Dunlop SX 300 Tour Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 84

Power, spin and plow through were the key traits of this SX 300 Tour, especially as our playtest team started hitting from the baseline. Michelle said, "Right away, I noticed this racquet came fully loaded with massive power and spin. The swingweight was healthy, but this racquet was not overly sluggish, making it easy to generate fast racquet head speed. The feel on contact was fairly dampened, which I enjoyed. Hitting my groundies with depth and spin felt easy, and once I got in a rally I felt very confident swinging freely. With that said, this racquet is more power-oriented than my Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph, so I sometimes found the ball flying on me when I wasn't on my A-game. Overall, I thought this racquet was great at providing easy power and spin to my groundstrokes, and it reminded me a lot of the Babolat Pure Aero Tour."

Chris was also pleased with the SX 300 Tour's performance from the backcourt. He said, "Big, easy power and impressive plow through pretty much sums up how the SX 300 Tour played from the baseline. When I took a full swing I could pound the ball, and my PlaySight numbers back up my feelings, showing an increase in top speed and average speeds. The static weight felt very manageable, so even though this racquet swung with lots of mass, I wouldn't say it lacked maneuverability. I felt like I was getting ample topspin, and I liked the way I could drive through the ball with my slice backhand. I found the response to be comfortable and stable, especially for a modern player's-style racquet, which can often feel stiff and brassy."

Mark found a solid, firm response, and he was able to harness the power to enhance his game. He said, "I felt right at home around the baseline with this Dunlop SX 300 Tour. Within a few baseline exchanges, I discovered that this racquet feels very solid and is firmer than my Head Graphene 360+ Gravity Pro. The stiffness of this racquet wasn't too jarring and provided a high degree of stability. Spin potential was great, and I could hit heavy topspin with easy depth in the court. I also noticed how the tighter spacing of the cross strings in the sweetspot helped give me the added control and feel that most modern player's racquets lack. The SX 300 Tour's high swingweight and solid feel paid dividends on my backhand slice, giving me easy depth and court penetration."

Troy was impressed with the SX 300 Tour's balance of characteristics. He explained, "I knew I was dealing with a heavy hitter as soon as I picked this racquet up. The swingweight came in nice and healthy, which allowed me to hit big, penetrating groundstrokes. I was getting a lot of plow through when I hit a big topspin forehand cross court, and the ball was jumping up high on my opponent's shoulders. I also found relatively good control when I needed to flatten out my shots. I thought this racquet had a lot of similarities to the Babolat Pure Aero Tour, but I could hit flatter drive shots more effectively and with more predictability. I also found a bit better control and feel. On the backhand slice, I could knife the ball deep with ease. I definitely wasn't getting the superb level of ball feel that I do with the Dunlop CX 200 Tour 18x20, but I will say that I found better feel than I have with most thicker beam, 100-square-inch racquets, like the Pure Aero Tour or Head Graphene 360 Extreme Pro."

Volleys - Score: 83

A high level of stability and rock-solid feel kept our playtesters confident when moving up to the net with the SX 300 Tour. It checked all the boxes for Chris at net. He said, "I enjoyed volleying with this racquet. It felt solid at impact, and I liked how I could punch my volleys with it. The response felt good, and I had a sense of being very connected to my shots, which, as I mentioned before, was quite impressive for a modern player's racquet. I was able to place my volleys well, and I found this racquet to be a willing partner in helping to hit some nice drop volleys."

The racquet's stability was evident for Mark as he approached the net. He said, "The solid and firm feel I had from the backcourt with this SX 300 Tour definitely carried over to my net game. I would even go so far as to say this racquet was rock solid at net, which should not come as a surprise with its mid-330 swingweight and upper 11-ounce strung weight. There wasn't necessarily a high level of maneuverability, but that wasn't a detriment, because there was very little I needed to do to achieve an effective volley."

Unlike the rest of the team, Troy had some issues getting the SX 300 Tour into position as quickly as he would have liked. He said, "This racquet wasn't the most maneuverable when I came to the net, but it was rock solid and stable. The high swingweight let me block volleys back with easy depth, but it was a slight detriment when I needed to react quickly. There was plenty of put-away power when I needed to close the point out, and the touch and feel were better than I expected. Once again, there wasn't as much feel as the more traditional player's racquets, but it was better than most thicker beam, 100-square-inch racquets. There were a few times during doubles matches when I found this SX 300 Tour to feel a bit hefty, and I felt somewhat slow in my reactions, but the more time I spent with this racquet the more I adapted to the weight and balance."

"The SX 300 Tour felt very solid at the net," Michelle added. "The feel on contact was nice and firm, maybe a bit higher than the stiffness rating would indicate. No matter how much pace the incoming ball had on it, this racquet felt like it could block it back. There were times when I felt that there was a little too much power on my volleys, but because it offered so much stability, I could take a bit off my punch and the ball would get natural depth from the swingweight and overall mass of this racquet. Whenever I had the chance to take a swinging volley on a shoulder-high ball, the put-away power of this SX 300 Tour came in handy, putting a quick end to the point."

Serves - Score: 86

The whole playtest crew seemed to agree that the Dunlop SX 300 Tour made it easy to bring the heat on serves. This racquet was right in Mark's wheelhouse when it came to hitting serves. He said, "I liked playing with the SX 300 Tour from all areas of the court, but my favorite shot to hit was the serve. I just felt like this frame was very obedient, for lack of a better term. Its combination of specs seems to complement the way I serve very well. Compared to many of the racquets that I have recently playtested, this SX 300 Tour is the one that seemed to add the most pop to my serve without a ton of extra effort."

Michelle elaborated on this racquet's power potential, saying, "The easy access to power was a bit much at times when it came to my groundstrokes and volleys, but on my serve, I loved the turbo boost this SX 300 Tour gave me! I could unleash on flat first serves, and I actually landed a few more aces than I usually do. Spin came with ease and helped me on my kick serves. Because it was so fun to try and max out my power, I kept wanting to go for the big flat serves down the middle. The power and spin levels once again reminded me of the Babolat Pure Aero Tour."

For Troy, there was a slight adjustment period, but he was eventually able to maximize his power and spin on serves. He said, "Initially, I found the maneuverability to be a bit difficult on kick serves, but I dialed it in after a few sessions and was able to take advantage of the high swingweight. I could get easy power on flat first serves if I focused on staying loose, letting the high swingweight of this racquet plow through the ball. My consistency and placement were good, considering the head size of this SX 300 Tour. Once I became comfortable with the way this racquet maneuvered, my kick serves were jumping off the court with a lot of spin and action, and the higher swingweight gave me an added boost."

Like the other playtesters, Chris found easy power, but he also praised the versatility of this SX 300 Tour on serve. He said, "The same power I was able to tap into on groundstrokes was there on serves. Again, I was loving how the racquet came through the ball with ease. The response felt solid, the ball was exiting the stringbed with plenty of pace, and I could add spin as needed. I could create some sharp angles on my slice serves, allowing me to open up the court. I also found ample control and felt comfortable serving with a lot of variety."

Returns - Score: 80

The SX 300 Tour's high level of stability worked out well for our playtesters, allowing them to stand up to even the hardest-hit serves. Troy was impressed with the depth he could achieve with a compact swing. He described, "A solid feel, lots of stability and easy depth were all things I gained from this racquet on returns. I could generate deep returns with a compact swing, and there was plenty of stability when facing big servers. The feel on contact was very solid and stable, but it was maybe a bit too firm at times. I like a crisper-feeling racquet, but compared to my racquet of choice, this SX 300 Tour didn't feel quite as smooth. The SX 300 Tour also felt plenty stable when chipping my backhand slice returns. I use that type of return quite frequently, so that was important for my game."

Like Troy, Mark also found easy depth, and he liked to use the chip return on his backhand side. He said, "The rock-solid stability of this SX 300 Tour definitely benefited my return of serve. No matter how much speed was on the incoming serve, I could block it back with no problem. My usual backhand chip return kept me in a lot of points. I could direct it deep in the court with little effort. The only knock I had was that this racquet felt a bit cumbersome at times, especially when I had to stretch out to return a serve."

Chris noted that this racquet came through the strike zone easier than the swingweight would indicate, and he returned very well with it. He said, "One of the more impressive shots to hit with this SX 300 Tour was the return. I liked the blend of stability, comfort, power and maneuverability. This racquet was fast enough to take a good cut at the ball, and at the same time it was solid enough to block faster serves back when needed."

Michelle liked to implement her aggressive style when returning with the SX 300 Tour. She explained, "I felt confident ripping a big return when I had the time to take a swing at the ball. When I was pressed for time I could easily block big serves back, and this racquet never fluttered. I didn't always feel super precise, so aiming for big targets seemed to bring me success. Despite the relatively high swingweight, I found good maneuverability, which made for easy cross-court dipping returns. There was easy depth and spin on every return. My only complaint would be that I tended to get a little trigger happy at times and would overhit due to the high power level. However, I can always bump up the string tension to help with that."

Overall - Score: 82