Babolat Pure Strike Tour 3rd Gen Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 85

Starting off our playtest with our team in California, Michelle put this Pure Strike Tour to the test with her big groundstrokes. She shared, "I liked the weight and swingweight of this racquet from my very first hit. I also loved how confident I felt hitting aggressively, even from a defensive position. The racquet swung relatively fast considering its swingweight and felt pretty stable. There was good dwell time in the stringbed, and I could launch the ball back out with power and mass. There didn't seem to be a huge difference between the standard weight Pure Strike and this Pure Strike Tour. If I had to be critical, this Tour version felt like it had a slightly smaller sweetspot, and I was really hoping for more control from this heavier Strike. I normally prefer the heavier version of most racquets, but for some reason, I think I liked the standard-weight Pure Strike more."

The weight and swingweight of this Pure Strike Tour felt just right to Troy. He said, "I enjoyed hitting groundstrokes with the Pure Strike 16x19, but the heavier spec of this Tour version felt even better. There was enough mass in this racquet for it to feel solid and stable on contact, even when facing big-hitting opponents. The 320-gram frame felt rather maneuverable from the baseline compared to my racquet of choice, which weighs 330 grams. I felt comfortable hitting heavy topspin and attacking with a flat ball when needed. The spin was better than most 98-square-inch racquets on the market, and I felt more confident attacking flatter groundstrokes with this Pure Strike Tour than with the Pure Aero Tour or Pure Drive Tour. I wasn't overwhelmed with the amount of touch and feel this racquet gave me when hitting drop shots or slice backhands, but that's because I have primarily used heavier and thinner beam player's racquets over the years."

Safwane, one of our playtesters in Europe, loved playing with the Pure Strike Tour from the baseline. He said, "The Pure Strike Tour offered really good feel, and I was expecting something a bit harder to swing due to its 320-gram weight. To be honest, it didn't feel that heavy. I like to play with a lot of intensity, so I need a racquet that offers tons of control on each shot. The Pure Strike Tour gave me the precision I needed, and it performed really well for my game. I was able to place the ball wherever I wanted with good depth. It gave me the control I needed without sacrificing power, and I could execute topspin or slice easily. On my forehand and backhand slices, this frame provided great feel thanks to its stability and stiffness, which helped me control the ball. I had a lot of fun with the 16x19 string pattern; I was able to generate a decent amount of spin on my shots, and it helped me neutralize my opponent far behind the baseline. Also, I don't usually notice the sound that a racquet produces, but when I hit the ball with this Pure Strike Tour I was surprised to almost hear the power it provided along with its responsive and crisp feel. It's tough to explain, but I definitely suggest you try it!"

Simon, another of our European playtesters, had no worries with the Pure Strike Tour's maneuverability from the baseline. He said, "I was able to be aggressive from the first swing and finish the point within two or three shots. The balance between power and control was great. It allowed me to play relaxed because the mass of the racquet added extra weight behind the ball, and it provided a good amount of plow through. I had the confidence to let my swings go, and I still had a lot of precision on my offensive shots. This frame definitely helped me hit the ball with more spin, and the open string pattern was a plus for my defensive game, as I found the depth I needed. I also found better angles to get my opponent off the court. However, my one complaint from the baseline was that I struggled to hit efficient backhand slices, and the ball often sat up too high."

Moving to our team Down Under, Jaye was able to take full advantage of the Pure Strike Tour's power. He explained, "I had no major drawbacks from this racquet off the baseline. The higher swingweight and plow through offered enough stability to help me counterpunch faster balls. Whenever I had the chance to hit big and swing fast, I was able to generate a bit more power than usual. The feel was definitely plush and comfortable, and I found the sweetspot to be slightly bigger as well. I truly felt connected to the ball; however, I did find a bit of an uneasy feeling when I hit outside of the sweetspot."

"I absolutely love the Babolat Pure Strike line, and the control I had with this Tour was amazing," said Justin, another of our Australian reviewers. "It pocketed the ball very well, and the precision of this stick let me easily control the depth of my shot. This racquet has a higher swingweight than what I'm used to, and it felt really solid. The Pure Strike Tour offered a lot of plow through as well. It allowed me to put more mass behind the ball and hit heavier shots. Also, this racquet helped me build my points correctly and hit great angles. I thought it lacked a bit of power for my game and was more control oriented, but I will happily trade some power for the extra precision I was getting."

Volleys - Score: 77

When coming to the net, our team found plenty of stability and accuracy, but some testers struggled a bit on volleys with the Pure Strike Tour. Troy shared, "As I mentioned on my groundstrokes, the touch and feel weren't great, although they weren't bad either. I felt enough connection to the ball to execute sharp angles and drop volleys. In terms of the feel and responsiveness, it wasn't quite on par with certain older Babolat racquets, such as the Pure Control Tour. I also enjoyed the more flexible feel when hitting my volleys. There was just enough mass in this Pure Strike Tour for it to feel stable on my volleys, especially when facing big hitters."

Jaye preferred hanging out at the baseline. He explained, "I really only approach the net when I'm feeling confident on court, so I can't say I was up there volleying often. I had somewhat mixed feelings in this area; even though the racquet is on the stiffer side, I did find the throat to flex a little too much for my liking. This is just a personal preference, though, and not a knock on the racquet itself."

Safwane continued to gel with the Pure Strike Tour at net. He described, "I just loved hitting volleys with this racquet! I had great control and precision, and it really helped with my overall confidence at net. I could do whatever I wanted with the ball. I was able to hit my drop shots well and strike the ball with ease on aggressive volleys. The racquet felt solid on each shot, which allowed for great touch and control."

Justin found himself putting balls away at the net with the Pure Strike Tour. He said, "I really enjoyed the accuracy and punch for deeper volleys, although I did note a lack of touch and feel on my drop shots. I wasn't able to hit with finesse, and I felt disconnected from the ball a little bit."

Frenchman Simon noticed the difference in stability between the Pure Strike Tour and his racquet of choice, the Wilson Blade 98. He elaborated, "This racquet was much more stable and precise than my Blade, but at times it became too demanding for me on faster shots against bigger hitters. The frame is heavier than my liking, so I found it a bit tough to get into position."

The Pure Strike Tour felt fairly stable up at net for Michelle, and it allowed her to tap into aggressive volleys. She said, "Compared to my very stable Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph, the Pure Strike Tour was a bit more flimsy, but I loved it on swinging volleys! I have to admit there were times it didn't feel as maneuverable as I expected, and I felt jammed every now and then. However, when I was reaching for volleys the racquet held up and didn't crumble against big hitters. I could easily hit deep volleys and felt confident moving forward into the court with this racquet in hand."

Serves - Score: 80

The Pure Strike Tour's control was once again on display for our team when it came to serves. Safwane explained the pros and cons of starting points with heavy racquets, saying, "Serving with heavier racquets can be really rewarding when swinging fast. They allow you to put more mass behind the ball, and they offer extra stability at impact, but they can be tough to serve with sometimes. With that being said, I didn't have any particular issues when serving with the Pure Strike Tour. I found easy targeting, and on my second serves I was able to topspin or slice the ball very effectively."

This racquet never gave Justin the immense power or spin he gets from the Pure Aero, but it more than made up for it in other areas. He said, "The Pure Strike Tour offered superb control and accuracy. Along with pinpoint precision, the dampened feel off the stringbed helped keep me connected to the ball and gave me the ability to place the ball wherever I wanted. If you ask for my personal opinion, the Pure Strike Tour is the ultimate serving racquet!"

Michelle felt that the Pure Strike Tour could just about do it all when serving. She explained, "I could get some good pace going, and I felt pretty precise as well. I also loved serving with the standard-weight version, so this was no surprise for me. I've been trying to be more consistent with my serves lately, which means I'm taking a bit off my serve and going for bigger kicks and better targeting. This racquet helped with that. It was easy to hit my targets and grab the ball and load it full of spin. I could also effectively slice the ball into my opponents or slice it off the court to get them reaching, leaving a big chunk of the court open."

Though he had to adjust his timing on serves, Simon still found success starting points with the Pure Strike Tour. He said, "At 320 grams, this racquet is heavier than what I'm used to, but it's still relatively maneuverable for its weight. The great plow through helped me reach my targets with power and precision. But I had to let the racquet do its job instead of trying to muscle the ball out."

Jaye was impressed with the Pure Strike Tour's accuracy, but he wasn't quite as blown away by the racquet's level of power. He described, "With most racquets, I either hit big or aim consistently on serves. It can be tough to have both, and I was missing a bit of power with the Pure Strike Tour. I'm used to playing with racquets such as the Head Gravity Pro or the Yonex EZONE 98, which can explain my wanting more power, but the Pure Strike Tour happened to perform well in the precision department. My first serves and kick serves came with ease, and I was in full control of the ball. This stick allowed me to bring a lot of variety to my serving game, and I truly enjoyed surprising my opponents with different shots."

Troy found a nice blend of power and precision when serving with the Pure Strike Tour. He said, "Although the power came with ease, I found the Pure Strike Tour to be very controllable. It wasn't quite the rocket-like power you would get from a Pure Drive Tour Plus, but I still generated a lot of pace. Often, when I serve with a racquet like the Pure Drive Tour Plus, I hit some of my biggest and most shocking serves, but at the same time I'm not as consistent or precise. With this Pure Strike Tour I felt like I was maximizing my serve power without becoming erratic or inconsistent. The open string pattern allowed for heavy spin on my kick serves, which was a big improvement for me over the first Pure Strike Tour with its 18x20 pattern."

Returns - Score: 81

Our team found the stability of the Pure Strike Tour to be an asset on serve returns, and big swings were consistently rewarded. The racquet's overall weight and stability made blocking big serves back more bearable for Jaye. He explained, "I would say returning is the weakest part of my game at this stage, but I found I was getting into points more easily thanks to this racquet's higher swingweight and mass coming through the ball. I was simply able to control the ball better. Returning is something I need to work on, but as far as this racquet goes, it gets a big thumbs up for me."

Similar to his volleying experience, Simon appreciated the Pure Strike Tour's stability. He offered, "I found I could block balls back with ease, and the extra mass helped me attack weaker serves. I could also hit great angles with the open string pattern and pull my opponents off the court."

Both on paper and on court, this racquet was right up Troy's alley. He said, "If you have ever read my racquet review comments in the past, you likely know I prefer a hefty, solid racquet to hit returns with. I need a racquet that won't twist in my hands or feel like it's getting pushed around when facing 100-plus mph serves. This Pure Strike Tour did a good job of blocking back big serves and providing enough plow through to help push my returns deep when I didn't have the time to take a big swing. Even with all that mass, this racquet never felt sluggish, and I could muster up some big, aggressive returns whenever my opponent was foolish enough to leave one sitting up on my forehand side. If I needed to slice a backhand return, there was enough plow through to help me keep the ball low and deep in my opponent's side of the court."

"I don't think I missed many returns with this Babolat Pure Strike Tour," added Safwane. "The racquet felt very stable. Therefore, I wasn't overwhelmed by my opponent's powerful serves. I could counterpunch with ease and take control of the point right from my return. It was hard to find ideal depth at times, but I think that's something that I could have adjusted to with more time on court."

Michelle also liked the extra weight and heft this racquet offered compared to the standard Pure Strike 16x19. She said, "This Pure Strike Tour felt a bit more stable than the lighter version. It was fun to take big cuts with this racquet. At times, I felt I was going for too much, but I loved the angles I could generate, especially in doubles. Also, the Pure Strike Tour felt stable when I was returning against bigger servers, and I could block balls back effectively."

While Justin found that the Pure Strike Tour was sturdy enough to keep him in control, he felt that its lack of power held him back at times. He concluded, "The racquet's stability allowed for some great countering shots. I was able to knife the ball well or block the ball deep to reset the rally thanks to the higher swingweight. Once again, though, I lacked the extra power I needed to put away some serves that I normally would."

Overall - Score: 82