Our team found that the Burn 100 v5 provided plenty of power and spin on their groundstrokes. It's been some time since Tiffani has picked up a Burn to play with. She kicked the playtest off saying, "Once I started rallying from the baseline with this Burn 100 v5, I could tell that it was right in line with my previous experiences. The racquet delivers plenty of pace and depth, and it's easy to add some shape to groundstrokes with topspin. I naturally hit pretty flat, but I liked that I could add some arc and hit deep balls toward the corners reliably. Slice shots were better than I expected with the open string pattern, but I preferred to only use that shot in defensive situations because I didn't think it was sliding through the court as much as I would have liked. Control was OK, though I struggled with control when I hit a shot late. The racquet felt maneuverable enough, but it wasn't whippy. When I was caught late, it was tougher for me to use my wrist or buggy whip to get the extra spin I would need to get the ball to drop in. Of course, it's probably more my fault for getting into that position in the first place. I also found this racquet to have a stiffer feel, and I did notice some soreness in my left arm after a couple of hitting sessions. I would prefer a slightly softer string setup or a lower tension than our usual playtest setup, which is poly at 52 or 53 pounds."

"Having hit with multiple generations of the Burn family dating all the way back to the original, I had a good idea of what to expect from this fifth generation," continued Brittany. "And as soon as I hit the first couple of balls, I found exactly what I was anticipating. From the baseline, the Burn 100 v5 offered me easy power, depth and spin. My groundstrokes were landing deep in the court and pushing my opponents back. The spin potential helped prevent me from overhitting, so I kept more balls in play. I could easily hit one of my favorite shots &mdash the short, angled groundstroke — off both wings, adding variety to my game and keeping my opponents on their toes. I was really impressed with the Burn 100 v5 on defense. When I was able to reach the ball and get the racquet head under it, I loved how deep the ball was landing in the court, keeping me in a neutral position. I also thought this racquet offered enough mass and plow through on my slice backhands to keep them low and out of my opponent's reach."

When hitting with the Burn 100 v5 from the baseline, it quickly became clear to Austin that this is exactly where the racquet excels. He explained, "The most apparent characteristics of this racquet are its power and its stiffness, which I immediately felt even when swinging at half speed. While I am familiar with the 16x19 string pattern, there was an adjustment period with the launch angle being more of a straight-line drive. Topspin and control were aspects I very much had to focus on while hitting the Burn, which is quite different from the frames I'm used to. The racquet was very maneuverable, so timing was no problem. However, the infrequent off-center hits were on the jarring side, and I could feel everything thanks to the stiff hoop, which led to unpleasant vibrations on poor contact."

Howard found the Burn 100 v5 easy to swing and easy to generate pace and spin with. He said, "Topspin was great with the Wilson Burn 100 v5. The racquet felt maneuverable, especially on the run. I was able to change from being defensive on the run to taking control of the point and bringing the power to my opponents. I did feel that this racquet lacked a bit of stability, and at times it did slightly twist in my hands."

The Burn 100 v5 garnered mixed reviews when it came to volleying, mostly due to its stiffness. Austin was surprised by how effective the Burn 100 was up at net. He said, "Maybe it was less of a detriment because of the shorter swing path of a volley, but I found the elevated stiffness helped volleys feel crisp. I was pleased with how much bite and weight I was able to get behind my volleys (even on mis-hits). This racquet was very maneuverable, so getting it into position in time was no obstacle, and the racquet's pop and stiffness made up for the lighter weight."

"Volleys are the one area where I appreciate some stiffness in racquets," added Tiffani. "It helps with stability and makes it easier to get the ball over the net and into play in those less-than-ideal contact situations. Because I'm less confident in my net game, I often find myself out of position and taking stabs at volleys. When I was reaching or digging out a volley, it seemed like more balls were going over the net than usual when I was playing with the Burn 100 v5. I also liked that it was easy to punch the volley deep when I was in a good position to put the ball away."

On the other hand, volleys were Howard's least favorite part of the review. He said, "Due to the high stiffness of the Burn 100 v5, I felt a bit too much vibration at net. Other than the high stiffness, the racquet played well at net. I didn't have an issue with accuracy or power. Touch volleys have to be the highlight at net for me."

Brittany also struggled a bit at net with the feel of the Burn 100 v5. She said, "With this racquet's firm, stiff feel, I felt like the ball was in and out of the stringbed so fast. While this allowed me to punch the volley back deep with ease, I was not able to produce any volleys with any sort of touch, drop or angle. However, I thought the balance of maneuverability and stability was impressive. While it wasn't as maneuverable as I was expecting, it definitely didn't slow me down, and I was never late to any shots. On the plus side, I thought the racquet felt stable and wasn’t getting pushed around, even against the hardest hit passing shot."

All of our playtesters found easy power and spin when serving with the Wilson Burn 100 v5. The serve might have been Brittany's favorite shot to hit with the Burn 100. She said, "I loved it so much I even practiced serving a whole bucket of balls, which I haven't done in ages. The racquet was easy to get over my head to produce power on my first serve. I also liked how much net clearance I was able to get on my second serve, which allowed me to hit consistently without worrying about double faults (for the most part). I felt confident going for more precise targets and was successful, as evidenced by the several cones I was able to knock over in practice. Like groundstrokes, I also thought the serves were landing nice and deep in the service box, making it hard for my opponent to attack."

From the moment Tiffani stepped up to the service line, the Wilson Burn 100 v5 worked seamlessly with her game. She described, "Serving was another highlight for me. There was easy pace on tap, and I could get some decent movement on my slice serves. I don't often favor serving over returning, but that was the case with the Burn 100 v5. I thought it did everything I wanted without any extra effort on my part."

Howard continued the praise, adding, "With the combination of a 100-square-inch head and a lot of power, I was able to serve effectively and consistently. I was also able to hit a variety of serves because I could generate a good amount of pop and spin. My favorite serve with this racquet was a flat serve down the T, which allowed me to be on the offensive at the start of each point of my service games.”

"Similar to my experience from the baseline, my biggest takeaway from serving with the Burn 100 was adjusting to its launch angle and power," Austin said. "Again, I found myself shifting focus to controlling the direction of my swing path and generating as much topspin as possible for both first and second serves. This wasn't necessarily a shortcoming, but I did feel like I was giving a little something up with the shift in feel from the usual control racquets I tend to hit. My best serve with the Burn 100 v5 was my middle-of-the-box body serve. I was able to lean into the racquet's natural power and connect on a few crisp, jamming strikes against my hitting partners."

The Wilson Burn 100 v5's inherent power proved to be a tool for some of our playtesters, but it was something that others had to work around. Howard enjoyed returning serves with the Wilson Burn 100 v5, especially with under spin. He said, "I was able to whip the racquet and generate a good amount of power and spin to start the point on the right foot. Everything was pretty forgiving with this racquet. On impact, the racquet felt solid, but it did allow a bit more vibration than I’m accustomed to. My favorite return had to be when I would knife into the ball and slice my return deep into the court. This allowed me to play more return-and-volley points."

Tiffani was happy enough with her results when returning with the Burn 100 v5. She said, "I thought I could return well enough with this racquet, but it didn't stand out as much on my returns as it did on my serves. The Burn 100 v5 was stable, and it was easy enough to get it around for most of my returns. This racquet does offer plenty of free power, so the trick for me was harnessing that pace effectively by choosing big targets."

"For the most part, the Burn 100 v5 was a great racquet to return with," added Brittany. "Just like with the rest of my strokes, I was able to get both my first and second serve returns deep in the court. The frame felt stable in my hands and quick to get into position. There were a couple of times at the beginning when I overhit my returns, so I had to make a conscious effort to tap into the spin potential to gain a little more control. However, this is also where I first noticed the stiff, firm feel causing some comfort issues with my wrists, especially my left wrist on my backhand side. Unfortunately, this racquet ultimately was too stiff for me to play with on any consistent basis."

Austin had trouble reining in the power on returns. He described, "Returning serves was the first time I found the Burn 100's natural power a bit unwieldy. When I had to hit returns out of position or with less time, it was challenging to keep the arc of the shot in the court due to the straight-line launch angle I mentioned in the Groundstroke section. Conversely, hitting returns at about 50 to 60 percent pace (if it wasn't a difficult serve to return) was great. Given the difference in result, I found the Burn 100 v5 much better at returning second serves than first serves."