BabPlayer-JohnnyG
Rookie
Hey T-Dub Community, I'm interested to get your thoughts on my review. I guess I have a little too much time with this whole quarantine thing, haha. Hope you enjoy!
April 17, 2020
Review of New 2020 Pure Aero VS
My set-up: First off, I strung the new stick with RPM Blast 16g at 52 pounds (2-piece). My racquet is a 4 ¼ (#2) grip size. I removed the Syntec Pro replacement grip, which has never been my favorite since I feel it is a little too thick. I personally like to feel the bevels a bit more. So I removed the syntec pro and all the tape from the handle to leave it clean. Then I put on a Syntec Team replacement grip (new replacement grip from Babolat on the new pure strikes). Then I complemented my grip with a VS Original over grip. Lastly, I didn’t use any lead or tungsten tape. I just went bone stock, besides the grip modifications.
Ground Strokes: Coming from a Pure Aero VS Tour (2017), which is 11.9oz., to a Pure Drive Tour, which is 11.7oz., I was quick to notice the maneuverability of the new Pure Aero VS. The maneuverability was great, to say the least. However, it’s kind of hard to describe, but the racquet provided pretty darn good stability against hard hit balls, for a lighter weight racquet with a decent head light spec that cuts through the air. This really thrilled me. Oftentimes in my experience, a really maneuverable racquet is typically more unstable due to the lack of weight/mass, but this was definitely not the case with the new Pure Aero VS. Also, super important to note is that this new Pure Aero VS is a completely new mold from the previous 2017 aero vs version, which was a carbon copy of the older aero storm mold from the early 2000s and such, which had a flat beam, approximately 21mm. While not only providing an incredibly beautiful shiny paint job, this new Aero VS has a much more versatile beam width, which comes out to approximately 21mm, 23mm, 22mm. Personally, I think the new mold, 16x20 pattern, however much more open 16x20 (different drill pattern) than aero storm mold, and slightly heavier weight than the previous standard version of the 2017 pure aero vs (11.3 vs. 11.1), all add up to make the new Aero VS a real winner, especially on ground strokes. I’m a 5.0 player and play with other 5.0s and 5.5s, and I felt this racquet held up well to pace without the need for added weight. Now, that said, I do think this stick would thrive with a slightly higher static weight and a slightly higher swing weight as the level of hitting goes up. To be honest, I think the added weight would also increase the comfort of the racquet. Now, that’s not to say it’s not comfortable. I think the dampening technology, which I believe is also used in the space industry with NASA, is really quite good, though I have no idea how it’s used by NASA, haha. Anyways, in stock form, with my slight grip changes and no added weight, this racquet is crisp, which I really like. It’s also very responsive. You make contact in the decently-sized sweet spot and you are definitely rewarded. You feel it. If you make off-center contact on your groundies or such, it is not painful or bone-jarring, but you do realize that you made off-center contact. In my opinion, that is a good thing. I don’t want to use a racquet that feels pure no matter if I hit the sweet spot or the outside of the frame. That’d be a noodle anyway, haha. One other thing that I definitely want to touch on is that the string pattern was one of my favorite parts of this upgraded Aero VS. The string pattern is more open than before. As mentioned by others, the string pattern feels more like a 16x19 as compared to a 16x20, just because the string spacing is spread out more, ever so slightly. This new 16x20 pattern allowed for more spin and a slightly higher launch angle compared to the previous aero vs version (2017). On my forehand, the spin was great. When hitting forehands, the racquet truly felt like a more controlled/precise version of the standard Pure Aero. I loved it on my whippy forehand side. Since my backhand is a more linear stroke, where I tend to drive more through the ball instead of whipping up and over the ball, like on my forehand, I still had really good success. Even though my stroke did not change, I felt like I was able to hit through the ball and still hit decent penetrating shots through the court. The slightly higher launch angle compared to the older pure aero vs also helped to increase depth. I also felt that the higher clearance on the net was met with an increase in spin to bring my backhands down into the court without having to whip up too much on the back side of the ball. Now, the one thing I would contemplate doing to my set-up is adding a little bit of weight in the hoop, to slightly decrease how head light it is, while also upping the swing weight just a bit. For a lighter static weight, the new Pure Aero VS is quite head light in stock form, so I think a little added wait in the hoop would only complement the frame and reward the player as the hitting gets more intense. Even though I still felt like the racquet had decent plow through without any added weight, a slight increase in static weight and swing weight, while still being head light, like 4 or 5 points head light instead of 6 or more, would probably make this racquet shine even more in the ground stroke department.
Volleys: The crispness and responsiveness of this racquet shined up at net. I want to mention that I enjoy a racquet with a livelier and/or stiffer upper hoop . When I’m volleying, I want a racquet that I can use to dig balls out from tough angles and positions, which oftentimes means making contact in the upper hoop, while depending on the responsiveness of the string bed in the upper hoop. Furthermore, I’ve hit with many racquets in the past that I have personally liked until having to dig balls in tough spots while making contact in the upper hoop. Anyways, the upper hoop of some of those racquets was just dead. Any ball I hit in the upper hoop would just die. All that said, the new Pure Aero VS has a firm upper hoop (while not being rigid or overly stiff), which still gives you a chance to dig volleys and half-volleys even if you contact this part of the string bed. Personally, this is part of the reason why I enjoy so many of Babolat’s frames. Just to add, the maneuverability of the Pure Aero VS was definitely an advantage while up at net. That said, I do feel with some slight weight customization, I think this racquet could really become a weapon at net, by increasing stability and plow through just a bit, while maintaining a head light balance to keep it a maneuverable package.
**Continued on next post!**
April 17, 2020
Review of New 2020 Pure Aero VS
My set-up: First off, I strung the new stick with RPM Blast 16g at 52 pounds (2-piece). My racquet is a 4 ¼ (#2) grip size. I removed the Syntec Pro replacement grip, which has never been my favorite since I feel it is a little too thick. I personally like to feel the bevels a bit more. So I removed the syntec pro and all the tape from the handle to leave it clean. Then I put on a Syntec Team replacement grip (new replacement grip from Babolat on the new pure strikes). Then I complemented my grip with a VS Original over grip. Lastly, I didn’t use any lead or tungsten tape. I just went bone stock, besides the grip modifications.
Ground Strokes: Coming from a Pure Aero VS Tour (2017), which is 11.9oz., to a Pure Drive Tour, which is 11.7oz., I was quick to notice the maneuverability of the new Pure Aero VS. The maneuverability was great, to say the least. However, it’s kind of hard to describe, but the racquet provided pretty darn good stability against hard hit balls, for a lighter weight racquet with a decent head light spec that cuts through the air. This really thrilled me. Oftentimes in my experience, a really maneuverable racquet is typically more unstable due to the lack of weight/mass, but this was definitely not the case with the new Pure Aero VS. Also, super important to note is that this new Pure Aero VS is a completely new mold from the previous 2017 aero vs version, which was a carbon copy of the older aero storm mold from the early 2000s and such, which had a flat beam, approximately 21mm. While not only providing an incredibly beautiful shiny paint job, this new Aero VS has a much more versatile beam width, which comes out to approximately 21mm, 23mm, 22mm. Personally, I think the new mold, 16x20 pattern, however much more open 16x20 (different drill pattern) than aero storm mold, and slightly heavier weight than the previous standard version of the 2017 pure aero vs (11.3 vs. 11.1), all add up to make the new Aero VS a real winner, especially on ground strokes. I’m a 5.0 player and play with other 5.0s and 5.5s, and I felt this racquet held up well to pace without the need for added weight. Now, that said, I do think this stick would thrive with a slightly higher static weight and a slightly higher swing weight as the level of hitting goes up. To be honest, I think the added weight would also increase the comfort of the racquet. Now, that’s not to say it’s not comfortable. I think the dampening technology, which I believe is also used in the space industry with NASA, is really quite good, though I have no idea how it’s used by NASA, haha. Anyways, in stock form, with my slight grip changes and no added weight, this racquet is crisp, which I really like. It’s also very responsive. You make contact in the decently-sized sweet spot and you are definitely rewarded. You feel it. If you make off-center contact on your groundies or such, it is not painful or bone-jarring, but you do realize that you made off-center contact. In my opinion, that is a good thing. I don’t want to use a racquet that feels pure no matter if I hit the sweet spot or the outside of the frame. That’d be a noodle anyway, haha. One other thing that I definitely want to touch on is that the string pattern was one of my favorite parts of this upgraded Aero VS. The string pattern is more open than before. As mentioned by others, the string pattern feels more like a 16x19 as compared to a 16x20, just because the string spacing is spread out more, ever so slightly. This new 16x20 pattern allowed for more spin and a slightly higher launch angle compared to the previous aero vs version (2017). On my forehand, the spin was great. When hitting forehands, the racquet truly felt like a more controlled/precise version of the standard Pure Aero. I loved it on my whippy forehand side. Since my backhand is a more linear stroke, where I tend to drive more through the ball instead of whipping up and over the ball, like on my forehand, I still had really good success. Even though my stroke did not change, I felt like I was able to hit through the ball and still hit decent penetrating shots through the court. The slightly higher launch angle compared to the older pure aero vs also helped to increase depth. I also felt that the higher clearance on the net was met with an increase in spin to bring my backhands down into the court without having to whip up too much on the back side of the ball. Now, the one thing I would contemplate doing to my set-up is adding a little bit of weight in the hoop, to slightly decrease how head light it is, while also upping the swing weight just a bit. For a lighter static weight, the new Pure Aero VS is quite head light in stock form, so I think a little added wait in the hoop would only complement the frame and reward the player as the hitting gets more intense. Even though I still felt like the racquet had decent plow through without any added weight, a slight increase in static weight and swing weight, while still being head light, like 4 or 5 points head light instead of 6 or more, would probably make this racquet shine even more in the ground stroke department.
Volleys: The crispness and responsiveness of this racquet shined up at net. I want to mention that I enjoy a racquet with a livelier and/or stiffer upper hoop . When I’m volleying, I want a racquet that I can use to dig balls out from tough angles and positions, which oftentimes means making contact in the upper hoop, while depending on the responsiveness of the string bed in the upper hoop. Furthermore, I’ve hit with many racquets in the past that I have personally liked until having to dig balls in tough spots while making contact in the upper hoop. Anyways, the upper hoop of some of those racquets was just dead. Any ball I hit in the upper hoop would just die. All that said, the new Pure Aero VS has a firm upper hoop (while not being rigid or overly stiff), which still gives you a chance to dig volleys and half-volleys even if you contact this part of the string bed. Personally, this is part of the reason why I enjoy so many of Babolat’s frames. Just to add, the maneuverability of the Pure Aero VS was definitely an advantage while up at net. That said, I do feel with some slight weight customization, I think this racquet could really become a weapon at net, by increasing stability and plow through just a bit, while maintaining a head light balance to keep it a maneuverable package.
**Continued on next post!**
