The Bandeja Magazine Issue 2

competition
Elite seals the
Wilson deal
What racket to buy? The Bandeja reports
Unfortunately there is no definitive
answer, it all comes down to
what you prefer in terms of
weight, balance, shape, hardness/
softness of the hitting surface,
overall feel and your budget. Which I
appreciate is really not much help.
Many of the online stores offer
assistance in selection and may be
prepared to demo a racket to try (for
example Padel Shack). Or you may be
lucky (as I was) and have a padel club
with a shelf of (well-used) rackets to
borrow from to see what you like, or
play at one of the growing number of
padel facilities partnering with brands
to provide loan rackets.
After discussing this issue with our
friends at Wilson they popped a
selection of rackets in the post for
Team Bandeja to try out/give-away.
Given that we figured you’d prefer to
win new, packet-fresh rackets,
we held ourselves back
from ripping the
packaging off each
GB Seniors Women’s player Sarah
Thomas puts the Wilson Ultra Elite
though its paces.
and every one, limiting our test efforts
to the Wilson Ultra Elite V2, the Wilson
Ultra LT V2 and the Wilson Ultra Pro.
I hit jackpot with my first racket, the
Ultra Elite. It has a dimpled surface
and I was keen to see if this improved
my ability to put spin on the ball (I’d
been playing with a smooth surface
racket). In short, yes. I actually fell in
love just a little bit with this one; it felt
right in terms of weight and balance
and
gave a
really solid
hit. I’d been playing with a super
lightweight racket (330g) so this
was a big jump at 365g but hasn’t
proved in any way troublesome and
my old racket is now gathering dust.
My racket and I travelled to Surge
in Harrogate to meet up with the
GB Seniors Women’s team at one
of its selection events and there
squad member Sarah Thomas had
a quick play. And she too loved it,
so much so that she now has her
own Ultra Elite.
“It has really good feel and control
on the ball and enables more
precision shots,” she told us from a
team training camp in Sotogrande,
Spain. “It has a lovely balanced
feeling and the extensive purchase
on the racket face helps with ball
control. The throat design is very
futuristic and the racket overall feel
really tactile.”
WIN a Wilson
Pro Staff LT V2!
We’re giving away a Wilson Pro Staff
LT V2 (RRP £235) to one lucky reader.
To enter register at www.thebandeja.com.
If you’ve already done this then don’t
worry, you will automatically be entered
into the competition.
The Wilson Ultra Pro was also a great
racket to play with but just that little
bit harder, so (from my perspective
at least) is perhaps better suited
to more advanced players. The
Pro did suffer at the hands of the
Elite though - both Sarah and I so
enjoyed playing with the Elite that
the Pro struggled to get a look in!
However, a friend of Sarah’s picked
up the Pro and fell under its spell.
And so to the Wilson Ultra LT. This is
a gorgeous looking racket weighing
in at 350g. I’ve really enjoyed playing
with it, for all the same reasons
as the Ultra Elite. Both are now
permanent features of my kit bag.
52 thebandeja.com