From the backcourt, the Percept 97D not only gave our playtesters impressive performance on the majority of their strokes, but it also earned glowing praise for its stability, plow through and feel. For Michelle, it was simply perfect off the ground. She said, "Maybe 2023 is the year of the 18x20 for me? I went into this playtest with my normal, 'I'm not really a tighter pattern gal' perspective, but that shifted the more I hit with the Percept 97D. I loved hitting forehands with this racquet. More specifically, I loved hitting powerful forehands and backhands too, but I really leaned into forehands down the line and even inside out. While the tighter pattern was noticeable, it didn't hinder my net clearance much, and when I wanted to add arc to the ball, I found it just fine. The Percept 97D felt the tiniest bit firmer to me than the 97H, which I liked as well. I honestly didn't even look at the specs during this playtest and have no clue what the weight or swingweight is, but it was working really well in my hands! The racquet was solid and stable and had a forgiving sweetspot. My shots were going deep in the court, and it was such a fun racquet to construct points with. It also made me want to hit slices off my backhand, and I found that to be an effective shot, whether from the baseline or moving forward off a backhand slice. The shot sat low to my opponent and allowed me to pounce on the next ball."

For Mark, this racquet's stable feel and controlled response were excellent, especially when paired with the right string and gauge. He explained, "From the first swing, the Percept 97D felt familiar to my VCORE PRO 97D, but it was a little faster through the air. Within a few groundstroke exchanges, I noticed the improved energy return of the Percept 97D. It feels a bit firmer off the hoop, making groundstroke shot depth easy to judge and produce. The Percept 97D's 11.9-ounce weight and high 325-plus swingweight were ideal for me. I especially liked how the Percept 97D absorbed pace and made it easy to change the direction of the ball. Spin was sufficient with a 16-gauge string, but it was stellar when matched with a thinner, profiled polyester, making the Yonex Percept 97D a reliable weapon from the baseline."

"I was impressed by how solid and stable the Percept 97D felt on groundstrokes," said Chris, who clearly appreciated this racquet's steady feel through impact. "The racquet offered excellent plow-through power and swung with a beefier feel compared to the last 97D I hit from Yonex, which was part of the VCORE PRO racquet line. This Percept 97D offered a more dampened feel, but I still found excellent control. As with the Percept 97H, my favorite shot to hit was my slice backhand. I liked how this racquet knifed through the ball. I also had fun unloading on down-the-line topspin backhands, and I was able to hit several winners with that shot. While this racquet is well within my spec range, it didn't feel like it wanted to maneuver easily, and I found some of my angle shots going too much toward the middle of the court rather than at the sharp angle I was aiming for."

Although he could have used a tad more spin, Troy found a lot to love about the Percept 97D on groundies. He described, "I loved the weight, swingweight and the overall feel I had when I picked this racquet up for the first time — kind of like an extension of my arm. I felt like the spec of this frame was just about perfect for me; it has enough mass to feel very solid and stable, and just enough maneuverability for me to be able to swing freely without feeling fatigued after a long session. I felt like the Percept 97H was bordering on the heavy side during long baseline sessions. There was plenty of touch and feel with this 97D, and I felt very connected to the ball when hitting drop shots and my backhand slice. The one knock I had with this Percept 97D from the baseline was that I wanted a slightly higher launch angle, and I was hoping for a bit easier topspin. I like the 16x19 pattern on the Percept 97 or 97H, especially on cross-court angles, and the 18x20 pattern on this 97D lacked just a bit when it came to getting the ball to dip down inside the lines."

With its plush and stable feel at impact, the Percept 97D proved exceptional on volleys. It also came around fast for its weight class, making it great on quick exchanges. For Troy, there was nothing this racquet couldn't do at the net. He said, "I enjoyed how maneuverable this racquet felt, and the precision was scalpel-like, reminding me of the Wilson Pro Staff 97 v14 in that sense. The relatively thin beam and the flexibility of the frame resulted in a nice, comfortable feel and pretty good ball-pocketing. This made for a plush feel, and I felt very connected to the ball on drop volleys and touch shots. The precision is what stood out, and it was slightly better than the Percept 97 and 97H, with the 18x20 pattern giving me a bit more connectedness and a feeling that I could place the ball very precisely."

"At net, the Percept 97D was pretty nimble for a 320-gram frame," said Mark, who clearly enjoyed this stick for volleys. "Whether I was setting up for a soft half volley or blocking a passing shot, the Yonex Percept 97D felt stable, crisp and predictable."

Chris loved how this racquet felt at impact. He said, "I found the Percept 97D an excellent racquet for volleys. I really enjoyed the comfortable response. The racquet had a pleasing feel at impact. I found ample stability, so the frame wasn't twisting in my hands even when fending off heavy shots. I liked the response of the Percept 97D on low pickup volleys and found I was still able to get enough on the ball to hit a decent shot."

For Michelle, the 97D moved fast and delivered an impressive blend of accuracy and power. She described, "At net, this racquet was maneuverable and made it easy to place balls exactly where I wanted. Because I was getting the ball deep with my groundstrokes I had to chase down a lot more short balls, which meant I was finishing a lot of points at net. I felt super confident getting the racquet in the right spot, and I could hit deep volleys or swipe away and punish any high balls.”

The Percept 97D was a joy for our team to serve with thanks to its combination of precision and mass-based power. Chris even managed to squeeze effective spin from this racquet's tight pattern. He said, "I liked serving with this racquet. The Percept 97D felt solid at impact, with good plow-through power and excellent stability. I was able to get enough rotation on the ball to hit second serves aggressively and still maintain some margin for error. I liked using a bit of spin on all my serves with this racquet. I could serve accurately, and I felt like I was hitting a pretty heavy serve."

When it came to serving, the biggest problem for Mark was deciding which Percept played best. He explained, "It is hard for me to decide if I preferred the Percept 97H or Percept 97D on serve, but I will definitely choose serve as my favorite shot to hit with either racquet. My serves were slightly more precise with the Percept 97D and a bit heavier with the 97H."

The 97D proved versatile and effective for Michelle on serve. She said, "I playtested this racquet alongside the Percept 97H, and I would hands down give the 97H the win in this category, but serving with this racquet was still a very positive experience. I could really go after my serves and never felt like I was hindered in terms of power. I also loved changing up my serve and leaning into kickers or slice serves, and I found the racquet maneuverable enough to accelerate quickly, allowing the ball to really jump. And since I was leaning into attacking balls down the line, especially off my forehand wing, I really worked on 'serve plus one' with this racquet, and I loved manipulating a serve so I could get a forehand I could take down the line."

On serve, Troy found just enough power and spin to keep his opponents in check. He said, "As I detailed in the groundstroke section, the Percept 97D had that perfect blend of mass and maneuverability. I could get some good plow through and weight behind my serves, but I still felt confident cranking up the racquet speed. I wouldn't necessarily say there was a lot of easy power coming off this racquet on the serve, but the mass of the racquet helped me generate pace on those flat first serves. I could hit my spin and kick serves with some good pace as well, which helped to push my opponents back. That said, I did like the slightly more open pattern from the Percept 97 and 97H because I could get easier bite on the ball, which helped me generate shape and angles on my serves — particularly that sharp angle on my kick serve out wide on the deuce side."

For our playtesters, returning serve with the Percept 97D was an extremely positive experience on the whole, but for some there were also minor issues with maneuverability and spin potential. For Troy, there were no downsides. He said, "I loved slapping forehand returns with this Yonex Percept 97D racquet! There was a ton of control and enough mass and plow through to hold up against big servers. The feel was super plush and smooth on contact, which worked well on my backhand slice returns. With that comfortable feel, I never felt any jarring or harsh feedback when facing high-speed serves, so this also influenced me to be aggressive and not hold back. The sweetspot felt pretty generous, and this racquet was rather forgiving even if I was stretched out or in a defensive position on returns."

On service returns, the 97D unlocked a part of Michelle's game that no server wants to see: her aggressive side. She said, "If you know me, you know I love going for a low-percentage, aggressive down-the-line return, and this racquet allowed me to do that. I also found it more predictable to return with than the 97H."

For Chris, returning serve with the Percept 97D was about letting the racquet's weight do the work. He explained, "I liked using a really compact backswing and relying on the mass of this racquet to generate pace on my returns. The stability on my slice and chip returns was excellent, which gave me lots of confidence hitting those shots. On bigger swings, I focused on hitting with pace and depth because I couldn't manipulate the racquet well enough to consistently find angles."

Like Chris, Mark also had the most success when blocking returns back rather than trying to craft angles with spin. He added, "The Percept 97D provided plenty of mass-based stability, allowing me to counter-punch my way into points, but the heft was such that it was challenging for me to produce topspin returns."