Babolat Pure Strike 16x19 3rd Gen Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 88

Falling somewhere between the Pure Aero and Pure Drive, the Pure Strike line brought players a racquet that offered up loads of spin and power but with a control-oriented nature and a softer feel. This third-generation model honors that tradition while updating the feel to be even more forgiving and more stable. With the second-generation Pure Strike 98 16x19 being Jason's current racquet of choice, he was excited to step on court and put this update to the test. He began, "It's like coming back home. Sure some things may have changed, but it's still the same old house. This new Pure Strike feels and performs like the tried and true second-generation Pure Strike. It has a great combination of power, spin and control, which allowed me to confidently go for a variety of shots from all areas of the court. There's enough power to slap a winner on the run and enough maneuverability to hit with angle and pull my opponents off the court. When hitting this update side-by-side with my racquet, I noticed that my shots were launching a little long more often with the newer model. I'd want to string it up a couple pounds tighter to address that issue."

Having played with Babolats throughout her years of competition, Michelle was quick to pick up on characteristics that set this racquet apart from others. She said, "I have a soft spot in my heart for most Babolat racquets, and this Pure Strike 98 16x19 is no exception. I automatically noticed the updated feel with this racquet and found it to play a bit more muted and have more mass behind the ball, which I was happy with. The transition was seamless from the Project One7 version. I had a great time playtesting this update once I got dialed in with my string setup. It offers a bit more control than a Pure Drive or Pure Aero, which is what I need, but it still has that amazing power potential and great feel on impact. It felt plusher than the previous version, but pretty similar in terms of power and spin. The sweetspot may even be a bit bigger, with a very forgiving stringbed that was a little less responsive than the previous one."

This racquet fit right in with Julie's power game. She confirmed, "The rumors are true: The Babolat Pure Strike 16x19 is all about control and feel for the aggressive player. Like the rest of the Pure Strike line, it's crisp and lively, which is a feel I've never been fond of. I usually look for a more dampened feel. However, this racquet is slightly more dampened than its previous generation, and I found a bigger sweetspot to hit even more powerful shots. From the baseline, I had to keep pressing forward and remain aggressive to capitalize on the control and feel of the Pure Strike. If I tried to redirect pace with a slower stroke I quickly lost the ball in the sweetspot, along with any kind of control. I mainly struggled with shot variety and redirecting pace. When rallying becomes intense I love breaking the rhythm with a spinny shot, but in this case I often hit a home run beyond the court limits instead (oops, wrong sport!). The more I played with the racquet the more I found my timing, and I started to really enjoy playing with it. I traded my topspin shots for backhand slices to change the pace, and I found a super crisp and responsive feel. This Pure Strike 98 is definitely for the most aggressive players looking for a livelier racquet with good control, but unfortunately, I lost control on slower strokes."

Only subtle differences set this updated model apart from the previous iteration for Chris. He commented, "I was a huge fan of the previous generation Pure Strike 16x19, so I eagerly anticipated testing this one. The difference between the two came mostly down to feel. With the previous version, I found the feel to be crisper and more responsive, and I had the sense the ball got in and out of the stringbed faster. With this new version, it felt like the ball was on the strings longer. The stringbed also felt more forgiving, my off-center contacts still felt comfortable, and I felt the racquet was ever so slightly more solid and stable. For me, it was a bit of a trade-off. I really loved the crisp and responsive feel of the previous version, but there was plenty to love about the contact feel of this one too. When it came down to spin, power and control, I found the playability between the two to be very similar, and that made it easy to transition from one to the other."

Volleys - Score: 85

With similar maneuverability and even greater stability than the previous version, this third-generation Pure Strike 98 16x19 continues to be a force at net. Jason reported that the racquet felt "rock solid" on volleys. He described, "The new Pure Strike 98 16x19 feels a little more stable up at net compared to the previous version. Off-center shots didn't seem to make the racquet twist as much in my hand. The one negative was the more dampened feel. It made it a little more difficult to hit touch volleys or drop shots."

Julie was able to bring her aggressive game forward with ease. She said, "I really liked this racquet at net, especially for its ability to put the ball away. It felt responsive, and I was happy with the level of stability. This stick was easy to maneuver, and I often met the ball at the ideal contact point to hit efficient volleys. I do think I would have liked a more dampened feel for a little more control on my touch volleys, though. I was able to get used to the crisp feel, but it kept me disconnected from the ball at times."

Michelle put this racquet to the test at net, and its stability and ease of use won her over. She explained, "At net, this racquet felt a bit more stable than the previous one, and I was able to hit volleys effectively as well as block back massive pace with ease. I could volley very well lefty with this racquet, which is a sign of stability for me since I'm normally just reaching out to block the ball back with my left hand (with that extra reach). Touch was nice, and swinging volleys were sublime. It was easy to be aggressive and work my way forward to win points."

"I loved the feel of the Pure Strike 16x19 at net," added Chris. "I felt connected to my shots and was hitting my targets well. The racquet felt very comfortable even with a stiffer co-poly string installed. I loved how I could punch through my volleys without fear of overhitting. The Pure Strike 16x19 also played with better stability compared to the Pure Strike 100."

Serves - Score: 86

Our team felt like anything was possible when serving with this Pure Strike 98 16x19: flattening out serves, loading up with spin, swinging fast, finding pinpoint precision. This racquet checked all the boxes for Julie. She said, "On serves, all I want from a racquet is good spin and power, and I found these attributes with the Pure Strike 16x19. I still found it very crisp and responsive, but I also had the control I needed to place the ball with power and precision. On my second serves, I like to swing fast and aim to generate a lot of spin. I definitely found all the spin I wanted, so it's a thumbs up on all aspects of serving with this stick!"

Not much changed for Jason on serves. The same traits that impressed him on serves with the 2017 model were still present here. He noted, "I loved the spin and pop I was able to get on my serves. The open string pattern, along with the maneuverability, allowed me to easily swing the racquet up and through contact to generate a very effective slice serve."

Chris enjoyed decent power and spin from this racquet. He commented, "I served well with the Pure Strike 16x19. The racquet had enough mass to give my flatter serves some plow-through power. I also found the racquet fast enough and easy enough to swing to get ample spin on second serves. It never felt quite as fast as the new Pure Strike 100, and out of the two the 100 was my favorite to serve with."

There were no complaints from Michelle, who tapped into the racquet's positive traits off both first and second serves. She said, "I really loved serving with the Pure Strike 16x19. I could ramp up the speed and get the placement and power dialed in. I found myself consistently hitting penetrating first serves. Kicks were easy to hit effectively as well, and I could get the ball moving up and out of my opponent's strike zone. I had no problems serving with this racquet."

Returns - Score: 87

Aggressive players rejoice; the Pure Strike 16x19 brought the heat on returns! Thanks to the racquet's stable feel, controllable power and fast-swinging nature, all of our testers enjoyed starting points on the return side. Michelle described, "This was my favorite spot to use the Pure Strike 16x19. I could swing big and was consistently rewarded by taking a big first strike. The feel at contact was rewarding, and I felt in control of my returns. I also loved being able to rip balls. The sweetspot felt large and forgiving, and even when I was facing big servers, I could block balls back easily and found the racquet to be stable."

Jason was able to put his strong forehand to use on returns. He said, "I was able to be really aggressive with my returns with this racquet. It was whippy enough to take big cuts at the ball, and the easy access to spin got those shots to drop into the court. It was also stable enough to handle bigger serves. I would've liked a bit more feel here; it was tough at times to judge how deep a chip shot would land."

"I got a nice, solid feel from the Pure Strike 16x19 on returns," Chris added. "I felt comfortable taking a full cut at the ball and could trust the power level of the racquet. I was also able to generate some nice spin, and that helped me get aggressive returns to drop inside the lines. My slice returns felt great. I was able to either knife slice returns or float them deep depending on what I had the time to do given the serve that was coming at me."

After taking some time to adjust to the feel of the racquet, Julie noticed that she was most successful on returns when staying aggressive and swinging big. She explained, "I had to make sure to swing fast on my returns to stay in control. I wasn't too confident at first, and I was afraid to go for too much. With time I noticed that my most efficient shots were my aggressive returns (and they bounced in!). I had to make sure to remain fast with my swings, which was the most difficult part for me. As soon as I tried to control the ball and slowed my strokes down, I got lost in the sweetspot. I've been recently drifting away from powerful racquets to low-powered, control-oriented frames, which could explain my little struggle."

Overall - Score: 86