Yesterday night my girls gave me a bit of a surprise. They already know how to count to ten about a few months (how many?) back, but yesterday they started doing so in Malay! Both took turns counting satu to sepuluh!
I found out later that my Mom had taught them that...
They can recite the numbers from 1 to 10 quite fluently by now, but can't really count yet. Next task to teach them...
Monday, October 12, 2009
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Wilson KSix.One Review...
Been playing with the Wilson KSix.One 95 (hereinafter referred to as K95) extensively of late, and also managed to get some court time with the Wilson KSix.One Tour 90(hereinafter referred to as K90).
The K95 first... When I first picked it up it struck me that it felt pretty hefty even though it's the Asian version that weighs in at 310g vs the Rest-of-the-world version at 330g. When I first played with it, it was strung with Ashaway Crossfire 17G at 55lbs. Despite the stiff stringbed, it was quite easy to play with and control. It also felt extremely stable on impact. Consequently groundstrokes were pretty good.
However because of the Kevlar mains the racket felt rather muted in feel and arm felt a bit sore after playing with it. Got it restrung with Gamma TNT2 16G at 53lbs, and the whole character of the racket seems to have been transformed. Not all in a good way in my opinion...
Suddenly I was getting lots of feel, and lots of power from the strings. I am the kind of player who takes long loopy strokes though, and such lively string with such a stiff racket meant I had to really dial in quite a bit of spin and shorten my swing. Otherwise, playing my normal way meant a lot of long balls.
Subsequently tried it with Tospin Cyberblue 16 (mains at 53lbs) and the Gamma TNT2 16 (crosses at 55lbs) and it felt good. No pain, yet good control and decent power. I think I'm gonna stick with this. Maybe higher tension for crosses...
Overall a very stable, comfortable, stiff and reasonably maneuverable stick. Wish it was more flexible though. With an RDC rating of 69 it was almost the same as the famously stiff Babolat Pure Drive rackets, and exceeds the 67 of the Aero Pro Drive!
As for the K90, first impressions were very bad, which prompted me to sell it off pretty quickly to SC. I now wish I hadn't...
Again, this is the Asian edition at 320g instead of the ROTW version at 340g.
Basically it reminded me of all the pro player rackets of yore which was thin, low on power, uncomfortable, and not very stable to boot. As SC loved those kind of rackets, and as I thought I could no longer handle sticks like that, off it went...
I know now a lot of it had to do with the strings, which were Luxilon polys on mains and some other poly on crosses, strung at 45lbs. Despite the low tension it was still awful to play with. True to my assessment, SC began spraying almost all his shots long in the following game we played.
Tonight, testing it again after a restring with Ashaway Crossfire at 53/55lbs, it was amazing! I could take great big swings with it and it would go pretty much where I wanted. It felt so good it was like the proverbial extension of my arm. Not as stable as the K95, but still okay considering its skinny cross-section. Also I felt the stringbed was rather lifeless, complete opposite of the TNT2s. But in the long run it was very tiring as it needed full swings to even get the ball over beyond the opposite court's service line.
Tried it with Luxilon Alu Rough on mains and Wilson Sensation on crosses at 55lbs, and was a lot better, gaining much more liveliness without sacrificing too much control. It was quite painful to play with however, highly probable due to the Lux mains. Will try it with a soft poly i.e. Topspin Cyberblue on mains at 52lbs.
I still maintain that this racket would be perfect with some synthetic gut strung at 57lbs...
So there it is, my short takes on the famed KSix.Ones. Will need to continue to try different strings on it in future, thinking of a soft poly/co-poly mated with a synthetic gut. Should work to tame the liveliness of the synthetic gut, yet at the same time softening the stiff feel of the polys...
The K95 first... When I first picked it up it struck me that it felt pretty hefty even though it's the Asian version that weighs in at 310g vs the Rest-of-the-world version at 330g. When I first played with it, it was strung with Ashaway Crossfire 17G at 55lbs. Despite the stiff stringbed, it was quite easy to play with and control. It also felt extremely stable on impact. Consequently groundstrokes were pretty good.
However because of the Kevlar mains the racket felt rather muted in feel and arm felt a bit sore after playing with it. Got it restrung with Gamma TNT2 16G at 53lbs, and the whole character of the racket seems to have been transformed. Not all in a good way in my opinion...
Suddenly I was getting lots of feel, and lots of power from the strings. I am the kind of player who takes long loopy strokes though, and such lively string with such a stiff racket meant I had to really dial in quite a bit of spin and shorten my swing. Otherwise, playing my normal way meant a lot of long balls.
Subsequently tried it with Tospin Cyberblue 16 (mains at 53lbs) and the Gamma TNT2 16 (crosses at 55lbs) and it felt good. No pain, yet good control and decent power. I think I'm gonna stick with this. Maybe higher tension for crosses...
Overall a very stable, comfortable, stiff and reasonably maneuverable stick. Wish it was more flexible though. With an RDC rating of 69 it was almost the same as the famously stiff Babolat Pure Drive rackets, and exceeds the 67 of the Aero Pro Drive!
As for the K90, first impressions were very bad, which prompted me to sell it off pretty quickly to SC. I now wish I hadn't...
Again, this is the Asian edition at 320g instead of the ROTW version at 340g.
Basically it reminded me of all the pro player rackets of yore which was thin, low on power, uncomfortable, and not very stable to boot. As SC loved those kind of rackets, and as I thought I could no longer handle sticks like that, off it went...
I know now a lot of it had to do with the strings, which were Luxilon polys on mains and some other poly on crosses, strung at 45lbs. Despite the low tension it was still awful to play with. True to my assessment, SC began spraying almost all his shots long in the following game we played.
Tonight, testing it again after a restring with Ashaway Crossfire at 53/55lbs, it was amazing! I could take great big swings with it and it would go pretty much where I wanted. It felt so good it was like the proverbial extension of my arm. Not as stable as the K95, but still okay considering its skinny cross-section. Also I felt the stringbed was rather lifeless, complete opposite of the TNT2s. But in the long run it was very tiring as it needed full swings to even get the ball over beyond the opposite court's service line.
Tried it with Luxilon Alu Rough on mains and Wilson Sensation on crosses at 55lbs, and was a lot better, gaining much more liveliness without sacrificing too much control. It was quite painful to play with however, highly probable due to the Lux mains. Will try it with a soft poly i.e. Topspin Cyberblue on mains at 52lbs.
I still maintain that this racket would be perfect with some synthetic gut strung at 57lbs...
So there it is, my short takes on the famed KSix.Ones. Will need to continue to try different strings on it in future, thinking of a soft poly/co-poly mated with a synthetic gut. Should work to tame the liveliness of the synthetic gut, yet at the same time softening the stiff feel of the polys...
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