New Pure Drive 2018?!

TennisHound

Legend
That version's SW was too low. 308 is pretty weak.
Depends on your PD background, I guess.

I know more players that have used this one than all the others. One player quit using Babolat when the current PD came out. Several others tried the new one but stayed at the 12-14 version, or switched to something else altogether.
 

THE MAN

Professional
Depends on your PD background, I guess.

I know more players that have used this one than all the others. One player quit using Babolat when the current PD came out. Several others tried the new one but stayed at the 12-14 version, or switched to something else altogether.
I still like the looks of the 12-14 PD better. I prefer the black with the high gloss clearcoat and simple graphics. I have not cared for the matte ( low gloss clearcoat) look except if it was just black. Graphics on the new one look to busy for me.
 

THE MAN

Professional
12-14 was nice but killed my arm hoping this one is better

I used to stay awake at night with arm pain .
I glad me and my wife doesn't have that kind of arm problem. I play with a PD Roddick and she plays with a PD 107, and we play at least 3 times a week with no problems at all.
 

BillKid

Hall of Fame
It was stated elsewhere that the new PD would have "only" 69RA (other specs were given unstrung)
Any confirmation regarding the specs? Anybody had a chance to give it a shot?
 

Geoff

Hall of Fame
It was stated elsewhere that the new PD would have "only" 69RA (other specs were given unstrung)
Any confirmation regarding the specs? Anybody had a chance to give it a shot?
I posted the RA from my RDC on the new Pure Drive as 72RA unstrung and 70RA strung
 

BillKid

Hall of Fame
Means the stiffness has not been decreased
What about confort / vibrations? Did you demo this new PD?
 

Geoff

Hall of Fame
Means the stiffness has not been decreased
What about confort / vibrations? Did you demo this new PD?
I have one that I am play testing now. There is an earlier post in this thread of my initial impressions. I am not experiencing any discomfort or vibrations. I am play testing without a dampener as well. So far I am very pleased with the changes in the new Pure Drive.
 

TennisHound

Legend
Yep, all iterations from the Youtek original on up to the XT. I liked the feel of the IG 2.0 and the XT but couldn't come to terms with the big round head. The only 100" racquets that haven't felt too big were the Wilson Bold (weighted up), Prince Textr 100P, and Wilson Blade 101L (weighted up), and Wilson BLX Surge (both iterations). Even my Wilson H22 head feels fairly big.
 

topspn

Legend
Here are my first thoughts after hitting with the new Pure Drive-

I hit with the new Pure Drive today and very much enjoyed the overall playability of the updated version. I have always felt that previous versions were powerful but hard for me to control. I always felt that I could not count on the precision of older Pure Drives from shot to shot. With the new Pure Drive there was plenty of power but I felt that the predictability of the shot was there. The weight and balance felt very good in stock form but one could easily customize this frame to their liking. The frame was solid off the ground, volleying and serving. The spin potential was excellent.

I'll post more detail after playing with the frame for the week.
Hi Geoff, but you're playing with a multi which will feel drastically different in comfort/feel then a poly.
 

RafaBabolat

Rookie
19535057_241280853054908_6556742248539619328_n.jpg

found
 

Geoff

Hall of Fame
I'm going to try a different string setup in the am in the new Pure Drive. RPM Blast 16g in the mains at 51# and Babolat Syntheric in the crosses at 56#. I'll try to post early impressions later in the day tomorrow. A great friend who uses the current Pure Drive with that setup is in town and will also try to get his impressions on the new Pure Drive.
 
At least in the Northeast, it seems like more than half of college players are using the Pure Aero or Pure Drive. And that may be conservative.

I was at the NCAA round of 16 in Georgia this year and Babolat / Wilson owned the courts. Pure Aeros, Pure Drives and Blades. I did see a few Speeds but mostly the three I mentioned.
 

dgoran

Hall of Fame
I got to try the 2018 PD today - definitely different feel from my current PD (2015 Wimbledon). It is much more muted and less pop.

2i8xd2t.jpg

Looks nice...took them 4 generations of racquets and 13+ years to admit cortex was a bad idea. It kept shrinking till now its "inside" ala GTungsten fibers lol
 

srvnvly

Hall of Fame
I got to try the 2018 PD today - definitely different feel from my current PD (2015 Wimbledon). It is much more muted and less pop.

2i8xd2t.jpg

Your lettering is white, vs. the black Drive lettering in other pics - is it different on opposite sides, or a different model? How is the plow?
 
Your lettering is white, vs. the black Drive lettering in other pics - is it different on opposite sides, or a different model? How is the plow?

Lettering is black on opposite side of frame, the plow through didn't feel much different than my current PD's which are in stock setup.
 

Panquake

Rookie
Looks nice...took them 4 generations of racquets and 13+ years to admit cortex was a bad idea. It kept shrinking till now its "inside" ala GTungsten fibers lol

The new cortex is just hexagon shaped grommets


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
How is feel and comfort in comparison to the last PD? What’s your string setup?

Feel and comfort was a little better than my PD's, but I prefer the added pop on my old ones. I use 17 ga. Bab Pro Hurricane in my mains and 17 ga. Bab synthetic gut in my crosses at 59 lbs. I believe the Babolat rep told me this demo had RPM Blast and some kind of multi filament in the cross.
 

Geoff

Hall of Fame
Hello Talk Tennis. I hit with a good friend today (a non Talk Tennis poster, that was in town visiting on business) who is a very solid player (USTA rated 5.0). He is a long time Babolat user and currently plays with the Pure Drive in stock form strung with Babolat RPM Blast in the mains at 51lbs and Babolat Synthetic Gut in the crosses at 56lbs. I restrung the new Pure Drive to his identica setup in the hope to eliminate as many variables as possible for the play test.

Here are his impressions of the new Pure Drive.

"I was really excited to play test the all-new 2018 Babolat Pure Drive today. My first reaction was "that is a really good looking paint job". My second reaction was "this racquet feels heavier than my 2017 Pure Drive." As it turns out, both frames are 10.6 oz...but I'm positive the weight distribution is different.

From the baseline this racquet has a very solid/stable feel to it. It has plenty of power behind it, but I felt it was a little less explosive than the current version. I could tell the new grommet pattern produced more spin on the ball. My cross court forehand had noticeably more spin and jumped off the court. The shot I liked the most from the baseline was my slice backhand...the stability and head weight changes really allowed me to drive through that shot and get more depth and pace without sacrificing any control.
This racquet shines at the net. Once again, the weighting and stability allowed me to drive volleys and keep my opponent pinned to the baseline. It felt good on every volley. On a few low balls, I was still able to make a very solid volley without much effort.
As for serving/overheads - this frame feels a little more muted than the current version. Even though the current and new version are both 10.6 - I feel like I get more racquet head speed on my current frame but the new version felt more under control. I could tell I was getting more action on spin serves.

In summary - Babolat did not just give this racquet a cool new paint job...this is an entirely new frame in many ways. I'm going to be curious to see the reaction on tour - will players adopt this entirely new racquet or will reaction be 50/50 like it was on the Aero Pro/Pure Aero change?
No doubt Babolat is going to sell a ton of these, but I believe this racquet's appeal will be more towards the higher range of USTA player ratings."
 
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dgoran

Hall of Fame
Hello Talk Tennis. I hit with a good friend today that was in town visiting on business. Here are his impressions of the new Pure Drive. He is a long time Babolat user and currently plays with the Pure Drive in stock form strung with Babolat RPM Blast in the mains at 51lbs and Babolat Synthetic Gut in the crosses at 56lbs. He is a 5.0 player.

His review-

"I was really excited to play test the all-new 2018 Babolat Pure Drive today. My first reaction was "that is a really good looking paint job". My second reaction was "this racquet feels heavier than my 2017 Pure Drive." As it turns out, both frames are 10.6 oz...but I'm positive the weight distribution is different.

From the baseline this racquet has a very solid/stable feel to it. It has plenty of power behind it, but I felt it was a little less explosive than the current version. I could tell the new grommet pattern produced more spin on the ball. My cross court forehand had noticeably more spin and jumped off the court. The shot I liked the most from the baseline was my slice backhand...the stability and head weight changes really allowed me to drive through that shot and get more depth and pace without sacrificing any control.
This racquet shines at the net. Once again, the weighting and stability allowed me to drive volleys and keep my opponent pinned to the baseline. It felt good on every volley. On a few low balls, I was still able to make a very solid volley without much effort.
As for serving/overheads - this frame feels a little more muted than the current version. Even though the current and new version are both 10.6 - I feel like I get more racquet head speed on my current frame but the new version felt more under control. I could tell I was getting more action on spin serves.

In summary - Babolat did not just give this racquet a cool new paint job...this is an entirely new frame in many ways. I'm going to be curious to see the reaction on tour - will players adopt this entirely new racquet or will reaction be 50/50 like it was on the Aero Pro/Pure Aero change?
No doubt Babolat is going to sell a ton of these, but I believe this racquet's appeal will be more towards the higher range of USTA player ratings."
Sounds like my experience with Wilson Pro Open BLX. I can only hope they moved PD in that direction
 

srvnvly

Hall of Fame
Hello Talk Tennis. I hit with a good friend today (a non Talk Tennis poster, that was in town visiting on business) who is a very solid player (USTA rated 5.0). He is a long time Babolat user and currently plays with the Pure Drive in stock form strung with Babolat RPM Blast in the mains at 51lbs and Babolat Synthetic Gut in the crosses at 56lbs. I restrung the new Pure Drive to his identica setup in the hope to eliminate as many variables as possible for the play test.

Here are his impressions of the new Pure Drive.

"I was really excited to play test the all-new 2018 Babolat Pure Drive today. My first reaction was "that is a really good looking paint job". My second reaction was "this racquet feels heavier than my 2017 Pure Drive." As it turns out, both frames are 10.6 oz...but I'm positive the weight distribution is different.

From the baseline this racquet has a very solid/stable feel to it. It has plenty of power behind it, but I felt it was a little less explosive than the current version. I could tell the new grommet pattern produced more spin on the ball. My cross court forehand had noticeably more spin and jumped off the court. The shot I liked the most from the baseline was my slice backhand...the stability and head weight changes really allowed me to drive through that shot and get more depth and pace without sacrificing any control.
This racquet shines at the net. Once again, the weighting and stability allowed me to drive volleys and keep my opponent pinned to the baseline. It felt good on every volley. On a few low balls, I was still able to make a very solid volley without much effort.
As for serving/overheads - this frame feels a little more muted than the current version. Even though the current and new version are both 10.6 - I feel like I get more racquet head speed on my current frame but the new version felt more under control. I could tell I was getting more action on spin serves.

In summary - Babolat did not just give this racquet a cool new paint job...this is an entirely new frame in many ways. I'm going to be curious to see the reaction on tour - will players adopt this entirely new racquet or will reaction be 50/50 like it was on the Aero Pro/Pure Aero change?
No doubt Babolat is going to sell a ton of these, but I believe this racquet's appeal will be more towards the higher range of USTA player ratings."

This is good news; I can see the money getting anxious to fly out of my account when it's available o_O
 

beltsman

G.O.A.T.
Hello Talk Tennis. I hit with a good friend today (a non Talk Tennis poster, that was in town visiting on business) who is a very solid player (USTA rated 5.0). He is a long time Babolat user and currently plays with the Pure Drive in stock form strung with Babolat RPM Blast in the mains at 51lbs and Babolat Synthetic Gut in the crosses at 56lbs. I restrung the new Pure Drive to his identica setup in the hope to eliminate as many variables as possible for the play test.

Here are his impressions of the new Pure Drive.

"I was really excited to play test the all-new 2018 Babolat Pure Drive today. My first reaction was "that is a really good looking paint job". My second reaction was "this racquet feels heavier than my 2017 Pure Drive." As it turns out, both frames are 10.6 oz...but I'm positive the weight distribution is different.

From the baseline this racquet has a very solid/stable feel to it. It has plenty of power behind it, but I felt it was a little less explosive than the current version. I could tell the new grommet pattern produced more spin on the ball. My cross court forehand had noticeably more spin and jumped off the court. The shot I liked the most from the baseline was my slice backhand...the stability and head weight changes really allowed me to drive through that shot and get more depth and pace without sacrificing any control.
This racquet shines at the net. Once again, the weighting and stability allowed me to drive volleys and keep my opponent pinned to the baseline. It felt good on every volley. On a few low balls, I was still able to make a very solid volley without much effort.
As for serving/overheads - this frame feels a little more muted than the current version. Even though the current and new version are both 10.6 - I feel like I get more racquet head speed on my current frame but the new version felt more under control. I could tell I was getting more action on spin serves.

In summary - Babolat did not just give this racquet a cool new paint job...this is an entirely new frame in many ways. I'm going to be curious to see the reaction on tour - will players adopt this entirely new racquet or will reaction be 50/50 like it was on the Aero Pro/Pure Aero change?
No doubt Babolat is going to sell a ton of these, but I believe this racquet's appeal will be more towards the higher range of USTA player ratings."

Hmm this is not good... I might get sucked in.
 
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