Official Babolat Strike VS 2022 thread

AceyMan

AceyMan

Professional
As an owner and operator of about twelve of the Pure Control line,

I am privileged to open this thread in name of all that is Good and Right about the Sixteen by Twenty stringing density (note I didn't say 'pattern').

Long Live The VS Pure Strike!

/Acey

Some Babo guru please help determine what "Gen" moniker this should have in the history books or if we start calling it "VS 2022". @Babolat Official may could provide a mold code or something in the spirit of the "real" tennis equipment companies like HEAD @dr325i :p .

411 => as I write this you can peep IG tag 'purestrikevs' (add the octothorpe up front, and "Bob's your uncle," as they say. )
 
Booger

Booger

Hall of Fame
What didn't people like about the Gen 3? I played this morning with a Pure Strike Tour Gen 3 and thought it was a proper weapon. Very RF97-like.
 
AceyMan

AceyMan

Professional
Booger said:
What didn't people like about the Gen 3? I played this morning with a Pure Strike Tour Gen 3 and thought it was a proper weapon. Very RF97-like.
Click to expand...
We're taking *VS Strike* here, don't get yourself (and everybody else) corn-fused.

Unless you mean the last VS Strike that was dropped ending 2019 [thinking_face]
 
Booger

Booger

Hall of Fame
AceyMan said:
We're taking *VS Strike* here, don't get yourself (and everybody else) corn-fused.

Unless you mean the last VS Strike that was dropped ending 2019 [thinking_face]
Click to expand...


Ohhh, nevermind then. Was thinking of a different frame.
 
AceyMan

AceyMan

Professional
Someone here is a Pure Control madman, I want to say @vsbabolat but I could be wrong (and probably am).

Someone's image in a recent post was a 12 pack of Pure Control (maybe Team variant / can't remember) frames in playing fettle.
 
puppybutts

puppybutts

Hall of Fame
AceyMan said:
This seems like the current data–

626 cm²/97 in²/ 310 gm / RA 63 / 16x20 / 21-22-21 beam / bal 31 cm / strung SW=310

and the PJ looks mad af.

/Acey

[edit: beam typo]
Click to expand...
where did you get the RA and SW specs from? this is from the babolat rep in the official babolat thread:

----
-310 grams
-97 square inches
-16x20 pattern
-310 mm balance
-21x22x21 mm beam
- ~65 RA unstrung on the samples I've tested so far

If I hear anything else, I will let everyone know.

Josh
----
Even as a new mold, I don't see Babolat going as low as 63 RA, and strung SW of 310 is incredibly low, esp. for the strike line.
 
socallefty

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
puppybutts said:
Even as a new mold, I don't see Babolat going as low as 63 RA, and strung SW of 310 is incredibly low, esp. for the strike line.
Click to expand...
When a racquet is strung, the stiffness (RA) typically drops 4-6 points (lower RA for higher tension), the weight goes up about 15 grams, swing weight goes up, and the racquet becomes more head heavy.

The Pure Strike VS is a totally different racquet with a different lineage and shares only the name with the regular Pure Strikes. The previous Pure Strike VS released about four years ago had strung RA of 65 and SW of 317 according to TW. So, the strung specs reported by the poster might be accurate as they are in the range of the previous version.
 
socallefty

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Blahovic said:
I agree with you, the most recent Pure Strike Tour is slept on imo. Absolute axe of a racquet. Murders the ball. Not that difficult to play with either.
Click to expand...
My weapon of choice too. I can use it as a scalpel to carve up someone or use it as a bludgeon to bash their head in depending on the play style that is needed against a particular opponent. Great racquet! Sweet with gut/poly hybrids in the mid-forties.
 
puppybutts

puppybutts

Hall of Fame
socallefty said:
When a racquet is strung, the stiffness (RA) typically drops 4-6 points (lower RA for higher tension), the weight goes up about 15 grams, swing weight goes up, and the racquet becomes more head heavy.

The Pure Strike VS is a totally different racquet with a different lineage and shares only the name with the regular Pure Strikes. The previous Pure Strike VS released about four years ago had strung RA of 65 and SW of 317 according to TW. So, the strung specs reported by the poster might be accurate as they are in the range of the previous version.
Click to expand...
OP specified strung SW but not strung RA. And 310 strung SW is still bizarrely low, even compared to the VS of 4 years ago.

Anyway I'm not here to argue about whether or not OP's specs are plausible or not. I'm just asking where OP got his specs from since they differ from the last we heard from the Bab. rep.
 
B

Blahovic

Professional
socallefty said:
My weapon of choice too. I can use it as a scalpel to carve up someone or use it as a bludgeon to bash their head in depending on the play style that is needed against a particular opponent. Great racquet! Sweet with gut/poly hybrids in the mid-forties.
Click to expand...
I don't own (playing with the Phantom 97p) it but I had a nice demo with it and it's on my bucket list of racquets to add to my collection and try.

I keep asking for racquets from my gf for brithday/Christmas/anniversary presents. Pure Strike Tour may be the Christmas present I request.
 
E

esm

Legend
At a glance - it looks like a shiny OG/Gen 1 Pure Strike. Looks good.
Me thinks it be much more “awesome” if they also make a shiny Wimbledon edition in the OG/Gen 1 sort of PJ.
looking forward to the release of this one too.
 
socallefty

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Power Player said:
No it doesn't. More like 3.
Click to expand...
Higher the tension, the more it drops when you make a measurement. At normal poly tensions below 50 lbs, a drop of 3 to 4 points sounds about right. In the old days with gut and multis, stringing above 60 lbs was common and the drop was greater.
 
puppybutts

puppybutts

Hall of Fame
Can anyone who's played with the Pure Control/Pure Strike VS lineage describe the feel? I have a hard time imagining what a low RA Babolat feels like. I really like the Yonex VCore Pro 97D, and the 2019 (green) VCP 330, but with the EZone updates in the works, this Pure Strike VS, and James Blake working on a new Dunlop CX racquet....I'm wondering if I should wait a few months.
 
socallefty

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
puppybutts said:
Can anyone who's played with the Pure Control/Pure Strike VS lineage describe the feel? I have a hard time imagining what a low RA Babolat feels like.
Click to expand...
A low RA Babolat racquet feels like a flexible racquet from other brands. Babolat has always had 12 oz, thin-beam, mid-sixties RA in their product range like the Soft Control, Pure Controls, AeroStorm Tour, Pure Storms, Pure Strike Tour, Pure Strike VS Tour etc. and I have played with many of them for twenty years. They are not as popular as the stiffer tweeners like the Pure Drives and AeroPro Drives and so too many people who don’t know their full product range think they don’t make flexible, heavy, thin-beam racquets. It is just like Head, Volkl etc. make light, stiff racquets for beginners also and since those models aren’t very popular, people associate them with their more famous heavier, flexible racquets only.

If anything, what I’ve always liked about Babolat players racquets is that the sweet spot is generous and they always feel more comfortable than their RA stiffness indicates. For me, their racquets with RA of 65 feel like other brands with RA of roughly 62. I thought it might have something to do with their Woofer grommet design, but I could be wrong.

Just demo racquets based on specs and aesthetics and don’t worry too much about the name of the manufacturer - they are probably all made at the same few factories in China anyway.
 
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10S-Junkie

10S-Junkie

Semi-Pro
puppybutts said:
Can anyone who's played with the Pure Control/Pure Strike VS lineage describe the feel? I have a hard time imagining what a low RA Babolat feels like. I really like the Yonex VCore Pro 97D, and the 2019 (green) VCP 330, but with the EZone updates in the works, this Pure Strike VS, and James Blake working on a new Dunlop CX racquet....I'm wondering if I should wait a few months.
Click to expand...
The Babolat Pure Control Tour plays very similar to the Yonex Vcore Tour G 310 because their specs were very similar (16x20, 62-63RA, 7 pts headlight) but the PCT had a slightly smaller sweetspot even though its headsize was 1" bigger.
The Babolat Pure Control 95 is kinda like a 95" version of the Vcore Pro 97HD. Plush, flexible, low powered, 18x20).

I enjoyed playing with the Pure Control Tours but had a case of tennis elbow with them and had to switch to softer racquets with more flex and less vibration.
Still have the Pure Control 95 in my bag but the VCP 97D and 97HD are my main sticks now.
If the new VS release has low RA and low vibration then I'd be tempted to demo it but I doubt that I would switch away from the amazing 97D .... but don't quote me :)
 
Power Player

Power Player

Bionic Poster
socallefty said:
A low RA Babolat racquet feels like a flexible racquet from other brands. Babolat has always had 12 oz, thin-beam, mid-sixties RA in their product range like the Soft Control, Pure Controls, AeroStorm Tour, Pure Storms, Pure Strike Tour, Pure Strike VS Tour etc. and I have played with many of them for twenty years. They are not as popular as the stiffer tweeners like the Pure Drives and AeroPro Drives and so too many people who don’t know their full product range think they don’t make flexible, heavy, thin-beam racquets. It is just like Head, Volkl etc. make light, stiff racquets for beginners also and since those models aren’t very popular, people associate them with their more famous heavier, flexible racquets only.

If anything, what I’ve always liked about Babolat players racquets is that the sweet spot is generous and they always feel more comfortable than their RA stiffness indicates. For me, their racquets with RA of 65 feel like other brands with RA of roughly 62. I thought it might have something to do with their Woofer grommet design, but I could be wrong.

Just demo racquets based on specs and aesthetics and don’t worry too much about the name of the manufacturer - they are probably all made at the same few factories in China anyway.
Click to expand...

Does the Pure Strike Tour have a different feel than the other are strike models? Just curious since I found the 16x19 to be way to muted and it got to my arm faster than any frame I have owned in a while. I'm talking days 1-3 - Loved the heck out of the frame, but by day 4 I had serious arm pain that I had not experienced in years.

Just curious if the Tour is as dampened as those models.

I loved the Pure Storm Tours in the past - awesome feel, and never had arm issue with those. I also think the Pure Storm Ltd is a top 5 feeling frame for me. Up there with the Wilson Ultra Tour, Austrian Radicals, Head PC600 and Dunlop Aerogel 200.
 
McLovin

McLovin

Legend
10S-Junkie said:
The Babolat Pure Control Tour plays very similar to the Yonex Vcore Tour G 310 because their specs were very similar (16x20, 62-63RA, 7 pts headlight) but the PCT had a slightly smaller sweetspot even though its headsize was 1" bigger.
Click to expand...
I’m guessing you’re referring to the generation of Pure Controls that came after the Pure Storm line, because the early versions were 70+ RA.
 
10S-Junkie

10S-Junkie

Semi-Pro
McLovin said:
I’m guessing you’re referring to the generation of Pure Controls that came after the Pure Storm line, because the early versions were 70+ RA.
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm referring to the Pure Control Tour that was released around 2014. The ones that had Graphite, Tungsten & Flex Carbon.
 
P

PaulC

Professional
socallefty said:
For me, their racquets with RA of 65 feel like other brands with RA of roughly 62. I thought it might have something to do with their Woofer grommet design, but I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

Concurred.

PS VS Tour was a good example of such.

I have yet to hear any PC Tour users have difficulties transiting to PS VS Tour due to the slight increase from 63 to 65 RA.

Most feedback were that PS VS tour offered very similar comfort, with additional solid feel and stability on heavy rallies.
 
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P

PaulC

Professional
McLovin said:
I’m guessing you’re referring to the generation of Pure Controls that came after the Pure Storm line, because the early versions were 70+ RA.
Click to expand...

Even for those 2001-2004 version PCs with 70+RA, they felt like 65-67 RAs.

No jarring feel at all, really solid and stable feel frames for heavy rallies reminiscent of a slightly larger and denser pattern POG mid.
 
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socallefty

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Power Player said:
Does the Pure Strike Tour have a different feel than the other are strike models? Just curious since I found the 16x19 to be way to muted and it got to my arm faster than any frame I have owned in a while. I'm talking days 1-3 - Loved the heck out of the frame, but by day 4 I had serious arm pain that I had not experienced in years.

Just curious if the Tour is as dampened as those models.

I loved the Pure Storm Tours in the past - awesome feel, and never had arm issue with those. I also think the Pure Storm Ltd is a top 5 feeling frame for me. Up there with the Wilson Ultra Tour, Austrian Radicals, Head PC600 and Dunlop Aerogel 200.
Click to expand...
Did you try the Gen 2 or Gen 3 Pure Strike? The Gen 3 is more dampened and comfortable compared to the Gen 2. If you play with poly and cut it (or break it) within 10-15 hours, the Gen 3 doesn’t cause any injuries as far as I know.

The Gen 3 PS Tour has a vibration frequency of 139 while the regular weight ones are around 145. So, it is slightly more comfortable. I play with gut/poly hybrids at 47/45 and cut out or break the strings in 15-18 hours.
 
McLovin

McLovin

Legend
PaulC said:
Even for those 2001-2004 version PCs with 70+RA, they felt like 65-67 RAs.

No jarring feel at all, really solid and stable feel frames for heavy rallies reminiscent of a slightly larger and denser pattern POG mid.
Click to expand...
Well, the fact that they were 330g (2001) and 320g (2003) unstrung didn’t hurt…

I used the 2001 ‘Swirly’ + for 3 years, using Kevlar/gut strung in the mid 60s, and never had arm/shoulder/wrist issues.
 
Power Player

Power Player

Bionic Poster
socallefty said:
Did you try the Gen 2 or Gen 3 Pure Strike? The Gen 3 is more dampened and comfortable compared to the Gen 2. If you play with poly and cut it (or break it) within 10-15 hours, the Gen 3 doesn’t cause any injuries as far as I know.

The Gen 3 PS Tour has a vibration frequency of 139 while the regular weight ones are around 145. So, it is slightly more comfortable. I play with gut/poly hybrids at 47/45 and cut out or break the strings in 15-18 hours.
Click to expand...

Gen 3. Its super muted and I hated the feel after a few days. It also hurt my arm. The Vibration frequency may be low, but it didn't translate to real life in my case. Of course I use full poly beds and not gut mains.
 
W

Wilsonbro

Semi-Pro
hopefully this racket is awesome something that can hit through the court like the pure strike 18 by 20 but with spin
 
E

emaz8724

Rookie
Deki said:
Had possibility’s today to hold the Strike VS. Very nice frame. Glossy PJ! It is a test racket in local shop. Asked a guy to measure a SW. Strung with Alu Power 1.25, swing weight was 324g.
Click to expand...

Was there any lead on the frame? I ask because @Hankenstein measured the strung swingweight at 310.
 
fundrazer

fundrazer

G.O.A.T.
Deki said:
No, there was no lead! I have pics but still don’t know how to post it after so many years on the TT forum
Click to expand...
Use an image hosting site like imgur. You can upload the images there, and then you can post them here.

I dunno if it will automatically add the tags they're like this <img> </img> except with square brackets.
 
Deki

Deki

Rookie
Seems to me that have more open string pattern. Not as like on PAVS (6 center mains) but fairly open. I’ll try to get it next week, for a demo!
 
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