A racket rarely seen on the pro tour, the Wilson Burn is pitched by Wilson as “the ideal performance racket for baseliners looking to hit powerful, counterpunching shots”. So when Wilson offered to send us one for review, we put it to the test. In this Wilson Burn 100 V5 racket review, we’ll be sharing our thoughts on the racket, including the pros and cons about the frame, why we loved it and who we thinks it suits.
Please note that while this racket was gifted to us for review by Wilson, we’re committed to providing impartial and accurate reviews. We only ever recommend tennis gear we would use ourselves!
Wilson Burn 100 V5 - Racket Specs
| Length | 27 inch / 68.58 cm |
| Head Size | 100 in² / 645 cm² |
| String Pattern | 16 Mains / 19 Crosses |
| Unstrung Weight | 10.6 oz / 300 g |
| Strung Weight | 11.2 oz / 316 g |
| Balance | 7 pts HL / 32.0 cm |
| Composition | Carbon Fibre Graphite |
| Beam Width | 23.5mm / 25mm / 23.5mm |
| Swingweight | 320 |
| Stiffness | 72 RA |
| String Tension | 50-60 pounds |
Wilson Burn 100 V5 - Design & Aesthetics
Wilson have delivered a frame that a tailor made for big baseline hitters.
The Wilson Burn 100 V5, as with previous models, features a lightweight, 300g and 7 points Head Light design that makes the racket easy to manoeuvre. It features a traditional 16×19 string pattern and Parallel Drilling, a grommet setup that helps create a bigger sweet spot and a more forgiving and consistent response off the string bed. The frame is made with high performance carbon fibre within a thicker dual taper beam for increased stiffness.
As for the paint job, it’s absolutely stunning. The fiery ‘burnt orange’ colour combined with matte metallic finish gives the frame a luxurious look and feel and makes it the perfect addition to Wilson’s star studded racket lineup.
The design is certainly impressive, but the real question is: how does the Burn 100 V5 perform on court?
Our Racquet Testing Setup
For this playtest, we were very kindly sent a Wilson Burn 100 V5 already strung with their Wilson Sensation 17 multifilament string at approx. 55 lbs.
Overall Test Results - Wilson Burn 100 V5
Here’s a quick overview of the ratings we awarded the racquet in our test:
Groundstrokes - Score: 85
As a racket designed for big hitting baseliners, it will come as no surprise that the Wilson Burn 100 V5 performs brilliantly on groundstrokes.
The head light balance makes the racket really easy to swing and after just a couple of minutes of hitting, it was obvious that generating power with this racket is easy. Though as is often the case with power rackets, the challenge isn’t creating power, it’s it keeping it under control. Thankfully, the open 16×19 string pattern helps generate plenty of spin and, again, the 7 points HL design helps keep big shots from sailing beyond the baseline. We were able to really open up our shoulders and go for our shots without worrying too much about hitting the back fence.
Volleys - Score: 80
Admittedly, our initial concern was that volleying with the Burn 100 might be a little difficult. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find its easy enough to use at the net. The head light balance makes it easy to manoeuvre and the 100sq inch head size offers plenty of room for error when it comes to reaction volleys. And, as expected, getting some weight behind your volleys is easy enough too.
While it may not necessarily be designed for net players, it certainly performs well enough to allow players to swat balls away in the forecourt.
Serves - Score: 80
On serve, there’s no doubt that the Burn 100 packs one hell of a punch. Again, the racket is super easy to swing and makes hitting big serves a routine. With flat serves, the ball absolutely zooms off the racket while there’s still plenty of access to spin for more accurate slice or topspin serves.
Returns - Score: 70
When you’re on the other end of the serve however, the Burn 100 can take a bit of getting used to.
As you’d expect, hammering away a second serve return is easy enough thanks to the extra weight of shot, but returning big first serves is no easy task. Being accustomed to the much heavier and control oriented Wilson Pro Staff RF97, I personally found keeping chip returns in the court to be quite a challenge and found far more success just attempting to drive through the return instead. That being said, the Burn 100 is easy to manoeuvre with a short backswing and is absolutely lethal when attacking weaker serves.
Verdict - Who Is This Racquet For?
Wilson promised a combination of explosive power and spin, and it’s safe to say they’ve delivered! All in all, we’d say the Burn 100 is a racket perfectly suited to advanced club level players and up and coming juniors who are looking to develop an aggressive baseline game with easy access to power and depth. It may not suit everyone’s playing style, but in the hands of the right player, the Burn 100 is an absolute weapon on court.
Pros:
- Easy to Maneouvre
- Lots of Power
- Plenty of Spin
Cons:
- Can be difficult to control
We hope you’ve found this review useful though be sure to get in touch if you have any questions at all about the Wilson Burn 100 V5 or would like to share your experience of the racket!
