A year after signing David Palmer to headline its stable of sponsored professional players, Black Knight has released two David Palmer signature racquets—the ion Drive and the ion Storm.
Both the Drive and Storm share an open throat and 475 cm2 of string surface. Both are decidedly head-heavy with a balance point between 12.75” from the top (Storm) to 13” (Drive).
Black Knight is promoting its Nano-Crystalline Technology (NCT)—”an additive to the polymer structure of the graphite frame.” The idea behind NCT is to provide added stiffness at key stress points. The shaft of both sticks is flared (wider at the top of the grip) so that it narrows as it approaches the open throat.
Both models have some flex in the throat area but have extremely stiff heads. The Drive weighed in at 164g (strung), while the Storm was 156g (strung). The stout weight, in combination with the stiff head provides lots of power, and the dense string pattern (14 mains, 18 crosses) provides nice control.
There is no question that power players will want to check out both the Drive and Storm for their possibilities. Control players could find the power to their liking as well, but the weight of the frames does not lend themselves to quick response.
New to the Black Knight Palmer racquets are handles with a large circumference, but no “grooves” in the grip—a dramatic departure from previous BK racquets.
For more information, visit www.blackknight.ca.
