Babolat Pure Drive Zylon 360 Racquet Review
Babolat's success as a racquet company can be mostly attributed to one model (in two lengths), the Pure Drive and Pure Drive Plus. Thanks, in part, to rising US star Andy Roddick (and other ATP & WTA players), the Pure Drive/Plus has enjoyed tremendous exposure to a worldwide audience, with the greatest impact on younger American players. Despite other solid offerings, the Pure Drive and Pure Drive Plus continue to be Babolat's best selling racquets, and can be seen in adult and junior tournaments across the United States.
When Babolat introduced their Zylon 360 racquet line their objective was to broaden the appeal of Babolat racquets by offering lighter, more maneuverable versions of the successful Pure Drive and Pure Control racquets. Despite similar sounding names, the Zylon versions are very different, weighing in at 1.5-2 ounces less than their non-Zylon namesakes.
What is Zylon? Zylon is a fiber with broad application (aerospace, sail cloth, ski poles, tennis racquets) that was developed by Toyobo Company in Japan. According to Babolat, Zylon is lightweight and has a higher tensile strength and modulus than Graphite, providing improved frame strength and stability while retaining maneuverability. This allows players to swing the racquets faster, while maintaining stability and frame integrity.
Also included in the Zylon 360 racquets (like all other Babolat racquets sold in the US) is their patented Woofer System. The Woofer System is a "piston" type grommet system that circles the entire racquet head (360 degrees). According to Babolat the Woofer grommets serve a pulley function. Because more strings are working together when striking the ball a larger sweetspot is supposed to be created, improving forgiveness during off-center shots and absorbing shock produced during ball impact.
With extensive reviews already posted on this site of the Pure Drive Team/Plus and Pure Control Zylon 360/Plus, we were interested in what our testers would say about the Pure Drive Zylon 360/Plus racquets.
We'd like to add that this is a new (albeit experimental) racquet review format. Below you will find individual playtester comments and scores in each of the major areas for the Pure Drive Zylon 360 (standard and Plus versions). Our hope is that this will make it easier for you to find the comments of the player(s) with playing styles you relate to the most - while still allowing a thorough overview of the racquet(s). Please feel free to email us your comments and feedback regarding this new review format.
We playtested the Pure Drive Zylon 360 and its longer brother, the Pure Drive Zylon 360 Plus for three weeks. Here are our playtesters' individual comments and scores:
Babolat Pure Drive Zylon 360 Review
Dan
| Player Info | Player Scores |
| Current Racquet: Babolat Pure Control Zylon 360 Level:5.0 NTRP Stroke style:Long Type of player: All court player, who uses a variety of spins, usually at medium pace. Serve is a strength. Experienced doubles player. Backhand: One-handed |
Power: | 6.2 | Serves/Overheads: | 7.3 |
| Control: | 7.0 | Groundstrokes: | 6.5 | |
| Maneuverability: | 7.0 | Slice: | 6.5 | |
| Stability: | 7.5 | Topspin: | 7.5 | |
| Comfort: | 8.5 | Volleys: | 6.5 | |
| Touch/Feel: | 7.0 | Overall: | 7.2 |
Groundstrokes: I liked the uniform, even feel of the Pure Drive Zylon 360 standard. This is a very comfortable racquet to hit with. It has that familiar dampened feel that Babolat racquets are known for, yet not so much that "feel" is eliminated. Spin control was very good (I rely on a lot of topspin), however, slice did float on me if my weight was neutral and my swing speed was slow. I had to be pressing/leaning forward for good results.
Because of its light static weight, my long stroke style actually fit nicely in sending groundstrokes deep. Shorter, more abbreviated strokes resulted in balls landing short, especially if my swing speed wasn't fast enough. Interestingly, in actual play it felt and swung every bit as heavy as my 11 ounce, head-light Pure Control Zylon (tested back to back, and then repeated). I believe the head-heavy balance of the Babolat Pure Drive Zylon 360 standard counteracts its light-er static weight and I perceived a pretty similar feel to my Pure Control Zylon standard.
Volleys: It was give and take for me up at net. While mobility was a real plus, getting "pop" and depth required a little more punch than I'm accustomed to. However, overall comfort and forgiveness on off-center volleys were redeeming values. This racquet could be a real weapon for doubles specialists who place high value on mobility and a forgiving feel.
Serves: I like to mix my serve up a lot; fast and flat, into the body, down the middle, off-speed slice out wide to the deuce side, and kick serves out wide in the ad court. The Pure Drive Zylon 360 was effective for me in all these areas. It was light enough to generate some impressive racquet head speed when hitting hard, yet it had an open enough string pattern (16x19) to get good bite on my bending slice and kick serves.
Serve Return: I slice back most of my backhand returns, so getting my weight shifted forward and following all the way through was key here. The racquet was too light to just throw at the ball and expect a solid feel. Good returns off hard-hit serves still require some weight transfer behind them.
Mark
| Player Info | Player Scores |
| Current Racquet:Prince Thunder 820 Level:5.0 NTRP Stroke style:Compact Type of player:Prefers to play a serve and volley game. Serve is not overpowering but he is an accomplished volleyer with good net coverage. From the baseline, he hits a heavy topspin backhand and a fairly flat forehand. Experienced doubles player. Backhand: One-handed |
Power: | 5.5 | Serves/Overheads: | 6.5 |
| Control: | 7.0 | Groundstrokes: | 6.0 | |
| Maneuverability: | 7.0 | Slice: | 6.5 | |
| Stability: | 6.0 | Topspin: | 6.0 | |
| Comfort: | 6.0 | Volleys: | 6.0 | |
| Touch/Feel: | 7.0 | Overall: | 7.2 |
Groundstrokes: The Pure Drive Zylon 360 didn't provide enough power from the baseline for my strokes. Both my forehands and backhands landed consistently short. I had to swing much harder than I wanted to generate power and I ended up mis-hitting a lot of balls. It was difficult to put any pressure on my opponent because of the lack of power. I like to end points quickly, but I couldn't with this racquet.
Serves: I had good control on my serves, but no power. Service winners and aces were the result of placement, not pace. I was able to hit the corners with regularity, but when I missed my target I was in trouble. I don't think I hit one serve that overpowered my opponent. I ended up wearing out my arm trying to serve harder.
Volleys: I was pretty successful volleying with the Pure Drive Zylon standard. The low power level provided good control at the net and made it easy to handle the low, hard volleys. The good control also helped me hit some nice drop and angle volleys.
Overheads: Hitting overheads was a chore with the Pure Drive. You have to be able to generate your own power with this racquet and I wasn't strong enough to do it effectively. Control was OK, but it would have been nice to actually smash a few overheads.
Serve Return: Most of my returns landed well short of their goal. It's hard to keep the ball deep with this racquet and it's really hard on a service return. If I'd been playing a serve and volley player I would have been in good shape, because all my returns would have landed at his feet. Unfortunately, my opponent stayed back and had plenty of opportunities to attack my short returns.
Drew
| Player Info | Player Scores |
| Current Racquet:Wilson Triad Pro Staff 6.0 Level:4.5 NTRP Stroke style:Long & loopy Type of player:Singles player who's primarily a baseliner. Uses a variety of spins. Plays mostly on clay. Backhand: One-handed |
Power: | 7.0 | Serves/Overheads: | 7.5 |
| Control: | 7.0 | Groundstrokes: | 7.5 | |
| Maneuverability: | 7.0 | Slice: | 7.0 | |
| Stability: | 7.0 | Topspin: | 8.0 | |
| Comfort: | 7.5 | Volleys: | 7.0 | |
| Touch/Feel: | 7.5 | Overall: | 7.0 |
Groundstrokes: The Babolat Pure Drive Zylon Standard is a good all-around racquet for groundstrokes. The racquet is on the light side, making it easy to generate head speed for topspin. With the racquet's spin potential and relatively low power, I worked on moving the ball around rather just trying to hitting hard. I enjoyed using topspin to hit short angles or deeper high bouncing shots. The light weight tended to make hitting effective slices more difficult. As a result, my approach shots were usually placed angles rather than deep slices.
Volleys: The Babolat Pure Drive Zylon is easy to maneuver and has enough power to hit solid volleys with a moderate swing. I didn't have much success with touch shots. I focused on keeping the ball deep.
Serves: I served well with the Pure Drive Zylon Standard. The swing weight is light enough to generate plenty of head speed for pace or spin without affecting timing or giving the racquet a flimsy feel. I had particularly good control of spin serves.
Serve Return: I had no problem taking a full swing yet maintaining control.
Chad
| Player Info | Player Scores |
| Current Racquet:Head Intelligence i.Tour Level:5.0 NTRP Stroke style:Medium-Long Type of player:Hard-hitting baseliner with a big serve. Backhand:Two-handed |
Power: | 4.0 | Serves/Overheads: | 8.0 |
| Control: | 7.0 | Groundstrokes: | 8.0 | |
| Maneuverability: | 8.0 | Slice: | 4.0 | |
| Stability: | 6.0 | Topspin: | 7.0 | |
| Comfort: | 5.0 | Volleys: | 8.0 | |
| Touch/Feel: | 7.0 | Overall: | 7.0 |
Groundstrokes: Overall, this racquet swung too light for my taste. My groundstrokes were OK but required a very fast swing. My shots didnÕt feel solid, possibly due to the lighter weight. I found myself overswinging at times, which usually sent the ball sailing. My slice backhands floated way more than I wanted.
Volleys: The Pure Drive Zylon fits much nicer with my net game than my baseline game. Volleys felt great except the hard to reach balls where it seemed like there was a lack of power. Touch volleys were also easy to execute with the Pure Drive Zylon standard. The relatively lower stiffness level allowed balls to simply die off of the stringbed.
Serves: Still too light for my liking, but doable. I like a head heavier frame when serving, but I struggled with the kick serve as I was unable to produce the movement that I like. I didn't feel like I could fully utilize my power. Perhaps I'm used to a heavier frame, but it felt like my flat, hard serves were about 10 miles an hour slower than usual.
Overheads: The key to overheads with the Pure Drive Zylon standard, at least for me, was to take my time and not try and put too much into it. When this simple approach was taken the result was usually a winner.
Serve Return: To my surprise, I returned quite well with the Pure Drive. I would attribute this to the maneuverability of the racquet. I was able to create offensive returns on what I would usually consider a defensive ball. I still had trouble with my return slice, but it was still deep enough to prevent my opponent from attacking off my first ball.
Granville
| Player Info | Player Scores |
| Current Racquet:Wilson Hyper ProStaff 6.1 (95) Level:5.5 NTRP Stroke style:Compact-Medium Type of player:Control oriented all-court player who finds particular strength at net. Experienced doubles player. Uses a variety of spins and pace off both FH and BH. Backhand:One-handed |
Power: | 6.5 | Serves/Overheads: | 6.8 |
| Control: | 7.0 | Groundstrokes: | 6.8 | |
| Maneuverability: | 7.0 | Slice: | 7.0 | |
| Stability: | 7.3 | Topspin: | 7.0 | |
| Comfort: | 7.5 | Volleys: | 7.0 | |
| Touch/Feel: | 7.0 | Overall: | 7.0 |
Groundstrokes: The light weight of the racquet caused many of my shots to land very short (inside the service line). I had to consciously correct my stroke with every forehand and backhand until properly adjusted and got my groundies started landing deeper into the court. On occasion, when all the elements combined in unison, I could pop a groundstroke winner with heat.
Volleys: While too light to really get some pop on your volleys, it does provide a maneuverable frame with a generous stringbed and soft feel. On off center shots I could feel the racquet rebounding from the ball, which I didn't like. It occurred to me, while volleying with this racquet, that it is a good "platform" racquet because at a mere 9.4 ounces you have some room to customize it.
Serves: Good overall performer with no real surprises (which is a good thing). The stringbed felt consistent and cushioned. Power was adequate but only barely. It felt heavier when just picking it up than when serving.
Serve Return: Returns were consistent and comfortable. With such a light frame you really need to get your body moving forward on the returns if you want to get any pace on the ball. Off-center shots were manageable, but again, good stoke production was required. Otherwise, my returns landed short or in the net.
Babolat Pure Drive Zylon 360 Combined Scores
(Scores are determined by averaging individual play test scores)
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Babolat Pure Drive Zylon 360 Plus Review
The Pure Drive Zylon Plus 360 has many of the same attributes as the Pure Drive Zylon 360 standard but with more reach (1/2 inch), more power and a heavier swingweight (308 to 298). Despite sharing a similar static weight and head-heavy balance, the increased swingweight and added length lends a slightly heavier feel.
Granville
| Player Info | Player Scores |
| Current Racquet:Wilson Hyper ProStaff 6.1 (95) Level:5.5 NTRP Stroke style:Compact-Medium Type of player:Control oriented all-court player who finds particular strength at net. Experienced doubles player. Uses a variety of spins and pace off both FH and BH. Backhand:One-handed |
Power: | 7.5 | Serves/Overheads: | 7.5 |
| Control: | 7.0 | Groundstrokes: | 6.5 | |
| Maneuverability: | 8.0 | Slice: | 7.0 | |
| Stability: | 7.0 | Topspin: | 7.0 | |
| Comfort: | 7.0 | Volleys: | 7.0 | |
| Touch/Feel: | 6.5 | Overall: | 7.0 |
Groundstrokes: During the first hour of playtesting, it was tough to acclimate to this racquet. Initial reactions included: too light, too long, too head heavy and I had to adjust my stroke (position to the ball) to hit a solid ball. The added length and head-heavy balance made it seem more head-heavy than it really was (a negative). While I never really felt grooved with this racquet, I did become proficient with it and played some enjoyable sets. One thing was apparent, the racquet has some power. I attribute the power of these racquets to the tubular design of the shaft and shoulders. In addition to good power, the string bed was very forgiving and offered a pleasant, cushioned response.
Volleys: The light weight of this racquet makes it very maneuverable despite its head-heavy balance. The downside is it lacks some "pop" as a result of the reduced mass. The maneuverability created offensive opportunities with getting the racquet up and to the ball, as well as getting back defensively on overheads.
Serves: Bingo! Great serving racquet. The extra half inch of length made a difference. Add to that the extra racquet speed due to its light weight and this racquet delivered some heat. Control seemed to be enhanced as well, with good "pocketing" of the ball on the strings. I was hitting big serves down the middle and kickers wide with consistent results. I could really feel the ball springing off the strings when I turned up the heat.
Serve Return: My returns were hot and cold. The lack of mass made it more difficult to generate additional pace, especially against serves into the body. Only when I was pulled really wide could I generate the swing speed to get enough pace for a passing shot.
Dan
| Player Info | Player Scores |
| Current Racquet: Babolat Pure Control Zylon 360 Level:5.0 NTRP Stroke style:Long Type of player: All court player, who uses a variety of spins, usually at medium pace. Serve is a strength. Experienced doubles player. Backhand: One-handed |
Power: | 7.0 | Serves/Overheads: | 7.3 |
| Control: | 6.8 | Groundstrokes: | 6.5 | |
| Maneuverability: | 7.0 | Slice: | 7.0 | |
| Stability: | 7.5 | Topspin: | 6.5 | |
| Comfort: | 8.0 | Volleys: | 7.0 | |
| Touch/Feel: | 6.8 | Overall: | 6.5 |
Groundstrokes: Really no big surprises here. I found the same dampened, comfortable feel as the Pure Drive Standard, a little more power and leverage, but still not enough weight to achieve enough depth with anything but a fast, full swing. I felt spin control was very good; slice stayed a little lower with less effort and got a little more "action", or ball rotation. I feel the extra half inch of leverage probably helped here.
I did feel a little awkward with the Plus version though. For a racquet at this weight, I simply don't need more reach than standard length supplies. Mobility is a stronger ally for me. My control was better with the standard and swing speed had to stay about the same (high) with either version. The higher swingweight of the Plus didn't seem to add any tangible benefits for me from the baseline.
Volleys: Along with enhanced reach, the added length makes a difference up at net. I found the small power boost just what the doctor ordered. I enjoyed good depth on volleys, even when hit with compact form. Like the Pure Drive Zylon standard, I found nice comfort and off-center forgiveness. Finally, there's enough touch available to please savvy net attackers who like to finesse the impressive angle volley. Doubles players will appreciate this racquetÕs qualities at net.
Serves: I was able to generate great racquet head speed, solid bite, slice and kick - but with slightly greater force and stability than the Pure Drive Zylon standard. This is one area where the extra 1/2 inch in length and slightly higher swingweight help out. Think of it as adding a caffeine pill to a cup of decaf. There's a little extra liveliness there.
Serve Return: Because I slice most of my backhand returns, the added swingweight and leverage (length) helped keep my slice returns lower and at less of an arc - a problem I had with the standard. However, the Plus version is still light enough to require me to supply most of my own power to gain solid depth on returns.
Mark
| Player Info | Player Scores |
| Current Racquet:Prince Thunder 820 Level:5.0 NTRP Stroke style:Compact Type of player:Prefers to play a serve and volley game. Serve is not overpowering but he is an accomplished volleyer with good net coverage. From the baseline, he hits a heavy topspin backhand and a fairly flat forehand. Experienced doubles player. Backhand: One-handed |
Power: | 6.0 | Serves/Overheads: | 6.0 |
| Control: | 6.5 | Groundstrokes: | 6.0 | |
| Maneuverability: | 7.5 | Slice: | 6.0 | |
| Stability: | 7.0 | Topspin: | 7.5 | |
| Comfort: | 7.5 | Volleys: | 7.5 | |
| Touch/Feel: | 7.0 | Overall: | 6.5 |
Groundstrokes: I had no feel for where the racquet head was when hitting groundstrokes. I could hit solid forehands and backhands with decent pace if the ball was hit to me slowly. The problem I had was with hard hit balls. I couldn't take an aggressive swing at hard hit balls and get them in the court with any consistency. I hit a lot of balls outside the sweetspot and most of them ended up in the net. The Pure Drive Zylon Plus was too underpowered and too sluggish for my type of game and swing style.
Serves: I had pretty good control when serving with the Pure Drive Zylon Plus. I could move the ball around well and I hit my target consistently. I didn't have as much pace on my serves as I would have liked. The Pure Drive Zylon Plus didn't provide much power and I couldn't generate enough power on my own to compensate. I ended up facing some formidable returns when I didn't have good placement on my serves.
Volleys: I enjoyed volleying with the Pure Drive Zylon Plus. The stiff feel and low power level allowed me to be aggressive on my volleys without hitting them long. I also found it to have surprisingly good touch at the net. I was able to hit some good drop volleys and half volleys.
Overheads: The low power level of the Pure Drive Zylon Plus hurt its effectiveness on overheads. I wasn't strong enough to hit powerful overheads so I had to rely on placement. It was frustrating trying to generate power. On backhand overheads my only option was the sharp cross-court angle shot. Trying to hit the ball deep or hard was ineffective.
Serve Return: The Pure Drive Plus felt sluggish and under powered on returns. I would say close to 90% of my returns landed either inside the service line or in the net. Trying to drive a ball that was bouncing up high (especially on the backhand side) was an ordeal.
Drew
| Player Info | Player Scores |
| Current Racquet:Wilson Triad Pro Staff 6.0 Level:4.5 NTRP Stroke style:Long & loopy Type of player:Singles player who's primarily a baseliner. Uses a variety of spins. Plays mostly on clay. Backhand: One-handed |
Power: | 7.0 | Serves/Overheads: | 7.5 |
| Control: | 7.0 | Groundstrokes: | 7.0 | |
| Maneuverability: | 7.0 | Slice: | 6.0 | |
| Stability: | 7.0 | Topspin: | 7.5 | |
| Comfort: | 7.5 | Volleys: | 7.5 | |
| Touch/Feel: | 6.5 | Overall: | 6.5 |
Groundstrokes: The Babolat Pure Drive Zylon Plus felt like it had a bit more power and less control than the Standard. The extra power was welcome, but if I had to choose, I would stick with the standard for the control. I particularly struggled with slices using the Plus - I hit just about every one into the middle of the net. A noticeably high percentage of my topspin groundstrokes sailed long. I think both the standard and Plus are very sensitive to string tension and gauge. I played with some racquets strung with Wilson NXT 17 and Babolat X-Cel 16 at various tensions. The thinner gauge at higher tensions performed much better for me.
Volleys: Like the standard, this racquet is easy to maneuver and has enough power to hit solid volleys with a moderate swing.
Serves: I did like serving with the Plus more than the standard. I felt I could get the same results with not quite as much muscle.
Serve Return: I had the same issues with the Plus on returns that I did with groundstrokes; more power but more errors. I experimented with blocking or slicing returns to get more balls back but that's not my game, and I usually ended up losing the point on the next shot anyway.
Chad
| Player Info | Player Scores |
| Current Racquet:Head Intelligence i.Tour Level:5.0 NTRP Stroke style:Medium-Long Type of player:Hard-hitting baseliner with a big serve. Backhand:Two-handed |
Power: | 5.0 | Serves/Overheads: | 7.0 |
| Control: | 6.0 | Groundstrokes: | 6.0 | |
| Maneuverability: | 5.0 | Slice: | 5.0 | |
| Stability: | 7.0 | Topspin: | 6.0 | |
| Comfort: | 5.0 | Volleys: | 8.0 | |
| Touch/Feel: | 7.0 | Overall: | 6.0 |
Groundstrokes: I didn't like extended length racquets before using the Pure Drive Plus, and I still don't. Each shot felt like I was hitting with an extra long feather due to the lightness of the racquet. I felt it was difficult to maneuver on shots that needed extra preparation. Overall, I think Babolat could have made the racquet heavier to compensate for the lack of maneuverability and control.
Volleys: There was improvement when I moved from the baseline to the net. However, my attempts to execute volleys deep into the court usually resulted in a lost point, as they would sail long.
Serves: The lightness of this racquet caused many of my serves to go long because I was unable to get the racquet face to my desired contact point. Serves started to feel better once I was able to acquire some feel for the racquet. It was much easier for me to hit slice or a flat serve, as opposed to a kick serve.
Overheads: I was able to execute overheads well as long as I had good footwork and preparation. The weight of the racquet was not a big issue for me here.
Serve Return: On hard hit first serves, my returns felt defensive as I struggled to find the sweetspot. I did, however, feel comfortable attacking on the second serve, where I was able to produce some deep shots with a fairly long swing.
Babolat Pure Drive Zylon 360 Plus Combined Scores
(Scores are determined by averaging individual play test scores)
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Review date: September, 2002. If you found this review interesting or have further questions or comments please contact us.
All content copyright 2002 Tennis Warehouse.
