Wilson Burn FST 99 Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 81

There were mixed emotions about the Burn FST 99 when it came to hitting groundstrokes. Chris was very impressed with the forgiveness and the blend of power and control. He raved, "What an easy racquet to use! This Burn FST 99 was so forgiving and easy to swing. I found easy access to power, which allowed me to relax from the baseline and let the racquet do the work. The sweetspot felt very generous and power remained solid even when my timing wasn't. I was also impressed by the comfort. The Burn FST 99 offered a slightly muted response. I still had good feel for the ball, but there was definitely something built into this racquet to help dampen the response. Although this racquet didn't offer as much control as its 95 square inch brother, it did offer the same great access to spin. For me it was a great racquet for effortless rallying. It also had ample put-away power when I wanted to step in and take a rip at the ball."

Andy also found a surprising level of power and stability from the baseline, but he didn't feel as comfortable with the racquet as Chris did. He explained, "The unique combination of the thin beam and surprisingly high stiffness rating gave this racquet a very interesting feel from the baseline. It possessed a good amount of power and stability -- more than I expected to be honest. The racquet was also very maneuverable, which made it easy for me to whip it around my body and generate lots of racquet head speed. However, I didn't find very much spin potential, and as a result I didn't get the level of control I needed to feel totally confident going for my spots. I found myself guiding the ball a bit because I was always a little afraid of the ball sailing long."

On the other hand, Brittany found the Burn FST 99 to be quite low powered, especially when compared to other racquets in the same family. She shared, "I playtested the Burn FST 99 and 99S together. The standard 99 felt more control oriented and low powered to me. While the racquet was fairly easy to swing, I had to put out a lot of effort to hit my groundstrokes deep in the court with power. I found a lot of my groundstrokes were landing short, and I had to make a conscious effort to aim my ball well past the baseline. However, when I was playing with big hitters like Michelle, I was finding enough stability to take the ball early and redirect the power back to her. Even though the 99S has a more spin-friendly string pattern, I was finding almost the same amount of spin potential between the two (maybe a slight edge to the 99S)."

Jason liked the control the Burn FST 99 offered, but he felt he really had to swing big to get the power he wanted. He said, "I needed to take full, fast swing at the ball to get the depth I wanted. It definitely rewarded me when I could swing out and hit the ball cleanly. Any time I made contact outside the sweetspot the dip in power was quite noticeable. I think the standout feature is the control. I had confidence in picking smaller targets and going for lines because of the high level of control."

Volleys - Score: 77

There were more mixed feelings about the Burn FST 99 as our testers approached the net. Brittany felt very comfortable hitting her volleys and overheads. She praised, "I enjoyed the stable feel of the Burn FST 99 at the net. No matter where I hit the ball on the stringbed I was getting a consistent response. The racquet was very easy to get into position, and I actually had a couple successful touch shots and pickups that I normally don't have in my toolbox."

Chris also had his net game dialed in throughout the playtest. He shared, "The Burn FST 99 felt fast and easy to maneuver at net. I liked the power level, too. Tough pick-up volleys weren't quite as tough. Stretch volleys still felt decently solid. I was able to fend off shots drilled at my body thanks to the easy maneuverability. My touch volleys were working well, and I seemed to be finding my targets as much as my talent would allow. No complaints here."

Unfortunately, Jason never felt comfortable on his volleys. He critiqued, "I struggled using this racquet up at net. It felt like it got pushed around by the ball, and it felt more unstable than average when I didn't strike the ball right in the sweetspot. The few times that I did hit the sweetspot the control was great. It was point and shoot on where I wanted the ball to go."

Andy appreciated certain attributes the racquet offered as well, but he just never got used to the unique feel of the racquet. He said, "The racquet was very maneuverable and easy to get into position around the net. Like at the baseline, it was also surprisingly stable against harder hitting opponents. However, I never felt like I had total command of the ball as it was leaving the strings. The control wasn't ideal, and the Burn FST 99 didn't have great feel for finesse shots. Punching volleys back deep was easy, but I had to aim for big targets and not try to do too much with my shots to be successful at net.

Serves - Score: 78

For the most part our playtesters struggled to generate enough power and spin with the Burn FST 99 when serving. Jason was able to utilize the racquet's precision to consistently locate his serves where he wanted. He shared, "With just average power and slightly below average spin, I was glad that I was able to at least hit with above average consistency. I thought it was easy to swing the Burn FST 99 and accelerate it through contact, but I just wish I was able to get more effortless power on my serves."

Sharing a similar opinion, Brittany said, "Even though I was generating decent racquet head speed, my flat serves didn't have the MPHs on them that I would have liked. I was putting a lot effort into my serves and wasn't getting the results I wanted. Instead, I focused more on placement, and I found that I could hit my spots with ease. I felt very comfortable hitting second serves because I received a consistent response from the stringbed."

Andy also noticed the lack of power and spin potential, but unlike Jason and Brittany, he wasn't finding the control he wanted, either. He said, "I struggled with my serve during this playtest, and I think the lack of mass in the hoop of the racquet is the biggest reason. Even though I could generate easy racquet head speed, the lack of mass made it difficult to get enough pace and spin on the ball to really hurt my opponents. Also, because the Burn FST 99 swings so fast I often felt like I lost control of the racquet head during my swing and didn't get the amount of control I wanted. I just never really got dialed in on my service games with this racquet."

On the other hand, Chris found plenty of power, control and spin, which allowed him to serve quite effectively during the playtest. He praised, "I found more power on serve with this racquet than I did with the Burn FST 95. It felt nice and fast through the contact zone, and both spin and pace felt easy to generate. While I couldn't consistently find the type of pace I get from my Babolat Pure Drive Plus, I wasn't that far off. I liked the feel of the Burn FST 99, and again, I was impressed by its comfort."

Returns - Score: 80

Our playtesters fared a bit better when returning serves with the Burn FST 99. Brittany was finding a nice groove with her aggressive returning style. She said, "I enjoyed returning with this racquet more than serving. I was able to step in and take the ball early, using the pace from the serve to power my return. I had the ability to hit anywhere on the court with ease. Because this racquet is so maneuverable, I always felt on time hitting the ball. The only issue I had was when I was returning second serves and I had to create my own power. I wasn't generating as much power as I would have liked and I wasn't starting the point off as aggressively as I would with my normal racquet."

Chris was also having good success utilizing the racquet's attributes. He raved, "There was ample power to hit very aggressive returns with this racquet. The fast feel helped me add pace and spin off an abbreviated swing. It was a tad easier to overhit compared to the Burn FST 95, and it didn't feel as solid as my Pure Drive Plus, but I didn't have much to complain about. I felt like I was returning well with this racquet, and I was happy with my level of performance."

Andy appreciated some of the Burn FST 99's features, but he had trouble hitting his intended targets. He shared, "I like the maneuverability and stability the Burn FST 99 offered on my return of serve. It was easy to get it around my body quickly, and it also held up well against bigger servers. Once again, though, I didn't find much control, and I found myself limited when going for my spots on aggressive returns. I had a similar experience here as I did from every other area of the court."

It was all or nothing for Jason during his return games. He explained, "Be aggressive or be on the defensive -- that was basically how I had to approach my returns with this racquet. If I blocked shots back they landed short in the court, even when I hit them cleanly. On the plus side, attacking slow second serves netted me some good results."

Overall - Score: 78