CyberInferno
Rookie
I'm typically more of a reader than a poster on these forums, but I've encountered a dilemma that I believe you lovely folks can help me out with.
I play with the Babolat PDR+ Cortex. Since switching from the non-cortex version to the cortex version, I've noticed that I am cracking the frames rather easily. I've gone through five frames in six months. With the older model, I broke two total in a year and a half, and both of those breaks were due to serious abuse.
I don't claim to be kind to my racquets. All of the breaks have been due to my temper, but one of the racquets broke after literally hitting it once against the ground without excessive force. I don't feel like I've gotten any stronger or I'm being any more abusive to my racquets than normal--they just seem to be breaking more often.
To Babolat's credit, they've replaced two of racquets that showed cracks toward the upper-side(s) of the racquet. I didn't bother sending back the ones that were blatantly abuse.
I recently got another crack at the upper side of the beam (after a racquet toss that I didn't feel was particularly aggressive), so I'll be sending my last PDR+ cortex back to Babolat in hopes that they'll replace it. Even if they do, I think it's time for me to start planning my future after the PDR+ Cortex.
After a rather long introduction, my questions are two-fold. Firstly, have any of you noticed that Babolat racquets seem to be breaking more often than they used to? Secondly, can you recommend a racquet similar to the PDR+ Cortex that might be of stronger build quality. One of my friends had an old Radical that he used to literally bounce over his head or across the net, and that thing never broke. As much as I love the PDR+ Cortex, I cannot afford (time-wise or money-wise) to be breaking the frame twice per USTA season. I don't have much faith in Prince since I once broke an O3 White by accidentally hitting it against a stringer from about six inches away while pulling out a stubborn knot prior to restringing the racquet, but perhaps that one was just a lemon or Prince's o-port frames have become more solid since then (three years ago).
As a brief description of my playing style, I'm very much a baseliner with a pretty hard flat serve (110 mph on a good day), and I dance around my backhand whenever possible to play the aggressive forehand. My backhand is one-handed (I switched to 1hbh about a year and a half ago), and I probably slice it 85-90% of the time, but I'm working to build my confidence in the topspin. I'm aware that the PDR+ is not the most 1hbh-friendly racquet around, so I'm definitely open to trying new racquets! When I picked my first PDR+, I was choosing between that and the Wilson KBlade Tour (93) as my top two racquets.
Thanks so much for your help and wisdom!
I play with the Babolat PDR+ Cortex. Since switching from the non-cortex version to the cortex version, I've noticed that I am cracking the frames rather easily. I've gone through five frames in six months. With the older model, I broke two total in a year and a half, and both of those breaks were due to serious abuse.
I don't claim to be kind to my racquets. All of the breaks have been due to my temper, but one of the racquets broke after literally hitting it once against the ground without excessive force. I don't feel like I've gotten any stronger or I'm being any more abusive to my racquets than normal--they just seem to be breaking more often.
To Babolat's credit, they've replaced two of racquets that showed cracks toward the upper-side(s) of the racquet. I didn't bother sending back the ones that were blatantly abuse.
I recently got another crack at the upper side of the beam (after a racquet toss that I didn't feel was particularly aggressive), so I'll be sending my last PDR+ cortex back to Babolat in hopes that they'll replace it. Even if they do, I think it's time for me to start planning my future after the PDR+ Cortex.
After a rather long introduction, my questions are two-fold. Firstly, have any of you noticed that Babolat racquets seem to be breaking more often than they used to? Secondly, can you recommend a racquet similar to the PDR+ Cortex that might be of stronger build quality. One of my friends had an old Radical that he used to literally bounce over his head or across the net, and that thing never broke. As much as I love the PDR+ Cortex, I cannot afford (time-wise or money-wise) to be breaking the frame twice per USTA season. I don't have much faith in Prince since I once broke an O3 White by accidentally hitting it against a stringer from about six inches away while pulling out a stubborn knot prior to restringing the racquet, but perhaps that one was just a lemon or Prince's o-port frames have become more solid since then (three years ago).
As a brief description of my playing style, I'm very much a baseliner with a pretty hard flat serve (110 mph on a good day), and I dance around my backhand whenever possible to play the aggressive forehand. My backhand is one-handed (I switched to 1hbh about a year and a half ago), and I probably slice it 85-90% of the time, but I'm working to build my confidence in the topspin. I'm aware that the PDR+ is not the most 1hbh-friendly racquet around, so I'm definitely open to trying new racquets! When I picked my first PDR+, I was choosing between that and the Wilson KBlade Tour (93) as my top two racquets.
Thanks so much for your help and wisdom!
