Phantasm
Semi-Pro
String and tension used for test: Hyper G 17G at 50lbs
Tennis experience/background: Play around currently a 4.0 level. A bit rusty with time off for the winter and busy work hours.
Describe your playing style (i.e. serve & volley): Lefty Baseliner grinder with 2HBH, trying to be more aggressive/attacking. Mix it up sometimes with serve/volley.
Current racquet/string setups: Currently using Wilson Clash with Hyper G at 50lbs. Before that, Pure Aero w/ Hyper G. Then DR98 before with Yonext PTP 52lbs before that.
How many hours did you play with the racquet? 14-15 hours. Mix of Ball Machine, Singles, Doubles.
Comments on racquet performance:
Was looking to try a Pure Drive model in the first time in a long time. Last time I used one for an extended time was when I demo’d the Black Pure Drive Roddick with blue accents many years back.
I did very slightly the new 2019 Pure Drive for 10-15 minutes but I quickly gave it back to my friend who let me try it. It felt way too light and felt unconnected to the ball when trying it and didn’t feel click with me. I did not go into this playtest with any biases though since I didn’t give the regular Pure Drive a fair try.
First outing with the racquet was with the ball machine and some light swings before ramping it up. It lives up to its namesake - Pure Drive. Easy Power was easily noticeable right off the bat. Definitely more than the Clash.
-Groundstrokes: The power level feels somewhat similar to the Pure Aero. It felt much easier to swing and less cumbersome than the Aero though. I got enough spin and depth to keep the ball deep to prevent my opponent from easily attacking. I could be aggressive and attack earlier than I usually do.
I liked slicing with the PDVS more than the Aero. My slices were the Aero were always a bit floatier than I wanted to be and I could keep the ball lower.
It has good directional control and I aimed for big targets as my control is definitely off since I couldn’t play a lot during the rainy winter, and it’s only been 6-7 weeks of playing again consistently.
-Serves: I usually hit a flat first and a slice/slidey second serve taking advantage of being a lefty. Definitely noticed the easy power on serves. Especially during doubles, my usual crew that I played with said they noticed a bit more pop than usual on my serves. Got a few noticeable unreturned serves.
-Volleys: I’m not the best volleyer but the lightness made it very maneuverable to volley at net easily during doubles. I did notice some stability issues when hitting off center or against harder hitters. Part of it may just be my net skills as well. The racquet did not hinder my volley ability at all though.
-Serve returns:
Block returns and chip returns were both fine with this frame. I got a couple deep returns that I was quite pleased with the mobility of the frame.
General reaction/comments on overall performance:
Super fun playtest. I love the racquet cosmetic of the gunmetal/blue. Easy, controllable power. Maneuverable and easy to swing. Maybe a bit too light and powerful for some people's taste.
Reminds me of the Pure Strike(white) which I had a chance to demo as well. I think compared to the Pure Strike, it was slightly more maneuverable but the Pure strike was a bit more stable.
Alas, I do not know if I’d switch fulltime to the PDVS as I originally switched away from the Pure Aero from the occasional discomfort I got from after using the Aero for extended sessions for preventative reasons.
That being said, I never felt any discomfort using the PDVS or after using it. The longest outing I had on it being about 2.5 hours - 3 hours. I don’t think using this racquet or any high RA racquets are arm injuries waiting to happen, but I just believe to be slightly sensitive and choose to be safer than sorry with my racquet choices.
Thank you very much to TW and Babolat to participate in the playtest!
Tennis experience/background: Play around currently a 4.0 level. A bit rusty with time off for the winter and busy work hours.
Describe your playing style (i.e. serve & volley): Lefty Baseliner grinder with 2HBH, trying to be more aggressive/attacking. Mix it up sometimes with serve/volley.
Current racquet/string setups: Currently using Wilson Clash with Hyper G at 50lbs. Before that, Pure Aero w/ Hyper G. Then DR98 before with Yonext PTP 52lbs before that.
How many hours did you play with the racquet? 14-15 hours. Mix of Ball Machine, Singles, Doubles.
Comments on racquet performance:
Was looking to try a Pure Drive model in the first time in a long time. Last time I used one for an extended time was when I demo’d the Black Pure Drive Roddick with blue accents many years back.
I did very slightly the new 2019 Pure Drive for 10-15 minutes but I quickly gave it back to my friend who let me try it. It felt way too light and felt unconnected to the ball when trying it and didn’t feel click with me. I did not go into this playtest with any biases though since I didn’t give the regular Pure Drive a fair try.
First outing with the racquet was with the ball machine and some light swings before ramping it up. It lives up to its namesake - Pure Drive. Easy Power was easily noticeable right off the bat. Definitely more than the Clash.
-Groundstrokes: The power level feels somewhat similar to the Pure Aero. It felt much easier to swing and less cumbersome than the Aero though. I got enough spin and depth to keep the ball deep to prevent my opponent from easily attacking. I could be aggressive and attack earlier than I usually do.
I liked slicing with the PDVS more than the Aero. My slices were the Aero were always a bit floatier than I wanted to be and I could keep the ball lower.
It has good directional control and I aimed for big targets as my control is definitely off since I couldn’t play a lot during the rainy winter, and it’s only been 6-7 weeks of playing again consistently.
-Serves: I usually hit a flat first and a slice/slidey second serve taking advantage of being a lefty. Definitely noticed the easy power on serves. Especially during doubles, my usual crew that I played with said they noticed a bit more pop than usual on my serves. Got a few noticeable unreturned serves.
-Volleys: I’m not the best volleyer but the lightness made it very maneuverable to volley at net easily during doubles. I did notice some stability issues when hitting off center or against harder hitters. Part of it may just be my net skills as well. The racquet did not hinder my volley ability at all though.
-Serve returns:
Block returns and chip returns were both fine with this frame. I got a couple deep returns that I was quite pleased with the mobility of the frame.
General reaction/comments on overall performance:
Super fun playtest. I love the racquet cosmetic of the gunmetal/blue. Easy, controllable power. Maneuverable and easy to swing. Maybe a bit too light and powerful for some people's taste.
Reminds me of the Pure Strike(white) which I had a chance to demo as well. I think compared to the Pure Strike, it was slightly more maneuverable but the Pure strike was a bit more stable.
Alas, I do not know if I’d switch fulltime to the PDVS as I originally switched away from the Pure Aero from the occasional discomfort I got from after using the Aero for extended sessions for preventative reasons.
That being said, I never felt any discomfort using the PDVS or after using it. The longest outing I had on it being about 2.5 hours - 3 hours. I don’t think using this racquet or any high RA racquets are arm injuries waiting to happen, but I just believe to be slightly sensitive and choose to be safer than sorry with my racquet choices.
Thank you very much to TW and Babolat to participate in the playtest!