Wilson Blade 104 v8 Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 83

Starting the playtest off on a high note, the Wilson Blade 104 v8 offered easy power, spin and maneuverability from the baseline. Tiffani is no stranger to the Blade 104 line, having playtested multiple generations over the last decade. She started off the review, saying, "With the seventh version, the switch to a 16x19 string pattern from the historic tighter string spacing was a big adjustment. Coming into the Blade 104 v8 review, I had more of an idea of what to expect, so I felt comfortable right from the start. It was easy to hit with depth, and despite the 27.5-inch length, this racquet came around really quickly. This allowed me to get aggressive with my topspin cross-court angles, and I really liked to use that shot off both sides to pull my opponent off the court. I found equal success hitting slice shots, which I used to mix up the pace of rallies. Those shots didn't have the same weight behind them as I get from a heavier racquet, but I could still keep them low and effective. I also enjoyed the comfort of this update. There really wasn't much I didn't like about this racquet from the baseline, but if I were to get really picky, I would say that driving the ball with a flat shot from the mid-court sometimes got away from me, so I needed to remember that topspin was necessary to keep the ball in play."

"With multiple generations of Blade 104s under my belt, I felt confident going into this playtest," continued Brittany. "While I have always liked the Blade 104, I was surprised how well I played with this new version. It was an easy racquet to pick up and hit with, which I appreciated as I am just getting back into tennis after six months off. I actually forgot the racquet was extended length. It was remarkably easy to swing; the only indication of the length was that I was mistiming my backhand at the beginning. Once I made the mental adjustment, I was good to go. On the other hand, this racquet was also surprisingly stable for its weight. If I didn't know any better, I would have easily thought it was 300 to 305 grams (unstrung). From the baseline, I found easy power and depth on both wings. I took advantage of that power on my attacking shots."

The Blade 104 v8 worked well with Jason's aggressive, spin-friendly groundstrokes. He said, "For being an extended-length racquet, it didn't feel sluggish on my groundstrokes. I thought it was pretty maneuverable, and that allowed me to easily generate racquet head speed for power and spin. Paired with the open string pattern, I thought power and depth were easy to come by. But if I wasn't careful about adding topspin, my shots would tend to launch a bit."

Mark spends most of his time at the baseline exchanging groundstrokes (ping pong style) when he is on the court. He said, "The feel and comfort from the backcourt were top notch, even with a full bed of a monofilament string. The extra length, 104 head size and 16x19 pattern provided my game with a predictable and effective level of both power and spin, which kept my opponent on their toes and most of my groundstrokes inside the lines. Extra length on a racquet often does my backhand slice some good, and that was definitely the storyline playtesting the Blade 104 v8."

Volleys - Score: 83

The Blade 104 v8 surpassed our team's expectations up at net. The specs of the Blade 104 paired perfectly with Brittany's volleys. She said, "Easy to maneuver? Check. Stable? Check. Forgiving sweetspot? Check. Extended reach? Check. Coming up to net, I had plenty of confidence putting volleys away with the Blade 104 v8. Most of the time, I preferred to punch my volleys back deep, but I could hit a shorter, angled volley if I needed to. I also felt pretty connected to the ball."

The extended length of the Blade 104 v8 surprised Tiffani in a good way. She described, "A complaint I often have with extended-length racquets is that they can feel unwieldy at net. I had no such problems with the Blade 104 v8. This racquet maneuvered like a standard-length frame. I also really liked the comfort factor at net; I didn't feel a lot of vibrations in my arm when I missed the sweetspot."

Volleying with the Blade 104 v8 ended up being the highlight of the playtest for Mark. He said, "At net, the Blade 104 v8 performed better than expected. I do have a preconceived notion about frames weighing less 300 grams not being able to supply enough stability against excessive pace and spin. I play quite a bit with longer-than-standard racquets, and along with the extra reach that is afforded, it also makes lighter racquets more stable. It was not until passing shots reached freeway speeds that I could detect any fluttering of the racquet at net, making the volley my favorite shot to hit with the Blade 104 v8."

In stock form, the Blade 104 v8 impressed Jason at net. However, he could have used a little more weight to kick up the stability even more. He explained, "I very much enjoyed this racquet up at net. The 104-square-inch head gave me more margin for errors (aka, fewer mis-hits), and it was surprisingly stable on off-center hits, especially considering it weighs less than 11 ounces. The power was there; the spin was as well. Could it use just a bit more weight? Yes. But that's easily done with some tungsten tape."

Serves - Score: 84

The ability to generate racquet head speed translated to big, fast serves with the Wilson Blade 104 v8. The racquet's easy access to power and spin helped Jason hit successful serve after successful serve. He said, "My serves were popping with this racquet! I was getting a ton of pace on both first and second serves, and when I wanted to add spin on my serves, the open string pattern made it easy to do."

Tiffani's serves also got a boost from the Blade 104 v8. She said, "This Blade 104 v8 was a blast to use on serves. You won't often find me looking forward to my service games, but that was the case during this playtest. With a larger head size and extended length, this racquet really amped up the power of my serve. I found it easy to get the Blade 104 v8 up and over my head as well, so I was able to mix in slice serves and flat serves. Serving may have been my favorite shot to hit with this racquet."

Mark appreciated the racquet's extra length on serve. He described, "I feel that extra frame length, to a degree, takes the place of overall frame mass and improves power and stability, which was the case when it came to serving with the Blade 104 v8. If it were just 27 inches long, I would have to work a bit harder to develop pace and sting on my serve, but that extra half inch in handle length gave me the leverage I needed to reel off a lot of effective serves without much effort."

The Blade 104 v8 offered Brittany effortless power on serves, which she could take advantage of consistently over the course of a hitting session. She said, "My arm never seemed to fatigue, and it was easy to get the racquet moving up and over my head. I found most of my serves landing deep, sometimes too deep past the service line. With a more conscious wrist snap, I was able to adjust and fix the problem. While slice and topspin serves were there, I found myself leaning more toward flat first serves, and focusing on big targets. Second serves were average, nothing special."

Returns - Score: 82

Returning serves with the Blade 104 v8 produced some mixed results from our team, but the response was positive overall. The racquet worked well for Mark's abbreviated strokes up to a point. He said, "Primarily, my return of serve is a lot like a half volley, so between those two shots, I basically get the same effect with a racquet. That said, until serve speeds were north of 100 MPHs, I was confident and reasonably effective returning serves with the new Blade 104 v8."

"I'm typically a more confident returner than server, and with this racquet, I felt confident in both situations," said Tiffani. "This Blade 104 v8 is plenty maneuverable, and it offered easy pace. There was just enough control to let me pick my targets too. I was testing it alongside some open-patterned 100-square-inch racquets, and I felt the control levels were comparable. There were just a couple of instances when I felt some instability, but overall this racquet was up to the job on returns."

Brittany knows the importance of a good return. She explained, "The return is a crucial shot that is often overlooked, and I find it is one of the last shots of mine to come together after extended time off. While the Blade 104 did have some things going for it, like stability and maneuverability, this is where I was definitely craving a little more control and precision. I ended up aiming most of my returns conservatively deep up the middle since it was easy to overhit when aiming for riskier targets. This applied to both first and second serve returns."

While Jason thought the Blade 104 v8 worked very well for most of his returns, the racquet struggled a bit against his opponents' biggest serves. He said, "For 90 percent of the serves I faced, the Blade 104 v8 was great. There was a lot of put-away power for slower second serves, and I got good depth when blocking back bigger first serves. The 10 percent of serves that I struggled on were really big serves. That's when I could really notice the racquet being pushed around."

Overall - Score: 83