Looking for a more comfortable Pure Strike gen 3

P

Patrickmcm

New User
I've been playing with a strike for about a month now and I love it but my arm doesn't. I'm mostly fine when I'm hitting the sweetspot even with all poly, but when I'm tired I start shanking, probably due to the weight. Mine is actually really off spec, I had to add 11 grams of weight to the handle for a 33cm balance and the racquet itself was 7 grams overspec, so the strung weight with overgrip and dampener is 352g. I'm open to customization and could probably go down to 340 strung.

I've tried a tfight 300 rs that was overspec at 328 strung with a high balance point, but it was too powerful and the balance bothered my elbow even on on center hits. Tried a Clash 98 and really liked the shots, but hated the feel at contact.

I don't mind more responsive feels at contact. I've been looking at an Angell K7 Red or maybe even a Pro Staff v13 if that plays softer than the strike. Wants are 97-99 inch head, nothing denser than 16/20 on strings, and controlled launch angle. Also would ideally like to use a full bed of poly (I've done this before on 63RA with no pain, could probably go higher).

Thanks for any feedback and/or suggestions.
 
L

Lorenn

Hall of Fame
Some do not meet your spec list...Still might be worth considering. Feel is important, but given time most players adapt to new feel. Assuming it is not pain related:) Gravity Pro is a fun racquet to try as well.

Prince Textreme Tour
Prince Beast 98 line
Prince Phantom
Speed MP
Radical 360+ in Jan
Extreme Pro 360+ if available in your market Tour if not.
Angell racquets are nice.
Yonex racquets would fit the bill.
 
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Dartagnan64

Dartagnan64

G.O.A.T.
Looks like you want control oriented tweeners if you like playing with the Pure Strike. There are definitely more comfortable ones out there.
Wilson Blade 98, Yonex VCORE 98, Prince Tour 310, Head Extreme Tour, Head Gravity MP. Prince and Gravity are 100 sq in but not sure you'd notice they were "too big".
 
socallefty

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Do a search on the TW racquet finder for current racquets with similar specs. Then go to their listing of vibration frequency for each racket in TWU and pick the ones that have the lowest. I‘ve found that the vibration frequency correlates the most to racquet comfort with lower numbers being more comfortable.

According to TW, the 16x19 PS is at 147 while the 18x20 is at 141 and the Pure Strike Tour is at 139. 8Hz lower can make a decent increase in comfort for the Tour which is also a 16x19. I always recommend that the Pure Strike Tour is a much better racquet than the 16x19 since it is more stable, more headlight and more comfortable with comparable swingweight.

I wish that it would become common for the vibration frequency to be listed amongst racquet specs.
 
n80aoag

n80aoag

Professional
Pure strike gen 3 can be comfortable with a Hybrid setup. Multi or gut mains, poly crosses. If you go to blade you'll miss the power and depth of the PS.
 
A

AA7

Hall of Fame
Patrickmcm said:
I've been playing with a strike for about a month now and I love it but my arm doesn't. I'm mostly fine when I'm hitting the sweetspot even with all poly, but when I'm tired I start shanking, probably due to the weight. Mine is actually really off spec, I had to add 11 grams of weight to the handle for a 33cm balance and the racquet itself was 7 grams overspec, so the strung weight with overgrip and dampener is 352g. I'm open to customization and could probably go down to 340 strung.

I've tried a tfight 300 rs that was overspec at 328 strung with a high balance point, but it was too powerful and the balance bothered my elbow even on on center hits. Tried a Clash 98 and really liked the shots, but hated the feel at contact.

I don't mind more responsive feels at contact. I've been looking at an Angell K7 Red or maybe even a Pro Staff v13 if that plays softer than the strike. Wants are 97-99 inch head, nothing denser than 16/20 on strings, and controlled launch angle. Also would ideally like to use a full bed of poly (I've done this before on 63RA with no pain, could probably go higher).

Thanks for any feedback and/or suggestions.
Click to expand...
Just go with blade v7 16x19.. it will be easy transition from pure strike.. similar rackets.. slightly less power and spin but more comfort.. control will be a little bit better with blade as well...
 
socallefty

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
AA7 said:
Just go with blade v7 16x19.. it will be easy transition from pure strike.. similar rackets.. slightly less power and spin but more comfort.. control will be a little bit better with blade as well...
Click to expand...
According to TWU Vibration comparison specs, the Blade 16x19 is at 133 (corrected) while the Pure StrIke 16x19 at 147. The Blade 18x20 is at 132 which is also better than the PS 18x20 at 141.

If you use poly, please string only in the low fifties or even lower in tension and if you don’t break strings, cut them out after 15 hours as they will be dead by then and will have lost their elasticity. Dead poly will cause arm soreness on most racquets.
 
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Power Player

Power Player

Bionic Poster
socallefty said:
According to TWU Vibration comparison specs, the Blade 16x19 is at 146 similar to the Pure StrIke 16x19 at 147. The Blade 18x20 is at 132 which is much better than the PS 18x20 at 141.

If you use poly, please string only in the low fifties or even lower in tension and if you don’t break strings, cut them out after 15 hours as they will be dead by then and will have lost their elasticity. Dead poly will cause arm soreness on most racquets.
Click to expand...

vibration frequency is off in this case. Its not always a great indicator. I have the blade and pure strike and the blade is 100x more comfortable. It also does not have the punch that the strike offers so there is the trade off.

i went to the yonex ezone 100 from the strike 16x19. Its a fusion of the strike and pure drive and plays far more comfortable, regardless of what the vibration frequency states.
 
Villain

Villain

Professional
socallefty said:
According to TWU Vibration comparison specs, the Blade 16x19 is at 146 similar to the Pure StrIke 16x19 at 147. The Blade 18x20 is at 132 which is much better than the PS 18x20 at 141.

If you use poly, please string only in the low fifties or even lower in tension and if you don’t break strings, cut them out after 15 hours as they will be dead by then and will have lost their elasticity. Dead poly will cause arm soreness on most racquets.
Click to expand...
Power Player said:
vibration frequency is off in this case. Its not always a great indicator. I have the blade and pure strike and the blade is 100x more comfortable. It also does not have the punch that the strike offers so there is the trade off.

i went to the yonex ezone 100 from the strike 16x19. Its a fusion of the strike and pure drive and plays far more comfortable, regardless of what the vibration frequency states.
Click to expand...

The TWU vibration tool and racquet recommender tool both list the Blade V7 16x19 as 133.
 
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AA7

Hall of Fame
yeah. honestly bottom line is that thru time.. vibration frequency, RA and few other stiffness indices have increasingly started to become bad indicators as the technology improved. ezone 100 has vibration frequency of 160 and RA of 69 or something... the damn thing is plush as hell. i was shocked how plush it felt. Just have to hit with them.
 
J

jdx2112

Hall of Fame
Ryebread said:
Try a pure aero vs
2020 model
53 mains Prince premier control.
51 crosses Element.
Click to expand...
To be completely honest with you, I wouldn't waste my time with more babolats. If he already owns a pure strike it's worth playing with hybrid set ups. Otherwise save your money and go with racquets with an RA 64 and under. Sure, there may be sticks where the higher RA doesn't hurt the arm, but to really know you're going to have to buy and play with them for like a month.

Generally speaking, and that's all this is, Babolat's are for young, strong athletes who can absorb the vibration/stiffness in their arms or older players who have short bunt-like swings that need more power. Smart market positioning but rough on eveyrone else.

PS - I love the Aero series, but just had to let it go.
 
B

BallBasher247

Semi-Pro
Diadem Elevate/Elevate Tour. I've switched to the Elevate (weighted up) after being in the racket jungle for a long time, and I have an Elevate Tour on the way. The Elevate line has a 16x20 string pattern with relatively open mains but dense crosses, so you get a good amount of spin without too high of a launch angle or a sacrifice in control. And the amount of feel the Elevate has is pretty insane, especially considering that these Elevates are foam filled. If I were you, I'd go for the Elevate Tour just because it doesn't have to be customized, but if you want room to customize the racket exactly to your spec, then the regular Elevate is good. One thing to note about the regular Elevate is that it needs around 4 grams between 3 and 9 to play stable.
 
smalahove

smalahove

Hall of Fame
AA7 said:
yeah. honestly bottom line is that thru time.. vibration frequency, RA and few other stiffness indices have increasingly started to become bad indicators as the technology improved. ezone 100 has vibration frequency of 160 and RA of 69 or something... the damn thing is plush as hell. i was shocked how plush it felt. Just have to hit with them.
Click to expand...

I agree the Ezone 100 is a comfortable racket, but I disagree that the various stiffness indicators are not relevant anymore.

I remember playing quite a bit with a VCP 97 330g and an Ezone 100, and imo, the metrics were spot on. After starting with the VCP, thein going to the Ezone 100, and the back again, I could really feel an incredible diff in flex. The Ezone has a stiff frames set up, just like the new PS, but the right string setup and prob some kind dampening tech reduces quite a bit of that. But i’m also pretty sure the wrong string setup will reveal the frame defacto stiffness.
 
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