Quote:
Originally Posted by
Douglas 
I'll +1 what unexpected wrote - the array of racquets out there is truly dizzying and it's hard to find a racquet that meets your requirements.
I use a Babolat Pure Drive racquet that's almost identical to the one Andy Roddick supposedly uses (his is apparently the "Plus" version which is slightly longer, but I think all pro racquets are heavily customized or modified, and sometimes they're straight up players' racquets dummied up to look like a particular model of tweener for marketing purposes). It has a lot of pop on serves, and offers solid, if not stellar, control for a topspin-playing baseliner (like me) who's able to generate a fair amount of power on his own. I'm an intermediate player, probably a low 4.0. But it's a racquet I sort of fell into - I happened to demo one, why it was that one vs. another I have no idea, but I liked how it felt and I bought it several years ago, and I've had no reason to change. I may never change, frankly.
If you're looking for a racquet, a great place to go to learn more is tennis-warehouse.com. They have outstanding in-depth racquet reviews that include comments from players of differing abilities, and they provide information about what kind of player it was that used the racquet and how he/she liked it. You should be able to find someone of your game ability/type and see what they liked and disliked about certain racquets. Problem is, it's hard to actually demo a racquet from the Internet, and most retailers charge you an arm and a leg for demos, knowing you're likely to go online for a good deal. But it's a good source of info, if nothing else.
Good luck!
Well said about tennis-warehouse.com - they are cheap to demo with too. I think if you're starting out it won't make that much difference what kind of racket you use, as long as it's a beginners racket. I just bought a Babolat Aero-Pro Drive Cortex a few months ago which is the racket Nadal uses (I think he actually does use the same one in this case, though it is doubtlessly customized to his spec). This racket has noticeably improved my game (coming off a Head Radical Tour) - my forehand is cleaner and crisper now and it seems more fluid taking the ball on the rise. I also find the Babolat has plenty of pop and is good for generating spin. I think your Pure Drive is a firmer racket, but I never used one.
