Karma Tennis
Legend
He and the Product Manager that came up with the Tuxedo RF97 should visit a Bar together and drown their sorrows.
He and the Product Manager that came up with the Tuxedo RF97 should visit a Bar together and drown their sorrows.
And probably the camouflage PJ too.
Personally, if they came up with a 18x20 PD as PDVS it would get me to take a more serious look.
The Clash coming nearly at the same time, although very different sticks, I believe also has dampened the splash - the media campaign for the clash is huge whereas that for the PDVS is almost nonexistent. Ultimately you are likely to need to be a Pure Drive idealist to even get past the concept of two at a time let alone having the desire in your game for what the PDVS offers. Personally, I like the stick - I wrote a full review above, my primary drive for owning the racket was my desire to be able to swing out and have a little more control than my PD. It easily provides for this. if you look around you can find it in mint condition being sold as a single racket. I purchased my PDVS for 200.00
jmacdaununder2
Legend
Yeah, that two for one deal on the original PS was awesome...
mhkeuns
Hall of Fame
I couldn't agree more. Almost everyone around me plays with the pure Drive and Pure Aeros believing that they play their best tennis with Babolat frames. Expecting a lot from the Pure Drive VS, honestly. More control oriented Pure Drive in a 98" head? Just sounds so sweet.
TW Staff
Administrator
UPDATE: You can now purchase Pure Drive VS racquets individually or in pairs (with a price discount).
https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Babolat_Pure_Drive_VS/descpageRCBAB-PDVS.html
Brittany, TW
https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Babolat_Pure_Drive_VS/descpageRCBAB-PDVS.html
Brittany, TW
Injured Again
Hall of Fame
Brittany, do you have any information on the possibility of forthcoming "plus" length versions of the VS?
Injured Again
Hall of Fame
Thanks, Brittany. Please post any news if you get some!
Now being sold in Singles ...
of course... 1.9g of its separated partner.
danbrenner
Legend
and finally Babolat come to their senses and sells these as separates. loooooooooool. this is what we were saying all along. and many of you took Babolats side.
fundrazer
G.O.A.T.
I think it was stated initially that the pairs would be a limited time thing, but yeah, I don't think it was a smart move at all.
Impressions seemed a bit negative here, but the feedback from forum playtesters that TW selected seemed a lot better. Wondering what the overall consensus is now.
danbrenner
Legend
That’s only because they were free and they want to get more free stuff for upcoming g playtests.
jmacdaununder2
Legend
Damn, you're as big a cynical realist as I am...
Injured Again
Hall of Fame
I was a playtester and don't recall knowing much about the frame prior to my playing with it. After hitting with it and finding it a pretty good racquet that just needed a bit more heft (and the possibility of an extended length version), I started reading reviews from players who actually used the racquet rather than just commenting based on their biases of the Pure Drive in general, and found them all to be relatively similar and positive. Of course, there will be some differences of opinion based on the player's typically preferred racquet but it's seems pretty clear the PDVS appeals to a wide audience of play styles and skills, while addressing some of the common complaints about the Pure Drive Tour. I personally would be happy to switch to this racquet but it is a bit small and too demanding against young and hard hitting opponents.
kabrac
Professional
What's wrong with the Pure Drive Tour?
I play regular Pure Drive Plus and Tour +. but is it me or does it seem like the Pure Drive VS is a bit of a bust? Specs are, at least to me, far too light. With those specs, it seems like there's no reason to flip from a regular Pure Drive. A little more control? Smaller head?
Played with this racket for a few months now ... It will likely be a very niche racket and not adopted by many tour players. The difficulty is still on swinging out with a higher than typical (for a players racket) launch angle. I still enjoy the racket but it is far too stiff it seems for what the racket is calling for ... a tighter string bed. I am currently strung with AluPower Ruff and Wilson Gut 48/52. Some may ridicule this, the choice was made to give plenty of bite and dwell time for added spin while providing for a more forgiving setup on the arm. The next setup will be with the same strings at 52/56. My hope is this will calm the racket and lower the launch angle while still helping the racket to be more forgiving on the arm.
Next steps will be weight in the head and perhaps clay in the but-cap and a 50/54 setup -
As reported the racket is string sensitive but is versatile from the baseline and very quick. My hope is they will quickly compile all of the feedback and produce this with added dampening, balance/swing weight. Yes, @danbrenner - you will be shouting at the screen "They have this !!! it's called a PureStrike" Right you very well may be. But cmon don't we want to see a tour player with a PDVS version that is actually a players racket, perhaps it's just me but it is what I have been hoping for since the Roddick models.
Next steps will be weight in the head and perhaps clay in the but-cap and a 50/54 setup -
As reported the racket is string sensitive but is versatile from the baseline and very quick. My hope is they will quickly compile all of the feedback and produce this with added dampening, balance/swing weight. Yes, @danbrenner - you will be shouting at the screen "They have this !!! it's called a PureStrike" Right you very well may be. But cmon don't we want to see a tour player with a PDVS version that is actually a players racket, perhaps it's just me but it is what I have been hoping for since the Roddick models.
Injured Again
Hall of Fame
Nothing really in my mind. My son plays with them at 365 grams and at that weight, pretty much any racquet is going to feel plush even when hitting with a full poly stringbed.
But the typical complaints against the Pure Drive Tour are that it's stiff and jarring when mis-hitting, and the PDVS is (marginally) better in both those areas, while seemingly being a bit better as absorbing frame vibration. It's not half-way to a Pure Strike - it's probably one-third of the way between a Pure Drive Tour and a Pure Strike in my opinion, but different enough that I think they'll find sufficient buyers.
jmacdaununder2
Legend
You don't have to mishit for it to be stiff and jarring 
at least not with the retail version.
at least not with the retail version.I have played every version of the Pure drive for the last 12 years - the tour being a heavier version is two steps away from the PDVS as the swing weight is so dramatically different. The VS is more jarring to the arm regardless of the claim that it is a softer racket. PDVS has a smaller sweet spot and is pretty harsh in comparison to any other Puredrive or Pure Strike. Just my opinion but one that has been shared by others on this thread specifically DanBrenner
michael valek
Hall of Fame
Bringing this back, taking a second look at these. Enjoying them outside on clay strung with pro hurricane 1.3 (looks good in blue) at 22kg. So far so good.
1990's Graphite
Hall of Fame
These did not fair to well on these boards which represent 0.00005% of the tennis world hahaha but many respectful sites had good reviews, most saying a bit of lead / weight was required...
This would be a good clay weapon..
This would be a good clay weapon..
McLovin
Legend
I actually enjoyed my short hit with it, and if they came out with a + version I’d give it a closer look.
But, my VCORE 98+ is filling that space nicely right now.
Injured Again
Hall of Fame
I enjoyed my test of the Pure Drive VS quite a bit, but just found that the head size is not quite large enough for me as I am getting older and still trying to play against young people who can hit the ball really hard.
My son is now playing with the racket, which has been lengthened to 27.5 inches and leaded up to 370 grams. It is very stable with excellent control at that length and weight and when his current stash of Pure Drive Tours wear out, he is switching to this racquet.
My son is now playing with the racket, which has been lengthened to 27.5 inches and leaded up to 370 grams. It is very stable with excellent control at that length and weight and when his current stash of Pure Drive Tours wear out, he is switching to this racquet.
michael valek
Hall of Fame
Just played again it’s getting better. More manoeuvrable than a pure drive (what isn’t) and played at a lower launch angle than a pure aero. Slice is nicer than aero but still plenty of power and you can play pd style or pa style with it. Merits and rewards aggressive play.
1990's Graphite
Hall of Fame
How is this working out? Still using it? Many gave up on it too quick I feel. I see some players go back to it with slight lead or string mods.
TennisHound
Legend
Oh what could’ve been ...
Injured Again
Hall of Fame
My son still has it (well, had it, as I recently confiscated it) in his bag though he is so used to his PD Tours that he doesn't often hit with it. I think the launch angle is a little bit lower and he hits the ball pretty flat on his backhand and so he catches the tape a bit. Nothing that some string tension adjustments couldn't take care of, but he's not consistently using it yet.
Which is why I recently took it back from him. I'm hoping to be able to do a pretty extended demo of the Blade 98 so I was going to add some weight to it and compare it and the PDVS side by side. Here they are:
Despite how it looks in the pictures, the Blade's stringbed is just a bit longer, and the PDVS is a bit wider in the 7-8 and 4-5 o'clock positions. The PDVS has Cyclone 1.25 strung up quite a while ago so it pings a noticeably lower frequency than the 46 pounds of Tourna Silver 7 Tour in the Blade.
Anyhow, I'm hitting with both of them tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I have to get some weight onto the Blade's hoop. It will be interesting to see if my previous impressions are still the same now that I've been through a period of a lot of racquet tinkering.
mhkeuns
Hall of Fame
I think it’s a great weapon for those advanced players with fast swing speed. My strokes weren’t good enough to get the maximum out of the frame (*stock) but saw the potential when I was forced to hit certain shots.
With a little lead, it becomes easier to use (*for me). There is nothing wrong with the frame at all, especially if some weight was added. I think it rewards more attacking style of play than the baseline weapons like the Pure Drive and Aero.
As I mentioned, any advanced players who likes to play the attacking style of play (*and want a bit more spin than Pure Strike), I think the PDVS is a fantastic frame.
Anyone familiar with the 2013 APD able to comment on if this Pure Drive VS plays similarly to it? The specs on paper for the PDVS look very similar except for a slightly higher swingweight and 98 head size, but I understand racquets can play quite differently despite similar spec numbers.
