moon shot
Hall of Fame
I would like to take this opportunity to make some heretical statements which might have some truth in them or might just be a delusion brought upon me by playing tennis until 10:50, browsing fleabay until midnight, and feeding the baby at 3am.
I'm a trained graphic designer, web developer, photographer, and noticer of things. In those lines of work I often take a whole object and break it down visually into component pieces to derive meaning.
In another thread @dr325i wrote a nice succinct explanation of the PT57A through E, with the key differences in the mold being in the throat shape and beam to bridge taper.
I have a few of those frames so I was interested how those design components moved across product lines and generations. It appears the i.Prestige (TK57E) did gain one of its unique components from the Ti.Radical, the bridge taper. I've often seen it noted that the TK57E (and the less common D) differs from the TK57A in that it has a longer and more fluid taper. That same long fluid taper is seen on the Ti.Radical, the generation before the i.Prestige.
That was not the first use of this taper by head though, the earliest I can find on a constant width beam is the Premier Tour (previously it was on trysis 190, 230, and other taper beams). This taper, the 16 main pattern, and size differences between the Prestige Mid, Rev Pro, and Premier make me wonder how similar the Rev Pro might be to a Premier Tour.
The angles and curves in the beams of the throat on the Ti.Radical were another departure from the previous generation which had maintained the narrow base of the throat on the MP since inception. The OS on the other hand had a wider, less curved, beam through the throat. It seems that the decision was made on the Ti generation to apply the same throat to the MP and OS radical. Their form is nearly identical apart from the OS having a lower bridge. This "V" vs the previous "Y" throat shape was previously only seen in OS frames and others not considered players racquets. I would hazard a guess that the "V" shape reduces torsion, but with less torsion felt on off center shots the overall feel of where contact is made has been compromised.
It seems the concept of making design components in the line more similar has repeated its self over time. The fluid bridge taper and throat of the Ti.Radical MP and OS, the fluid bridge taper on the i.Prestige Mid and MP, the lack of taper on the LM prestige Mid and MP.
We will see if I have another fever dream coming up about the component similarities of the Fischer Elliptic, Yonex 95D and Head GXT Radical.
I'm a trained graphic designer, web developer, photographer, and noticer of things. In those lines of work I often take a whole object and break it down visually into component pieces to derive meaning.
In another thread @dr325i wrote a nice succinct explanation of the PT57A through E, with the key differences in the mold being in the throat shape and beam to bridge taper.
I have a few of those frames so I was interested how those design components moved across product lines and generations. It appears the i.Prestige (TK57E) did gain one of its unique components from the Ti.Radical, the bridge taper. I've often seen it noted that the TK57E (and the less common D) differs from the TK57A in that it has a longer and more fluid taper. That same long fluid taper is seen on the Ti.Radical, the generation before the i.Prestige.
That was not the first use of this taper by head though, the earliest I can find on a constant width beam is the Premier Tour (previously it was on trysis 190, 230, and other taper beams). This taper, the 16 main pattern, and size differences between the Prestige Mid, Rev Pro, and Premier make me wonder how similar the Rev Pro might be to a Premier Tour.
The angles and curves in the beams of the throat on the Ti.Radical were another departure from the previous generation which had maintained the narrow base of the throat on the MP since inception. The OS on the other hand had a wider, less curved, beam through the throat. It seems that the decision was made on the Ti generation to apply the same throat to the MP and OS radical. Their form is nearly identical apart from the OS having a lower bridge. This "V" vs the previous "Y" throat shape was previously only seen in OS frames and others not considered players racquets. I would hazard a guess that the "V" shape reduces torsion, but with less torsion felt on off center shots the overall feel of where contact is made has been compromised.
It seems the concept of making design components in the line more similar has repeated its self over time. The fluid bridge taper and throat of the Ti.Radical MP and OS, the fluid bridge taper on the i.Prestige Mid and MP, the lack of taper on the LM prestige Mid and MP.
We will see if I have another fever dream coming up about the component similarities of the Fischer Elliptic, Yonex 95D and Head GXT Radical.
