Babolat Pure Aero Rafa Origin Racquet 2023 Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 84

Just by taking a quick look at the specs of the Pure Aero Rafa Origin, our team of playtesters knew this test was going to be a special one. They were excited to see if this racquet could truly supply their games with a smidge of the Rafa magic! Chris loved hitting powerful driving shots with the Pure Aero Rafa Origin. He began, "As long as I lined up and focused on hitting through the ball, I hit very well with this racquet. My shots had lots of pace and spin. Every shot felt very solid and I was hitting a penetrating ball. If I tried to flick my wrist to add spin or angle, I quickly got into trouble with this racquet. Those angles often ended up missing long and toward the middle because the racquet had so much mass it just wanted to swing straight. Probably my favorite shot with this racquet was my slice backhand. I loved how much drive I was getting on the ball. I had fun knifing backhand slices both cross court and down the line."

As soon as Troy picked this racquet up and had that initial handshake moment, he could tell there was a lot of heft to it. Our first of two lefties explained, "The static weight isn't all that heavy (317 grams unstrung), but the way this racquet is balanced and the extremely high swingweight that comes as a result make for a lack of overall maneuverability. That being said, I had a lot of fun trying to imitate Rafa, and when I had enough time to set up I hit some pretty amazing forehands. The backhand slice was coming off this racquet with easy pace and skidding very low off the bounce — nice and dirty. Overall, the maneuverability made this racquet difficult to use when playing competitively; I played my best by keeping my swings somewhat compact and using my opponent's pace to redirect the ball. I found it rather difficult to hit the ball on the run and to generate that easy wrist snap that is helpful for forehands out wide. I really had to focus on preparing and getting the racquet back early, but on the rare occasions when everything lined up, I hit some very heavy topspin groundstrokes."

"From the moment I held this racquet, I knew this was going to be a unique playtest," said Michelle. "Without knowing the specs, it was obvious the racquet had some significant plow through. Then, when I did check the specs, this racquet became more intimidating. The Pure Aero Rafa Origin humbled me and made me respect Rafa even more for being able to accelerate such a beefy racquet so quickly and effectively. As a player who swings very laterally through my shots, I loved bashing groundies from the baseline, but the second I got into point play, my confidence got rattled a bit, and I found it to be too demanding to consistently execute my shots. If I took a short backswing and accelerated through without hesitation, I was rewarded. But in the pressure situations, I realized I had to strike quickly and keep the points short to reduce any room for error; if my timing was a bit off, it usually meant I was making a mistake since this wasn't the most forgiving racquet. I can get slappy with my forehand, but the shorter the take back, the better here. When my timing was dialed in, that ball was penetrating the court. It was fun to watch opponents literally get pushed back against deep balls. There was one hitting session where I struggled through a 10-point breaker with the Rafa Origin and then switched back to my Wilson Pro Staff RF97 for the next tiebreaker and played nearly flawlessly. I will be the first to admit that the swingweight was just too much for me to execute effectively point after point."

Mark's first impression of the Pure Aero Rafa Origin was that it was a bit sluggish from the baseline. He said, "With a swingweight so high, the racquet felt like it had a mind of its own. By the fourth hour of the playtest, I was working better with the Rafa Origin's specs and noticed the heavy balls this racquet generated from the baseline. My long-point strategy was hard to execute with this racquet, but in terms of individual shots, I hit some of the best groundstrokes ever during this playtest."

Volleys - Score: 90

All of our playtesters found the Pure Aero Rafa Origin to be extremely solid and stable when hitting at the net and were reminded how well Rafa executes his volleys. Troy described, "Oftentimes we mention that a racquet will flutter when it feels unstable or shaky in the hand, but there was absolutely none of that with this racquet. I could block back just about every shot that it came into contact with no matter how hard it was hit. As long as I got the racquet into place on time, the resulting volley was typically nice and deep in the court, and I didn't have to do much to generate pace. The downside of the swingweight being so high is that it wasn't maneuverable and made for tough handling at the net. I felt somewhat sluggish and slow to get the racquet in place, especially during fast volley exchanges in doubles. Back on a positive note, for a racquet that is pretty stiff and doesn't have a Cortex system, the feel was pretty comfortable overall. I think that much mass up in the top portion of the racquet really helps to eliminate shock and vibration."

Michelle found the racquet to be incredibly solid at the net, albeit a little slow. She said, "For the most part, considering the 371 swingweight, I didn't think it was too demanding to get into place. However, it was a bit sluggish on super quick exchanges. This racquet exudes stability, so even on off-center volleys, the ball was still effective and in play. Since I was trying to keep groundies to a minimum in point play, it was fun to come up and put a ball away. There wasn't too much I needed to do but get the racquet up and point and shoot!"

"Stability is what this racquet provides a player from any part of the court," said Mark. "However, that high degree of stability was most evident at net. The racquet just does not budge, shiver or shake much at all, even on off-center contact. I loved volleying with the Rafa Origin, and although this frame is a bit out of my ideal spec range, I felt it improved my volley, which was noticeable when I went back to playing with my Boom Pro."

The Pure Aero Rafa Origin excelled at net for Chris. He said, "My volleys felt rock solid. I've always been impressed by Rafa's volleys, and after this test, I think he's certainly got the right racquet for solid net play. Even big passing attempts didn't upset this racquet, and I always felt like I was going to win the collision with the incoming ball with the Pure Aero Rafa Origin in my hands. The super solid response allowed me to relax and focus on touch and placement. I also appreciated the power that this racquet's mass provided; it helped me dig out tough low volleys and still get plenty of zip on my shots."

Serves - Score: 87

Serving big with the Pure Aero Rafa Origin was a highlight of this playtest for our team. Although she struggled to find consistent success at the baseline, Michelle absolutely loved serving with this racquet. She said, "First serves were so effective and awesome. I could swing big, and I found all the mass coming through. The Pure Aero Rafa Origin didn't feel as demanding as I expected when serving, and kick serves were incredibly emphasized and really jumped up off the court. I loved getting free points here."

Mark agreed. Of all of the shots, he most enjoyed hitting serves. He described, "Its weight and balance helped produce a heavy ball on serves. Like I mentioned with regards to groundstrokes, I still had good mass on my serves without a ton of racquet head speed required."

"I had fun serving with the Pure Aero Rafa Origin," added Chris. "My first serves had lots of pace thanks to the mass of this racquet coming through my swing. My favorite serves were down the T from both sides of the court. I liked the pace I was getting on that shot, and going over the lowest part of the net allowed me to hit my serves fairly flatly and still hit my targets. I had fun serving and volleying with this racquet because it was very, very solid on both shots."

Initially, Troy didn't want to put extra stress and strain on his shoulder, so he started off serving slowly to get comfortable with the swingweight. He gradually ramped up the racquet speed and said, "I found I could hit a pretty heavy, flat serve with this racquet. When I was able to stay loose and let this Pure Aero Rafa Origin flow through my service motion, things went well. However, this racquet is tough to maneuver on spin and kick serves, and I could really start to feel some of the fatigue as time went on in a practice set or tie breakers."

Returns - Score: 81

Shorter, compact strokes were the secret to unlocking successful returns with the Pure Aero Rafa Origin for our testers. Mark explained, "My return of serve was a do-or-die type of shot. But as I played more with this racquet and learned to take a shorter backswing, my chip return became more effective. This coaxed me to shorten the point and come to the net behind the return."

Chris found success with the Pure Aero Rafa Origin when keeping a very compact backswing on his returns. He said, "I had fun redirecting the incoming pace from the serve and using this racquet's mass to send it back with authority. As with groundstrokes, I found hitting angle shots a challenge. Instead, I stuck to hitting big either cross court or down the line. Again, my slice backhand was working well, and I was able to drive that shot with pace and spin."

"Short, compact swings were necessary to block the ball back deep on returns," added Troy. "As I mentioned previously, the maneuverability was difficult to tame, so I focused on keeping things simple and compact. The high level of plow through helped to push my returns deep, even with a compact swing. I loved the backhand slice or chip return. I found a very smooth response, and no matter how hard the serve was coming at me, there was no problem fending it off with this hefty stick in my hand. It was really difficult to make an effective return while stretched out or in a defensive position on returns."

Finding a similar experience to her groundies, Michelle quickly realized she needed a shorter backswing to return with this racquet effectively. She continued, "If I playtested this against one of my fellow playtesters who was also testing the Rafa Origin, needing to shorten my backswing was even more obvious, as their serves came through with more mass. However, the return is one of my favorite shots, and I think I have better control of the timing, so I felt more confident starting the point with a big return rather than a few balls into a rally. The racquet was so stable; there was no wobbling ever, and stabbing at hard-to-reach returns allowed me to get into the point since the ball often floated back fairly deep into the court. Angles were non-existent, though, because this racquet was hard to dip balls with."

Overall - Score: 83