Rafa’s Racquet is HERE! Finally, us mere mortals can play with the Babolat Pure Aero Rafa Origin & Olivier Carlier tells us what makes this one so spe

[TW Staff]

Babolat is releasing a racquet designed with and endorsed by one of the greatest players of all time, Rafael Nadal! In this episode we learn everything we could want and MORE about this new frame!

Completely unique in spec, it boasts a swingweight above 370 (!!!) and a stiffness rating of 70, while the strung weight is just under 12 ounces. We had the chance to speak with Olivier Carlier, Babolat's Global Marketing Manager in the racquet category and picked his brain about this one of a kind frame!

We asked him things like:

• How did this racquet come about?!
• Take a deep dive into the specs and materials
• What was it like working with Rafa?! What makes him so unique (swinging such a hefty racquet as efficiently as he does, Rafa's idiosyncrasies and superstitions; etc.)
• What is the best string set up for this racquet?
• What is Rafa's string set up?
• Advantages of high stiffness
• The cosmetics and how much of a role Rafa played
• How does this racquet differ from the Pure Aero
• and more!

While we can't all swing as effectively as Rafa, players will find the racquet to absorb and redirect pace, load balls with tons of mass and rock solid stability from everywhere on the court. And this is as close to what Rafa uses that you can get! Even if you can't swing it, it would be a great collectible for any Rafa fan!

Happy Hitting!


Continue reading...

 

[Curtennis]

Wow confirmed over 370 SW. that’s wild. 350 would have been plenty sufficient to get the point across.

 

[Aestheticsaboveallelse]

Wow confirmed over 370 SW. that’s wild. 350 would have been plenty sufficient to get the point across.

The point is its supposed to be same as his

 

[Rally]

The point is its supposed to be same as his

Isn't Rafa's just a stock APD with a LOT of lead?

 

[sureshs]

I recall several sources on this forum say that his swingweight is around 350. Don't know where the 370 came from

 

[sureshs]

Isn't Rafa's just a stock APD with a LOT of lead?

Yes and an older model of APD I think

 

[Rally]

Yes and an older model of APD I think

Then Babolat should have just re-released the original APD because technically that was Rafa's racquet, not 370 SW from the factory. It would also give players the margin to limit the SW while still being able to use Rafa's racquet. 370 will likely mean a few hitting sessions, some sore rotator cuffs, and then a nice glass case on the wall.

 

[Aestheticsaboveallelse]

Then Babolat should have just re-released the original APD because technically that was Rafa's racquet, not 370 SW from the factory. It would also give players the margin to limit the SW while still being able to use Rafa's racquet. 370 will likely mean a few hitting sessions, some sore rotator cuffs, and then a nice glass case on the wall.

They're releasing multiple racquets, lower weight ones too check the babolat racquet section on tennis warehouse descriptions

 

[Rally]

They're releasing multiple racquets, lower weight ones too check the babolat racquet section on tennis warehouse descriptions

Ah is the Pure Aero Rafa just a rerelease of the original APD with a new cosmetic?

 

[Aestheticsaboveallelse]

Ah is the Pure Aero Rafa just a rerelease of the original APD with a new cosmetic?

I don't know wtf it is I wanna know too, have heard ppl claim its an apd mold

 

[innoVAShaun]

@TW Staff , does it come in grip size #1, 4 1/8”?

 

[McLovin]

I recall several sources on this forum say that his swingweight is around 350. Don't know where the 370 came from

Strung vs unstrung?

 

[Purestriker]

I recall several sources on this forum say that his swingweight is around 350. Don't know where the 370 came from

Sources.

 

[Curtennis]

Sources.

He is the source.

 

[sureshs]

@TW Staff , does it come in grip size #1, 4 1/8”?

@innoVAShaun Yes

Babolat Pure Aero Rafa Origin Racquet | Tennis Warehouse

www.tennis-warehouse.com

oops you said 1/8th? Doesn't seem so.

Nadal uses a 1/4 th.

 

[sureshs]

Sources.

Big 3 racquet specs and what it means for their respective games

As a delayed knee-jerk reaction (oxymoronic, I know) to threads wondering "what if pros swapped racquets?", I created this thread to list out current racquet specs used by the Big 3 (or at least the most recent specs I can glean from the internet), and what I think it means for their games...

tt.tennis-warehouse.com

Nadal (AeroPro Drive Original)
Head size: 100 sq in
Length: 27 in
Strung Weight: 339 g / 11.96 oz
Strung Balance: 33.8 cm / 1 Points HL
Stiffness: 65
Swingweight: 365
String Pattern: 16 x 19
Strings Main: Babolat RPM Blast 15G @ 25 kg / 55 lbs (fixed regardless of surface / conditions)
Strings Cross: Babolat RPM Blast 15G @ 25 kg / 55 lbs (fixed regardless of surface / conditions)
Source: @cyanide43 (link)

 

[sureshs]

Rafael Nadal Racquet – What Does He Use? - Tennis Passionate

Rafa Nadal endorses the Babolat Pure Aero racquet and actually plays with the Babolat AeroPro Drive Original 2005 racquet.

www.tennispassionate.com

Head size	100 in²
Balance	12.91in / 32.8cm
Lenght	27in / 68.58cm
Unstrung weight	11.18oz / 317g
Strung weight	12.1oz / 343g
Swingweight	360*
String Pattern	16×19
Stiffness	72

 

[sureshs]

Rafael Nadal’s Babolat Aeropro Drive

Professional-quality tennis racquet re-stringing and customization at affordable prices by Greg Raven.

www.hdtennis.com

Rafael Nadal’s Babolat Aeropro Drive
2007 Pacific Life Open​

Racquet	Mass	Bal. cm	RDC Flex	Swgwt	Length
Nadal’s	332	33.50	65	355	26-7/8
USRSA	337	33.75	69	337	27
Tennis Warehouse	320	32.70	67	324	27

 

[sureshs]

I cannot find any place which says his strung SW is 370.

 

[innoVAShaun]

@innoVAShaun Yes

Babolat Pure Aero Rafa Origin Racquet | Tennis Warehouse

www.tennis-warehouse.com

oops you said 1/8th? Doesn't seem so.

Nadal uses a 1/4 th.

Could be like the last PARafa release. #1 and #5 grip sizes came months after the release date.

 

[Aestheticsaboveallelse]

Where is the demo button on racquet page? Missing

 

[sureshs]

Where is the demo button on racquet page? Missing

@TW Staff @Aestheticsaboveallelse Can you help with the query?

 

[TW Staff]

DEMOS are currently live!

TW Staff

 

[Aestheticsaboveallelse]

DEMOS are currently live!

TW Staff

Oh perfect, have to have demos before buying

 

[sureshs]

Oh perfect, have to have demos before buying

See how I arranged it for you. I am always helping people achieve their potential

 

[Aestheticsaboveallelse]

See how I arranged it for you. I am always helping people achieve their potential

But I'm the one who brought the issue to light

 

[sureshs]

But I'm the one who brought the issue to light

I help those who help themselves

 

[Power Player]

I cannot find any place which says his strung SW is 370.

Go to YT and look at Babolats videos. There is a new one of Rafa saying that he varies his balance and weight depending on the surface. I think this is why his SW has been reported differently. He favors more lead in the tip for clay, which is what the Origin is based on.

 

[sureshs]

Go to YT and look at Babolats videos. There is a new one of Rafa saying that he varies his balance and weight depending on the surface. I think this is why his SW has been reported differently. He favors more lead in the tip for clay, which is what the Origin is based on.

Then wouldn't you sell a racket which has the lowest swingweight among Rafa's surface specializations so that players can add lead to it?

 

[Aestheticsaboveallelse]

Then wouldn't you sell a racket which has the lowest swingweight among Rafa's surface specializations so that players can add lead to it?

No you would sell the racquet that created clay god Nadal

 

[Power Player]

Then wouldn't you sell a racket which has the lowest swingweight among Rafa's surface specializations so that players can add lead to it?

I don’t know since I don’t work for babolat but the new 290 gram Rafa frame is amazing. I just hit with it and I think it’s great.

To me the origin is to give you his clay specs. So you have the setup that won an inhuman number of slams.

 

[dr325i]

"the closest racket to what Rafa is using"...
explains everything.
Same mold (?), different layup, extra weight, call it ORIGIN and slap extra $$ on it!

 

[thebigz]

Go to YT and look at Babolats videos. There is a new one of Rafa saying that he varies his balance and weight depending on the surface. I think this is why his SW has been reported differently. He favors more lead in the tip for clay, which is what the Origin is based on.

Correct. And many of his specs out there are outdated. He has been increasing his swing weight in the recent years and adjust the balance and therefore likely SW based on surface, alongside with going thinner on the string with 1.30 RPM instead of the 1.35 he used his entire career.

I just got my copy of the Origin and strung it with 1.30 RPM Blast, swing weight came in 364 strung(333 unstrung) so I'm not complaining at all. All the weighting is by the tip of the frame which actually let it come through quite nicely in full swings, completely not what I expected at all. I have realized that other frames I had with higher twist weight(weight at 3 & 9) can be harder to maneuver than the copy of Origin I have despite lower swing weight.

 

[BillKid]

Legend : a Nadal fan proudly holding his new Pure Aero Rafa

 

[sureshs]

Correct. And many of his specs out there are outdated. He has been increasing his swing weight in the recent years and adjust the balance and therefore likely SW based on surface, alongside with going thinner on the string with 1.30 RPM instead of the 1.35 he used his entire career.

I just got my copy of the Origin and strung it with 1.30 RPM Blast, swing weight came in 364 strung(333 unstrung) so I'm not complaining at all. All the weighting is by the tip of the frame which actually let it come through quite nicely in full swings, completely not what I expected at all. I have realized that other frames I had with higher twist weight(weight at 3 & 9) can be harder to maneuver than the copy of Origin I have despite lower swing weight.

364 is very different from 375