Babolat Pure Drive Tour Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 87

As the heaviest member of the Pure Drive family, the Pure Drive Tour is for anyone looking to hit big pace off both wings. This hard-hitting racquet proved to be a dangerous weapon in the hands of our playtesters. Michelle described, "This racquet was such a fun playtest to get 2021 started on the right note. It reminded me of how much I love the heavier Pure Drive racquets, and I instantly felt at home swinging it from the baseline. It's loaded with power and spin, and I felt in command of every shot. This racquet lines up with what I like; it swings fast and has the stability and plow through I need to really attack balls. I found great depth and loved playing aggressive tennis with this racquet. Similar to the standard version, I thought the sweetspot felt more defined, and it was a bit stiffer outside of it. However, the stringbed was very forgiving, and even off-center shots still managed to be playable balls. I loved how this racquet complemented my aggressive baseline game. I could hit deep consistently and pull the trigger to win the point with a big shot. I found lots of stability when I was pushed back and my timing was a little off. Trust me, I'm packing this racquet in my bag for now when I go to the courts. It makes tennis fun again and allows me to hone in on the aggressive style I prefer playing."

For Mark, this heavier Pure Drive Tour was one of his favorite racquets to swing from the baseline. He said, "I even loved it on my backhand slice, which I typically enjoy more with a tighter stringbed. That said, the string pattern's spacing made it easy for me to use that shot often and hit it effectively, keeping it low over the net. Now on to the obvious: topspin-wise, I loved the way I could shape my shots with arch for consistency, and then I could hit more aggressively into the open court. Babolat has paid a lot of attention to the importance of string spacing, and I feel that the Pure Drive Tour has this aspect completely dialed in."

Having used both the Pure Drive and Pure Drive Plus racquets in the past, Tiffani already knew that she loves the big power that the Pure Drive family offers. She said, "I've hit with the previous Pure Drive Tour (and the Roddick before it), but in general, I have found the other models to be a better fit for me. It was a similar story with this updated edition of the Pure Drive Tour. I loved the power I got from this racquet, and it felt like it had more plow through than the regular Pure Drive. I typically wouldn't say a mid-320s swingweight feels slow through the air, but there were times I found it hard to get this Pure Drive Tour moving. It may be because this racquet's 315-gram static weight is 10 grams more than my comfort zone. I only really noticed it on quick pick-up shots near the baseline. I needed to play a bit farther back behind the baseline to give myself more time to get my swing in motion. Other than that, I enjoyed how the racquet could drive through a ball, and it had a slightly more dampened feel inside the sweetspot."

Jason is confident that the Pure Drive Tour will please players looking to add power to their game. He explained, "With the combination of the open string pattern, the stiffer flex and the weight, The Pure Drive Tour 2021 adds up to being one of the most powerful racquets I've tested since the last Pure Drive Tour. Getting topspin on my shots wasn't an issue; in fact, I needed that spin to help control my shots since the racquet has rocket launcher-like tendencies. Which brings me to the Pure Drive Tour's one downside: It is a little sluggish for me. I find myself missing wide on inside-out forehands because I'm a split second late making contact."

Volleys - Score: 86

Our team was very satisfied with how stable the Pure Drive Tour felt on volleys. Mark said, "The combination of weight, balance, stiffness and swingweight allowed me to feel confident at the net. The 11.8-ounce strung weight of the Pure Drive Tour did not budge under the pressure of half volleys and was super stable even against most passing shot attempts."

Tiffani didn't struggle with the Pure Drive Tour's maneuverability at net as much as she did at the baseline. She said, "I thought it got into position fine, and I enjoyed its stability and ability to put the ball deep into the court with good power. I normally struggle with touch, and this racquet didn't help me out in that department. I kept it simple, and when possible, I tried to end points with one volley."

"I thought the Pure Drive Tour felt very solid up at net," added Jason. "At almost 12 ounces, there was enough mass to put away shots or absorb heavy-hit passing shots. Even when making contact off-center, the racquet felt fairly stable and could still get the ball back with good pop and control."

Michelle was impressed by how stable and solid the Pure Drive Tour felt up at net. She said, "I loved volleying with this racquet, and because it was so fun to be aggressive with, I found myself ending points often at the net. Swinging volleys were awesome too. It held up to every ball I saw and was stable when stabbing at shots that I had to lunge for. There was not a ton of feel, but that was just fine for me — it's a Pure Drive. I wasn't expecting a soft response, so I was happy with how firm it felt at contact."

Serves - Score: 83

Due to its sheer mass, the Pure Drive Tour created some division among our team when serving. For Tiffani, the serve was another area where she struggled to get the racquet moving. She explained, "Whenever I tried to force things, the racquet felt heavy, and my service motion didn't feel smooth. The resulting serve would then lack power and spin. When I relaxed and let things flow naturally, I could get good power from the racquet. Unfortunately for me, my lack of serving prowess meant that I was unable to consistently tap into the power I know the Pure Drive Tour can deliver."

Jason found his best results came when he simply let the racquet do the work. He said, "When I tried to really crank a serve (because the max power can be addicting), I was missing long, and the results weren't necessarily any better. But when I relaxed and swung at 75- to 80-percent power, I was getting more spin and higher consistency. The power I was getting was enough to make my serves effective, which wouldn't be the case with my own racquets."

Having also playtested the extended Pure Drive, Mark found harmony with both the extended and heavier models when serving, and he was unsure which racquet he preferred. He noted, "The difference I experienced was a little more precision with the Tour and noticeably more power from the Plus."

"I loved serving with this Pure Drive Tour because I could find lots of power on big first serves," added Michelle. "Good targeting and good access to spin and slice as well. The swingweight was just right, and it never felt hard to swing up and over my head. This was one of those racquets that didn't require too much thought when serving because it did everything I wanted it to do."

Returns - Score: 84

Every member of our team respected the power they could unlock with the Pure Drive Tour when returning, and plow through and stability reigned supreme. Michelle loved taking big cracks off returns with this racquet. She said, "The Pure Drive Tour was super fun to swing and very rewarding! It was stable even on off-center hits. I felt like I had a good grasp on the ball against the toughest servers, and it allowed me to dig myself out of trouble and get me into the point. I loved lining up my down-the-line returns, and I felt like I could really go for big shots and win the point or set myself up for an easy next shot to attack. The racquet was maneuverable enough that I could access good spin too, which is always something I look for when returning in doubles. This is a guilty pleasure racquet for sure!"

"The standard Pure Drive is the rare racquet that I prefer serving to returning. However, with the Pure Drive Tour, as with most racquets, I preferred to return to start off points," said Tiffani. "With a shorter stroke on my returns, I didn't have as many issues with maneuverability as I did with groundstrokes. I really appreciated the added plow through and stability of the Tour version. In true Pure Drive fashion, this racquet helped me feel like I was hitting bigger and more offensively."

Jason found that he had to be conscious of adding topspin to his returns with the Pure Drive Tour. He explained, "This was the area where I needed the most adjustment time simply because I had to get used to the added power and higher swingweight. When blocking a return back, the depth I could get was great and allowed me more time to recover to the middle of the court."

"I have yet to name my return of serve as my favorite shot to hit with any racquet, but the new Pure Drive Tour is definitely my favorite racquet for this particular shot," said Mark. "One of my resolutions for 2021 is to improve this shot, especially on the forehand side, and with this racquet, I am off to a good start."

Overall - Score: 84