More feedback on these puppies!
Comments: I tried and demo'ed at least 15 racquets after doing months of research. The reviews on many racquets didn't correlate with my playing experience when tested. My racquets tested include: Head Youtek Instinct IG and S, new Extreme Pro 2.0 and MP, Radical, Wilson BLX Juice 100, Pro Open, Prince EX03 Warrior 100 Yonex V Core 100S, Volkl Organix V1, Babolat AeroPro Drive GT, Pure Drive and many others. I played with this EZONE Xi for 4 hours and immediately bought two of them. There was a big difference in the comfort and control compared to the other racquet. The other racquets were good at one thing or another, but for me to switch racquets it had to do many things much better. This EZONE was good at just about everything. Not too heavy or light, very solid (played like a heavier racquet) generated a lot of spin with ease and felt I could place my volleys anywhere with the amount of touch/feel this racquet had. It is a very powerful racquet but at the same time great touch, you would think you would be giving one up for the other, but not the case with this racquet. I have a heavy kick serve which is now more consistent because of the amount of spin generated, I had to adjust some since my balls were landing shorter in the box, but fewer of them are getting returned. Huge sweet spot. My only complaint is that I let my wife hit with them and now she won't pick up the racquets I bought her last year. Until I buy her one, I'm having to get them after her matches and rushing to my matches. Amazing racquets!
From: Kurt, 11/12
String type and tension: Solinco Tour Bite 16L @ 60 lbs
Comments: I only tested this racquet for 2 hours before deciding to buy. The demo felt great, giving me the added power and pop that I was looking for. I've been a Wilson user all my tennis life (20+ years), but I cannot find a midplus Wilson racquet that suits my game. I've always played with a 98 size frame and would have preferred to stay with the same size in the Yonex Ezone, but it was a bit heavy for me. This Ezone Xi 100 took a bit of getting used to as others mentioned. My baseline shots sailed long, but since I always string at 1-2 lbs above mid tension for more control, I felt that my shots would be fine once I got my own strings. I used Gamma Professional 17, strung at 54 pounds and played a doubles match with my new racquet last night. I could not be happier with the results. My shots from the baseline were deep and mostly accurate. The bigger and higher sweetspot really helped whenever I had to reach. My serves were livelier than my old Wilson Blade Lite 98. I thought the extra Isometric is just another gimmick or marketing ploy, but from my experience, it actually does make a difference. I'm definitely happy I made the switch.
From: Jocelyn, 10/12
String type and tension: Gamma Professional 17g @ 54lbs
Comments: I playtested a long list of racquets in the search for the perfect fit. I tried the Pure Storm, Pure Storm Team, Blx Blade Team, Pacific Comp, Pro Open 11 & 12, Donnay X-P Dual, and IG Instinct. I knew from the first hit that this one was solid and stable with great feel on volleys and touch shots. My two-hand backhand returns are sick with this thing and my forehand has plenty of controlled power and spin. Several of my hitting partners have tried it and have enjoyed hitting with the Ezone XI. I think some don't give it a serious look because they are hung up on the squarish oval frame construction. I know from hitting with it though that the Isometric square shape really stabilizes the sweetspot. It is a 67 on the stiffness rating, but it is still comfortable with a multi strung at mid tension (I have experienced some arm and shoulder issues so I'm playing with a multi now, but it also played great with a poly hybrid). If you aren't afraid to try something new and different, go for the Yonex Xi and forget all that crap about Yonex being too square or for girls!
From: Kris, 8/12
Comments: I played with the EZone 100 for a couple of years and agree totally with Pancho below regarding the EZone Xi. It is a different racquet even though the specs are about the same and took me a few times to get used to it. Great pop on the serve and the volleys. Groundstrokes took the most adjustment, but I am hitting shots that as an older former tournament player I didn't think I could hit anymore. Great on the arm, almost no vibration, and with arm friendly string like I use a very comfortable play. While at first I didn't know, now I do- a great frame.
From: Tony, 8/12
String type and tension: Babolat VS NaturalThermoGut Touch (Mains), Babolat Xcel (Crosses), 58 lbs
Comments: As a former #1 Pac-10 player I love this racquet. I'm not 25 any more, but this racquet strung with a softer string that's strung at 56 lbs works great. It's easy on the arm/elbow. It's definitely a step up from the EZone 100. It has great pop on the serve and volley. If you use topspin on your ground strokes you'll be just fine. I would highly recommend this racquet to someone who wants a "tweener" racquet that will serve them well.
From: Pancho, 7/12
String type: Tecnifibre X-1 Biphase
Comments: I tried this racquet with a not-too-powerful poly (strung above mid-range) and still had a great deal of trouble keeping the ball in the court. Simply too much pop for players with a full swing. Felt light for its weight, not very stable, but very comfortable for a racquet a bit on the stiff side. In this weight class, I found racquets like the Wilson Pro Open and Prince Warrior 100 to offer more controllable pop. Beautifully finished but Yonex seems to use the thinnest and frailest grips available; the bottom of the grip was actually starting to fray a bit just from handling the racquet in my home, before I had ever played with it.
From: Mike, 6/12
Comments: Great one! Try using an hybrid setup (Wilson Ultimate Duo), great control and spin. The muted feel disappears and is very arm friendly.
From: Oscar, 6/12
String type and tension: Luxilon ALU Power, 50lbs / NXT tour 52lbs
Headsize: 100
NTRP Rating: 4.5
Comments: Nice stick, but lost out to Yonex VCORE 100 S for me. Felt less stable and less solid on contact, a bit too much power, a bit less feel, excessive power from the ground and on volleys being the biggest limitations. The kick serve is sick with this racquet though.
From: Anon, 5/12
Comments: I have played with this demo for a few days and while I have served well with it, I cannot say the same about my groundstrokes. While this racket is very fast through the swing, it does not have the mass of my trusty RD7 and as a result, it does not hit a very 'heavy' ball. Plus, if I hit the ball without tempering my swing, it will sail long.
From: Pat, 5/12
Comments: This racquet has remarkable power and control. The feel and touch is there as well. Serves seem to truly take off and accelerate. I concur with the other remarks on sailing, long balls - this can be reigned in by an adjustment to add the topspin on forehands, underspin and driving movement on backhands and downward motion on volleys. Very comfortable - a nice stick to play several times comfortably throughout the day.
From: Matthew, 4/12
String type and tension: Prince Synthetic Gut / Volkl, 55 lbs
Comments: I LOVE this racquet! I had been playing with the Yonex RDiS 300 and found that racquet allowed me to hit the shots I wanted -- topspin, slice, etc. when I wanted. But, this racquet is such a huge improvement, my coach said it was like night and day. It is much more powerful and allows me to swing much faster, creating more spin. It also feels much softer than the RDiS, even though it is rated as a stiffer racquet. I have it strung with all Babolat RPM Blast, while the RDiS was strung with a RPM Blast Hybrid (with natural gut), yet this racquet allows for much more touch on both volleys and drop shots. I do agree with one of the other reviewers and noticed that balls can fly long much easier with this racquet if I don't put a lot of topspin on my groundstrokes, under spin on my slice, and hit down on my volleys, but it's an adjustment I'll live with for the added power. This racquet is AMAZING.
From: Jennie, 4/12
String type and tension: RPM Blast 56 lbs
Headsize: 100 sq. in
NTRP Rating: 4.0
Comments: Just demoed this for two days. First of all, this is a very comfortable feeling frame given it's rather high stiffness rating. My demo was strung with a very good multi at probably just above mid tension. With the multi I found the power a little too much for ground strokes, and had a few flyers. However I think a poly at about mid would help reign this one in just enough, and it would still offer a very confortable hit. This frame felt very solid on all shots, with no flutter at all. And mishits were almost zero given the seemingly huge sweet spot. The weight and balance made it very maneuverable from everywhere, and yet the stability was also exceptional. Volleys were great as touch was there in spades. If I have one minor nitpick, it's the grip shape. I prefer the Prince more rounded-off shape, and this one felt more like a Head or even Volkl. Overall though, this offering from Yonex is really good. It delivers an excellent balance of elements that would likely assist anyone's game from about the 3.5 level on up. Absolutely worth a demo if you have never hit with a Yonex before.
From: Tom, 4/12
Comments: I was getting arm pain with the Babolat pure storm so I decided to go back to Yonex, this racquet is very forgiving on my one handed backhand and slice which is great as it gives me confidence. The kick serve is awesome with massive spin. The only problem I find is my forehand needs a lot of spin to prevent the ball from sailing. I tried putting lead tape at the handle and raising my string tension all the way to 60lbs and kind of worked.
From: Carlos, 3/12
, I stick with them because it's reliable and I know what i get, lastly my local shop doesn't carry Donnay.
