Whats the story with the Babolat Pure Storm Tour & Aero Storm 320g?

[VikingSamurai]

Ok, I have been bored this afternoon and was just looking at the stats on these two frames.

I just picked up a new Babolat Pure Storm Tour because of its similar specs to the Aero Storm, and these frames are almost identicle in specs, other than the Aero Storm having the mixed Aero and Pure beam, and cortex.

So I then go to the Babolat site, and they have the rating of the Aero Storm as being a purely control oriented frame, where as they have the Pure Storm Tour being a little bit more powerful?.

I would have thought it would have been the other way around in the case of the Aero Storm being the more powerful version, as compared to the Pure Storm Tour with its boxed beam, and player frame characteristics?

Anyways, I wanted to get one and see how they were, so I look forward to comparing them..

 

[ClubHoUno]

So did you get the PST - I'm still awaiting the TW review of the PST, but it seems to be delayed permanently

 

[josef]

pure storm tour..

So did you get the PST - I'm still awaiting the TW review of the PST, but it seems to be delayed permanently

i bought a used one mainly b/c of the specs and after reading some good things about it. I have never played better than I have lately with the Pure Storm Tour. The feel is a little different coming from my wilson nBlade but it's not bad by any means, just different. I am putting some natural gut (babolat tonic) on the PST today and hopefully it will make it feel a little better and have slightly more power (which is why i'm looking to leave the nBlade- power is severely lacking.. makes me work tooo hard). The PST had some red strings in it (not sure what they were) but they seemed pretty harsh. I think some natural gut will be a perfect fit.

for me, the weight of the racquet is perfect.. it runs in that 11.8 oz range which i like b/c it's not too heavy to make quick reactions with and it's heavy enough for some serious hitting and serve returns. great stick so far though..

 

[[d]ragon]

hey chris. gave the aerostorm a demo last sunday and it was pretty fun to play with. lots of power and spin off both wings. it was much more manueverable than the TW spec indicated like u said. nice and stable too. only gripes i had were with feel, bh slices,and serves. the feel wasnt too great, kinda mute and hollow but i think i can get used to that. slices didnt hav alot of bite and kinda floated too much. serves just didnt feel right. it didnt feel like i was really smacking the ball very hard which is a major turnoff.

did u have a similar experience when u first tried it out? did it get better after u adjusted?

 

[the Town Sherif]

Uh oh

Looks like someones switching again?????????!!!!!!!

 

[VikingSamurai]

So did you get the PST - I'm still awaiting the TW review of the PST, but it seems to be delayed permanently

Actually I did get one, and havn't had a chance to hit with it yet.. It is a nice looking frame, and feels great in the hand.

I went and played with some friends last week with the Aero Storms, and one of my friends uses a K-90. I used too have both the Asian and the US K-90 and actually enjoyed them, but ended up looking for something a little lighter and with more spin..

Anyway, my friend asked to give my Aero Storm a try, and so I hit with the K-90. It felt great in the hand, and I loved the feeling of the rounder Wilson grip shape. So it got me to the thinking about the Pure Storm Tour with a rounder grip shape, as I had already liked the look of the specs of it..

So I got one this week, and placed bevels on the grip, added a Babolat over-wrap and now have a Wilson shaped grip. I am also a lover of Tonic+, but the price is a little too much I felt for a racquet I was just trying out, so I strung it up with Babolat Powergy at 54lbs.. Will have a hit with it this week sometime and compare it to the Aero Storm.

 

[VikingSamurai]

hey chris. gave the aerostorm a demo last sunday and it was pretty fun to play with. lots of power and spin off both wings. it was much more manueverable than the TW spec indicated like u said. nice and stable too. only gripes i had were with feel, bh slices,and serves. the feel wasnt too great, kinda mute and hollow but i think i can get used to that. slices didnt hav alot of bite and kinda floated too much. serves just didnt feel right. it didnt feel like i was really smacking the ball very hard which is a major turnoff.

did u have a similar experience when u first tried it out? did it get better after u adjusted?

dragon, I have to say, after hitting with my friends K-90 the other day as noted in my previous post, it really reminded me of the box beam feel.

I too am having a little trouble with the slice backhand, and just get the feeling that maybe the "Aero" shape works "too well", and the racquet doesn't feel natural hitting in that position. As for hitting over the ball the design is great and you can generate some real power and control on both sides. My topspin backhands are great with this frame.

I also feel that with the serves. The grip shape makes it a little hard to gain any sort of variety in the stroke. So I suggest placing bevels on the flatter side and rounding out the grip a little more may help. I find that my second serve has definately improved, but when I want to flatten out and go for the big one down the tee, I just can't seem too get the rythem on it..

I would also suggest a soft string in this frame in the mid 50's. Babolat Tonic+ is the best one I have found, but is a little expensive. If I like the Babolat Powergy in the PST then I may try it in the Aero Storm also..

 

[VikingSamurai]

Uh oh

Looks like someones switching again?????????!!!!!!!

Ha ha ha. You know me too well!

 

[VikingSamurai]

i bought a used one mainly b/c of the specs and after reading some good things about it. I have never played better than I have lately with the Pure Storm Tour. The feel is a little different coming from my wilson nBlade but it's not bad by any means, just different. I am putting some natural gut (babolat tonic) on the PST today and hopefully it will make it feel a little better and have slightly more power (which is why i'm looking to leave the nBlade- power is severely lacking.. makes me work tooo hard). The PST had some red strings in it (not sure what they were) but they seemed pretty harsh. I think some natural gut will be a perfect fit.

for me, the weight of the racquet is perfect.. it runs in that 11.8 oz range which i like b/c it's not too heavy to make quick reactions with and it's heavy enough for some serious hitting and serve returns. great stick so far though..

I was thinking about putting Tonic+ in my PST, so I am more than interested in hearing how it goes for you. Keep us posted!

 

[the Town Sherif]

Chris,
I hit with the pst+ when it first came out and found it a very enjoyable racquet all around, i don't think you will find any issues with the slice backhand with it as you may have with the aerostorm

 

[VikingSamurai]

Chris,
I hit with the pst+ when it first came out and found it a very enjoyable racquet all around, i don't think you will find any issues with the slice backhand with it as you may have with the aerostorm

Thanks.. I couldn't meet with the boys this weekend, so didn't get a chance to try it out. I have gone with Powergy at 54lbs, and I just have a feeling that I will enjoy this racquet. I may try at some stage Xcel Power in it aswel, but will see how the Powergy goes.. The frame feels great in the hand, and is a little more head light compared to the Aero Storm, so I like the idea of that also..

I also went from 4 1/4 to 4 3/8, and placed bevel's on either side for a rounder grip. This time I decided to place them right down on the edge of the but cap to give the butt cap a rounder feeling as well, re-gripped it, and placed an over wrap and it feels a lot better in the hand..

 

[anbu4ever11]

i was planning on buying a babolat aerostorm tour when it comes out,i play with the pure storm tour right now but i love the aerostorm.i heard though that babolat is really bad with weight and swingweight differences in there rackets.i plan on getting two but i can only get one right now,can i get it matched later from tw or do they do that only if you buy two at the same time.do u guys get ur rackets matched?thanks