Yonex VCORE Pro 97 310 Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 86

From the baseline, our playtesters used the speed and spin potential of the Yonex VCORE Pro 97 310 to their advantage. Julie opened the conversation, saying, "The new Yonex VCORE Pro 97 310 is a beautiful blend of power, spin and control. I felt right at home on my groundstrokes. At the baseline, I found the perfect timing right from the first strike, and I quickly found consistency. For its 310-gram weight (unstrung), this frame is super maneuverable and has a nice launch angle. I had enough mass behind the ball to redirect pace well and hit my shots with the speed and precision I needed to take control of the point. It's a 97-square-inch frame, so 'big' isn't a word I'd used to describe the sweetspot, but I thought it was slightly larger than the previous generation. Overall, I found a nice crisp response from the stringbed, and I had the best time hitting heavy spin on my forehand. If I had a small negative, I'd say I felt disconnected from the ball on my slices, and I got lost in the sweetspot. I would have liked the ball to sit a little longer in the stringbed for my slices to be more efficient and for better comfort on each strike."

Jason got tons of spin from the VCORE Pro 97 310. He noted, "I thought this racquet was really easy to swing and really easy to generate racquet head speed with. Because of that, access to spin was great, and finding angles was easy. I was left wanting some more free power, though. It was tougher to put away shots with this racquet compared to other Yonex models of similar specs from the EZONE or VCORE line."

Erik enjoyed the combination of control, spin and power, but he would have liked this racquet to be heftier. He described, "The VCORE Pro 97 310 provided a good amount of topspin. My slice tended to sit up more with this racquet, and it was harder to knife the slices low. The VCORE Pro 97 310 is more control-oriented, but I was still able to generate plenty of power. I thought the racquet felt stable considering its weight, and it was also quite maneuverable. I had the ability to generate great racquet head speed and get it into position when I needed. The VCORE Pro 97 310 worked fine for my game style, but I would've liked a bit more weight in the racquet head to hit through the ball more naturally on the follow-through."

Volleys - Score: 79

Our testers enjoyed the maneuverability of the Yonex VCORE Pro 97 310 at the net, but they felt it lacked stability on volleys. Jason explained, "The thinner beam and head-light balance made the racquet very easy to maneuver up at net, but also made it more torsionally unstable with off-center hits. I enjoyed the feel on my volleys, and hitting overheads was easy. I'd definitely add some weight to the upper hoop to assist with the stability, though."

Once again, Erik would have appreciated more weight in the racquet head. He said, "I found this VCORE Pro 97 310 to be stable at net for its weight. However, I would have preferred more weight in the hoop for added stability. When I tried to reach deeper targets I found myself popping the ball higher than I wanted. However, I enjoyed this slightly higher launch angle on touch volleys. I felt quite connected to the ball, and the feel was a tad more dampened than the previous model."

Julie agreed, adding, "The balance of this VCORE Pro 97 310 leans toward the grip, and the thin beam offers a crisp feel. I definitely felt those features at net. The racquet was very quick to get into position and allowed me to hit crisp volleys. I felt I lacked a little bit of stability at times, and I had to adjust my form to hit more efficient volleys and get enough depth. The racquet was hefty enough for me to be able to place the ball on my touch volleys, but I felt disconnected from the ball, specifically on these shots."

Serves - Score: 82

Our playtesters were able to serve well with the VCORE Pro 97 310. Julie was ecstatic with the effectiveness of both her first and second serves. She explained, "I was very pleased with the easy power this frame offered on my first serves. The 310-gram weight gave some extra oomph to my aggressive serves. On the deuce side, when aiming wide and swinging fast, I was rewarded with a lot of power, precision and slice on the ball. The maneuverability of the VCORE Pro 97 310 allowed me to serve a second ball with spin and power. It's safe to say this racquet played perfectly for my serving game."

Although Jason was missing a bit of power, he liked how fast and maneuverable the VCORE Pro 97 310 felt on his serves. He said, "It was really easy to serve with this racquet. It wasn't sluggish at all, and it came up through contact effortlessly. I could get the spin necessary for an effective serve, but I felt like the power was lacking."

Erik didn't quite find the consistency he wanted on second serves, but he was happy with the access to power on his first serves. He commented, "I found nice pop on my first serve, and I really enjoyed hitting flatter shots. However, I thought the racquet felt underpowered when I hit second serves with spin. I wanted more predictability on these shots, and I think adding more weight to the VCORE Pro 97 310 could have fixed this issue. On the deuce side I enjoyed hitting flat down the T, and on the ad side I often used my kick wide."

Returns - Score: 84

A few members of our team thought the VCORE Pro 97 310 was too underpowered to return bigger serves. Erik explained, "I didn't hit the ball with enough depth on returns and would definitely want some more weight in the head to get the ball coming through the court a little more. The racquet was stable when blocking back first serves, but it just didn't come through the court enough for me."

Similarly, Jason had trouble sending back strong first serves. He said, "If the racquet had put a bit more mass behind the ball on my returns it would have been ideal. The VCORE Pro 97 310 was whippy enough to add plenty of spin to my returns and to hit sharp angles, but when I tried to return a big first serve I could really feel it getting pushed around. Controlling the depth and direction was good, though."

Unlike the rest of the team, Julie didn't have any issues on her receiving games. She concluded, "I was able to control the pace and be offensive with serve returns. The VCORE Pro 97 310 was fast to get into position and stable enough to counterpunch the bigger serves. On second serves, I had the time to get around the ball and generate a lot of power and spin to push my opponent back, and I could start building my point from there."

Overall - Score: 85