2024 Pure Strike 98 16x19 Review: Best Racquet of the Year?
So I think that the 2024 Pure Strike might be the best racquet release of the year. Before we proceed, let’s break down what exactly I mean when I say “best.”
The Context of “Best”
Well, there’s a lot of ways you could define “best’ when it comes to a tennis racquet.
Which racquet sells the most?
Which racquet has the fewest flaws?
Which racquet is used by the best players?
However, if you’ve ever left me a comment asking what the “best” racquet is, I’ve probably replied in one of two ways. One, I left you a sarcastic reply, scolding your idiocy because there’s no real “best” racquet, if there was, we’d only have one racquet on sale today. Two, I tried to be actually helpful for once and asked exactly what you are looking for in a racquet.
So when I say that the 2024 Pure Strike 98 16x19 is the “best” racquet of 2024, here’s the context.
I am a 4.5 player who hits with a lot of spin on his forehand yet slaps a pretty flat backhand. I’ve got a hit-and-miss serve and a pretty strong return. I’m also allergic to volleys. I like racquets that help me “play up” rather than ones that help me “play down.” This means I’d rather use a racquet that helps me lose less badly to Ale, a former pro, than one that helps me beat Simon, a 4.0 plebian, more easily.
And that’s where the Pure Strike delivers.
It matches my personal needs almost perfectly. On my forehand, I can crank on the topspin, adopting a more extreme grip and Sinner-like bent-arm stroke which gives me a consistent yet deceivingly heavy rally ball. I can also drive through my flatter backhand, taking advantage of surprisingly strong directional control and some of the best plowthrough in the 305 weight class. I can bunt back returns deep down the middle, redirecting more pace than I’m used to without losing consistency or accuracy. And serves… well, I served pretty phenomenally with this stick on both first and second serves. I could find my flat serves down the T and the kick out wide.
Overall, this racquet leans into my strengths almost perfectly. As a counter-punching baseliner, it inspires me to be a little more aggressive, leaving me with this desire to hit through the court with intention.
How The Strike Delivers Its Performance
So how is this possible? Well, in stock form, my copy boasted a whopping 339 swingweight strung but it’s more than just the swingweight that you notice. The performance off-centre is among the best I’ve ever tested and through the swing, you can feel all the weight working for you. It feels like there’s a huge strip lead running from 10 to 2 o’clock delivering a very clubby swing-feel.
The thing is, I’ve tried 340 swingweight racquets before and they don’t all deliver their mass as efficiently as this new Strike. It’s so confident through the hitting zone that I assumed the twistweight must be astronomical. On the other hand, I somehow retained significant control over the angle of the racquet face, something I typically lose on high twistweight racquets, like the Aero 98.
So I thought, ok, must have a mega recoil weight. Plugging in my specs and, no, 161, high for sure, but within the market’s standard deviation calculated by my friend Brando. Then I remembered a seldom discussed measurement that died with the inception of the Briffidi Twistweight adapter.
Before we could measure “true” twistweight, we had to approximate it by subtracting swingweight from spinweight. This works using the perpendicular axis theorem and you don’t need to know the specifics but it leads to an underestimation of true twistweight. If you want to read more about this I’ll share a link to Briffidi’s article here.
So I measured the spinweight of a few racquets that I would describe as exceptionally stable, including the Pure Aero 98, the CX400 Tour, the Gravity Pro and my modified Whiteout.
Pure Aero 98: 341 kgcm^2
CX 400 Tour: 345kgcm^2
Gravity Pro 360+: 352 kgcm^2
Bolt 100L: 347 kgcm^2
My customized Whiteout: 346 kgcm^2
Low and behold, the Pure Strike tops the bunch with a spinweight of 354.
So what does this tell us?
Well, basically what I told you in my “swing thoughts,” this racquet has a huge amount of weight at 10 and 2, and all you really need to know that this new Pure Strike 98 cannot be overpowered.
My Struggles with the Strike
The problem is, my footwork was not fast enough to keep up with such a heavy frame. That 354 spin means that the racquet is not exactly easy to use. I lost a lot of versatility off my forehand wing. The sheer mass of the racquet means that delicate angles and precise passes off low balls were too difficult for regular success.
I also felt myself tiring sooner than normal due to the big swingweight which only intensifies the “all or nothing” feel of the racquet as the hitting session drags on. The lack of maneuverability made it hard to improvise in tricky situations which left me trying to do the “right things” on court a little more often.
The Pure Strike boxed me into making more percentage plays rather than meme shots which is my preferred style of tennis, particularly against Simon.
The Silver Lining
Usually I would say that being put in a box is a bad thing. I prefer my frames to be versatile chameleons, syncing themselves to whatever style of tennis I feel like playing, but in the context of “best,” where I think the concept of “winning” is pretty important, I liked the restrictive nature of the Strike.
Once you get used to the heft of the stick, the subtle nuances in the Pure Strike’s personality begin to reveal themselves. It’s like buying a new TV for how sharp and bright it is, and only months later realizing that it has perfect colour, or hearing a song with a beautiful melody only to realize that it's also got the funkiest bass line on the radio.
When you play the aggressive, big hitting baseline tennis that the Strike was designed to play, you start to feel how perfectly the racquet flexes. Off-centre contact isn’t brassy, hollow and jarring like the 2nd and 3rd generation Strikes. It feels solid from the weight but you can still feel when you make suboptimal contact. The frame flexes ever so slightly, just nudging you in the right direction for next time, while still putting the ball in the court. It's the perfect middle ground between something like the Aero 98, which man-handles the ball back into play no matter what, while feeling completely ambivalent, yet it's not overly flexy and unpredictable off centre like the Gravity MP.
Comfort and Feel
Despite the drop in RA from last generation, I still wouldn’t call the Strike a comfortable racquet.mThe overall hitting feel remains stiff, classic Babolat, and yes, there is more ball-pocketing, and that ball pocketing does feel quite organic, which I think is a first for the Strike 98 line, but I think the wrong setup could definitely break some elbows for some players.
String Setups and Modifications
I tried a few different setups at a range of tensions and found that a hybrid of Toroline Wasabi in the mains and Toro Toro in the crosses at 53lbs worked best. I didn’t find the Strike to be that string sensitive, but the Toroline kept things sufficiently comfortable while retaining a connected feel and good control.
ReString Sync also plays phenomenally well if you want a more connected feel, predictable response couple with outstanding durability. I also tested some Kirschbaum strings, Black Shark and Max Power and both died within the first hitting session, becoming crispy and stiff due to poor snapback and tension holding.
I also experimented with a leather grip and I didn’t like it. Too much additional vibration and I could feel my arm a bit during the session. The extra weight in the handle also felt worse. I couldn’t hit my normal forehand, nor could I hit my Sinner forehand well with this setup.
Final Thoughts
So why exactly do I think this is the best racquet of 2024?
Well I think it was essentially a perfect update. Adding the feel we’ve been missing in the previous generations while retaining the immense power and stability we’ve become used to from the Strike.
The Pure Strike 98 remains the quintessential power 98, delivering on its mission to be the best frame for baseline bashing at advanced levels.
The Pure Strike is the best racquet it can be for what it is, and it’s not for everyone, certainly not for me, but I know, it's pretty damn good.
If this review helped you make a buying decision, please consider purchasing your next frame through our retail partners, Tennis Warehouse, Tennis Warehouse Europe and Tennis Only Australia.
Check out the Pure Strike (affiliate):
🇺🇸 https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Babolat_Pure_Strike_98_16x19/descpageRCBAB-PSRKT.html?from=tenncom
