Old Head Youtek Speed Pro Racquet. Too heavy for me?

[arepol]

So I got back to playing tennis after some years without touching a racquet. I have an old Head Youtek Speed Pro: 98 inch head, strung weight of 349 g, pattern of 16x19, 8.8 HL, beam of 18 mm, stiffnes of 70, etc (you can see the specs in the wayback machine). I actually weighted it with an overgrip, a dampener and strings, and it weights 357g! The balance was supposed to be 8.8 HL, but I also measured it and it's more like 7.5 HL.

The racquet feels solid like a rock, with a great plow-through and lots of power, but with good control too. Also I find it has a fairly big sweetspot. But I'm afraid maybe it's going to make me alter my strokes, not making them as fast or fluid as they should be. I'm not precisely a big guy, 170 cm (5'6) and 62 kg (137 pounds). From what I'm looking, pro players that are much taller and heavier than me are playing with lighter raquets.

So what do you think, what is your advice? Is this raquet good for me, or should I rather get a lighter one?

 

[JoaoN]

That's an answer only you can provide. If you can swing it for a long period of time without hurting your game or yourself, then it is not to heavy. One thing though, how high you are won't have anything to do with this matter.

 

[2nd Serve Ace]

As an absolute last resort you might consider subbing out the leather grip.

BTW, the newest speed pro is a darn good frame at only 326 strung.

Edit: everything about that old speed frame makes it look like a serve monster/net rusher type stick.

 

[TennisHound]

So I got back to playing tennis after some years without touching a racquet. I have an old Head Youtek Speed Pro: 98 inch head, strung weight of 349 g, pattern of 16x19, 8.8 HL, beam of 18 mm, stiffnes of 70, etc (you can see the specs in the wayback machine). I actually weighted it with an overgrip, a dampener and strings, and it weights 357g! The balance was supposed to be 8.8 HL, but I also measured it and it's more like 7.5 HL.

The racquet feels solid like a rock, with a great plow-through and lots of power, but with good control too. Also I find it has a fairly big sweetspot. But I'm afraid maybe it's going to make me alter my strokes, not making them as fast or fluid as they should be. I'm not precisely a big guy, 170 cm (5'6) and 62 kg (137 pounds). From what I'm looking, pro players that are much taller and heavier than me are playing with lighter raquets.

So what do you think, what is your advice? Is this raquet good for me, or should I rather get a lighter one?

Its probably too heavy for you. If it’s the one I’m thinking of - all white. 11.7oz unstrung?

 

[bcart1991]

I broke mine out last week. It's a surprisingly solid frame, with mine needing new strings...

It feels like it's a little bigger than a 98, sweet spot is nice. Good pop on serves, flat forehands, topspin backhands, decent pop on volleys (Charlie don't S&V...).

I may break it out for my doubles match tomorrow. Hell, I rotate between 2-3 frames per match anyway.

 

[fuzz nation]

So I got back to playing tennis after some years without touching a racquet. I have an old Head Youtek Speed Pro: 98 inch head, strung weight of 349 g, pattern of 16x19, 8.8 HL, beam of 18 mm, stiffnes of 70, etc (you can see the specs in the wayback machine). I actually weighted it with an overgrip, a dampener and strings, and it weights 357g! The balance was supposed to be 8.8 HL, but I also measured it and it's more like 7.5 HL.

The racquet feels solid like a rock, with a great plow-through and lots of power, but with good control too. Also I find it has a fairly big sweetspot. But I'm afraid maybe it's going to make me alter my strokes, not making them as fast or fluid as they should be. I'm not precisely a big guy, 170 cm (5'6) and 62 kg (137 pounds). From what I'm looking, pro players that are much taller and heavier than me are playing with lighter raquets.

So what do you think, what is your advice? Is this raquet good for me, or should I rather get a lighter one?

Hmm... A racquet with that weight and balance really won't let you get away with not using a fluid stroke, at least not for very long. If trying to play full outings with that rig wears out your arm or your shoulder, then you're probably having trouble with setting up and swinging it to the ball on time.

I'm rather a fan of heavier frames and my current players are about the same weight as your racquet, but mine have a few points more HL balance and that makes them rather manageable. I've loaned them to kids as young as 11 in recent years and they enjoyed them fine for much longer than just 15-20 minutes. So I think that heavier racquets aren't necessarily right or wrong, but I think that the balance is important for getting the swing behavior from that racquet that you want.

If the stability and performance of your Head are working for you, but the weight is a burden, you might be significantly more comfortable with an alternative that's only a couple of tenths of an ounce lighter than yours. If you just want your racquet to be a little more maneuverable, an easy experiment would be to add some weight to your handle and get the balance up to around 10 pts. HL.

If you demo some other frames, it won't be hard to find a bunch that are a lot lighter than your Speed Pro, but try to also have a go with one or two that are only slightly more lean. One upside of using a somewhat heavy frame is that it will usually make plenty of power without needing you to take an ultra fast swipe at the ball. Light racquets are quick, but you might need to crank really hard on the ball to get the same oomph and command of the ball that you enjoy now with your Head.

 

[Dartagnan64]

From what I'm looking, pro players that are much taller and heavier than me are playing with lighter raquets.

Most pros are playing 350-370 gm rackets. Do you think they are playing retail frames under those paint jobs?

 

[snoflewis]

It's an awesome frame but it was a log. I believe sw was 345. Wasnt too bad on groundstrokes but couldnt get the racket over my head, esp on second serves

 

[Faris]

Most pros are playing 350-370 gm rackets. Do you think they are playing retail frames under those paint jobs?

They might not be playing retail but you do realise that current trend is more towards higher swingweight but relatively low static weight. Nadal, Thiem, Sasha Zverev, Tsitsipas, Goffin, Khachanov, Raonic, Nishikori and many others have been reported to be playing with under 350g strung racquets. I made a detailed spreadsheet one time and will share it once I find time.

 

[arepol]

Thank you all for your answers, they were really helpful!

So like you told me, I played a long game to see how I was doing after a second set, and I have to admit at the end I felt tired swingwing the racquet. It’s a pity because I like how solid it plays, but I feel it’s altering my game. I notice it on the serves specially, but not only.

To TennisHound: yes it’s 11.7 oz unstrung. And that’s the problem I think, it’s just too heavy.
To 2ndserveace: the problem with subbing out the leather grip is that it would make the racquet slightly less HL, so less maneuverable. And anyway I would have to put another undergrip so it won’t be a huge change in weight. And Fuzz Nation I think adding weight, even in the handle, will increase the swingweight.

So I guess the only solution is to look for a new racquet. I like a 16x19 pattern for the spin, and I suppose a good strung weight would be around 325 and 340 g. more or less. Any recommendations?? I'm afraid I'm not up to date with the racquet market now.

 

[JoaoN]

Thank you all for your answers, they were really helpful!

So like you told me, I played a long game to see how I was doing after a second set, and I have to admit at the end I felt tired swingwing the racquet. It’s a pity because I like how solid it plays, but I feel it’s altering my game. I notice it on the serves specially, but not only.

To TennisHound: yes it’s 11.7 oz unstrung. And that’s the problem I think, it’s just too heavy.
To 2ndserveace: the problem with subbing out the leather grip is that it would make the racquet slightly less HL, so less maneuverable. And anyway I would have to put another undergrip so it won’t be a huge change in weight. And Fuzz Nation I think adding weight, even in the handle, will increase the swingweight.

So I guess the only solution is to look for a new racquet. I like a 16x19 pattern for the spin, and I suppose a good strung weight would be around 325 and 340 g. more or less. Any recommendations?? I'm afraid I'm not up to date with the racquet market now.

Reading your feedback, i agree with you, it is to heavy.

As for racquet advise, there are A LOT of option with the specs you like. Talking only about the ones i played with, i would recommend you to demo the Yonex Vcore pro 97 if you favor control and feel, or the Vcore Ezone 98 (it would be better, imo, if you could demo the DR 98) if you want some blend of power/control/spin.

I also had some time with Head Touch prestige pro and couldn't gel with it, balls were flying everywhere.

You could also take a look at Head speed 360 MP, Wilson Blade CV 16x19 (there is a new version that is supposed to come without CV coming in a few months) and the Yonex Vcore 98.

Like i said, there a lot of 16x19 racquets with your desired weight out there.

Good hunt.