Dunlop Force 100 Tour Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 83

"Babolat Pure Drive-like" was a comparison that got tossed around quite a bit during this playtest. When our playtesters put the Force 100 Tour to the test they found a powerful, spin-friendly, easy to use racquet with a crisp, modern feel. "One thing is for sure -- I didn't have any issues upping my pace with this Force 100 Tour!" Tiffani exclaimed. "This racquet is very Pure Drive-like in terms of effortless power. I could hit the ball deep into the court without much effort, and sometimes too deep a little too easily. Because this racquet swings to the side of power rather than control, I consciously was choosing more conservative targets and made sure I used spin to help keep the ball within the lines. However, I did like that free power when I was caught out of position. By adding a little extra zip to my swing the Force 100 Tour helped me get some good depth on my shots. The stiffness of this racquet made it was easy to hit with power, but I felt that the feel off the stringbed was somewhat muted."

Brittany was also enjoying the easy power and forgiveness of the Force 100 Tour, and she was really getting dialed in with her forehand. She said, "Groundstrokes were a blast to hit with this racquet (literally!). Right off the bat, I noticed the easy power and depth and loved grooving from the baseline. The Force 100 Tour was surprisingly maneuverable, so it was easy to generate racquet head speed. When I was being aggressive I had to make sure I wasn't hitting too flat because it was very easy to overhit. I really connected with my forehand and found that most of my winners came from the forehand side. I thought spin potential was average. I was getting enough to keep the ball in the court but wanted more when going for my signature short, angled groundstrokes. Lastly, even though I am not much of a slicer, I found my slices sitting up a bit."

Also noting the slight lack of control, especially on his slice backhand, was Jason. He shared, "The first thing that really stood out to me was the power. The combination of the power and spin was great for playing offensively and attacking shorter balls, but at times it felt erratic, and I would launch shots long I wouldn't normally. I also struggled a bit with my backhand slice, which tended to float, and I wasn't able to consistently knife it low. I am not the biggest fan of the feel of the Force 100 Tour either; it seemed too stiff and brassy to me."

The easy power and forgiveness reminded Chris of one of his favorite racquets. He said, "An easy to swing feel and plenty of power made this a very forgiving racquet from the baseline. I liked how quickly I could accelerate it through my stroke. The response was fairly Babolat Pure Drive-like, and since I use the Pure Drive Plus it was easy to adjust to this racquet. I thought the level of power and spin were very similar to the iDapt Force 100, but I thought the feel was improved in the Force 100 Tour. I felt like I had a slightly better sense for depth control on my backhand slice. For a little more pop I really enjoy the iDapt version fitted with the longer handle, and I think a longer version of this racquet would be fun to hit with. I expect racquets with the word 'Tour' in their name to be heftier than this one felt."

Volleys - Score: 78

The easy power of the Force 100 Tour worked well at the net, and once again our TW team noted how easy it was to punch the ball deep or put away high volleys. However, a few of them noted that it wasn't that easy to hit touch volleys. "The response from the Force 100 Tour was clean and precise at net," Chris praised. "It felt like the ball was getting in and out of the stringbed quickly, and that gave it a very direct response -- a point and shoot racquet as I sometimes say. I also thought it had just enough stability to get the job done. Ideally, I'd like a little more weight (or a longer length) for some additional mass on my swing. Still, I was volleying well and I liked the put away power this Force 100 Tour offered."

Brittany loved how easy the Force 100 Tour was to use at net, but she also thought it fluttered a bit on off-center contact. She said, "Punching volleys away with the Force 100 Tour was as easy as pie. It was easy to get into position, and I could direct the pace back deep in the court to end the point. The feel was a bit more muted than I like so I wasn't as comfortable hitting touch volleys. The Force 100 Tour wasn't very forgiving when I wasn't hitting the volley directly in the sweetspot, and it was twisting in my hand."

Tiffani had to adjust a bit to the power of the racquet, but once she did she was able to end points easily at net. She shared, "The powerful response of this Force 100 Tour was again evident at the net. I found myself punching my volleys beyond the baseline, so I had to adjust my targeting. I preferred simple volleys over attempting to drop the ball short. Like with other stiffer racquets, I had trouble gauging softer shots."

Jason liked the easy power, but like Brittany, he noticed a little bit of instability on some shots. He commented, "My volleys felt pretty good when I hit in the sweetspot. The ball pocketing was very good and the put away power was there. When I hit outside the sweetspot the torsional stability became an issue. "

Serves - Score: 81

It was all about power, spin and easy racquet head speed when our playtesters were serving with the Force 100 Tour. "Just like my groundstrokes, my first serves were coming in hot," Brittany admitted proudly. "Easy racquet head speed allowed me to generate faster than average first serves. The first serve up the T was my favorite shot to hit. I wasn't as confident hitting second serves because of the lack of control, and my percentage wasn't as high as normal."

Tiffani also found ample power. She raved, "I was getting some good pace and spin on my serves. I found the Force 100 Tour easy to serve with. As usual, I wasn't hitting massive serves, but I could hit my hardest serves without any extra effort."

Chris was pleased with the power and spin potential, and he was able to get one of his favorite serves locked in throughout this playtest. He praised, "I served well with this racquet. The Force 100 Tour offered easy access to pace and spin. My slice serve out wide was working well, and I liked the amount of spin I was getting on the ball. I felt like I could go after my serves with aggression and be confident I'd get enough spin to keep them inside the service box. When I went for a flatter serve I was also happy with the pace I was getting."

Jason was using the racquet's good spin potential to locate his serves consistently in the box and give his opponents something they didn't like. He said, "I rarely hit a flat serve and tend to just slice my serves for a higher percentage. The access to spin really helped give me an effective serve. They weren't really the most powerful serves, but I could hit a heavy enough ball to keep my opponents from teeing off on them."

Returns - Score: 83

Our testers loved returning with the Force 100 Tour, and they were all rewarded for taking big cuts at the ball. "Returns were one of my favorite shots to hit with this racquet," Jason raved. "With enough power to place the ball deep into the court, this racquet allowed me to really attack my opponents' serves. It isn't the most precise and control-oriented racquet, so I couldn't really go for lines, but as long as I picked large targets I could still be aggressive."

Chris had his full arsenal of shots working. He said, "The fast feel of this racquet made it easy to use on returns. I had no issues getting the racquet into position and I found ample time to take a nice cut at the ball. The power The same power that I found elsewhere made it easy to generate pace on my returns. Again, spin was ample and enabled me to control the power. I enjoyed chipping and driving my backhand slice. I felt confident mixing up that shot to keep the server guessing and to help me get on the offensive."

Tiffani agreed, adding, "Like with groundstrokes, I had to be a bit cautious with where I was aiming. Going for the lines may never be the best game plan, but that was definitely not happening with this racquet. The lively response took some getting used to, and once I started aiming more toward the middle of the court I enjoyed the results I was getting. This racquet also felt faster than its 322 swingweight to me, and I didn't have any trouble getting it around on faster serves."

The Force 100 Tour's easy power and forgiveness gave Brittany the right weapon for her attacking return style. She said, "The racquet was easy to swing, and I loved taking advantage of second serves. I found myself stepping in and taking bigger than normal cuts at the ball to start the point off on offense. When returning first serves I had to make sure to add spin to keep from hitting long."

Overall - Score: 80