2023 Yonex VCores

[kvan]

Vcore 95 (2023) lacks a little bit of power when the guy is serving

some takeaways from the playtesters

1. The 100 is super maneuverable. They mention never feeling late on groundies, and having great depth control. Really grooving with the groundstrokes, like the ezone 100 for them.
2. Switching to the 95, a steep drop off in power compared to the 100, but more stable and felt stiffer
3. The 98 was right in between the two. All three racquets each felt like they’re meant for a different kind of player
4. Player 2- mentions this iteration of the 98 gets slightly more controllable power. The ball “flies” more easily, not in a bad way. Doesn’t feel stiff at all. Depth control was also a highlight for playtester 2.
5. Both liked the 98 on volleys the best, noting the balance and headsize. More stability than the outgoing version, less twisting upon contact. One playtester also called out the 95 up at net as being enjoyable
6. A ton of spin on the serve for the 100 at the cost of accuracy. Pinpoint accuracy o the 95.
7. If asked to pick one of the three, they pick the 98. If they were practicing every day, the 95 feels better, but in match scenarios they’d pick the 98 every day of the week. They also recommend the flatter you hit, the smaller the headsize that may suit you with this line.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

[Lefty33]

98

some takeaways from the playtesters

1. The 100 is super maneuverable. They mention never feeling late on groundies, and having great depth control. Really grooving with the groundstrokes, like the ezone 100 for them.
2. Switching to the 95, a steep drop off in power compared to the 100, but more stable and felt stiffer
3. The 98 was right in between the two. All three racquets each felt like they’re meant for a different kind of player
4. Player 2- mentions this iteration of the 98 gets slightly more controllable power. The ball “flies” more easily, not in a bad way. Doesn’t feel stiff at all. Depth control was also a highlight for playtester 2.
5. Both liked the 98 on volleys the best, noting the balance and headsize. More stability than the outgoing version, less twisting upon contact. One playtester also called out the 95 up at net as being enjoyable
6. A ton of spin on the serve for the 100 at the cost of accuracy. Pinpoint accuracy o the 95.
7. If asked to pick one of the three, they pick the 98. If they were practicing every day, the 95 feels better, but in match scenarios they’d pick the 98 every day of the week. They also recommend the flatter you hit, the smaller the headsize that may suit you with this line.
   
   
   
   
   
   

Yeah, I'll be buying the 98. Take my money.

 

[naturalexponent]

some takeaways from the playtesters

1. The 100 is super maneuverable. They mention never feeling late on groundies, and having great depth control. Really grooving with the groundstrokes, like the ezone 100 for them.
2. Switching to the 95, a steep drop off in power compared to the 100, but more stable and felt stiffer
3. The 98 was right in between the two. All three racquets each felt like they’re meant for a different kind of player
4. Player 2- mentions this iteration of the 98 gets slightly more controllable power. The ball “flies” more easily, not in a bad way. Doesn’t feel stiff at all. Depth control was also a highlight for playtester 2.
5. Both liked the 98 on volleys the best, noting the balance and headsize. More stability than the outgoing version, less twisting upon contact. One playtester also called out the 95 up at net as being enjoyable
6. A ton of spin on the serve for the 100 at the cost of accuracy. Pinpoint accuracy o the 95.
7. If asked to pick one of the three, they pick the 98. If they were practicing every day, the 95 feels better, but in match scenarios they’d pick the 98 every day of the week. They also recommend the flatter you hit, the smaller the headsize that may suit you with this line.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Thanks for the summary!

 

[CosmosMpower]

Crap still loving my 2021 Vcore 95 since I was chosen to play test it for TW Dec 2020. Can't believe it's been 3 years!. Looking forward to the 2023 VC95, glad they are keeping 16x20 that is a magic pattern and love seeing a little more hitting area towards the tip as my miss is up there.

 

[Federerkblade]

some takeaways from the playtesters

1. The 100 is super maneuverable. They mention never feeling late on groundies, and having great depth control. Really grooving with the groundstrokes, like the ezone 100 for them.
2. Switching to the 95, a steep drop off in power compared to the 100, but more stable and felt stiffer
3. The 98 was right in between the two. All three racquets each felt like they’re meant for a different kind of player
4. Player 2- mentions this iteration of the 98 gets slightly more controllable power. The ball “flies” more easily, not in a bad way. Doesn’t feel stiff at all. Depth control was also a highlight for playtester 2.
5. Both liked the 98 on volleys the best, noting the balance and headsize. More stability than the outgoing version, less twisting upon contact. One playtester also called out the 95 up at net as being enjoyable
6. A ton of spin on the serve for the 100 at the cost of accuracy. Pinpoint accuracy o the 95.
7. If asked to pick one of the three, they pick the 98. If they were practicing every day, the 95 feels better, but in match scenarios they’d pick the 98 every day of the week. They also recommend the flatter you hit, the smaller the headsize that may suit you with this line.
   
   
   
   
   
   

Thank you for this as after watching the video several times although skipping through occasionally I could not make our what racquet was which on groundstrokes Or serves or volleys
Close up looks a quality paint job but slightly garish

I might demo the 98 in late Jan

 

[kvan]

Thank you for this as after watching the video several times although skipping through occasionally I could not make our what racquet was which on groundstrokes Or serves or volleys
Close up looks a quality paint job but slightly garish

I might demo the 98 in late Jan

Happy to help where I can. I’ve been a v95 2021 fan and have been using it as my main stick for a while now. Video has me curious to demo the 98 more seriously though…

 

[Federerkblade]

Iv never found a yonex frame which compares to a xi98 partly because it’s solid and with lead at 3 and 9 it’s got a sw of 329

if these are solid they may compare although a swingwight of 319 won’t
Not sure these frames will take lead at 3 and 9 well they are power ful already

 

[ryushen21]

these RA drops in 98 and 95 are interesting. On one hand, it's very welcome (again just on paper) for 98 (possibly) but on 95...where would all the power come from. I mean I know they widened the top of the beams by 0.5mm but you would think RA drop will have more impact. Oh well.. once the reviews drop we will know...

@ryushen21 - did you get a chance to test the 98 or 95 at all?

There was not a 95 available for demo. I have never gotten along with the Yonex 98 versions so I tend to stick with the 100.

 

[FrankyRelax]

Looks like I'll be putting some sticks up for sale soon

 

[riddick]

some takeaways from the playtesters

1. The 100 is super maneuverable. They mention never feeling late on groundies, and having great depth control. Really grooving with the groundstrokes, like the ezone 100 for them.
2. Switching to the 95, a steep drop off in power compared to the 100, but more stable and felt stiffer
3. The 98 was right in between the two. All three racquets each felt like they’re meant for a different kind of player
4. Player 2- mentions this iteration of the 98 gets slightly more controllable power. The ball “flies” more easily, not in a bad way. Doesn’t feel stiff at all. Depth control was also a highlight for playtester 2.
5. Both liked the 98 on volleys the best, noting the balance and headsize. More stability than the outgoing version, less twisting upon contact. One playtester also called out the 95 up at net as being enjoyable
6. A ton of spin on the serve for the 100 at the cost of accuracy. Pinpoint accuracy o the 95.
7. If asked to pick one of the three, they pick the 98. If they were practicing every day, the 95 feels better, but in match scenarios they’d pick the 98 every day of the week. They also recommend the flatter you hit, the smaller the headsize that may suit you with this line.
   
   
   
   
   
   

Thanks for your explanation/summary

 

[Fed Kennedy]

I play relatively high level tennis (D3 college, UTR 11.4)

I use the 95 and know it’s underpowered. Today’s rackets and game have cyclically created a necessity for increasing power, and baseline play, Everyone knows that.

The longer I stay at the baseline with my 95 (even at 345g strung customized) it’s just time before someone pushes me back, or gets me on the defensive

what allows the racket to be viable against the big hitters of today, is the short angle. No racket that I’ve played with has the ability to spin the angle so tight cross court, it’s insane.

I'm 6’4” 190lbs and pretty long in the arms - so I have the leverage to power the racket, but every string I’ve tried is to get more pop from the racket. It spins great, it controls great, but it’s not currently built for ball bashing.

if the 23’ gives more pop, then that’s a great thing, no matter the level or game style.
thank you for listening to my Ted talk and praise be to yonex and our beloved vcore

Well said

 

[flanker2000fr]

It will be really interesting to get more feedback and review on those.

I am very attracted to the 95, but I'm not sure why they keep this stick sub 325 SW. I get it that they have bumbed it up from 316 to 321 with this generation, but this is still too low for a control / player's frame. To have any kind of juice and stability, given the 95 sq.in. hoop and a tight string pattern, it would need to be in the high 320's at a minimum. I get it that this can be corrected by adding lead in the top of the hoop, but in my experience (and for my mechanics), adding lead there translates into a flatter ball. Which is not ideal if the launch angle is low to start with because of the 16x20 pattern. I'd be concerned to catch the top of the net a lot.

 

[Goodman]

Will these be available for pre-order in the US?

 

[ryushen21]

Will these be available for pre-order in the US?

They might, but I haven't seen a ton of pre-orders before. Retailers are usually pretty well stocked for release.

 

[artdeco]

Shape looks a bit like Gravity Pro.

 

[a.parenthetical]

Looks like I'll be putting some sticks up for sale soon

If they're 98s, drop me a DM!

 

[nawoo]

I just came back from Tokyo. Went to the Yonex flagship store and saw the new vcore 95 and 98 in the flesh!!

They were only for exhibition and not for sale, and were unstrung. New paintjob looks cool. Also saw the new ezones.

Don't know why Yonex rackets are so expensive in Japan. They were priced at about 374k yen.

 

[Mr Backhand]

I just came back from Tokyo. Went to the Yonex flagship store and saw the new vcore 95 and 98 in the flesh!!

They were only for exhibition and not for sale, and were unstrung. New paintjob looks cool. Also saw the new ezones.

Don't know why Yonex rackets are so expensive in Japan. They were priced at about 374k yen.

Are you talking about the Osaka and Kyrgios special Ezones?

 

[Doubles specialist]

flex down to 61

that is awesome news! Now I am super excited; I love low flex rackets. That means it will have even more control then the previous version. Can wait to see how it plays and feels.

 

[bobeeto]

I just came back from Tokyo. Went to the Yonex flagship store and saw the new vcore 95 and 98 in the flesh!!

They were only for exhibition and not for sale, and were unstrung. New paintjob looks cool. Also saw the new ezones.

Don't know why Yonex rackets are so expensive in Japan. They were priced at about 374k yen.

Define new ezones

 

[Doubles specialist]

They so seem really solid power in those racquets and spin

the guy in video had lovely technique and racquet has easy power

you really cant gauge power level by a video for all we know they have the racket strung very loose and to your point his form was just about text book off of both sides. If the flex is lower like they are reporting for the 95 these will have even more control then previous versions, but they did increase the hoop size at the tip but I suspect it will have more control. Can't wait to try it out.

 

[nawoo]

Are you talking about the Osaka and Kyrgios special Ezones?

Oops my bad, i didn't know the new ezones were already out in the open. Guess they aren't considered new already. I did see the black osaka edition one in a nice looking box though.

 

[Maverick13]

Oops my bad, i didn't know the new ezones were already out in the open. Guess they aren't considered new already. I did see the black osaka edition one in a nice looking box though.

which Ezones did you see that might be new? The latest release was August…

 

[Q452]

Oops my bad, i didn't know the new ezones were already out in the open. Guess they aren't considered new already. I did see the black osaka edition one in a nice looking box though.

Was there a kyrgios special Ezone paint job?

 

[nawoo]

which Ezones did you see that might be new? The latest release was August…

yeah those are the august ones. Sorry, i dont follow the ezone series that closely. I use a vcore 95 and vcore 97 pro, so i'm more familiar with the vcore colors.

Don't think i saw the kygrios paint job. Only the Osaka one and the regular blue paintjobs

 

[nawoo]

Here ya go



and the ezones that i thought were new, lol. Hey they had a "New" sign under them

 

[Holic]

Are you talking about the Osaka and Kyrgios special Ezones?

...

 

[Lefty33]

Another new video. They look really good to me.

 

[Lefty33]

Another new video. They look really good to me.

The head definitely looks flatter at the top of the hoop. I'm going to give the 95 a try, but guess I'll be back with the 98.

 

[Federerkblade]

From Asia


These are the swingweights for VC95, VC98 & VC100.
They are well dressed with overgrips and installed with 1.20mm
VC95(310)
VC98(322)
VC100(317)

 

[Federerkblade]

Looking forward to reviews of 95 and 98 and further demos and videos coming

looks like a great update and paintjob looks quality

 

[aus89]

From Asia


These are the swingweights for VC95, VC98 & VC100.
They are well dressed with overgrips and installed with 1.20mm
VC95(310)
VC98(322)
VC100(317)

yeah im guessing the swingweight being up around 320 for the 95 is wrong again like it was with the 2021 95 and is closer to 315

 

[Lefty33]

The 98's new flex of 62 will be very interesting to try out. Same for 95 with 61. A powerful, spin-friendly racquet that's easy on the arm is nice to see.

 

[Trip]

These are the swingweights for VC95, VC98 & VC100.
They are well dressed with overgrips and installed with 1.20mm
VC95(310)
VC98(322)
VC100(317)

Thanks. If those numbers hold true, then the 95 is firmly in platform territory, per usual. Hopefully they at least solidify the outer area of the string bed this time around. We'll see!

98 could be playable sans-lead, as well as the 100, potentially.

 

[Federerkblade]

I presume there could be a quality control issue with the 95 swingwieght

as a xi 98 user I’m keen to see whether the 98 or 95 could be used as a casual alternative

 

[A_Instead]

Hmmm..if the SW of the 100 is true..
Then it will be my first racket investment in 2023...
I truly hope it will be 1st purchase and last.... but I doubt I will make it to Feb...

 

[Federerkblade]

Watching the hitting video again and seeing which racquet is which

the 95 seems a great hitting racquet a lot of fun

the 98 seems more easy power in a match scenario

I guess if you have the ability which is high the 95 is perfect,98 is playable by many
95 in video seems ample spin

I wish the 95 had a higher swingwight of 328
Adding lead at 3 and 9 is an option but will likely flatten the strokes which isn’t always ideal and adds power , the power may help

 

[WacTennis2017]

Will these be available for pre-order in the US?

bump on this post……Does anyone know of a release date yet for the new vcore?
(I’ve read mid/late January but no specific date)

 

[ryushen21]

bump on this post……Does anyone know of a release date yet for the new vcore?
(I’ve read mid/late January but no specific date)

January 13th is the official release date.

 

[Federerkblade]

I wonder if they will have the solid feel of the pure drive 21 they did have a high sw though the ones that were higher than normal 328 etc

any tinny y ness and I don’t like although 98 looks customise able at 3 and 9

these are the first frames that have got me interested in buying again
Might get a 95 and 98 if I can find them over spec in SW

325 and above

 

[Lefty33]

I wonder if they will have the solid feel of the pure drive 21 they did have a high sw though the ones that were higher than normal 328 etc

any tinny y ness and I don’t like although 98 looks customise able at 3 and 9

these are the first frames that have got me interested in buying again
Might get a 95 and 98 if I can find them over spec in SW

325 and above

Perhaps it's just evolution but I think it's strange that Yonex doesn't make any frames similar to the amazing frames of old (Super SD Tour; RDX 500, etc). VCore are super aerodynamic and feels very different. This is not like getting a sister frame to yours, it's an entirely different kind of racquet (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

[Federerkblade]

Ahh yes I think it’s very unlikely I will like them I like the solid feel of a racquet at contact . I was looking at that video again as the guys have just reviewed a Dunlop following and he was hitting solid with that and potentially more solid than the v cores looking at the video

 

[lidoazndiabloboi]

I had a quick look at the 95, and compared it with the previous gen. The hoop and drill pattern looks very similar if not identical. The throat on the new 95 is thinner than the previous, and presumably more stiff in that area.

 

[Lefty33]

I had a quick look at the 95, and compared it with the previous gen. The hoop and drill pattern looks very similar if not identical. The throat on the new 95 is thinner than the previous, and presumably more stiff in that area.

I think the new ones are more flexible. So I'd guess it's in the throat. They thickened up the top of the hoop. But I'm no tech wiz. lol

 

[Wilsonbro]

so will the 95 . Have more control or power ?

 

[Federerkblade]

Am I right in saying the 95 in this is the equivalent of 98 elsewhere with other brands and also has slim potential of a traditional 16*19

is that fair ? Or not ?

 

[aus89]

so will the 95 . Have more control or power ?

TW say it offers "more stable, powerful and spin-friendly hitting experience" but hard to say at this point

 

[Wilsonbro]

these racket companies sure have great technology now . If sticks are coming out every 2 years . I will buy the 95 . I just didn’t like the last version of it .

 

[Federerkblade]

Reading the mini review or comments on tw aus it seems 95 is ripe for some lead at 3 and 9 to ge that swing weight up to 328 329 if you find one at 324 etx

 

[Holic]

Reading the mini review or comments on tw aus it seems 95 is ripe for some lead at 3 and 9 to ge that swing weight up to 328 329 if you find one at 324 etx

Honestly, I dont really understand how even less power will work with the 95.(Coming to this conclusion by seeing the lower stiffness)