Like you say in England: Spot on review !!! I play with this 97 racket since 2022 and your review is accurate and realistic. It seems that the paint color didn't alter any of the fantastic qualities of this controlled oriented frame. Kudos to Babolat for keeping this very important characteristics alive. Thank you for this update review.
Hi i just demoed this today and i play with gravity mp ( customised) and i liked it better than my own racket would mean alot of you could help me out on your opinion
Is it worth the upgrade.. I just bought two VS! Anyway to get that blk wht version from you guys! It looks amazing P. S. It has not been 4 years for the 97..The VS just came out a few summers ago so not quite as long as the regular Strike line.
They are about the same to be honest. You can "fix" the VS (which you only need to do if you are a heavy hitting pro) by adding 2-3 grams of copper/lead tape at 12 o'clock. and a 5 cm thin stripe of copper/lead (2mm) to each side at 3 and 9. the quality control seems to be quite bad with the 97 this time around. the average swingweight is at low end 320...... oh and the cosmetics of the VS is just so much better. YOu look like a tennis ninja wielding it. The new cosmetics for 97 looks like something from 2010.. the RA in PSVS suggests that its a tiny bit stiffer which equate to be more powerfull than the PS97. They did not need to make it softer. There was no problem with the feel in the Pure strike VS. only in the other Pure Strikes 3.gens. for the feel in the PS 16 x 19 3, gen was fine. its for fast heavy hitters which needs the dampening that is build in. The VS needs not to be strung with high tension 48-50 lbs is enough. Im even going for a hybrid. The sales on the VS atm is crazy good.
I have seen good advanced players praise the VS quite a lot. so you made a good purchase. You probably got a good discount form original price too. The VS is better than the Pro Staff 97 and the Yonex 97D. and that says a lot. I dont think this new version is better for the advanced players.
Main issue was feel with previous line strike edition in that it was disconnected. Hopefully the removal of rubber from the hoop gas helped all but the lighter versions team lite and 100 16 x 19 since they kept it there.
It's very string sensitive... After playing around with it.. 47 LBS the magic number for tension and I found the Yonex Poly Rev orange 17 made it pocket amazing and that really opened up the frame for me at least.
@@ph-tennis quite a stiff string for a 97 with low RA. RPM Blast Rough is a bit less stiff and provides more spin. Hybrid this racket with syn gut cross at 52 and MSV Focus HEX at 48 main I think will be magic.
The VS 2022 didnt have the rubber tech as you guys say. The feel (for some) was a problem in the other rackets of the Strike Line. Wasn't a problem for me. I like it. Then I can hit fast and hard without getting arm issues. If you know how to hit the socalled feel becomes not important. WHat ever you feel cant make your stroke any better. The ball exits the stringbed before you get a "feel" response to the brain. To me feel is for people learning tennis so they can get that dopamine response from hitting the sweetspot. in other racket sports you dont rely on feel. not in badminton or table tennis etc.
This B/W paint job is INSANE! The most beautiful racket that I ever seen! Very minimalistic, Babolat should produce this color!
That B/W paint job looks so much more clean, wishing they went with that instead
Agree with you i love the prototype cosmetic here.
100% so much better in black
Like you say in England: Spot on review !!! I play with this 97 racket since 2022 and your review is accurate and realistic. It seems that the paint color didn't alter any of the fantastic qualities of this controlled oriented frame. Kudos to Babolat for keeping this very important characteristics alive. Thank you for this update review.
Great to hear! Thanks
Great content guys, keep it up!
Appreciate it!
Hi i just demoed this today and i play with gravity mp ( customised) and i liked it better than my own racket would mean alot of you could help me out on your opinion
Is it worth the upgrade.. I just bought two VS! Anyway to get that blk wht version from you guys!
It looks amazing
P. S. It has not been 4 years for the 97..The VS just came out a few summers ago so not quite as long as the regular Strike line.
We prefer it to the VS (Sorry!) And that's true enough about the VS
They are about the same to be honest. You can "fix" the VS (which you only need to do if you are a heavy hitting pro) by adding 2-3 grams of copper/lead tape at 12 o'clock. and a 5 cm thin stripe of copper/lead (2mm) to each side at 3 and 9.
the quality control seems to be quite bad with the 97 this time around. the average swingweight is at low end 320...... oh and the cosmetics of the VS is just so much better. YOu look like a tennis ninja wielding it. The new cosmetics for 97 looks like something from 2010..
the RA in PSVS suggests that its a tiny bit stiffer which equate to be more powerfull than the PS97. They did not need to make it softer.
There was no problem with the feel in the Pure strike VS. only in the other Pure Strikes 3.gens. for the feel in the PS 16 x 19 3, gen was fine. its for fast heavy hitters which needs the dampening that is build in.
The VS needs not to be strung with high tension 48-50 lbs is enough. Im even going for a hybrid. The sales on the VS atm is crazy good.
I have seen good advanced players praise the VS quite a lot. so you made a good purchase. You probably got a good discount form original price too.
The VS is better than the Pro Staff 97 and the Yonex 97D. and that says a lot. I dont think this new version is better for the advanced players.
Main issue was feel with previous line strike edition in that it was disconnected. Hopefully the removal of rubber from the hoop gas helped all but the lighter versions team lite and 100 16 x 19 since they kept it there.
It's very string sensitive... After playing around with it.. 47 LBS the magic number for tension and I found the Yonex Poly Rev orange 17 made it pocket amazing and that really opened up the frame for me at least.
What rubber?
VS is not as muted as the rest of the line... the worst is PS98 16x19
should not be so when looking at the tech the worst should be 100 16 by 19@@nakmuay5034
There’s no rubber in the hoop of the gen3 range 😂
Great stuff - how does it
Compare to the aero and drive 98s?
This comparison is coming soon.... Make sure to watch this space!
Could Babolat send me the black white version I will pay for it let me know
which strings did u guys use?
We used RPM Blast 🎾
@@ph-tennis quite a stiff string for a 97 with low RA. RPM Blast Rough is a bit less stiff and provides more spin.
Hybrid this racket with syn gut cross at 52 and MSV Focus HEX at 48 main I think will be magic.
Unstrung weight is 310, not 315 :)
You are right! Good Spot!
And unstrung balance is 310 not 320 :)
The VS 2022 didnt have the rubber tech as you guys say. The feel (for some) was a problem in the other rackets of the Strike Line. Wasn't a problem for me. I like it. Then I can hit fast and hard without getting arm issues. If you know how to hit the socalled feel becomes not important. WHat ever you feel cant make your stroke any better. The ball exits the stringbed before you get a "feel" response to the brain.
To me feel is for people learning tennis so they can get that dopamine response from hitting the sweetspot. in other racket sports you dont rely on feel. not in badminton or table tennis etc.
If you want to sell that B/W racket, I’ll buy it! 😅