Tennis Warehouse: Babolat Pure Aero 98

TW Staff

TW Staff

Administrator
Attention Talk Tennis Members:

New year, new playtest! We have the brand new Babolat Pure Aero 98 that will be in stock in just a couple days. This playtest is open to USA Talk Tennis members only.

VERY IMPORTANT: Playtesters will be required to get their test racquet strung. Each racquet will be shipped with a set of Babolat Xcel 16 and RPM Blast 17 strings. Please note that we have two grip sizes available - grip size 2 and 3.

Application period is now closed. Selected playtesters will be notified via email by Monday, January 23rd.

We have a very limited quantity of racquets to playtest. We select playtesters based on a number of factors, including message board participation and performance on past playtests.

Your review is due by February 24th, 2023 by 5 pm PST.

Posting a full review by the deadline is necessary to remain in good standing for future playtests. Reviews lacking sufficient effort will resort in disqualification from the playtest program.

Include the following in your review:

String and tension used for test:
Tennis experience/background:
Describe your playing style (i.e. serve & volley):
Current racquet/string setups:
How many hours did you play with the racquet?

Comments on racquet performance for each stroke (each section should be 3-5 sentences minimum):
-Groundstrokes:
-Serves:
-Volleys:
-Serve returns:

Comments on racquet performance in each area (should be 2-3 sentences minimum)
Power/Control-
Top Spin/Slice-
Comfort-
Feel-
Maneuverability-
Stability-

General reaction/comments on overall performance:


Thanks,
TW Staff

We will delete “request sent” emails, but encourage a lively “pre-game” discussion on the racquets.
 
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M

mogo

Semi-Pro
Have been following the Pure Aero 98 for a while, a softer feel and a little more swing weight added than the Pure Aero VS. Interested to hear how this new version stacks up.
 
B

BallBasher247

Semi-Pro
Just applied. This ones gonna be good….

Currently satisfied w/ my EZ98s but curious to try this. Like the VS but couldn’t gel w/ it on my FH, this looks to have different weight distribution. Hopefully still has some crispy feel to it
 
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J

jdx2112

Hall of Fame
Been waiting for this one to drop for a while.

I've been on a journey looking for a slightly more powerful option to my Blade V8. I love the maneuverability and speed of the Blade, but have found myself wanting that extra few miles per hour for put-aways. The challenge is I can't go super heavy (Gravity Pro) and I'm wary of too firm a racquet (Pure Drive).

However, the Pure Aero 98's slightly lower RA rating, along with a few other brands that seem to be making slightly more comfortable frames, has piqued my interest. I'm also excited about the 16/20 pattern. I remember loving the Gravity MP when drilling, but then its sub 300 gram weight enabled bigger players to bully me around a bit.

All in all, I'm really happy about this trend.
 
C

Chairman3

Hall of Fame
I'm most curious cause I thought originally it was just a name change and updated paintjob.

But clearly it says it has the "Flax inserts" and slightly different specs, bump in swingweight will be nice.
 
Y

Yamin

Hall of Fame
I'm still looking for a good all court racket and wanted to love the VS. I found it was a bit too stiff, dead around edges, and very hollow at the tip. Played very well otherwise. Reviews sound like these have all been addressed. Gonna be a solid release
 
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Crimsonchen

Crimsonchen

Rookie
I'd love to Playtest this one. I used the pure aero vs 2016 model when it came out and loved it. I felt that my backhand was lacking when I made the switch to the Burn 95 CV but really missed the PAVS, it was just a solid all around racquet. With a lower RA, id definitely want to know how it feels compared to my current speed pro
 
A_Instead

A_Instead

Legend
Will be informative to also hear comparison to the new PD 98..
Pure Drive 98 could also be a gem.. just not much chatter on it...it seems..
 
Devil_dog

Devil_dog

Hall of Fame
signed up because I'm really intrigued by this version of the Pure Aero. I'd really like to see how vastly different a stick this is from the standard Pure Aero and my Pure Drive sticks I currently use for match play. Good luck to everyone.
 
mpournaras

mpournaras

Hall of Fame
@TW Staff any chance this will be followed by a Pure Drive 98 playtest?

I would love to try the softer Babolats but I think there are a lot of players that will like this Aero more than me so I will let them have at it :)
 
MisterP

MisterP

Hall of Fame
Switching to 98 after playing with my old prince 95s. I just don’t get enough forgiveness out of the stringbed anymore. Really looking forward to something that’s fast and whippy but more controlled.
 
StringStrungStrang

StringStrungStrang

Professional
Babolat Pure Aero 98 (16x20), lower RA (65), thinner beam (than PA), HL - What's not to like?? Having played both the PA 23 and PS VS (both great on their own!) I wonder if THIS is the one that brings ALL the magic together !!


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S

Soundbyte

Hall of Fame
Looking forward to this frame. Haven't been picked yet for a play test. I've played with many frames this past year, but this 98 seems to line up specwise with my likings. Looking forward to it!
 
TW Staff

TW Staff

Administrator
@mpournaras,

The Pure Drive 98 is a retail-only racquet for TW as you can only purchase it from our brick and mortar stores so we will not be doing a message board playtest of it.

EDIT: We also will not be doing a TW playtest review on it either.

Sorry,
Brittany, TW
 
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T

taylor15

Hall of Fame
TW Staff said:
@mpournaras,

The Pure Drive 98 is a retail-only racquet for TW as you can only purchase it from our brick and mortar stores so we will not be doing a message board playtest of it.

EDIT: We also will not be doing a TW playtest review on it either.

Sorry,
Brittany, TW
Click to expand...
Is the PD98 out now at Brick stores?
 
TennisHound

TennisHound

Legend
Ah heck, I know I’ve missed this one. Saw it too late. I did play a lot of tennis today. Good luck fellas! Thanks TW for doing these playtests. It’s so cool :)
 
StringStrungStrang

StringStrungStrang

Professional
I realize now I played the forerunner to this Pure Aero 98, the Babolat Aero Storm - they shared a 16 x 20 stringbed, thinner shaft ( was 21/19mm) ) and lower RA (66) BUT the Aero Storm was a beast to swing... 340 SW. I loved it but did not know how to handle such a racquet back then. I think the PA 98's 327 SW and thinner beam (compared to the current PA 23) will hit the sweetspot for a lot (me) of people. It stood out a little more then too since it was red, white and black like the other Storm racquets!

BAS-big.jpg
 
RafaBabolat

RafaBabolat

Rookie
StringStrungStrang said:
I realize now I played the forerunner to this Pure Aero 98, the Babolat Aero Storm - they shared a 16 x 20 stringbed, thinner shaft ( was 21/19mm) ) and lower RA (66) BUT the Aero Storm was a beast to swing... 340 SW. I loved it but did not know how to handle such a racquet back then. I think the PA 98's 327 SW and thinner beam (compared to the current PA 23) will hit the sweetspot for a lot (me) of people. It stood out a little more then too since it was red, white and black like the other Storm racquets!

BAS-big.jpg
Click to expand...
Aero storm was amazing, cant find them recently for a decent price. Hopefully PA 98 will play like it in some ways.
 
n80aoag

n80aoag

Professional
yonex said:
Friend just got one in for demo and he says it plays similar to the extreme tour. Forgiving racquet that hits a huge ball, seems very promising.
Click to expand...
Good to hear about it being forgiving. Others have mentioned the sweet spot is small, which I hope is not the case. When I used the PAVS for a few hitting sessions, the sweet spot seemed smaller only because I was mainly using a Gravity Pro at the time, and it was definitely jarring when hitting off center shots
 
TennisManiac

TennisManiac

Hall of Fame
n80aoag said:
Good to hear about it being forgiving. Others have mentioned the sweet spot is small, which I hope is not the case. When I used the PAVS for a few hitting sessions, the sweet spot seemed smaller only because I was mainly using a Gravity Pro at the time, and it was definitely jarring when hitting off center shots
Click to expand...
Any racket with a 16x20 string pattern is going to have a small sweet spot. Especially if the head size is under 100 inches. That's just common sense.
 
SlowTiger

SlowTiger

Professional
StringStrungStrang said:
I realize now I played the forerunner to this Pure Aero 98, the Babolat Aero Storm - they shared a 16 x 20 stringbed, thinner shaft ( was 21/19mm) ) and lower RA (66) BUT the Aero Storm was a beast to swing... 340 SW. I loved it but did not know how to handle such a racquet back then. I think the PA 98's 327 SW and thinner beam (compared to the current PA 23) will hit the sweetspot for a lot (me) of people. It stood out a little more then too since it was red, white and black like the other Storm racquets!

BAS-big.jpg
Click to expand...

Babolat made some decent player racquets as you said aero storm, pure storms,and pure control. Problem is they weren't 100" and wasn't what they were known for. Back then you had the classic prestige, radical, 6.1 and etc for player frames. Now Wilson, head, babolat and all the other brands are coming to the middle. Almost everything is coming into the 305-315, 97-100", open string pattern, fat beam racquet spec
 
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