2013 Head Speeds

IMG_00000001.jpg


16x19 ver.

Love the PJ...which model is this?
 

lwto

Hall of Fame
Speed 16/19 11:00 ounces strung, 2 pts hL

This is a prototype pJ and will be different upon final release.
 

Tanas

New User
No this is not the Paint job.. just the prototype PJ and they will all be like that untill the final product comes out.

you cannot see the pic?

11 oz 2 pts HL. 16/19

i was on a computer at work so the link appeared broken
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
I wonder whether the new speed mould is the same as the old radical pro before the ig change made it redundant?
 

couch

Hall of Fame
Strung weight on the 18x20 anyone?

I believe 11.7 oz.

I saw our Head rep today and got a prototype paint job of the Speed MP. Man, this thing looks and feels sick! I immediately strung it at our shop with Head's new textured black poly and hit the courts. If you are looking for a more player oriented tweener type of frame then this is it.

My playing partner who played D1 and is the Head Womens Coach at his Alma Mater said my balls had a lot of spin, heaviness, and jump to them that the current racquets I'm testing don't have. I think a lot of that is due to Head moving some of the weight to the head of the racquet. It still swings fast and in turn hits a pretty heavy ball for its weight.

Oh, and the move from the round head shape to the more oval shape is a huge improvement. I think Head has a real winner on their hands this year.
 

corners

Legend
Really frustrated with Head and the recent thickening of the beam widths.

The Radicals were always 21mm and when the original Speeds came out, they were 20mm.

Now everything is getting the extra millimeter. Next thing you know, the Prestige will get thickened.

Might not be much but it really does effect the feel and swing of the frame, for the worse.

Yeah, what's the deal? Went to the stiffest material in the known universe and they make the beams thicker? If they went 100% graphene my madcap calculations suggest the could do 10mm beams. Must only be <1% graphene in the things.
 

mrmo1115

Hall of Fame
I believe 11.7 oz.

I saw our Head rep today and got a prototype paint job of the Speed MP. Man, this thing looks and feels sick! I immediately strung it at our shop with Head's new textured black poly and hit the courts. If you are looking for a more player oriented tweener type of frame then this is it.

My playing partner who played D1 and is the Head Womens Coach at his Alma Mater said my balls had a lot of spin, heaviness, and jump to them that the current racquets I'm testing don't have. I think a lot of that is due to Head moving some of the weight to the head of the racquet. It still swings fast and in turn hits a pretty heavy ball for its weight.

Oh, and the move from the round head shape to the more oval shape is a huge improvement. I think Head has a real winner on their hands this year.

Do you know if SW is still extremely low? Doesn't sound like with such a low SW there could be enough plow through.. at least that was my problem with the previous version. 11.7 oz sounds very enticing... getting closer to 12 oz is a good thing.
 

themitchmann

Hall of Fame
Can you elaborate? Comparison to the previous version?

I haven't hit with the previous version, though I do like past versions of the Prestige line.

Last night I hit with 2 different models: I believe the stick weights were 275g and 315g. I like heavy racquets (my Rebs have a swing weight around 357), so the 275g was a joke for me. The 315g wasn't as bad, as the additional mass helped with feel, but they still felt styrofoam-y at contact.

They were string with a new shaped version of sonic pro, so maybe a hybrid set up would have helped.

I also tried the new Dunlop F 3.0. The feel on that was even worse despite being strung with full multi. Super light, and contact felt like hitting with a tin can.
 

themitchmann

Hall of Fame
If he likes Prince rackets, I'm sure it's quite a difference and a matter of personal preference because I love Head rackets and am not a huge fan of Prince because both brands feel quite different.

It's not that I don't like Head racquets...overall, I have liked them in the past.

I was just disappointed in the feel of these sticks.

The prototype pjs are sick, though.
 
I was at my local shop today, and they had out all the new 2013 demos - Wilson Blades, Babolat AeroPros, etc - and these were the exact paintjobs that the Speeds had. I asked the owner, and he assured me, per his Head rep, those would be the paint jobs that would be released. Seems there are some conflicting reports...

I love the matte black!
 

couch

Hall of Fame
Do you know if SW is still extremely low? Doesn't sound like with such a low SW there could be enough plow through.. at least that was my problem with the previous version. 11.7 oz sounds very enticing... getting closer to 12 oz is a good thing.

It felt like the SW was a little higher on the MP (300 gram) I hit with yesterday. I would guesstimate in the high 320s. I haven't hit with the 315 gram, 18x20 version however.

I really liked the feel of the MP. The thing sounded like a cannon going off on serves and forehands. I had it strung with the new textured sonic pro at mid tension. I think the MP version will really suit players who are looking for more of a player's tweener. Thin beam, lighter weight, but still some nice power.
 

themitchmann

Hall of Fame
It felt like the SW was a little higher on the MP (300 gram) I hit with yesterday. I would guesstimate in the high 320s. I haven't hit with the 315 gram, 18x20 version however.

I really liked the feel of the MP. The thing sounded like a cannon going off on serves and forehands. I had it strung with the new textured sonic pro at mid tension. I think the MP version will really suit players who are looking for more of a player's tweener. Thin beam, lighter weight, but still some nice power.

I think you're right in describing these are player's tweeners.
 

Don't Let It Bounce

Hall of Fame
Yeah, what's the deal? Went to the stiffest material in the known universe and they make the beams thicker? If they went 100% graphene my madcap calculations suggest the could do 10mm beams. Must only be <1% graphene in the things.
My money (and not Head's, if you know what I mean) is on that and on fewer layers of carbon composite.
 

couch

Hall of Fame
is the new speed mp anything like the speed mp 300 with a higher swingweight

I would say it's stiffer, probably mid 60s, and has a more oval head shape too. Other than the weight, I think it's more like a stiffer radical mp with an open string pattern. That would be my initial take. Need to hit more with it though.
 

Doublebounce

Professional
Is head officialy dubbing their new line of racquets as Graphene instead of Youtek? If so, are they going to be called Head Graphene IG Speeds or are they doing away with IG tech as well....
 
I entered the playtest thing and guess what, I GOT SELECTED! And with this, I promise that I'll put up what these days pass as a review and some pictures when it arrives. I'll pass it on to a friend who'll give it a hitting session as well but that's in the beginning of next year. But I could get the new Speed and compare it to the prototype or something cool like that aswell.
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
My German is not that good, but he seems to be saying that the new speed pro swings lighter than his prestige mp even though it does not weigh less, different weight distribution, and that this is also the characteristic of the marque.

Speed = easy to swing due to lowish swingweight.

You either want that or not.
 
Last edited:

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
The German guy in the above link is reviewing the new speed pro.

And he does end with a bit of a reflection on what 'speed' is as a sub-brand.

You can turn the rather bad German subtitles on and they help a little.
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
He seems to like the serves on the Instinct, but doesn't seem to say much else besides it being spin-friendly.
 
Anymore updates on these 2013 speeds? If they are still in running out & picking up some 2012 YT Speeds for cheap... My tennis elbow can't take more stiffness. Thanks for the pics etc... Sick ;-)
 

Harry_Wild

G.O.A.T.
I saw both versions at my club as the Head rep was showing them off to the teaching pros. The graphics has not been made public; so the rackets were in satin black. All the teaching pros wanted it that way even the ones that were sponsoring other brands! I loved the look of the satin all black rackets with the word "Head" in white letters only on the throat! It was very, very powerful looking racket. I can see why players on the tour like to have a racket that is just all black and dull looking.

The rep said that she like it too! But I guessing the marketing department would not go along with what players want however! They like bright, colorfully graphics that that can catch the fancy of potential racket buyers.
 
Last edited:
Top