Yonex EZONE DR 100+ Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 88

The Yonex EZONE DR 100+ offered easy power, stability and a generous sweetspot. Jason's history with the EZONE line includes playtesting the last two versions (Ai and DR). He said, "It's like Yonex took an already great sports car in the DR 100 and dropped in an even larger engine. The result, more power. I was getting more power and more depth from all areas of the court. I wasn't necessarily getting any more spin than I was from the standard length version, which was probably due to the higher swingweight making it less whippy."

As the standard length version of this racquet is her current racquet of choice, Brittany was super excited to get out on the court for this playtest. She commented, "I have also always been a fan of extended length racquets, so I was looking forward to this combination. The EZONE DR 100+ offered the same feel I am used to, making it really easy to use from the first swing. This racquet rewarded me when I took full swings at the ball, and my groundstrokes had good pace, depth and weight behind them. I was left wanting a little more forgiveness on defensive shots, since they tended to drop short. Nonetheless, my slices stayed low and penetrated through the court thanks to the extra plow through."

"This racquet offered easy power, effortless stability and great feel from the baseline," said Hannah. "Comfort was exceptional in the sense that I was connected to the ball, but the feel was still slightly dampened and plush. The sweetspot felt large and forgiving. The trade-off for less maneuverability was added power and stability due to the extended length. The first few times I played with this racquet I felt like I had to get out of the way of it, and I was forcing a lot of errors past the baseline. By the end of the playtest I felt more comfortable swinging out, and the put-away power was a treat. I gained confidence during points and my shots felt crisp and clean, but I wasn't generating the amount of spin I usually can. This was apparent when I moved up in the court slightly and tried to whip around a lower ball. I couldn't manipulate the wrist snap as quickly or as forcefully. This wasn't an issue on higher balls, though, and driving and targeting higher balls was a breeze. Just trying to generate a lot of spin with wrist snap was a challenge, and my PlaySight data reflected this."

Tiffani is no stranger to Yonex racquets, and she was excited to be a part of this playtest. She said, "I'm generally a fan of Yonex racquets and I've liked several extended length models, too, so I was rather eager to get down on the court with this EZONE DR 100+. I felt at home from the baseline very quickly with this racquet, even with the extended length. I enjoyed the solid feel, and I had a good sense of where the ball was on the stringbed, which translated into good directional control. The added length meant I could hit bigger shots with depth. The DR 100+ wasn't whippy, and in most cases I felt comfortable getting this racquet around in time. When I'm pushed out of my comfort zone or feeling nervous I tend to shorten up my stroke and not take full swings. In those instances this racquet wasn't super forgiving, but after hitting a couple of really short, ineffective shots, it was a quick reminder to snap out of it, get out of my head and just play tennis. Although I did struggle in those instances, I really fell in love with this racquet from the baseline and feel like I just need a bit more time with it on the court."

Volleys - Score: 84

The EZONE DR 100+'s extra length and impressive stability was a recipe for success for the TW playtesters' volleys. Brittany was impressed with the performance of the EZONE Dr 100+ at net, especially in doubles. She praised, "The crisp, responsive feel made this racquet fun to finish off points whether I was hitting swinging volleys or pick up volleys. The impressive stability and extra length allowed me to turn stab volleys into offensive shots. The slightly slower feel wasn't a factor up at net because the movement was so small. I was highly effective in doubles and would continue to use this racquet at net."

Tiffani was a little apprehensive with the extended length up at net. She said, "One thing I worry about when I use extended length racquets is hitting my volleys. Pair that with my typical hesitation to approach the net, and it's a recipe for disaster. However, that was wasn't the case with the EZONE DR 100+. Either I've been working more on my net game or some confidence spilled over from the baseline, but I felt pretty good coming to the net. The sweetspot was generous, and when I missed it -- and I did shank a few, too -- this racquet felt stable and still managed to put the ball into play."

"I was expecting this racquet to feel more sluggish and less maneuverable than it was, which was a great surprise," added Jason. "I still felt like I could get the DR 100+ quickly into position for reflex volleys, and the stability was improved when I had to reach for a ball out wide. I did have a problem with the timing on my overheads, which caused me to hit the ball slightly out of the sweetspot. That was just from not being 100 percent comfortable with an extended length racquet."

Hannah found both positives and negatives when it came to volleying with the extended length. She stated, "The stability and extra reach on volleys was a really nice bonus, and it actually took a lot of the pressure off my forearm and wrist that I sometimes feel on my volleys. Again, because of the extended length my ability to maneuver the frame was made tougher, especially at net. Point and shoot volleys were made easy, and after this playtest I look forward to playing some doubles with this racquet to take advantage of the good targeting on poaching."

Serves - Score: 81

Serving with the Yonex EZONE DR 100+ was the one stroke where some of the playtesters struggled. However, Tiffani appreciated the free power she received. She offered, "I love any racquet that can help me hit bigger serves, and I definitely felt like the EZONE DR 100+ was helping me in the power department. I struggle to hit serves down the T consistently, but I hit some good serves there with this racquet and even earned a few free points on my serve. Again, I had a good sense of where the ball was on the strings and liked my ability to place the ball."

This was probably the most difficult area for Hannah to adjust to the extended length of the EZONE DR 100+. She explained, "Once I adjusted I noticed an extreme boost in power, and my flat serve had a ton of pop on it. I didn't have any difficulties placing and targeting my serve. I just had to make sure that I really went up after my serves. I also found it difficult to get normal height on my kick serve. My body kick serve wasn't as effective for this reason, but I do think the extra power made an impact."

"As with overheads, this was an area where I struggled a bit with this extended length racquet," critiqued Jason. "When I did miss, it was a combination of the extra length and the higher swingweight that caused me to miss long. I found a quick and easy solution for me was to simply choke up a bit on the handle. Once I did that, I was serving like I normally would."

Brittany was in agreement with Hannah and Jason. She said, "This was the one area where I struggled to gel with the racquet. While it did offer some excess power at the beginning of a match, I was finding it more cumbersome to swing toward the end of matches, and this resulted in some extra double faults. If I was tentative at all my serve percentage dropped. I prefer to serve with the standard length version."

Returns - Score: 87

The TW playtesters enjoyed the extra length of the EZONE DR 100+ when it came to returning serves. In fact, returning was probably the highlight of this playtest for Hannah. She exclaimed, "Against a big server, all I had to do was put this racquet in place and let it do the work for me. Maneuverability only came into play with body serves, but if I could get the racquet in place I didn't need a backswing or anything. This made returning such a fun challenge; I could step in, stay low and gauge exactly where I needed to make contact."

Jason found the added length to be quite an asset on returns. He noted, "Not only was I getting more coverage on my returns, but the power I was getting on my shots turned my returns into offensive shots."

"Even though this racquet is slightly less maneuverable, I loved returning with it," raved Brittany. "I first had to make a small adjustment to account for the extra length, especially to get the timing down on my backhand. I then needed to take a step back to give myself a little extra time to get my racquet into position. Once I did that I was rewarded with a stable and consistent feel from the racquet on both first and second serve returns. This proved to be a real weapon in doubles play."

Tiffani found success returning serves with the EZONE DR 100+ after she made a small adjustment. She said, "It was key for me to remember to keep my backswing short on returns so I wouldn't be late on my shots. I felt effective on my returns with this racquet. I could hit my shots deep into the court, but I could also move the ball around because I had good directional control."

Overall - Score: 86