Tecnifibre TFight ISO 315 Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 84

The TFight ISO 315 offers a good balance of maneuverability, spin and power off the ground. Troy also honed in on the racquet's stability. He said, "The TFight ISO 315 felt nice in my hands as soon as I picked it up. It has that solid 315-gram spec, and the balance and swingweight seemed to be dialed in to what I like. The first thing I noticed when I started striking the ball from the baseline was the solid feel, and I could tell the ball was popping off the strings. The feel of this racquet was nice and firm, but it didn't feel jarring — kind of reminiscent of the old Wilson Six.One 95 racquet I used to play with, but with some added power. Compared to the TFight ISO 305, I found this 315 version to give much easier bite on the ball, so I found an easy launch angle for net clearance and heavy topspin on my groundstrokes. I also found that this 315 version made it easier to generate racquet head speed, or tip speed as we like to say, because it was more head light, and the swingweight was pretty manageable for my preferences. I like how the firmness of this racquet made for a very solid feel, but I also like the slightly more flexible feel and the added dwell time I get from the TF40 315 16x19. Both are very good racquets in my opinion. Making it hard to choose between the two is a good problem for Tecnifibre to have."

The mix of the TFight ISO 315's features let Chris play creatively from the baseline. He said, "I enjoyed my ability to mix things up with the TFight ISO 315. I had good success when looking to change the direction of play. The racquet felt fast, yet also very solid. I had fun taking a cross-court ball early and redirecting it down the line to attack my opponent's movement. I was also having success rolling sharp angles with this racquet. I was able to get lots of spin, so I could clear the net and still get the ball to dip inside the lines. The TFight ISO 315 felt like it swung with plenty of mass, so it felt super solid as I was driving through the ball. My backhand slice was consistent, and I felt like I had good directional control with it."

For Michelle, it was the racquet's consistency that stood out in the end. She explained, "From the first hit, the TFight ISO 315 felt absolutely solid! Like the previous version of this racquet, I appreciated the weight but also quickly realized it wasn't going to be a super hefty racquet to swing. It provided a great blend of control and power. This TFight ISO 315 did everything well, which made me realize that its consistent feel and my ability to use it in any situation were its strengths. I felt very connected to the stringbed and my shots, and I could find good access to spin. I noted a lack of plow through at times when I was knifing backhand slices on the run, and I felt I was just barely missing in the net. If I were to be ultra critical, there were just a few times when I noted a little bit of instability — nothing detrimental, but noticeable. I think players who can really whip through with the tip of the racquet, like Chris, were rewarded more than someone who plows through the ball on their groundstrokes, like me, and doesn't have the same whippy mechanics. As I spent more time getting familiar with the TFight ISO 315 during the playtest, I started to enjoy changing the direction of the ball and taking shots down the line, whether it was to try to win the point or just disrupt the flow of a long rally."

Mark was most comfortable with this racquet at the baseline. He said, "I was testing some extended-length frames at the same time as this TFight ISO 315, and switching from extended to standard-length racquets usually takes me some time. That said, I found myself grinding from the baseline without any thought to the length of the TFight ISO 315. Instead, I was focusing more on the TFight ISO 315's high degree of comfort, along with how easy it was for me to judge shot depth from the back court and shape my groundstrokes with lots of spin. As much as I enjoyed this racquet from anywhere in the court, I especially liked it from the baseline."

Volleys - Score: 83

The solid feel of this TFight ISO 315 at net made volleying an easy task for our playtesters. Chris made some comparisons to the TF40 line, saying, "I liked the feel of the TFight ISO 315 at net. The response was crisp, clean and solid. I felt like I could judge the depth and direction of my volleys very well with this racquet. While this TFight doesn't have the touch I found in my old TF40 305, it did offer better power for punching volleys away. I found it easy to access spin when looking to hit short angle volleys, which helped me drop the ball nice and short."

The TFight ISO 315 also worked well at net for Mark. He described, "The comfort, control and predictability I experienced at the backcourt with the TFight 315 were also evident inside the service court. The combination of mass, swingweight and stiffness-based power was nicely tamed by the 7-points head-light balance and precision-oriented 98 square inch head size, resulting in lots of high-quality volleys coming off this racquet."

"I enjoyed the weight and the balance of this TFight ISO 315 when coming to the net," added Troy. "It has the mass to make volleys feel solid and stable, but its head-light balance makes it maneuverable enough for quick reaction volleys. The TFight ISO 305 also felt very solid when I playtested it, but the balance was off and the swingweight felt much beefier, so it was not ideal for quick reaction volleys. The stiffness and firm feel of this ISO 315 also seemed to help with the stability on contact, and it let me be pretty precise when going for my targets. The trajectory of the ball was predictable, and the 98 head size gave me a lot of confidence in my placement of the ball when volleying near the lines. I also noticed the open 16x19 pattern provided easy grip on the ball whenever I went to add some extra backspin or slice on volleys, especially those sharp drop volleys."

Although not perfect for Michelle, this racquet got the job done at net. She explained, "I liked the TFight ISO 315 on volleys, and I felt it was maneuverable and solid. I remember feeling really confident with the previous version at net, but this update wasn't always lively enough when catching balls below the net. However, it was easy to pick and choose what volley I wanted to execute, and I could successfully finish points at the net."

Serves - Score: 84

The TFight ISO 315 seemed to offer our team a bit of everything on their serves. It took almost no time for Mark to discover the power, spin and precision this racquet offered. He said, "After no more than 20 serves and an hour of groundstrokes with the TFight ISO 315 in hand, I knew it was a frame that I could happily make a switch to. Straight away, it was very easy for me to serve to either side of the service court, and by the end of the playtest I was consistently hitting those spots with decent pace."

Michelle noted an improvement on this stroke from the previous version. She described, "I really enjoyed serving with the TFight ISO 315 because it moved through the swing and through the ball fluidly, and the targeting was impressive. Although I found more control with this racquet from the baseline, I never felt limited in terms of power on first serves. I remember craving more here from the RS version, and I found it slightly ironic that what I liked flipped with what I didn't like in the RS version of this racquet."

Continuing the praise for this racquet, Chris added, "The TFight ISO 315 offered some decent mass to help it plow through contact and provide good serving power. I was very happy with the crisp and clean response of the racquet. I had good placement when hitting my flat serves, and I was impressed with the pace I was getting. My spin serves were working well too, so I had zero complaints on serves."

Once again, the balance of specs was right up Troy's alley. He said, "The control and spin were evident on my serves, which I somewhat expected, but I was surprised to find some added punch or sting when I needed it. I think it was the extra stiffness combined with the healthy swingweight that gave me that added pop on my serves. The 98 head size gave me the precision and confidence to hit my targets, while the openly spaced 16x19 pattern helped me create heavy spin on my slice and kick serves. I noticed that the TFight ISO 315 had easier power than the Tecnifibre TF40 315 16x19, Wilson Pro Staff 97 v13 or Yonex VCORE PRO 97, but not quite as much power on tap as racquets like the Babolat Pure Aero Plus 2023 and Solinco Blackout 300 XTD. The TFight ISO 315 had a nice balance of power, precision and spin when it came to serves."

Returns - Score: 78

Our team could mix it up when hitting returns with the TFight ISO 315. Michelle explained, "This racquet offered a good blend of controllable power, which made returning fun and effective. It wasn't the most powerful racquet to win points with from the first rip of the ball, but it was a smarter racquet that I could set up points with efficiently. Angled returns were effective, as was driving the ball down the line to pull the server out of position from the very first shot."

This is the one area where Troy missed the flexible feel of the TF40 line. He said, "As I mentioned above, the mass and firm feel made this a solid feeling racquet, and that carried over to returns. It was maneuverable enough to make it easy for me to get the racquet into place and strike the ball cleanly on returns. It was also pretty stable for the most part when blocking the ball back or striking the ball against hard-hit serves. With that said, there were times when it was a bit more difficult to find the sweetspot on serve returns, especially against big servers who impart a lot of spin and kick on their serves. So there were times when I would have preferred a slightly more flexible or plush feel when hitting my returns for a bit more forgiveness. This is where I might prefer racquets like the Tecnifibre TF40 315 16x19 or the Yonex EZONE 98 Tour a bit more for their added comfort and plushness."

Mark, however, had no complaints here. He said, "Although my return of serve is not my strength, the blend of the TFight ISO 315's weight, balance, stiffness, etc. helped keep my return of serve from being attacked, which was a benefit for sure. Even on off-center ball contact, the TFight ISO 315 remained stable and felt plush on every service return attempt."

This TFight ISO 315 fit right into Chris' playing style on returns. He described, "I was able to be creative with my shot making from most areas of the court, and that was especially so on returns. I had fun mixing in angles with drives, floating slices with knifing slices, and even the occasional drop-shot return. I liked the crisp feel of the TFight ISO 315 and felt connected to my shots. The power level made it easy for me to relax and let the racquet do the work. My returns had solid spin on them, which helped me to hit aggressively and still get my shots to dip inside the lines."

Overall - Score: 83