Percept 100D Racquet Review

The Percept 100D. It’s a player’s take on the tweener racquet with a 23mm flat beam, a wide 100 square inch isometric head and 18x19 string pattern. All-in-all, the 100D might be the most well rounded frame I’ve ever tested, curing the power and stability issues I found with the Percept 97, performing more neutrally and feeling more connected than the Speed MP while being more comfortable than the Pure Aero 98 and more forgiving than the EZONE 98.

In this article, we are going to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the Percept 100D, I’ll tell you about my preferred string setups for the frame and we’ll go through a quick customization guide to help you get the most out of your 100D, but first, here’s EVERYTHING BAD.

Everything Bad.

This is a new segment on TennCom where first, I tell you everything bad about whatever I’m reviewing. For me, the biggest issue with the 100D came when I chose the wrong string setup. Overly muted or soft strings, like Toroline Wasabi or Toro Toro exaggerate the flex of the frame and create this disconnected and mushy feel.

While Servo-Filter has been an improvement over VDM for the Percept line, there’s still quite a bit of “artificial” flex with the 100D. You can feel that Yonex has done everything they can to make the Percept as stable as possible for a box-ish beam control frame, while also maximizing ball-pocketing and comfort in their “control” line.

The wrong string, especially when the racquet is used in stock form, makes the racquet feel too noodley. You lose the punch, the frame doesn’t feel like it’s redirecting energy into the court, it feels like it’s absorbing everything, resulting in slow fluffers that your opponent will happily gobble up.

Thankfully, beyond everything bad, the 100D is quite good.

Spin

When it comes to spin production, I care more about a racquet’s ability to modulate spin rather than looking for maximum RPM’s. This is one problem that I have with the Pure Aero 98. That racquet boxes me in, forcing me to swing like I’m hitting a flat shot only to produce a pretty spinny ball. I’ll admit, this does result in one of the heaviest balls I can hit with any frame, but I dislike how “out of control” I feel over my shot selection when using the Aero 98.

The 100D, on the other hand, modulates spin like an absolute champ. The racquet lets you clearly decide between flat, topspin and slice shots, outputting the ball you expect every single time. Especially for an 18 main frame, the 100D might be the most spin friendly tight pattern racquet I’ve ever tried, even eclipsing my Whiteout 18x20. The width of the head shape reminds me a lot of the Gravity series, providing a wide spin-window which helps you brush up the back of the ball with ease.

Here’s some raw hitting footage of my using the Percept 100D, modified.

Control

As you might expect from an 18x19 pattern, the control on the 100D is excellent. While I did lose a lot of control when going for strings that were too soft, firmer strings keep everything in check. Changing direction on my 2 handed backhand felt effortless and predictable, making the 100D one of my favourite racquets on the market off that side. The stringbed is quite predictable, and there’s very little hoop flex on this frame so taking returns early rewards you with great depth-control and pace-redirection. I even felt dialed on my flat forehand up the line, a shot that doesn’t come super naturally to me, but a shot that really defines whether or not I can play well long term with any frame.

Power

Power is one of the weaker aspects with this frame, especially when compared to other 100’s, like the Speed MP or the CX400 Tour. A big reason for the lower power comes from a 320 swingweight which is now well below my typical range. When I began testing the 100D, I was using my Whiteout 18x20 at 330 swingweight but have since switched to an incredibly powerful setup in my 338SW Pure Aero Rafa. So in stock form, of course I’m going to find the frame a bit wimpy. Court penetration with any 320SW frame doesn’t come easily when you are used to racquets at 330+. Thankfully, this is easily rectified with some weight at 12. Once I spec’d up the 100D, I felt much more comfortable finding depth and heaviness into the court.

Since the beam is medium thick and the RA is medium high at 66 strung, the 100D does redirect pace pretty well and the maneuverability is such that it’s easy to find high swingspeeds to hit big balls.

Stability

The stability is pretty outstanding in stock form.  This was one of my biggest complaints with the Percept 97, it’s an I have issue with the EZONE 98 and I’m happy to say that Yonex has done a great job managing a strong stability to maneuverability ratio. Even in stock form, the stiffened racquet face resists bending well, especially with the right string setup.

The combination of the dense pattern, large hitting surface and solid stability makes the 100D one of my favourite racquets on the market for service returns. While torsional stability can be improved with weight at 3 and 9, increasing the twistweight, I think anything more than stock would reduce the maneuverability too much, making spin modulation and racquet head speed generation too inaccessible for the average player.

Strings

I really like Polytour Pro-esque strings in this frame. Toroline Wasabi, K-Pop and Toro Toro were all either too soft or too muted for my preferences, killing the relatively connected feel of the Percept. ReString Sync was fine but uninspiring and I definitely prefer a shaped string in the 100D to help facilitate spin.

My favourite string in this frame so far has been Caviar. You get a very similar overall feel to the yellow PTP, but a 6-sided profile for better ball bite and the tension maintenance is quite a bit better. Since the ball-pocketing on the 100D is so strong already, I don’t think it’s necessary to go to anything softer, like Hyper-G Soft to find a connected feel.

Especially since the comfort is pretty good on this frame as it is, I would recommend most players to go with something slightly medium stiff and crisper, like Caviar, Confidential or Grapplesnake Alpha.

Customizations

In stock form, the 100D was definitely too light. The lack of weight creates more bending in the frame that I’d prefer when facing big hitters like Ale or even Luca when he isn’t injured. There’s almost a thin feeling to the graphite, like the flex is being bottomed out. When the racquet is pushed to its limit, you lose the Yonex solid feel and the racquet kind of feels second rate. I wonder if the graphite on these is actually thinner, especially since Karue seems to be cracking racquets left and right.

Adding a leather grip and a few grams at 12 transformed my experience. The whole frame feels so much more solid at the ball speeds I encounter and there’s almost a prostocky H22 hitting feel. Even at a 333 swingweight, spin comes easily and the court penetration is heroic.

I probably hit some of the hardest balls I’ve ever hit with this setup (video above).

Player Recommendations

Overall, the Percept 100D is one of my favourite racquets on the market. It’s an easy recommendation to players who want a Speed Pro or a Blade 98 in a more forgiving package. I even think it’s a decent substitute for the Pure Aero 98 if you need more comfort and control.

The lower stock swingweight and forgiving head shape makes it totally usable for players at the 3.5ish level and up.

The Percept 100D is a phenomenal all-around frame that’s as comfortable approaching the net and hitting volleys as it is playing big topspin loopy defense. This frame could have easily been a switch for me had I not found the Rafa 290 and I think it’s a must-demo if you are interested.