Why I'm selling my Yonex VCORE 98

After several months with the Vcore 98+, I have finally come to some conclusions as to how I feel about this racket.

[@yo_eddie2576]

Interesting to hear your experience. I've owned both and ended up selling the ezone instead. I found I was hitting the ball long a lot more with the ezone. I just couldn't get a feel for how much power to put into my strokes.

[@time410s]

I actually kind of relate to this and it reveals that we observed a similar thing on these rackets. But I was on the side of feeling like the vcore just never hit hard enough but I haven't mentioned how the ezone sometimes feels so touchy in the sense that you have to be so careful not to hit the ball out sometimes. Both issues are kind of annoying but I felt less held back with the ezone but I would also understand if someone felt the racket was a little reckless feeling. Interesting, thanks for sharing!

[@Francisyrah]

Great comparison

[@time410s]

Thank you! Excited for the new V-Core

[@CH-yp5by]

You should have bought the 95 its way better than the 98, both need weight added at 12 O'clock but only 1g for more lough through and 95 needs 1.5g at 3 and 9 to improve stability. To improve feel use a rubber band not a dampener you certainly get more feel and save about 4g. Lastly for more power, you should string your racket with a thinner gauge like 1.20 at lower tension say 48lbs.

[@time410s]

I'll probably buy the 95 this week. Power isn't an issue for me I really think it's the racket. My ezone has a lot and my vcore pro 97 has plenty. It was mostly plow that felt terrible. I think I just don't like the racket.

[@goggleboy2464]

It would be interesting to hear a comparison between tecnifibre 305 vs 315, either tf40 or tfight. If you've never hit them you should try them.

[@time410s]

I haven't. It might happen.

[@zhangbryant3748]

Ezone has a dense string pattern and feel solid at impact as a result. At the same time, Ezone launches the ball lower and is more difficult to generate spin. Have you tried any strings to add spin and avoid hitting long?

[@time410s]

The racket just has a lot of power. All my strings and setups are super spin friendly. I'm hitting with the vcore pro 97 and that feels much nicer to me. The control and feel is much better and the power isn't as reckless but I still get plenty.

[@millionairejh]

super interested in that xtp butcap. i was thinking of doing ttgathat to my ezone 100+ to make it 28inch long, i got an angell 105 thats 28 inches and it eventually gave me elbow issues. was hoping the ezone wont

[@time410s]

Any idea why it gave you arm issues? Yeah this could work. I've thought about it as well haha.

[@millionairejh]

@@time410s well i think the main issue was that i like to lead tape my racquets a certain way. But doing that to a 28 inch racquet makes any weight you add to it super amplified. So i think it was pulling out my arm when i followed through. However, if that was really the issue then it would have also pulled out my shoulder, which heavier racquets tend to do, but my shoulder was fine. Im thinking the 105 angell line of frames might vibrate in a way that just isnt good for my elbow. I never had elbow issues with the ezone 100+. this is why im curious if it would be fine to add the 1/2 inch. Im just scared it might be a little too unwieldy with my lead tape set up.

[@time410s]

@@millionairejh hard to say. Length does amplify any weight changes. It might just take a lot of time to adjust to the balance and swingweight as well as the contact point of a 28" racket. There's definitely potential there to mess with your arm but it of course could be the racket as well or combo of these things. Why 28" ? I actually have a custom one in this length on the way just to try it. I want to see if I can play great tennis with it.

[@ducnguyenthanh2831]

The Ezone is better when the ball is coming at you and you would hit powerful flat rallies. However, if you can't generate good spin yourself then in those situations when your opponent's position is wide and you have an open court to make a finishing shot even with a running forehand then the Vcore with good spin is much more handy

[@time410s]

I'll take the ezone at least in stock form. Never felt held back by spin and I generally notice that as I hit with more than most do.

[@bojack3827]

I used to have the VC98 and agree with your comments. Great for spin but it sort of lacks substance, backbone, heft, plow or whatever you want to call it. The EZ98 felt ALOT more solid.

[@time410s]

Yesss, sorry for a late reply. I still wonder if I even liked it for spin because when it stalled on contact the way it does, everything just felt a little awful or weak.

[@pro71]

Could it just be a quality control issue? Even though the specs are identical on paper your Vcore could have off spec swing weight?

[@time410s]

I also had it professionally measured for SW. So it's not that. It's just a different racket and it feels different in these ways I'm pretty sure. Might play with weight a bit though just to be sure I don't like it. We'll see.

[@gabrielalcocer8051]

I demonstrated both, the twist weights are similar too, yet, the Ezone felt like its was higher, much harder to manipulate spin. Also, the Ezone packed too much of a punch at times, felt like less of a player’s frame between the two. I was using Vcore Pro 330g prior, the Vcore 98+ felt most similar to that, my bias. I will say that I liked both.

[@time410s]

Ezone a bit much on the punch sometimes for sure. I think I will actually try the vcore 98+ again with a bit of weight here and there to see what that might do. I will do a review on the vcore 97. Been loving that.

[@gabrielalcocer8051]

@@time410s Same, I’ve been using mine without lead tape, but did add leather grip. I think adding tungsten to 3 & 9 should help, then counter with tail weight as well. The swing weight seems it would work best around 340 to 345 IMO.

[@mskcouric]

I have a Pro 330g, an Ezone 100, Ezone 98+, VCORE 100 and 98. The Pro feels completely different, so much lower-powered and headlight. It's for advanced players, IMO. I have to hammer the ball to get it where I want it. Much happier with the Ezone or the VCORE, which are both powerful as hell.

[@time410s]

@@gabrielalcocer8051 I think mine was at 344 last I checked but that's before the weight at 3 and 9 which I have now but hardly any time with. Also have leather base grip and about 7g in the trap door.

[@time410s]

@@mskcouric I have the lighter VCORE Pro 97, newest model, which I extended half an inch and that one plays how I like in many ways. Will need more time to see if the power/control trade off is more than I like but so far I can put away the ball, no problem. Might take more effort but I also have more accuracy at times.

[@kutayyurtsever3619]

Actually I find 98+ more versatile and still quite powerful, and access to spin, although I play more flat.. ezone 98+ for me was very muted and more cumborsome, even when I had a few grams on hoop.of vcore 98+, which is necessary for increasing stability but still more manuverable than ezone for me.

[@time410s]

I do think the ezone is more muted. I just didn't like how the vcore 98 felt on contact in comparison and I didn't notice a difference in spin personally.

[@rachidbaaira9869]

good Idea, can you tell me how much weight your yonex Ezone 98??

[@time410s]

I sold it a few weeks ago, it's gone and I don't remember. I just couldn't get the racket to feel as good as the other's I had and I didn't feel like it played in a way that made up for that at all.

[@jeffislearning]

why not try adding some lead tape at 3 and 9 oclock on the vcore? the vcore 95 is a weak racquet without lead tape and OP with it

[@time410s]

I've thought about it but why not do the same to the ezone? What is the vcore giving me that the ezone isnt?

[@cdanarch]

this made my vcore feel SO nice

[@time410s]

@@cdanarch you guys might be having me try this before it sells haha. How much did you guys apply?

[@MrEggDestroyer]

@@time410s I think the vcore has a slightly thinner beam at 12 o clock and the flex points are slightly different (with the ezone being thinner around the neck area) so might make sense to weight up the vcore at 12 to get the "balance" to feel slightly more plowy compared to the ezone

[@time410s]

@@MrEggDestroyer Did that a bit and still liked the ezone better. I'll try some at 3 and 9. It gives me a chance to test another product actually so maybe we will see an unexpected product review come up that revives this Vcore...

[@tomathome77]

Finally got some ezones and not impressed so far. They feel very flimsy at times and don't have the power that I've heard people talk about. Very similar to other 98s re power on offer. Gonna try some Yonex 100s for comparison to see if they have that bit of extra power I'm looking for.

[@time410s]

I'm a much bigger fan of the Pure Aero 98. Which didn't exist at the time of this video

[@tomathome77]

@@time410s have never been able to like any Babolat racquet - all the yellow/Rafa ones seem to have the worst feel when I've tried them. They don't seem to have any connection to the ball. Tried extended length pure drives years ago and from memory they were ridiculously powerful 😅 the pure strike is the only Babolat I haven't tried. But yea I've been looking at Babolat racquets with disdain for quite some time now. Mins you did the same with yonex until recently. However after giving them a shot and trying the Vcore 95 and ezone 98 I haven't been overly impressed. Also have Vcore Pro 97H, which is at least a bit intriguing as it seems to be rock steady against big power. Will keep trying that one, but gonna try a Vcore 100 to see if a 100 is any better than the numerous 98s I've been playing with for years. Borrowed a guys blade 100 and it was definitely better on serves - provided a lot of extra bite on slice sliders and I've heard the blade 100 is on the lower side of the power scale when it comes to 100s, so am quite interested to see what the supposedly more powerful Vcore 100 can offer

[@tomathome77]

For years everyone has been saying that advanced players shouldn't use 100s but after using the blade 100 even just for two sets, it felt stable, relatively controlled but came with some extra pop on serve. So I think maybe the 2 inch difference isn't actually that big of a deal...if there's a 100 out there that can give more power but still be controllable then why not give some 100s a go I reckon! Seeing similar with the pros, once upon a time they were all using heavy heavy racquets and now there are young guys coming through with 300g racquets and 100 square inch head sizes. They've just managed to add extra spin, whip etc to control them, while benefiting from the extra power on offer

[@time410s]

@tomathome77 yeah that 100 thing is silly and too oversimplified as a point anyway and then there are too many exceptions. It means nothing on its own.

[@zhangbryant3748]

Have you tried cx200+?

[@time410s]

Tried what?

[@ducnguyenthanh2831]

Dunlop Cx200 plus. Super nice racquet

[@time410s]

@@ducnguyenthanh2831 no but might. I generally hear not good things about dunlop but I'll see about it. I might have tried an earlier black and red version as one of my first plus rackets actually. Oh it's still that same one?

[@jiahuazhang7193]

Sell that racquet and get a haircut

[@time410s]

I'll sell it, cut my own hair and give you 5 bucks to come up with a better comment. How's that for a deal? I'm a generous guy.

[@jiahuazhang7193]

@@time410s all jokes aside, ur hair would look better if u dont cut the sides so high up.

[@time410s]

@@jiahuazhang7193 might cut it higher.

[@time410s]

@@jiahuazhang7193 I might cut it higher but also shorter. We'll see.

[@goggleboy2464]

@@jiahuazhang7193 I view for the haircut mostly not the racket info! lol

[@LaSalviaBodysurf]

Have you tried all the latest ezone 98+ of the previous years? Since the Dr98Plus, which one did u prefer?

[@time410s]

I think this generation of EZONES is the best. I wasn't in love with the last one but there were things I liked about it. However, everything I liked is in this version without some of the issues I had, such as feel especially. The ball just didn't do what I thought so often with the last generation. I had so many moments looking at my racket after a volley flew out like "WTF was that, bro?" to my racket haha.