Wilson Clash 100 Racket Review

At 295g unstrung, the Clash 100 is a whole 10g lighter than a racket like the Babolat Pure Strike, but it has been designed to maximize performance from a lesser weight, so the two rackets actually felt quite comparable when we were playing with them.

In our opinion, and seemingly a lot of other peoples’ too, the Pure Strike is an unbelievable racket, so that’s high praise indeed.

The first thing you notice with this racket is the unique feel.

It just seems to do things in a different way to most other rackets, and although it takes a little bit of getting used to, it is extremely enjoyable to play with.

That feel does make it seem like you’ve got a lot of power at your fingertips, but it always seems to be backed up by good control, and plenty of spin to drag the ball back into court.

I normally like to play with an 18 x 20 string pattern and flatten my strokes out a bit, but I was hitting such a  heavy ball with the Clash and pushing my opponents back with topspin to good effect.

I really think this racket is a perfect stick for intermediate players and advanced players who want something under 300g but despite the Clash’s great performance I just don’t think it’s something I could go for.

I just craved slightly more weight and swingweight to redirect the ball, and that’s the one thing I think would hold some players back.

However, for those players whose games suit this weight of racket, you can’t ask for much more.

The Wilson Clash 100 gives you access to plenty of power, spin, and control, all in a comfortable package.

We gave it an 8 out of 10 for the groundstrokes.

The net was one place where I wasn’t quite so sure I gelled with the Clash 100.

It felt like it did get pushed around a little bit when I was playing against a lot of power and that’s my main criticism of this racket.

Other than a slight lack of stability there’s nothing to complain about though.

It’s so easy to get this racket into position and no matter how poorly you miss time the ball it still doesn’t give you any horrible vibrations shooting through your joints.

The best part of volleying with this racket was the ease with which I could put away the easy balls.

Sometimes when the ball is floated at you with no pace it can be difficult to inject power into the ball to hit the winner, but the Clash made this nice and easy.

This will really suit aggressive baseliners who come into the net to finish the point off and that’s when I found I was getting the most out of the Clash 100.

For singles, the Clash did enough for me at the net, but for doubles, I would probably want a little bit more stability on contact.

Nevertheless, we saw enough from the Clash 100 to give it a 7.5 out of 10 for volleys, a very good score for a 295 racket.

The maneuverability of the Wilson Clash 100 really shows through on the serve which is great for players who struggle to keep their racket head speed up throughout the motion.

Sometimes when you get a little nervous on the serve it’s easy to lose racket head speed, but the Clash 100 encourages you to keep the racket moving quickly.

Again, I found I got good performance from the Clash on the serve, particularly for a racket that’s 295g.

The feel of this stick is quite unique, but the serve was one area where I particularly enjoyed how it played.

I felt like I had plenty of pop for those big booming first serves but plenty of spin and control for the second serve.

All in all, I had a lot of fun serving with the Wilson Clash 100, generating good power without losing consistency.

This earned the Clash an 8 out of 10 on the serve.

I really liked pinging the return back with the Clash but it did lack a little bit of control for my liking.

When I connected perfectly the results were pretty frightening for my opponents, but too many times I floated the ball deep past the baseline.

I do think the weight makes a bit of a difference when it comes to the return as the lighter rackets get pushed around a little bit more than the heavier ones.

When you’re up against a big server this makes things a little bit difficult, but for the most part, it’s not a big issue.

For me, this was probably the weakest part of the playtest, but the Clash still manages a 7.5 out of 10.

You can’t fault the comfort of this racket, it just lacks a tiny bit of stability on shots like the return.

We had to conclude that the Wilson Clash 100 was a very good racket, particularly for one that weighs just 295g.

If you’re looking for a racket around this weight that offers all-round performance then you should definitely give this one a try because it is very unique.

We were particularly impressed with its performance on the serve and groundstrokes, but it didn’t let itself down on the volleys and return either.

When it comes to players this racket would suit there’s not really any style I would exclude.

Whether you’re the aggressive baseliner, feisty counter-puncher or net rusher, the Clash 100 could do a good job for you.

The only limit to its capabilities is perhaps the stability which I could see putting off a few players.

All in all, though, this is a very good racket and we gave it an 8 out of 10.