Tecnifibre T40 305 Racket Review

Different types of players want different qualities from their rackets. For me, I want to be able to swing fast and know I’ve got tons of control at my disposal.

That’s one of the reasons I use the Babolat Pure Strike 18 x 20, because I feel it balances lots of control with good manoeuvrability.

The Tecnifibre T40 305 is very similar to the Pure Strike in many ways, particularly how it gives you that sense of complete control.

Having not played in a little while, I was feeling a bit rusty before this playtest, but after a couple of days with the T40, I felt like I had complete confidence in my strokes.

Because you have that control, you can really go after your shots, and focus on maximizing your swing speed.

People always associate power with power rackets like the Babolat Pure Drive, but for me, true power comes from your strokes, and you need control to be able to unleash it all.

For a 305g racket, the manoeuvrability of this racket isn’t anything special, but for stronger players, this shouldn’t be an issue, and instead, you benefit from great stability.

This is what makes sure your swing speed is turned into controlled power, and the T40 does this extremely well.

The last thing to note on the groundstrokes is that this racket has really nice feel.

It’s happy hitting big, hard strokes, but it’s equally adept at hitting the finesse shots. With good comfort levels, nice feel, and loads of control, there’s a lot to like about the T40.

We gave the Tecnifibre T40 305 a 9 out of 10 for groundstrokes.

This is the area where I think I’d probably prefer the 315g version of this racket, just because it gives you a little bit more mass to control the ball with.

Having said that, the Tecnifibre T40 305 does a very good job at the net for its weight.

The 326 swingweight helps absorb some of the power that’s coming at you and the 18 x 20 string pattern allows you to pop the ball back with good feel.

It’s definitely a racket that I preferred from the baseline, but the way the majority of players play I think this stick is perfectly set up.

When you do follow in your big groundstrokes to put the ball away at the net you’ve got everything you need – control, touch, and stability.

Playing doubles with this racket was also very comfortable, although I did miss the extra weight of my racket (my Pure Strike is weighted up to about 315g).

For those people who feel most at home with a racket around the 300g mark though, there’s not much more you could ask for from this racket.

A very solid performance from the T40 305 at the net earned it a score of 8 out of 10 for the volleys.

I got lots of control and a surprisingly good amount of pop on the serve with the Tecnifibre T40.

The balance is set up nicely to get the racket moving through the ball, and the stability on contact can result in some serious power.

Again, it’s a stick that’s better suited to people with fast swings, and if that’s you, then there are a lot of benefits to be had.

One thing I found a little bit more difficult was getting spin on the serve.

The 18 x 20 string pattern isn’t super spin-friendly, and I wasn’t getting my kick serve to go, but that’s probably just rust, and the fact I’m not great at it anyway!

However, it is something to remember for players who struggle to generate spin, this stick will make you work a little bit harder to get those revs on the ball.

Overall though, I had a very positive playtest with the Tecnifibre T40 305 on serve, and I enjoyed the stability, balance, and comfort. We gave it an 8.5 out of 10.

The stability of the T40 really comes up trumps on the return. You don’t want a racket that’s going to get pushed around by a big serve, and for a 305g racket, this stick certainly doesn’t.

You’ve got to have control when you’re returning and that’s the key characteristics with this racket, so I really enjoyed myself.

Whether I was blocking back big first serves or laying into second serves I got the ball to go where I wanted it to and made a lot of returns back in court.

For this weight of racket, there’s little more I would ask for on the return and it helped me break serve plenty of times during the days I was playtesting.

I’m trying to think of any drawbacks but I can’t really find any.

Perhaps, for those players who seek power, it’s going to lack a little bit of pop on return, but if it’s control you seek, then it should have everything you need.

We really enjoyed returning with the Tecnifibre T40 305 and gave it an 8.5 out of 10.

Tecnifibre has produced an excellent racket to celebrate its 40th birthday!

The T40 305 has lots of the characteristics we love from a classic frame, with all the added advantages of modern technology.

It’s a racket for those people who love to take big, powerful cuts at the ball, with lots of stability and control.

We particularly enjoyed playing with the T40 from the back of the court, where it’s excellent feel also shone through, but this racket didn’t let us down at the net either.

Ideally, this racket is suited to someone who loves to be aggressive from the baseline and finish the point off at the net, so if this is you, then you should certainly take a look at this stick.

A great playtest, and a great racket to escape lockdown with – we gave the Tecnifibre T40 305 a 9 out of 10.