Volkl V-Feel V1 Pro Racquet Review Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 84

The V-Feel V1 Pro proved to be a user-friendly option from the baseline, offering up plenty of stability, spin and controllable power. Though the racquet varied a bit in spec from what she normally plays with, Kristen easily found her rhythm from the back of the court. She said, "I really enjoyed the V-Feel V1 Pro on groundstrokes. It had a firm but comfortable response on contact, and I felt very connected to my shots. The racquet was maneuverable, but definitely not whippy, probably a testament to that three points head-light balance. It's more evenly balanced than I usually play, but it did lead to great plow through and good stability. I was finding easy access to topspin and depth, along with a nice balance of power and control. The stringbed played consistently toward the upper hoop, but if I caught a ball in the lower hoop it tended to launch on me. Overall, I felt confident playing from the baseline and found I could go for my targets and add some variety to my play thanks to the great touch."

Having played with multiple iterations of this racquet, Brittany found a familiar feel when stepping on court. She said, "As I have hit with the three previous generations of this racquet (V-Sense, Super G and Organix), I had a pretty good idea what to expect. The V-Feel V1 Pro does a lot of things well, and it is really easy to pick up and swing without any adjustment. I enjoyed rallying from the baseline during practice. I was able to get great depth, which my PlaySight data backs up, and I could tap into the spin potential. I did find the racquet a little less maneuverable, so I had to put out more effort to get it moving around my body. When I did want to put a little juice on the ball and got the racquet going, I was getting almost too much power, and I launched the ball a couple of times. I was most impressed with my backhand slice. Whether on the offensive or defensive, I was able to keep it low and penetrating, and even hit a winner or two!"

Tiffani also found the V1 Pro's playability to be reminiscent of playtests past. She explained, "I've enjoyed the various versions of the V1 Pro I've tried, and I found this V-Feel similarly easy to pick up and use. There was little to no adjustment time before I felt comfortable hitting my groundstrokes. I've always liked this series for its controllable power, and that's still there. I found easy depth and power, but it wasn't overwhelming, so I didn't feel tempted to overhit. I had enough control to work through a point and enough power to help me put away balls when given the opportunity. This racquet isn't super whippy, but I could generate decent head speed to produce plenty of spin for my playing style. My only qualm is that I wish it had a bit more flex. The V1 Pro series hasn't changed much in terms of comfort, but my preferences over the years have trended toward more flexible racquets."

For Jason, this update was a clear improvement over past models as far as stability and plow through are concerned. He said, "I found the racquet to be pretty versatile, and it provided a nice combination of power, spin, control and maneuverability. I definitely noticed that I was able to handle pace better and hit through the ball more with this latest version compared to the previous model. According to PlaySight, I was getting just as much topspin with this racquet as I do with my own Pure Strike. The access to spin and the maneuverability allowed me to find some sharp angles with my shots. I definitely preferred a soft poly strung at a lower tension to help combat the stiff response."

Volleys - Score: 81

Moving into net, the V-Feel V1 Pro offered our playtesters precision and stability. Jason found that the racquet had a great response when he met the ball inside the sweetspot. He said, "This racquet felt fast and provided nice pop when I made clean contact. I found the sweetspot to be smaller than average, and when I hit outside of it there was a noticeable drop in performance. However, even with a more muted feel, I was pretty successful in hitting my drop and touch volleys."

Unlike Jason, Brittany didn't find the V-Feel V1 Pro to feel especially fast at net, but she didn't have any issues with her timing. She described, "Although this racquet is not as maneuverable as the previous iteration, I was still able to get it into position up at net. It was also very stable, so I didn't feel like I was getting pushed around much. I never felt late for a volley and was able to punch the ball deep in the court to end the point. I didn't have as much touch as I would have liked, so I stuck to the basics with my volleys and didn't try anything fancy."

Tiffani enjoyed the comfortable and stable feel of the V1 Pro at net, although she struggled with the response at times. She said, "I had some issues with my volleys popping up a bit more than I would like when I didn't stick them well. Other than that occasional problem, I thought this racquet was stable and maneuverable enough for me. The feel was comfortable even on off-center shots."

Kristen found the V-Feel V1 Pro a bit sluggish through the air on volleys. She said, "This racquet felt solid up at net, but it was not the most maneuverable. Therefore, I didn't love it for swinging volleys or putting away shots, but it was great for point-and-shoot volleys."

Serves - Score: 79

Although several playtesters needed some time to adjust to the lower power of this V-Feel V1 Pro on serves, hitting their targets came easy. Tiffani explained, "To my surprise, it took me a while to figure out my serves with the V-Feel V1 Pro. I enjoyed serving with past versions, so I was fully expecting to settle in quickly on serves like I did at the baseline. Initially, my serves were landing just past the service line. I was missing a bit of the snappiness of previous versions. As I emphasized my motion I found more of my serves landing in the box, and as I became more comfortable serving I was able to hit large targets with relative ease."

Brittany added, "When it came to serves, I focused more on targets. Although I could generate some pace on my first serve, it took a lot of additional effort to get the racquet up and moving. I enjoyed hitting serves up the T on the deuce side and out wide on the ad side. The V-Feel V1 Pro had a pretty predictable response, so I felt confident on my second serves. I just had to make sure I was keeping the racquet moving and add a little extra spin."

Kristen would have liked more maneuverability for her serves. She described, "Unfortunately, I just could not get into a good groove on serves. The V1 Pro just came around too slow, and I was often missing long. I couldn't generate the racquet head speed I needed to achieve a lot of spin, and I struggled to get any consistency on my serve. I would have preferred a more head-light balance here to help with maneuverability and to allow me to get that racquet head moving faster around the ball."

On the flip side, Jason was able to swing big on serves with the V-Feel V1 Pro. He said, "The way this racquet is weighted and balanced made it really easy to serve with. It swung fast, and I could accelerate it through contact with ease. With the open string pattern I was able to impart plenty of spin and get the ball to drop into the service box for a high serving percentage."

Returns - Score: 82

The V-Feel V1 Pro excelled when it came to feel on returns, allowing our playtesters to place the ball accurately. Brittany found that the racquet also redirected pace well. She said, "I think the return is where the stability shone for the V-Feel V1 Pro. I felt very confident hitting returns and knowing where the ball was going to land. I had success using the pace of the serve and blocking back my returns deep into the corners. Occasionally, I would run into issues when I had to create my own power on a second serve return, but after some adjustments I was starting to really dial those in as well."

Tiffani could return with ease, but sometimes overcompensated on her swing. She noted, "I liked how this racquet felt on returns. It helped me hit my returns with depth and held up fairly well in terms of stability. I did tend to want to go for a bit too much on my returns, and in those instances I would send the ball well past the baseline. I did better shortening up my swing and using the incoming pace rather than trying to generate more power."

Jason felt confident swinging big on returns, but he was missing some touch at times. He elaborated, "I thought this V1 Pro was nice for hitting a variety of returns. I could execute an angled return or take a full swing because of the whippiness of the racquet. Where I struggled a bit was blocking big serves back with depth. Most of those shots seemed to land much shorter than anticipated, immediately putting me on the defensive. I think some weight added to the hoop would help that out."

Kristen had a few timing issues when returning with the V-Feel V1 Pro. She said, "Same as with serves, I couldn't find my rhythm on returns. There were times when a serve landed in my hitting zone, and I had enough leeway to swing through the ball and hit a well-placed offensive return. However, more often than not, I found I was getting tripped up with timing. The racquet came around a bit slower than I'm used to, so I was often catching the ball late or not swinging through with enough speed to produce good depth or good targeting."

Overall - Score: 81