Artengo TR960 Precision Racket Evaluate

Artengo is likely to be one of many lesser recognized tennis manufacturers on the market, however they’ve the total complement of tennis gear, together with rackets, strings, luggage, footwear, balls and equipment.

The massive promoting level of their tennis division is the pricing, and within the seek for merchandise that match all budgets, I’ve examined a number of of their merchandise in latest weeks.

One of many first gadgets I made a decision to check was the Artengo TR960 Precision racket, developed in partnership with former ATP gamers Steve Darcis, Oliver Marach and Nicolas Escudé.

The result’s a 300g racket aimed toward superior gamers who need management and stability.

How does it play?

Artengo TR960 Precision Cosmetics

GET THE TR960 PRECISION

The Artengo TR960 Precision has a easy color palette with a white hoop, black grommets, and a pink accent on the throat.

In comparison with a few of the rackets we’ve seen these days, just like the Excessive line from Head and Prince’s ATS Textreme Tour line, it’s a extra impartial design, and I prefer it.

The Artengo branding on the throat additionally appears good, and I feel the typeface for his or her brand works nicely.

Artengo TR960 Precision Specification

The TR960 Precision racket comes pre-strung, and the one change I made earlier than playtesting the body was the addition of an Artengo Soak up overgrip.

When strung, my racket weighed 323g (with out the overgrip).

After eradicating the strings and overgrip after a number of hitting periods, I put it again on the scales, and it is available in at 305.9g unstrung, so 2% over the 300g goal. Not unhealthy.

Nevertheless, swingweight was a distinct story. When strung, the TR960 had a swing weight of 326 kg/cm2, so I knew that the unstrung swing weight had zero likelihood of being near Artengo’s goal of 270 kg/cm2.

As soon as I lower the strings out and obtained it on the Briffidi SW1, the unstrung swingweight got here in at 295 kg/cm2.

 

25 swing weight factors off spec is disappointing as that discrepancy is just too excessive.

Is it a one-off? Doubtlessly.

The Artengo TR960 Management Tour I’ve additionally been playtesting, which is barely costlier, was close to excellent on the standard management checks.

And on this video from the Tennis Man, his TR960 Precision was barely over 300g however had a swing weight of 305 kg/cm2, which is exactly what you’d anticipate for a goal unstrung swing weight of 270 kg/cm2 as strings add round 30-35 swingweight factors.

Apparently, the Prince ATS Textreme Tour 290 I reviewed had the identical challenge, so this downside is just not essentially because of the cheaper price ticket and plagues most tennis racket manufacturers.

	Artengo TR960 Precision	My Artengo TR960 Precision
Head Dimension	100 in / 645.16 cm	100 in / 645.16 cm
Size	27in / 68.58cm	27in / 68.58cm
Unstrung Weight	10.6oz / 300g	10.79oz / 305.9g
Strung Weight	Not measured	11.4oz / 323.1g
Unstrung Steadiness	12.4in / 31.5cm / 8 pts HL	12.8in / 32.4cm / 5 pts HL
Strung Steadiness	Not Measured	13.1in / 33.2cm / 3 pts HL
Unstrung Swingweight	270 kg/cm2	295 kg/cm2
Strung Swingweight	Not measured	326 kg/cm2
Twistweight	Not Measured	13.22
Stiffness	69	69
Beam Width	24 / 24 / 24mm
Composition	Excessive Modulus Carbon	Excessive Modulus Carbon
Racquet Colours	White/Pink	White/Pink
Grip Sort	Artengo Artificial	Artengo Artificial
String Sample	16 Mains / 19 Crosses	16 Mains / 19 Crosses

First Impressions

This was my first time utilizing an Artengo racket, and it’s not a racket I’ve learn a lot about beforehand, so I didn’t have many expectations earlier than enjoying with it.

The massive query mark for me was how it could evaluate to increased worth level rackets. The TR960 is £89.99 within the UK or $99.99 within the US, which is a extremely wallet-friendly worth.

In comparison with the rackets from Wilson, Head, Babolat and so on., which it’s immediately competing with, that is virtually a 3rd of the worth. So wouldn’t it be comparable?

Holding the racket and giving it just a few shadow swings, it felt like every other racket, and I might inform it had fairly a beefy spec after I was practising forehands with it, which was no actual shock given the 326 swing weight.

The paint job high quality is affordable; it doesn’t look ultra-premium like a Yonex EZONE 98, for instance, and I might see just a few chips across the grommets, however to the contact, the paint looks like most different matte-finished rackets.

I additionally just like the added contact of including the rubber ring to cover the grip ending tape, which appears neater, and I want extra firms provided these as customary.

Artengo TR960 Precison Playtest

Given the swing weight being 25 factors off the advisable specs, then, in impact, I used to be enjoying with a customized model of the TR960, the place weight has been added to the top.

Because it occurs, extra superior gamers would possible make this modification to bump up the swing weight so as to add stability.

However on the flip facet, it does make my assessment a bit deceptive. In the event you purchase this body with a swing weight of 305kg/cm2, your expertise will probably be barely completely different from mine.

After hitting just a few groundstrokes, my first ideas have been the racket sounded nice acoustically.

It had that ‘thud’ sound even after I wasn’t attempting to tear the ball. That is at all times a mixture of layup and string selection/rigidity, so that is possible a mixture of the smooth poly and the smooth really feel expertise, which makes use of some balsa wooden.

In some ways, it performed like the brand new Prince ATS Textreme Tour 290 I’ve been utilizing not too long ago, however with a extra oval head form and a thicker beam close to the throat.

The TR960 has respectable spin however not a spin machine (the string sample isn’t tremendous large on the ‘candy spot’), respectable energy, good stability with that 326 kgcm/2 swing weight and simply an all-around good enjoying body.

With a decrease swing weight of round 305, which the racket ought to have, the TR960 can be a wonderful different to the Pure Strike 100 or Tecnifibre TF40. There’s additionally a contact of Pure Drive in there.

So when you like these rackets however desire the worth tag of the TR960 (who doesn’t?), this could be an excellent different.

The TR960 has a stiffness score of 69, and most of the people imagine that increased stiffness = much less consolation (I urge to vary, however that’s one other publish); nevertheless, I discovered the racket very comfy. 

There aren’t any harsh vibrations, and Artengo has “Comfortable Really feel Absorption Expertise” within the racket; this makes use of some balsa wooden, which appears to work.

So from my expertise, you get a really comfy setup when you pair the TR960 with Artengo’s smooth poly TR960 Energy string at low rigidity (~44lbs).

What You Can Count on

Who is that this Racket For?

Given the £89.99/$99.99 price ticket, this racket has lots of use instances.

For outright inexperienced persons to superior intermediate gamers on a funds, the TR960 will ship a stable hitting expertise.

Whereas the racket is extra suited to intermediate gamers, I feel it’s also a wonderful selection for inexperienced persons getting some teaching.

Reasonably than shopping for a less expensive ‘newbie’ body for £50, you will get a high-quality body for only a contact more cash at £89.99.

It’s a bit heavier than most inexperienced persons sometimes go for, however 300g unstrung is manageable for many grownup gamers, and given the top mild stability (when you get it shut to focus on spec), it’s not troublesome to swing.

The benefit of getting this as your first racket is that TR960 will final for much longer and permit you to develop higher strokes from the outset. You’ll develop into it fairly than shortly develop out of it.

It additionally comes pre-strung with Artengo’s TR960 Energy. It is a smooth polyester string, so it’s unlikely to trigger arm points and is one other plus level for inexperienced persons as they’ll play instantly with out discovering a stringer.

The caveat right here is that the above solely applies if the racket is near the goal specs. A 326 swing weight like my racket is a contact unwieldy for a newbie. 

Related Taking part in Rackets

Remaining Ideas

Regardless of the problem of high quality management with the racket, I feel one of the best ways to explain the TR960 Precision is an effective racket, however at a terrific worth.

£89.99 / $99.99 for a racket of this high quality is an entire steal, making the sport way more accessible for a lot of gamers who don’t wish to spend £250 / $300 on a racket.

The specs additionally make lots of sense for lots of gamers. 300g unstrung is an effective weight for grownup female and male gamers, and with a swingweight of ~305 kg/cm2, it is vitally manoeuvrable, which means you possibly can choose it up after just a few weeks away from enjoying with none points.

I’m unsure I see it getting used on the superior degree because the TR960 Management Tour or the TR960 Precision Professional (98 sq. inch model of this racket) fits that participant extra.

Nevertheless, the TR960 Precision is a stable selection for increased intermediates, and I anticipate to see extra Artengo rackets in use on the membership degree throughout the UK, USA and Europe.

Professionals

Cons

Have you ever tried the TR960 Precision or every other Artengo rackets? Let me know within the feedback.