Head's Head Design

[texcoug]

I originally posted this in Bluegrasser's thread on new Head racquets. However (as he has to go to a library to get on the internet, his responses are too slow!!!). Here is my question:

I have been playing with Prince and Babolat racquets (mostly Prince). Prince's bubble head design lacks sight-appeal (aesthetics), but I find it to be more effective for stroking the ball. Maybe it has something to do with it feeling like the head is at a definite place on the racquet -- and you can feel it -- almost like there is a difference between the throat and the head. I am not sure this is making sense, but to me it is like swinging, say, a golf club. Anyway, I tend to control the head better with the Prince because I always know where the head is. You can really notice this with the Diablo Mid.

Anyway, to my question, the Head FXP Radical Team (my new racquet) is listed as 102". I was looking for a reduction from the 105" of my 03 Red (first racquet I had ever played with at 100"+). Well, for some reason the Head 102" plays smaller to me. It seems significantly smaller than my 03 Red (105"). Looking at the Head design, it seems that the racquet is more oblong -- maybe some of the hitting surface on the head is angled in a way that it is not really accessible. Anyone else have comments on this? Anyone else notice this? Is the design of the heads of some frames shaped in such a way that some (more than usual) of the head-size is not really usable? Yonex v. Prince v. Babolat v. Head?

 

[Virgilio]

Good question, I've never noticed this in any of my racquets but...according to what prince says about the O3 tech, couldn't it just be that the O3 Red had a larger feel of sweetspot compared to what it should have had, thus for instance a Prince O3 102 would have a larger felt sweetspot than, say, a Head 102? Just guessing...

 

[OnyxZ28]

Well, at least with the 93 and 98 Head sticks, it's actually closer to 90 and 95, respectively, I wouldn't be surprised if Head's 660 sticks were actually 98 sq in, but I can't confirm that for sure.

 

[lookitstrevor]

I think Babolats and Head raquets have prety similiar shapes. I have noticed taht Yonex has a very different shape than the previous two mentioned.

 

[jaskey]

i think i read around here somewhere that, Head measures their hitting surface from frame edge to frame edge. where as prince would measure from where the string area begins to where the string area ends, thus Head hitting surface is actually a lot smaller than they suggest.

 

[texcoug]

i think i read around here somewhere that, Head measures their hitting surface from frame edge to frame edge. where as prince would measure from where the string area begins to where the string area ends, thus Head hitting surface is actually a lot smaller than they suggest.

if that is true, that should be something disclosed (at least by the retailers). Can anyone confirm or deny this?

 

[Rysty]

About Yonex head shape: It works. I was not a Yonex fan, then I tried RDX 500 Mid. It really plays larger than its 90 sq.in. head size indicates. This may have something to do with "IPS" weighting system too. (They call it technology, I call it "in-built lead tape" )

 

[Deuce]

The head shape of many Head racquets is more of an oval shape, while that of most Prince racquets is noticeably more round.

For an unusual head shape, try a Fischer Vac Pro 90. Very long and narrow - takes some getting used to.