I received my demo. Thanks TW and Babolat!!!!! I had no plans on hitting but my buddy called me up saying he was ready to hit so I raced to string the new Pure Drive up! Fortunately, it is easy to string and I was out the door quickly, racquet in hand!
I normally play with the 2018 Pure Drive Plus and went 8-0 using it in 4.0 & 4.5 league play. I also went 1-0 when trying the standard length 2018 Pure Drive.. more about that later.
I hit a few warm up shots with it and the shorter length took some adjustment.
But when we started hitting from the baseline it felt VERY solid.
This demo came at the perfect time for me because I've been tinkering with standard length racquets for a while but never quite clicked with one enough to make the switch.
The Pure Drive Plus serves huge which I always fall back on because I win with it. But there are situations when I find the length a slight hindrance.. although I use it because it swings faster for me than other extended racquets even when I add lead at 12! And it serves bombs. Did i mention that??
Anyway, I've tried Blades, Strikes, Ezone98, etc and although I can use them, I end up coming back to the PD+ because I need more free points and shorter points. Im in my 40s and have problems with my feet. I played a really good match with the Strike 98 but I had to do so much defensive scrambling that my feet hurt for days afterwards! Even though it was fun, I walked off the court thinking, "Im too old for this #$+@!!!!".
I did try the 2018 standard length Pure Drive and as soon as I picked it up it felt so light and whippy I thought it was a kids frame. I ended up adding a ton of weight to the handle and hoop.. it was well over 12oz. I won the match and it played pretty well but I just felt that it shouldn't take so much weight just to make a racquet playable for me.
So after my first hit with the 2021 Pure Drive... So far, Its AMAZING!!! Just on pickup it felt better. Maybe thats a few more grams in the head..just felt more solid.
I took a few swings and it felt good. Took the dampener off, and it still felt good. Normally a Pure Drive would play pingy and tinny but the technology (foam?) does a great job of smoothing out the sound and feel from that racquet. I would almost say too much dampening since I'm used to a little feedback and with a dampener, this PD is MUTED. Maybe that will translate into arm comfort?
I used Wilson Revolve Spin mains and maybe it helped because I was still trying to dial my stroke depth and a lot of balls that felt like I mishit just a bit landed right on the line. However, the Pure Drive doesn't normally need the higher trajectory that the RevolveSpin strings provided. It probably took away the ability to drive through the court but it made the racquet a spin monster!
Without lead the Pure Drive 2021 was easy to swing, slappy, spin friendly and balls stayed in the court but it definitely lacked plow for advanced hitting.
I added about 4g of lead at 12 and the racquet came alive for me.
My hitting wasn't always super clean due to usually using extended frames but I was able to move the ball around and dictate play with my forehand.
I hit a few volleys and felt a BIG difference from previous versions. It felt dampened and more solid. Volleys are still super powerful which cause my forehand volleys to land out the first 3 balls in a row. It's not the best stick at the net.. not a "scalpel", but its a Pure Drive so that is expected. Surprisingly, the more volley I hit with it, I started feeling this softness and even some flex which provided more control than previous generations. Touch volleys & drop shots I felt were MUCH more connected with the 2021PD!
Finally, the serve. This is where I usually compare racquets to my PD+ and decide I can't give up that huge advantage of aces and unreturned serves so I always stay with the PD+.
Instead of losing 10+mph, I might lose only 5mph with the new PD. However, I hit ALL my spots. I'll have to continue to test this because maybe its the dreaded honeymoon phase. The confidence I had on serve was surprising since it was my first time using it ever. When my hitting partner called my flat bomb out wide in the ad court, Out. (Cheater! ) I was considering pounding the 2nd serve in the exact same spot! I decided hit a safer kick serve that time but I promised next time at the ad to go for it again. I was able to hit slices, kicks, flat down T and out wide (which is my lowest percentage serve).
My percentage was definitely higher than even the PD+ but more serves came back. As I got tired, a few short returns came back that should be a great ball to run up to and slam away for a winner but due to being tired and poor preparation, I missed several short forehands that made easy service games drawn out battles. I started out 3-0 and won the set 6-3.
Overall, my first impression is Hugely Impressed!! I am already considering switching!
I'm going to continue to hit with it and play sets alternating with my PD+.
PD+
Serve - 10/10
Forehand- 8/10
Backhand- 9/10
Volleys - 6/10
Returns - 7/10
2021 PD
Serve - 9/10
Forehand - 8/10
Backhand - 8/10
Volleys - 7/10
Returns - 8/10
I'll lose a few aces but the easier maneuverability will hopefully allow quicker swings on return of serve and better volleys and drop shots and overall more control?
For some reason I feel like the 2021 PD would be better in singles and the PD+ better in doubles but I hope to decide which one is better for me overall during this playtest.
Here is 30seconds of hitting before my toaster/potato phone died.
