One of my dissolvable stitches came out today, so I took that to mean I am 100% fully healed and scheduled a time with a hitting partner I'd been holding off on contacting until I was more confident in my game - he's an old D3 conference champ, but he's also a general tennis junkie and the only one who was willing to hit with me in today's weather.
I broke my rule of only using my APDs against new partners because I really wanted to try the 16m strike in a match. Big reminder as to why I made the rule! Dude took the first 2 sets 6-1, felt like I couldn't do anything. He uses a 2015 pure drive but he plays the least Pure-Drive-esque game imaginable - he comes in all the time and he has insane touch and placement. When I forced him to baseline bash with me he was clearly at a disadvantage, but he knew that and avoided it very well. There were multiple times I hit first serves I thought were fairly decent only to have him hit a short angle xc dropshot winner - really infuriating stuff!
I took the third set 6-3, but I have no idea whether it was because I adjusted to the racquet or to his game. Up until 0-2 in the third set, everything just felt impossible - I was off balance, had no idea where he was going to be, hitting shots like 6 inches off the ground. Then things just started getting easier - I was able to hit closer to the lines without trouble, I was able to deal with the very low shots, I was able to put away anything inside the baseline, and I was hitting winners on my passing shots (whereas I don't think I hit a single winner the entire first 2 sets).
Thoughts on the frame:
Serves suffered. They were picking up some by the third set, but I won't ever have the pace and spin I do with the APD. My placement is better when I time things right though. Honestly though, my serve is just mediocre, and the APD covers for it in a way that's probably not good to rely on. I need to rework it.
Backhand was awesome. Pace and spin were comparable but I was much more confident hitting spots.
Forehand drives were definitely different than the 18x20 - I could unload with a really flat trajectory, but unlike the 18x20 where they just continued forward through the court after the bounce, with the 16x19 they kinda rocketed up and forward, usually seeming like they went higher off the bounce than they did over the net. Very weird. Looked cool, and seemed to give him problems. Took my brain in match-play mode a while to realize it, but I could hit smaller targets too. I think one of the biggest helpers here was really nice vertical control over my shots compared to the APD.
Forehand loopers were actually about as competent as they were with the pure drive, which was good, because under the pressure of a tough match I fell back on them more than I'd have liked.
Slices weren't as good as the 18x20 but they were better than anything else I've been using.
Touch shots took me a while to get used to, and I dumped probably 20 in the net during the first 2 sets trying to reply to his droppers, but he gave me enough practice I got used to it and these were DEADLY. I'm not exactly known for my soft hands, but I was really surprising myself - keeping things low over the net was especially important against this guy, and I couldn't have done it as consistently with my APD as the strike. There were a lot of times I was pulled out wide, full knee-bend getting down to try and hit a ball that was maybe a couple of feet away from the net and very low, but I felt like I was able to nearly roll them down the net cord sometimes. Very confidence-inspiring.
I need to hit with someone more casual so I can switch off between this and the APDs, but I think this could potentially be a switch. It's such classic Babolat, too - "hey guys, what if we made a control frame - but instead of making it like the other ones, we made it a cannon?" I could take full swings at the ball with flatter trajectories than I even think of with the APD and still be able to hit my spots, whereas when I'm swinging that big with the APD I've gotta use a ton of RHS to spin it if I want the thing to land in.
Forgot how much I hate losing though!! Crikey, man. We're playing again on Monday, not gonna let that happen again. Gonna head back to my hometown and hit with an old buddy from juniors this Saturday to groove with it.
. As our colleague 
