Head Radical 2023 MP test: disappointment

[Oleks]

I am intermediate to advanced club player, used to play with Head i.Radical OS strung with Rip Control for quite a few years and then made a very long break (10 years+). Now back to the court and, while I like my old i.Radical, I had an idea to refresh my gear with something more modern. I tested a few rackets including Radical 2023 MP and was quite disappointed. It had completely different feel, specifically I felt that old i.Radical delivers way superior plow, better control, feels overall more maneuverable. I felt better about Extreme MP, it delivered as good control as i.Radical and felt more muted and easy on the arm, with a bit better plow than Radical 2023, though still not as powerful as i.Radical.

Was it too naive to expect similar feel from a much later Radical version? Could it be strings? I am kind of shocked that newest Radical felt more or less like a stick to me. I owned only a couple of rackets before, and would appreciate your opinions. Possibly it's just my subjective or poor assessment.

 

[veelium]

What did you string the new radical with? Strings can change the feel quite a bit.

I think it's hard to match the power of an oversize racquet with a 98 headsize one.

There is not really any racquet on the market currently (that I know of), that like the OS radical, combines a large headsize with a "dense" string pattern.
And yeah, the feel on the current radicals is quite different although I like them too.

If you don't mind a more open string pattern, try the Dunlop CX 200 OS. Besides the more open string pattern I think this is the closest frame to your old OS radicals.
Of course you could just continue playing your old radicals as they are still great.

 

[ClownCar96]

I have a friend who is down to his last OS Radical, he's bought as many as he can off the bay but has had several frames crack recently. He's been demoing the the new Radical MP and has actually been playing really well with it. He was playing his old OS radical with a full bed of multi, but the Radical MP demo is strung with Poly/Multi hybrid. He's getting more power and spin, maybe slightly less touch. Good idea on the Dunlop CS 200 OS... I haven't thought to recommend that to him.

 

[ClownCar96]

Maybe demo the Gravity Pro? 18x20, feel and plow

 

[heavyD]

Maybe demo the Gravity Pro? 18x20, feel and plow

Yeah that's the Head racquet the OP may want to try out as it's at least 100 sq/in and dense string pattern and as you say has lot of plow.

 

[vsbabolat]

Maybe demo the Gravity Pro? 18x20, feel and plow

Yeah, I would say as far as modern racquets that is closest to the i.Radical Oversize

 

[veelium]

Yeah, I would say as far as modern racquets that is closest to the i.Radical Oversize

The gravity pro is 20g heavier, more SW and overall just way harder to play with. Feel is more muted too.

 

[Power Player]

Radical OS still has an audience. I am surprised they stopped making it. Pay Agassi a little to help refresh the brand and bring back that old school soft feel. I think a lot of players would love it, especially if they modernized it a touch with a little lighter weight, and then a touch more stiffness like they did with the PT 2.0.

The I radical OS has a really low Sw I think and a 2 pts hl balance which is kind of low. May e see if you can find an Austrian bumblebee radical on the bay and see if you prefer those specs more? It’s a heavier frame. The feel is definitely top notch.

 

[ryushen21]

I am intermediate to advanced club player, used to play with Head i.Radical OS strung with Rip Control for quite a few years and then made a very long break (10 years+). Now back to the court and, while I like my old i.Radical, I had an idea to refresh my gear with something more modern. I tested a few rackets including Radical 2023 MP and was quite disappointed. It had completely different feel, specifically I felt that old i.Radical delivers way superior plow, better control, feels overall more maneuverable. I felt better about Extreme MP, it delivered as good control as i.Radical and felt more muted and easy on the arm, with a bit better plow than Radical 2023, though still not as powerful as i.Radical.

Was it too naive to expect similar feel from a much later Radical version? Could it be strings? I am kind of shocked that newest Radical felt more or less like a stick to me. I owned only a couple of rackets before, and would appreciate your opinions. Possibly it's just my subjective or poor assessment.

In a way, yes. The game has changed a lot and manufacturers have adjusted the racquets to meet that need. Ease of use has become a big part of what the market is looking for in racquets. For the most part, heavy, dense-pattern, high SW frames are an extremely niche market. They exist but in very few lines.

 

[Oleks]

Thanks folks for your really helpful replies. That's the beauty of i.Radical OS: it is easy to swing AND somehow manages to deliver great plow at the same time (in comparison to 4 rackets I demoed up to now). Control is very, very decent for my level of play. The only disadvantage I see for a 40+ player like me is that it's not really that super-easy on the arm, though still more than acceptable. I am now curious to test Gravity Pro and Dunlop CX200 OS next, will update once done.

 

[oldmanyellingatcloud]

for what it's worth and with the caveat I'm probably not good enough to play with it in the first place the first-gen Gravity Pro felt a little sluggish swinging and when factoring in the difference in feeling to my Microgel and Ti. Radical MPs, I couldn't get on-board. the first-gen Gravity Tour was better when I had an opportunity to try that.

you're not the only one who thinks the new Radicals feel different compared to the older ones. believe it or not the iterations from 360+ on are loads better than the initial Graphene Radical, Touch, XT, etc. by all accounts it's a popular frame on tour and at various levels below it. we're just spoiled by the classic feeling older models I think

 

[ryushen21]

for what it's worth and with the caveat I'm probably not good enough to play with it in the first place the first-gen Gravity Pro felt a little sluggish swinging and when factoring in the difference in feeling to my Microgel and Ti. Radical MPs, I couldn't get on-board. the first-gen Gravity Tour was better when I had an opportunity to try that.

you're not the only one who thinks the new Radicals feel different compared to the older ones. believe it or not the iterations from 360+ on are loads better than the initial Graphene Radical, Touch, XT, etc. by all accounts it's a popular frame on tour and at various levels below it. we're just spoiled by the classic feeling older models I think

Finding an under spec Gravity Pro is key. If you can find one around 310g, it's absolutely worth it.

 

[veelium]

Thanks folks for your really helpful replies. That's the beauty of i.Radical OS: it is easy to swing AND somehow manages to deliver great plow at the same time (in comparison to 4 rackets I demoed up to now). Control is very, very decent for my level of play. The only disadvantage I see for a 40+ player like me is that it's not really that super-easy on the arm, though still more than acceptable. I am now curious to test Gravity Pro and Dunlop CX200 OS next, will update once done.

Maybe switch out the gravity pro for the gravity tour. Easier to play with and not as heavy.

 

[TwinCinema]

Maybe switch out the gravity pro for the gravity tour. Easier to play with and not as heavy.

Easier said than done for those of us in the USA.

 

[veelium]

Easier said than done for those of us in the USA.

Ah yeah rip.

 

[jdx2112]

Easier said than done for those of us in the USA.

Check the used sections on TW.

 

[ChanterRacquet]

They changed the Radical line several iterations back; would guess when they dropped the OS version. They got firm and underpowered. They sold the Microgel OS for a long while and that’s a pretty good racquet, probably still find some.

My 4.5 spouse played the Ti Rad OS and switched to the v7 Blade 104 after a ton of demos, v8 has too different a feel. v7 is unique within the Blade lineage for several reasons, I wouldn’t really bother with the other 104s.

Might take a gander at the auxetic Extreme MP, though you’re probably exchanging in^2 for beam width if you can live with that. CX 200 OS would be worth a demo too.

 

[oldSchool]

I suggest the Head Radical Team 2023 should not be overlooked. Truly an amazing racquet in stock form for intermediate. With swing weight and balance that is amenable to customization for more advanced.

 

[Trip]

@Oleks - Unless you've spec'd up your i.Rad OS to a strung spec that's noticeably higher than stock, I'd wager you're going to find the Gravity Pro too cumbersome, maybe not initially, but after 30-60 minutes, most likely. Besides the CX 200 OS, Radical OS and/or Blade 104, if you have the customization skills, a better Gravity option could be spec'd-up Auxetic Gravity Team (formerly the G360+ Gravity S), which is a 104" with a 16x20 pattern, and offers a similar level of forgiveness with just a bit more power than control, versus what you're used to, but still somewhat similar. That said, it will need lead at 9 and 3 or 10 and 2 with some handle counterbalance, to bump up twist weight, swing weight and recoil weight to a level appropriate for a middle-aged male.