Pure Strike 2024

Really tempted to get one of these but would rather not end up with a porker at 330+ SW. No real way for me to measure swingweight before buying where I am. It's this or the new PD that have my attention at the moment.
 
McGradey said:
Really tempted to get one of these but would rather not end up with a porker at 330+ SW. No real way for me to measure swingweight before buying where I am. It's this or the new PD that have my attention at the moment.
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Then I think you'd have to plan on a going the custom spec matching route and having whichever retailer(s) scour their inventory for <= 295-ish unstrung SW. Given Bab's QC variances, I wouldn't think that would be too out of line. Question is: how motivated are you? I've been thinking of doing this myself, but fully endorse you taking the lead!

RNBABOLAT said:
Someone already have seen the new upcoming paintjob? Thanks
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Indeed, we need to see a photo leak of this gray/gunmetal colorway! Pronto!
 
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Trip said:
Then I think you'd have to plan on forking over the $20-30 + frame cost from whichever retailer will do a custom racquet matching for <= 295-ish unstrung SW. Given Bab's QC variances, there should be enough under-spec samples out there, to make it happen. Question is basically: how motivated are you? I've been thinking of doing this myself, but fully endorse you being a guinea pig as well. :X3:
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I'm in NZ and I don't think any of our retailers do racquet matching — not that I'm aware of anyway.
I'm most likely to just go and grab 3 off the rack and buy the one that feels like it swings easiest :-D
 
Trip said:
Gotcha. What about Tennis Only in Australia? Or is the shipping/importing more of a pain than it's generally worth?
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Yep, that would prob be the best all-in-one purchase/matching solution available, but with the added costs I'm not sure it stacks up. Some products you can't ship internationally also. Tbh I'd prefer to buy locally anyway, and ask them to invest in a swingweight machine!
 
Dear all,
as a former PS 18x20 3rd gen user, went ahead switched to 360+ Radical MP because of the very dampened and muted feeling of the Strike, I am wondering if the 2024 18x20 is feeling much better.

I am very sensitive regarding muted feeling and dislike noticeably dampened frames. Rackets like 360+ Radical MP are still OK for me while I love the raw Wilson Pro Staff 97 v13 feel which is best in class for me.

Rackets I don't like because of their dampening / muted feel are all Ezones, Vcores, Strike 3rd gen, Aero 98, Whiteout for example.

How would you say is the dampening of the 2024 strikes in comparison? Is it on Aero 98 level, maybe even more or is it more raw and direct feeling which I would appreciate?

Kind regards


Julian
 
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@Julian.Peter - The G4 Strike will be an improvement over the G3, for sure. That said, on the muted-to-raw scale, with 1 being very little feel and 10 being fully connected/transmissive/raw, if the G3 Strike is, say, a 3, then the G4 Strike would be a 6 or 7. Still somewhat muted, but a marked improvement. For reference, I'd put the G360+ Rad MP/Pro at about an 8, maybe 8.5.

Given the frames you listed as a no-go, I would say you should look at only the most raw/connected stuff, and probably hollow-core only, for if you felt that even the WhiteOut v1 was too muffled, then most foam-filled frames will probably feel the same. So while you're certainly welcome to try a TF40, TFight, Blade Pro, Ultra Pro, Angell TC, etc, your take-away may be very similar: connected sure, but ultimately too dampened/muffled. As such, here is what your short list should probably look like:

- Angell React MP Pro (customization probably required)
- Dunlop CX 200 (heavy customization required though)
- Furi Arma Pro 98
- Heysil Tour 98 (customization required)
- Nordicdots Model 99
- Wilson Pro Staff 97 v14
- Wilson Pro Staff X

Of all of those, the most solid and ready-to-play in stock form will be the AP98, M99 and Pro Staffs. If you want to stick with a mainstream option, I would just go Pro Staff, either 97 or X, and call it a day.

Hope that helps.
 
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Thanks for this detailed feedback, very kind of you!

I tried some of these rackets. Found PSX to be to muted as well. Not as many others and the foam filled ones, but still disconnected.

I played PS97 v13 for a while which was reported being more raw than the v14. I love the feel and I can rush weaker opponents with it very well but on a bad day or getting under pressure by stronger opponents, I become weaker and especially my serve is very poor with it. Otherwise I would have sticked with the PS97.

I am fine with the Radical MP at the moment and in terms of feeling but I miss the ultimate precision of the PS97 or a dense 18x20 like the Pure Strike has but I think if your impression of the PS98 18x20 4th gen is right, it will still be to muted for me.

Maybe I should slightly weight up my Radical MP and use a thicker string in order to get a little better and more stable swing on my one handed backhand and a little more precision as well.

So the question in the latest PS98 is answered for me. Thanks a lot and maybe I will also have a look at the frames you mentioned and that I have not tried yet. :-)
 
Julian.Peter said:
I am fine with the Radical MP at the moment and in terms of feeling but I miss the ultimate precision of the PS97 or a dense 18x20 like the Pure Strike
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Then that being said, I think you definitely owe it to yourself to try both the Nordicdots Model 99 and the Heysil Tour 98 18x20. Both of them will have the string bed density you prefer. The M99 will have it in a more progressive location (more up top), the Heysil will have it lower (more conventional). The Heysil will also likely be more maneuverable on the one-hander, while the M99 will be way more playable in stock form and more naturally laterally stable. That said, the Heysil is basically a pro stock hairpin, that Jeff or one of his team will then customize up to whatever spec you prefer, and ship it out to you. Both are know for being just about as raw/crisp as anything out there at this point. If neither of those are raw enough for you, then I'm not really sure of what to tell you, other than you'll have to start your journey on "The Bay" and other marketplaces, looking for whatever older, more connected models you think will do it for you.
 
Trip said:
Then that being said, I think you definitely owe it to yourself to try both the Nordicdots Model 99 and the Heysil Tour 98 18x20. Both of them will have the string bed density you prefer. The M99 will have it in a more progressive location (more up top), the Heysil will have it lower (more conventional). The Heysil will also likely be more maneuverable on the one-hander, while the M99 will be way more playable in stock form and more naturally laterally stable. That said, the Heysil is basically a pro stock hairpin, that Jeff or one of his team will then customize up to whatever spec you prefer, and ship it out to you. Both are know for being just about as raw/crisp as anything out there at this point. If neither of those are raw enough for you, then I'm not really sure of what to tell you, other than you'll have to start your journey on "The Bay" and other marketplaces, looking for whatever older, more connected models you think will do it for you.
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Thank you, Trip! I am also curious regarding niche brands, less known models and trying something different. So I will have a look at the Heysil, maybe I can get one second hand for a proper price and see how it works for me.
 
kblades said:
Anyone played with under spec 98 16x19’s and if so, how did they play?
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I bought a pair via TW, incl matching service. SW 296/297 according to TW, via Briffidi I measured 292/293.
307gr, 32BL.
Play really great, more power then blade or radical. Higher launch angle, and way better stability.
Feel is good, but little less crisp then latetest radical, blade v5 or babolat aero VS.
Without dampener it’s good, but I like sound with a dampener.

I come from 2yrs of VS. Love that I can still hit spin but don’t have to.
Strike hits more trough the court. It is a really stable racket.
Not as manoeverable as VS.

I’m playing with it since december 14th and still love it.
 
danoontje said:
I bought a pair via TW, incl matching service. SW 296/297 according to TW, via Briffidi I measured 292/293.
307gr, 32BL.
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Not to doubt you, but are you sure your SW1 was calibrated right before you measured? A discrepancy of 4-5 points is concerning...
 
Trip said:
@Julian.Peter - The G4 Strike will be an improvement over the G3, for sure. That said, on the muted-to-raw scale, with 1 being very little feel and 10 being fully connected/transmissive/raw, if the G3 Strike is, say, a 3, then the G4 Strike would be a 6 or 7. Still somewhat muted, but a marked improvement. For reference, I'd put the G360+ Rad MP/Pro at about an 8, maybe 8.5.

Given the frames you listed as a no-go, I would say you should look at only the most raw/connected stuff, and probably hollow-core only, for if you felt that even the WhiteOut v1 was too muffled, then most foam-filled frames will probably feel the same. So while you're certainly welcome to try a TF40, TFight, Blade Pro, Ultra Pro, Angell TC, etc, your take-away may be very similar: connected sure, but ultimately too dampened/muffled. As such, here is what your short list should probably look like:

- Angell React MP Pro (customization probably required)
- Dunlop CX 200 (heavy customization required though)
- Furi Arma Pro 98
- Heysil Tour 98 (customization required)
- Nordicdots Model 99
- Wilson Pro Staff 97 v14
- Wilson Pro Staff X

Of all of those, the most solid and ready-to-play in stock form will be the AP98, M99 and Pro Staffs. If you want to stick with a mainstream option, I would just go Pro Staff, either 97 or X, and call it a day.

Hope that helps.
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Where would you put the gen2 PS on that raw scale??
 
hdjs94 said:
Where would you put the gen2 PS on that raw scale??
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G2's were quite crispy/crackly. Kind of gave off some Head Graphene vibes in a way. Definitely direct, but also a bit harsh, almost akin to turning up the gain so high on your speakers that you loose some of the more nuanced parts of the Hz range, if that makes sense. I would say maybe "8-ish, +/- 1 depending on taste".
 
Trip said:
G2's were quite crispy/crackly. Kind of gave off some Head Graphene vibes in a way. Definitely direct, but also a bit harsh, almost akin to turning up the gain so high on your speakers that you loose some of the more nuanced parts of the Hz range, if that makes sense. I would say maybe "8-ish, +/- 1 depending on taste".
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Are you referring to the Project one 7 frames or the black and red ones? I would agree that the the black and red Pure Strike felt raw, but didn't feel that way about he Project one 7.
 
Trip said:
G2's were quite crispy/crackly. Kind of gave off some Head Graphene vibes in a way. Definitely direct, but also a bit harsh, almost akin to turning up the gain so high on your speakers that you loose some of the more nuanced parts of the Hz range, if that makes sense. I would say maybe "8-ish, +/- 1 depending on taste".
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As a G2 fan this is a pretty great analogy actually. The Graphene era always felt toy-like to me while the G2 did not for whatever reason, but I recognize my preference for Bab feel over Head is somewhat unusual here
 
Royp91 said:
Are you referring to the Project one 7 frames or the black and red ones? I would agree that the the black and red Pure Strike felt raw, but didn't feel that way about he Project one 7.
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P One7, and yes, less purely raw than the original black/red Strikes, but still very intense on contact, to me at least. I think the overall firmness had a lot to do with it, too.
 
I've only played the G4 98 and 100 (16x19 for both) for a little bit each (a friend loves the Pure Strikes) and imo it is so clearly the best feel in the last three generations, pretty much regardless of what type of response you tend to look for. Just much more refined. I haven't tried the G1 so can't compare there.
 
Trip said:
G2's were quite crispy/crackly. Kind of gave off some Head Graphene vibes in a way. Definitely direct, but also a bit harsh, almost akin to turning up the gain so high on your speakers that you loose some of the more nuanced parts of the Hz range, if that makes sense. I would say maybe "8-ish, +/- 1 depending on taste".
Click to expand...
Highly considering if I want to pick a gen 2 up. Played with the current 4th gen for about a year and played really well with it but the slightly muted feel just didn’t exactly cut it for me as well as I played with it.

I assume general playability is the same apart from the swing weight differences perhaps?
 
Trip said:
Then that being said, I think you definitely owe it to yourself to try both the Nordicdots Model 99 and the Heysil Tour 98 18x20. Both of them will have the string bed density you prefer. The M99 will have it in a more progressive location (more up top), the Heysil will have it lower (more conventional). The Heysil will also likely be more maneuverable on the one-hander, while the M99 will be way more playable in stock form and more naturally laterally stable. That said, the Heysil is basically a pro stock hairpin, that Jeff or one of his team will then customize up to whatever spec you prefer, and ship it out to you. Both are know for being just about as raw/crisp as anything out there at this point. If neither of those are raw enough for you, then I'm not really sure of what to tell you, other than you'll have to start your journey on "The Bay" and other marketplaces, looking for whatever older, more connected models you think will do it for you.
Click to expand...
Hey,
a friend of mine just got a ND M99 and I had the chance to try it. It actually feels pretty nice. Somehow in a different way, there is something slightly muting the frame, but more in a "resilient" feeling way, pretty stable, direct, hard to push around, ball locating in stringbed still to be felt clearly. Super easy transition from Radical MP. Same like switching to Ezone 98 fir example. Just hit with it and everything works. Nice low launch.
I don't like it in terms of hoop shape, Yonex-ish shape, 23mm wide beam, but it actually works pretty good and also the feeling is quite nice, like a 305s (the only foam filled frame I played so far not feeling dampened and spongy) but less harsh and metallic. The ND M99 ist mit the same level of feeling like 360+ Rad MP and especially not like a PS97, but it performed ver nice and the feeling is really OK for this kind of easy to play and overall performing frame.

Thanks again for your advice!
 
Did the new one come pre-strung? That's definitely not normal, but could easily happen if someone stings it and doesn't have the machine set up correctly. I made that mistake a long time ago on a Prestige, and I will never make that mistake again.
 
Royp91 said:
Did the new one come pre-strung? That's definitely not normal, but could easily happen if someone stings it and doesn't have the machine set up correctly. I made that mistake a long time ago on a Prestige, and I will never make that mistake again.
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I strung it, but I've strung a lot of racquets and never warped one, this one doesn't seem warped.
 
eric42 said:
I strung it, but I've strung a lot of racquets and never warped one, this one doesn't seem warped.
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One way to see is to measure the width between the two. I suppose it's possible that they could have cut the pallet 3/16" shorter. I like Babolat, but they certainly haven't always been the company with the best QC.
 
Johnnyrocket said:
I had a friend who strung his Ezone at 58lbs which warped his racket face short causing it to be shorter than his other rackets. Perhaps ask the retailer you bought it from about this, you’ll might be able to exchange for another one.
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Strung or unstrung is not the lengths I have... but I notice length deltas when tension difference if the mains and crosses are more than 4lbs (2kg), either way. BUT unstrung should be 27 exact (686 mm). 3/16 is way off, yes odd.
 
Just got seven Pure Strike 98s for tuning the day before yesterday. They all have the same length of 686mm.
I've never had a Babolat frame where the length was different.
These frames all came unstrung.



 
One thing that could happen theoretically is if it was strung as a hybrid with multi/gut in the mains and left like that for a long time - multi/gut would hold it's tension much better, and especially if it was strung tighter than a poly cross, that could cause it to warp over time and shorten the length.
 
Just grabbed the '24 Strike 98 18x20 from my local shop to demo tomorrow morning with a 4.0 buddy.

This thing has some serious hoop mass – even with a hybrid of Hawk Touch 1.25 / Velocity Power 1.30 (@ 50/53 eCP), it's still got a 335 strung SW. With the shop's head tape on it, 343. LOL. Reminds me of my over-spec Strike 100 16x20 TW playtest mule (with an unstrung SW of 304). Strung spec with 1 Volkl V-Dry over grip, rubber band dampener (and head tape removed) is 325g / 32.8cm / 335sw. Way lighter static weight and more head-heavy than I typically roll with, but, screw it.

Will be interested to see if the smaller head gives it a little more ease through the hitting window, and am excited to see how precise the 18x20 is. Update to come after the hit.

#DominicThiem4Life
 
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Trip said:
Just grabbed the '24 Strike 98 18x20 from my local shop to demo tomorrow morning with a 4.0 buddy.

This thing has some serious hoop mass – even with a hybrid of Hawk Touch 1.25 / Velocity Power 1.30 (@ 50/53 eCP), it's still got a 335 strung SW. With the shop's head tape on it, 343. LOL. Reminds me of my over-spec Strike 100 16x20 TW playtest mule (with an unstrung SW of 304). Strung spec with 1 Volkl V-Dry over grip, rubber band dampener (and head tape removed) is 325g / 32.8cm / 335sw. Way lighter static weight and more head-heavy than I typically roll with, but, screw it.

Will be interested to see if the smaller head gives it a little more ease through the hitting window, and am excited to see how precise the 18x20 is. Update to come after the hit.

#DominicThiem4Life
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I just got one from TW with an unstrung SW of 296. It's slightly under spec which is what I wanted... My current one has a strung SW of 333. Once I string up the under spec one I'll decide which one I prefer and either beef up the under spec one or try to find another one.
 
@jklos - Yeah, if I ever were to seriously buy more Strikes, I would only go via retailer matching service. The spread on SW is just too large otherwise. Interested to hear of what you think of the 296sw variant.
 
Pure Strike 98 16x19 is a great racket. Not used because no hi profile players. Don't know why PA98 is so popular. So hard to use.

Decided on T0fight 305s for now due to manageable SW (and better feel/comfort) but I could be convince to switch esp with new cosmetics (which I haven't seen yet.
 
So I just ordered 2 pure strike 97s, anyone have any recommendations on strings? Also how does it compare to the pro staff 97 once you weigh it up?
 
@RF2017 - After having setup the preceding PSVS several different ways, I think it did well with numerous different string setups, ie. it's not that string sensitive, rather you just need to dial in tension vs static stiffness and power potential of whatever string in question. My sister, a 3.5-4.0, mains two identically-matched PSVS's, customized at lighter weight (328g / 31.9cm / 320sw) via a Wilson Feather Thin base grip, two Gamma Supreme over grips and 2g at 9 & 3 total, and loves Mayami Big Spin 1.25 / Tru Pro Ghostwire 1.22 @ 52/49. A very cushy ride overall, and probably one of the greatest feeling pure sweet spot contacts of any setup I've ever hit.
 
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