Mizuno Acrospeed 300 Racquet Review

The Acrospeed 300 was a formidable racquet during baseline rallies. Chris found a nice pocketing sensation that allowed him to slingshot the ball back out with confidence. He explained, "The Acrospeed 300 was a fun racquet to trade groundstrokes with. I really enjoyed the sense of dwell time this racquet has. It felt like the ball sat on the strings before being launched out with easy depth and pace. There was lots of comfort in that response too. I was able to generate ample spin, not as much as I did with the Acrostrike 305, but enough to help me get the ball to dip inside the lines. I also felt very dialed in with this racquet on my backhand slice. I was able to control the pace, direction and type of slice I was hitting very well. On defense, I was able to float a slice shot deep to give me more time to recover, and I could hit a low skidding slice when I was able to step in. My topspin shots had good pace and depth, which allowed me to take control of baseline rallies. My favorite shot to hit with this racquet was an aggressive forehand."

The Acrospeed 300 offered Michelle delightful versatility and ridiculously fun power, despite being 40 grams lighter than her current racquet of choice. She said, "I loved every minute of hitting with this racquet! I instantly fell in love with blasting shots from the baseline, and this racquet felt so easy to use. The ball just sat on the stringbed and allowed me to hit out off both sides. I reference 'guilty pleasure' racquets every now and then, and this Acrospeed 300 falls into that category because all I wanted to do was crush the ball! The sweetspot was very forgiving, and while it has a high stiffness rating, the racquet felt really similar to a Wilson Clash to me, and it never felt uncomfortable. I felt like I could ramp up the pace and keep the balls deep, and it felt like I was hitting a grapefruit every time I struck a ball. While I wish it was all rainbows and unicorns, I did have a tiny gripe. The feel is quite muted at contact, and I found I could easily overhit with the adrenaline flowing. I also wasn't always as precise with my targeting. The sweetspot was forgiving, but I didn't feel super connected to every shot."

Despite having somewhat high expectations heading into the playtest, Brittany still found the Acrospeed 300 to be a welcome surprise when on court. She described, "I had a good feeling about the Mizuno Acrospeed 300 after looking at the specs and hearing from other playtesters who got to hit with it before me. My first hit was a good indication of how the playtest went (spoiler alert: it went great!). I planned to just warm up with the racquet and then switch before playing a match, but I used it the whole match! It was extremely easy to use from the baseline, and I found a good balance of control and power. Whether I was on offense or defense, I was able to be very accurate with my shots, and this gave me the confidence to really go after them. There were even a couple of times my shots landed in when I wasn't expecting them to! This was partly due to a launch angle that is slightly lower than my racquet of choice, the Yonex EZONE 100, which was something I quickly adjusted to. The racquet also felt great on slice; I had enough plow through to hit nice, low defensive slices, and I could rely on it in point play situations."

Tiffani was impressed with the comfort, pace and playability of the Mizuno Acrospeed 300. She noted, "I've played tennis most of my life, and I’ve hit with so many different racquets I've lost count, but I've never had the opportunity to try one from Mizuno. I have to say I'm impressed. Aside from the fact that our playtest racquet was a 4 1/2 grip and I use a 4 1/4, I loved this racquet from the baseline. There was plenty of power, but it was controllable, and I was swinging out without fear of the ball flying on me. I was shocked to see that the stiffness rating was 69. This Acrospeed didn't feel that stiff, and instead had a rather dampened response overall."

The Acrospeed 300 offered good touch, feel and depth from the net. Despite not testing the racquet in her preferred grip size, Tiffani was able to put points away at net and enjoyed the power she found on her volleys. She explained, "The Acrospeed 300's dampened feel meant I didn't feel any vibrations on off-center contact. As I mentioned earlier, the larger grip size was again my lone issue. With a proper grip size I would have felt more confident on those off-center shots. Other than that, I liked the power level and thought it was easy to put volleys away."

Brittany’s experience at net highlighted the Acrospeed 300's connected feel the most, which let her volley with variety and precision. She said, "Up at net, I was impressed the most with the feel of the Acrospeed 300. It had a plush, connected feel, and I felt it played softer than the stiffness RA indicated. I was able to punch some volleys deep and others short with more angle to keep my opponent guessing."

The Acrospeed 300 let Chris volley with both pace and precision, making his net game even more dangerous. He noted, "This Acrospeed 300 is very close in weight, balance and swingweight to my Tecnifibre TFight 300, so it felt very natural in my hands at net. Despite this Acrospeed 300 also being quite a bit stiffer, the feel at contact was very plush and comfortable. I liked the power level of this racquet too. I was able to point the strings at my desired target and let the racquet do most of the work. My touch and angle volleys were working well, thanks in part to the easy access to spin this Acrospeed 300 offers."

Michelle found it easy to go for point-ending volleys as opposed to more touch and feel-oriented shots. She described, "The Acrospeed 300 was solid at net. While I was craving a bit more control off my groundies and returns, this racquet worked well at the net, although I noted a little less touch and feel. I have started to incorporate more drop shots and touch shots since I started playing padel, and I wasn't feeling as in command of those shots with this Acrospeed 300 in hand, so I adjusted and was more offensive at net. Swinging volleys were a blast to hit and super effective!"

Our playtesters appreciated the Acrospeed 300’s easy power and spin on their serves, which let them go after heavy firsts with pace and shape seconds with plenty of spin. Chris tapped into the Acrospeed 300's easy power to increase the pace on his first serves. He described, "I served well with the Acrospeed 300, and I was very happy with the pace I was getting. On our Zenniz smart court, I typically see speeds around 87 mph on my slice first serve, and I was getting into the low 90s with the Acrospeed 300. I was able to force some weak returns and sneak in more service winners than usual. I was very happy with the spin I was getting, and my serve was consistent. I often hit a second first serve for my second serve, and I felt confident going for that with the Acrospeed 300.”

Michelle was able to hit big first serves with the Acrospeed 300, although she did note a slight lack of pinpoint precision at times. She said, "I really enjoyed serving with the Acrospeed 300. Similar to my groundstroke experience, it allowed me to hit big and with spin, but I wasn't always super sure if the ball was going exactly where I wanted it to. It wasn't a problem, but there would be times I was targeting a T serve and it would go more body. It was still effective, just not always what I was trying to do."

Servers were likely the least impressive part of Brittany's playtest, and she found the Acrospeed 300 to be sufficient but not exemplary on this shot. She said, "I felt like my serve with the Acrospeed 300 did its job, but it offered nothing special. There was a good blend of power and control, but I had to put in a little more effort when I wanted to go for a hard, flat first serve. Again, there was access to spin to hit a slice into the body but nothing exceptional. I did appreciate the confidence the combination of everything (maneuverability, plow through, spin, etc.) gave me on second serves. I was very consistent (which meant few to no double faults), and I was able to maintain that without any arm fatigue throughout a match or practice session."

The Acrospeed 300 offered Tiffani easy power, but she felt like the grip size was letting her down a tad. She said, "This Acrospeed 300 excelled in the power department on serve for me. I am sounding like a broken record, but the grip size issue did make it harder for me to hit my slice serves. I really like to hold the racquet low when I serve, and I was hindered by the grip size."

Returning with the Acrospeed 300 was a power-based hitting experience. Thankfully, the racquet did provide enough control to stay reliable for all of our playtesters, letting them swing freely during their return games. The Acrospeed 300 let Tiffani swing out comfortably or chip balls back with ease. She said, "I was impressed with how well this Acrospeed 300 could absorb incoming pace on returns and how it managed to feel very stable. Sometimes I have issues with my control on returns, in particular with power-based racquets. That wasn't the case here. I felt confident going after my returns and felt equally confident when I needed to block or chip the ball back."

Brittany was able to step in and rip aggressive returns to discourage anyone serving against her, especially those brave souls trying to serve and volley. She explained, "My favorite shot to hit, no surprise, was the return. I loved stepping in and going for riskier shots (and making them!). I felt I could start off offensively on first or second serves returns. I could also add a little spin and mix up my depth, which was great in doubles."

The Acrospeed 300 offered Chris high levels of pace and maneuverability on his returns, letting him absorb pace with confidence and target his spots effectively. He said, "The Acrospeed 300 was a fun racquet to return with. I liked the maneuverable feel, and I could position the racquet quickly. I had fun hitting aggressive topspin forehands, and I was successful going both cross court or down the line with that shot. On my backhand wing, both my topspin and slice shots were working well. I liked the balance between power and control that this racquet delivered."

Michelle had a great time blasting returns with the Acrospeed 300. She described, "Returning with this racquet was just a recipe to swing as big as possible and go for broke right away. The sublime feel on contact made it hard to not try to hit a winner right away, and I felt rewarded when those shots went in my favor. If I reined my return in and went for more placement or rolling balls, that was good too. I could get good angles off my return or keep the ball deep down the middle, allowing me to recalibrate into the point off bigger first serves. Again, I had a tendency to go for too much at times, and I was craving a bit more control. I would like to try adding some weight and different string options to counter this."