Dunlop FX 500 Tour 2023 Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 82

The Dunlop FX 500 Tour was an instant hit with our playtesters, who enjoyed its easy access to power and spin. Chris felt he could play tennis on cruise control with this racquet. He explained, "I was impressed by the easy power I had on my groundstrokes from the very first ball I hit with the FX 500 Tour. Long hitting sessions were just a little bit easier since I never felt like I had to work hard with this racquet. I found the level of power to be very useful when I was defending. Even when pushed wide or forced to hit off my back foot, the FX 500 Tour allowed me to find solid depth and pace on my shots. Fortunately, when I was attacking I was able to find plenty of spin to help me control my shots. The stringbed offered a fairly high launch angle, which made it easy to get lots of net clearance when trading topspin groundstrokes."

Jason thought the FX 500 Tour put power front and center. He said, "The FX 500 Tour really brought the firepower on my groundstrokes. It was easy to generate racquet head speed, and combining that with the open string pattern meant the ball left the racquet with some serious pace and net clearance. The downside was the lack of control. I found the FX 500 Tour to be a bit of a rocket launcher at times, especially if I didn't hit with enough topspin. I liked that it allowed me to throw up a deep lob when on the defensive, and then put the ball away on a short, attackable shot."

While Michelle enjoyed the easy access to power, she thought the racquet lacked a bit of stability. She said, "The previous version of this racquet pleasantly surprised me. I loved the feel and how versatile it was, so I expected the same going into this test. There are some awesome racquets in this category that I have been loving lately, so I might be a little harsh in my feedback. This version of the FX 500 Tour missed the mark a bit for me. For a 'tour' racquet it was a bit light, and the swingweight was low for what I enjoy. It left me craving more stability, more weight and more plow through. There is a phenomenon that happens to me sometimes with lighter racquets where I feel like I am swinging so hard and working so hard, and the ball is going nowhere and barely penetrating the court. That is what was happening here. On the positive side, the FX 500 Tour was very quick to swing, making angles effective. I never felt limited in access to spin either. It was also noticeably softer in feel compared to the previous version, and while most players will love that feature, I personally prefer the feel of the previous one, and I felt more disconnected from the stringbed with this update. I do, however, think this is a great platform racquet for customization, and it was a solid racquet to teach lessons with."

Mark noticed the softer feel of the updated version. He described, "In a short amount of baseline play with Dunlop's update to the FX 500 Tour, I detected a slightly softer layup of graphite than its predecessor, which complemented the extra comfort and stability that the Infinergy/Sonic Core Technology provides. The open string pattern and precision-oriented 98 head size helped make it easier for me to shape my groundstrokes with lots of topspin and aim them at smaller targets. It was also easy to generate slice, which I primarily use on my backhand wing to buy myself some time and reset the point. Lastly, the (just-under) 320 strung swingweight and 6-points head-light balance of the newest FX 500 Tour disguises its 11.3-ounce static weight well, keeping it easy to swing from the back court for extended periods of time."

Volleys - Score: 82

For the majority of our playtesters, the Dunlop FX 500 Tour offered impressive maneuverability and feel at net. Michelle, though, wanted a bit more from the racquet on volleys. She said, "I was hoping my experience at the net would be more positive than at the baseline, but I also noticed some issues with my volleys. I craved more stability, and I felt like I didn't have great touch or command of the ball when I was going for softer shots or dropping volleys more intentionally. I think I was most effective swinging with this racquet rather than trying to stick volleys. I just felt like there wasn't enough punch behind my shots, and I felt like the racquet went limp and felt dead at contact when the ball dropped below the net and required some touch."

The FX 500 Tour helped Jason stay on top of his volley game. He said, "The 305-gram weight really helped with absorbing pace up at net, and because it was so whippy, I felt like I could get my racquet on a lot of balls. There was plenty of power and spin to put the shot away on overheads and sitters as well. I thought torsional stability could've been a little better because of the weight, so I'd probably add a tiny bit of tungsten tape to stabilize it."

Mark was impressed, saying, "Even with this racquet's sub-320 swingweight, I never felt any instability volleying with the 2023 Dunlop FX 500 Tour. Perhaps the throat piece being a bit wider helped with stability, but either way, my volleys felt spot-on in most every circumstance, whether it was a punch or touch volley."

"The FX 500 Tour felt light and fast in my hands at net," Chris added. "I had fun cutting the ball aggressively for lots of spin or to add pace to my volleys. There was ample power to help me dig out tough low volleys and still find depth with my shots. I really enjoyed this racquet's maneuverability through the transition from baseline to net, when I was sometimes forced to hit a difficult mid-court volley."

Serves - Score: 82

Our playtesters felt that serving was a strength of the Dunlop FX 500 Tour. In fact, it was Mark's favorite shot. He said, "In general, the more I played with the 2023 FX 500 Tour, the more I liked it from anywhere in the court; it's a versatile all-court racquet in my book for sure. By a small margin, though, my serve was the shot that was most consistent and came the most naturally to me."

Spin was the name of the game for Jason. He said, "The excellent access to spin really helped make my serves more effective than normal. I don't typically hit a flat serve, so it was definitely helpful on my slice serves that the racquet was able to impart so much spin. That helped my serve percentage as well, and I felt like I was hitting more first serves in and fewer double faults with this racquet."

Chris had similar thoughts, adding, "I served very consistently with the FX 500 Tour, and I liked the shape I was getting on my shots. My net clearance was solid, and I was getting the ball to dip nicely inside the lines. The racquet was also very comfortable in that it was pretty effortless to swing and had a nice response at impact. I wasn't getting quite the plow-through power I get from heavier racquets, but I was still pretty happy with the overall pace and spin of my serves."

The serve was also Michelle's favorite shot to hit with the FX 500 Tour. She described, "This is where I would say I appreciated the FX 500 Tour the most. I enjoyed serving and felt like I could execute all my serves well. The racquet was precise and I enjoyed exploding through the ball with it. Because it is super speedy, slicing into the body, up the tee or out wide proved to be very effective."

Returns - Score: 80

The Dunlop FX 500 Tour drew some mixed reviews on returns. Jason noted the pros and cons of so much power, saying, "I really appreciated the low swingweight here. Because it was so maneuverable, I was able to take bigger swings on the ball, even against first serves. The easy depth helped when blocking or chipping a return back, getting the ball deeper in the court. The only downside here is the slight lack of depth control because of the power."

Mark typically favors serving over returning, and that was true with this racquet as well. He said, "I had great precision and decent directional control returning serve with Dunlop's 2023 edition of the FX 500 Tour. However, I rely more on blocking the ball back or taking a very short backswing on my service return, making it the one shot of the playtest where I would prefer to have a swingweight that is somewhere over 320, not under."

The swingweight was a bit low for Michelle as well, but for different reasons. She explained, "When a racquet is speedy, I can often get into trouble with my return because this is where I get ahead of myself too quickly. To reduce errors, I found keeping a shorter, compact backswing was the best practice; when I lined up for some big swinging returns, I tended to miss big too. I also found I could effectively chip returns, so that was a positive, especially against bigger servers or when I got jammed with a serve."

Chris, on the other hand, used the mobility to his advantage on returns. He said, "The FX 500 Tour felt fast on returns, and I felt like I was reacting very well with it. I had fun taking returns early and trying to steal away the advantage from the server. When combining my ability to hit an early return with how much I liked this racquet at net, it made it a fun choice when I was playing doubles. My down-the-line drive returns had good net clearance, but those were the returns I was more likely to miss long if I didn't ensure I had ample spin on my shots."

Overall - Score: 81