Breakdown

Groundstrokes: 8.4

The Yonex Percept 100D offered our playtest team excellent control, spin and maneuverability on groundstrokes. Brittany is always the first in line to try out another 100-square-inch head size racquet from Yonex. She said, "I couldn't wait to get my hands on the Percept 100D because the specs looked really interesting on paper, especially the 18x19 string pattern. From the baseline, I found the Percept 100D to be a lower-powered, more control-oriented racquet, which I did expect. I thought I could be pretty accurate with my groundstrokes and found myself aiming for riskier targets. One thing I did notice about 10 minutes into the playtest was that the launch angle was much lower than I am used to. This was apparent in depth as well as net clearance. I found I really had to create my own power by swinging through the ball. The beauty of it was that I didn't have any fear of overhitting. A highlight I didn't expect from this playtest was the improvement in my backhand slice. Now, my backhand slice isn't strong to begin with, but with the Percept 100D, it was staying low and really penetrating the court. I was able to take a defensive slice and make it offensive."

"The Percept 100D quickly became my favorite Percept to hit groundstrokes with, and I continued to appreciate the racquet more and more as the test went on," added Chris. "I found this racquet to be an easy transition from my Head Speed Pro since the specs are not worlds apart. The Percept 100D felt fast and easy to swing, which made it easy to whip angles and topspin lobs. I liked how creative I could be with this racquet. I had fun moving the ball around the court to get my opponents on the run. My touch shots were working well, so I could feather a slice drop shot or knife the slice deep to keep my opponents guessing. While this racquet lacked a little of the plow-through power I get from my Speed Pro, it offered a slightly crisper and more powerful response from the frame, so I still felt like I could find the pace I wanted. However, it was the amount of control I had with the Percept 100D that impressed me the most. I felt very confident with this racquet since the excellent control made it easy for me to find my targets."

Thanks to the maneuverability, Jason found it easy to hit groundstrokes with this Percept 100D. He said, "The racquet whipped through the air with ease and allowed me to hit with lots of spin. It does feature a tighter string pattern, but the spin I got was not that different from hitting with the Percept 100. I did notice my launch angle was lower, which resulted in lower net clearance and not as much depth on my shots. This allowed me to really be aggressive and swing big on my forehands without much fear of overhitting. I also loved hitting my backhand slice with this racquet.”

The specs of the Percept 100D are right in Tiffani's wheelhouse. She described, "When I saw the specs of this Percept 100D, I couldn't wait to get it on the court. I've long wanted a 305-gram, 100-square-inch racquet with a tight pattern from Yonex, and here it is! Once on court, I found a solid, direct response with a lower launch angle than my own 100-square-inch, 18x20 racquet. I enjoyed it most on my slice backhand. The racquet felt stable and cut into the ball well, and I could play my slice defensively or offensively. There was good access to topspin as well, and I loved to hit topspin lobs with this racquet because I could get a good rotation on the ball and felt accurate with my placement. One area I struggled with was depth. I found it harder to hit deep into the court, so I would opt to loosen up the stringbed from our usual playtest setup, which is a full bed of poly at 53 pounds, and go for a tension in the upper 40s. I played my best tennis with this racquet when I was on the offensive, stepping into the court to take the ball early rather than sitting back."

Volleys: 8.8

The Percept 100D had a winning balance of maneuverability and stability on volleys. Tiffani liked how stable this racquet felt for its weight, saying, "I didn't feel like it was getting pushed around. I think I played best with it when keeping my volleys simple and direct. The ball went where I expected it to, and the racquet was easy enough to get into position in time."

"As I approached the net, I loved how easy it was to maneuver this racquet," added Brittany. "I enjoyed being able to get my hands into position on time or early, which was extremely helpful on quick reflex volley exchanges. This is also where I preferred the feel the most. I surprised myself by making a lot of volleys, especially on some low and pick-up shots. I was able to finesse them over the net because the sweetspot was just forgiving enough."

Chris volleyed well with the Percept 100D. He said, "My favorite aspect of the racquet was the control I found on my volleys. I felt just as confident punching volleys deep into the corners as I did carving an angle to play a drop volley. The racquet also felt very fast and easy to maneuver on overheads; I liked how I could snap my wrist with good pace to put my overheads away."

For the most part, Jason was successful up at net with the Percept 100D. However, he was would have preferred a slightly more forgiving response. He explained, "I really liked this racquet at net when I made clean contact. It was very quick and provided a great combination of spin and control. But mis-hits that were just slightly off center felt more harsh than I thought they should have. The drop in power and performance was notable."

Serves: 8.1

Our playtesters were able to generate racquet head speed and spin with ease when it came to serving with the Yonex Percept 100D. The serve quickly became one of Chris' favorite shots to hit with the racquet. He said, "Thanks to the fast feel of the Percept 100D, I found it easy to whip through contact for spin and pace. My slice serve out wide was working especially well. I was also able to find solid pace when looking to hit a flatter serve. I found the stringbed to play a bit livelier than the 18x20 pattern on my Head Speed Pro. I liked the spin I was able to generate on my second serves, and I felt very consistent with this racquet."

However, the other playtesters were looking for a little more oomph. Jason said, “The Percept 100D lacks a bit of punch for me, but luckily the spin I was able to generate helped make my serves effective enough. I was able to accelerate it very quickly through contact, and I thought the directional and depth control was really good too."

Tiffani used spin and placement to her advantage. She said, "I wasn't getting tons of free power on this shot, but I still felt I could serve effectively. Keeping my racquet head speed up helped me get some good spin on the ball, and I occasionally got it to swing nicely out wide on the deuce side. Placement was good as well, so I could move my serves around the box to keep my opponent looking at different serves."

The more Brittany served with the Percept 100D, the more she liked it. She said, "As I expected after hitting groundstrokes with it, this racquet doesn't offer much free power, and I had to put some extra effort into hitting my flat first serve to get my MPHs up. I instead focused more on targets and leaned into the precision. I made a more conscious effort to go after much more specific targets and was consistently hitting them. Instead of pace, I favored my slice serve both into the body and out wide on the deuce side. I didn't have any issues hitting my second serve and found I could kick it up out of my opponent's strike zone. However, I will note that it didn't feel like it was coming off as heavy."

Returns: 8.5

Our playtesters were also split in their feedback on returning with the Percept 100D's. Brittany will be adding the Percept 100D to the ever-growing list of racquets she prefers to return with. She explained, "The biggest reason was that I could step in, get the racquet around my body with ease, and take big cuts at the ball without any fear of overhitting. This allowed me to start offensively even on a first serve return."

"Another great shot for me with the Percept 100D was the return," added Chris. "I liked how easy it was to position the racquet and whip it through contact. I found myself going for very sharp angles with this racquet. I liked that I could easily get the racquet around the ball to generate some side spin to help my angles cut even sharper. When driving returns deep, I found solid pace and enough spin to keep my shots on target. The response felt very plush and forgiving. I found myself hitting better returns than expected when my timing was a little off or the serve had put me into a defensive position."

The other two playtesters were looking for a little more easy depth off returns to keep them in a neutral position. Jason described, "I liked the fact that I could swing out on my returns without much fear of overhitting, but mis-hits were often met with short replies from me, which immediately put me on the defensive."

Tiffani had a similar opinion, saying, "My returns were OK with the Percept 100D. I didn't have any issues with overhitting, and I liked that this racquet had the control to let me swing out when given the opportunity to be more offensive with my returns. However, there were times I left the ball a little shorter than I wanted. I think I would find my depth with some adjustments to the string setup."

Breakdown Summary