Huh interesting - the United States seem to be much tighter across retailers controlling pricing according to what the manufacturers want. There are sales and deals that pop up over time, but usually after the racquet has been on the market for a while. I could not get an ET or Vcore new at those prices here.
www.babolat.com
Correct, prices are set by manufacturers, and sales they have are determined by them as well.I suspect it's more Babolat setting the price than TW. I say that because Babolat's official UK website sells it for almost exactly the same price after converting currencies:
Pure Aero 98 Unstrung | Babolat
Babolat Pure Aero 98 UnstrungTennis racquet. for both beginners and professionals. Have fun and play your best game with Babolat!
I’m 51 and mostly play singles competitively - crossing my fingers, and sticking to softer polys! I should know if it will be a problem for my arm in the next month as I have usta sectionals coming up and will be playing at least 4x per week. I might try a gut/poly hybrid, just worried since the racquet is very powerful already.
PA98 is 23 mm in the hoop. 21/23/22. The Pure Aero is 23/26/23.
The 23 is the middle of the racquet. The 21 could be 23. Why not just mirror the PA100?
likely due to your string switch, cyclone considerably softer than other polys
Because the Pure Aero is a chonky boi and not every racquet needs to be like that. If you want a thick beam, just get the Pure Aero perhaps. Most racquets in the PA98 class have tapered beams these days including the Extreme Tour, Vcore 98, etc.
Nearly all have said that the PAVS is more harsh and raw feeling
Yeah, and the 98 has a slightly beefier swing weight
Thanks, go have another beer bro, lol
I wasn't asking the original question in the context of it being a racquet I thought should be the most popular recreational frame or anything along those lines. I originally thought of the question because it was a few months after the launch of the PA98 and I hadn't seen a single post about it in the first few pages of the racquets section. I think the exclusivity of it is contributing to the lack of popularity. I had a friend who wanted to get one and since he wasn't able to find it in any tennis shops locally, he ended up demoing and getting a Pure Strike instead. Price was a secondary factor for him, and indeed they are aggressively priced.
I prefer the look and feel of the PAVS. I get more control with the PA98, maybe because of the higher swing weight and lack of oval shaped spin grommets. I was lucky enough to get a PAVS and PA98 which are within 2 grams of each other with a very similar balance. I use the PAVS when I want a bit more power and aggression, and switch to the PA98 whenever I'm feeling like the ball is flying a bit and I want more control. They're very similar overall, so using them interchangeably is quite easy. The PA98 has more of a dead feel to it, but also slightly more plow through (at least it seems that way). If I were to take a wild guess, I'd say they play about 95% the same overall.
Wow very cool to be able to compare the two and switch between them easily with the similar swing weight. Yeah I think what you're saying is the general consensus - I'm now using the PA 98, but the VS's in general now are pretty hard to come by.
I think what @Tweener was trying to say was that the size of the market for the 97 Pro Staff and the PA98 are about the same, which is probably roughly accurate as the regular PA (100) is way more ubiquitous than the PA98 - just targeted towards different demographics like you say - and the Pro Staff 97 is way more visible than it should be. I think it is interesting and disappointing for tennis geeks like us to see 16 year olds playing with racquets they shouldn't play with just cause they're everywhere and easier to come by, or like that guy with the Pure Strike VS. I see that all the time and makes me want to create a volunteer racquet service or something for people - I've played many a USTA match against lower level 4.0s using a Roger Pro Staff when they shouldn't be, or using a regular pro staff when they're trying to be heavy topspin baseline grinders, etc.. There was a guy on my team who has a decent game but is guilty of shanking way too many balls and is squarely in the middle aged male demographic, be all proud of his new Radical Pros - the dude for sure needs more of a tweener 100 sq in racquet, but he still thinks he's a college level player needing a player stick.
Yep, exactly! And that's okay cause most rec players and juniors should be using the regular Pure Aero!
Alcaraz, Rune, Fils, Prizmic etc are all using the Aero VS for several years now. They probably never even had a PA98 in their hands.
Actually I think the consensus is that Alcaraz for sure, and maybe Aliassime use the PA98
You are right about the Pure Aero (Aero Pro Drive at the time) being originally made for Nadal due to his forehand style.
tennisnerd.net
www.tennis-warehouse.com
tennisnerd.net
Yep! All true. Also, I'm a borderline 4.5 singles player, 51 years old, and the PA98 is great for me - no arm discomfort at all, somewhat smallish sweet spot, but hey - I grew up playing with 85 sq inch racquets so 98 feels crazy forgiving lol. Not as stiff as the Pure Drive, the regular PA 100 feels bulky and doesn't have the control that I crave for my game.You are right about the Pure Aero (Aero Pro Drive at the time) being originally made for Nadal due to his forehand style.
However, you are wrong on both other accounts. Pure Aero VS and Pure Drive VS were just made because there was some vocal demand for the two most popular 100 sq. in. Babolat racquets to be offered in the 98 sq. in. package.
Felix originally used the Pure Strike racquet and later switched to the Pure Aero VS Tour, which was basically a re-brand of the Pure Storm racquet when it released in 2016.
Felix Auger-Aliassime's Racquet - Player Profile
Our player profile for Canadian tennis star Felix Auger-Aliassime, find out: what is Felix Auger-Aliassime's racquet?Tennis Warehouse - Review
Additionally, there's nothing to suggest that the Pure Aero VS 2020 was designed for Alcaraz. He grew up using the Pure Aero and simply switched to the Pure Aero VS after release. Furthermore, it has all but been confirmed that both Alcaraz and Rune have switched to the new Pure Aero 98, as evidenced by close-up pictures showing a lack of the oval grommets that are found on the Pure Aero VS 2020.
Alcaraz playing with the Babolat Pure Aero 98
Is Alcaraz playing with the Babolat Pure Aero 98 or the Pure Aero VS? Let's look at the details of the racquet specs.
As for your last point of these racquets being "very stuff and direct feeling, made for competition and hardest possible hitting. Not comfy at all, and not well adapted to the average buyer." everyone is different and has varying tastes and likes. There's plenty of players out there who like these frames as well.
Hope this was helpful. Cheers.
