The black drive +

[Power Player]

RIP is awesome for me..out of raw curiosity I am going to try Red Alert as well.

Point being, I am not using poly in this racquet and still getting a ton of spin and control.

[DrewRafter8]

Definitely can see that. The demo I took out for all of December had RPM Team until I broke it. My club's owner strung it up with full Addiction and it was great, but I knew I'd break it quick. Had plenty of spin and I could hit my spots well.

[Power Player]

Yeah it really matters if you can get enough time out of the strings to jusitfy cost. I can get 10-12 hours out of RIP, so I buy in bulk.

I'd be needing to swap out poly after 6-10 hours so I save money and protect my joints this way.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Yeah it really matters if you can get enough time out of the strings to jusitfy cost. I can get 10-12 hours out of RIP, so I buy in bulk.

I'd be needing to swap out poly after 6-10 hours so I save money and protect my joints this way.

It only gets worse with time.

[0d1n]

Originally Posted by Power Player

I appreciate the passive aggressive criticism but the 7G and Pure Drive are not the same sticks for multiple reasons. I also could not re balance them by simply using a lighter grip, since I tried that. I don't like using 2 overgrips. It does not give the same balance anyway. If you have used a 7G and a Pure Drive you would realize the differences.

I haven't used a 7G...no. Never said they were the same sticks either, glad you like your pure drive, hope the love affair turns into a "marriage" .
Hit them well ...

[Power Player]

^^

Thanks man..me too. So far, so good.

[ChicagoJack]

Power Player -

I've gotten the same frame for an extended demo. I plan on stringing up a full bed of gut in the higher ranges. I'm thinking that will be a pretty sweet combo, we'll see.

-Jack

[Ballistec_J]

I have my black drive roddick+ customized to 28" long with 8g lead in the handle and 8g lead at 3:00 & 9:00. 4 3/8 grip size with 2 overgrips over the black syntec grip. Everytime i hit a big forehand or crank a serve this thing sounds like a shotgun going off. I am deciding between RPM17/VS16 @64 and PHT17/VS16 @63. This thing is absolutely baller. So between the 2 overgrips and 16 total grams of lead i think that puts this beast at around 12.5g strung. May switch to a babolat leather grip to make it more head light. Sick plowthrough.

[Yourtenniscoach]

I can't stand people who play poly and a stiff racquets like the Pure Drives, etc and wonder why their elbow hurts. If you're not a college or pro level player it doesn't pay to play poly. #1 its not cost effective for your average player because it goes dead so fast and you constantly need to replace the string and #2 it's just too harsh on the arm.

[ArliHawk]

Originally Posted by Yourtenniscoach

I can't stand people who play poly and a stiff racquets like the Pure Drives, etc and wonder why their elbow hurts. If you're not a college or pro level player it doesn't pay to play poly. #1 its not cost effective for your average player because it goes dead so fast and you constantly need to replace the string and #2 it's just too harsh on the arm.

Agree completely. I use an APDGT and have used nothing but multi in it. Head RIP control works the best for me. It tames the racquet's power and also softens it up.

[Power Player]

Originally Posted by Yourtenniscoach

I can't stand people who play poly and a stiff racquets like the Pure Drives, etc and wonder why their elbow hurts. If you're not a college or pro level player it doesn't pay to play poly. #1 its not cost effective for your average player because it goes dead so fast and you constantly need to replace the string and #2 it's just too harsh on the arm.

Yes thank you, I have been saying this over and over and people still insist that their 3.5 level game gets super heavy spin only with full poly. It's crazy.

[Korso]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Yes thank you, I have been saying this over and over and people still insist that their 3.5 level game gets super heavy spin only with full poly. It's crazy.

Agree completley. Learning the right way to produce spin from a player's beginings is so important. Changing someone's seasoned mind frame is like pulling teeth.

[Fuji]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Yes thank you, I have been saying this over and over and people still insist that their 3.5 level game gets super heavy spin only with full poly. It's crazy.

But PP, I can only get my Nadal type reverse forehands going if I'm using RPM Blast strung up at 65lbs to control my huge amounts of power and spin from the baseline in my APDGT... the guys in my 3.5 league hit massive kickers and I really need to tame the ball....

-Fuji

[Power Player]

Lol..Fuji you get it man..you always make informative posts.

[Yourtenniscoach]

Originally Posted by Ballistec_J

I have my black drive roddick+ customized to 28" long with 8g lead in the handle and 8g lead at 3:00 & 9:00. 4 3/8 grip size with 2 overgrips over the black syntec grip. Everytime i hit a big forehand or crank a serve this thing sounds like a shotgun going off. I am deciding between RPM17/VS16 @64 and PHT17/VS16 @63. This thing is absolutely baller. So between the 2 overgrips and 16 total grams of lead i think that puts this beast at around 12.5g strung. May switch to a babolat leather grip to make it more head light. Sick plowthrough.

Just curious, what level player are you?

[ChicagoJack]

c;kjhvlkjohijo 10char

[tennistomcat]

I have been playing around with my friend's standard length black drive & loved it right away. It seemed like babolat fixed all that I didn't like with the previous versions - mainly the hollow feel & lack of touch. The racket feels very solid & the feel at net is better. I was just about to pull the trigger & buy it but thought it better to demo the + version just to know the difference.

I've never played with an extended length racket before & there was some adjustment period but it still felt great right away. The main things I noticed were my 1st serve percentage was noticeably better & my 2 handed backhand felt even more solid & I felt alot more control in my shot placement. My 2hbh is my solid shot & my shot down the line with it is my bread & butter. I was confidently hitting short, sharp crosscourt, deep crosscourt, inside-out, & down the line back hands which I wasn't able to do consistently with the standard length. I'm still figuring out the adjustments needed for the net play but they seem minor & the other advantages will outweigh this.

This demo was strung with wilson nxt so I'm eager to know how it'll play with my usual poly strings. I know powerplayer says it plays great with a multi but I'd like to see how it plays with my usual lux adrenaline or TF redcode - I can usually play with a full bed of any poly that is not at a high tension with no signs of TE.

I agree with power player that the black drive + is a great racket - I tried going back to the standard length & wished I had the + again.

[Dgdavid]

Originally Posted by tennistomcat

I have been playing around with my friend's standard length black drive & loved it right away. It seemed like babolat fixed all that I didn't like with the previous versions - mainly the hollow feel & lack of touch. The racket feels very solid & the feel at net is better. I was just about to pull the trigger & buy it but thought it better to demo the + version just to know the difference.

I've never played with an extended length racket before & there was some adjustment period but it still felt great right away. The main things I noticed were my 1st serve percentage was noticeably better & my 2 handed backhand felt even more solid & I felt alot more control in my shot placement. My 2hbh is my solid shot & my shot down the line with it is my bread & butter. I was confidently hitting short, sharp crosscourt, deep crosscourt, inside-out, & down the line back hands which I wasn't able to do consistently with the standard length. I'm still figuring out the adjustments needed for the net play but they seem minor & the other advantages will outweigh this.

This demo was strung with wilson nxt so I'm eager to know how it'll play with my usual poly strings. I know powerplayer says it plays great with a multi but I'd like to see how it plays with my usual lux adrenaline or TF redcode - I can usually play with a full bed of any poly that is not at a high tension with no signs of TE.

I agree with power player that the black drive + is a great racket - I tried going back to the standard length & wished I had the + again.

This is very interesting because I bought a Pure Drive standard on Thursday liked it but am thinking I should have got the + or the PDR (or at least tried them first).

[Power Player]

Tennistomcat we have similar experiences it sounds like.

The regular pure drive is just too light and the SW is too low. The plus gives you more leverage and boom. I add lead at 12 and that's all I needed to do.

Only reason I made this thread is because I feel like a lot of people may not know how great a plus length can be..especially when it comes to a pure drive or APDC.

[tennistomcat]

Appreciate the thread Power Player - glad I found it. I had stumbled onto the black drive + on my own & had been scouring the forums lately looking for any threads on ppl's experiences with the extended length rackets & how long it took to adjust to the switch. This racket is pretty expensive & Babolats rarely have any deals on them so I was nervous about dropping alot of change on something that may not work out.

I feel that I'm solid from the baseline & pretty decent at the net but was looking for something that would help my serve catch up with the rest of my game - But was worried what may happen to my game with a longer racket. I only had the demo for a week & it felt great but sometimes you can't really tell until you put some serious miles on the frame. Threads like these help put me at ease but of course everyone has a different experience with the same rackets.

I had a decent demo with the Vcore 100s & now it's sitting in the bag more often than not. I had a great demo with this racket so I'm hoping the outcome is much better - My new racket should be coming this thurs so i'm stoked to give it a rip.