Babolat Pure Strike VS Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 82

The Pure Strike VS deployed speed and control from the baseline, but our team did have a few hesitations. Sage found the racquet to perform best during point play. He explained, "At times, I played some of my best tennis this year with the Babolat Pure Strike VS, but there were a few downsides. Considering the weight of the frame, it felt quick through my strokes. The sweetspot created a connected feel and predictable ball that I could trust to hit small targets. The racquet itself didn't provide all that much power, but the command over the ball gave me the confidence to hit big shots. My hitting partners commented on how my forehand felt heavier than usual. I loved the response of the 16x20 string pattern, which added control without giving up very much spin. The drawback came with shots out near the tip of the frame. The ball still landed in the court, but the quality of the shot dropped off quite a bit. To address that, I restrung at a lower tension to create better feel in the upper part of the hoop. Full-speed point play was where this racquet shined. When I made clean contact and played confident tennis, the result was too good to put it down."

While this update became Michelle's favorite of the VS family, it wasn't a perfect pairing for her game. She said, "This playtest was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed this racquet a lot when I was drilling, and it had my favorite feel among the VS racquets currently on the market. When I had the time to get the racquet in the perfect position, things went smoothly and felt good. The racquet swung fairly fast, and in the sweetspot, I was rewarded with precision and easy depth. Unfortunately, my experience changed the second I got into a point situation and there were fewer things I could control on my side of the court. Particularly on my backhand side, I noticed anything above my strike zone lacked mass and stability. There were even times when I would take a big swing at a sitter and the ball would win the collision with the racquet instead of the other way around. As someone who plays with fairly stable racquets, it became evident quite quickly that I needed a bit more weight in the hoop to be effective. I realized aiming cross court to bigger targets had to happen on every backhand rather than going for riskier offensive down-the-line shots that I tend to tempt fate with."

It was a tale of two playtests for Chris. He described, "It took me a little while to find the groove with the Pure Strike VS. When I found the magic, it was with a low-powered co-poly string strung at a low tension of 48 pounds. That setup opened up the sweetspot nicely without making the response too flighty. Strung at our go-to tension for testing with a poly at 52 pounds, I found this racquet too dead in its response in the upper hoop but plush and more powerful in the lower hoop. My adjusted string setup made the response more uniform and predictable. From then on, I enjoyed a solid blend of control, feel, touch and comfort. I was still left to my own devices to provide much of the power to my shots, which was just fine by me, and I simply added more racquet head speed. A bonus of swinging faster was excellent access to spin, because I could really get the ball rotating. The racquet was also maneuverable enough that I could swing it quickly, and I never felt like it was tiring me out."

Mark was excited to see the specs on paper and was even more impressed once on court. He said, "From the backcourt, Babolat's new Pure Strike VS was a comfortable and effective weapon. As much as I enjoy the easy power that stiffer frames with open patterns provide, I prefer the higher degree of comfort and longer dwell time on the stringbed that the Pure Strike VS offers. For me, the semi-tight spacing of the 16x20 pattern was such that I could easily arc the ball with topspin and still maintain a low trajectory on my backhand slice, which is something I rely on. Lastly, and maybe most important to me, is that it is heavy enough for me to be able to consistently change the direction of the ball. That is primarily why I consider it to be such an effective weapon from the baseline."

Volleys - Score: 84

The Pure Strike VS brought top-tier control and feel when our team closed the net. Coming forward allowed Chris to be creative, which is dangerous for anyone he's hitting with. He explained, "The Pure Strike VS was loaded with control at net, and I was able to place my volleys to the best of my abilities. I loved hitting touch angle volleys and drop volleys with this racquet. I felt confident cutting under the ball to add spin to help put shots away quicker. When punching volleys deep, I was impressed by the control I found. I was also able to add some additional swing on sitter volleys without fear of overhitting."

"The net was my most successful place to hit from during this playtest," added Michelle. "In turn, I found myself moving forward effectively after the first or second ball to put points away with a volley. While the Pure Strike VS lacked mass and stability off the ground, that was not noticeable for me at the net. The Pure Strike VS was very maneuverable. I felt connected to the ball and trusted the racquet to get the job done. I could hit touch balls or stick volleys and keep them nice and deep. Swinging fast at high balls with this racquet was an effective and fun way to get a point under my belt."

Mark was firing on all cylinders at net. He said, "The volley was another part of this playtest where I felt very comfortable and in control with the Pure Strike VS in my left hand. Its layup of graphite was firm enough to be responsive, and the 16x20 pattern helped keep volleys inside the lines. I could effectively locate the open court and execute a shot that stayed outside the reach of my opponent."

Sage was also able to put together reliable and well-placed volleys. He described, "The Pure Strike VS opened the court with excellent touch at net. Trusting the racquet to deliver an on-target volley is important because I have a tendency to set up camp on the baseline. This racquet gave me the choice between a feel-oriented drop volley or driving through the ball with power. The maneuverability and weight of the frame came together nicely, and the head-light balance helped keep it fast in hand. Half volleys, where I made contact low to the ground, were controllable. I kept the ball low over the net and set myself up to put the next shot away. The dead spot near the tip of the racquet wasn't as pronounced as it was from the baseline."

Serves - Score: 82

Our team agreed the Pure Strike VS produced pinpoint accuracy in the service box. Mark zoned in on targets he usually wouldn't go for. He said, "The serve ended up being my favorite shot to hit with the Pure Strike VS. Anyone I play tennis with knows that I can split the service court in half and hit to either side of it, but I am not as reliable when it comes to hitting more precise targets. After a few buckets of balls with the new Pure Strike VS, I was able to chase smaller areas of the service box, divide it into three sections and land some surprisingly good serves to those areas."

Sage loved how easy and reliable this racquet felt on serve. He said, "I could dial up big shots during a strong day of serving, but most importantly, I could trust the racquet to put the ball where I wanted it on days when things weren't clicking. Just like other areas of the court, this racquet had a great balance of spin, control and power here. My slice out wide on the ad side set up a forehand where I could regularly take control of the point. I probably lean on that combo more than I should, but my favorite racquets always offer me that one-two punch. This racquet pulled it off exceptionally well."

Chris noted how this racquet moves away from the stereotypical Babolat power. He said, "There was just enough heft in the Pure Strike VS to help add some pace to my serves. I found the racquet to deliver pace in a very different way to something like a Pure Drive. With this racquet, it was all about getting the mass of the frame through the ball and using that mass to generate pace, whereas something like a Pure Drive offers more of an instant jump off the stringbed. I felt like I had to put just a tad more effort in with the Pure Strike VS, but I was rewarded with ample speed and spin when I did."

While it wasn't all smooth sailing, Michelle found success placing the ball on serve. She explained, "This racquet got the job done when serving, but I can't say it stood out in one area or another. The precision was nice, and I thought slicing serves was fairly easy, but I didn't find massive power or spin. I don't think this racquet got me too many free points, but it did help me play some first-strike tennis, where I could pull my opponent one way with a serve and strike a bigger ball either to the open court or behind them to be effective."

Returns - Score: 81

When it came to returning serves, our playtesters had varying opinions. The Pure Strike VS gave Chris everything he wanted to force a break of serve. He explained, "My returns felt very dialed in with the Pure Strike VS. I was able to find both my deep and angled targets consistently. Most importantly, I had a high level of confidence with the racquet. No matter if I drove a slice backhand or ripped into a topspin forehand, I found myself happy to stay on the gas and go after my shots even in tense situations."

Although the Pure Strike VS didn't feel revolutionary to Mark, he was happy with its consistent results. He said, "My return of serve is often a lot like my volley. I have always had a difficult time hitting topspin, so I mainly rely on a half-volley chip instead. Returning with the new Pure Strike VS did not entirely change my return, but it did help improve my confidence and percentages for my topspin return attempts."

Michelle prefers mass-based power, so although the Pure Strike VS was precise, she was left wanting more. She described, "My experience with this racquet on returns felt fairly similar to what I noticed off the ground. The racquet played a bit erratically and lacked mass at times. When I had a slower second serve to attack, I enjoyed slapping balls down the line. I would say there was more precision than plow through and power. Aiming cross court became a best practice with this racquet to ensure my targets were big and I could cut down on errors."

"When I took a full swing that resulted in solid contact, it gave me the precision and depth I was looking for," added Sage. "When I missed the sweetspot in stock form, I was left searching for more stability and plow through. As soon as I added lead tape at 12 o'clock, I was all set. The racquet supplied the placement that gave me the confidence tostep forward and play an aggressive return."

Overall - Score: 83