Tennis Racket Reviews
Head Youtek Radical Oversize & Lite Oversize
Today we’re looking at the Head Youtek Radical Oversize and the Head Youtek Radical Lite Oversize. Head’s Youtek technology causes the frame to get stiffer the harder the collision with the tennis ball. In other words, the harder you hit the ball the stiffer the frame gets. Stiffer frames allow you to hit harder, so this technology gives you a little extra pop when you’re going after the ball.
Head’s Radical tennis rackets were first made popular by Andre Agassi. The Oversize and Lite Oversize are easy to swing, have big sweet spots, and are very forgiving rackets. Thus, even if you don’t catch the ball in the middle of the strings, chances are you’ll still hit a pretty good shot.
Head Youtek Speed Mid Plus & Pro
In this racket review we’re looking at the Head Youtek Speed Mid Plus (MP) and the Head Youtek Speed Pro (the racket Novak Djokovic uses). These rackets are good for intermediate to advanced players.
The Youtek technology causes the racket to get stiffer the harder the collision with the tennis ball. Stiffer frames allow you to hit harder. So the faster you swing — the greater the collision at impact — the harder the racket lets you hit.
On the other hand, when you slow your swing down the frame will bend more at impact, increasing feel and touch.
Head Youtek Speed Lite and Elite
This video is our first foray into tennis racket reviews! We’re looking at two Head rackets — the Youtek Speed Lite and the Youtek Speed Elite.
These “Youtek” rackets are interesting because they become stiffer the harder you make contact with the tennis ball. In other words, the faster you swing the stiffer the frame gets when you hit. Most tennis rackets — regardless of whether they’re made of wood, aluminum, graphite, etc. — do the opposite. The greater the collision with the tennis ball, the more they bend.
The idea behind the “Youtek” line is to have the racket react to what you’re trying to do. If you’re swinging fast and trying to hit hard, the frame will stiffen up (because stiffer frames allow you to hit harder). If you slow your swing down the racket becomes less stiff, increasing feel and control.
{ 62 comments }
Hi Will, good job with the reviews, I hope you’ll soon try out the youtek radical pro and midplus cos I’m interested in them.
I demoed both the speed midplus and the pro.
I liked so much the midplus (16×19), tons of power and spin, I felt like I was hitting like mano de piedra with my forehand! Trade off: not much control on my 1handed bakhand, and the stick was a litte too stiff for me hitting volleys (maybe the strings didn’t help, they were very hard).
With the pro instead I had a lot of troubles: too heavy, too stiff. I think that the pro is more difficult to use, while the MP can suite an intermediate player (like I think I am) the pro should be used only by very advanced players. I hope that I can reach that level one day and hit with the pro
)
I don’t know if I can use this section to ask you a question: I would like to change my racquet, now I’m hitting with a babolat pure drive gt, I play most from the baseline with power and spin but I also like to close the point at the net. I cannot say wich is my rating because I’m from Italy and I don’t know the US rating, although I’m an intermediate player as I wrote before, hitting with a semi-western on my forehand and having a 1handed backhand. Can you suggest me a stick? I would like to buy an Head stick, weight is not a problem to 11.8 oz. I liked the speed MP (16×19) but I’m afraid is not so precise, can go for the 18×20 without losing my beloved topspin? Or should I wait for the youtek radical? Pro or MP??
Thankyou so much! Bye
Ooh. New Rackets area.
I’ll definetly be checking this out.
I was wondering if you’d do “Equipment” reviews.
Ranging from Shoes to balls to rackets.
Excelent, rackets reviews it’s a great idea, congratulations.
How about a review comparing Wilson K Factor KSix-One Tour 90 and Wilson K Factor KBlade Tour 93?
Hey. How bout reviewing the new Babolat Y-series. More begginner-oriented, but apparently super forgiving. I doubt they completely live up to the hype though.
why do you just review on the racquet with just the ground strokes what not serve volley etc
Please review the new babolat pure storm gt/gt limited/gt tour
i will be forever grateful
Hi Will can you make a review of the Wilson K Six One Tour?
Thanks
anyone know about a racquet that has a open string patern(16 x 19 etc.) , good for control and has the headsize between 95-100. i bought newly a racquet that had the headsize of 104 and is 18 x 19, i was gonna buy the six one team (wilson) but they were out and this racquet generates too much power and too little spin and control so please help me find a racquet that fits the descriptions above
Hey Will great job with the raquets review!!
I would like to watch a review of the Babolat Aeropro Drive
And also the Wilson (K)Blade 98.
Thanks for all!!!!
Will,
Take a look at the new Babolat Pure Storm Limited GT and see if it’s a worthy contender for review!
Thanks!
hallo, can somebody help me with my problem,i bought Wilsom K six one team and i am not happy with it.i miss control and comfort when hitting,can different string help me with more control.thanx
Hey,
Why not post a review on new pure drive GT and GT+ for intermediate and beginners to experts, i guess its one of the largest selling rackets from babolat, you can also post reviews of all pro’s rackets, and for what level player can use em.
Dear Will,
I appreciate you going to the effort of reviewing racquets, but there’s no point if it’s going to sound just like a mini brochure. I feel you need to go into more detail on how the racquet feels, particularly from all areas of the court. And you could tell us what string & tension you’re playtesting the racquets with…
I’m sure you’re a great coach and person, but for me your delivery on camera sounds way too serious/dry… Maybe it’s your style to be uber slick and professional, but it would be great for all concerned if you have a bit of fun.
By the way you’ve done a great thing for the sport by setting up this website, and I hope to be getting more out of FYB when I eventually sign up for the premium service.
cheers and a big thumbs up from Sydney, Australia…
Marcus
Verdasco is a beast. His forehands one of the best on tour. I hope he makes it in the barclays.
hi will why dont u review babolat aero pro drive cortex
The Aero Pro Drive is a very good raquet. Not only because Nadal use it but also because I think it’s so much well equilibrated and aerodynamic… sorry for my english!
Dave
i want improve my forehand thanks
if you want to inprove your forhand,you should practise more!!
haha replied to my own review
can you please give a comment on kfactor ksix one 95 16/18 ztriongpatter and what type of strings are good
send me a email about it please and thank you
I can you review Tecnifibre TFight 320 VO2 Max tennis racquet please!
Wilson Surge = Best ‘Tweener on the market, love it!!!
do a racket review for the k six.one tour
pls. review technifibre T-Fight rackets..thanks
Are you going to review Aeropro Drive GT?
Yes please review the APD Gt
Nice review on the Head Youtek Radical, I personally tested this racquet out about a week ago and definitely enjoyed it. I found that it was easy to drive the ball but slightly less feel when trying to hit a deep topspin ball.
Just my opinion. I must say you did a great job!
Great session! I´m a brazilian fan. The website is a fever around here. I´d like to know more about the Tecnifibre rackets. Do you have any comments on those?
owned the youtek speek pro for a while, sold it to my friend. found that it was too difficult for me to control the ball when I swung out, however I did have more power on serves and agree about the ease of spin generation. went back to my LM prestige mids.
FYB, could you give your opinion on the BLX six.one 95 16×18 'cause I might buy it?
FYB colud you do a review of the Babolat AeroPro Drive GT Plus? please
yes please review the 95 and the team
FYB could you do racket reviews for the Babolat AeroPro Drive GT and The AeroPro drive GT+
Can you do a review on the verdasco racket, the technifibre 320 VO2.
wold be really nice if you can post generic article on how to choose the racket. Which racket (size, weight, etc.) suits which game etc.
Or if there is such article already on the site pls point me to it.
Much appreciated
The Head size of the YouTek Radical Lite in Europe is 102 Square Inches. Was Tennis Express aware of that?
The Head size of the YouTek Radical Lite in Europe is 102 Square Inches. Was Tennis Express aware of that?
fyb could please do a review of wilson blx six one team . i am a national player , 14 yrs which racket would you suggest for me .
Can you do a review on the aero storm tour gt please
I have been using the Head Speed MP and I can definitely concur with the review in that it is an ideal racquet for control purposes. I generally have a tendency to play with power and have a large swing, but this racquet has forced me to adopt a more controlled game, thus allowing for better placement of the balls. I noticed that I am able to serve with and hit my targets more effectively. Really great for kicking the serve out wide. Great for volleys and drop shots as well.
shutup
You may want to ask yourself whether these reviews diminish your credibility as a coach. If you are getting paid to promote rackets, that's excellent and I say right on, good going, bravo and I wish you continued success.
But if you are simply trying to offer a service for readers, I don't think you're using your time very well. Your descriptions of how these rackets work and what they actually do betrays a naivete and an unseemly fondness for marketing hype. I've got nothing personal against racket geeks, but I do think a lot of people are less likely to listen to someone who suggests that there are big differences among rackets.
The proof, as they say, is in the pros. Look at the rackets they use. If there was some big advantage to one or the other, they'd all switch in the bat of an eye. Turns out, the only real differences are in the strings and string tension, overall weight and balance of the racket — that's where you can really make a difference in how a racket relates to your game. The other stuff about stiffening and flexing and yada yada is little more than a sales job…
My friend, if you had any idea about the physics of dynamics, you would not speak as if stiffness was not related to your game and, in a second time, this is being utterly stupid when you consider what the “people” think of you in doing something – do it because it's useful, because it's preferable, but never to suit the likes and dislikes of a mass which is more directed by impressions or opinions than by logic.
There are two things about the matrix used by the diffetrent companies which influence highly how you will feel your shot and how does the ball will actually come out: cohesion and stiffness.
Cohesion is about a nanoscopic bounding between elements which allows, more or less, the composite material to act as a unite, as a whole, as if it was one single element. A more coherent matrix will offer a sharper response, a more accurate shot.
Stiffness is about how hard a given matrix is – how is least likely to flex. This one is rather a matter of choice when compared to the first one. A shaft which flex more will indeed kick back more creating a trampoline effect. Very useful to add pace off a slow swing, but off a good swing like that of the professionnals, it will only angle your shots at the very contact making it really hard to aim and it won't make much difference in pace to a solid arm action.
We see GT at Babolat (it stands for Graphite Tungstene), [K]arophite black and BLX at Wilson's. The name are about as far as you can go for saling; but the technology standing behind is far more important to your impact. Pick up an old Pro Staff just for the sake of it and compare its feeling to the new BLX version – of course, use the 6.1 tour 90; take the AeroPro Drive and the Prince EXO3 and see how cutting through the air feels, but also bother to see how different they feel – the Aero will feel more crisp and the EXO3 will be more forgiving…
It's a matter of balance, of weight, headsize and string pattern; sure. But, the material which makes the frame has a lot to do with how much cohesion and stiffness you get. Both affects A LOT your impact… As an example, the stiffness can give you up to 25% lesser deflection upon impact.
Mad Scientist: cohesion and stiffness may make some very small difference, but it is dwarfed by the differences made by shifting the balance, weight or string tension or string type of a racket.
which is the grip size that uses rafa nadal and tsonga with their aeropro drvie gt?
reply me please!
Actually the difference is ENORMOUS from one pick to an other. You can vary easily around 24%… hey, 24%; it means the racket kicks back 1/4 less than the other aside – it is enormous. You can get rackets which cuts 14, 15 and even 20% more through the air which means it gives you free pace if your swing is not fast enough…
The weight and balance are surely important, but they are adjusted to fit the frame type and not the other way around.
But, look how I express those differences: in percentages. It means the sharper and harder your contact and the faster your swing, the most benefit you will gain. You need a good baseline game to feel the differences and physics PROVES there are very significant differences, enough for even good amateurs to notice it.
There are huges advantages in choosing one frame instead of an other, but they work in relation with your swing and are not absolute additions to your game. This is why pros do not pick one genius racket over every other: not because there is no difference, but rather because some frames composition will react and help certain types of swings while being useless to the other.
Hi Will,
I was wondering if you could demo something like a BLX 6.1 tour or the K Factor version. I tend to get a huge accelerations into offensive strikes and it would probably be a good idea to get a heavy headlight racket like that. With my racket right now, it's correct when I'm still warming up, but as I start getting the rythm and hit harder, I lost much of the feel in my string bed (100sq. in.).
Thanks for your great care and job; I never waste a chance of plugging your site because it has indeed an uncomparable list and quality of instructionnal videos, pro strokes, match analysis, etc.
Hi Bjarki. Try the blx pro open….(16 x 19, 100 headsize ) very good spin, enough control easy to swing. I enjoy it a lot..
HEYY
i wanted to know if a Babolat-PURE DRIVE(andy rodick)
can be used by me??im 14 and i hav been playing tennis since a year.
pls suggest. (my forhands r medium strong and backhands need more force)
I am currently demo'ing a speed elite. I find I have better accuracy, can swing harder and generate spin more easily than the racquet I have used for the last two years (a BB V1 mid-plus). I was looking for a racquet to do the above, so far I pretty happy with the result.
hi i just wondern what racket I should use if like to play with top spin but don´t like the babolat rackets??
Hey how about the BLX Surge? That thing's a beauty. That's like my dream racket right there. I mean its 10.4 and it's pretty evenly balanced but it's just head light enough so where you can get some good control with it. Love it.=)
Comments on this entry are closed.