MarkNut
Rookie
I know that this racket has been out for awhile now, but I thought I would give this a full in depth review as I am in the market for a racket currently, and this being tennistalk, I'm sure many others have commitment issues with rackets as well as myself.
Background: 25 years old, SW Forehand, Flat 2 handed backhand.
I would call myself an aggressive counter puncher. I have no issues rallying with my opponent, but I like to mix it up with drop shots and spins to draw my opponent to the net, and then either lob or hit a passing shot. No issues putting away weak balls either. Net is not my friend. Net scary. Net bad.
I was a grinder in high school, and spin all day from the baseline worked well, as well as being consistent. Once I got out of school, I quickly realized that I needed to start hitting through the ball. My opponents were just teeing up on my spin, and so I decided to move to a smaller head size, denser string pattern, as well as an overall lighter weight.
From 2014-Now I have tried nearly every iteration of the radicals from the liquidmetal to the current one. My racket of choice until the change was the microgel radical pro with rpm blast. Super stable, huge sweetspot, forgiving, plush, hefty. All the things I would use to describe the "real" radicals of the past. I have also demoed nearly every racket known to mankind from every brand, and am still not committed.
Appearance: I've always associated orange as the primary color of the radicals, I was super glad of the matte black color change with the graphenes, much less "bright" and more stealthy. However, I love this look. It still has a matte look, feel, and finish to it, but I love the bright neon orange and blue look. Very retro looking. Would've looked better with maybe some matching blue grommets, kinda tired of the clear grommets honestly.
Feel: This racket just feels good to hold and shadow swing. 11oz is just a tad light for my taste, but that can be easily fixed. The feel of this racket is...unique. I've always told myself I love a soft racket, but that only applies to soft AND stable rackets that don't wobble on hard hit shots. I have always stayed away from stiff rackets, however ever since using the aero storm gt, I have found a liking of stiff BUT muted/comfortable rackets. This one is in-between the two. The original graphene was a bit stiffer than this, and the xt just felt like someone has stuck a pack of lead at the buttcap and the tip. This one feels more spread out. One last thing to note is that this racket doesn't need a dampener. The IG ones pinged like crazy without one, this one just feels solid and crisp, but muted and less harsh.
Groundstrokes: Again, this racket was out of my preferred specs, so I went into this with an open mind. The string setup in the racket was off. To counter the light weight of this racket, one option would be to string lower...this was not the case with the demo. Prince tour xr mains and prince premier crosses at mid tension....way too tight for this racket in stock form.
Forehand: This is the strongest point of my game. Because of the tension, I had no ball pocketing or free power, and this forced me to swing out resulting in one of two things. The first is that the ball went long, even with a 98in head and 16x19 string pattern, the lack of pocketing meant that I was not able to get up and over the ball to bring it into the court. The ball simply shot off as soon as contact was made. Because it was light, you needed to swing harder, which results in balls going long. The other outcome was a very horizontal swing path, something I would get with an 18x20. I found myself either hitting 2 feet long, or hitting the tape...consistently. Again, cannot stress how different it would be with a different setup. When I did make good contact, this racket felt good. Plenty of power for people that swing fast, and a big sweet spot. It is for sure a stiffer racket, but the "touch" addition really mutes that out effectively. No arm pain the next day even with high tension strings, an 11oz weight, and hitting against a big hitter. That says something.
Backhand: My backhand is the weakest part of my game behind my net play. I hit flat with just enough spin. When I had my weight behind the shot? Consistent and with a big sweet spot. If I was playing defense or on my back foot, I netted a balls just due to the lack of momentum moving foreword.
Slices: This was one of the best categories of the racket along with consistency. I simply could not miss with my slice backhand. This racket just begs you to hit low, nasty knifing slices. I was also able to mix it up with some side spin, and even some touch shots. One my forehand side however, I found the racket to be quite powerful and control suffered. Thankfully I only use a slice forehand for approach shots and when playing defense, both of which (thankfully) are not too often. Drop shots were decent, not the worst ever, but no where near the best (pro staff, IG Radical Pro, Aero Storm). Not bad per say, but I wonder if some more weight would help.
Net: Not a net player, but this racket wasn't bad at the net. The worst volleying racket I have ever used might be the xt radical pro. This one was no where near that. Plenty of directional support and put away power, but at 11oz stability could be improved. Very accurate when finding the sweetspot, and didn't flutter when outside of it.
Serves: Did not get a chance to serve with this racket.
Conclusion: I know the consensuses on these boards is that the graphene radicals are an abomination, and that Head no longer listens to its customers. When I had the microgel radical pro, I wished head would increase the the swingweight as it felt underpowered...Head answered with the Youtek radical pro. I found the Youtek to be powerful, but not precise, and certainly not stable...Head came out with the IG Radical Pro. I thought the IG Radical Pro was a great all court racket, but needed a bigger sweetspot, better stability/less flex, a consistent response and to be faster through the air....Head came out with Graphene radicals. We said that the graphene radicals are too stiff...head comes out with the more muted touch version. You get the picture. As someone who used the softer versions, I can say that while I love the softer feel, the graphene just does so many thing better than the old ones (for me!) that I can't help but be intrigued by them.
This is for sure a racket that will appeal to many users of all skill levels out there. Usuable in stock form, and with the potential to be great with a few tweeks, plus a softer feel and a better paint job, this might be one to consider.
If I were to demo again and be able to modify it, I would go down a grip size to 4 1/8, add a wilson shock shield grip (adds weight, absorbs more vibration, builds up grip size), counter that with a touch of lead at 12, 3, and 9, and string it around 48-50 pounds with a low powered spin poly, maybe tour bite or cyclone.
Hope you enjoy the review, I will do my best to answer questions.
Thanks!
Background: 25 years old, SW Forehand, Flat 2 handed backhand.
I would call myself an aggressive counter puncher. I have no issues rallying with my opponent, but I like to mix it up with drop shots and spins to draw my opponent to the net, and then either lob or hit a passing shot. No issues putting away weak balls either. Net is not my friend. Net scary. Net bad.
I was a grinder in high school, and spin all day from the baseline worked well, as well as being consistent. Once I got out of school, I quickly realized that I needed to start hitting through the ball. My opponents were just teeing up on my spin, and so I decided to move to a smaller head size, denser string pattern, as well as an overall lighter weight.
From 2014-Now I have tried nearly every iteration of the radicals from the liquidmetal to the current one. My racket of choice until the change was the microgel radical pro with rpm blast. Super stable, huge sweetspot, forgiving, plush, hefty. All the things I would use to describe the "real" radicals of the past. I have also demoed nearly every racket known to mankind from every brand, and am still not committed.
Appearance: I've always associated orange as the primary color of the radicals, I was super glad of the matte black color change with the graphenes, much less "bright" and more stealthy. However, I love this look. It still has a matte look, feel, and finish to it, but I love the bright neon orange and blue look. Very retro looking. Would've looked better with maybe some matching blue grommets, kinda tired of the clear grommets honestly.
Feel: This racket just feels good to hold and shadow swing. 11oz is just a tad light for my taste, but that can be easily fixed. The feel of this racket is...unique. I've always told myself I love a soft racket, but that only applies to soft AND stable rackets that don't wobble on hard hit shots. I have always stayed away from stiff rackets, however ever since using the aero storm gt, I have found a liking of stiff BUT muted/comfortable rackets. This one is in-between the two. The original graphene was a bit stiffer than this, and the xt just felt like someone has stuck a pack of lead at the buttcap and the tip. This one feels more spread out. One last thing to note is that this racket doesn't need a dampener. The IG ones pinged like crazy without one, this one just feels solid and crisp, but muted and less harsh.
Groundstrokes: Again, this racket was out of my preferred specs, so I went into this with an open mind. The string setup in the racket was off. To counter the light weight of this racket, one option would be to string lower...this was not the case with the demo. Prince tour xr mains and prince premier crosses at mid tension....way too tight for this racket in stock form.
Forehand: This is the strongest point of my game. Because of the tension, I had no ball pocketing or free power, and this forced me to swing out resulting in one of two things. The first is that the ball went long, even with a 98in head and 16x19 string pattern, the lack of pocketing meant that I was not able to get up and over the ball to bring it into the court. The ball simply shot off as soon as contact was made. Because it was light, you needed to swing harder, which results in balls going long. The other outcome was a very horizontal swing path, something I would get with an 18x20. I found myself either hitting 2 feet long, or hitting the tape...consistently. Again, cannot stress how different it would be with a different setup. When I did make good contact, this racket felt good. Plenty of power for people that swing fast, and a big sweet spot. It is for sure a stiffer racket, but the "touch" addition really mutes that out effectively. No arm pain the next day even with high tension strings, an 11oz weight, and hitting against a big hitter. That says something.
Backhand: My backhand is the weakest part of my game behind my net play. I hit flat with just enough spin. When I had my weight behind the shot? Consistent and with a big sweet spot. If I was playing defense or on my back foot, I netted a balls just due to the lack of momentum moving foreword.
Slices: This was one of the best categories of the racket along with consistency. I simply could not miss with my slice backhand. This racket just begs you to hit low, nasty knifing slices. I was also able to mix it up with some side spin, and even some touch shots. One my forehand side however, I found the racket to be quite powerful and control suffered. Thankfully I only use a slice forehand for approach shots and when playing defense, both of which (thankfully) are not too often. Drop shots were decent, not the worst ever, but no where near the best (pro staff, IG Radical Pro, Aero Storm). Not bad per say, but I wonder if some more weight would help.
Net: Not a net player, but this racket wasn't bad at the net. The worst volleying racket I have ever used might be the xt radical pro. This one was no where near that. Plenty of directional support and put away power, but at 11oz stability could be improved. Very accurate when finding the sweetspot, and didn't flutter when outside of it.
Serves: Did not get a chance to serve with this racket.
Conclusion: I know the consensuses on these boards is that the graphene radicals are an abomination, and that Head no longer listens to its customers. When I had the microgel radical pro, I wished head would increase the the swingweight as it felt underpowered...Head answered with the Youtek radical pro. I found the Youtek to be powerful, but not precise, and certainly not stable...Head came out with the IG Radical Pro. I thought the IG Radical Pro was a great all court racket, but needed a bigger sweetspot, better stability/less flex, a consistent response and to be faster through the air....Head came out with Graphene radicals. We said that the graphene radicals are too stiff...head comes out with the more muted touch version. You get the picture. As someone who used the softer versions, I can say that while I love the softer feel, the graphene just does so many thing better than the old ones (for me!) that I can't help but be intrigued by them.
This is for sure a racket that will appeal to many users of all skill levels out there. Usuable in stock form, and with the potential to be great with a few tweeks, plus a softer feel and a better paint job, this might be one to consider.
If I were to demo again and be able to modify it, I would go down a grip size to 4 1/8, add a wilson shock shield grip (adds weight, absorbs more vibration, builds up grip size), counter that with a touch of lead at 12, 3, and 9, and string it around 48-50 pounds with a low powered spin poly, maybe tour bite or cyclone.
Hope you enjoy the review, I will do my best to answer questions.
Thanks!
