Babolat Pure Strike Review

Babolat is one of the top tennis racquet manufacturers in the market today and they are constantly innovating and learning from players to come up with new improvements to their rackets. This  Babolat Pure Strike 2017 stands among other top sellers such as the Babolat Pure Drive as one of Babolat’s best.

But is this racquet right for you? Lets take a look in our Babolat Pure Strike racquet review.

Let’s start off this review with the specifications of the Pure Strike. This tennis racquet is standard length at 27 inches and has a 98 sq inch head size. This is on the lower end of available head sizes but there are advantages to having a smaller string bed. With this head size, the Babolat Pure Strike maximizes it’s precision and responsiveness to every movement.

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The New and Improved Pure Strike Frame

A major difference from the 2016 Babolat Pure Strike is the frame. The 2017 version actually has a hybrid frame made out of both square and elliptical sections. Babolat decided to change up the frame a little to increase precision and stability at the moment of ball impact.

Many readers of this blog have complained in the past about the Pure Strike being too stiff for them leading to problems with their muscles and even tennis elbow(psst! If you’re suffering from this, look at our list of solutions!).

Babolat has decided to keep the frame as stiff as last year so I would personally recommend you do one of two things:

Decrease your string tension or use a softer material string.

Soft material strings such as the Wilson Luxilion 4G  or Head Synthetic Gut Strings are great for this racquet. Try to resist stringing with highly stiff strings even though they can be cheaper(the savings isn’t worth it!).

Babolat also incorporated FSI technology into the frame of the 2017 Pure strike tennis racquet. That fancy acronym just means that the upper crosses of the racquet are more spaced out. On the court, this results in more power and spin.

Pure Strike Weight, Balance, and Strings

The Pure Strike weighs in at 10.8 oz unstrung or 11.3 oz with the strings. This definitely puts it at a higher end of the racquet spectrum. The good news for you, is that the Pure Strike has enough mass to live up to it’s name and provide you with enough mass to send the ball sailing to your opponent’s baseline.

The weight is balanced towards the handle with an overall balance of 7 points head light. This puts the weight in your hand allowing you to easily whip the Babolat Pure Strike around and get to those tough to reach tennis balls.

This head light balance also means that the Pure Strike makes volleys at the net easy. You’ll be able to rapidly get into position and keep attacking.

The default version of the Babolat Pure Strike comes with 16×19 string pattern. A perfect hybrid between an open string pattern and a closed one, the 16×19 will give you more than enough spin and control for any tennis ball you encounter.

On the Court: The Babolat Pure Strike 2017

I was lucky enough to play with the Babolat Pure Strike 2017 this weekend so let’s get to the most important part of this racket review: how does the Pure Strike feel on the court?

From the specifications, you can tell that Babolat specifically designed this new Pure Strike for aggressive players. If you’re constantly trying to set the pace, hit winners, or come up to the net, you are going to love this racquet.

I started off my practice session just casually hitting from the baseline with my partner. At the start, I could feel how the balance of the Pure Strike put the power and control right in my hand. I was able to easily get the racquet head into place for a great hit every time.

At the net, this control and the maneuverable frame came into handy. The Babolat Pure strike made getting into place and punching through volleys almost too easy. My partner actually told me: “get away from the net, you’re having too much fun!” before I finally returned to the baseline.

Serving, I truly felt the mass of the racquet. As I went through my serving motion, the tennis balls had a little extra oomph on them from the added weight. And while I could feel the weight of the racquet, at no point during practice was it ever uncomfortable. In fact, it seemed to help me get my balls deeper every single time!

Now after an hour and a half of hitting, I could see how many players have concerns about the frame being stiff. I could feel hits a little more than my usual racket( a Wilson Blade 98). However, I wasn’t too concerned about it.

Consider this: the Babolat Pure Strike can take your game to the next level. And the stiff frame can be fixed with a less than $20 (sometimes even less than $10) solution by replacing the strings! I wouldn’t let that hold me back from this beast of a tennis racket.

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Babolat Pure Strike 2017: Overall Thoughts

Babolat designed this Pure Strike 2017 tennis racquet from the ground up to be perfect for the aggressive tennis ball. If you consider yourself an intermediate player or even pushing advanced, this Pure Strike 2017 is the tennis racquet that can take you to the next level.

The weight and frame heavily contribute to allowing players to hit deeper balls than ever before. The balance allows you to easily maneuver the frame to get into position and annihilate some volleys.

The Babolat Pure Strike 2017 is perfect for aggressive players at net and at the baseline. Go win some tennis matches with this racquet!