Gear Review: Yonex Builds A Better VCORE

By Rob Martin

(May 18, 2012) I have kept it no secret that I am a huge fan of Yonex frames, dating back to my first experience with the RD Ti-70. A few of my favorite racquets have also been mid size frames, such as the Wilson Hyper Pro Staff Tour 90, Wilson Pro Staff 6.0 85, Yonex RDS001 90, and Dunlop Muscle Weave 200G 90 which was never released in the United States.

You can imagine my excitement when I heard that Yonex, my favorite racquet brand, was going to be releasing a new mid size, this time at 89 square inches. Initially a little cautious as to the strange number, Yonex is one of the few brands that can easily get away with a smaller head size.

As a self-professed gear head, I wanted to know the inner workings of what makes the VCORE Tour different from the initial launch of frames. The answer is Micro Core, a technology present in the upper hoop of the frame.

Essentially, Micro Core is a high density urethane that actually expands inside the frame to provide greater strength and stability on off center shots. At first this seems a little redundant with things like X-Fullerene, Isometric Head Shape, IPS, and the 3D Vector Shaft already designed to increase stability, control, and/or power.

I decided to ignore that idea and instead just focus on the frame playability itself. In order to draw the best comparison with my current Yonex RDiS200, I modified my test frame to the same specs and strung with the same hybrid of Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 1.24mm and Yonex Poly Tour Pro 1.25mm at 27/25kg.

Initial Thoughts

Staying with the VCORE color scheme, this new frame is amazingly well detailed in a Flash Red and White color pattern. While red is not my favorite color by any means, it certainly is not a deal breaker.

Even at 89 square inches in head size, Yonex opted for a moderate weight around 12.1 ounces strung with a balance that allowed the frame to be solid in stock form but still light enough to allow for modification.

On Court

Warming up, the first thing I noticed was that this VCORE Tour feels much softer than the first VCORE frames. Rated at a flex of 61, this is close to my current frame, making the transition even easier.

The smaller head size and slightly denser string pattern did result in a bit less bite on slice shots, but I did not notice any difference on my heavy topspin forehand. As with every Yonex frame I've tried, the sweet spot was absolutely huge, which is both good and bad. It results in consistent power and depth from the frame, but in my experience does make the racquet finicky with regards to string tension.

As someone that has had extensive experience with mid size frames, this was the most capable from the baseline that I have tried. The stability of the VCORE Tour 89 is right up there with any larger frame out there and matched my frame in power with no trouble.

Moving into the net, the only difference I noticed was that the smaller frame was a bit easier to move and the tighter string pattern resulted in a more predictable response on touch volleys. The weight of the frame helped to hit solid volleys but I noticed that the pace was slightly lower.

The one area where I felt that this frame did not live up to my current racquet is on the serve. A denser string pattern did result in less movement on my kick serve while the power level gave me a little less pace on the first serve. The precision on serve was excellent so I had to use placement to develop the point instead of going for the quick point.

Final Thoughts

I always have high expectations going into a test of a new Yonex racquet, and they have yet to disappoint me in terms of playability. While some of the recent frames have not been made for my style, the VCORE Tour 89 is one of, if not the best, that I have tried this year.

It is safe to say that if I was back in my younger days playing 25 hours a week, this would be my next racquet, but I have to be more realistic about my available time. As a result, I am currently testing the new frame of Stanislas Wawrinka, the Yonex VCORE Tour 97, to see if it can offer the same playability in an easier head size.