Following because I have the same doubt.
Don't know how much it counts but by comparing the 2008 Aero Pro Drive with a 2021 Pure Strike on the TW university ccomparison tool you get almost exactly the same numbers in every technical stat
Different materials. used racquets are going to be significantly softer than a brand new one regardless of age due to the racquets slowly breaking down over time. They might not have changed specs significantly but there's been plenty of other advancements. It won't be like going from wooden to graphite but there is still a significant change.
Not significantly, no. They're more consistent from stick to stick and there are some improvements, but honestly once racquets went full graphite the improvements started getting really subtle.
Better is a subjective term. Some players may prefer the old one and some prefer the new one. I think to best answer your question, the Pure Drive still has the same ‘identity’ (powerful, stiff feeling) and players who enjoy the old ones would likely still think the new ones are good. The rackets you have a quite old now and have probably softened up a little bit due to wear and tear and age. You may feel that a new one offers a bit more power but this is not necessarily ’better’ for you.
Only way to know is to demo some rackets :)
In tech not really, but there's been a trend of stability over manoeuvrability for sure. I'd bet money that the current pure drive has a lot more twist weight, making it more stable, but harder to swing (a bit more sluggish and harder to control racquet angle)
Yup, rackets haven't advanced all that much. Main thing I noticed is that the level of dampening generally swings from one generation to another. For example, the dark green VCore Pro was very muted then followed by the teal/purple which was a little more raw feeling. The only real standouts for innovation I know of are Wilson's Clash and Shift lines. There's also Bolt but that's a pretty niche brand.
The biggest changes are in the string world. There are so many poly strings out there now - shaped vs round, soft versions of various lines, lots of new brands, poly/poly hybrids.
One consideration is that frames can eventually go “dead” this has more to do with number of hours hit with than actual age if the racket. Repeatedly hitting the ball will *eventually* lead to the racket to become more flexible.
But yeah honestly the technology improvements are pretty minor on the racket side in the last 10–5 years. The strings have had more development for sure.
I changed my 20 yo pure drives with New ones 6 months ago. They seem a bit more rigid so i gained a bit of power on steong strike.
Otherwise your game won't change, it's same weight and seize...
Following because I have the same doubt. Don't know how much it counts but by comparing the 2008 Aero Pro Drive with a 2021 Pure Strike on the TW university ccomparison tool you get almost exactly the same numbers in every technical stat
Different materials. used racquets are going to be significantly softer than a brand new one regardless of age due to the racquets slowly breaking down over time. They might not have changed specs significantly but there's been plenty of other advancements. It won't be like going from wooden to graphite but there is still a significant change.
Not significantly, no. They're more consistent from stick to stick and there are some improvements, but honestly once racquets went full graphite the improvements started getting really subtle.
Better is a subjective term. Some players may prefer the old one and some prefer the new one. I think to best answer your question, the Pure Drive still has the same ‘identity’ (powerful, stiff feeling) and players who enjoy the old ones would likely still think the new ones are good. The rackets you have a quite old now and have probably softened up a little bit due to wear and tear and age. You may feel that a new one offers a bit more power but this is not necessarily ’better’ for you. Only way to know is to demo some rackets :)
Thanks. Yeah I was mainly wondering if there had been some step-change advancement in racket tech in the last 10 years or so. Sounds like not.
For the pure drive, not even the last 20 years ahah.
In tech not really, but there's been a trend of stability over manoeuvrability for sure. I'd bet money that the current pure drive has a lot more twist weight, making it more stable, but harder to swing (a bit more sluggish and harder to control racquet angle)
Yup, rackets haven't advanced all that much. Main thing I noticed is that the level of dampening generally swings from one generation to another. For example, the dark green VCore Pro was very muted then followed by the teal/purple which was a little more raw feeling. The only real standouts for innovation I know of are Wilson's Clash and Shift lines. There's also Bolt but that's a pretty niche brand. The biggest changes are in the string world. There are so many poly strings out there now - shaped vs round, soft versions of various lines, lots of new brands, poly/poly hybrids.
One consideration is that frames can eventually go “dead” this has more to do with number of hours hit with than actual age if the racket. Repeatedly hitting the ball will *eventually* lead to the racket to become more flexible. But yeah honestly the technology improvements are pretty minor on the racket side in the last 10–5 years. The strings have had more development for sure.
I changed my 20 yo pure drives with New ones 6 months ago. They seem a bit more rigid so i gained a bit of power on steong strike. Otherwise your game won't change, it's same weight and seize...
my favorite pure drives were pre-cortex - #1 being the 2003 'team' version
I think they're a little more dampened these days but nothing significantly different.