Yonex EZONE 98+ (305g) Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 88

Although the EZONE 98+ (305g) wasn't perfect from the baseline, our team had a hard time arguing with the stability, plow through and power. For Michelle, there was little this 27.5" racquet couldn't do on groundstrokes. She explained, "Hitting with extended-length Yonex racquets always makes me wonder why I'm not using an extended racquet as my racquet of choice. Currently, the VCORE SV 98+ is in my list of top three racquets, and I'm constantly telling people to try it because it's such a fun racquet to hit with. This EZONE 98+ (305g) is a fun racquet, too! I would say it plays a little bit firmer than the EZONE DR 98+ (310g) (we saw this with the standard-length 98 as well), but I don't think this is a negative. The EZONE 98+'s sweetspot was plush, and it felt magical at impact. The ball just sat in the stringbed and came out heavy with spin and speed. I loved that I could keep the ball very low over the net and still get good depth in the court. As with any extended racquet, my backhand automatically benefited from the extra length, which helped me get around the ball. Overall, I just found it easy to transition to this racquet at any time. It had a nice swingweight that helped me add pop to the ball without having to force or muscle my shots. The sweetspot felt big and forgiving — it was a great racquet to drill with from the baseline!"

Chris found this update even more responsive than its predecessor. He said, "I loved the easy power and spin I found from the first hit with this racquet. Perhaps it's because I played a lot with the previous DR model, but I immediately found a nice groove with the EZONE 98+ (305g). I was able to put the added length to good use on full swings and enjoyed lots of pace as a result. Getting depth was easy with this racquet. I thought the launch angle was favorable to a looping shot, and the upper hoop was far more responsive than the previous version. I customized my DR 98+ racquets with some weight at the tip, but I'd keep this EZONE 98+ in stock form, as it felt nicely balanced right out of the box."

Although the EZONE 98+ (305g) wasn't quite as speedy as the racquets he usually prefers, Sean was impressed by its stability and power. He said, "The EZONE 98+ (305g) lined up pretty closely with what I was expecting from an extended EZONE 98, and that's definitely not a bad thing. When you add length to a frame you increase the swingweight, which improves plow through and stability. I enjoyed using the extra leverage on my groundstrokes, which translated into more power and weight behind my ball. However, this came at the cost of maneuverability, and I thought the high swingweight kept me from generating as much spin as I could with the standard-length EZONE 98."

As a fan of higher swingweights, Troy felt right at home with the EZONE 98+ (305g). He explained, "One of the first things I noticed on groundstrokes was that the swingweight provided the extra stability and plow through I prefer. Compared to the previous iteration (the DR version), this update felt firmer and crisper, giving it more of a point-and-shoot response. The combination of power and control made this a fun racquet for big swings. I loved stepping into the court and hitting a flatter drive. The ball was jumping off this racquet, making it easy for my groundstrokes to penetrate through the court. That said, it didn't have the control I got from the VCORE Pro 97 (330), which meant I had to aim for bigger targets, and I couldn't work the ball around the court as effectively as I would have liked."

Volleys - Score: 85

Despite some isolated problems with maneuverability, our team enjoyed the power, stability and crisp precision of the EZONE 98+ (305g) at net. Sean was impressed with pretty much every aspect of the EZONE 98+ (305g)'s volley performance. He said, "I generally enjoy volleying with extended-length racquets, and this one was no exception. Although I found it somewhat difficult to get enough racquet head speed to generate a lot of spin on groundstrokes, this was of no concern at net. Getting the racquet into position was no problem at all. I loved how crisp and clean the ball was coming off the racquet, and it gave me the option for touch and feel shots."

Although Chris missed the feel of the previous version, he found this update very user friendly at net. He explained, "The EZONE 98+ (305g) was a fun racquet to use at net. I found it easy to get in position and stable at contact. If I had to knock something, I'd say that it lacked some of the silky-smooth feel and touch of the previous DR 98+. However, the crisper response made it feel a little more direct on punch volleys, which was nice. If my current racquet, the Tecnifibre TFlash 300 PS, was extended, I imagine it would play a lot like this one."

Troy could have used a tad more maneuverability at net, but he appreciated the EZONE 98+ (305g)'s power and precision. He explained, "The slightly stiffer and crisper feel had me dialed in at net. When I had time to prep the racquet I could stick my volleys with good pace and put the ball away. The downside with the extended length was that it felt a little ungainly at times. On those last-second adjustments, when I needed to manipulate the racquet with my wrist, I had trouble controlling the ball. When I came to the net, especially while playing doubles, I started to choke up on the racquet just a bit, and this seemed to be a good fix. The previous DR version provided a bit more touch and feel, whereas this update provided more pop off the stringbed."

Although she had to make some adjustments, Michelle ultimately enjoyed the EZONE 98+ (305g) at net. She said, "At net, I loved the extra reach I had with this extended racquet. I think half of that could be mental, but I'll take it! As with most extended racquets, I occasionally noticed the racquet flopping a bit on my backhand side. To fix this, I just choked up on the handle a little, which seemed to do the trick."

Serves - Score: 87

With higher contact points and the potential for greater tip speed, extended-length racquets provide more power on serves. This makes them more dangerous than their standard-length counterparts, and it helps explain why our team loved serving with EZONE 98+ (305g). Needless to say Chris gave this racquet an outstanding score for serve. He explained, "Serving was my favorite part of the playtest. I was able to generate lots of pace while still being accurate on first and second serves. I was also able to generate a lot of spin. This allowed me to place the ball more aggressively, as I could consistently get it to dip inside the lines. I liked how I could get the ball to move around with spin as well. My slice serve wide to the deuce court had some nice swing to it, and I was able to slice the serve into the returner's body when shooting for the middle of the service box."

After dialing in the power, Troy settled into some very effective serving with this racquet. He said, "As with the previous DR version, the EZONE 98+ (305g) was very enjoyable on serve. This racquet felt just a bit more maneuverable than the previous version, and it packed a bit more pop, too. I was eventually able to ramp up more speed and spin than can get from my VCORE Pro 97 (330), and I could generate more pace with the same amount of exertion. The extra length also allowed me to achieve a slightly higher contact point on my serves, which helped me be more consistent on my flat first serves. It took me a few sessions to dial in my kick serves, as the added length made it tricky to generate the spin I needed to bring the ball down in the service box. After serving a couple of hoppers full of balls I started to find my groove on my spin serves. I was hitting my kick serve with heavy spin and I felt confident moving the ball around the service box."

Michelle also found that the EZONE 98+ (305g)'s specs enabled easy, reliable serving. She said, "I had no problem getting the racquet up and over the ball to hit effective flat first serves, and second serves came pretty easily as well. I was able to brush up and over my kick serves quickly and get the ball popping up on my opponent. I often find extended racquets to be slow getting up and on top of the ball, but that was no issue here. Again, a big sweetspot helped make this racquet easy to enjoy when serving."

Sean tapped into big power and spin, but he had some issues with accuracy on his serve. He explained, "Unfortunately, I think my expectations for this racquet's serve performance were a little too high. I was getting an awesome amount of power and spin, but I had difficulty getting the ball to land on target. I kept waiting to get dialed in, but it never quite happened. With enough time, I'm sure I would have fully acclimated to serving with this racquet, so this definitely isn't a deal breaker — just more of a surprise."

Returns - Score: 88

Extended-length racquets sometimes come around too slowly on service returns, and when they do come around, their higher power level can be hard to control. Luckily, our playtesters felt the EZONE 98+ (305g) didn't have these problems. Troy was definitely impressed. He said, "I loved the easy depth and power that was on tap for my returns. I could achieve plenty of depth with a short back swing. Whenever I was stretched out from a well-placed serve, I could muster enough power to chip the ball back deep into the court and keep the server from pressing forward. Anytime my opponent hit a serve to my forehand side I was eager to take a big rip at my return. When the ball was anywhere near my typical strike zone on my forehand side I would rip my return and start the point in an offensive position. The added length was greatly appreciated on my two-handed backhand returns as well. Since I don't have a lot of range of motion on my two-handed backhand return the extra length and easy depth made that shot a lot more effective. I didn't have great feel or control on my backhand slice, but the depth was good."

Although he would have liked a bit more speed, Sean couldn't argue with the EZONE 98+ (305g)'s stability on returns. He said, "One area where I especially appreciated the extra length was when I was returning high kick serves to my backhand, because the racquet gave me plenty of stability and plow through. It wasn't the easiest racquet to get into position against bigger serves, and sometimes I felt that its stringbed response was a little too lively, but more often than not I felt confident going for my targets."

Chris was very impressed by this racquet's combination of power and spin on returns. He explained, "Some longer racquets can feel a little cumbersome on returns, but this EZONE 98+ (305g) always felt maneuverable. I had success taking big cuts at returns, as well as just blocking back difficult-to-return serves. Again, I loved the blend of power and spin. I was able to hit a solid mixture of deep returns and angles."

"Returning with the EZONE 98+ (305g) was definitely my favorite shot," said Michelle. "I felt like I could hit my targets efficiently, and I could ramp up the pace easily. I was able to keep the ball flat and deep in the court, and when I needed to, I could whip around the outside of the ball and hit my opponent off the court with an angle. The racquet felt really stable whenever I was stretched out, and I could take good stabs at the ball against harder hit first serves."

Overall - Score: 86