Ode to the Bab Pure Storm Tour

K

kinsella

Semi-Pro
I have hit a 12 oz + racquet since I started playing because it just felt right. This was long before I understood weight, balance, flex, string pattern, section cross width and swingweight. I thought I had found my holy grail many times, but REALLY thought I was there when I found the Volkl C10 Pro Tour. Meanwhile, I got better, but got older. After age 53, it became harder to play twice a day, day after day and still be effective. By age 56, my beloved 12 oz sticks still felt fabulous on contact, but I noticed a fall off in my performance in several areas later in matches.

Precription? The Bab PST. It weighs a little less, 6 units less SW, it is a little stiffer and has a little bigger head. This translates to a little more pop and manueveruability that shows up most on return of serve and especially on my one handed topspin backhand return. No part of my game that I considered an asset has fallen off. Volleys are better, too.

I have always been skeptical of claims that a racquet produced a sustainable improvement in someone's game, but this is what happened to me over the last month. I never thought I would hit a Babolat. I still don't think I'll ever switch from gut to poly-anything.

FWIW.
 
Last edited:
Bottle Rocket

Bottle Rocket

Hall of Fame
kinsella said:
I never thought I would hit a Babolat. I still don't think I'll ever switch from gut to poly-anything.
Click to expand...

I don't know how to use words to describe how much better a Babolat PST peforms with a polyester-type string, but what do you have to lose by giving it a try?
 
L

LPShanet

Banned
kinsella said:
I have hit a 12 oz + racquet since I started playing because it just felt right. This was long before I understood weight, balance, flex, string pattern, section cross width and swingweight. I thought I had found my holy grail many times, but REALLY thought I was there when I found the Volkl C10 Pro Tour. Meanwhile, I got better, but got older. After age 53, it became harder to play twice a day, day after day and still be effective. By age 56, my beloved 12 oz sticks still felt fabulous on contact, but I noticed a fall off in my performance in several areas later in matches.

Precription? The Bab PST. It weighs a little less, it is a little stiffer and has a little bigger head. This translates to a little more pop and manueveruability that shows up most on return of serve and especially on my one handed topspin backhand return. No part of my game that I considered an asset has fallen off. Volleys are better, too.

I have always been skeptical of claims that a racquet produced a sustainable improvement in someone's game, but this is what happened to me over the last month. I never thought I would hit a Babolat. I still don't think I'll ever switch from gut to poly-anything.

FWIW.
Click to expand...

I'm with you on the PST being a really good racquet, but a significant real reason it seems different from the c10 Pro Tour isn't just the weight (only 10 grams lighter), stiffness and headsize...it's also that the swingweight is 20 points lighter, which makes a noticeable difference. Not trying to be a stickler...just thought you might want to know for future reference. That lighter swingweight is probably letting you generate more racquet head speed (read: pop and spin) and improves maneuverability especially on the volleys.

As for the poly string, it's a taste thing...since it's a control string, and you seem to be enjoying the lightness and pop of the new frame, poly might negate the benefits for you. You could try for curiosity's sake, but if the gut is working, no reason to switch as it sounds like the perfect string to complement what you've described in your case.
 
mileslong

mileslong

Professional
try putting about one inch of lead tape at 12:00 0'clock and it improves the PST performance tremendously. i was playing around with that this week and i was serving absolute bombs thanks to the little added weight. try it out.
 
T

tbini87

Hall of Fame
have you ever hit with poly? and sounds like you have definately not tried poly in your new frame. but hey if you like gut and can afford it then i don't see any problems with that...
 
0d1n

0d1n

Hall of Fame
tbini87 said:
have you ever hit with poly? and sounds like you have definately not tried poly in your new frame. but hey if you like gut and can afford it then i don't see any problems with that...
Click to expand...

Certainly better than "Gosen Polylon" ! I haven't played with gut...but pretty much ANYTHING is better than Polylon (the "original" version ... not talking about SP, Ice, and the other flavors of it).
 
K

kinsella

Semi-Pro
LPShanet:

I don't know what swing weights you have. The PST SW is listed at 333, while the C10PT is listed at 339. Probably a noticeable difference to most people, but hardly a 20 unit difference. Were you looking at the lighter Pure Storm with a 312 SW? Your point to consider the SW is well taken and I added it to my original post. I considered SW in demoing the PST.

As far as poly goes -- I have tried it and simply HATE POLY for my game and my body. The string bed of my PSTs is a little stiff to me at 55# with a 17g gut hybrid, so poly would be going in the wrong direction for an old man like me. My next stringing will be at 53#. I need the power, spin and cushioning gut provides. Now that the summer humidity has passed, I will probably cut my gut due to lost playability before it breaks, just alternating two racquets.
 
L

LPShanet

Banned
kinsella said:
LPShanet:

I don't know what swing weights you have. The PST SW is listed at 333, while the C10PT is listed at 339. Probably a noticeable difference to most people, but hardly a 20 unit difference. Were you looking at the lighter Pure Storm with a 312 SW? Your point to consider the SW is well taken and I added it to my original post. I considered SW in demoing the PST.

As far as poly goes -- I have tried it and simply HATE POLY for my game and my body. The string bed of my PSTs is a little stiff to me at 55# with a 17g gut hybrid, so poly would be going in the wrong direction for an old man like me. My next stringing will be at 53#. I need the power, spin and cushioning gut provides. Now that the summer humidity has passed, I will probably cut my gut due to lost playability before it breaks, just alternating two racquets.
Click to expand...

I was using the USRSA numbers, which generally are more accurate than those on TW. My mistake, though...they cite a 14 point difference, not 20. They list 328 for the PST and 342 for the C10 Pro Tour. Where are the 333 and 339 numbers from?

I'm with you on the poly...that what I was saying in my post. I still like the performance and comfort of gut...in both hybrids and by itself.
 
K

kinsella

Semi-Pro
The RA flex numbers are from TW, which I find highly reliable, although once in a while someone will challenge a spec and TW will check and either restate it or confirm their original ratings. I hit with the C10 PTs for a while and I cannot imagine my sticks had a 343 SW. On the other hand, I would not be surprised if the PST is a 328. Your point about SW remains valid, no matter what the numbers are. My original post should have included a reference to SW, especially because I think it is probably the most important single spec on the racquet.

For reasons way over my head, the flex rating changes (usually goes down) after the racquet is strung. TW always measures strung racquets and usually measures 3-4 and states the average or median result. Given that the President of TW is the former chief technical person for the USRSA, I would be surprised if the numbers of that organization are regularly more accurate than TW.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.
 
L

LPShanet

Banned
kinsella said:
The RA flex numbers are from TW, which I find highly reliable, although once in a while someone will challenge a spec and TW will check and either restate it or confirm their original ratings. I hit with the C10 PTs for a while and I cannot imagine my sticks had a 343 SW. On the other hand, I would not be surprised if the PST is a 328. Your point about SW remains valid, no matter what the numbers are. My original post should have included a reference to SW, especially because I think it is probably the most important single spec on the racquet.

For reasons way over my head, the flex rating changes (usually goes down) after the racquet is strung. TW always measures strung racquets and usually measures 3-4 and states the average or median result. Given that the President of TW is the former chief technical person for the USRSA, I would be surprised if the numbers of that organization are regularly more accurate than TW.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Click to expand...

Glad to help.

As for TW's numbers and their source, Don Hightower (the TW President) is indeed VERY knowledgable about specs and technical info, and is a former tech guy from the USRSA, as you mentioned. Their methodologies are very similar, and I've found that they tend to be pretty close in many cases. I've just noticed a few more typos on TW, since the web programmers have a much larger task and aren't racquet people themselves, but both are probably relatively reliable and they both strive to correct any errors that are made. Overall, I'd say it's just more evidence that there is a great amount of variation in seemingly similar equipment. Also, I've noticed that TW will use a manufacturer's specs (which are notoriously unreliable) for a new racquet sometimes, until they've had a chance to test it.
 
A

apocalypzeus

New User
i started using the PST+ abt 3 weeks ago, before this i was using the PC600 @ about 370grams leaded. at the beginning it felt pretty unstable when i was returning serves and hitting big at the baseline, service were quite good. i've since added 2 grams to 12 and then gradually 3 grams each at 9 and 3 oclock, it is one solid stick now, i think it was the fact that my forehand stroke with the pc600 was kinda wristy, so i really appreciated the extra swingweight. anyways it plays much better in every area now, talk about the spin generated from this stringbed! yea esp the level of control on the serve and punch volleys were improved, i just thought this racquet felt just a tad more crispy or stiff compared to my PC600, which is not bad for a Bab stick.
 
Kirko

Kirko

Hall of Fame
agree. the pure storm tour is GREAT! I have mine leaded to 13 0z. lead at 3 9 and 12 o'clock. strung at 65 with prn.syn.gut 17ga. thing I like about is the flex and its solid feel no dampner needed. the ball sounds like a clap of thunder when I hit it.
 
A

apocalypzeus

New User
yeah lol, i forgot to mention the addictive thunderclap sound everytime you hit a solid shot, mines currently strung with crossfire 18 @ 52 main/58 crosses.
 
bertrevert

bertrevert

Legend
^^^ Hang on: Zeus? Clap of thunder? Pure Storm? something Olympian must be going on... a perfect storm?

If you love the Tour so much did you road-test the non-tour? Did you like the, er, lightning?
 
ollinger

ollinger

G.O.A.T.
Is it an oxymoron to say "the pure storm tour is GREAT! I have mine leaded to 13 Oz."? Sounds more like the pure storm tour isn't much good at all unless you put so much lead on it that it plays like a completely different racquet.
 
Kirko

Kirko

Hall of Fame
ollinger said:
Is it an oxymoron to say "the pure storm tour is GREAT! I have mine leaded to 13 Oz."? Sounds more like the pure storm tour isn't much good at all unless you put so much lead on it that it plays like a completely different racquet.
Click to expand...

not at all, this racket will play GREAT for about anyone stock, I love heavy rackets. I bought this racket on a lark and was resigned to the fact I would have to use a dampner to "mute" that buzz almost every racket makes, when I found how nice it played> I went for it and had it weighted to the way I realy like a racket. you would have thought Babolat would make a racket so nice for a guy who doesn't hit with topspin.
 
Kirko

Kirko

Hall of Fame
bertrevert said:
Wouldn't this counteract or at least take out the woofer effect too?
Click to expand...

its possible, but think about it 65 lbs. strung it loses at least three lbs. over night just waiting to be hit with; then you hit wit it another 3 to 5 lbs. the woofer works and I think its good advance in rackets. even if didn't who cares the other aspects of this frame are just outstanding!
 
Pro_Tour_630

Pro_Tour_630

Legend
I am comparing this frame to the MG prestige Pro. Look out for a review in a few days. So far it is a nice comfortable frame. I could not hit big serves with it. Reminded me of pure control Zylon 360, If I recall, Anyone feel the same?
 
Last edited:
tennisinoc

tennisinoc

Semi-Pro
I demoed the Pure Storm Tour for a week and thought it was the best Babolat Racquet so far. Great control. Only problem was that after playing with it for the week, my shoulder was feeling sore. I never had shoulder pain playing tennis until this raquet. So, unfortunately I didn't buy it. I wish it didn't give me any shoulder pain because I would have most likely purchased it.
 
M

midsouth

Banned
michael chaho said:
I am comparing this frame to the MG prestige Pro. Look out for a review in a few days. So far it is a nice comfortable frame. I could not hit big serves with it. Reminded me of pure control Zylon 360, If I recall, Anyone feel the same?
Click to expand...

Michael, hope you have time to add a few comments on the MG Radical Pro in your comparison. It would be greatly appreciated.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Between a Pure Storm GT and Pure Storm GT Tour
Replies
4
Views
921
ClubHoUno
ClubHoUno
P
Pure Storm Tour GT
Replies
14
Views
2K
TennisandMusic
T
DonDiego
Prince Tour 100T or Bab pure storm team (2011)?
Replies
5
Views
595
pattenww
P
klementine
Ode to the MicroGel Prestige Mid
Replies
40
Views
6K
THESEXPISTOL
THESEXPISTOL
J
Babolat Pure Storm Tour - Wow
Replies
8
Views
3K
parasailing
P
Top