Video Transcript 0:00 here we have the 2022 Yonex e-zone 98. 0:04 now this is a very popular Racket and 0:07 for very good reason let's get into this 0:09 play test review the ezone 98 is an 0:11 extremely well-rounded racket with so 0:14 much potential in a very accessible 0:16 package the wonderful thing about this 0:18 racket is that you have such a generous 0:19 sweet spot and you get a lot of power 0:21 but you still have good control that 0:24 combination of characteristics can be 0:25 pretty rare to find in a racket that 0:27 blends all that together so well like 0:29 the ez098 on paper this might not seem 0:32 like a very different racket from the 0:33 last generation but I will personally 0:35 say that I think this racket offers a 0:37 little bit better control and a little 0:39 bit more intuitive response in terms of 0:41 what your intention is and what actually 0:43 happens with the ball on the previous 0:45 generation of the e-zones I felt a 0:46 little bit disconnected I felt like the 0:48 power was a little bit excessive and 0:50 unexpected at times and It ultimately 0:52 frustrated me to the point that I moved 0:54 away from that racket while there were a 0:55 lot of things that I liked about that 0:57 generation of the ezone rackets It 0:58 ultimately just proved to be a little 1:00 bit Untamed the updated version of the 1:02 eso 90 has a different blend of 1:04 materials and it has a slightly wider 1:07 beam again some subtle changes on paper 1:09 but I feel like the difference does 1:10 actually add up to a slightly more 1:12 stable and predictable racket that still 1:15 has a lot of the wonderful benefits of 1:16 the e-zone series so like I said you get 1:19 a really generous sweet spot and that's 1:20 largely thanks to this isometric 1:22 technology that Yonex Embraces some of 1:24 you have probably made this observation 1:25 but this racket is a little bit more 1:28 Square in shape than a traditional 1:30 tennis racket and that's nice I feel 1:31 like I'm just getting a big sweet spot 1:33 on this racket without having to 1:34 disconnect from the ball sometimes 1:36 rackets have a big sweet spot and it 1:38 kind of dilutes the connection you might 1:40 feel with the ball but this racket I 1:42 don't feel like that's the case this 1:43 racket also dampens vibrations pretty 1:45 well it's not a firm Racket and it's not 1:47 a soft racket it's somewhere just in 1:49 between maybe leaning a little bit more 1:51 on the firm side but it's definitely 1:52 going to be softer than a pure drive 1:54 from Babylon a pure Arrow Etc it's a 1:57 little bit more comfortable I would say 1:58 and with that comfort which comes from 2:00 the lower Flex I think you get a little 2:02 bit more control and to complement that 2:04 bit of control you actually have a 2:05 slightly denser drill pattern so if you 2:07 are to compare this racket to something 2:09 like the Pure Drive which is a very 2:10 obvious comparison to make while they're 2:12 both 1619 rackets the head size on this 2:15 one is just slightly smaller but more so 2:17 than that the strings are actually just 2:19 drilled in such a way that the pattern 2:21 is a little bit tighter and in this case 2:23 it's going to translate to having a 2:24 little bit more control on the ball that 2:26 being said I still feel like you get 2:28 crazy good access to spin on this racket 2:30 I never felt for any moment that I was 2:32 sacrificing spin for control I'm a very 2:35 heavy topspin player so this is 2:36 something that I really do not want to 2:38 sacrifice when it comes to a tennis 2:40 racket so I find that the balance of 2:42 control and spin in this racket is 2:43 wonderful it's also surprisingly easy to 2:46 swing this racket especially for how 2:48 stable it is and that's one of the 2:49 wonderful things about this racket is 2:51 that it comes in an accessible enough 2:53 package that a very wide range of 2:55 players will be able to play great 2:57 tennis with this racket but at the same 2:59 time this rack can handle a lot of pace 3:01 and also deliver a punch in my opinion 3:04 this is one of the most well-rounded 3:06 rackets I have tried this year and it 3:08 still surprises me how easy this racket 3:10 is to swing for how stable it is so if 3:12 you're a player that likes to have a lot 3:14 of variety in your game but you sort of 3:16 lean on the side of having power maybe 3:18 having spin but also still maintaining 3:20 versatility in your game this is 3:23 definitely a racket that would be among 3:25 my top recommendations especially if 3:27 you're a fan of rackets like the Pure 3:28 Drive and even the new pure Arrow this 3:31 racket offers a lot of similar qualities 3:33 that attract so many players to those 3:36 rackets but it gives you something 3:37 that's just slightly more in the 3:39 direction of control and one of my 3:41 personal favorite benefits of a slightly 3:43 denser string pattern is that you're 3:45 going to break strings a little less 3:46 often now again when I say string 3:48 pattern I am aware that I'm comparing 3:50 two 16 by 19 rackets when I say that so 3:53 despite the fact that these are both 16 3:55 by 19 string patterns the strings are 3:58 distributed a little bit more tightly on 4:00 the Yonex rackets Yonex in my opinion is 4:02 kind of known for doing this and that 4:04 tendency is definitely obvious on the 4:06 ez098 as I was saying earlier I think 4:09 this racket is great for a wide variety 4:11 of players some people might say that 4:13 this opinion is a bit of a stretch but I 4:15 honestly would recommend this racket to 4:18 some determined beginners a lot of 4:20 rackets are so beginner friendly that 4:23 they kind of keep you in that beginner 4:25 territory whereas this racket I believe 4:27 as a beginner you will be okay but you 4:29 can continue to grow with this racket 4:31 but if you're a beginner and you find it 4:33 to be a little bit heavy there are 4:34 lighter e-zones out there you can go to 4:36 courtside.com to find out more about 4:38 that so if you're in the market for a 4:40 powerful racket that offers you a lot of 4:42 Versatility from spin control Power in a 4:46 package that is accessible across many 4:47 levels of tennis players the e098 should 4:50 absolutely be on your list of rackets to 4:52 check out I've said this before and I'll 4:54 say it again that Yonex maintains to 4:56 have one of the best quality control 4:58 standards on the market for 10 tennis 5:00 racket so that is something that is 5:01 always going for Yonex rackets thanks 5:04 for watching this play test review if 5:05 you want to see more check out the 5:06 channel and check out the website 5:08 courtsidetennis.com and if you're ever 5:09 in the Sacramento area be sure to stop 5:11 by Courtside tennis there are two 5:13 locations with a lot of tennis stuff to 5:15 check out a knowledgeable and friendly 5:17 staff with a very well stocked inventory 5:19 of tennis rackets and accessories 5:21 pickleball Courtside tennis has you 5:23 covered alright thanks again for 5:24 watching we will see you in the next one