Tennis Racquet Review: Head YouTek Graphene Radical MP
November 8th, 2013 by Do It Tennis
“Old Favorite, New Feel”
4 Stars
I was very excited to hit with the updated Head YouTek Graphene Radical MP tennis racquet. I really enjoy the feel of Head’s Graphene technology, so I was interested in how it would feel in the Radical and also how the newly applied open 16x19 string pattern would feel in the YouTek Graphene Radical MP. There were a lot of things that I liked about the new Radical MP tennis racquet and other things that I did not like. For the rest of this review I will discuss how I felt about the performance of the Radical MP in terms of groundstrokes, net play, and the serve.
I definitely enjoyed hitting groundstrokes and returns with the Radical MP tennis racquet. With the new Graphene tennis racquet technology, the Radical is much sturdier than the previous generation. This helped a lot in my return game as the racquet held up better and allowed me to get more returns back into play. There was a noticeable increase in power in my groundstrokes with this updated version of the Radical MP. I really enjoyed the redistribution of weight that Head has done with all of the new Graphene tennis racquets, including the Radical. This made the racquet swing much smoother through the air for a more powerful and controlled stroke. Something that I did not like about this updated version of the Radical MP is the open 16x19 string pattern. I know that a more open string pattern seems to be the way that the best tennis racquet brands are going but I liked the traditional and controlled feel that the 18x20 Radicals offered and I definitely missed that while hitting with the Graphene Radical MP.
I had nothing to complain about the net play of the Radical MP tennis racquet. It has good feel and pop off of the volley. It is quite maneuverable as well. The Radical does not have as good of feel up at the net as say a Prestige, but I was able to get more pop for some more punishing volleys.
For me, the serve is where the Radical MP tennis racquet performed the best. The way that the weight is distributed in this racquet seems to be very compatible for serving. The head of the racquet really comes through the finish of my service motion nicely, producing a lot of power and pop into the box. I did enjoy the more open string pattern on the serve as I was able to produce very good spin and kick to go along with the power that the racquet helped me to produce.
I’d say that this is an improvement from the previous Head tennis racquet models of the Radical MP line. This is mainly because I really enjoy the feel of Head’s Graphene technology as it makes for a sturdier racquet that produces more power and control. I do wish that Head had stuck with the 18x20 string pattern that we are used to seeing from the Radical MPs. That was something that I always enjoyed from the Radical MP before. I would recommend this tennis racquet to someone who is looking to get a little more on the serve from their racquet and also for someone who plays with a lot of variety in their game as the Radical MP allows for a lot of feel and playfulness.
Micah Groom
