse” of the O3 Black 🙂 Many people prefer the simplicity of Tecnifibre rackets but I certainly don’t…
Hi Pierre,
I wanted to place a review on a Prince racket but I can’t see it in your list so I guess it isn’t a part of their latest line.
However – I have bought the Prince O3 Pro Tour Black after having played with several other Prince rackets and was deeply disappointed.
I don’t know if the problem is of my specific racket but, since the begining it showed a strange tendency to easily breaking its strings, starting with the original set torn just after 3 games + it was somewhat “unstable” to the point I just wasn’t able to hit a straight drive with it.
Taking a closer look at the racket I have noticed two odd things:
1. The paint was wearing off around the O3 holes leaving a rough edge that, when touching the string, “helps” the tearing process.
2. The inner side of the O3 holes on this racket are shaped with a rather sharp edge that, again, accelerates the string tearing.
I tried contacting Prince regarding this matter a few times (with photos proving my point) but strangely enough, never got any answer from them.
Bottom line – I love Prince rackets (have played with Hybrid red, O3 Silver, Airstick 130) but would not recommend, to say the least, the O3 Pro Tour Black.
Should someone else have any comment about this racket – I would love to hear it.
I’ve used this racket. I think it’s supposed to be a kind of a copy/remake of the original O3 Black rather than an improved/updated version. I loved the O3 Black and that’s why I bought this one. I don’t think it’s awful like Lior said, although I did break quite many strings too during the six months I used it. The finishing of the product just doesn’t seem to be quite as high quality as with the original O3 Black… It’s not quite as stiff (a bit more vibration) and it’s a touch more head heavy. At first I thought I was gonna get used to the slightly heavier head but I never learned to hit soft drop shots with it so in the end I switched to Head GrapheneXT Cyano 135, which is my current racket.
Topias, you said “I don’t think it’s awful like Lior” but then you cited the exact same deffects I encountered one by one…
😀
After the 3rd / 4th time I tore the strings on this racket (after playing 2-3 matches every time) I dumped it for good as strings quickly started to cost more tha the racket itself.
guess we can easily agree that this is one of Prince’s worst rackets.
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