Wilson Blade 98S Countervail Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 81

The 18x16 open string pattern of the Blade 98S Countervail offered the playtesters excellent spin potential from the baseline. As a previous user of the Wilson Steam 99S, Jason is no stranger to Spin Effect string patterns. He said, "This racquet offered me a much softer feel than the previous Blade racquet. Unsurprisingly, I was getting a ton of spin on my groundstrokes, but what was surprising was that it wasn't significantly more than the Blade 98 (16x19). Both offered great access to spin. The difference I noticed was the ball trajectory. With this 98S Countervail, my shots were going higher over the net, and it was easier to hit with depth. I loved slicing backhands with this racquet because I could get the ball to knife into the court. It also offered easy access to power, and I'd say it was slightly more powerful than the Blade 98 (16x19)."

"I like how Wilson has evolved Spin Effect by offering a couple 18-main string patterns," Tiffani offered. "The super open patterns never quite worked for my game, and I'm finding much more success with the 18x17 pattern and the 18x16 pattern that's on this Blade 98S Countervail. There's plenty of spin to be had, but the shot trajectory is easier to deal with, and I can still play with less spin and be successful. This racquet offered a lot of pace without much effort, although I got more power from the Blade 98 (16x19) according to my PlaySight data. I was pretty successful using the easy spin to move my opponents around the court, and both topspin and slice were easy to access. Although I could play my game without much trouble, I did prefer the 16x19 from the baseline. I had issues with the Blade 98S Countervail if my timing was off when I was taking the ball on the rise or if I caught the ball late. In those instances, my shot would typically fly with the 98S Countervail, but with the 16x19 I hit with more precision. I think it might be due to the higher trajectory from the 98S Countervail, and I needed more spin to drop the ball inside the lines."

Mark has had plenty of experience with the Blade racquet line as he has playtested several versions throughout the years. He said, "The Wilson Blades are probably my overall favorite family of frames since I can play well with any of them. I mention this because it alludes to the level of expectation I had with the the Blade 98S Countervail. Once I got on the court all that expectation gave way to pure enjoyment from the baseline. I was able to land my groundstrokes at the back of the court off either wing with consistency percentages in the low 90 percent range. Even without looking at my numbers I knew my groundstroke velocity was right where I need it to be, and PlaySight backed my expectations with readings in the high 60 to low 70 MPH range."

Taking his playtest of the previous version of the 98S into consideration, Chris offered, "When I hit with spin with the Blade 98S Countervail I hit with a lot of spin. When things didn't go quite as planned I missed long. As I found with the previous Blade 98S, getting depth was never an issue! Controlling the depth of my shots required me to concentrate on getting enough spin to get the ball to drop within the lines. I found myself wanting to hold back with this racquet and not swing aggressively. However, I knew slower swings would result in less spin, so I forced myself to stay on the gas in hopes of taming this racquet. Unfortunately, I never quite found the groove. I was able to hit some big shots with the Blade 98S Countervail, but my game is based more around consistency, and I struggled to be consistent with this racquet. I even had it strung up with some 'unobtanium' 14 gauge textured co-poly string, but I still somehow managed to overhit."

Volleys - Score: 83

The stable and comfortable feel of the Blade 98S allowed the TW playtesters to end points with ease. Mark had only positive things to say about volleying with the Blade 98S Countervail. He said, "The maneuverability and effectiveness I experienced from the baseline were definitely shared at net. The 98S Countervail's close to 11 oz. strung weight made it easy for me to hit my volleys on time, yet it was stable enough to absorb most any level of pace delivered. This was probably the most enjoyable part of the playtest for me."

Jason thought this racquet was an asset up at net. He explained, "There was enough power to punch volleys with depth and plenty of feel for when I was going for a drop volley. Even when I didn't hit a volley cleanly the ball would still have decent power and spin while being on target."

"I was impressed by the stability of this racquet at net," Chris raved. "For an 11.1 oz. strung racquet it held up to aggressive passing attempts very well. When I discovered my racquet had a swingweight of 336 RDC (boosted higher due to the very thick and heavy string I had in it), the solid response made more sense. I had a better overall experience at net than I had at the baseline. My volleys felt more controlled compared to my groundstrokes. This was a fun racquet for serve and volley tennis."

Volleys didn't come as easily as groundstrokes for Tiffani. She said, "While volleys were easy to hit deep into the court with this racquet, I did find it a bit more difficult to control my shots at net than I did at the baseline. I liked the easy depth, but I was shooting my volleys long a bit too often. The Blade 98S Countervail was easy to move into position quickly, so it was up to me to adjust my targeting to find success on volleys."

Serves - Score: 80

There were mixed reviews when it came to serving with the Wilson Blade 98S Countervail. Chris said, "My favorite part of this playtest was serving with the Blade 98S Countervail. I enjoyed the pace and spin I found. The high swingweight help the racquet plow through contact and resulted in some pleasing pace. I thought it played very comfortably. I never felt any undue shock, it felt easy to swing, and it pushed through the ball very well."

"I had to serve about 40 balls before I was able to really get a good feel for the Blade 98S Countervail on serve," continued Mark. "From there I was increasingly effective with it, although I was never really nailing my targets in the service court. Besides volleys, this was my favorite shot to hit with this racquet."

Tiffani was a little underwhelmed when it came to serving. She critiqued, "I served fine with the Blade 98S Countervail, but it wasn't terribly memorable. Coming off a Yonex playtest where I was finding my power levels creeping up, I was expecting more. Spin was more impressive for me than power on my serves, but both were average."

Jason had some ups and down when it came to serving. He described, "Try as I might, I was having trouble hitting with a ton of power with this racquet. On the other hand, putting spin on my serves was great. I wish the Blade 98S Countervail was whippier, so I could up my racquet head speed."

Returns - Score: 82

The playtesters were able to tap into the positive attributes of the Wilson Blade 98S Countervail when returning serves. Tiffani appreciated the feel on returns. She offered, "I liked the dampened feel more when I was hitting returns than I did when I was hitting goundstrokes. The dampened feel came in handy when I missed the sweetspot; I didn't feel a lot of jarring on my arm. This racquet came around quickly and offered easy depth on this shot. Again, when I caught my returns late they tended to fly on me."

"When I was on I was on with this racquet," added Chris. "When I was off I launched some shots into the back fence, which definitely had the potential to decapitate an unsuspecting line judge or ball person. Fortunately, we abstain from such frivolous luxuries during our hitting sessions! When I did a better job of finding my targets I did so with electrifying spin and pace. There were definitely times when I felt like a big returner, and it's been awhile since I felt that rush. I'm sad to report that my consistency just wasn't there, though. It takes more than one blinding return to get a break, and I struggled to return consistently enough to pressure my opponents' serves."

Jason had mixed feelings. He said, "The power was there. The spin was there. The control was there. The only thing I struggled with was returning fast serves. The Blade 98S Countervail felt a little sluggish in those moments. I naturally hit with lots of spin, but I think players who hit flatter shots will struggle to keep the ball in play because of the higher launch angle."

Mark returned well with the Blade 98S Countervail. He noted, "Many of my service returns resemble a half-volley, and this racquet paired perfectly for me on my backhand side. On my forehand wing the weight and balance of the Blade 98S Countervail allowed me to swing through the return more often than I usually do."

Overall - Score: 80