Pricing and Suggested Suppliers

RACKET TEST: the Prince O3 Tour!

Nicol David’s conversion to the Prince O3 Tour could be seen to be successful with British Open and World titles and former world No.1 Peter Nicol celebrated his move to the new racket with two major titles – but how will it perform for average players.  The Squash Player tests and examines the new racket.

"The new racquet represents, without doubt, a significant new development by Prince," explained Nicol. "The sweetspot is huge and the added power off the wall pays huge dividends – I will definitely be using the racket all the time from now on.

What’s different about the O3. Immediately you see the racket you notice that instead of the traditional string size holes in the grommet strip there are large oval holes that accommodate two strings and cover the distance between the two strings. There are four oval double holes down each side (accommodating eight of the cross strings) and four oval double holes along the top accommodating the eight most important main strings. The main strings wrap around the Prince innovated Power Ring in the throat which gives the longest strings possible. With the Power Ring and the Oval holes (Prince call them O-Ports) the string has the opportunity to move over its entire length which has benefits of providing superb power. The Prince design maximising the use of long strings and bringing them into play over their entire length results in a larger sweet spot (Prince now call it a sweet zone) which gives the ability to provide power over a wider range of the string area. Even if your name is Peter Nicol the ability for off centre power and control can be very useful.

The holy grail of squash rackets is to combine both Power and Touch (or feel) each given by different (and opposing) stiffness profiles and materials.

The O3  scores highly in both Power and Touch while maintaining excellent Control and Stability. The removal of material on the sides has not created any issues with stability and off centre shots can maintain good control without twisting. 

The grip, (as is now the way with most racket companies) comes very small and even those with small hands will wish to place a grip over the top of the manufactures provided grip. (Too smaller grip will lead to the racket twisting in the hand on off-centre shots.)

This was a beautiful racket to play with. There was no jarring or vibration.

This is a mid-weight racket coming in at 145gms unstrung or approximately 157 strung so the ball still needs to be stroked no flicked but it is light to hold, well balanced and easily manoeuvrable.

The bumper strip is regulation clear and regulation non-marking.

At present we have not heard of any durability issues.

Price and Suppliers:
The O3 comes with a recommended retail price of: £149.99 

Discounted offers can be found at:
PWP- 0870 797776
Just Rackets- 01438 318100 (also see banner on SP home page)
Sweatband – (banner on SP home page).