I just demoed about 7 or 8 racquets and I narrowed it down to two that I really like a lot:
1. Babolat Pure Storm Ltd. GT
(345 g/ 12.1oz)(9 pts HL) (313 Swingweight) (95 in) (18x20) (19mm beam)
Pros: easy to swing, great on serves, felt like I was never late
Cons: Not quite as solid on volleys and not as quite as solid, but good on the groundstrokes compared to the tour.
2. Babolat Pure Storm Tour GT
(345 g/ 12.1oz)(8 pts HL) (333 Swingweight) (98 in) (16x20) (21mm beam)
Pros: Awesome groundstrokes and volleys. Felt very, very solid.
Cons: Felt a little too heavy for me to handle most noticeably on the serves.
So ideally I want the best of both rackets. I'm thinking about trying some lead tape on the Ltd. at 3 and 9 o'clock to add some more oomph to my volleys and groundstrokes and hoping the serve won't be affected. How much weight should I add and does this seem like a good idea?
My second problem is that the ltd. had a synthetic gut string and the Tour had a poly (mains) and synthetic gut (crosses) hybrid. I've never used poly strings before. What can I expect if I changed the strings to a synthetic gut? Unfortunately, I don't think I can ask the shop to restring the demo for me, although I haven't asked.
Thanks a lot for the advice!
1. Babolat Pure Storm Ltd. GT
(345 g/ 12.1oz)(9 pts HL) (313 Swingweight) (95 in) (18x20) (19mm beam)
Pros: easy to swing, great on serves, felt like I was never late
Cons: Not quite as solid on volleys and not as quite as solid, but good on the groundstrokes compared to the tour.
2. Babolat Pure Storm Tour GT
(345 g/ 12.1oz)(8 pts HL) (333 Swingweight) (98 in) (16x20) (21mm beam)
Pros: Awesome groundstrokes and volleys. Felt very, very solid.
Cons: Felt a little too heavy for me to handle most noticeably on the serves.
So ideally I want the best of both rackets. I'm thinking about trying some lead tape on the Ltd. at 3 and 9 o'clock to add some more oomph to my volleys and groundstrokes and hoping the serve won't be affected. How much weight should I add and does this seem like a good idea?
My second problem is that the ltd. had a synthetic gut string and the Tour had a poly (mains) and synthetic gut (crosses) hybrid. I've never used poly strings before. What can I expect if I changed the strings to a synthetic gut? Unfortunately, I don't think I can ask the shop to restring the demo for me, although I haven't asked.
Thanks a lot for the advice!