At the beginning of every year I venture to try a new tennis racquet. I am currently playing with the 2016 Babolat Aero Pro Drive. This is the fluorescent green model and was a heavier version of the regular Aero Pro Drive that year, weighing in at 12.3 oz strung. Wow, that seems like a heavy racquet!!
I like the stability of the 2016 model, but it is a 2016 frame and I am sure it has lost some pop being that it is now 8 years old.
I am an NTRP 4.5 Singles and Doubles Player and a full time Tennis Coach. I play 2 to 3 matches a week on top of a full tennis coaching calendar. I hit with a heavy topspin forehand, but can also flatten it out if necessary. I have a top spin one handed backhand and it is a little more challenging to flatten it out, but I will tend to slice for position off the backhand if I can’t get under the ball enough. I also have a pretty good slice serve and a moderately good kick serve. I can hit the big flat serve when necessary.
I am giving you a point of reference for my game when I am discussing the test play of the Rafa Origin Racquet. The Rafa Origin is Rafa Nadal’s spec racquet, meaning it is the specification of his actual racquet. Here are the specs below.
Specifications
| Head Size: 100 in2 / 645.16 cm2 |
| Length: 27in / 68.58cm |
| Strung Weight: 11.9oz / 337g |
| Balance: 13.38in / 33.99cm / 1 pts HL |
| Swingweight: 371 |
| Stiffness: 70 |
| Beam Width: 23mm / 26mm / 23mm |
| Composition: Graphite |
| Power Level: Low-Medium |
| Stroke Style: Medium-Full |
| Swing Speed: Medium-Fast |
| Racquet Colors: Pink/Yellow/Black |
| Grip Type: Babolat Syntec Pro |
| String Pattern: 16 Mains / 19 CrossesMains skip: 8T,8HTwo PiecesNo Shared Holes |
| String Tension: 50-59 pounds |
I have highlighted 3 areas on the racquet specifications that really make this racquet standout from most racquets. On the balance, the racquet is only 1 point Head light, meaning the racquet carries a lot of weight in the head/hoop. The 1 point head light explains why the swing weight is so high at 371. As a comparison to my 2016 model, my racquet is 4 point headlight and has a swing weight of 327. The stiffness on the Rafa origin is 70, which means you are going to feel the shots as there is very little dampening in the frame. My racquet has a stiffness of 69, which is pretty close to the Origin.
The big difference with the Rafa Origin to mine, and other racquets is the high swing weight of 371 and the weight of the racquet in the hoop area.
In all honesty I have demoed this racquet twice. The first time the demo racquet had an unknown poly string and unknown tension. And while I really liked the racquet, I did feel it was a bit heavy and returned it shortly. But I was itching to play with the racquet again, and this time on my demo, I kept it a full two weeks and had the racquet strung with Babolat RPM Blast with 50 pounds of tension and 17 gauge string. I really wanted to put the racquet through its paces this time with my string and tension.
After 2 weeks of play here is what I found.
Forehand: Hitting a forehand with this racquet is pretty simple if you let the racquet take the lead, and don’t try to put too much arm into it. I have never hit a more stable, solid forehand, and every ball had power and depth. The more I played and hit with the Rafa Origin, the more comfortable I became. After about 5 straight days of hitting with it, my forehand felt great, but I couldn’t put the normal massive top spin on the ball, either hooking the ball in the corner, or inside out. The ball was flatter, but really jumped off the racquet with good power and depth.
Backhand: This was probably the craziest part of my play-test. I could not miss my one handed backhand if I tried. I could place the ball anywhere, with any spin and the slice was devastating. The power and depth was again easy to find, but I had to really try to miss on my backhand side. The interesting part is normally when playing a match, if I get pushed deep on my backhand side, I will usually revert to a hard slice to put the ball back to neutral. But with the Origin, I found myself just hitting through the ball so easy that I never even used one slice on my backhand.
Volley’s: The volley’s were mostly crisp and penetrating, but with the added head weight, I wasn’t as quick with variety at the net as with my old racquet. I like to make angle shots up at the net, and found it a little challenging to maneuver the racquet around the net. The volley’s had solid punch, but I was surprised the racquet, just with its sheer weight, didn’t provide a more solid volley. The overhead was fine, but again, getting the Origin up quickly for a volley, is a little more challenging with the added head weight.
Serve: This is probably the shot I noticed the weight in the head the most. Because I take a pretty good size loop on my backswing, getting the racquet up to the power position and then to the head drop and swinging upward, I could definitely feel the weight of the racquet on this stroke. It wasn’t too bad on the flat serve, and when letting the racquet get out in front of you on the serve, the racquet again does the heavy lifting on the flat serve. It was on the slice and the kick serve that I started to feel some pain in my outer wrist. Because of the heavy acceleration required for a slice and kick, my wrist couldn’t handle bringing the Origin up and through during an excruciating match. But even before the pain, I wasn’t getting the crazy amount of spin on my slice or kick serve that I am used to. It was very similar to my experience with the forehand, where I could not get that crazy forehand topspin shot.
Summary: There is a reason I demoed the Origin racquet twice. I really wanted to get the racquet! There is something almost magical when hitting with the Rafa Origin racquet. It is like you are trying to control a wild horse in the beginning, but once under control it is a smooth and powerful hitting weapon. I really loved hitting the ball with that racquet. I was even getting used to those wild colors. I can truly say, I have never enjoyed hitting a ball more than with that racquet.
It was the last day for my demo and I chose to play a match with a speedy opponent. I was hitting with both depth and power on my forehand and backhand, and even without access to my heavy topspin, I
was still dictating play with the heaviness and depth of the ball. It was during the second set that I noticed the pain in my wrist while serving. I tried to stretch it out, but it was still hurting. I switched racquets and won the match, but there was still some pain in my wrist. For the next few weeks it hurt pretty bad. After taking a few weeks off and a month of playing in a wrist brace, and taking it easy on match play’s, the pain is finally gone, after about 6 scary weeks.
I will say that other play testers have also said the racquet plays heavy and their arm gets tired faster. I also have not seen anyone playing with the racquet out on public or private courts, probably for the same reason, it is just too darn heavy.
Only one man can hit with the Rafa Origin Racquet. And that man is the GOAT RAFA NADAL.
Vamos RAFA.!!!