Prince like many manufacturers tries to make sure that their racket line accommodates a large number of players. The EXO3 Black Team frame is one that I would classify as a tweener. It is light but the head heavy balance prevents it from being unstable. The now classic Speed port design has been married to an even more aerodynamic profile to improve swing speed and reduce the effort required to swing the frame. The frame is moderately stiff but not boardy and has just enough flex to prevent it from being too powerful to be controlled. It makes for a nice easy on the arm frame. The string pattern creates incredible bite on the ball making it extremely spin friendly.

The result is a great frame for players of all levels that have more compact strokes. The combination of characteristics would make this a great frame for a junior making the jump from shorter 25 - 25.5 inch frames. Intermediate baseliners that like to use spin on their groundstrokes but lack the power to drive the ball deep with a more tour level frame should especially like this frame. Prince evidently decided to overachieve and make one racket that covers most of the tennis players that are below advanced tournament level with this one frame. That is pretty impressive that it actually worked.

 

 

Ground Strokes
As soon as I started hitting with this frame it was clear that Prince designed this frame for spin merchants. It is reasonably powerful but not overly so and has just enough pop to keep those looping groundstrokes deep enough to punish your opponents. It is also a good racket for slice shots but you need to take care to be smooth and not over hit these shots. If you hit fairly flat you can generate incredible pace with a reasonable but not over the top swing. The accuracy is quite good and will appeal to these players as well. The light weight is great for hitting reverse forehands ala Sampras, Sharapova & Nadal. The low swing weight allows you to compensate easier on shots time late like a ball skidding of a line on a clay court. If you ever hit wit a frame like the BLX Six-One tour or the YouTek Speed you probably know what is meant here. On those frames the correction has to be made in early part of the backswing or there is little chance that the racket head will be in the right place at ball contact. For most people this lighter weight is a definite advantage.

 

Serves
Serving was very interesting as the frame has very little wind resistance. This is great for generating the racket head speed required to generate lots of slice or topspin to get awesome margin of error on serves. On the first serve I hit, I was expecting no velocity because of the feather light swing weight but I was dead wrong. Despite that lack of heft the racket still generated good speed on serves. If you are constantly being pounded by your opponents second serve returns, this may be a frame to try.

 

Volleys
Volleys felt better than early generation Speed Port tm frames. There was a little better feedback from the string bed and control was improved over earlier models. A very nice combination of punch and control allows you to get the ball up and over the net on low volleys. The light weight allows you to get the racket in the proper place even when your swing is a little too long.

The grip shape on this frame is square octagonal which gives you the most grip versatility. It is easy to switch from a western forehand grip to a continental grip and not have the grip feel any less comfortable. I for one have two different forehand grips and 3 backhand grips so this is always a welcome feature in a frame. The synthetic grip provides great damping of the frame.

 

Overall
This racket responds well to any good synthetic or Natural gut but depending on how hard you hit you may need to stay in the upper tension range. Conversely, unless you have the ability to crush the ball, Stiffer Polys should be kept in the lower tension range. This frame will work well for 3.5- 5.0 players or any player with long ground strokes hoping to generate spin.