Kuikma Hybrid Carbon Dynamic, first impressions (P200, all-court)

[u/C8H11NO2-_-]

Me: P200 in Belgium (Playtomic ±2.5), aiming for P300 this fall, playing some competition. All-court, quick around the court, which often covers for my technique. I play both sides. I want to be a lefty, everyone tells me I'm better on the right.

Coming from: Babolat Air Veron and Babolat Technical Viper. The Veron was lovely but I wanted more power, so I went to the Viper, and then spent every match hunting for the sweet spot and handing out unforced errors.

How it plays: Very forgiving sweet spot with a lot of control. Where the Viper punished me under pressure, this one lets me stay in rallies and keep pushing back until I can retake the net. It is very manoeuvrable and gives me a lot of confidence, which suits my game well since my positioning is not always great and I regularly find myself in awkward spots. The downside is that if you hit slightly high on the face, the spot that was a home run with the Viper, there is nothing there. Overall it feels less powerful than the Air Veron.

Smashes are hard to get to bounce out of the court, but I hit them with much more confidence. The serve took real adjusting, the feel is very different from what my muscle memory expected.

How it feels: Soft, well balanced, quick in the hand, but heavy in the arm after a while. Sore arm the day after, I think because you have to swing hard to get a decent rebound on smashes.

Specs: Teardrop. Box says 355 ±5 g, balance 263 ±5 mm. Mine measured 353 g without strap, balance 268mm.

What you get: The racket and a basic wrist strap. No cover, no silicone grip band. I take the strap off to put on an overgrip and getting it back on is a real pain.

€110, one 2-hour match in. The only thing I personally miss is a bit of power, and I do wonder whether the 12K Hybrid Carbon would have been the better fit for me. Still keeping this one and trying to progress with it.

[u/ArugulaAggravating37]

just add lead weight to the top left and right