Prince Twistpower X100 Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 85

Ever since setting their eyes on the Prince Twistpower X100, our playtesters were excited to test how this unique construction would perform on court. With its user-friendly nature, this racquet made it simple to find a groove from the baseline. Tiffani explained, "Some racquets just make playing tennis even more fun, and this Twistpower X100 is definitely in that category. Although I typically prefer tighter string patterns, I just had a blast rallying from the baseline with this racquet. It was really easy to adjust to, no matter what other racquet I might be playing with on a particular day. I was most impressed with how comfortable and stable this racquet felt for its weight. Racquets at this weight don't always feel great with a poly installed, but I had no issues with comfort no matter what the string setup was in the Twistpower X100. One of my favorite shots with this racquet was my short backhand cross court. Topspin came easily, so I could get my opponents moving off the court with that shot."

Brittany was curious to try this new addition to the Prince family. She said, “I’ve been a fan of Prince for years, and I used their racquets in my junior and college career, so I am always excited for a new offering. The Twistpower X100 is a slightly lower weight than I prefer (290 grams compared to 300 grams unstrung), and I was slightly worried about how it would perform. I first hit with this racquet over a year ago and was impressed by how it played. Picking it up a couple of months ago for this playtest, I was instantly reminded how much fun it is. It’s a super easy racquet to play with, and I had no adjustment period. I had plenty of power, spin and maneuverability from the baseline. I could generate racquet head speed and hit some nice pace off the ground. I really enjoyed practicing and rallying with the Twistpower X100. I could even hit my signature short, angled groundstroke off both wings."

Chris instantly clicked with this racquet from the back of the court. He said, "The Twistpower X100 was a fast and easy racquet to get around. I was able to accelerate it quickly through the contact zone to add ample pace and spin. I also found a nice and comfortably soft feel at contact. I was able to place the ball accurately and felt very much in control when taking a big rip. I could get plenty of spin on my slice shots and found ample feel for touch shots. Ideally, a little more mass would have made it a better fit for my slice backhand. I was most impressed when driving through the ball with topspin, and I really enjoyed the racquet's response."

The Twistpower's impressive maneuverability allowed Jason to tap into his aggressive baseline game, but like Chris, he wanted a little more mass for driving through his slice. He described, "This racquet was so easy to swing. I was able to generate tons of racquet head speed to get massive spin on my shots. For a racquet that's under 11 ounces, I thought it felt surprisingly stable and offered good put-away power. It's lighter than my current racquet, the Wilson Clash 100, but I felt like I was able to hit bigger with it. I would still add a bit more weight in the hoop to help with my slices, since I wasn't able to get them as 'dirty' as I would've liked."

Volleys - Score: 82

Thanks to the Twistpower X100’s sub-11-ounce weight, our playtesters were able to react quickly at net. However, Brittany noticed that the lightweight feel led her to overhit her volleys at times. She said, “The feel and maneuverability were the shining features when I came to the net. I had no issues getting the racquet into position, even on quick exchanges or passing shots hit right into my body. I mostly preferred to punch the volley deep to end the point. However, because the racquet was so easy to swing, I found myself swinging a little too much on my volleys, and the ball would sail long. I then started to experiment with more touch volleys, and I was pleasantly surprised with my results."

Chris found enough stability when moving forward to get dialed in on his crafty touch shots. He said, "Being a light and fast racquet, the Twistpower X100 was never hard to get into position. Again, touch and feel were good, so my touch volleys were working well. Even with just a loose grip on the racquet, I found enough stability to bleed off pace from the incoming shot and drop a volley short for an angle."

It was easy for Jason to take his aggressive game forward with the Twistpower X100. He said, "This racquet felt lightning quick up at net. I could react to shots, and it didn't really feel like there was a lag from my arm to the racquet. It was very easy to put away sitters, and there was plenty of touch and feel for drop volleys. I think just adding a bit of weight would go a long way in upping the stability and the racquet's ability to absorb pace."

Tiffani added, "This racquet again impressed me with its stability. As expected, it felt quick around the net, and it was fairly versatile as well. I rarely experienced any issues and only felt a bit of fluttering on high volleys or overheads. When I made contact with the ball higher in the stringbed the racquet could twist a bit in my hand or didn't have enough weight to plow through the ball."

Serves - Score: 85

With the Twistpower X100 being such a user-friendly racquet, it was no surprise that stepping up to serve felt effortless. "I wish I could swing all racquets this quickly through the hitting zone," said Tiffani. "I enjoyed serving with this racquet because I could snap it to get some spin just as easily as I could hit a flat serve. There was good directional control as well, and I liked to hit serves out wide on the ad side."

Jason thought the Twistpower X100 gave his racquet of choice a run for its money on serve. He said, "I was serving very well with this racquet. I was getting noticeably more pop on my serves compared to my Clash 100. Access to spin was great on my slice, similar to what I get from my Clash. This racquet was so easy to accelerate through contact that I was also hitting a higher percentage in, but the standout feature was really the added pop — and from a sub-11-ounce racquet!"

Chris found he could easily hit a variety of serves with this new Prince racquet. He said, "I liked the comfortable feel of the Twistpower X100 on serves. The ball came off the stringbed with a smooth feel, decent pace and plenty of spin. As I found at the baseline, I could accelerate the racquet nicely, and that opened up plenty of options on serves. My slice serves wide on the deuce side and down the T on the ad side were both working very well. On second serves, I had success blending spin and pace to start points aggressively."

Although it was missing a bit of plow through, the Twistpower X100's easy overhead maneuverability allowed Brittany to use spin and pace to her advantage. She explained, "I could really appreciate this racquet's ability to get up and over my shoulders with little effort, and I could generate racquet head speed with ease. This translated into easy power and no arm fatigue. My serves were also landing pretty deep in the service box. On second serves, I could hit a kick serve with just a flick of the wrist. After a couple of serving sessions, I did note that my serve wasn't coming through as heavy and wasn't penetrating the court as much as with my normal racquet. My second serve took the biggest hit. It was sitting up a little more at times, giving my opponent the opportunity to step in. However, this was to be expected due to its light weight."

Returns - Score: 84

Keeping with the recurring theme of the playtest, it was easy for our playtesters to get the Twistpower X100 in position on returns. The racquet's weight and speed also allowed our team to get creative with their tactics. Chris described, "The Twistpower X100 was a fun racquet on returns. I liked how easy it was to get the racquet into position and then drive, flick or chip back a return depending on the situation. I thought the racquet played stable for its weight, and that married nicely with its comfortable response."

Jason also enjoyed mixing up his return game. He said, "The maneuverability of the Twistpower X100 allowed me to hit a variety of returns. I could attack and take full cuts with it, or simply block a return back with depth. I was also able to find some nice angles on my returns with this racquet. It does get slightly pushed around against bigger servers, but it holds its own and is fairly stable."

Brittany enjoyed the ease of returning with this frame, but she felt some instability against bigger servers. She said, "The return was probably where I noticed the light weight the most. There were a couple of instances when the racquet twisted slightly in my hand on first serve returns. With that being said, I still had a blast returning with the Twistpower X100. I could send difficult first serves deep to the middle and really step in and attack second serves. I never felt like I was late to a ball."

The Twistpower X100 continued to impress Tiffani. She said, "There didn't seem to be a place I didn't enjoy playing with this racquet, and that includes returns. The Twistpower X100 seemed to outplay its specs again here. I enjoyed its stable response, and its maneuverable feel let me take full swings for offensive returns."

Overall - Score: 86