{"id":1181,"date":"2021-12-01T11:41:22","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T11:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/?p=1181"},"modified":"2023-09-27T09:53:05","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T09:53:05","slug":"wilson-clash-98-racket-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wilson-clash-98-racket-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilson Clash 98 Racket Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My racket of choice for the past 3 years has been the Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph<\/a> but recently I have felt the need to change to a lighter more arm friendly frame<\/a> like the Wilson Clash 98.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have had on-and-off tennis elbow issues ever since I demoed<\/a> a Babolat Pure Strike a few years ago and although I don’t think my RF97 <\/a>made the condition any worse, I did think I needed a less stiff frame if I wanted to continue playing tennis for many more years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I looked at other arm-friendly rackets like the Blade 98<\/a> and the Clash 100<\/a> but after some research, I decided to go with the Clash 98<\/a> as it is the most control focused option in the Clash Series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I loved the control I got from my RF97<\/a> so I was looking for a racket that would give me a good level of control but without the stiffness of the RF97.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a stiffness rating of 55, the Clash 98 V1 seemed the perfect fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lot of hype around the launch of the Clash Series so I demoed the racket<\/a> just to make sure it was a right fit for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can read my full review* below but the result was that I have now switched from my Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph<\/a> to the Wilson Clash 98<\/a> and I couldn’t be happier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Please note that the below review is for the V1 of the Clash 98 but I hope to be able to review V2 which was released in February 2022 in the near future.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson Clash 98 V1 Specs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Wilson<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Wilson Clash 98<\/strong> I demoed was strung with Wilson Sensation Multifilament Strings<\/a> with a string tension of 50 lbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below are the factory specifications for the Clash 98<\/strong> but bear in mind that quality control issues can cause the racket you actually get to be +\/- 10% of the below specs in terms of Strung Weight, Balance, and Swing Weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Head Size:<\/strong><\/td>98 in\u00b2<\/td><\/tr>
Length:<\/strong><\/td>27 in<\/td><\/tr>
Unstrung Weight:<\/strong><\/td>310 g<\/td><\/tr>
Balance:<\/strong><\/td>31.5 cm \/ 9 pts Head Light<\/td><\/tr>
Strung Weight:<\/strong><\/td>326 g<\/td><\/tr>
Swing Weight:<\/strong><\/td>326 g<\/td><\/tr>
String Pattern:<\/strong><\/td>16 x 19<\/td><\/tr>
Stiffness Rating: <\/strong><\/td>55<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wilson Clash 98 V1 Review<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Groundstrokes (8\/10)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The racket really excelled from the back of the court and provided me with a good balance of power, control, and spin on both my forehand and my backhand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also felt it was a lot more forgiving on off center shots than my old RF97.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing I always worry about when switching to a lighter frame than my RF97 is whether the lower weight affects the quality of my backhands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I definitely thought I lost a tiny bit on the backhand<\/a> side in terms of control but this was compensated by the additional power I got on my forehand side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The racket was also good at helping me add some extra topspin on my shots without making any changes to my technique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many times I would hit a groundstroke and I would think that it was going to sail long but somehow it would land in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a low stiffness rating<\/strong> of 55, I also felt like I could play for hours without having any arm or elbow issues as it is definitely the most arm friendly frame I have ever played with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, I would give the racket 8 out of 10<\/strong> on groundstrokes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serve (9\/10)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The racket felt great with my serve as it gave me the feeling that I could just pick my target and go for it and it would land in the service box. In comparison to my old RF97, I definitely felt like I got a few extra MPH on my serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of absolute precision on the serve, I think the RF97 is better but I think the balance of power and control you get on your serve will be better for the vast majority of recreational players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On my second serves, I felt like I was able to get a good amount of topspin so that I could be more aggressive with my second serves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, I would give the racket 9 out of 10<\/strong> on serves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Return of Serve (8\/10)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I had no issues in terms of my return of serve as I felt it was a solid racket on both my forehand and backhand returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also felt like if I missed the sweet spot, I had some chance of getting my return over the net when compared to returns using my old RF97.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where I really think this racket excelled was returning weak second serves as I felt like I could really go for my shots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, I would give the racket, 8 out of 10<\/strong> on the return of serve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volleys (9\/10)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I really wasn’t expecting the Clash 98<\/strong> to be anywhere near as good as my old RF97 when it came to volleys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I was pleasantly surprised by how good and how stable the frame was at the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It definitely has a different feel to the RF97 and it does take a little time to adjust to it but when you do it is a real weapon at the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, I would give the racket 9 out of 10<\/strong> on volleys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall Score (8.5\/10)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Overall, It is very hard to find anything wrong with this racket as it provides an excellent balance of power, control, and spin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its arm friendliness<\/a> is also worth its weight in gold as I am now able to play for two hours and not feel anything in my arm the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are a Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph user and\/or you have a one handed backhand<\/a> and you are looking for a lighter and more arm friendly option to switch to, then I can highly recommend the Clash 98.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are a beginner then this racket may not be the best option for you as it is relatively heavy so you will probably be better off going for a Clash 100<\/a> or Clash 100L<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where can you buy the Wilson Clash 98 V1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You will find the Clash 98<\/a> in most good online tennis shops like Tennis Warehouse, Tennis Express, and Amazon (see link below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Version 1<\/strong> is currently on sale but Wilson released Version 2 in 2022, with only small changes being made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to buy it and you want to support our site then consider purchasing it through Amazon by clicking on the button below as we will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check price on Amazon<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My racket of choice for the past 3 years has been the Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph but recently I have felt the need to change to a lighter more arm friendly frame like the Wilson Clash 98. I have had on-and-off tennis elbow issues ever since I demoed a Babolat Pure Strike a few<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}