Head Radical MP - Wowza!

abarth20

Rookie
Think I've found my racquet!

Lately I have been going back to stiffer racquets with softer poly combos.. The flexy racquets don't just do it for me...

Used the 360+ Speed MP for a while, but it was a bit muted and a boat anchor like SW made it hard to play on hardcourt (clay player).
Then I went back to my trusty 2020 Pure Drive, What a slapper that racquet is! However I do not like the feel on my 1HB. Especially my left hand holding the curvy frame...

So I tried the new Radical! OMG.. The feel is out of this world! Very direct and raw... Just the way I like it... CRISP AF! The sweetspot is small, which is also visible... A very tight spacing for 16x19...
1.25 @ 24KG didn't do well for me I need some more lift! . Next up I will be going for 1.20mm 23Kg for the mains and 22KG for the crosses to lift the ball a bit higher...

The only downside is, I had some arm pain... Maybe due to the high tension.... And I don't use any Vibration Dampeners...

Who else is a Radical MP user out here? Any string tips?
 

abarth20

Rookie
I lol'd. The most important part of a frame is that it doesn't wreck your arm.

Lol:) I love the feel so much that I will try anything to cut that arm pain:) I thing it was a bit string related... I don't get arm pain with my Pure Drive, so in theory I shouln't be getting any pain with this... Or do I:) ?
 

snoflewis

Legend
I had the same issue. Used the 2019 pure aero with no issues and even a softer poly in the radical didnt work for me. It is a great racket though.
 

Booger

Hall of Fame
Lol:) I love the feel so much that I will try anything to cut that arm pain:) I thing it was a bit string related... I don't get arm pain with my Pure Drive, so in theory I shouln't be getting any pain with this... Or do I:) ?


I dunno man. You can try stringing it soft and low, but I don't even mess around with arm pain anymore. Imagine wincing in pain when you try to open a jar of pickles just because you played tennis yesterday.
 

beltsman

G.O.A.T.
Think I've found my racquet!

Lately I have been going back to stiffer racquets with softer poly combos.. The flexy racquets don't just do it for me...

Used the 360+ Speed MP for a while, but it was a bit muted and a boat anchor like SW made it hard to play on hardcourt (clay player).
Then I went back to my trusty 2020 Pure Drive, What a slapper that racquet is! However I do not like the feel on my 1HB. Especially my left hand holding the curvy frame...

So I tried the new Radical! OMG.. The feel is out of this world! Very direct and raw... Just the way I like it... CRISP AF! The sweetspot is small, which is also visible... A very tight spacing for 16x19...
1.25 @ 24KG didn't do well for me I need some more lift! . Next up I will be going for 1.20mm 23Kg for the mains and 22KG for the crosses to lift the ball a bit higher...

The only downside is, I had some arm pain... Maybe due to the high tension.... And I don't use any Vibration Dampeners...

Who else is a Radical MP user out here? Any string tips?

I have a demo on the way
 

Power Player

Bionic Poster
I have the same frame. It's fantastic. Try Isospeed Cream in the crosses. I'd also suggest really evaluating how often you hit the sweet spot. You are saying it's small, which makes me think you are mishitting a lot. The sweet spot is not that small on the Radical to be quite honest. It's not super huge like a Pure Drive, I'd say it's medium sized though.
 

abarth20

Rookie
I have the same frame. It's fantastic. Try Isospeed Cream in the crosses. I'd also suggest really evaluating how often you hit the sweet spot. You are saying it's small, which makes me think you are mishitting a lot. The sweet spot is not that small on the Radical to be quite honest. It's not super huge like a Pure Drive, I'd say it's medium sized though.

What do you use on the mains? My reference racquet is always a Pure Drive. Compared to that it feels small.
 

beltsman

G.O.A.T.
Did Head close the pattern more on the +? I hit with it tonight and launch angle seemed quite low. I don't remember that from the 360.
 

meametz

New User
I felt exactly like you did when i playtested it. I didn't even wanna try it cuz of how hideous (imho) it looks but it felt heavenly when i played with it.

I kept playing with it for about a month and finally bought it.

I still enjoy it very much when i play good with it and especially when i am mostly on the attack. But i started to get some wrist pain (lower palm, ulnar nerve it seems like) especially when playing against a heavy hitter. Also the jarring feeling when i mishit combined with the wrist pain made me take a break from it and i'm using the Yonex VC98 to recover a bit. Day and night difference regarding comfort.

I would suggest Head Lynx Tour as a string. It felt great with the racket.

I also strung it with natural gut / Luxilon 4G Soft for a while after the wrist pain and it also felt very good and comfortable
 

abarth20

Rookie
Did Head close the pattern more on the +? I hit with it tonight and launch angle seemed quite low. I don't remember that from the 360.

Not sure on that but its it's pretty dense for a 16x19... I went down from 24kg to 22kg, Launch angle is much better. Slices are perfect! no more arm pain!
Radical MP is very string sensitive and doesn't have the vibration tech like the 2020 PD, so it feels raw & intense feel. Love it...
I had arm pain at 24kg which I never did with any frame before.. But 22kg Tourbite soft is perfection.. I might try 1.20mm for more spin & launch angle.
 

MrAvocado232

New User
The same thing happens to me... first I started with solinco confidential at 50 pounds, only a little discomfort in the elbow, then babolat rpm rough at 50 pounds and the pain appeared in all its dimension. Unfortunately here I can't try and test racquets and I don't have a great offer of strings available... I'll just lower the tensions and hope the pain goes away because I love this racquet.
 

1HBHfanatic

Legend
Not sure on that but its it's pretty dense for a 16x19... I went down from 24kg to 22kg, Launch angle is much better. Slices are perfect! no more arm pain!
Radical MP is very string sensitive and doesn't have the vibration tech like the 2020 PD, so it feels raw & intense feel. Love it...
I had arm pain at 24kg which I never did with any frame before.. But 22kg Tourbite soft is perfection.. I might try 1.20mm for more spin & launch angle.

-agree here (^BOLD),
-while talking about the h.rad.MP (360+)
-the h.rad.PRO (360+) is a different/better story, solid!! (y)
-the PRO because of the extra weight, it absorbs the bad vibrations better
-the older h.rad.MP (360 only, 2019) was even lighter and thusly bad on vibration (n)
-i only like this racket with multis and/or nat.gut (n)(n)

-the new h.rad.MP (360+, 2021) is a bit better, but still a bit too lite, IMO/IME
-because of the lack of weight, FB (full bed) polys dont do so well, softer strings do tend to help
-isospeed.cream, h.lynx and such soft polys would feel better at some tensions
-ive been stringing alot of MPs with hard mains and soft crosses for some comfort
 

Power Player

Bionic Poster
The same thing happens to me... first I started with solinco confidential at 50 pounds, only a little discomfort in the elbow, then babolat rpm rough at 50 pounds and the pain appeared in all its dimension. Unfortunately here I can't try and test racquets and I don't have a great offer of strings available... I'll just lower the tensions and hope the pain goes away because I love this racquet.

Try a soft cross like Cream as mentioned above. It's still a full poly bed so you will have plenty of spin. I have been using Cream or Element as a cross with Lynx Tour mains.

This frame is not super comfortable, but its got a fantastic feel for it's level of power. Really nails the In- Betweener perfectly. Great feel, still stiff enough for free power. Lots of control as well.

If you end up needing more comfort, the only frames close to this one are the new yellow Pro Kennex Q+5s. Out of those I prefer the Extended version, but they also have a Lite.
 

GN-001

Semi-Pro
I've never been a Head racquet guy, mainly a Yonex VCP97 user but recently Head offered to sponsor me. I demoed it all and decided to take the Radical MP.

Love the pinpoint, point and shoot feel of the Radical MP. Good blend of power, spin and control. I'm getting mine in afew weeks time!
 

hurworld

Hall of Fame
I've never been a Head racquet guy, mainly a Yonex VCP97 user but recently Head offered to sponsor me. I demoed it all and decided to take the Radical MP.

Love the pinpoint, point and shoot feel of the Radical MP. Good blend of power, spin and control. I'm getting mine in afew weeks time!
Interested to know what you demo-ed, and what your thoughts are on them.
 
The same thing happens to me... first I started with solinco confidential at 50 pounds, only a little discomfort in the elbow, then babolat rpm rough at 50 pounds and the pain appeared in all its dimension. Unfortunately here I can't try and test racquets and I don't have a great offer of strings available... I'll just lower the tensions and hope the pain goes away because I love this racquet.

You could try using a thinner string. If you are using Poly then I would recommend 1.15 or 1.20 mm. If you are using 1.20 mm and still have pain, go 1.15 mm. String thickness makes a huge difference. If you aren't a string breaker you cold even go down to 1.10 mm.
 

celito

Professional
It's interesting that the specs of this Rad MP are almost identical to the Tecnifibre TF40 ... but the Rad MP swings a lot easier. The Rad MP is 1 pt more head light. But I wouldn't think there'd be that much of a difference.
 

Power Player

Bionic Poster
It's interesting that the specs of this Rad MP are almost identical to the Tecnifibre TF40 ... but the Rad MP swings a lot easier. The Rad MP is 1 pt more head light. But I wouldn't think there'd be that much of a difference.

I noticed the same thing. I prefer the balance of the Radical MP in this case.
 

GN-001

Semi-Pro
Interested to know what you demo-ed, and what your thoughts are on them.

I've demoed all the speeds, gravitys, extremes, prestiges.

Speeds were pretty good, good blend of power and control but personally I dont like a thick beam, especially for my one handed backhand.

Gravitys were very plush with a good sweetspot. It's great just as a rally racquet for me but I felt like there wasnt much pop off the racquet because it was so plush.

Extremes especially the tour is my second choice behind the radical. The specs are great and similar to the radical MP but I just prefer the feel and abit more plowthrough with the radical MP.

I've tried prestiges in the past and the small sweetspot has always bugged me. Slightly off centre and it feels so dead. I feel like the new version is abit better. I like the control but I feel like the radical MP also has good control with abit more power.

Radical Pro was what I initially intended to get but after playing with it I felt like the trajectory is very low off the racquet and it's great when Im on offence but against big hitters, I sometimes find myself abit late and hard to defend due to the weight. Sluggish compared to the MP

Radical MP for me has the best combination of point and shoot feel & precision, not stiff nor flexible, decent pop, decent plowthrough, a nice combination of power, spin and control, manoeuvrable. It's a nice all round frame for my first strike offensive type of tennis. I might put a leather grip on and maybe a bit of lead in the head when I get it.
 

celito

Professional
I've demoed all the speeds, gravitys, extremes, prestiges.

Speeds were pretty good, good blend of power and control but personally I dont like a thick beam, especially for my one handed backhand.

Gravitys were very plush with a good sweetspot. It's great just as a rally racquet for me but I felt like there wasnt much pop off the racquet because it was so plush.

Extremes especially the tour is my second choice behind the radical. The specs are great and similar to the radical MP but I just prefer the feel and abit more plowthrough with the radical MP.

I've tried prestiges in the past and the small sweetspot has always bugged me. Slightly off centre and it feels so dead. I feel like the new version is abit better. I like the control but I feel like the radical MP also has good control with abit more power.

Radical Pro was what I initially intended to get but after playing with it I felt like the trajectory is very low off the racquet and it's great when Im on offence but against big hitters, I sometimes find myself abit late and hard to defend due to the weight. Sluggish compared to the MP

Radical MP for me has the best combination of point and shoot feel & precision, not stiff nor flexible, decent pop, decent plowthrough, a nice combination of power, spin and control, manoeuvrable. It's a nice all round frame for my first strike offensive type of tennis. I might put a leather grip on and maybe a bit of lead in the head when I get it.

Perhaps it's the string on the demo Rad MP I am trying out, but the sweet spot on my Prestige MP feels bigger. Low balls also seems to be a bit harder to lift with the Rad MP for whatever reason. I've read the Rad MP is string sensitive so I might buy one and try the setups mentioned here. I am keeping my Prestige MP (and maybe getting a new one), but I want a lighter option in my bag and I am intrigued by this Rad MP. I really like how easy it swings.
 

Power Player

Bionic Poster
Perhaps it's the string on the demo Rad MP I am trying out, but the sweet spot on my Prestige MP feels bigger. Low balls also seems to be a bit harder to lift with the Rad MP for whatever reason. I've read the Rad MP is string sensitive so I might buy one and try the setups mentioned here. I am keeping my Prestige MP (and maybe getting a new one), but I want a lighter option in my bag and I am intrigued by this Rad MP. I really like how easy it swings.

Yeah its a little tougher to lift low balls due to the tight pattern. The Rad MP plays a lot like an 18x20. The good news is that the frame is pretty easy to adjust to, and you will start putting those low shots away if you stick with the frame for a bit.
 

Chezbeeno

Professional
Did Head close the pattern more on the +? I hit with it tonight and launch angle seemed quite low. I don't remember that from the 360.
I have both on hand and the pattern looks about the same. I think the 360 is stiffer and more powerful, though, so that could maybe contribute to a different launch angle? I'm not sure.

As far as the 360+ MP goes - I've tried it with a few different setups, most recently Hawk and Lynx at 56lbs, and they both feel decent, and I haven't had any discomfort. Lynx Tour is probably one of the best options, since Head released the racquet along with a new color of the string, and I'm sure they know their products better than anyone.
 

1HBHfanatic

Legend
Perhaps it's the string on the demo Rad MP I am trying out, but the sweet spot on my Prestige MP feels bigger. Low balls also seems to be a bit harder to lift with the Rad MP for whatever reason. I've read the Rad MP is string sensitive so I might buy one and try the setups mentioned here. I am keeping my Prestige MP (and maybe getting a new one), but I want a lighter option in my bag and I am intrigued by this Rad MP. I really like how easy it swings.
-the differences in weight is what "i think" you are describing
-the prestige vs the radical are in 2 weight classes IMO/IME
-the heavier of the two will counter impact in a better/easier way
-the prestige frame weight/mass will feel better on defense and/or low balls (where the edges of the frame come more into play)

-one little thing to consider :unsure:
-you can always go UP in weight with some lead! 8-B
-i think you made a good choice for yourself (y)
 

abarth20

Rookie
10 hours later...

Radical MP + Tourbite Soft at @22KG is where it's at. Today I compared it aqainst my customized 360+ Prestige S (300gr strung,321 SW) which is 16x19 and more open pattern..
Prestige felt anemic, a weird flex in the throat area that felt like it was rubbing away power.. Also wasn't very stable...

Love hove the Radical feels imo... I've served all day and no more arm pain... Just make sure it's strung low... Slices are dirty. Very dirty.
 

ryushen21

Legend
Which string is better for this racquet ... 1.25 mm or 1.30 mm ?
I've been playing 1.25 in it. Lynx Tour, Tour Status, etc.

I've switched over and made this my main racquet now coming from the current VCore 95. The feel, response, and performance of this iteration are hard to argue with.
 

faded_lines

Rookie
I have a pair of Radical MPs coming in this week. Excited to string them up and take them out. Will probably string one with Tour Status 1.25 and the other with gut/poly.
 
Think I've found my racquet!

Lately I have been going back to stiffer racquets with softer poly combos.. The flexy racquets don't just do it for me...

Used the 360+ Speed MP for a while, but it was a bit muted and a boat anchor like SW made it hard to play on hardcourt (clay player).
Then I went back to my trusty 2020 Pure Drive, What a slapper that racquet is! However I do not like the feel on my 1HB. Especially my left hand holding the curvy frame...

So I tried the new Radical! OMG.. The feel is out of this world! Very direct and raw... Just the way I like it... CRISP AF! The sweetspot is small, which is also visible... A very tight spacing for 16x19...
1.25 @ 24KG didn't do well for me I need some more lift! . Next up I will be going for 1.20mm 23Kg for the mains and 22KG for the crosses to lift the ball a bit higher...

The only downside is, I had some arm pain... Maybe due to the high tension.... And I don't use any Vibration Dampeners...

Who else is a Radical MP user out here? Any string tips?

Tour Bite Soft 18g
 

flyhome

Rookie
Head Hawk touch Red 1.25 21/20 or 22/21 kg. Imo, the Radical MP works Better with a round poly. I have 2 TGT 351.1 customized up to 304 gr and 32.2 cm of balance
 
Top