Just to share a comment I heard from a local coach who trains competitive juniors: kids should start with PureAero to learn swing path and topspin game. I don't 100% agree with him, but I can see where he is coming from. The aerodynamic design of Aero makes modern swings intuitive for juniors.
I got a new 98” Pure Aero VS in a 2019 year end sale for $115 (plus string) its a keeper. Nothing negative to say about it. I also play an old 95” Wilson Hammer Tour, a Head 100” Ti Radical and a heavy Wilson K factor 6.1 95”. Love them all even thou 3 are now pretty old sticks!
@@p.wavyyy1398 my tennis center is also a Babolat dealer. bought it there on a whim at the Fall year end sale. The only complaint people have sometimes they get arm pain problems but I have not. The RA on mine is 69
I demoed both and really couldn't tell a difference. I am a 4.0 player and use a pure strike 18 x20 for singles and the pure aero for doubles (but added weight to it at the 12 o'clock position)
i got the 2020 version pure aero erlier and im exited to try it tommorow, like 5 years i play with prince ( i started like 5 years old) 1 year of aero pro drive, ans now the pure aero
I hate this 😭😭😭, I’ve been using a pure drive for about 6 years, but with my play style pure aero was build for me. Every one alway say I have a lot of topspin. To be honest, I don’t know how to hit flat lol. Even with serves, I struggle hitting a “power” flat serve. Now I just do “seconds serve” (kick serves). I find it easier to direct and control, and my opponent hate it lol (I can accurately serve to their backhand or forehand with a decent kick). But thanks, getting a pure Aero tomorrow ❤❤❤
Friend, if you have resources to buy a good coach who can teach you secrets of how to hit the ball flat(and in which situation) you will discover that racquet does not matter at all. You will be able to hit flat with a soft 18x20 320g racquet or a spin monster like Aero. Maybe 10% of racquet influanece at max - all other is your coordination skills and technique. It is a mind trap for amateur tennis players.
HI KC, Sorry to hear you lost a few tennis balls. You may have experienced this due to the Pure Drive being a more power frame. While the Pure Aero is more focused on spin generation, which will definitely help when trying to keep those tennis balls in play! -Richard
@@RacquetGuys hello Richard. I have gone with pure aero plus with alu power string tension 59lb at the end. Was difficult but my play style is starting to match racket so I think I will get an additional racket. most likely same frame with just different string
Yes... I use a PD and moved to Solinco Hyper G at 54lbs and it's fine like that for me, before I was using Luxilon ALU Power Rough at 52lbs and it lacked control... You could go further, say to Solinco Confidential at around 56lbs and control would be just fine I think!
Hi Lanky, Yes I definitely think that by using a more spin focused/control string could help bring down the power of the PureDrive. Depending on what you are currently at now, you could always look into increasing your tension on the stringbed. - Richard.
Hi Guys, Great video. I would say I am a upper level 3.0 hope to be 3.5 soon. I started to pick back up last year but am advancing not bad. I am 6 ft 185lbs and am 58 yrs old. I am looking for 16/9 100 sq in size. Can you recommend a couple of racquets and a couple of tensions and strings? Currently hit ezone 100 and feels kinda dead. Maybe its the strings i dont know. Then i thought about a lighter raquet
Hi from Brazil! I am having some issues with my pure drive: very stiff, lack control. But I like the power and spin it gives me. What kind of racket I should look for? Babolat or other brand/model
I have pure aero plus now and thinking about getting an additional racket. Do you think it is a good idea to have drive plus as 2nd racket or will that be too different?
Hello KC, I definitely think that you should stick with the same racquet. Its better to be able to pickup a second frame and have little to no adjustment time. But as for the two frames they are very different despite the specs being almost identical other than the Flex. IF your looking to add more power with a lower launch angle the pure drive would be a great idea. But if your looking for more net clearance and spin the aero would be the go to! - Richard
I’ve been waiting for an in depth comparison between these two racquets. I’m a 14 year old advanced junior and I’m having trouble deciding which racquet I should get, I’m looking at the Lite versions of these racquets because the normal ones are a bit heavy for me.
Omg yess! I am on the same boat but I’m a little younger! I’m 5’4 and have a 26’, I had this one for 3 years and I really need a new as I have a high level tournament coming up so I need more power! I already have the pure drive as a 26 inch!
I'm around a 4.5 player and am 45 years old. I need to decide between one, and I tend to have pain around my biceps area after a while (especially during serves) , so I'm looking for which one is better on the arm.
I moved to the Pure Drive Team because of a bad elbow I couldn't shift, and my elbow is fine now. If you are really thinking about your elbow I'd say the Drive 2022 is better.. The Aero has a little more control and spin though.
Hi there TheDd, If I had to choose between the two, I would have to go with the Pure Aero. Reason being the stiffness rating on the Pure aero is RA67 vs the Pure drive which is at RA71. But I would honestly have to say depending on the type of swing that you have the two racquets would feel very different. If you do end up going with the Pure aero, I would definitely suggest trying out the Pure Aero 2023. They have softened up the flex to RA65 and tightened the milling in the string bed. This offers a softer feel and more control! - Richard.
I just switched my pure drive for head prestige pro. I find pure drive is abit too powerful and less control. the beam is quite thick and I don't feel comfortable playing with one handed backhand. Maybe I am so used to Wilson pro staff which I play more control. This fram feels surprisingly light despite 300g average weight. Good racket but just not for me.
Hi Ray, I personally wouldn't recommend either of these frames for a beginner. Reason being is that babolat frames as actually very stiff feeling. For a beginner who is looking for a frame I would most likely recommend something along the lines of a Clash, gravity, or radical. It would be quite difficult to give you a better suggestion that would suit you, as I dont have enough information about you as a player and what you are looking for in your frame. But those 3 suggestions I find would be better suited. As they are more player friendly racquets that offer a softer feel upon impact. - Richard p.s I definitely would NOT recommend you trying anything that says Tour or PRO next to the name as those racquets are much heavier and alot harder to use for someone who is just starting out. Aswell as something that has a larger head size i would say 98 at the absolute smallest but 100sq'" and a stiffness rating under 63/65RA max in my opinion would be best. I hope this helps! Please let me know what you ended up going with, im very interested!!
Hi Wu, Both are very solid frames, there isn't really one that is better than on another. Its mainly what you are looking to prioritizing in your frame. I find that the Pure drive VS offers more control and a firmer feeling response upon impact vs the pure drive which feels slightly softer/more dampened and offers a bit more power. -Richard
Hi William, For myself personally I prefer playing with the Babolat Pure drive. I find that with the slight higher swingweight of the pure drive 320kg/cm2 I helps with more stability and plowthrough. But If you are looking for a racquet that is a little easier to swing I would give the Wilson Ultra 100V3 a try. -Richard
Buy a new racket every 2 years, so start my babolat with pure control maybe from year 2000 and very soon to Pure Drive,(still around 20 years ago) then switched to Pure Aero Drive after it's release, then they took away Drive after Pure Aero Drive that time Pure Aero Drive and new coming Pure Aero almost no difference. then they took away the V shape damper on the racket, and keep using every generation of Pure Aero. Just got a Raffa Original (it's totally another world) for half year and plan to go back to standard version of PA.Yesterday I tried a new version of PD. So I really can say something about that. PA comes from PD, once their's not that much difference. After that string patten become more wide of PA so it's much suitable for topspin (not really the frame shape, but it's string pattern). Of course the frame shape make PA much faster to do a topspin swing, but it must combine it's losser string pattern. Old version of PA still have the original narrower PD pattern (not the same on newer PD), first version only change the frame so it's very clear that time APD and PD are not really different. Coming to newer version of PD, the string pattern became same as current PA so they just become a litter bitter more same again. Anyway, I can say after i decide to stick on PA, changes on myself is I can make a decision that I don't need to play any flat shoot on base line anymore. I will never say this while use a PD, （and I will say I don't need to consider to hit any topspin on a Pure Strike because it's alway better hit than a opspin on PS). So now just a topspin player. I don't really need to think what I am going to hit with my forhand on baseline, just do top spin and i can just forget how to hit flat on base line. I am very good to play in front net, and any racket i can do well so really no difference of any racket for net play, I only need 10 minutes to get used to another racket on net, so really no comment on net play. I do kick server mostly for 1st serve and top spin serve for 2nd, PA really perfect. Maybe I do less and less flat serve because i use PA all the time and it might comes from that I find my flat serve is not that attacking, I still remember i can do very good flat serve 15 years ago but i do less and lese, maybe it's just because i started to use APD then PA and they all encourage spinner serve. I can say back to year 2000 i was a pure flat hitter. But back then most player use eastern grip and are flat hitter. And around 2005 lots pro were top spinner. back then the to go top spin racket was Pure Drive with classic dense string pattern!!
Hi There, Both frames were played in there stock form during this playtest. Remember when adding leadtape at 12 o'clock, it will increase the swing weight the most and add the least amount of weight to the frame. While at 3&9 you would be increasing the stability of the frame and slightly increasing the swingweight aswell. -Richard
Hey Ayokay, Not much has really change I don't believe that I am still using a full western grip, I have been trying my best to move over to semi-Western. But I do find myself sometimes going back to full western as I have been using that grip ever since I was 8years old - Richard
I play with the 2021 Pure Drive. Most of my other racquets are tweeners. I've had intermittent elbow issues over the years. What string set-up (type and tension) would you recommend for a forgiving feel with the 2021 PD? I'm an intermediate player.
I've played tennis for 30 years, even at the ripe old age of 36, I play at an advanced amateur level and I've never had elbow issues...You shouldn't be getting any either. I believe it might be down to your playing style. On contact with the ball, you arm should never be fully extended.. just the slightest bend at the elbow. Also make sure to train you bicep and tricep equally with weights
Hello There, The pure drive is quite a stiff racquet and does give a lot of feedback. I would say there are a few options that you could look at. Firstly most people don't know that due to the pallet shape of the Babolat brand that it actually does feel bigger than others. With a grip that is to big when making impact with the ball its sometimes harder to keep hold of the racquet. When the frame twist in your hands it could lead to upper arm pain. I would say maybe to look into one grip size down when choosing Babolat. Or the Wilson Ultra V4 is another very powerful racquet with the same high stiffness rating but is had much more dampening in the frame which could help also! - Richard.
Just to share a comment I heard from a local coach who trains competitive juniors: kids should start with PureAero to learn swing path and topspin game.
I don't 100% agree with him, but I can see where he is coming from. The aerodynamic design of Aero makes modern swings intuitive for juniors.
I got a new 98” Pure Aero VS in a 2019 year end sale for $115 (plus string) its a keeper. Nothing negative to say about it. I also play an old 95” Wilson Hammer Tour, a Head 100” Ti Radical and a heavy Wilson K factor 6.1 95”. Love them all even thou 3 are now pretty old sticks!
where did you get the 98 pure aero from?
@@p.wavyyy1398 my tennis center is also a Babolat dealer. bought it there on a whim at the Fall year end sale. The only complaint people have sometimes they get arm pain problems but I have not. The RA on mine is 69
Your review was excellent and informative. Thank you very much!
Ohh my Gawd Richard !! So good to see you man !!.. i was like this court looks familiar !! Keep it up guys 🔥
Sold my pure strike to buy a new pure aero. No regrets 😁
i love how you play...it's look easy n comfort
Great review. Well done guys
Great video! A very informed comparison.
I demoed both and really couldn't tell a difference. I am a 4.0 player and use a pure strike 18 x20 for singles and the pure aero for doubles (but added weight to it at the 12 o'clock position)
i got the 2020 version pure aero erlier and im exited to try it tommorow, like 5 years i play with prince ( i started like 5 years old) 1 year of aero pro drive, ans now the pure aero
Great video! Beautiful kick at 4:18
Hey Wong!
Thanks I appreciate it!! - Richard
I hate this 😭😭😭, I’ve been using a pure drive for about 6 years, but with my play style pure aero was build for me.
Every one alway say I have a lot of topspin. To be honest, I don’t know how to hit flat lol.
Even with serves, I struggle hitting a “power” flat serve. Now I just do “seconds serve” (kick serves). I find it easier to direct and control, and my opponent hate it lol (I can accurately serve to their backhand or forehand with a decent kick).
But thanks, getting a pure Aero tomorrow ❤❤❤
Friend, if you have resources to buy a good coach who can teach you secrets of how to hit the ball flat(and in which situation) you will discover that racquet does not matter at all. You will be able to hit flat with a soft 18x20 320g racquet or a spin monster like Aero. Maybe 10% of racquet influanece at max - all other is your coordination skills and technique. It is a mind trap for amateur tennis players.
Thanks
Nice shots bro
I recently demo both and practically felt same things. Only difference would be that I lost far more balls with pure drive than pure aero
HI KC,
Sorry to hear you lost a few tennis balls. You may have experienced this due to the Pure Drive being a more power frame. While the Pure Aero is more focused on spin generation, which will definitely help when trying to keep those tennis balls in play!
-Richard
@@RacquetGuys hello Richard. I have gone with pure aero plus with alu power string tension 59lb at the end. Was difficult but my play style is starting to match racket so I think I will get an additional racket. most likely same frame with just different string
Wich one do you recomend for doubles?
well done, thanks
You guys were using L2 L3 or L4 in the video ?
Hello there,
Most of the racquet we try are either in Grip size L2 or L3 - Richard
If you used the PD with strings that are focused on spin/control would that help bring the power down and help keep more shots in?
Yes... I use a PD and moved to Solinco Hyper G at 54lbs and it's fine like that for me, before I was using Luxilon ALU Power Rough at 52lbs and it lacked control... You could go further, say to Solinco Confidential at around 56lbs and control would be just fine I think!
Hi Lanky,
Yes I definitely think that by using a more spin focused/control string could help bring down the power of the PureDrive. Depending on what you are currently at now, you could always look into increasing your tension on the stringbed. - Richard.
@@tomr1056why do you recommend 56lbs for confidential and 54lbs for hyper g? What’s the difference between the two strings?
Hi Guys, Great video. I would say I am a upper level 3.0 hope to be 3.5 soon. I started to pick back up last year but am advancing not bad.
I am 6 ft 185lbs and am 58 yrs old. I am looking for 16/9 100 sq in size. Can you recommend a couple of racquets and a couple of tensions and strings? Currently hit ezone 100 and feels kinda dead. Maybe its the strings i dont know. Then i thought about a lighter raquet
Hi from Brazil! I am having some issues with my pure drive: very stiff, lack control. But I like the power and spin it gives me. What kind of racket I should look for? Babolat or other brand/model
Wilson Blade V8 or V7
I have pure aero plus now and thinking about getting an additional racket. Do you think it is a good idea to have drive plus as 2nd racket or will that be too different?
Hello KC,
I definitely think that you should stick with the same racquet. Its better to be able to pickup a second frame and have little to no adjustment time. But as for the two frames they are very different despite the specs being almost identical other than the Flex. IF your looking to add more power with a lower launch angle the pure drive would be a great idea. But if your looking for more net clearance and spin the aero would be the go to! - Richard
I’ve been waiting for an in depth comparison between these two racquets. I’m a 14 year old advanced junior and I’m having trouble deciding which racquet I should get, I’m looking at the Lite versions of these racquets because the normal ones are a bit heavy for me.
good choice young man!
Omg yess! I am on the same boat but I’m a little younger! I’m 5’4 and have a 26’, I had this one for 3 years and I really need a new as I have a high level tournament coming up so I need more power! I already have the pure drive as a 26 inch!
just get the normal version and go to the gym more
Can you also compare the new Pure Aero 2022 and Pure Drive racket ? Thank you
Hey Jin,
That is for sure in our Video que! stay tuned for the Video! - Richard
I'm around a 4.5 player and am 45 years old. I need to decide between one, and I tend to have pain around my biceps area after a while (especially during serves) , so I'm looking for which one is better on the arm.
I moved to the Pure Drive Team because of a bad elbow I couldn't shift, and my elbow is fine now. If you are really thinking about your elbow I'd say the Drive 2022 is better.. The Aero has a little more control and spin though.
Hi there TheDd,
If I had to choose between the two, I would have to go with the Pure Aero. Reason being the stiffness rating on the Pure aero is RA67 vs the Pure drive which is at RA71. But I would honestly have to say depending on the type of swing that you have the two racquets would feel very different. If you do end up going with the Pure aero, I would definitely suggest trying out the Pure Aero 2023. They have softened up the flex to RA65 and tightened the milling in the string bed. This offers a softer feel and more control! - Richard.
I just switched my pure drive for head prestige pro. I find pure drive is abit too powerful and less control. the beam is quite thick and I don't feel comfortable playing with one handed backhand. Maybe I am so used to Wilson pro staff which I play more control. This fram feels surprisingly light despite 300g average weight. Good racket but just not for me.
beginner here, what would you recommend? the aero or the pd one?
maybe start off with a boost just since your beginning or a team racket.
@@datememes9748 i bought the yellow one, the pure aero at the very last moment, actually i was choosing between the drive or the aero.
@@Ray-zj4wf how's your experience until now
Hi Ray, I personally wouldn't recommend either of these frames for a beginner. Reason being is that babolat frames as actually very stiff feeling. For a beginner who is looking for a frame I would most likely recommend something along the lines of a Clash, gravity, or radical. It would be quite difficult to give you a better suggestion that would suit you, as I dont have enough information about you as a player and what you are looking for in your frame. But those 3 suggestions I find would be better suited. As they are more player friendly racquets that offer a softer feel upon impact. - Richard p.s I definitely would NOT recommend you trying anything that says Tour or PRO next to the name as those racquets are much heavier and alot harder to use for someone who is just starting out. Aswell as something that has a larger head size i would say 98 at the absolute smallest but 100sq'" and a stiffness rating under 63/65RA max in my opinion would be best. I hope this helps! Please let me know what you ended up going with, im very interested!!
Is pure drive vs better than pure drive?
Hi Wu,
Both are very solid frames, there isn't really one that is better than on another. Its mainly what you are looking to prioritizing in your frame. I find that the Pure drive VS offers more control and a firmer feeling response upon impact vs the pure drive which feels slightly softer/more dampened and offers a bit more power.
-Richard
Do you prefer pure drive racket or the Wilson Ultra 100 V3. ???
Hi William,
For myself personally I prefer playing with the Babolat Pure drive. I find that with the slight higher swingweight of the pure drive 320kg/cm2 I helps with more stability and plowthrough. But If you are looking for a racquet that is a little easier to swing I would give the Wilson Ultra 100V3 a try.
-Richard
Hi, I would like to transition from the 2013 Wilson steam 99s to a racket of the Pure Aero family
Which one would you guys recommend?
the pure aero original not team not lite or tour just the original and the rafa color way
Buy a new racket every 2 years, so start my babolat with pure control maybe from year 2000 and very soon to Pure Drive,(still around 20 years ago) then switched to Pure Aero Drive after it's release, then they took away Drive after Pure Aero Drive that time Pure Aero Drive and new coming Pure Aero almost no difference. then they took away the V shape damper on the racket, and keep using every generation of Pure Aero. Just got a Raffa Original (it's totally another world) for half year and plan to go back to standard version of PA.Yesterday I tried a new version of PD. So I really can say something about that. PA comes from PD, once their's not that much difference. After that string patten become more wide of PA so it's much suitable for topspin (not really the frame shape, but it's string pattern). Of course the frame shape make PA much faster to do a topspin swing, but it must combine it's losser string pattern. Old version of PA still have the original narrower PD pattern (not the same on newer PD), first version only change the frame so it's very clear that time APD and PD are not really different. Coming to newer version of PD, the string pattern became same as current PA so they just become a litter bitter more same again.
Anyway, I can say after i decide to stick on PA, changes on myself is I can make a decision that I don't need to play any flat shoot on base line anymore. I will never say this while use a PD, （and I will say I don't need to consider to hit any topspin on a Pure Strike because it's alway better hit than a opspin on PS). So now just a topspin player. I don't really need to think what I am going to hit with my forhand on baseline, just do top spin and i can just forget how to hit flat on base line.
I am very good to play in front net, and any racket i can do well so really no difference of any racket for net play, I only need 10 minutes to get used to another racket on net, so really no comment on net play. I do kick server mostly for 1st serve and top spin serve for 2nd, PA really perfect. Maybe I do less and less flat serve because i use PA all the time and it might comes from that I find my flat serve is not that attacking, I still remember i can do very good flat serve 15 years ago but i do less and lese, maybe it's just because i started to use APD then PA and they all encourage spinner serve.
I can say back to year 2000 i was a pure flat hitter. But back then most player use eastern grip and are flat hitter. And around 2005 lots pro were top spinner. back then the to go top spin racket was Pure Drive with classic dense string pattern!!
Thanks for this detailed video 👍
any leadtape at 12 o clock? what about 3 and 9? can you play it in stock form
Hi There,
Both frames were played in there stock form during this playtest. Remember when adding leadtape at 12 o'clock, it will increase the swing weight the most and add the least amount of weight to the frame. While at 3&9 you would be increasing the stability of the frame and slightly increasing the swingweight aswell.
-Richard
@@RacquetGuys thank you! I've tried both and prefer a little bit of lead at 12
Richard, are you using a full western grip?
Hey Ayokay, Not much has really change I don't believe that I am still using a full western grip, I have been trying my best to move over to semi-Western. But I do find myself sometimes going back to full western as I have been using that grip ever since I was 8years old - Richard
Vector from Despicable Me?
I play with the 2021 Pure Drive. Most of my other racquets are tweeners. I've had intermittent elbow issues over the years. What string set-up (type and tension) would you recommend for a forgiving feel with the 2021 PD? I'm an intermediate player.
I've played tennis for 30 years, even at the ripe old age of 36, I play at an advanced amateur level and I've never had elbow issues...You shouldn't be getting any either. I believe it might be down to your playing style. On contact with the ball, you arm should never be fully extended.. just the slightest bend at the elbow. Also make sure to train you bicep and tricep equally with weights
Hello There,
The pure drive is quite a stiff racquet and does give a lot of feedback. I would say there are a few options that you could look at. Firstly most people don't know that due to the pallet shape of the Babolat brand that it actually does feel bigger than others. With a grip that is to big when making impact with the ball its sometimes harder to keep hold of the racquet. When the frame twist in your hands it could lead to upper arm pain. I would say maybe to look into one grip size down when choosing Babolat. Or the Wilson Ultra V4 is another very powerful racquet with the same high stiffness rating but is had much more dampening in the frame which could help also! - Richard.
which one do you guys recommend for doubles?
Personally, I prefer the Pure Aero for doubles. The extra maneuverability and stable feel at net to me make it a better frame for doubles. -Jon
@@RacquetGuys thank for your response.. How about the high launch angle of the aero? Would that be a problem for doubles?
The Rafa?
same shit
learn to harness the power of pure drive!