My Babolat Day

Today has been my Babolat Day!

I play with a Babolat Pure Drive racquet. It's a nice racquet, but I wanted to try other ones as I have a feeling this one is not quite right for me.
But finding a new and different racquet is not the easiest thing to do.

Most of the coaches in my club are Babolat sponsored, so unfortunately don't get the chance to see much else, unless I ask to borrow other people's racquets, of which some are very possessive! (plus so many have these ridiculously big and light HEAD models)

I read about the latest Babolat model - Pure Strike before Christmas and it "sounded" good.
So I pestered one of the coaches to try it out and she eventually did.
I was disappointed because she said it was basically the same as my existing, the now discontinued "Drive" model.

So today I saw her boyfriend (also a coach, former ATP ranked player) who heard about my interest and to my delight pulled the Strike model out of his bag.
So I tried it out and it felt quite nice, the best way I can describe it is, unlike the Drive model, it feels quite different when you hit a baseline shot or a more  controlled shot inside a court, (flies from baseline, but more controlled inside).
I don't know if it makes sense, but that's how it felt.

I don't know much about racquets, so reading about tensions and pattern strings doesn't mean a lot  to me   

Anyway, that bit was just a happy little episode for me today and I would have probably never mentioned it had I not seen this article in tennis.com:
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/01/babolat-play-pure-drive/50188/#.Us8P4ssgGSM

A racquet with a pair of ruthless eyes inside it!!!   

"One of the most exciting technological advances in the history of racquet technology, the Babolat PLAY Pure Drive comes with a sensor in the handle which tracks all aspects of your game. This includes how many forehands, backhands and serves you hit, percentage of spin and flat shots hit and where contact is made on the string bed. This data is easily uploaded to your smartphone, tablet or computer via Bluetooth or USB cable, where a detailed snapshot of your game awaits. You can even compare the results with previously saved sessions and compare/share with friends or the wider community of PLAY users."

I am a recreational player so not sure how useful it would be, but it sounds quite exciting to have all that data available to us "mortals".
And I am not even a gadget person at all!!!

Anyway, have a look at this video and tell me what you think, is this just another toy for mindless baseline amateurs, or a useful tool that could help (not sure even what, though...) ?

I'd be very surprised if that new Babolat is much different from the previous one.....unless Nadal stays with the previous one.

Are the specs diff? weight, thickness, string pattern? Any change would certainly make the racquet different...but string and tension are most likely the main feel factor when 2 racquets have similar shapes.

The new one is 5 g lighter and the part between the grip and the head thinner and lighter, so probably the overall weight is distributed more in the head with the new one.
I didn't even think the new model would have anything to do with Nadal.
From the marketing approach it looked as if Babolat were trying to appeal to the non-Nadal players with the new racquet.
But it's just words.
I'll ask about the string and tension.
Just on touch, the new one felt more tight.

ouahh....just saw the clip...the app is impressive though I doubt it is as accurate as it claims.
Drop shots, lobs will certainly mess up the stats....

Great gadget though....even if it is still just a gadget.

If you read the article under the link posted you'll see it mentions pros and cons, and reading certain type of shots is one of the cons, as you say drop-shot, lobs etc...

It's still a nice gadget....but we are old enough to know that "better is the enemy of good"!  

T, how did you come to choose your Yonex?

NITB, have you converted to a Nadal fan then?

noleisthebest wrote:T, how did you come to choose your Yonex?

I hated yonex shape at first (Navratilova time).....despite recognising it was a racquet that made shots "easy". I think it was Stan who went from Head to Yonex that pushed me into trying a more powerful racquet....So I did try and felt it was indeed more comfy and powerful than Head. I do like them a lot now.

Yes, Babolat is similar in shape.
I was thinking about a Wilson model, but don't know which one.
I tried a Prince one with a similar shape to Wilson. Those racquets are so different.
But strings and tension are the main part, and I don't know much about it, it all sounds theoretical until I try them.

noleisthebest wrote:Yes, Babolat is similar in shape.
I was thinking about a Wilson model, but don't know which one.
I tried a Prince one with a similar shape to Wilson. Those racquets are so different.
But strings and tension are the main part, and I don't know much about it, it all sounds theoretical until I try them.

I heard from many coaches, that Babolat rackets are the most comfy from all the rackets. I personally consider them as "dullish" as if they were made from bakelite. So, definitely no Babolat for me   

When choosing racket it is neccessary to consider mainly balance and stiffness. Just to avoid an elbow trouble  it is better to take rackets with balance more than 320mm and with a medium stiffness. The size of frame depends on your game style and on SHB/DHB especially. You can tune the racket balance by pasting weight belts on frame. If you need more control than power then prefer high dense strings and vice versa. The best way is to borrow as many rackets as you can and just try them step by step. Once I tried ten rackets en bloc,  but didn't choose none anyway. I would say rather lighter and with a balance into head, especially for woman.