Tennis Warehouse Playtest: Babolat Pure Aero

[n8dawg6]

I agree with you on basically everything you wrote.

What does 'gin up' mean and how do you pronounce that? Is it a western or nevada phrase?

I played very well with the spiraltek until they snapped, which only took about 8 hours. String movement with syn gut strings really irritates me though, probably more so than tension loss does with polys. Dont get me wrong, I hate when polys become uncontrollable, but they are nice while they last, and they are tough to snap, so I can restring them when I choose, not when they unpredictably break.

oh it just means works up or creates. im a lawyer i use way too many absurd words. im from the durty south, although it might as well be chop vegas nevada.

on the syn gut string movement ... I was playing with an old buddy a couple months back. he's an ex-d1 but in the early part of his 4th decade. anyway, he still uses wilson 6.1 classics that he strings himself with duraflex. he didnt even know what poly was. "what, the strings dont move? that just aint right." it's a ritual for him between points to straighten strings. and of course, other than knee problems, he's still up in the NTRP stratosphere with that duraflex.

 

[DJTaurus]

Whats the basic grip used on PA?

 

[Doc Hollidae]

Whats the basic grip used on PA?

Syntec Pro

 

[Altav]

Ok its review time!
I have been looking forward to writing this review for a while now but wanted to wait and make sure I gave the play-test as much time as possible and use as many string combinations as possible.

Tennis experience/background:
I am currently 36 and an active USTA member since 2006. My current rating is 4.5. I started as a 3.0 in 2006 with a little prior experience from a few lessons and 1 semester of high school tennis. I play USTA leagues and tournaments along with taking the occasional private lesson and group drills.

Describe your playing style (e.g., serve & volley):
I am a primarily a baseliner who will attack the net when the opportunity arises. I have a one handed backhand and a semi-western grip for the forehand. I hit a big serve, forehand, and overhead. My volleys are not the strongest but get the job done. My backhand is consistent but not strong enough to consider an attacking shot. I rely a lot on my speed and reflexes to get short and angled balls opponents consider winners.

Current racquet/string: (since this playtest the Babolat Pure Aero has become my current racquet)
Wilson Pro Staff 95 4 1/4 grip - lead weight added @10&2, 1 overgrip, and a vibration dampener to give the racquet a static weight of 12oz.
String - Mains: Prince Synthetic Gut 16 strung @60lbs, Crosses: ISOSpeed Baseline Control 17 strung @55lbs

String set-up in test racquet:
I played with 3 string setups while play-testing this racquet.
Babolat RPM Blast 17 strung @50lbs
Luxilon Element (16L, 1.25) strung @50lbs
Babolat M7 strung @60lbs

How many hours did you play with the racquet?
Over 20 and still counting

Comments on racquet performance:
One thing you will find prevalent in each section below is SPIN, POWER, and COMFORT. This racquet excelled in these three areas.
I also found that for the first time ever in a racquet I could play with a full bed of poly without encountering any arm or shoulder pain. In fact I felt the M7 syn gut under performed compared to its poly counterparts. Due to the open string pattern I was only able to play 1 doubles match with the M7 before it broke.
-groundstrokes: 9/10
Groundstrokes seemed to require so much less effort compared to my Wilson. Power was easy and spin created excellent dive on the ball. I did not have to swing hard with this racquet to hit a powerful shot and instead focused on a quick swing speed to generate spin. The grommets, head size, and frame thickness created the power for me. It was a completely night and day experience from my thin beamed Wilson Pro Staff 95 where it takes effort to hit a powerful shot.
forehand - I could go big, really big, with my shots and keep the ball in play. Balls would dive and hit deep in the court close to the baseline. In singles I found success hitting angled spin shots that would push my opponents farther and farther off court. In doubles I found it easy to hit low dipping shots forcing attacking net opponents to often volley up.
backhand - I get a huge improvement on my one handed backhand with this frame. The thicker beam is what I believe helps me the most. Increased stability and great plow through allows me to hit a more commanding backhand than I am used to. With the larger head size the frame was more forgiving if I did not hit dead center and it felt like the sweet-spot was huge. My backhand slice did tend to float a tad more than it did with my Wilson where it felt like I could carve out a really low slicing shot.
-serves: 7/10
Comfort was huge on serves with this frame. With such a huge sweet-spot I never felt any jarring on off center hits. The power was great allowing me to put less effort into trying to hit big and more effort into putting action on the ball. The open pattern allowed me to hit a serve that was very active whether I sliced or kicked the ball, either option was easy to execute. There is a negative here though and I am currently working on adjusting to it. The frame has so much easy power that I have some trouble controlling my hard flat first serve. With the Wilson I can crush a hard flat first serve much more reliably.
-volleys: 9/10
Again comfy, comfy, comfy. Volleys just feel so plush with this racquet. I am sure much of this has to do with the extra square inches vs my regular frame but I found myself with far fewer mishits than normal. On hard shots from opponents I felt like there was less torquing of the racquet in my hand. I am not a natural net player and it is typically my least favorite place to be. With this racquet my willingness to be at net has increased. I feel more confident I will make solid contact with the ball.
-serve returns: 9/10
Absolutely amazing with this frame. Might sound like a broken record but the spin and comfort this frame gives me allows me to be more aggressive and confident on my returns. I swing out more freely with my forehand knowing that the ball will drop in and not sail long. On my backhand I normally get overpowered by big servers and have real trouble getting big serves back in play. With this frame and its huge sweet-spot I am having far fewer issues. My backhand is more stable and able to return these big serves more often. I am still working on trying to get my backhand slice return low like with my Wilson frame but right now if I had to pick I take the Babolat for the increased stability on hard serves when I am trying to come over the top of the ball.

General reaction/comments on overall performance: 9/10
First I will start by saying that historically I have not been a Babolat racquet fan. The Pure Drives felt like boards, I could never serve with the AeroPro Drive, never warmed up to the Pure Control line.
This frame has changed everything for me.
It is super comfortable, easy to swing, and offers easy power.

This frame, in my opinion, is designed to be strung and played with a polyester string. Its very odd for me to say this as I have historically had tons of arm issues when using full bed of polyester in this string. That is a testament to just how comfortable this frame is though. I used two full sets of polyester back to back without the slightest of arm/shoulder issues.
I found that with the M7 synthetic gut power was too high, spin suffered, and most importantly they break very very quickly.

The grommet system allows for a lot of string movement and the spacing of the strings is very open. I directly compared this with my teammates AeroPro Drive and even though they have identical head size and string patterns, the spacing on the Pure Aero was significantly bigger than the AeroPro.

This racquet will benefit anyone looking for easy power or players who like to hit with a lot of spin.
I found myself able to play longer without experiencing the arm fatigue I would on my Wilson Pro Staff 95.

Actually I like this frame so much I have switched to it full time and am looking to buy another.

Thank you Babolat and Tennis Warehouse for letting me participate in this play-test!

Could you share your experience of your play-test with Babolat RPM vs. Luciano Element?

 

[Altav]

Could you share your experience of your play-test with Babolat RPM vs. Luciano Element?

Sorry Luxilon Element. (Autocomplete sucks..)

 

[avince]

Is there already a forum dedicated to the Pure Aero Team playtest or is there here also ?
I didn't see a lot of reviews about this frame...

 

[topspinlob]

Babolat Pure Aero playtest

Tennis experience/background: I am 42 years of age (5’-6” and on the husky side). I started playing tennis seriously when I was 13 years old. I took a couple lessons at a local park but basically I am self-taught. I would tape pro tennis matches on ESPN and use the slow-mo function on our VCRS. I played High School Varsity for 2 years then I stopped playing when I started college (1991). By 1999, I picked up tennis again playing weekly until about 2004. I started playing seriously in 2010. I had my rackets stolen from my car and I had decided why not pick up tennis again. I have been playing ever since with even more dedication and enthusiasm!


Describe your playing style (e.g., serve & volley): I am baseline/counterpuncher who likes to hug the baseline. I am not afraid of the net however. I like playing singles but I can play doubles if needed.

Current racquet/string: Wilson Blade 2013 98 16x19 (11.8 oz with leather grip/overgrip and lead at 3&9) Pro’s Pro Ichiban Spin 17g at 50lbs


String set-up in test racquet: (1) Pre-strung with Babolat Spiraltek Black 17G @ mid-range (2) Prince Poly Exp 16g @53lbs strung with drop weight stringer (3) Diadem Solstice Power Tennis String 17g @53 Lbs strung with drop weight stringer.


How many hours did you play with the racquet?: Listed according to string set up listed above

(1) 6 hours (2) 7 hours & (3) 1hour; Total: 14 hours

Comments on racquet performance:

-groundstrokes: In general with whatever string you used, groundstrokes were really great with this racket. It’s even better if you use topspin and have good low-high strokes and RHS. The sweetspot on this racket is HUGE. Even when I didn’t hit the sweetspot or I shanked, I did not get any excessive vibration. There is some good power from this racket. I would think with the open pattern, flat shots would be hard to control but I didn’t have any issues. But I would suggest using medium to stiff poly to reign in control. Prince Poly Exp is kinda springy which I didn’t have a problem with. With the Diadem string, control is improved. The spin that comes on the racket is tremendous. The launch angle is high. A lot of groundstrokes that I thought were going to fly out were dropping in. Crosscourt short angles passing shots (both forehand and backhand) happened with ease. The string pattern reminds of POG Mid (14x18) very open! Slice backhands were great as well. Even when hard hit groundstrokes were hit to my backhand and the only option is to slice, the ball comes off nicely with good bite on the ball.

Usually when a deep looping topspin shot comes to my forehand I usually just respond with deep looping forehand with myself leaning back. But for kicks I decided to really go for it and see that this type of racket can do. So in this situation, I hit the ball at the apex but at the same time leaned back and gave the ball a good whack. The first time (Spiraltek) I did that I missed by an inch and my friend was in shock I was able to hit almost a winner from a defensive position. The second time I decided to this I had Prince Poly Exp in the racket. I was interested to see if poly would make a difference and it did. I hit a forehand winner from my corner to my friend’s backhand corner. He was still amazed I was able to go from defense to offense in one swing. I guess this goes with Playtester Chris’ sentiments. Overall, this racket is a baseliner’s dream.


-serves: I am not the biggest server. I have to really concentrate to hit a nice hard hit serve. With the racket strung with Spiraltek 17g, kick serves had too much spin it seemed and were landing short and sitting up. With poly strings, I was getting more depth on kick serves. The big difference for me were flat serves. I really liked it for flat serves. I could hit and direct flat serves with ease. With the Blades and my other previous rackets, I really had to swing hard to get a hard flat one down the tee. With the Pure Aero, I didn’t have to use a lot of effort. I just let the wide beam of the racket power the ball thru.


-volleys: Touch volleys were hard for me with this racket. You definitely have to use medium-stiff poly for touch ( that’s doesn’t sound right huh?). With Prince Poly EXP, I couldn’t hit any touch volleys to save my life. I wanted the ball to drop close to the net and die but each time it would land mid court. But with Diadem string I was able to hit nice touch volleys. This racket is good for regular volleys. It had good stability with hard passing shots. Just put out the racket in front and let the racket do the work.


-serve returns: The way I know if a racket is good for service returns is if I can hit a couple good drive drive backhands for winners. It took me a couple sets until a cracked a couple. But in general this racket is stable enough for hard-hit flat serves. If you can just get good contact on the ball you will hit the ball deep. A friend who I hit with regularly hit a nice kick serve to my backhand in the ad court. The ball kicked up high and I was able to hit service return winner with an abbreviated swing. I knew something was special about this racket because I usually play with rackets 11.8-12.2 oz and I didn’t expect a lighter racket would be able to do that.

General reaction/comments on overall performance: As mentioned I am used to playing with heavier rackets. Also I like SW’s in range of 325-335. I have been telling myself that eventually I will be playing with rackets with wider beams and light static weight. I just didn’t think it would be so soon. The last couple months I noticed I was getting more tired while playing with a 11.8z ~ 335 SW racket. I didn’t think I was going to get picked for the Pure Aero since a lot of people would be interested. I tried getting on the TW Pure Drive playtest last year but I wasn’t picked. I think I got picked because not a lot of people use L2 grip size. Anyhow I am switching to this racket immediately. I am already thinking of selling my Blades and getting another Pure Aero. I am still getting groundstroke spin and power I am used to but in addition I am getting some serve power. Also in defensive positions, the Pure Aero is enabling me to get the ball back deep even if I stab at it. With my previous rackets (POG, PCG100, EXO3 Graphite, Vantage/Angell,Wilson Blade) I wasn’t able to do that. I was thinking of putting a leather grip because I like bevel feel (which I did on all my previous rackets) and I like the added weight. But now I am used to just adding a overgrip and a lower static weight. Surprisingly my arm is not as sore after playing Also I am not as tired after playing since I am exerting as much energy during serves and groundstrokes. For now I am going to leave the Syntec Pro replacement grip. If I really do want to bevel feel I may install Gamma Hi-Tec replacement grip.

Just to add, in the middle of the playtest, I added some lead to the handle. I layed 10 grams on the replacement grip (not using the adhesive) and just wrapped overgrip to hold it in place. I did this to see how it would play if I were to add a leather grip ( just static weight-wise and not for more feel). The rackets felt played well too. I think I would add leather grip only if I were to push around by a hard-hitters. For about almost the majority of the playtest I hit with my usual tennis partner who is a flat hard hitting, rush the net kinda player. We would always play sets. He mentioned he didn’t “like” my racket because of the more spin and more balls coming back to him. On my second to the last go-around for the playtest I was able to hit my friend who is also a frequent contributor (Props to DJNeight!) to the TW forums for an hour or so. We just hit groundstrokes for the most part and then practiced our serves. He hits deep topspin groundstrokes which I haven’t been hitting against in a while. I wanted to make sure this racket was stable and powerful enough to stand against these type of strokes. In the end, the Pure Aero was able to withstand the deep topspin strokes but also respond back with deep topspin shots as well. This confirmed my switch to this racket. Might as well I am not getting any younger and I want to keep playing for the rest of my life!

Thanks TW and Babolat for the playtest!

I realized I forgot to mention something about this racket versus a previous version of the racket. I bought a used APD Cortex for shiz and giggles. I really didn't like it too much. I realized why I didn't like it when I first hit with the PA. I really enjoy more open string patterns. Even tho the APDC is 16x19, I consider it to be still dense for me. I really enjoy the power,spin and forgiveness of the FSI spin pattern.

 

[Karma Tennis]

Even tho the APDC is 16x19, I consider it to be still dense for me. I really enjoy the power,spin and forgiveness of the FSI spin pattern.

The denser 16x19 string pattern of the APD families of racquets seems to provide superior pin-point shot control potential compared to the PA family of racquets.

Less advanced players may prefer the extra free power / spin potential and forgiveness of the PA though I imagine elite players will stick to the APD.

For example, Rafa seems to be using an APD with a PA pj at the IPTL matches.

 

[TennisHound]

Yep, they just made the pattern too open on the PA. Still a good racquet. Probably nothing a 15ga cross string couldn't fix.

 

[avince]

Compared to APD 2013, do you feel that PA is heavier to swing ?
My first test seems to conclude that is no...
Maybe, the new thinner profile counterbalances the higher swingweight ?

 

[djNEiGht]

Compared to APD 2013, do you feel that PA is heavier to swing ?
My first test seems to conclude that is no...
Maybe, the new thinner profile counterbalances the higher swingweight ?

not an apd2013 but I had the apd original. the PA felt easier to swing

 

[DJTaurus]

I had a second playtest with PA and here are my final thoughts. My racket of choise after testing around 30 sticks the last 3 years is Dr98 but demoing never stops so....overall PA is an improvement over APD. Those who say that the increased SW has made it slower they dont know what they are talking about.... PA has more plow and with the new aerodynamics it cuts/swings thought the air not jut faster but a lot faster than APD. Its a super easy stick to swing with.... it rips the balls even harder than APD. The 2 major improvements are that it can get you out of difficult situations better than any other stick i ve ever used (i found it even more powerful than PD15).... i mean it can turn defence into offence with minimal effort even if you hit out of balance and the second improvement is that you can hit more closed corners with more power and make killer shots on approach.... but but but nothing has changed in terms of control.... like APD you ll have to play with your wrist as relaxed as possible and spin the ball as hard as you can otherwise balls will fly away (even on simple stop serve returns). Its super solid and stable from the baseline but the lack of weight was evident (balls with relaxed wrist would take the head stick back sth that never happens with Dr... also i had more vibrations) near the net where i believe PAT will be more stable. Despite having better feel i couldnt make consistent dropshots and slices.... i had not confidence at all when slicing the ball. The lack of weight didnt give me enough confidence on 1HB.... it was very good on volleys but i couldnt found contact easily on slice. They have gone 1 step backwards on service.... it hits the ball with less power and the new balance that makes the stick to feel so light doesnt give you good synchronisation on serving motion. It feels so light and even if you ll adjust to it i didnt have enough power...... not so easy to slice the ball and pin point at corners.... i get a lot more control on serves with Dr and in general with other sticks. PA is a lot more improved on some areas compared to APD which i found to be overall better balanced. Dont get me wrong i enjoyed PA a lot and i still love my old APD13 but as i progress on my tennis level i cannot play with rocket launchers like PD/APD that tempt you to be on attack mode. Nowadays i prefer sticks that help you to build a point with patience... lots of people have tamed down the power from these sticks but not me. I enjoy sticks with more feel and pin to point/control. PA is the baseliners dream and if thats your playstyle (generate tons of topspin and less debth....it will be an awesome stick on clay court) you wont found a better stick.... if your playtyle is mixing up things look elsewhere. At last i want to mention that it plays softer than APD.... i had some soreness from my elbow after 2 hours but not like APD.... it was fine....only issue i had was pain on my shoulder.... maybe cause i overdo it trying to extract more power on serves.

 

[dknotty]

Isn't the swing weight the same on the APD as the Pure Aero?

 

[DJTaurus]

Isn't the swing weight the same on the APD as the Pure Aero?

Nope it has increased on PA and you can instantly feel the more plow. Nice change from Babolat

 

[dknotty]

Nope it has increased on PA and you can instantly feel the more plow. Nice change from Babolat

Thanks, sounds like perhaps I should treat myself. I was thinking of a Pure Aero Tour, but perhaps the vanilla one will be a nice change!

The swing weight is up by about 15 grams?

 

[Deleted member 19728]

The denser 16x19 string pattern of the APD families of racquets seems to provide superior pin-point shot control potential compared to the PA family of racquets.

Less advanced players may prefer the extra free power / spin potential and forgiveness of the PA though I imagine elite players will stick to the APD.

I think you are looking at the wrong line of raquets if you want "superior pinpoint shot control." Even the original aerocontrol and the later aerostorm weren't raquets that I would lump in with classic control frames.

 

[dsfdawg]

Also don't know if anyone has noticed this yet, but maybe it's the new cortex? Poked at it a couple of times.

Hate to resurrect an old thread, but did anyone ever figure out what this is?

 

[Babolat Official]

Hate to resurrect an old thread, but did anyone ever figure out what this is?

No problem! Sounds like this one was never answered. The green material is in fact the cortex, and the cutout is so you can see that the cortex is there. We removed the visible portion of the cortex above the grip in the yoke, so this is a way to confirm the racquets have it.