First off, thanks to TW for hooking me up with the AeroPro Drive demo.
Tennis experience/background: Started at age 7. Played USTA junior tennis, took time off, played college lacrosse, returned to tennis, now I play 6-12 hours per week.
Describe your playing style (i.e. serve & volley): Attacking baseliner.
Current racquet/string: BLX Blade 98 - Luixilon4g/OGSM
Racquet model tested: aero pro drive standard
How many hours did you play with the racquet? : 3 so far
I have used the APDC for 4 years now and I know it well. So when I took out the new demo for a ride, I instantly noticed that it swung a little lighter than prior, but not as light as the Pure Drive 2012 ( a good thing).
The stick was strung with RPM Blast and racquettune claimed 48#s, but I can tell you that the racquet feels very boardy regardless. It is not a comfortable racquet by any means, but there were no vibrations like prior models. I swung very aggressively to try and test myself on hard mishits, and even if I missed the middle, it did not vibrate like a tuning fork as prior models did.
That being said, this racquet is stiff. When I went back to my BLX blade to A/B compare, the Blade felt like a Prince EXO tour in softness, and I am not even kidding. Granted my blade has 4g mains and syn gut crosses instead of full poly, but it is at the same tension in a tighter pattern.
I instantly noticed a higher trajectory and huge power with the bab. This is fantastic on balls I can set up for and crush. I could hit very big forehands with a high bounce, but this also hurt me if I did not get a full wallop on the ball. All that topspin I generated kicked straight up in the air off the bounce and gave better players an easier ball to attack even though it was loaded with spin. I played with a 5.0, and hit with 2 4.0s. The 5.0 crushed any ball like that for a winner, but the 4.0s let them drop safely and hit a rally ball back. If you are playing at the 4.0 level and hit with a lot of spin, you will be just fine. If you tend to naturally hit heavy spin with any racquet like me, then this may give your opponents some easy sitters.
Clean winners were very satisfying (arent they all) and untouchable. You could really feel the large sweetspot and the woofer grommets opening up when you dimed it. When I got a groove going with my forehand, it felt great, but I was a little tentative while playing sets to go big. It is just such a powerful stick, and I am a pretty big swinger as it is. The power is great, but simply blocking the ball back can send it 4 feet long. Under match play pressure, my inclination with a powerful stick is to start pushing a little, and that takes me out of attack mode. The lack of any flex makes hitting touch shots an acquired taste, but log the hours and you can do it. Just dont expect it out of the box, because it isnt happening.
At low levels, you can hit pretty decent balls with a small swing, and at the highest levels you will have drilled for hours and hours and will have the confidence to go big with this stick. For me, it seems I was much more confident to hit out with my blade. It is my main stick, but the power level was also a lot more controllable. That being said, the blade does not come through the air as fast as the Bab, but it hits a heavier, more penetrating ball (pick your poison). The bab lacks some weight behind the ball unless you are teeing off over and over like Rafa. In other words, I think this racquet in stock form is ideal for juniors and young players with a lot of energy on tap.
Backhands were very good, but the Babo grip makes it a little harder for me to stay eastern on the backhand and not let my left hand slide SW. It's not the Wilson grip, so that is a negative to me. I really liked the slice a lot, and found tons of bite on the ball.
Volleys were stellar. This is a racquet that is rather light, but just keep it moving forward into the ball and you will punch volleys with authority. I loved volleying with this racquet.
Serves came up a little short. I played a guy with really great hands who forces you to hit flat serves to the lines. I struggled with this, and went back to my blade to solve that problem. The blade is a far better racquet for punching out serves, but The APD does do one serve real well - the slice. That rafa-esque slider is a wonderful serve to go for with this racquet, and if that is your style of serve, you will love it.
Return of serve was decent. I like to return deuce serves down the line against a slower server, and I am spoiled by the Blades precision. The APD will let you block serves back, but make sure you put some spin on it or you will be rattling the fence. If you get all over a serve, you will be rewarded, but if you are late against a big server too many times, your beer will need to double as an after match ice pack.
So yes, this is a great version of the APD. It is a super stiff tweener in the bab mold and the feel is crispy and boardy with a little bit of a gooey middle due to the woofer tech. The racquet sounds like a cannon when you crack forehands, but that is what this stick is - a forehand. Since that is my best stroke, I have always been drawn to it, but with it's ease of use there is a price to pay - my wrist and thumb is a little sore after, and this is the norm for me with these racquets. Also , the lack of control can cause you to play tentative in a match that requires placement and touch to win. I firmly believe that if you put in the time and are in great shape (this racquet demands great footwork more than you think), this is an amazing option. But it really is best for younger players unspoiled by things like "100% graphite", "flex" "twaron"..etc. Don't get me wrong, anyone can use this stick, but it really requires someone committed to massive topspin who won't let up for the duration of the match.
I would strongly recommend this racquet to be played with full poly to control it, and my personal choice would be Gosen Polybreak. String it around 52#s and change it every 10 hours.
Plan to log a little more time with the stick before sending it back, but these are my impressions, and I feel very familiar with this great lineage. Thanks again to TW for allowing me to try it out, and rest assured I dug up no slices during this playtest.