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Deleted member 19728
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I have had an on and off love affair with the PDR+ going all the way back to the first model and have several of each one they have made since they first came out in 2007 or thereabouts when it dropped. The current PDT+ I like fairly well for hitting groundstrokes, but it may be the light SW, lack of mass in the hoop, or super open string pattern, but I just cannot hit decent flat or kick serves with it to save my life compared to any of the other models which all drop bombs. I also found volleying with it to be suspect. I had pretty much relegated myself to hitting with the old PDRs or my 2015 blade 16x19, but the blade volleys like cancer even though I love it everywhere else.
When I saw there was going to be a 320 gram beast in 27.5 length that is similar to the PDR+, I couldn't pass that up, so I bought a few when they got my grip size in last week. I had one of them strung up with 16G red code wax at 57 pounds, because they were out of the regular red code. I had a few chances to hit with them and I must say I was surprised by a few things:
Based on the TW reviews I thought this racquet was going to be crazy heavy, but it swings pretty much like my black PDR+, I think the Roddick is a little more head heavy, but the static weight is a little lighter on the PDR. (I am not going to make any comparisons to the PDTs, since I have pretty much relegated those to the time out bin in my basement) The beast is a little heavier, but it definitely feels more head light than the older PDR+s. IMO this head light balance and added static weight oddly benefits my game, since I have a one handed back hand. I had a really easy time bringing this stick around on the backhand side. You just put it in motion and it comes around with good pace and plow through. I found forehands to be pretty awesome too, it hits line drives with ease and gives you great spin/grab on the ball depending on what you are trying to do with it. I think it has really great control and targeting was better than the PDR. My only knock would be if you are hitting with spin and are hitting 1/2 swing speed etc you may have the tendency to loop a few balls out. I think it is easier to mishit this sort of shot more so than PDRs. The power is very linear and you get out of it what you put into it. I find the spin to be good, but you need to commit to it when you load the ball up. Flat line drives are actually pretty easy to hit and I am having good luck bringing them into the court and not hitting the fence like I do every time I try the RF97.
When I first started hitting overheads I was catching quite a few off the throat until I started catching my rhythm with it, but volleys are great and I found it very maneuverable around the net. Like any extended length racquet body shots and body serves into your pockets are trouble, but honestly even with a standard length racquet you are are doing good jut to get the strings on those.
On to serves....holy smokes does this thing deliver the goods. I wanted a racquet that lets me drop bombs on serves and this baby will let you do it. If you get the racquet moving and have good racquet head speed you reap the rewards. Incredibly impressive serving racquet and the potential is there to hit harder serves than the Roddick. I just need more time with it, but so far I have been super impressed with it.
I need a few more weeks with it, but overall if you like the Babolat plus length racquets but haven't been super thrilled with the string pattern on the new tour or aero then you need to try the beast pro LB. It is an excellent stick and don't let the swing weight or stories of this thing being heavy deter you. The ones I got swing to me like a 330 or so swing weight racquet because the balance point is more head light. I also found it way more forgiving for a one handed back hand than what you would think. Give it a demo, it is worth a shot. I was intrigued by the specs and prince delivered what I was looking for in a new racquet.
When I saw there was going to be a 320 gram beast in 27.5 length that is similar to the PDR+, I couldn't pass that up, so I bought a few when they got my grip size in last week. I had one of them strung up with 16G red code wax at 57 pounds, because they were out of the regular red code. I had a few chances to hit with them and I must say I was surprised by a few things:
Based on the TW reviews I thought this racquet was going to be crazy heavy, but it swings pretty much like my black PDR+, I think the Roddick is a little more head heavy, but the static weight is a little lighter on the PDR. (I am not going to make any comparisons to the PDTs, since I have pretty much relegated those to the time out bin in my basement) The beast is a little heavier, but it definitely feels more head light than the older PDR+s. IMO this head light balance and added static weight oddly benefits my game, since I have a one handed back hand. I had a really easy time bringing this stick around on the backhand side. You just put it in motion and it comes around with good pace and plow through. I found forehands to be pretty awesome too, it hits line drives with ease and gives you great spin/grab on the ball depending on what you are trying to do with it. I think it has really great control and targeting was better than the PDR. My only knock would be if you are hitting with spin and are hitting 1/2 swing speed etc you may have the tendency to loop a few balls out. I think it is easier to mishit this sort of shot more so than PDRs. The power is very linear and you get out of it what you put into it. I find the spin to be good, but you need to commit to it when you load the ball up. Flat line drives are actually pretty easy to hit and I am having good luck bringing them into the court and not hitting the fence like I do every time I try the RF97.
When I first started hitting overheads I was catching quite a few off the throat until I started catching my rhythm with it, but volleys are great and I found it very maneuverable around the net. Like any extended length racquet body shots and body serves into your pockets are trouble, but honestly even with a standard length racquet you are are doing good jut to get the strings on those.
On to serves....holy smokes does this thing deliver the goods. I wanted a racquet that lets me drop bombs on serves and this baby will let you do it. If you get the racquet moving and have good racquet head speed you reap the rewards. Incredibly impressive serving racquet and the potential is there to hit harder serves than the Roddick. I just need more time with it, but so far I have been super impressed with it.
I need a few more weeks with it, but overall if you like the Babolat plus length racquets but haven't been super thrilled with the string pattern on the new tour or aero then you need to try the beast pro LB. It is an excellent stick and don't let the swing weight or stories of this thing being heavy deter you. The ones I got swing to me like a 330 or so swing weight racquet because the balance point is more head light. I also found it way more forgiving for a one handed back hand than what you would think. Give it a demo, it is worth a shot. I was intrigued by the specs and prince delivered what I was looking for in a new racquet.
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