Yonex VCORE SV 100 Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 81

The playtesters found the Yonex VCORE SV 100 to be maneuverable, spin friendly and powerful from the baseline. Jason, whose current racquet is the Yonex EZONE Ai 100, was excited to playtest this new offering. He started, "This is a very firm and solid racquet, and I felt like I could get lots of spin and power on my shots. Sometimes maybe a bit too much power. I would launch the ball if I wasn't mindful about adding spin. It's very easy to swing, but I thought I needed just a touch more control with it. I didn't have the best success hitting cross court angled shots, but on the other hand, I did find it easy to pull the trigger and go down the line."

"I have really liked the last three iterations for the Yonex 100 series of frames (the Si, Ai and the DR), and played well with them, so I have to admit that I had pretty high expectations for Yonex's latest 100 square inch offering," said Mark. "After only a few swings with it I knew that this racquet fit almost perfectly into my ground game. I was able to really get my wrist into my shots from the baseline, coming around the outside or inside of the ball effectively. With the SV 100, access to spin, directional control and depth of shot all lined up for me like a jackpot on a slot machine."

Tiffani is no stranger to Yonex racquets, having playtested and used several in the past. She offered, "I really noticed some free power on my groundstrokes with this VCORE SV 100. I'm always pretty comfortable with a 100 square inch Yonex in my hands, so this was an easy transition for me. I could easily hit with pace, and I especially appreciated the lively response when I was pushed back off the baseline. Balls that would typically land in the net would find their way over to keep me in the point. I could also hit my slice backhand more consistently than I typically do with Yonex racquets. For whatever reason, a Yonex racquet and my slice backhand often don't get along, and I'll float a lot of them. That wasn't the case with the SV 100, and I was happy to have that shot in my bag in defensive situations. There weren't a lot of downsides for me with this racquet on groundstrokes, but I did find that the feel dropped off outside the sweetspot. When the ball hit inside the sweetspot there was some decent ball pocketing, but that sensation was gone when the ball hit outside the sweetspot."

Hannah was new to Yonex racquets when she tested the SV line. She said, "The VCORE SV 100 is slightly lighter than the VCORE SV 98, but with a similar swingweight, and I found the VCORE SV 100 to be a little bit easier to use from the baseline. I had to work a little bit harder to produce my usual depth, but there was a shorter adjustment period. Despite the whippy qualities of this racquet, I wasn't able to put much spin on my angle shots, and I didn't feel very confident trying because I produced a different shot every time. I tended to shorten up my swings a lot instead of coming through with my wrist, resulting in less spin and less intended variety than I wanted. The large sweetspot and SV technology were effective and allowed me to produce a good shot most of the time. I would describe this racquet as very forgiving, but it wasn't necessarily comfortable or crisp."

Volleys - Score: 82

The VCORE SV 100 helped the TW playtesters finish points with ease at the net thanks to its quick and firm feel and its generous sweetspot and surprising stability. Mark enjoyed his time at the net, saying, "I had loads of confidence when I was anywhere near the net with the SV 100, enough to make this racquet one of my favorites to volley with, period. I play with lots of the low 11 oz player's racquets, and I can get them all into position on time, but sometimes that weight range feels a bit unstable. With the VCORE SV 100 even passing shots in the 75 MPH range were dealt with effectively and without any noticeable instability."

"The generous sweetspot was certainly helpful up at net," Jason proclaimed. "I definitely felt well connected with my volleys with the crisp feel. I would've liked some additional head weight to lessen the twisting on off-center shots. It was easy to hit overheads with enough pace to put the ball away."

Hannah had some ups and downs when she was at the net. She explained, "The SV 100 offered more easy depth on my volleys than the VCORE SV 98. They were both very maneuverable, but I felt slightly more accurate with the VCORE SV 100. Other than that, I would still prefer more stability throughout contact at the net."

Tiffani had no issues with the VCORE SV 100 up at net. She offered, "I tend to keep it simple at the net, and this VCORE SV 100 fit into that game plan well. The crisp, quick response off the stringbed meant I could pretty much just stick the racquet out to fire off a volley."

Serves - Score: 85

Spin and pace were the highlights of the Yonex VCORE SV 100 when it came to serving. The serve was Hannah's favorite shot with the SV 100. She raved, "I couldn't believe how fast my serves were, and I felt sure of my targets every time. I could get some heavy kick, but I also got the same great pop I experienced with the SV 98."

"I found the spin and pace pretty easy to generate when serving," added Tiffani. "Even when I wasn't trying to hit a bigger serve, this racquet was delivering easy MPHs. When I did miss I tended to miss just long with this racquet. Thankfully, I found that spin was pretty easy to impart as well. I typically don't see too much spin on my serves, but I got a few serves to hop up more than normal."

Jason needed to make a couple adjustments on his serve to keep the ball in the service box. He described, "My serves had enough pop on them to be effective, but they weren't overwhelmingly powerful. This was a bit surprising because of the power I found on my groundstrokes. I felt like I was able to put tons of spin on my serves, but even with the spin I still found myself hitting serves long more than usual."

Mark was left wanting a little more from the VCORE SV 100, saying, "This was the one aspect of the playtest where I would have liked the SV 100 to be a little heavier, because that's what I'm used to. My serve percentages were very good with this racquet, along with my overall velocity (in the high 90s). I was also able to make the transition to my second shot (from the serve) very well, which gets me thinking about the merits of using a slightly lighter racquet than what I currently play with."

Returns - Score: 81

The VCORE SV 100 was a force to be reckoned with on returns. Tiffani continued to be impressed with the racquet. She said, "There wasn't much for me to dislike on returns. I prefer racquets that offer me just a little bit more control on this shot, but otherwise the key elements I like in a racquet for returning were there. I could easily get this racquet around, and it provided good depth and stability."

Hannah was confident returning with the SV 100. She noted, "The fast qualities really shone here because I could step into the serve every time, and the racquet was always ready to go. My returns were consistent and dependable with this frame, but I did prefer the SV 98 over the 100 on returns because I could produce a little bigger ball when attacking the returns."

Mark had to take a little extra time to adjust to the VCORE SV 100 when hitting returns. He explained, "It took a bit longer to dial in my confidence on the returns with the new Yonex VCORE SV 100, but by the second set of singles I was seeing a similar level of directional control with my returns as I had on my groundstrokes."

Jason wrapped up his playtest by saying, "The VCORE SV 100 swung fast enough for me to take bigger cuts at serves of all velocities. Because it comes through the contact point so quickly I could generate the power and spin I needed to hit effective returns. I did have to pick bigger targets to attack because I wasn't exactly 'painting the lines' with this racquet."

Overall - Score: 81