Diadem Elevate v3 vs. Tour: Classic Control Monsters

“The ultimate control racket that lends supreme feel for the ball on every shot.” That's what Diadem's website tells us about their new racquet, the Elevate v3. That’s a BOLD claim. But can we really trust a racquet manufacturer that’s only been producing frames for 3 generations to know what they're doing? In this article, we will explore the validity of Diadem’s statements on control and feel to see if Diadem can truly compete with the major players backed by decades of engineering experience, or, if Diadem still has something to learn from the big boys.

For this playtest, I had both the Elevate v3 and the Elevate Tour strung up with my trusty Grapplesnake Tour Sniper at 52lbs.

Key Differences

There are two main differences between the standard Elevate and the Tour. The Tour is 10g heavier than the standard model, weighing at 315g.  It’s also a little bit stiffer, flexing at a 67RA, compared to the standard version’s 64RA. Their website does not state if this is strung or unstrung stiffness. Based on feel, I’m guessing strung.

I think the decision to increase the stiffness on the Tour model is pretty interesting. Typically, I would expect the Tour version to be softer, bringing in extra control with a softer flex and using the extra weight to generate more power. But Diadem went in the opposite direction opting to stiffen the heavier version, giving it, in theory, more power and spin.

Spin

There is little to no practical difference in spin potential between the Elevate and the Elevate Tour. The Elevates both feel quite fast through the air, allowing my whippy forehand and jenky slice backhand to apply as much spin as I want.

The 16x20 pattern leans towards control, but is reminiscent of the tighter 16x19’s found in racquets like the Extreme Tour, EZONE 98 and Prostaff 97. This allows for a great blend, combining a predictable response and strong snap back.

The launch angle is quite low, so you can swing quite vertically with a high racquet head speed to apply a significant amount of spin. Thankfully, it’s not so low, like many 18x20’s, to the point where it's hard to get an arc on the ball.

Power

While the specs suggest that the Tour should have more power, in practice, things feel quite similar. Both racquets offer enough plow through to penetrate the court as long as you maintain long full strokes. While the racquet will happily deliver as much ball speed as you ask for, it won’t offer anything for free.

This is where the Elevate differentiates itself from other 98’s. They are true player’s racquets, instantly responding to whatever inputs you choose to deliver. I think there’s more natural power on tap than the Auxetic Extreme Tour or the EZONE 98, but there’s very little forgiveness if you don’t get things completely right. In the unfortunate cases where you are a little off-balance or rushed by a big hitter, most other 98’s will give you more help in tough situations. So long as you can maintain a strong weight transfer with a solid contact point and a fast swing, it's easy to hit hard, penetrating shots.

Control

Control is easily the Elevate’s greatest strength. Whether you like blasting big flat balls from the baseline or following things up with aggressive approaches, the Elevates feel like absolute snipers. The 16x20 string pattern is quite dense, leading to an extremely predictable response from both the standard version and the Tour.

The softer flex in the standard Elevate offers a little bit more dwell time so you can really feel the ball sink into the stringbed. On the other hand, the Tour is a lot more of a “point and shoot” style of racquet. The ball flies out of the stringbed in a very responsive and snappy way. While there are small differences in feel, they ultimately lead to the same outcome.

Both racquets play their best as precise, attacking weapons. Not once did I have a ball fly on my without the racquet clearly communicating that I was at fault. Sadly, we have to be honest, I’m at fault all the time, just look at my footwork, so it would be nice to have a little more forgiveness on off-centre shots.

Stability

Stability is certainly a weakness in the v3 Elevates. Off-centre performance is quite poor by today’s standards. This is where Diadem reveals themselves to be a relatively new manufacturer.

I think the mainstream players in the racquet industry have made significant improvements in their layups lately, which has improved the torsional stability of modern racquets, even when compared to racquets only a few years older.

Even the heavier Tour, at 315g unstrung, seems to get significantly more upset by off-centre contact than competitors like the VCORE Pro 97 or the Prostaff 97. Off-centre stability is similar to stock 360+ Extreme Tours, older Babolat Pure Storms and the Graphene series of Radicals. There’s a jittery, firmness to off-centre contact which really helps the user diagnose the mishit. Some may have this jarring, while others may call it responsive.

In this way, the Elevates offer a sort of classic feel. If you’ve been using a racquet that’s 10 years old, and you feel like modern racquets are too muted and rubbery, the Diadem Elevates will offer you that same raw, responsive feel that older racquets exemplified.

I think service returns are the best test of a racquet’s stability. I was expecting the flexier, lighter version of the Elevate to suffer when compared to its heavier brother, but I actually found it to perform better on service returns. You are often short on time, forced to just block balls back. If the racquet offers any kind of twisting on impact, this is where you are going to notice it.

The faster feel of the standard Elevate helped me get set up quickly for returns, so I think I was returning in-position with a higher success rate, but something about the flex of the racquet helped me control off-centre returns with more precision. The standard Elevate seems to flex and absorb a bit more energy on ball impact.  Things just feel like that happens a little bit slower so you have more time to make last-second adjustments. That said, there is still way too much twisting and vibration on service returns.

You would think that the extra weight of the Tour version would cure this, but it doesn’t. The Elevate Tour feels so stiff and jittery on returns to the point where the racquet simply twists on off-centre returns.

These are quite possibly the worst returning racquets that I’ve reviewed.

Comfort

Usually, I really don’t care about comfort at all. This is because I’ve lived most of my life without any arm problems. For reference, for years I played with an AeroPro Drive strung with Golden Set Snake Bite at 55lbs. No issues.

Unfortunately, returning serves with these Elevates gave me considerable discomfort in the wrist and forearm. Even though these racquets are foam filled, there is way too much vibration and twisting on off-centre shots and service returns for modern racquets.

Adding weight in the handle or stringing with a hybrid setup seems absolutely necessary if you want to use these racquet long-term.

Final Thoughts

“The ultimate control racket that lends supreme feel for the ball on every shot.”

This statement carries a lot of truth.

I don’t think the Elevates are the MOST control oriented racquets out there. For this, The VCORE Pro 97D and the Prince Phantoms come to mind, but they are in the upper echelons of modern control racquets. The feel is also very pure, giving you unadulterated ball-feedback like few other racquets can.

If you are seeking that stiff graphite feel that dominated the market from 2010-2020, there are few other racquets that can deliver better than these Diadems.

However, for most players, the excess vibrations that contribute to that sweet feel are simply too uncomfortable to deal with.

Thank you to Racquet Guys, the exclusive distributor of Diadem in Canada, for supplying these racquets for the review. My customer service experience with them was absolutely supreme.