By Robert Martin
When I think of a Prince Warrior frame, I think back to that white Prince Triple Threat Warrior that Prince passed off as the frame of choice for Patrick Rafter. That was about 11 years ago, so plenty has changes not only in the game of tennis but in equipment in general.

Long gone are the days of Rafter’s attacking serve and volley style, so how exactly is it that a frame with the same name can be so different? In some ways, the name is fitting, as the EXO3 Warrior is still a frame that is well suited to an attacking player only this time it’s from the baseline.

Replacing both the EXO3 Black and the EXO3 White with a single racquet seems like a questionable call considering their popularity, but there is also something to be said for tightening up the racquet line. Having never tried either of the models being replaced, this would be my first experience with that particular line of EXO3 frames.

I will preface this by saying that I am not against the EXO3 technology, but to me it has a bit of an odd feel. What is forgiving to some is too lively to others, and I would be one of those that would go out of my way for traditional grommet inserts. I like the idea of a more forgiving frame and better results on off-center hits, I just don’t like the feel that it gives.

With that in mind, I strung up my demo with my regular set up of Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 1.24mm and Yonex Poly Tour Pro 1.25mm at 26/25kg and headed to the courts.

Initial Thoughts
The basic black with white accented cosmetic scheme is certainly nothing to write home about, but its understated nature works. The extremely shiny silver inserts around the head are a bit much, but for those that care, the pop of color might be appealing.

As far as the feel of the frame in the hand goes, it’s pretty much exactly what one would expect from a typical tweener frame. At 11.1 ounces strung, it has a decent amount of weight to it, and a moderately head light balance keeps it fairly maneuverable.

On Court
This frame took me a while to adjust to during the warm up. I was having some issues with getting a sense of where the sweet spot was because the feel is so similar to off center hits. Once I got adjusted I was able to get plenty of power and spin from my ground strokes, but directional control was not exactly a strong point for this frame.

As long as you don’t mind making a few errors, there is enough power to hit out from the baseline with the EXO3 Warrior. When moving inside the court, I continued to struggle at times with overhitting, especially on the backhand side. At the net, this racquet was extremely maneuverable and provided enough stability to handle anything coming at it, but feel was an issue for me.

Final Thoughts
As someone that never tried the two frames this Warrior replaced, I was surprised by the amount of power this racquet had. I was hoping for a control oriented frame that had some extra forgiveness, but I found that the EXO3 Warrior sat on the end of the spectrum, providing a huge sweet spot and a ton of power that was difficult to control at times.