Dunlop Precision 98 Tour Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 77

Powerful, yet control-oriented, the modern feeling Precision 98 Tour has the potential to be a weapon in the right hands. Chris really enjoyed the playability of this racquet from the baseline, saying, "It felt fast and was easy to whip through the contact zone. I got more pace and spin than I expected from a racquet with an 18x20 string pattern. I was able to hit my topspin shots with aggression and trusted I'd get the spin needed to keep everything within the lines. I liked driving my slice backhand with this racquet. I was knifing it especially well and could trust in the 18x20 string pattern to give me the feel and control I needed. The sweetspot felt pretty healthy, and I was able to generate good power on a full swing. The racquet did feel a little buzzy, so I would have liked more dampening from the SRX handle system. That said, I thought this was the most comfortable of the Precision line."

"This was definitely an interesting racquet to hit with from the baseline," began Andy. "For starters, it was fast through the air and very easy to swing. Combine the maneuverability with the racquet's stiff, crisp feel and it was pretty easy to generate pace, too. On the other hand, it didn't possess a whole lot of touch and feel, making it hard to be connected to the ball as it left the strings. The 18x20 string pattern helped a bit with control, but ultimately there were a lot of instances when I'd make contact and wasn't really sure where the ball was going. Lastly, the racquet's lighter weight and lack of feel made it very difficult to hit backhand slices. As a shot that benefits from some finesse and/or some heft through the hoop, my slice backhands floated or dropped too short far too often during this playtest."

Troy generated easy racquet head speed from this firm racquet when he was swinging away from the baseline. He noted, "I found good dampening with little vibration coming through to my hand. The feel on contact was somewhat similar to the Yonex VCORE SV 95, which I recently playtested. The firmness of this racquet provided a decent amount of pop off the stringbed, but the 18x20 string pattern helped rein in some of the power. Topspin wasn't this racquet's strong suit, although the dense string pattern provided good directional control. My slice backhands had good control, but I wanted some more mass to help with easy depth. This racquet had average stability during hard hitting baseline rallies, although I think a bit of added weight to the head of the racquet would help it feel more solid. My biggest knock on this racquet from the baseline was that I didn't quite feel connected to the ball. I had hoped for a bit more point-and-shoot type accuracy."

"Unfortunately, a lack of feel really hindered my ability to enjoy this playtest," stated Michelle. "The Precision 98 Tour felt brassy to me, and that's just not what I like to feel at contact. That issue remained for the whole playtest. I never wanted to pick up this racquet and drill, which was a shame because there were qualities of this racquet that weren't bad -- like the dense string pattern and maneuverability. We played around with a few different string setups to find something that felt right and it felt best paired with Luxilon ALU Power, although I still wasn't happy with the feel. Aside from the brassy feel, the racquet felt low powered, which allowed me to hit out. The sweetspot felt small, the stringbed was a bit erratic, and there wasn't a lot of weight behind my shots. I struggled to get depth on my slice shots, and I lost a lot of confidence on defense because I rely on my backhand slice to get me back into points when I'm pulled off the court."

Volleys - Score: 78

Everyone on our team agreed, the Precision 98 Tour felt quick and was easy to get into position at net. Andy said, "The stiff layup gave it decent stability given how little weight there was in the hoop. Another positive here was the 18x20 string pattern that made it a little easier to control the ball and get it going to the intended target consistently. However, the lack of feel and feedback from the frame made touch shots difficult to hit. Anything that required some finesse was very tough to control, so I ended up sticking to more basic punch volleys that I could get moving through the court."

Troy agreed this racquet was easy to maneuver and had a good amount of pop at the net. "The fast feel made it easy to get the Precision 98 Tour into place during quick exchanges or whenever the ball was drilled hard at me," he said. "The power I got from this racquet helped get the ball deep in the court with ease. I found better than average control from the dense string pattern, but at the same time I didn't find the responsive feel I typically look for in a racquet. There were times I attempted to hit a drop volley or a short angle and I didn't feel connected to the ball. I also would have liked a bit more stability on my volleys. Whenever I tried to block back a hard hit shot the racquet would flutter in my hand, a foreign feel compared to what I'm used to with my weighted-up Wilson Blade 98 (18x20)."

A brassy feel once again came into play at the net for Michelle. She said, "Volleys felt OK. The racquet was super fast and easy to get into position, but it wasn't super stable. The lack of feel at contact left a lot to be desired. When push came to shove the racquet was very maneuverable and did what I needed it to do up at net. I could keep it simple with my volleys and be efficient at net."

Chris thought the Precision 98 Tour offered a nice blend of maneuverability and stability at net. He explained, "I was able to get the racquet into position quickly and find ample time to punch my volleys. I felt pretty dialed in on my targets, too. When punching a volley deep I felt pretty comfortable flirting with the baseline, and I liked the feel I had on touch volleys. It was very easy to get the ball to drop short for a drop volley, and I found the touch I needed to hit delicate angles to end the point."

Serves - Score: 80

The Precision 98 Tour provided a good blend of power and control for our team on serves. Troy got a good amount of pop on his first serve. He said, "As the light and fast feel helped me get an abundance of racquet head speed, I could really crank up the MPHs. On second serves, I found good accuracy from the dense string pattern, but I wasn't quite getting the spin and kick I hoped for. This racquet didn't give me the spin on my kick serves that I get from racquets with more open string patterns; I even found a bit more spin from my Wilson Blade 98 (18x20). I could locate my targets on a consistent basis due to the control this racquet provided. Overall, I liked the performance of this racquet on serve, but I wanted a bit more help in the spin department."

Michelle still couldn't make this Dunlop work for her game. She commented, "I wasn't able to juice much power out of this racquet. The harder I tried to hit powerful first serves the more my arm got sore and felt uncomfortable -- it just wasn't coming together for me. The Precision 98 Tour swung fast, but there was no mass behind my balls. Instead of trying to hit hard serves, I focused more on second serves and placement and was rewarded with good movement on my slice serves. I didn't get great movement out of my kick serves, so I was more effective picking targets and slicing serves wide or into my opponent's body."

On the other hand, Chris served pretty well with this racquet and was content with its performance. He explained, "While I missed the power of my regular racquet, my accuracy was solid. Again, I was surprised at the spin I generated. My slice serve worked well, too. I had success both going wide on the deuce side and down the T on the ad side. My pace on that serve was decent, and I got enough action on the ball to get it moving away from the returner. I didn't feel like I was getting enough heat on my flat serve to justify hitting it since it is a lower percentage serve for me. Instead, I just enjoyed the spin and placement I was getting and utilized that."

Power and maneuverability were the most useful characteristics for Andy on his serves. "The Precision 98 Tour was so fast through the air, and I could wind up and crush some big, flat first serves. Control was pretty good too, because of the dense string pattern. However, spin was very tough to generate, so my spin serves weren't quite as effective. They all had a little less spin than usual, which made those types of serves a little more difficult to locate in the service box."

Returns - Score: 75

With the potential to unleash powerfully explosive returns, the Precision 98 Tour worked better for some of our playtesters than others. While this racquet swung fast for Michelle and the dense string pattern seemed ideal to control her aggressive game, she still found it difficult to get along with it. "Normally, I try to make a statement with my return, but I struggled to do so with this racquet. I hate to sound like a broken record, but the Precision 98 Tour just wasn't comfortable or solid at contact. It was unstable and I wasn't getting enough plow through. It is worth noting that I play with a very stable racquet that has a lot of plow through. However, I did like the control this racquet offered. I could swing out without my returns going long."

Chris had a more positive experience with the Precision 98 Tour. He returned well with this racquet, saying, "I liked the control I had on my chip and slice returns off the backhand wing. It also felt maneuverable enough for me to take a cut at the ball when given the opportunity. I was driving returns with confidence, and the Precision 98 Tour rewarded an aggressive swing with stability and accuracy."

Andy appreciated the Precision 98 Tour's maneuverability and control when he hit his return early with a compact swing. He explained, "When I stepped in I felt confident that I could get the racquet around my body quickly and use it to place my returns into the corners. However, the lack of mass in the hoop made chipping returns very difficult, and that's often the type of shot I hit when I'm playing it safe. Often times my chip returns landed short or floated long."

When the serve was in his wheelhouse the fast feel and pop from the Precision 98 Tour allowed Troy to be aggressive on his returns. "However, it lacked some stability and plow through against faster serves," Troy continued. "There were times when I returned a fast serve outside of my wheelhouse that this racquet lacked the plow through for me to get the ball back with enough depth. On my backhand slice return I didn't get the easy depth I typically get from racquets with a higher swingweight. I think it would be easier to get depth on my returns if some weight was added to the head of this racquet."

Overall - Score: 75