The Vector is a thermoformed paddle, meaning it has a heat molded carbon frame that surrounds the perimeter of the paddle that often adds power potential and forgiveness to a paddle build. It features a 15mm thick core instead of the traditional 14mm to 16mm options that aims to balance the benefits of each while eliminating the need to choose between them. It’s an elongated paddle at 16.5” giving it great reach, and the octagonally molded handle measures an impressive 5.75” giving players with two-handed backhands plenty of room to fit both hands on the paddle.

The surface material is a raw carbon fiber with a fine weave that should offer longer lasting spin potential than rougher weaves on the market. The face is more squared than we are used to seeing on an elongated paddle, and it offers a larger hitting surface naturally, but it also pulls more weight to the perimeter of the paddle offering more stability on off center shots.

Dinks and Drops – Being an all-court to power paddle, it does take more touch than a control paddle like the Versix Raw to place the ball accurately, and we had to focus on our grip pressure to keep the power in check. Where this paddle makes up for that power in the touch game is having such a large sweet spot and offering a consistent response edge to edge so that mishits don’t feel like mishits as often. We felt confident that if we made the right stroke, the ball went where we wanted even when we missed the center of the paddle.

Drives and Serves – Being a paddle designed for a professional tennis player, the Vector shines from the baseline. A slightly head-heavy balance and the whip from an extended handle make it easy to generate pace, and the raw carbon fiber texture offers us enough spin to bend the ball well, though it’s not the most spin on the market. Even players with weaker drives will feel confident driving more third shots and going for a more aggressive serve with the Vector.

Volleys and Hands Battles – The trade off with more plow through and power potential is usually slightly slower hand speed at the net, and that did ring true with the Vector, though players used to elongated paddles won’t notice a difference. When the paddle was in position, the best word we could use to describe the feeling was ‘solid’. We didn’t get much twisting or vibration when standing up against bangers and strong drives, and we felt like the Vector was as good at blocking pace as it was creating it.

The Vector was designed at the standard weight a little over 8 ounces, and players capable of managing the weight will get the most performance out of that model. The tradeoff with lighter weights comes in stability and power potential but does offer faster hand speed. Players who aren’t able to manage the 121-123 swingweight of the standard weight model can still get the shape and construction benefits of the Vector with the lightweight model, but they may need to add some weighted tape to get the stability they need to play their best game.