Breakdown

Groundstrokes: 7.7

The Vostra V1 MP was quite powerful during baseline exchanges, and our team needed a good deal of concentration to rein in its inherent pop. Although the Vostra V1 MP offered excellent playability for Brittany, she struggled at times to keep up against heavier pace from seasoned players. She explained, "I found the Vostra V1 MP to be forgiving and maneuverable from the baseline, and it was easy to get the racquet into position and swing out on my shots. I also found the sweetspot to be slightly bigger than normal. I loved to rally during practice, and my shots felt pretty controlled and precise. I could take the ball a little early and redirect my opponent's pace. I played with a wide range of players with this racquet, and I noticed the lighter weight affecting playability as soon as I started to play more advanced-level players who hit heavier shots. I felt like I could hit my shots well when I was playing points, but they didn't feel heavy, and my opponents were getting more shots back than normal. And as expected with the swingweight, I could feel some instability at times. Slices were just OK, and I only hit them if I absolutely needed to."

Jason found massive levels of power and spin from the Vostra V1 MP, but the racquet was lacking some of the heft through the ball he's accustomed to. He said, "This was a really nice racquet to rally with, but as soon as point play began I noticed that the lack of weight and swingweight was hindering me. I was getting tons of spin on my shots because it was so easy to generate racquet head speed with the Vostra V1 MP. However, it not only lacked the mass to put shots away, it also struggled to handle the harder hit shots from my opponents."

Mark reveled in the easy playability of this Vostra V1 MP, but he found that he couldn't always hit the ball exactly the way he wanted. He clarified, "The Vostra V1 MP worked very well from the baseline… up to a point. I was able to comfortably absorb and generate pace, along with changing the direction of the ball during most medium-paced rallies. However, once pace and depth became excessive, the ball was difficult to control due to the light static weight and lower swingweight of the Vostra V1 MP. Topspin was easy to develop, and that was what I relied on most during point play, as opposed to slice, which was a little bit of a challenge for me to keep low over the net."

Oak had a fair degree of difficulty adjusting to the Vostra V1 MP, struggling the most with the unusually thick beam in the throat. He said, "The V1 MP has thus far presented me with more challenges than successes. It's an interesting pairing of specs, with the lighter weight and a significantly thicker beam only near the throat/handle intersection. I felt like it was really hard for me to trust this racquet on my groundstrokes. I couldn't swing out with the racquet head speed I'm accustomed to on my two-hander, and the ball was either dropping short or flying to the back wall. I was having more success and getting more feel with my one-hander. I thought the spin was certainly adequate for a topspin flick, but perhaps a little lacking on slices."

Volleys: 7.9

The Vostra V1 MP made for a pleasant experience while up at net, highlighted by its easy power and maneuverability. Mark found plenty of success volleying with this racquet, although he prefers the feel of some of the other Vostra V1 offerings. He explained, "The lightweight and speedy feel of Volkl's Vostra V1 MP made getting the racquet into position on time for a volley a no-brainer. Execution-wise, my volleys were consistently landing where I aimed them, whether they were touch-style half volleys or airborne put-away shots. As far as feeling connected to the ball, I have to confess that I was better able to predict and manage my volleys with the Vostra V1 OS compared to this V1 MP."

Oak encountered some issues with stability at the net, but he found inroads to success by opting for touch and craftiness over power plays. He said, "Volleys were OK, but again, issues with stability were making themselves known at the net. It was definitely hard to absorb pace, and the larger head size and lighter static weight made torsional stability a recurring issue. I thought the touch and feel were decent but not impressive enough to make up for what it lacked elsewhere. Touch volleys shorter in the court were more feasible than deeper, punching volleys, so I found myself trying to work the point at net instead of trying to end it."

Jason also had his own stability concerns, but he powered through most of his volleys with big timing windows. He described, "The Vostra V1 MP felt lightning quick up at net, which was definitely a positive because I could get the racquet on pretty much any shot hit at me. The problem was when the racquet made contact with the ball. I definitely felt some torsional instability on off-center hits, and I also had to deal with the racquet getting pushed around. Hitting overheads was nice, however, since they were so easy to execute with this racquet."

The Vostra V1 MP required more point construction at the net from Brittany because ending points sooner proved to be more difficult. She described, "Because I wasn't putting my approach shots away, I found myself hitting a couple more volleys and overheads than normal. I appreciated the feel when I did come to the net, and I found myself not only punching the ball deep, but also hitting more touch shots than normal. I liked how easy it was to get the Vostra V1 MP up and over my head to hit overheads, and I could hit with enough pace and precision to put the ball away. If a harder passing shot was coming at me, I had to make a conscious effort to squeeze the handle a little tighter and punch the ball deep to compensate for the lack of weight."

Serves: 8.0

Serving with this Vostra V1 MP went well for our playtesters despite the lighter static weight. The more powerful hoop and larger spin window allowed for consistent access to pace and plenty of RPMs. Brittany's consistency on serve proved to be a highlight of the playtest for her. She said, "I was actually pleasantly surprised on serves. I wasn't hitting my heaviest serves, but I felt like I could generate enough power and spin to aim for riskier targets and still be effective on my serve. While I wasn't winning any additional free points, I was able to be very consistent with my serve. I believe that was thanks to how easy the racquet was to swing."

Jason was also able to make a high percentage of his serves. He said, "I was able to hit a really high percentage of serves in because of how easy it is to swing the Vostra V1 MP and to accelerate it through contact. The downside here was the lack of mass, which resulted in serves that lacked some pop. Luckily, I was able to get lots of spin on my serves to make them a bit more effective."

The Vostra V1 MP's lighter static weight made for a tricky adjustment at first for Mark, but he found success by compacting his overall motion. He described, “I’m used to serving with heavier racquets, and it did take a little time to adapt to how fast the V1 MP cuts through the air. I was able to hold most of my service games once I began using more wrist and a slightly abbreviated motion, but I wasn’t winning many points on the serve itself."

Similarly, Oak struggled with this Vostra V1 MP's lack of overall mass, but he appreciated the effortless depth he found. He said, "Serving with the V1 MP was a mixed bag. On one hand, I appreciated the easy power and depth. On the other hand, the lower mass didn't always feel super solid through contact, making this an at times unstable experience on serve. The thicker throat beam didn't leave me feeling super connected to the ball, and I found myself wishing for an easier time controlling my shots. Spin was pretty good, but also not always the easiest to access, with the pocketing being somewhat shallow despite the larger, more open 102-square-inch hoop."

Returns: 7.9

When redirecting the pace from a serve, the Vostra V1 MP encouraged our testers to swing for bigger targets, making the return experience viable, albeit a little unstable at times. Oak preferred returning over serving with the Vostra V1 MP, and he liked to take bigger cuts at the ball. He said, "Returns with this racquet were pretty fun, assuming I wasn't pulled out super wide. When I had plenty of time to set up, I felt like I could swing freely and through the ball to hit returns with plenty of depth. I enjoyed being able to roll the ball on my backhand return, but blocked, chip returns against heavier serves proved harder to hit effectively.”

Mark returned better than he thought he would with the Vostra V1 MP. He said, "Overall, I was more effective returning serves with the Vostra V1 MP than I would have guessed. Leaning into my backhand slice return and pushing my return on the forehand side was effective, as was returning serve with topspin on my backhand wing. However, I was a bit erratic when it came to using topspin on my forehand return."

Despite some instability at times, Jason was able to lean into his heavy topspin drives to shape his returns authoritatively. He described, "I thought the Vostra V1 MP performed well against slower second serves, and it allowed me to hit with lots of spin and find angles that I normally don't find, but the lack of mass was once again evident against bigger hit balls."

The Vostra V1 MP's instability caused some issues on Brittany's favorite shot to hit, but thankfully, tightening her grip proved to be the difference maker on returns. She explained, "The return of serve is where the lighter weight hurt me the most, but I expected it to. To be honest, I was able to make a majority of my returns by just aiming at big targets and squeezing the handle a little more to prevent twisting. I started having difficulty when returning first serves hit at over 85 MPHs, and that's why I wouldn't recommend this racquet to higher intermediate and advanced players. On the other hand, I think this Vostra V1 MP is a perfect choice for beginners to rising intermediate level players looking to grow with their racquet. The ability to customize with such a low swingweight is endless."

Breakdown Summary