Wilson Blade 98 16x19 V9 vs Babolat Pure Strike 16x19 3rd gen
- Thread starter Sparkyyy
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Tranqville
Professional
What do you wish to achieve with a racquet change? What do you find lacking in your Pure Strike?
I demoed both racquets, they are very much different. Pure Strike belongs to a modern power-control racquet category that also includes Technifibre T-Fight, Head Speed, Wilson Shift, Prince ATS. Blade is a control racquet that is quite powerful, but just outside the power-control category, and Pure Strike is the most powerful in power-control category. Blade pockets the ball and Pure Strike has muted direct response. Blade has significantly better control. Pure Strike produces more spin, but both frames are not spin monsters.
If you want more feel and comfort, but stay with overall pure strike-like style, (that's what I was looking for moving away from my Pure Strike Tour), go with the T-Fight or the new Gen 4 Pure Strike, which is softer, more comfortable and has better feel vs Gen 3. If you hit a flat ball, Head Speed MP is a great option. Prince ATS is a good all-rounder that's often overlooked.
If you insist on a Blade v9, I also suggest demoing Technifibre TF40, which is overall quite similar to Blade but has a feel that will be more familiar coming from Pure Strike.
I demoed both racquets, they are very much different. Pure Strike belongs to a modern power-control racquet category that also includes Technifibre T-Fight, Head Speed, Wilson Shift, Prince ATS. Blade is a control racquet that is quite powerful, but just outside the power-control category, and Pure Strike is the most powerful in power-control category. Blade pockets the ball and Pure Strike has muted direct response. Blade has significantly better control. Pure Strike produces more spin, but both frames are not spin monsters.
If you want more feel and comfort, but stay with overall pure strike-like style, (that's what I was looking for moving away from my Pure Strike Tour), go with the T-Fight or the new Gen 4 Pure Strike, which is softer, more comfortable and has better feel vs Gen 3. If you hit a flat ball, Head Speed MP is a great option. Prince ATS is a good all-rounder that's often overlooked.
If you insist on a Blade v9, I also suggest demoing Technifibre TF40, which is overall quite similar to Blade but has a feel that will be more familiar coming from Pure Strike.
Hi, the reason I'm asking is because I saw some reviewers online claiming that the blade has better power. I'm comfortable with switchign to the new gen 4 pure strike, but I'm just a bit worried about the higher swing weight from the gen 3 pure strike, does increasing the swingweight on paper by 3 change a lot?
Tranqville
Professional
- Pure Strike is much more powerful than Blade. They are not in the same conversation.
- 3 points of SW you can view as measurement error, given the state of quality control of the manufacturers and the randomness of the sticks that are measured. Anyway, even if ther was a 3 point gap, that makes like what, 1% difference and that's impossible to feel even for Federer.
Do you know how the 4th gen launch angle compares to the 3rd gen?
Tranqville
Professional
I have not hit with the 4th, don't know.
Some people can absolutely feel a 3 unit difference in SW. All other specs being equal, a 4.0 player felt the SW difference of 2 units between his 2 Speed Pros. I strung and customized for him. I’m currently demoing the Blade 16x19 this week with Percept 97 and Shift 99. The Blade was over spec on SW at 332 with dampener. It blows the other 2 sticks out of the water easily. Since this Percept SW measured only 317. I bumped it up to 325 with lead at 3 and 9 but it was still unplayable for me as my normal SW is around 330. I then shifted half the weight to 12 o’clock and made it 328 and this time it is playable with deep drives and low trajectory. So yes one can feel the difference and I’m only ntrp 4.0. The thing is u can’t go by what it says on paper cuz the actual product varies a lot that is y they charge extra for matching or selection service. And u have to ask yourself what your maximum SW that u can handle is. So a few units over your max isn’t doing yourself a favor and leaves u no room to customize. Also weight distribution can effect twistweight and other parameters so 2 units SW difference maybe felt in 1 racquet but not in the other. Btw my 3g dampener adds 2 SWs.
Tan Tennis
Rookie
I don’t remember much about the 3rd gen but I can say for the 4th gen that Pure Strike is more powerful than Blade. Launch angle the same. Lacking spin just about the same. Blade is more comfortable and Pure Strike is softer than 3rd gen but could still be jarring a bit. Control on Blade is better in my opinion and it feels much more accurate.
tophersuwita
Rookie
Does it apply to Strike 16x20 too? If I feel that my Strike is not that penetrating/explosive, will control rackets with extended length such as WO XTD or Ezone 98+ more suitable for my game? Recently contemplating Blade 100 v9 but I read it has similar power as Strike, doesn't it?
I don't want a "Pure Drive", but I do want extra oomph in power-control equalibrium, including for my OHBH.
Or weighting platform racket such as Ultra Pro/Six One 100 will be better? I can not swing Blade Pro 18m effectively to customize it further so I am afraid to have similar pro stock.
Not entirely sure how absolute that statement might be. I think it depends on how much you spec up the 100 16x20. For instance, my TW playtest sample was fairly over-spec at 304sw unstrung, and at that amount of hitting weight (low-mid 330's strung) it hit a fairly heavy, pacey ball, loaded with a good amount of spin. So not sure where you've had yours spec'd, but I think a lot depends on strung spec.
Tan Tennis
Rookie
For me PS 16x20 is like a 98 with lower launch. Power is the same and I didn’t experience a noticeable extra pop or spin over the 98 at all (but some people do).
On the second question, I assume you want a more powerful frame but still have nice control. Gravity MP spec up. Pure Strike 98 gen 4. Percept 100D. Vcore 98.
tophersuwita
Rookie
Thanks for both of your reply! I just stumbled into Ultra Tour 95J and 100 (Japan market). Both were said to be powerful (especially the 95J because of even balance). Do you guys have heard of them?
My two cents. I have both and I am trying to figure out which one I like best.
Wilson Blade v9 16x19 with leather grip, 331g with strings and dampener. Balance 32.2
Babolat pure strike 16x19 Gen 4 , I added about 6g to the handle, so it is at 330g with balance 32.5
Both with the same strings (Tourna silver tour) at 50lb. Trying to compare apple with apple and then refine strings and tensions and customization later on.
I am 54 years old, I would say a 4.0-4.5 with a one handed backhand. Old school tennis, so grips are not extreme and I hit a relatively flat ball.
I like the blade better for maneuverability, but overall I find it stiffer and less stable. If you hit the sweet spot, the ball is very penetrating, but a little off is less forgiving. I also struggle to generate spin (in comparison to prostaff V13 and X, my previous racquets). Hits very well flat, volleys, and serve.
The PureStrike I find it a little more muted, and stable. More powerful in my opinion, in the sense that the ball launches a little higher and goes deeper with less effort. Not sure if it is as strong as a ball compared to the blade, but it is easier to defend with it. One handed BH you feel a small difference in the inertia with the higher SW. Serving I struggle to find slice, but it spins well for kick.
Overall, both racquets are pretty good. I would say that either is an amazing pick for modern control racquets. Compared to the Gen 3, the purestricke Gen 4 is much more comfortable. I hit for a while with the PureStrike VS gen3, and the feel is much more similar to that racquet.
Wilson Blade v9 16x19 with leather grip, 331g with strings and dampener. Balance 32.2
Babolat pure strike 16x19 Gen 4 , I added about 6g to the handle, so it is at 330g with balance 32.5
Both with the same strings (Tourna silver tour) at 50lb. Trying to compare apple with apple and then refine strings and tensions and customization later on.
I am 54 years old, I would say a 4.0-4.5 with a one handed backhand. Old school tennis, so grips are not extreme and I hit a relatively flat ball.
I like the blade better for maneuverability, but overall I find it stiffer and less stable. If you hit the sweet spot, the ball is very penetrating, but a little off is less forgiving. I also struggle to generate spin (in comparison to prostaff V13 and X, my previous racquets). Hits very well flat, volleys, and serve.
The PureStrike I find it a little more muted, and stable. More powerful in my opinion, in the sense that the ball launches a little higher and goes deeper with less effort. Not sure if it is as strong as a ball compared to the blade, but it is easier to defend with it. One handed BH you feel a small difference in the inertia with the higher SW. Serving I struggle to find slice, but it spins well for kick.
Overall, both racquets are pretty good. I would say that either is an amazing pick for modern control racquets. Compared to the Gen 3, the purestricke Gen 4 is much more comfortable. I hit for a while with the PureStrike VS gen3, and the feel is much more similar to that racquet.
