Racquet Review: Yonex VCORE 100

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Price: $207 (Purchase now at TennisShop.com)
Head Size: 100 sq. in.
Length: 27 in.
Weight: 11.3 oz.
Balance: 4 pts. HL
Swingweight: 320
RA Rating: 65
Beam Width: 25.3 mm / 25.3 mm / 22 mm
String Pattern: 16x19

What’s New

The new VCOREs are designed to be less stiff, but even more spin-friendly. Along with greater flexibility, the tip of this 7th generation VCORE 100—noted with an “07” inscribed on the hoop—has been thinned out slightly to help bolster racquet acceleration. The upper hoop has been widened at the 2 and 10 o’clock positions to increase the sweet spot and forgiveness. Additionally, this results in more spacing of the main strings; along with the new silicone-infused grommets for faster string snapback, there’s increased spin potential.

What Works

The VCORE 100 is a crowd-pleaser. Pick up and play with almost no learning curve, it’s the type of racquet that immediately gives your strokes an infusion of energy. Serves are (way) pushier, forehands more influential, and imperfect contact less humbling. Play bully ball, grind down opponents, or climb the doubles ladder, it’s a frame that appeals to a variety of players and styles.

With its thick, variable beam, medium-firm flex, and spread string pattern, it’s designed to produce deep, spin-centric ground strokes without the need for a seismic swing. And if the temptation arises to drop the hammer on a serve or dispose of a short ball it can certainly oblige. The impressive stability for its weight and comfortable feel at contact add to the overall user-friendliness.

The preferred impact point for modern strokes is just above center in the string bed, so the broadening of the racquet toward tip—it’s more rounded than the classic Yonex shape—seems to have given the frame some extra juice to offset the drop in stiffness, as well as a more forgiving sweet spot. Yet this added help manages to fall short of being obtrusive. Control and predictability are just respectable enough that swing concessions are infrequent.

This makes the VCORE 100 more versatile than a typical grip-and-rip frame. The plusher response certainly benefits this characteristic. The added flex over its predecessor brings superior ball connection; shots don’t jet in and out of the strings as quickly. So the frame has a greater aptitude for specialty and touch shots and all-court play. Sure, it’s better-suited to punish a volley, but it’s nearly as capable of dropping it softly over the net as well.

What Needs Work

There aren’t any red flags. Like many similarly spec’d frames in this category, the VCORE 100 performs best when shooting at bigger targets. Better than most in terms of command, but it still falls short of the control category. And with the naturally high trajectory, careless swings can send balls sailing. If you take a big cut at the ball, there will generally need to be topspin applied for safety.

On the other hand, it does have a softer response than its prior version and many of its competitors. It’s a matter of personal preference, but some players want and expect this type of frame to have a stiffer flex and crisper feel. However, string choice and tension could go a long way to solving any issues in this regard.

Tester Feedback

“Solid enough to trade shots with big hitters, easy to counterpunch with, and really high in the “spin it to win it” category.”

“The string bed is active enough without being uncontrollable, and the feel at contact is clean and comfortable.”

“I think this is one of the best all-around racquets I’ve played with this year. The feel, response, and playability of it is fantastic.”

Final Verdict

The VCORE 100 is a literal and figurative blast to play with. Players with a penchant for power-oriented, spin-friendly frames, and those who want to experience what a better one can do for their games, should definitely give this one a try.