Category Archives: Technology
New Head Graphene 360 Radical! Here Now!
The new Head Graphene 360 Radical has arrived and I have already chosen the one for me!
The four (4) racquets in this series cover every possible player style and the new graphics package will appeal to most players. This is a win-win Radical Series!
Head Graphene 360 Radical Series
Just in case you are wondering which one I have chosen it is the Radical S! Why? I handle a lot of racquets each day and this racquet just “feels” good when I pick it up! Plus the 102 square inch head size fits me fine.
This series is the most impressive Radical Series I have seen in a few years.
You can read the reviews of each of these racquets on this site but you really should come by and take a look and “feel” for yourself.
My setup is going to be this racquet strung with PEEK at 52 pounds. I am going to increase the weight to 315 grams and the swing weight to 315 kg/cm² as well.
I am anxious to start playing again and this is just the racquet to motivate me! Motivate yourself, too! Get one!
This is a comparison sheet of the four (4) models so you can get some idea as to which racquet may suit you!
Head Graphene 360 Radical Series Strung
The Rebel Backpack and Radical 6 Racquet Combi add to the excitment of the new Radical racquets! Complete the package with these bags!
String Bed Stiffness – A Short Video
It is raining today and it felt like a good time to talk about “string bed stiffness”…so let’s go!
This quick video will make a plea to you tennis players to demand more from your racquet technician so you are getting the most from your equipment.
Thank you for watching!
Dr. Goodman visits the World Headquarters!
We were thrilled to have Dr. Brad Goodman visit the World Headquarters to produce a session for his Doc-Talk-Live program!
Dr. Goodman is a tennis player who wants to know more about equipment in an effort to protect his body and beat his opponents. You can catch this episode here: Doc Talk Live
In addition to the session Dr, Goodman was given the opportunity to “stretch” both a very stiff string and a very “stretchy” string, something that he, and many others, have not done. Needless to say he was amazed at the difference.
Dr, Goodman’s visit was a great opportunity to have a real conversation about tennis equipment. Please let me have your comments!
Head Graphene 360 Radical Pro
Don’t let the word “Pro” scare you away from trying this racquet! You can see all the specs below but this 98 square inch head and thin beam (20/23/21) add up to a definitive “players” racquet just slightly heavier than the MP but having the same swing weight.
The Graphene material has been re-arranged a little and is now “360” as oppossed to “Touch”. It seems the word “touch” diminished the famous feed-back of the racquet…so goodbye!
Like the “MP” the “Pro” has a slightly more “round” grip shape on a pallet that accepts the Head Sensor, as do all the recent Head racquets.
Head Graphene 360 Radical Pro
| Manufacturer | Head |
|---|---|
| Racquet Model | Graphene 360 Radical Pro |
| Reference Tension | 56 lbs - 25 k.4g |
| String | Head Velocity MLT 16 Black |
| Machine Used | True Tension Professional |
| ASPS, RDC | 55 |
| ASPS, FlexFour | 64.5 |
| Racquet Flex, RDC | 66 - After stringing |
| Racquet Flex, FlexFour | 46 |
| Racquet - In Plane Stiffness | 526.3 lbs/Inch |
| Weight, Grams | 333 |
| Weight, Ounces | 11.74 |
| Balance, mm | 322 |
| Balance, Inch | 12.68 |
| Length, Cm | 68.6 |
| Length, Inch | 27.008 |
| Head Width | 9.51 |
| Head Length | 12.94 |
| Head Area, cm2 | 623.7 |
| Head Area, Sq. Inch | 96.7 |
| Number of Main Strings | 16 |
| Number of Cross Strings | 19 |
| Ratio Cross/Mains | .619 |
| Main String Grid | 7.50 |
| Cross String Grid | 9.40 |
| Density (% of head filled with string) | .729 |
| Average Cross String Space | .495 |
| Average Main String Space | .469 |
| Dynamic Tension, Kp, ERT | 36 |
| Dynamic Tension, Lbs/in | 201.35 |
| First Moment, Nm | .826 |
| Polar Moment | 333 |
| Torsional Stability | 14 |
| Swing Weight, Kg/cm2 | 319 |
| Swing Weight, Ounces | 11.25 |
| Swing Weight Calculated | 346.3 |
| Power, RDC | 50 |
| Control, RDC | 50 |
| Manueverability, RDC | 74 |
| Power, Calculated | 2055.6 |
| Head Points | 6.61 |
| Head Weight, % | 46.9% |
| Center of Percussion | 20.9 |
| Dwell Time, ms | 8.58 - No Swing |
| Efective Stiffness - lbs | 30.0 |
| K, Lb/In | 176.28 |
| Recoil Weight | 156.7 |
| Twist Weight | 226.9 |
| End Weight | 137.1 |
| Tip Weight | 196.9 |
| 9 O'Clock | 100.5 |
| 3 O'Clock | 100.9 |
| Butt Cap | 131.3 |
Will Poor Stringing Save the Life of Polyester?
OK, here’s the deal. I have written about this several times and each time I decided that it was a waste of time, so it goes back into a file somewhere!
The time is now that we really need to understand more about stringing as a consumer and what we can do as racquet technicians to make the life of a player better, more fun, and safer.
This a quick story to set the premise of the rest.
Several weeks ago I received a freshly strung (24 hours) racquet to perhaps make a few modifications to the racquet. The racquet was strung by the player, a very good junior with a high ranking. The racquet was 18×20 with a full bed of polyester at 53 pounds. When I asked why the response was “I have always done it this way”. Fair enough!
The string bed stiffness (SBS) using the Beer’s ERT300 was 23, the SBS using the Babolat RDC was 29, and the SBS using the FlexFour was 50. If you are familiar with these data, you know the numbers are quite low.
The racquet had only one mis-weave and one crossover, but it was severely distorted, i.e., very wide.
For a quick comparison, a properly strung racquet would have numbers like 36, 58, and 67 respectively.
So, the “softness” of the string bed when improperly strung was something that may not transmit as much shock to the body as a racquet that was properly strung at the requested 53 pounds and has a higher SBS!
Therefore a poor stringing may save the life of polyester based string! It may not be good for performance or racquet integrity but it seems that very few players care!
So what do we do?
For years I have been advocating for the use of a finished SBS instead of a “reference tension”. Why? Because each stringer and stringing machine probably produce a different result.
If a player comes to us and requests an SBS of 37 (Beers ERT300 for example), we can adjust the stringing machine to produce that SBS number. Our machines may be set at 40 to achieve the requested 37, and another shop may have to set their machine to something different. The object is to arrive at the finished SBS, and it is up to the racquet technician to be able to do that! The result will be a better performing racquet that will last longer.
Racquet Quest, LLC
