Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS Racket Review

I took part in a Wimbledon fantasy draft this year and ended up with Aussie, John Millman as one of my lower picks.

In honor of the Tecnifibre wielding Aussie I thought I’d do a review of one of the Tecnifibre rackets and ended up with the Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS.

I tried out the slightly heavier 300g version of this racket a few months back and was pretty impressed with what I found.

It reminded me a little bit of a Babolat Pure Drive, offering serious power and spin.

The 285g TFlash PS should be a little bit easier to use for intermediate players but still offer some easy power and spin.

Tecnifibre isn’t the biggest name among racket manufacturers, but they do make some very good rackets.

I have found them to lack a little bit of consistency through their racket ranges, but there have been some sticks that I’ve really enjoyed.

There’s a lot of competition for rackets at the 285g weight, so hopefully the Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS would strike the right balance.

With the lighter rackets, I tend to look for a balance of power, control, spin, and maneuverability as opposed to one characteristic in particular.

Too often I find lighter rackets just aim to give players access to easy power and spin without paying too much attention to anything else.

I don’t think this benefits anyone because as an intermediate you’re looking to improve all aspects of your game.

That’s much easier to do when you have a well-balanced racket.

Some of the rackets that I’ve found do this well are the Wilson Blade 98L, the Yonex Vcore Pro 97 (290) and the Prince Textreme Tour 100 (290), so it will be interesting to see how the TFlash compares.

This racket should have a little bit more power potential than the ones I just mentioned, but hopefully, it will still maintain some good levels of control.

One thing I’m sure about with this racket is that it will be nice and easy to maneuver.

It’s vital when you’re developing your game that you have a racket that you’re comfortable playing with, and the Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS should tick that box.

For this playtest, I thought I would mix things up a bit and go with a full set of Alu Power strings at 52 lbs.

This setup should give a nice balance between power, spin, and control to hopefully get the most out of my game.

The way you set up your racket can make quite a difference to how it plays, so if you’re looking for ways to adjust your racket why not check out Tom’s Tennis String Tension Guide?

I seem to find Tecnifibre’s rackets are quite hit or miss, so would the Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS be the hit or the miss in this equation?

Groundstrokes

6.5out of 10

The first thing I’ll look for with a more intermediate racket is how easy it is to play with.

You want something that you can get into position without too much fuss and that you feel comfortable with in your hands.

The TFlash certainly fits the bill in this regard.

It’s super fast through the swing and the even balance of the racket felt very comfortable to me.

285g isn’t the perfect weight for me, but for intermediate players, I think it is a good middle ground.

While I found the Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS was exactly what I wanted when it came to maneuverability, it wasn’t quite what I wanted performance-wise.

For me, the 300g version of this racket just about got away with its power levels because it was a bit more stable, but this 285g version just felt a little bit tinny.

I had plenty of easy power and spin available to me with this stick, but the way it was generated, I didn’t feel as if I was in complete control of what was happening.

If your main concerns are power and spin then you might find this stick to your liking, but in terms of pure performance, I don’t think it stacks up against rackets like the VCore Pro 97 (290).

For an immediate bump in power and spin levels you might want to take a look at this racket, but I’m not sure it’s the best racket for overall development.

Although I was pretty happy with the way the TFlash swung it just lacked a little stability on contact.

This meant I didn’t have the control I would normally look for.

There are plenty of rackets that offer much less control than the Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS, but equally, there are quite a few rackets around this weight that feel much more solid.

The type of rackets players look for varies greatly though, so if you want something that’s maneuverable with more of an emphasis on spin and power then this racket is worth taking a look at.

Personally, I wasn’t a huge fan of the Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS. Although it was easy to use and fairly comfortable it just didn’t have the control levels I wanted.

I would want something more stable myself, but for players who are more concerned with power and spin it’s not a bad stick.

I gave the TFlash 285 PS a 6.5 out of 10 for the groundstrokes.

Volleys

7out of 10

The TFlash’s lack of stability from the back of the court didn’t bode well for volleys.

When you’re at the net you want something that can absorb power and pop the ball back to the other side, and in order to do that effectively, you need some stability.

This is never going to be easy for a lightweight racket to do, and it’s not a strong point for the TFight.

Although it doesn’t really offer much in terms of stability, it does do well on maneuverability and that’s also very important for volleying.

When you’re a developing player it can be quite hard to perfect the volleys, so you’re going to want all the help you can get.

If you’ve got a racket that’s really easy to get into position then that can make a big difference.

The Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS is one of those rackets that you’ll find easy to get into position and you’ll find this can make a positive difference to your netplay.

As long as you’re not spending too much time at the net then the TFlash 285 does a pretty good job.

For someone who is serve volleying a lot I don’t think it quite has the volleying ability that you need, but, for the rest of us, it does an adequate job.

I gave the Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS a 7 out of 10 for volleys.

While the pace isn’t too high this racket performs ok at the net, but the harder the ball comes at you, the more you will find it lacks stability.

 

Serve

6.5out of 10

The TFlash offered much of the same when it came to the serve.

Maneuverability was the big plus, but it was let down by a lack of stability.

I found this meant I was able to produce a lot of racket head speed but couldn’t turn it into meaningful power.

It’s a difficult balance to find that allows you to get great racket speed and convert it into good power, and for me, the TFlash didn’t quite get it right.

Perhaps for players that look more towards power and spin the balance might be a little better, but I’m still not convinced.

I found it particularly difficult to get consistency on my second serve with the Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS because of the lack of control.

I felt like the strings were moving a lot which was giving me easy spin, but I never felt like I was in control of it.

This started to affect my first serve as well because I knew I had to make more first serves to try and take the pressure off my second serve.

If you keep things very simple with this racket then you won’t have too many problems, but if you keep developing your game and try to do more complex things then you might find that the performance runs out.

I really struggled on serve with the Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS and gave it a 6.5 out of 10.

Again, it’s nice and maneuverable but lacks stability.

Overall

6.5out of 10

I wouldn’t put the Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS in the same class as rackets like the Wilson Blade 98L, the Yonex VCore Pro 97 (290), and the Prince Textreme Tour 100 (290), but it does offer something slightly different.

The overall performance is not as good as those rackets, but it does give players a little more access to easy power and spin.

If that’s what you’re looking for then the racket is worth checking out. However, as your level increases, I don’t think the TFlash will have the performance to keep up with you.

I particularly struggled on groundstrokes and serves, where a lack of stability meant less control and a lack of confidence in the racket.

Things were actually a little bit better at the net, but once again, it didn’t have the stability to stand up once the power levels were increased.

Overall, this amounted to a score of 6.5 out of 10. There are certainly worse rackets than the Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS, but there are other rackets in this weight class that I would prefer to play with.

 

Is This Racket Right For Your Game? Find Out With a Custom Fitting!
Discover Your Excalibur!

Groundstrokes

6.5

out of 10

Volleys

7

out of 10

Serve

6.5

out of 10

Overall

6.5

out of 10

Get the Tecnifibre TFlash 285 PS Racket for the Best Price from RacquetGuys!
Buy Now

Explore more