The Pro Staff Six.One 100 v14 immediately caught our playtesters' attention with its easy playability from the baseline. Chris quickly got to work with this racquet, taking the offensive with his groundstrokes. He said, "From the first hit, I could feel the Pro Staff heritage in this Pro Staff Six.One 100 v14. The racquet felt head light in my hands and crisp at impact. I felt like I was able to rip my groundstrokes with this racquet as long as I added plenty of spin to my shots. On flatter shots, the string pattern felt open enough to have me hitting long since I'm used to a denser 18x20 string pattern in my Head Speed Pro. On the upside, it was easier to rip winners. I was getting solid access to pace, and when I had spin on my shots I was getting the ball to dip nicely into the corners. I felt confident with my backhand slice; I was able to cut the ball aggressively with that shot."

Michelle, our resident Pro Staff aficionado, was able to make comparisons to the rest of the v14 line. She said, "Having playtested the new Pro Staff X and the updated Pro Staff 97 v14 this year, I was curious to see where this Six.One 100 would fit in. I thought it felt comparable to the other Pro Staffs, but livelier and more spin friendly, and with less control than the X or 97. The racquet swung relatively fast, and the sweetspot was powerful. It was more forgiving than the Pro Staff 97 and RF97 for sure, but I would also say it was a bit more forgiving than the Pro Staff X as well. I noted a lack of precision in comparison, and it was noticeable when I was hitting in or outside of the sweetspot — a bit hot and cold. This racquet really pocketed the ball well, and although the dwell time was nice, I just didn't feel as connected to the placement of my shots as I do with other Pro Staffs. Throughout the test, I was trying to dial in my string setup to find the right amount of control from the stringbed. This racquet felt like a very approachable Pro Staff to get someone hooked into the world of what Pro Staff racquets have to offer."

Like Michelle, Mark also found this racquet to be a user-friendly Pro Staff. He said, "The Pro Staff Six.One 100 v14 was easy to play with from the baseline right away. When I say 'easy' here, I mean that I could absorb pace, change the direction of the ball and play both offensively and defensively. Although this racquet feels pretty darn powerful to me, I was able to shape the majority of my shots with enough spin to be more than a backcourt nuisance. Another positive was the effect the Six.One 100 had on my backhand slice, which is a shot that I rely heavily on."

Jason added, "It felt fairly fast and maneuverable from both wings. I liked the easy depth and spin I was getting on my shots. However, I didn't love the level of control I was getting when swinging out and trying to put the ball away. I was launching shots long that I felt would've stayed in with my own racquet, or racquets with similar specs."

When moving forward, most of the playtesters enjoyed hitting a variety of volleys with the Pro Staff Six.One 100 v14. Mark liked how the specs lined up for net play. He explained, "This was another part of the playtest where the Pro Staff Six.One 100 shone. The weight, balance and crisp feel of its beam made it easy for me to predict what was happening with my volleys. Whether the shot was aggressive or required a more touch-oriented approach, this racquet was up to the task."

Jason agreed, adding, "I did enjoy this racquet up at net. It has a nice, responsive feel, so I felt well connected to my shots and was able to gauge my depth well on drop volleys. I also thought the racquet had a decently sized sweetspot, especially considering it’s a Pro Staff."

Michelle opted to focus mostly on power when volleying. She described, "I enjoyed volleying with this Six.One 100 since it had everything I needed to feel confident at the net. The racquet was stable and had some pop. I could consistently place volleys deep beyond the service box, but I could also take anything high and swing away to end points. It was super maneuverable for me too! The only issue I noted was when hitting anything outside the sweetspot; I found a dead response, which was mostly noticeable on touch shots."

Chris was able to take advantage of his creativity at net. He said, "I enjoyed the head-light feel of this racquet at net. The Pro Staff Six.One 100 v14 felt fast in my hands, but solid enough at contact to offer that elusive blend of maneuverability and stability. I found excellent pace on my punch volleys, and I liked the feel of the racquet as it went through contact. The response was crisp and clean, and I had a solid sense of what I was getting on every volley. I was able to add some nice spin to my drop volleys and also had fun carving short angle volleys."

With all the power on tap from the Pro Staff Six.One 100 v14, our playtesters relished their time at the service line. Jason described, "This was my favorite shot to hit with this racquet. I got plenty of pop on my serves, and because I was able to quickly accelerate it through contact, I also got plenty of spin to help add some control and bite on my serves."

Michelle was also serving big with this racquet. She said, "While I was craving more control at the baseline, I loved the power, spin and pop when it came to serving! I found I could really lean into kick serves and slice serves, but also go big on flatter first serves. I did struggle a bit more with pinpointing targets than I did with the Pro Staff 97, but I will take that tradeoff for the easier power."

The Six.One 100's performance on serves let Chris win the advantage earlier in points. He explained, "The racquet felt quick and easy to whip through contact, and it offered a lively feel as the ball left the strings. I felt like I was pushing returners into defensive situations more with this racquet, giving me a solid offensive base to start the point. My slice serves were biting nicely, and I had success with that serve to various targets. Pace was excellent on flat serves, but it was best reserved for when I had a solid lead in the game since I wasn’t as consistent as when I added spin."

Like the rest of the team, Mark praised this racquet's serving qualities. He said, "That easy-to-play-with theme carried over to my serve, making it my favorite shot to hit with the Pro Staff Six.One 100 v14. In addition, most all of my friends who played with it commented positively on how easy it was to hit effective serves with this racquet."

It was all about harnessing the Pro Staff Six.One 100 v14's extra firepower with spin on returns. Michelle took control of points off the return with a variety of tactics. She explained, "I could really execute angles off returns with this racquet. Since I tend to use racquets that aren't the most maneuverable, angles aren't always easy to come by, but this racquet had everything I needed to execute those shots. I could add decent spin and get a nice return deep down the middle of the court to try and neutralize the point right away. I also loved taking a softer second serve that sat up and ripping it down the line. I would say I made more than I missed, but I did focus on going for bigger targets because I wasn't feeling as connected to the ball as I am with the Pro Staff 97 or RF97."

Tapping into both topspin and slice, Chris found success on his returns. He said, "My return game was working well with the Pro Staff Six.One 100 v14. I liked that I could hit a very effective return by driving cross-court returns with lots of spin. My slice return was also working well. I was able to get lots of spin on the ball and knife my slice with pace and consistency. The only time I got into trouble with this racquet was when I returned a faster serve a little too flatly, and I tended to overhit more than usual. I liked the level of comfort the racquet offered, and the response felt very clean."

Jason got into trouble when going for big returns. He described, "Much like my groundstrokes, the access to depth was a bit too easy at times when I was hitting returns. I found that most of my misses were shots that flew long on me. However, the directional control was really good, as was the access to spin. The power was there, but I felt like I couldn't fully swing 100 percent because I was afraid of overhitting."

Wrapping up the review, Mark said, "I cannot report that my return of serve became a weapon with the new Pro Staff Six.One 100. However, it was effective enough to keep my opponent from stepping in and dictating play early in the point."