ProKennex Black Ace 98 + Syn Gut @ 35/34 (Box)

Many claim that Pro Kennex rackets represent the pinnacle of racket comfort and arm friendliness.

The acid test for any rackets claiming to be comfortable is to pitch it against a Pro Kennex. Any Pro Kennex.

I already have one. (link) But that is just an entry level. To be fair, I got the Black Ace 98, which I'm told is decent enough to hold its own and represent the PK family.

I think this is the 2009 version of the Black Ace 98. Specs below:
Length: 27 inches
Head Size: 98 sq inch
Weight: 332g strung
Balance: 33cm / 13" / 4 points headlight (mine's at 32cm)
Flex: 58
Swingweight: 331
Construction: 19mm straight beam

To push comfort to the max, I will string it with full synthetic gut at ELT of 35lbs. And box the perimeter stringbed with proportional stringing to add dampening. That will really open up the sweetspot!

Stringing pics below, using box stringing pattern...

This is a 18x20 pattern, so I did up the centre 6 mains on each side first.

First box in below pic.

Then the second and third box are done before the rest of the crosses.

Since I wanted to tie-off at the fourth cross from the bottom, I filled the fourth bottom cross first so I could tie on it later.

A close-up view below to check if I've weaved the crosses correctly during the boxing.

In case you're curious about that little red bead thingy in some of the above pics, it's a self-made starting pin using a piece of scrap poly string.

Playtest:
- From the first few hits, it immediately seemed like I had expected too much from PK.
- Everything is so muted. So dampened by the frame that there is so little feedback.
- Without discussing our opinions, my partner and I rotated several different rackets and then back to the Black Ace a few times. The general consensus is that both sweetspot hits and off-sweetspot hits felt so equally muted that it is sometimes hard to tell where we contacted on the racket face!
- Spin is much better than most 18x20 as I've also noticed the bigger spacing between the strings.
- I cannot tell if it is due to the soft flex, but accuracy does not seem too good. Most attempts to aim down the baseline  missed left or right. My successful hits with other rackets fared so much better.
- It may sound surprising, or even insulting, but both of us felt hints of nasty vibrations even with the super muted feel.
- The racket feels solid and I think the frame is most probably foam-filled, but even then, it still plays "noisy". The feedback is not clean and crisp. There is no difference between good and bad contacts.
- I'll give this another try next session.
- The first pic shows the string movement and ball fur after about 20 minutes. 

- The second pic is after about 60 minutes of play and there is a dark spot starting to appear on the sweetspot from ball friction. I think my sweetspot contact percentage should be quite acceptable.