Fake Babolat Pure Drive

Recently, there have been several reports and articles documenting fake tennis racquets flooding the market especially on the web. Most tennis racquets especially Head, Wilson and Babolat are manufactured under license and in accordance to strict patent and manufacturing guidelines from their respective makers. Manufacturers also maintain a high level of quality control in adhering to precise model specifications. There is also a possibility that some stock were leaked out or stolen finding its way into the black market. But since these are originals, there wouldn't be much of an issue to the buyer. What we would be actually more concerned about are the actual fake or counterfeit tennis racquets that are a replica or mimics the original tennis racquet. I had to see one for myself before I could actually make distinctions and comment on fake tennis racquets, build quality and how close are they to the original. I was fortunate enough to experience and see first hand how a fake Babolat Pure Drive looked like courtesy of Kenneth's dad who managed to acquire a fake Babolat Pure Drive from China for an amazing $10 Singapore dollars!

Before proceeding with this article, I would like to highlight a few things. I am in NO way encouraging the purchase of fake or counterfeit goods. Besides running the risk of prosecution in certain countries, many counterfeit products use inferior and shoddy materials as well as have differences in weight balance/distribution, stiffness and other specifications. All proprietary technologies unique to an original manufacturer's frame such as Babolat's Woofer/Aero Modular/Cortex technology, Wilson's NCode nanotechnology as well as Head's Liquid Metal, Flexpoint and its latest MicroGel technologies will be all missing. What you get is just something that looks almost identical but minus all these technologies that differentiates as well as give each frame, manufacturer and model its specific uniqueness and characteristics.

Which is the genuine Babolat Pure Drive? Read more below to find out?

Type of fake or different grades of fakes.

As with many counterfeit and fake goods. There are various degrees and quality of a counterfeit product. This can be from the actual likeness of the product to the quality materials and workmanship used on the product. As with fake watches, wallets and clothing some fakes can be identified almost immediately but some require a second look. These can be classified by grades, for instance like in watches and wallets there are Grade s A fakes which seem extremely similar and mimics the likeness of the original in quality and appearance. As the class range goes lower, they become generally poor counterfeit products which anybody can easily spot. In terms of tennis racquets, from what I heard there are some really obvious fakes and from one look you could tell it's an outright counterfeit. There are however some really good Grade A fakes that look very similar to the real genuine tennis racquet. These in my opinion are the ones that you could get fooled with.

Can you spot which of the two racquets above is the fake Babolat Pure Drive? The one on the left is the fake. Note the more Elongated head size of the fake Pure Drive.

The subject on display here is a fake Babolat Pure Drive. I wouldn't say this is a class A fake, as if you've played and used a Babolat Pure Drive from the initial look you'll know that it's not a good fake. I must however say that if you're just glancing at the fake Babolat Pure Drive from a distance, and not look at it up close, you'll think that it's the real thing. I have taken a couple of photos comparing the genuine Babolat Pure Drive with the Fake. I think it will be a no brainer for those who are owners of the Babolat Pure Drive. But I must say for SGD$10 it's pretty cheap and looks really good in terms of color and paintwork.

Differences:

In terms of weight, racquet balance and grip size it's totally off the mark and this is where somebody could really get hurt. The strings which came with the racquet reminds me more of loosely strung nylon fishing line then tennis guts. I have not tried hitting with it as most likely you'll be launching the balls to the moon with the low tension and the super light weight of this racquet. It is also very head heavy compared to the near balance weight of the genuine Babolat Pure Drive. The head of the racquet just dropped when I tried to balance the racquet by the throat. The grip size felt something like an even SL0 equivalent to a L4 even smaller than a 4 1/8!

The frame of the fake Babolat Pure Drive (bottom) is much thinner than the genuine one.

The shape of the head is also more oval and elongated compared to the original Babolat Pure Drive standard which is very obvious. The other most obvious difference is the thickness and width of the frame. It is very thin throughout the length of the entire frame as well as the neck of the racquet which gives it away almost immediately. Like I mentioned before, the paintwork is really very good and color is slightly only off from the blue neon paintwork. It looks more like the old paintwork of the first generation Babolat Pure Drive but like I said before the color is very good. The main impressive thing about this fake Babolat Pure Drive was the fact that at the part where the hologram of authenticity should be, there was the words warranty void if hologram is missing that's exactly what's printed on the original if the hologram was removed. Maybe there is no sticker there just to say "Hey look I’ve purchased a fake Babolat Pure Drive"! :)

The fake Babolat Pure Drive even has the "If Hologram Missing No Warranty" printed on it! Even fakes have attention to details! Also take note of the color variation. Build quality & paintwork is also surprisingly good!

For those who have other models of counterfeit or fake tennis racquets, please send me your pictures as well as a short brief of how you found the racquet. Once again I would highly recommend against purchasing such fake tennis racquets. It’s clearly not worth getting a long term injury due to this. If you're really on a shoestring budget go buy the racquet 2nd hand but never purchase a fake tennis racquet. Also try to purchase your racquets only from a reputable dealer on online store unless you already know how to tell the differences between a genuine and a fake racquet.

More Images of Fake Babolat Pure Drive Here.

Regentville Tennis Blog has a new domain

Regentville Tennis Blog gets a new domain! I have finally decided to switch to a new standalone domain for the Regentville Tennis Blog. Since I started the blog back in, August 2005, traffic has been increasing steadily and the Regentville Tennis Blog had been ranking pretty well in tennis related keywords in Google and Yahoo. I decided to switch to something more easier to remember and shorter to type.

Having my own domains adds a unique value and stands out compared to having a general Blogger – Blogspot account. I anticipate a drop in traffic as well as rankings pretty soon due to the change in url. For those who have been regularly reading my blog, please update your bookmarks to reflect my new url. The Regentville Tennis Blog is now on www.regentville.com instead of regentville.blogspot.com My old urls, links as well as articles will now be redirected to my new regentville.com domain so no worries about not finding any of my tennis related articles or articles pertaining to the Regentville Tennis Blog.

A big Thank You to Blogger for providing this interface for allowing me to easily switch domains and still host my content with them. I strongly recommend Blogger for the ease of use and the ability to allow you to use your own domain without having to lose your content and hosting capabilities with Blogger. More information on how to do this can be found here.

I would like to also thank all my local and international readers who have sent me comments as well as emails to lend your support, feedback and suggestions. The aim of the Regentville Tennis Blog was originally intended to be sort of a tennis networking site for all the Regentville condo tennis players, but it has grown into a more tennis resource oriented site.

A mention has to be also given to all my related tennis partner sites as well as tennis related blogs (check out my links section) that who have shown their support and friendship by placing a link to the Regentville Tennis Blog on their respective websites and blogs.

I would also apologies the people who have asked me to add links on my site to theirs but was turned down as I only accept links to tennis related content or blogs to enhance the quality and relevance of the site (all content and links has to be tennis related). Thank you for your understanding in this matter. I however welcome any new tennis related links, articles or suggestions that you might have. I sincerely hope that you find my articles informative and enjoyable to all my readers as well as for all your continued support. Do not forget again to update your bookmarks. The Regentville Tennis Blog as a new domain at www.regentville.com

Yonex RDS 001 Review

I was deciding between the Head Flexpoint Prestige MP (my review on the Head Flexpoint MP here) or the Yonex Ultimum RD Ti-80 to get a feel of more player's tennis racquet models. I decided to stick with the Head Flexpoint Prestige 4 1/4 due to the smaller grip size. That would ultimately lead to a big mistake... i thought that the Head Flexpoint Prestige racquet being much stiffer specs wise than it's predessor the Head Liquid Metal Prestige - my personal racquet review here. I bought the Head Flexpoint Prestige Mid Plus used it for a week and didn't like it at all. Even after I switch to a lower tension (48 pounds) it didn't increase the power at all. Anyway my personal review on the Head Flexpoint Prestige can be found here.

After i decided that the Head Flexpoint Prestige Mid Plus was not for me, i decided to source for another racquet. It so happened the Yonex RDS 001 had been subconsciously on my mind. I might have noticed it from the last time i was deciding to get the Head Flexpoint Prestige Mid Plus or the Yonex RD Ti-80. I think it was its bright yellow glow which did the trick. I took a look at it but didn't really pay much attention to it. Without strings on it seemed to be severely head light but i noticed that once the strings was on, it still had a head light feel, but the weight of the strings compensated on its head lightness. After deciding the that the Head Flexpoint Prestige Mid Plus was not a racquet for me which felt very similar to the liquid metal prestige in terms of not having the ability to generate lots of power i was trying to figure out what was the problem. At that time i was experimenting also with the Wilson nCode N61 Tour 90 Asian version - review here. I had no problem with the power level with the nCode N61 90. I could hit the ball rather easily deep into the court without much issues on both the forehand and backhand side. It then strucked me that the reason would be a more dense 18/20 string pattern on the Head Flexpoint Prestige versus a more open 16/19 pattern found on the Wilson nCode N61 Tour. I thus decided the next players racquet i purchase should have an Open 16/19 string pattern and soon i was hitting with the Yonex RDS 001 MP on the tennis courts. I didn't have much of a choice as the smallest size available in this region for this particular model had a 4 1/4 grip size while the actual size i should be hitting with was a 4 1/8. I strung it at a low 53 pounds so that it won't flare up or aggravate my tennis elbow problem.

My initial response with the Yonex RDS 001 was wow! i could hit it deep without any issues. My theory with the dense string pattern which haunted me for both the Head Liquid Metal Prestige and Head Flexpoint Prestige was indeed the cause of not being able to hit deep. Next thing i noticed was the great control and stability it had on the slices as well as the forehand drives. I was however having trouble adjusting to my backhand as i was used to playing with a very balance racquet from my time with the Babolat Pure Drive Standard and the Head Flexpoint Instinct. With the Yonex RDS 001 I will have to get the exact timing and swing to hit a nice deep backhand with power and accuracy. I however found that my slices tend to float a little but it wasn't as bad as the Head Flexpoint Instinct. The Yonex RDS 001 MP has ability to produce nice top spin and you can generate heavy top spin if there is a need to, but its not as much and easy to execute compared to the Head Flexpoint Instinct this was mainly due to the slightly heavier players frame (315 grams) as compared to the Babolat Pure Drive standard or Head Flexpoint Instinct which are considered lighter tweener frames. Spin generation for the Head Flexpoint Instinct will beat this racquet hands down. Groundstrokes on the Yonex RDS 001 were also more solid and not as whippy compared to the Head Flexpoint Instinct of Babolat Pure Drive standard. Power wise, this is where the Yonex RDS 001 MP baffles me. I was able to also hit those unstoppable winners without any issue or ever thinking that it would be coming back to me no questions asked.

For a players racquet where a player will have to generate his or her own power, the Yonex RDS 001 MP has plenty or juice. I need not have to swing with much effort to generate that much power although that's what i thought. The lighter swingweight made it more easier for me to take a swipe at the ball and generate lots more power. But all this power came with stability and control as well. This was a player's racquet it terms of weight and stability but had the power of a tweener racquet! Its really amazing! I would say the Yonex RDS 001 MP had the power of the Babolat Pure Drive Standard packed in with the power and control of a traditional players racquet. Due to its more stable frame i was able to put away more volleys at the net as well as smashes, personally i am more of a baseliner so i rarely venture into the net unless i have to. But on those occasions where i do come forward the Yonex RDS 001 MP did its job volley were crisp and solid even on very hard drives from my openent, i was able to deflect the shorts rather easily with controlled execution. Overall i would say that the Yonex RDS 001 racquet is very good for volleying and in the hands of an experience serve and volley player or a net specialist it will be a lethal weapon to have. Drop volleys as well as my drop shots on the Yonex RDS 001 are more accurate and easier to execute and win points. I now rarely put a drop shot into the net or hit it long compared to my previous Head Flexpoint Instinct. I think the stability of the Yonex RDS 001 has a hand in more controlled execution of the drop shot.

What's most amazing for me about the Yonex RDS 001 is in the area of the serve. I was serving harder and bigger than and i have ever experienced before in my entire life with the Yonex RDS 001 this was really unbelieved as i always considered the Yonex RDS 001 as a player's racquet with very little power. I would be hitting more aces as well as hitting more bigger and better serves that my oponents couldn't or had difficulty in returning. I just don't understand where all this power was coming from, maybe its from its square shaped framework of the Yonex RDS 001? Furthermore, i was not even thinking of exerting any power, its just my standard serves i was hitting. There was even this time when i hit a serve and by fluke it had such a wicked spin and kicked up with a weird twist. So i guess with more time and at a hands of a really big server the Yonex RDS 001 mid plus can be a real weapon. I guess Joachim Johansson aka Pim Pim will find the Yonex RDS 001 a joy to serve with. A friend of mine also tried the Yonex RDS 001 MP out. He is not a big server, but you could tell that now he was hitting harder even on his 2nd serves! I believe it has everything to do with this racquet. The Yonex RDS 001 MP is considered to be a more stiffer racquet than its predessors, but at the end of the whole session of heavy hitting and big serving, I did not feel my tennis elbow flaring up. Do bare in mind that i have been suffering from a severe bout of tennis elbow for about over a year, and i am still feeling the effects of it as my elbow is not 100% i still feel pain in my elbow after every game (read on my personal experiences with tennis elbow here) but the Yonex RDS 001 Mid Plus did not flare up or give me any pain during and afer the game whatsoever. It felt very comfortable to hit with even while serving i had not felt pain at all whatsover. I would highly recommend the Yonex RDS 001 tennis racquet if you're coming back from a bad case of tennis elbow. It was only after the next day i felt my arm (not elbow) aching. The ache felt like i haven't been to the gym in a long time kind of feeling not an injury. So the heftier weight of the Yonex RDS 001 mid plus did catch up to me only after the next day. I think since i have been using lighter tweeners, a heavier racquet was giving my arm a real workout but i guess i will soon get accustomed to that.

The only downside to this racquet, though no actual fault of its own was that its grip size was too big for me. It was always moving and slipping out of of hand while hitting my groudstrokes. After about a week or so hitting with this racquet i decided to make it my racquet of choice. I decided to sell of my 4 1/4 grip size Yonex RDS 001 MP and purchase a pair of Yonex RDS 001 MP with a smaller 4 1/8 grip size direct from Tennis Warehouse USA (my experiences ordering direct from Tennis Warehouse). I am now the proud owner of this fabulous racquets but i am still taking some time to adjust to it. The moonsoon season here in Singapore is also not helping me get use to my new racquets as its been raining practically for days on end. Overall i think the Yonex RDS 001 Mid Plus is one of the best racquets i have ever used. In terms of comfort, control and absolute power especially on serves. It is a hefty players racquet with the power of a tweener. I hope you find my review of the Yonex RDS 001 Mid Plus useful to you.

One a final note, I found out that there are two versions of the Yonex RDS 001 although the Yonex RDS 001 is made in Japan, there apparently are two versions of them. One for the Japanese market and the other is for the International export market. The one available in Japan and only available in the Japanese market for sale in Japan only is called the RDS 001 Gummetal series. From what i understand, it racquet is exactly the same with exception of the Gummetal letterings on the side of the racquet. See image below.


Yonex also launched this cool video featuring Lleyton Hewitt using this Yonex RDS 001 Mid. Check out this cool Yonex RDS 001 video with Lleyton Hewitt below.

Roger Federer K Factor Video

Here's a cool video that is featured on Tennis Warehouse on the new Wilson K-Factor racquet lineup. What's really neat about it is Roger Federer interviewing himself! It's really cool! On top of that, it features all the latest racquets in the Wilson K-Factor line up which are presently not available in the market yet. Check out the latest Wilson K-Factor video featuring Roger Federer in person. I personally liked Wilson's marketing of Roger Federer's winning shot against Fernando Gonzalez in the 2007 Australian Open finals with his now famous Wilson K Factor KSix-One Tour 90 racquet well as a great rally in which Federer won after some fantastic shot making against Gonzalez highlighting the "Kontrol" of Wilson's K-Factor technology. in this video. Wilson has defined 4 main key component's in their new K-Factor technology:

(K)arophite Black

-- A proprietary next generation structure created through a unique process at the nanoscopic level resulting in more feel and an even stronger and more stable racket.

(K)onnector

-- 2 external wings molded into each side of the hoop to increase dwell time of the ball on the string bed upon impact. This provides greater control and comfort with a larger sweet spot.

(K)ontour Yoke

-- New frame engineering technology that enhances stiffness at key stress points on the racket for improved torsionnal stability.

(K)ompact Center

Press Releases of Wilson's K-Factor had been documented by Forbes, Nanotechnow & Sportsmedia inc.

Forbes Wilson K-Factor Press Release
Nanotechnow Wilson K-Factor Press Release
Sportsmedia Inc Wilson K-Factor Press Release

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About me

  • I'm Nawin from regentville
  • Residing in Hougang Singapore
  • Racquets: X2 Prince EXO3 Graphite 100 (Main) X3 Wilson K Blade Tour 93 (Backup) Strings: Toalson Ultimate 115 Strung @ 48-50 pounds. Plays: Right Handed (Single Backhand). Shoes: mi Adidas Barricade V Apparel: Lacoste & Adidas Favourite Players: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic

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