head youtek ig instinct review

F

freeez

New User
Got a chance last night to play with new instinct mp 300g with new head string fxp tour(multi).
About myself: rated a 4.0 by the pros at my club. baseline player with a moderate spin game(300 a lot more spin than 200). This last year I've been playing with weighted up dunlops 4d300 and 4d200 16x19.

I liked it the look of the racket. Someone had written "Tron" like design, I see what they meant.
First impression:
really open string pattern, seems wider than the tfights.
feels very very very light.
extremely comfortable set up as tested. very stable but I didn't hit with one of the hard hitters.
the craziest spin I have ever imparted on a ball. I played with my 6'2 friend and ground strokes were bouncing above his shoulders when hitting lightly. By far more spin than my 300 and the tfight 295 that I have tried.
Funny thing is that the faster I swung the ball dip was much more pronounced and the ball stayed very deep and always in. I caught my self surprised on many occasion that the ball stayed in.
I will test again this week. I believe this is the racket that will replace my daughter's tfight.
I'll update later this week.
 
T

Ten_nuts

Semi-Pro
Hi Freeez, and thanks for posting. I am also very interested in this racquet. Could you please post a few closed-up pics? Why don't you have it setup to your current racquets? I mean you can re-string your own strings, put some lead tape on it. Hope you have a serious hitting partner and write something about it. Thanks.
 
F

freeez

New User
The racket had just come in to the shop from Head and they had it already set up with a new string that is supposed to come out later in the summer. I believe it is called FXP Tour(very soft multi). I tried it out of curiosity and the shop owner wanted feedback on the racket.
I'll get some pics as soon as I can.
 
T

Ten_nuts

Semi-Pro
I hope you's weigh it up to the Dunlop 4D 16x19 and compare with it to see how high the stiffness of the new Utek IG Instinct MP. Thanks.
 
H

HurricaneDominic

Guest
I heard Berdych will use the Head YouTek IG Instinct and Sharapova will use the S version.
I also heard that both of them are using Paint Jobs, so they don't actually use the racket.
I think the PJ looks great, but the actual shape of the rackets isn't very attractive to me. I wish I would get an Extreme or Radical with the same PJ.
Anyway, thanks for the review. I'm intrigued!
 
captainobvious

captainobvious

Rookie
I've got one of the youtek Instinct S versions out on demo right now. (I believe the difference between this and the MP is that the S is a pt HH and is I think a 102 head size, vs the 1 or 2 pts HL and 100 head size of the MP)
Its a very light racquet that is pretty evenly balanced and has a nice feel to it. Played about 2 sets with it this week and Im really liking it. For reference Im about a 3.0 player with a medium swing/speed and Im currently using the Prince O3 Hybrid Hornet OS. It gets good spin on the ball and for me it had a nice feel on impact. Not too mushy and not too sharp. Its a tad light at the head for me as i need a little more weight to control my awful serve. I had them put a little lead tape at 12 and will give it another go this week. The frame is pretty thin and small profile which is a bit different for me moving down in size from the hornet. The shop pro's were very excited about this racquet...I dont know enough yet about it to say for sure, but Im definitely liking it so far. Need to get more 2HBH and serving in this weekend to see where its at. Im loving the forehand strokes though.
 
Fedace

Fedace

Banned
freeez said:
Got a chance last night to play with new instinct mp 300g with new head string fxp tour(multi).
About myself: rated a 4.0 by the pros at my club. baseline player with a moderate spin game(300 a lot more spin than 200). This last year I've been playing with weighted up dunlops 4d300 and 4d200 16x19.

I liked it the look of the racket. Someone had written "Tron" like design, I see what they meant.
First impression:
really open string pattern, seems wider than the tfights.
feels very very very light.
extremely comfortable set up as tested. very stable but I didn't hit with one of the hard hitters.
the craziest spin I have ever imparted on a ball. I played with my 6'2 friend and ground strokes were bouncing above his shoulders when hitting lightly. By far more spin than my 300 and the tfight 295 that I have tried.
Funny thing is that the faster I swung the ball dip was much more pronounced and the ball stayed very deep and always in. I caught my self surprised on many occasion that the ball stayed in.
I will test again this week. I believe this is the racket that will replace my daughter's tfight.
I'll update later this week.
Click to expand...

I am moving back into USTA 5.0 with this racket. i plan on extending it to 27.3 inches to get more power and reach..
 
Fedace

Fedace

Banned
freeez said:
Got a chance last night to play with new instinct mp 300g with new head string fxp tour(multi).
About myself: rated a 4.0 by the pros at my club. baseline player with a moderate spin game(300 a lot more spin than 200). This last year I've been playing with weighted up dunlops 4d300 and 4d200 16x19.

I liked it the look of the racket. Someone had written "Tron" like design, I see what they meant.
First impression:
really open string pattern, seems wider than the tfights.
feels very very very light.
extremely comfortable set up as tested. very stable but I didn't hit with one of the hard hitters.
the craziest spin I have ever imparted on a ball. I played with my 6'2 friend and ground strokes were bouncing above his shoulders when hitting lightly. By far more spin than my 300 and the tfight 295 that I have tried.
Funny thing is that the faster I swung the ball dip was much more pronounced and the ball stayed very deep and always in. I caught my self surprised on many occasion that the ball stayed in.
I will test again this week. I believe this is the racket that will replace my daughter's tfight.
I'll update later this week.
Click to expand...

do you think it will change alot if i extend the frame to 27.3 inches ?? thanks
 
ryushen21

ryushen21

Legend
Fedace said:
do you think it will change alot if i extend the frame to 27.3 inches ?? thanks
Click to expand...

Actually one of my friends (sponsored Head player) said that the racquet is absolutely perfect when extended to 27.437221in. At that length he said it was simply the greatest frame he had ever played with.
 
Fedace

Fedace

Banned
ryushen21 said:
Actually one of my friends (sponsored Head player) said that the racquet is absolutely perfect when extended to 27.437221in. At that length he said it was simply the greatest frame he had ever played with.
Click to expand...

Is that really true ?? Are you sure about this ? do you have a picture?
 
Fedace

Fedace

Banned
ryushen21 said:
Actually one of my friends (sponsored Head player) said that the racquet is absolutely perfect when extended to 27.437221in. At that length he said it was simply the greatest frame he had ever played with.
Click to expand...

Is that really true ?? Are you sure about this ? do you have a picture?
 
Fedace

Fedace

Banned
ryushen21 said:
All I know is that he modded all of his the same way. He played two matches in an open tourney today and won the first 2 and 1 and the second 0 and 2...
Click to expand...

why 27.432222 inches ?? is that a joke ? was it more like 27.4 or 27.5 inches ? I originally thought of 27.5 inches but then, i thought that would increase the Swing weight too much. Longer you make the racket, higher the Swing weight. You can't avoid this.
 
captainobvious

captainobvious

Rookie
Instinct S. Pics as promised...

TennisRacquets004.jpg


TennisRacquets003.jpg


TennisRacquets002.jpg


TennisRacquets001.jpg
 
Fedace

Fedace

Banned
I am hearing about the Maasive spin potential of this racket. How does it compare to some of the other spin friendly rackets like Yonex RQIS 2 -tour ?
 
ryushen21

ryushen21

Legend
Fedace said:
why 27.432222 inches ?? is that a joke ? was it more like 27.4 or 27.5 inches ? I originally thought of 27.5 inches but then, i thought that would increase the Swing weight too much. Longer you make the racket, higher the Swing weight. You can't avoid this.
Click to expand...

Actually it was entirely by accident. He was attempting to extend to 27.5 but didn't measure accurately. Instead of trying again he just went with it. After it worked so well he got measured with a laser and that's what it came out to. He is kind of a superstitious guy so he had all the others modded the exact same way as well.
 
Fedace

Fedace

Banned
ryushen21 said:
Actually it was entirely by accident. He was attempting to extend to 27.5 but didn't measure accurately. Instead of trying again he just went with it. After it worked so well he got measured with a laser and that's what it came out to. He is kind of a superstitious guy so he had all the others modded the exact same way as well.
Click to expand...

What do you think about the spin potential of this racket ? does it compare to some of the spinniest racket out there like Yonex RQIS tour-2 racket ? and how does this racket serve ?
 
ryushen21

ryushen21

Legend
Fedace said:
What do you think about the spin potential of this racket ? does it compare to some of the spinniest racket out there like Yonex RQIS tour-2 racket ? and how does this racket serve ?
Click to expand...

Not sure. I don't play with it. I prefer racquets that an actual man would use. Heavy, small headed, dense patterned, head light beast frames.
 
bertrevert

bertrevert

Legend
Well those photos look nice but what does it play like?

Esp compared let's say to earlier versions. I recall the LM version had an undefined sweet spot and it felt v mushy.

(ps. You know how people complain about squeeky buttcaps, this one wouldn't sort of shriek would it?)
 
bertrevert

bertrevert

Legend
ryushen21 said:
Not sure. I don't play with it. I prefer racquets that an actual man would use. Heavy, small headed, dense patterned, head light beast frames.
Click to expand...

I think women can play quite well with mids too, but as an older frame style they tend to quite rightly choose from some of the more germane frames on offer, ones that suit their game or physique or whatever. I know a great girl player with the LM version of the Instinct, plays great she does. Yet also a top male club player does right well against the bab PD-wielding club champ. I think the Instinct has demonstrably wide appeal therefore.
 
tailofdog

tailofdog

Semi-Pro
Two Instinct"s

bertrevert said:
I think women can play quite well with mids too, but as an older frame style they tend to quite rightly choose from some of the more germane frames on offer, ones that suit their game or physique or whatever. I know a great girl player with the LM version of the Instinct, plays great she does. Yet also a top male club player does right well against the bab PD-wielding club champ. I think the Instinct has demonstrably wide appeal therefore.
Click to expand...

I had 2 models of INSTINCT'S and both would qualify as Special frames!
 
bobbything

bobbything

Rookie
I've played with this racquet and didn't really notice the ability to generate any more spin than any other frame. It's solid, and is similar (in looks and feel) to the old Trisys series that Head had out a number of years ago.

It's worth testing out IMO.
 
bobbything

bobbything

Rookie
Also, it plays pretty much nothing like the previous Instincts. The Head rep said that it's similar in name only.
 
iMpro

iMpro

New User
ryushen21 said:
Actually one of my friends (sponsored Head player) said that the racquet is absolutely perfect when extended to 27.437221in. At that length he said it was simply the greatest frame he had ever played with.
Click to expand...

This may be a dumb question, but how do you extend a racquet?
 
naturallight

naturallight

Semi-Pro
I saw it at the club yesterday and I thought the head shape looked kind of weird. It looks like the top part of the hoop is squished--not a symetrical oval. Almost like an egg shape.

Also, I definitely believe the comments about the spin potential--it has one of the most open string patterns I've seen in a while.
 
captainobvious

captainobvious

Rookie
cayzi said:
captainobvious: I notice on that pictures that you are also using EXo3 White. Can you please compare those two racket for me.

Many thanks!!!
Click to expand...

I wasnt a big fan of the white. Too much vibration feeling in the arm/wrist and not much control. The Instinct had none of this. The S version is certainly too light for me though, as even the MP version is a bit light. They are about an ounce different in static weight, but they are balanced differently so they dont feel *that* much different weight wise.

The MP is a very nice frame for sure
 
P

parasailing

Legend
captainobvious said:
I wasnt a big fan of the white. Too much vibration feeling in the arm/wrist and not much control. The Instinct had none of this. The S version is certainly too light for me though, as even the MP version is a bit light. They are about an ounce different in static weight, but they are balanced differently so they dont feel *that* much different weight wise.

The MP is a very nice frame for sure
Click to expand...

How would this compare to say a Head Youtek Radical MP or Babolat Pure Storm GT? I generally don't like 100 sq in racquets as I tried the Head Radical Pro and it was just too springy. Have you also had a chance to hit with that?
 
JackB1

JackB1

G.O.A.T.
I have a MP coming this week. I think I will start by adding 4 g's at 3/9 and 6 g's on the handle and see how that plays. I am pretty sure it will feel too light stock for me.
 
P

parasailing

Legend
JackB1 said:
I have a MP coming this week. I think I will start by adding 4 g's at 3/9 and 6 g's on the handle and see how that plays. I am pretty sure it will feel too light stock for me.
Click to expand...

You have been testing heavier racquets so I am curious to what you find in regards to the stability of the racquet compared to the Volkl 10 295 and Pure Storm Tour GT.
 
JackB1

JackB1

G.O.A.T.
Tried the Instinct tonite. Like it a lot so far. I added 4gs at 3/9 and 6 in the handle. Plays very nice. Easy to get good depth without being too powerful. Seems like an easy frame to use and felt pretty comfortable for such a high stiffness rating. It's a little light stock, but felt pretty solid with just 10gs added.
 
BigM

BigM

Rookie
JackB1 said:
Tried the Instinct tonite. Like it a lot so far. I added 4gs at 3/9 and 6 in the handle. Plays very nice. Easy to get good depth without being too powerful. Seems like an easy frame to use and felt pretty comfortable for such a high stiffness rating. It's a little light stock, but felt pretty solid with just 10gs added.
Click to expand...

Wait for the x8 315 Jack. Its incredible.
 
JackB1

JackB1

G.O.A.T.
BigM said:
Wait for the x8 315 Jack. Its incredible.
Click to expand...

I wish it would come out already! Have u tried the new IG Instinct? It may be a better fit for my 3.5 level game. I like the X300, but wish the swingweight was a little lower than 335. Sounds like the 315 might be right in my wheelhouse? The Instict surprised me. It was 325 g's with overgrip and dampener. Not all that light. The sw was around 312 stock. It doesn't need any more static weight. Just a little more swingweight. I'll maybe add a little lead tape at 12' or 2/10. Might try it stock too for a while. I don't want it TOO whippy, but I think it won't take much to get this racquet feeling right.
 
captainobvious

captainobvious

Rookie
JackB1 said:
I wish it would come out already! Have u tried the new IG Instinct? It may be a better fit for my 3.5 level game. I like the X300, but wish the swingweight was a little lower than 335. Sounds like the 315 might be right in my wheelhouse? The Instict surprised me. It was 325 g's with overgrip and dampener. Not all that light. The sw was around 312 stock. It doesn't need any more static weight. Just a little more swingweight. I'll maybe add a little lead tape at 12' or 2/10. Might try it stock too for a while. I don't want it TOO whippy, but I think it won't take much to get this racquet feeling right.
Click to expand...

I had a feeling that would be your thoughts on this one. Its a great racquet, but a tad light. Serves very well and is both comfortable and powerful with really good spin. I'd probably take it over the x8 because of the better serving (for me) and the other attributes being close to a wash. I also like the balance of the Instinct better.
You really need to try the Donnay XP Dual based on your comments from the other racquets weve both demo'd. I think you'd really like that one as well.
I'll shoot you an email...
 
JackB1

JackB1

G.O.A.T.
captainobvious said:
I had a feeling that would be your thoughts on this one. Its a great racquet, but a tad light. Serves very well and is both comfortable and powerful with really good spin. I'd probably take it over the x8 because of the better serving (for me) and the other attributes being close to a wash. I also like the balance of the Instinct better.
Click to expand...

The X8 vs the IG Instinct is a tough one. I seemed to have an easier time controlling the power of the Instinct than I do with the X8...not sure why.
The X8's swingweight is a little too heavy at 330 and the Instincts is a little too light at 310, but I can always add some lead tape to the Instinct. The Instinct also feels less weighty in the hoop than the X8, which I like. I have a hard time on overheads with the X8 due to it's higher swingweight.
 
captainobvious

captainobvious

Rookie
JackB1 said:
The X8 vs the IG Instinct is a tough one. I seemed to have an easier time controlling the power of the Instinct than I do with the X8...not sure why.
The X8's swingweight is a little too heavy at 330 and the Instincts is a little too light at 310, but I can always add some lead tape to the Instinct. The Instinct also feels less weighty in the hoop than the X8, which I like. I have a hard time on overheads with the X8 due to it's higher swingweight.
Click to expand...

I felt the same way. The balance of the x8 is a little head heavy and you can feel the mass in the hoop. This made it harder for me on serves, and likewise for you on overheads. I think this weight distribution is why its harder to control the x8 power as well. I also think the Instinct has a little more open string pattern which enables you to generate more topspin, keeping balls in easier.

PS- email sent about the Donnay
 
captainobvious

captainobvious

Rookie
parasailing said:
How would this compare to say a Head Youtek Radical MP or Babolat Pure Storm GT? I generally don't like 100 sq in racquets as I tried the Head Radical Pro and it was just too springy. Have you also had a chance to hit with that?
Click to expand...

The Radical MP is heavier, feels a little more weighted toward the head than the instinct, has less power and (to me) is a little less comfortable on the arm. The PSGT was very stable, had good spin and power although less than the instinct, and also was a little less comfortable for me despite being a lower RA. The Radical MP I demod was also a little springy, but it could have been the string job. I havent hit with the Radical Pro, nope.
 
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