Tecnifibre TFlash 300 PS Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 85

The Tecnifibre TFlash 300 PS offered the TW playtesters power, spin and easy maneuverability from the baseline. Chris had nothing but positives to say about this racquet, especially on groundstrokes. He started, "Every once in a while a racquet comes along that elevates the level of my play without me having to do anything to deserve it. My shots just instantly work better because I have the racquet in my hands. Such racquets are rare, indeed. The TFlash 300 PS is one of those rare gems. I simply played lights out tennis with the TFlash 300 PS for the entire test. Try as I might to be critical, I found myself loving every second I spent on court with this racquet. I spent so much time in the zone with this racquet that it became a running joke among the TW playtesters. The specs of the TFlash 300 PS don't line up with what I usually like. The racquet should be too light and the beam should be too stiff. I don't care. I played so well with this racquet that any questioning of what was going on went out the window and was quickly replaced by hitting nirvana. I could swing this racquet very quickly, and that resulted in excellent spin. I controlled the depth of my shots better than I would expect to do with any racquet. I hit better angles. I found effortless pace. My drop shots felt better and better the more time I spent with it. It didn't matter if I hit slice or topspin on my backhand. Both felt equally good. I felt like I could hit my forehand cross court or down the line with equal viciousness. I even tried putting the wrong string in this racquet (a lively and very thin co-poly at too low of a tension), and it still felt pretty darn good! With a 16 gauge medium-firm co-poly at 52 lbs this racquet simply felt perfect."

"The specs of the TFlash 300 PS were very tempting on paper," noted Brittany. "I was not disappointed when I headed down to the court, where I had an easy transition from my current racquet to the TFlash 300 PS. I was amazed with the easy power and depth I was getting on my groundstrokes. I could easily generate racquet head speed, which allowed me to get up and under the ball for excellent access to spin. I noted some instability a couple times on deep balls or shots with heavy spin. However, I was surprised that I could still be fairly effective with my slice and turn defensive shots into neutral or offensive shots."

Finding easy power, Tiffani said, "The Power Stab technology name really fit this version of the TFlash 300. Even when I made a quick stab at the ball, this racquet could send the ball back over the net with depth and pace. The stiff beam and open string pattern helped the TFlash 300 PS deliver power in spades. The string pattern was quite open and we had our racquet strung up with a grippy co-poly, which thankfully made it easy to create topspin. When I missed with this racquet I usually missed long, so I was constantly reminding myself to add topspin. Unfortunately, I didn't always find myself able to fully tap into the power of this racquet. I found myself going for bigger shots because this racquet rewarded offensive shots, but when too many errors started creeping in I found myself pulling back on my strokes just to get more shots to fall inside the lines. That was the case when we recorded our PlaySight data. Overall, though, this racquet was stiff and easy to use, like a Babolat Pure Drive or Wilson Burn 100. It wasn't uncomfortable for me, even when strung with a full bed of poly, and there was more ball feel compared to the latest Pure Drive or Countervail Burn."

Jason immediately noticed a bump in power when he went from his racquet, the Babolat Pure Strike 98 16x19, to this one. He compared, "The launch angle appeared to be just slightly higher so I was getting more depth on my shots, which ended up being a double edged sword. On one hand, my shots were landing much closer to the baseline, allowing me to push my opponents back, and I was able to turn defense into offense with one swing of the racquet. On the other hand, I was missing more shots long because I wasn't used to the power level and launch angle. I found that I was able to hit sharper angled shots thanks to the nice combination of maneuverability and spin. It definitely has a stiff feel to it that reminds me a lot of the Pure Drive or Burn racquets."

Volleys - Score: 80

Up at net the TFlash 300 PS was maneuverable and powerful, but some of the TW playtesters were looking for a little more feel. Chris was equally impressed with this racquet up at net as he was from the baseline. He described, "A racquet as light and stiff as the TFlash 300 PS should not have felt so solid and comfortable at net, yet it did. Again, generating power was easy. How easy? Stupidly easy. The racquet was also easy to maneuver, so I felt confident closing the net and reacting quickly. I liked the control I had on my touch volleys and continued to enjoy the racquet at net just as much as I had at the baseline. I would usually be looking to add weight to a racquet this light to improve stability, but I didn't feel the need here."

"The TFlash 300 PS felt very fast and maneuverable up at net," added Jason. "There was easy access to both power and spin when I had opportunities to put the ball away. Although I felt well connected to my shots, I still wasn't getting the touch I wanted. My drop volleys tended to sit up and land with more depth than I intended, resulting in easy put-aways for my opponents."

Tiffani agreed. She noted, "I'm not much of a finesse player, but I really struggled to find any sort of touch with this TFlash PS 300. I was much more successful when I punched the ball back. When I stuck with that game plan I got what I expected. The TFlash 300 PS gave me easy power and good maneuverability."

This racquet allowed Brittany to be very aggressive at the net. She detailed, "The maneuverability was the standout feature, and I could get the racquet in place on any shot that was hit at me. The ball pocketing was decent, so I was able to hit touch shots as well. The racquet was lacking a little stability on shots that were not hit directly to me, and a little more mass would have helped."

Serves - Score: 83

The TW playtesters had mixed results with the power level of the Tecnifibre TFlash 300 PS when it came to serves. The power and depth Brittany experienced on her groundstrokes translated to her serve. She commented, "I was able to hit my flat first serves with ease. I was able to hit my serves deep in the service box, and because the TFlash 300 PS never felt heavy I was able consistently hit my first serve without any arm fatigue. I was also happy with my second serve. The TFlash 300 PS was fairly forgiving, and I could hit a decent kick serve to start off the point."

Jason had a different experience. He said, "The added power I received on my groundstrokes and returns wasn't as evident on my serves. Because the swingweight was so low there wasn't the necessary mass to generate pace on my own. What I found great about serving with this racquet was hitting kick serves and slices. I was able to execute both with tons of spin, and more importantly to me, I was able to get a high percentage in. It was really easy to snap my wrist and accelerate the racquet head consistently."

"The TFlash 300 PS proved to be one of the better standard length racquets for serving," raved Chris. "On the power and spin front I thought it was right up there with racquets like the new Babolat Pure Drive and the Pure Aero. I didn't hit heavy serves like I do with my regular Yonex EZONE DR 98+, but I found lots of pace and spin. The amount of spin I could generate enabled me to hit with pace without losing control, so I could be very aggressive with this racquet."

Tiffani compared the TFlash 300 PS to one of her favorite serving racquets, the Babolat Pure Drive. She offered, "This racquet kept up with the Pure Drive, or surpassed it, in terms of its easy power, but I preferred serving with the Pure Drive. I always find myself comparing racquets in this spec range to the Pure Drive because it's my favorite serving racquet. The power of the TFlash 300 PS was good and spin was easy enough to create, but it didn't quite match the Pure Drive's serve magic."

Returns - Score: 83

The TFlash 300 PS offered a powerful response on returns with easy depth to start the point off on the offensive. Jason successfully hit a variety of returns. He stated, "I had a lot of options on my returns with the TFlash 300 PS. It was whippy enough to give me time to take full swings on first serve returns. The open string pattern really helped the ball get down into the court, and thanks to the easy access to power and depth, I was able to chip back returns with depth from both wings."

Continuing his love affair with the TFlash 300 PS, Chris said, "My confidence with this racquet continued on returns. The same spin and power I enjoyed from the baseline combined with the maneuverability I enjoyed at net to make this a great racquet on returns. I hit some great angle returns as well as some solid drives deep into the court. The racquet felt very comfortable and handled incoming pace well. I did not expect it to feel as stable as it did on block returns, and I liked the level of control I found."

"The TFlash PS 300 could be a weapon when returning serves," continued Tiffani. "Like my groundstrokes, hitting returns deep into the court was easy. The key was being smart about choosing my targets. Although this racquet could help me hit shots I wouldn't normally be able to hit, I couldn't execute them consistently enough. The smarter play for me was aiming back at the returner. The extra depth I often got made this a more consistent offensive play than going for the corners."

While this is normally one of Brittany's favorite shots to hit, she couldn't find a rhythm on returns. She concluded, "Because the TFlash 300 PS swings so quickly through the air, I found myself ahead of the ball and mis-timing my returns. This caused my accuracy to decrease, and I had to aim for bigger targets. When I was returning some first serves I noticed the racquet twisting in my hand. I much preferred to return second serves because I didn't have to worry as much about the instability."

Overall - Score: 83