How can any serious tennis fan look at a Babolat AeroPro Drive tennis racquet and not be reminded of the unbelievable spin creation and shot-making prowess of Rafael Nadal? The yellow color of the tennis racquet is distinctive.

When choosing a tennis racquet, there are several factors to consider, such as weight, balance, and head size. By learning how to differentiate between several kinds of racquets and what they can offer to the tennis player based on his or her playing ability and style.

Tennis Warehouse reviewed the latest version, the AeroPro Drive GT. Babolat is now on the third version of the Aeropro drive racquet and it’s been updated with Graphite Tungsten (GT). The goal of adding GT to the construction is to improve stability, power and control in your groundstrokes. Look for the GT in the model name.

The racquet has a head size of a 100 square inches and is 27 inches long. This size gives it the tennis racquet label of midsize plus, or tweener. Tweener racquets are great for players who are looking for a blend of both power and control from their tennis racquets. These racquets are made for tennis players who have medium to long swing speeds and take medium to long cuts at the ball. This category of racquets is especially ideal for junior players age 12 and higher who are making the transistion from junior to full length tennis racquets.

Tennis Aerodrive GT Specifications

Head Size: 100 sq. in. / 645 sq. cm. Length: 27 inches / 69 cm

The review period lasted a month while they hit an amazing amount of tennis balls. You can read more about selecting the right tennis ball in our tennis buying guide

What impressed the tennis racquet review team the most about the AeroPro Drive GT tennis racquet was the power and access to spin from the baseline. The AeroPro Drive tennis racquet in all its permutations is known as an extremely spin-friendly tennis racquet. Nadal is known for heavy spin on the clay courts.

This spin capability can also come in handy when hitting second serves, or just looking to hit with some spin. Reviews indicated that they were able to get the ball to kick nicely.

In summary, the reviews give this tennis racquet an above average rating. The team found this racquet provided a more solid and stable response from all areas of the court. The playtesters were impressed with the power and spin they were able to generate. The open string pattern offered lots of bite and a lively feel to their strokes.

Popularity: 69% [?]

Teeter has redesigned their famous inversion table to improve the design as well as differentiate their product from the competition. When you include light stretching and small movements to your inversion machine routine, you will benefit and definately help with back pain management.You can find many different inversion tables at ComfortChannel.com.

New features include the following:

Ergonomic Flex Technology:  Teeter Hang Ups has a new back that flexes with your movement. This movement accomodates stretching for greater range of motion. An adjustable pillow keeps your head comfortable.

No Tear, No Stain Construction. Plastic injection molded construction is more durable than typical nylon or vinyl bed vunerable to wear and tear. The easy to clean surface endures pristine appearance over the years.

Optimum Decompression Surface: the smooth surface reduces friction, allowing the body to slide and achieve the optimum decompression stretch.

Ankle Comfort Dial: The inversion table has a new foot platform design that adjusts depending on the size of feet. The dial allows for a secure fit for the ankle clamp.

Standard Corner Feet: The design change on the feet bring the base 20% wider and reduce sliding on harder surfaces.

Popularity: 21% [?]

If you have sound ground strokes and are looking to solidify your consistency at the baseline, a tennis pro to look to for inspiration is Novak Djokovic. Djokavic is known for a solid baseline game and he does not hit a cheap tennis ball with his Head racquet.  Djokovic uses the Head YouTek line of tennis racquets. In the case of the YouTek Speed Pro, a players tennis swing can feel pretty fast, hence the name.  It offers a heavier frame with a very thin beam, providing excellent touch for exceptional feel. The racquet comes with a leather grip for ultimate tour performance.  Tennis Warehouse testers were able to utilize the YouTek racquet head speed for top spin generation. However, the reviewers mentioned that the stability and drive proved to be the name of the game.  After using the Youtek Speed Pro from the beginning of 2009 through Wimbledon, Djokovic switched racquets to the Youtek Speed Midplus 18/20 for the 2009 US hard court season.  In the toughest tennis racquet test conducted to-date by the German magazine, Deutsche Tennis Zeitung, the YOUTEK Speed Pro came out on top, ranking No. 1 amongst other racquet brands for its thin and heavy frame. Tennis Express also has a published review of the Head YouTek (see link below).

Head YouTek Specifications

Popularity: 21% [?]

Weather forecasters continue to present warmer and drier conditions than normal over the US due to the colder water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. Any retailer selling ski gear and winter apparel will find that the winter season is basically over. A good friend from Eastern Mountain Sports informed us that they are moving their winter inventory fast with deals and coupon codes. There are still plenty of great deals left, but Winter inventory will disappear like the snow.   The dry forecast will be a concern for those who watch snowpack levels. Now is the time to get cheap skis and snow gear for 2010.

20% to 50% Off Skis & Snowboards at Eastern Mountain Sports

Online-Only – 20 to 40% Off Kids’ The North Face, Patagonia & More

All Daypacks 20% Off at EMS.com

All Wheeled Luggage 20% Off at EMS.com

Popularity: 28% [?]

As mentioned in my earlier post about air-soft tips, I thought I would post a few more air-soft guns I ran into…

Crosman Tactical Soft Air Rifle
Price: $134.49
Features: Electric fullsemi-auto. Battery powered. Military-style. High-quality gear box. Pivoting collapsible stock. Tri-rail accessory mount. Adjustable hop-up system. Rapid feel ammo dial. Solid black finish. Smooth bore aluminum barrel. Capacity: 350. Velocity: up to 375fps. Includes: shoulder sling, UL-certified rechargeable battery & charger, 500 heavy soft air BBs in easy-pour dispenser.

Crosman Pulse R72 Electronic Fully-Auto Soft Air Rifle, Black
Price: $72.49
Features: Power source: Electronic. Caliber: 6mm Plastic BBs. Length: 26.75″ (67.96 cm). Barrel: Smooth metal. Front site: Post. Rear site: Adjustable peep/notch. Velocity: Up to 275 fps 83.82 m/s. Magazine: 375.

Soft Air AK47 Tactical Metal AEG Airsoft Rifle
Price: $199.99
The Soft Air AK47 tactical metal AEG airsoft rifle features fully automatic operation up to 380 fps. This officially licensed Kalashnikov is an exact replica of the most famous weapon of the 20th century.

Thompson M1A1 Metal Frame Full Auto AEG Style Airsoft Rifle
Price: $199.99
The officially licensed Thompson M1A1 AEG style airsoft rifle boasts electric, full auto operation and crafted around a metal frame with a 1:1 scale. It utilizes a BAXS shoot system for greater accuracy an comes with a battery and charger.

Popularity: 57% [?]

Just as the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers finish their games and move on to the final game of the NFL season, the Superbowl, another favorite sport of mine is kicking off the Grandslam season down under. I am speaking of tennis. The early round coverage is found on ESPN and the Tennis Channel. Multiple matches are televised, and I am currently watching the Carlos Moya match against a 20 year old russian. Andy Roddick breezed through his match. Another two players I will be watching closely is No. 4 seed Andy Murray and No. 5/last year’s runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. I watched the Tsonga vs Nadal match from last year and Tsonga was very impressive. Andy Murray finished strong last year. The thing to watch is if they can keep up the performance and maybe upset the higher seeds. Last year Tsonga defeated Murray in the first round en route to the final and the two could meet in the quarter-finals (tied 1-1 lifetime). They both have favorable draws. Murray has a 13-3 career record against the seeds in his section before the semi-finals and Tsonga has No. 9 James Blake (Tsonga leads 1-0), No. 18 Igor Andreev and No. 30 Rainer Schuettler (both never played) in his section to the quarter-finals. Andreev is a strong player. James Blake is unpredictable.

In terms of tennis equipment. Nadal, Moya, and Roddick play with Babolat racquets. Carlos Moya uses the Babolat Pure Drive. The Pure Drive has a 100 square inch head size and is lightweight. Nadal hits with the Aeropro Drive. It also has a 100 square inch head size and is 100% modulus Graphite. Most reviews indicate that the Babolat Aeropro Drive Cortex delivered excellent control and a large sweetspot for hitting baseline shots. Reviewers also mentioned that spin was easy to come by, although I wonder if they were influenced to try given Nadal’s game. Finally, given the amount of Babolat racquets I see at the junior tournaments, I think this brand will be a strong seller for years to come.

Babolat AeroPro Drive Plus Cortex Tennis Racquet

Popularity: 32% [?]