The Babolat Project One 7 has ended and the new Babolat Pure Strike
line has been revealed. Complete with FSI (Frame String Interaction, which means a tighter pattern in the sweet spot area) and everything. It sure looks great to me, but whether it plays a lot different than the previous Pure Strike remains to be seen. Will see if I can get my hands on one so I can try it properly and write a review.
According to Babolat officials they launch for pre-sale on September 1st and are in stock September 8th.
PS. For you looking for a lighter racquet the Babolat Pure Strike Team
might just be ideal. DS.
I haven’t yet seen any stiffness ratings so that will also be interesting to see. So far there are four different versions of the new Pure Strike:
So as you can see, no heavier “Tour” version this time. Seems like tennis gear are all moving towards lighter, high swing-speed frames. After all, you can always add lead tape and silicone in the handle to make the racquet heavier. Most pro stock hairpins come in at 300 grams anyway so that’s a good customization starting point for tennis racquets.
Looking forward to see some reviews and be able to test this line myself.
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6 comments
No if you scroll to the right on the website it does have a tour version, FYI ;-)
You are absolutely right! Thanks. Cheers / J
I recently changed from the Pure Aero, which is a great racquet but not quite right for my (Eastern / Semi-Western) flatter shot making style game, to the new Pure Strike Project One7.
I was looking for a racquet that had a good balance between power & control. I tried the Wilson Blade 98 (18×20) but it proved to be an ‘arm killer’ for me.
After a couple weeks hitting with the new Pure Strike I am ‘in love’ with it.
Slightly lighter in swing weight than the Pure Aero, it is a great racquet from all over the court. Good power / control from the back. Nice to volley with, not a point & shoot bat at the net like the Pure Aero but if you have sound Volley technique then the Pure Strike will do its job for you beautifully at net.
I love serving with it as the swing weight lets you get good racquet head speed on the serve. Accuracy of serve is something I noticed & as I do not have a sledge hammer serve being able to put the ball where I want it to go is HUGE for my game.
I would suggest that the Pure Strike Project One7 could be accuratly descibed as a racquet that best suits a player who likes to attack from the baseline and also is prone to Serve/Volley when the situation demands.
I’d have no hesitation recommending the new Pure Strike to anyone looking for a great performance racquet.
Thanks Peter, great review! Really appreciate you sharing your experience on a racquet that a lot of people are curious about. Cheers / Jonas
Hi Tennisnerd,
Any ideas on how to customise a Babolat Pure Aero 16×19? I would like to get more of a control/comfort feel with the racket.
Have been having problems with shoulder pain during my serve motion.
I played last week with a Head Prestige midplus and loved the feel and control, but am too afraid to make the switch.
Have been looking at the Wilson Blade CV, Wilson Ultra Tour and Head Prestige Graphene touch midplus. I used to play with a Wilson nTour 95, have been forever looking for a heavier version of that racket.
Any suggestions?
(btw, I love your website, keep up the good work!)
Hi Clinton,
It’s hard to customize the Pure Aero to give more feel. But good to try before changing your racquet.
You can start by trying a gut/synthetic gut (natural gut, OG Gosen Micro, Wilson NXT for example) in the mains and a poly in the crosses. Think you might need to do 26 kg on the nat gut/syn gut and 25 kg on the poly to rein in the control of the powerful Pure Aero. Then I would add four strips of lead at 3 and 9, totalling four grams. I would counter-balance in the handle either by adding silicone or blu-tack inside the buttcap (measure this with a kitchen scale) or add some lead tape (more easily reversable) on the handle underneath your base grip (I prefer adding as high up on the handle as possible).
This way the racquet will be slightly heavier, but offer better dampening on off-center shots.
I think either of the racquets you mention would be more arm-friendly and better for finding control and feel to be honest. If you prefer Babolat I would try the white Babolat Pure Strike 98 16×19. Great racquet and a good mix of a control racquet and a more modern spin machine.
Good luck! Cheers / J