Category Archives: Weight
A Rarity …Continued
It is fun to have these fairly rare racquets to work on and get back into playing condition! We will report on each of them as we go through the setup procedure, and note any differences that we find.
We will try to compare some of the specifications to current or “recently current” racquets to see how far we have come…or not!
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- Remember me?
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- Austrian Twin Tube
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- Original TK57 Pallet
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- New Butt Caps
A few things stand out right away:
- The racquet is nearly 28 inches long (71.1cm)
- The racquet is very flexible in (RDC48) and out (285.7) of plane
- The racquet has a straight thin (21mm) beam
- The racquet is (was) made in Austria
| Head Radical Tour OS - Austria | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Head |
| Racquet Model | Head Radical Tour OS - Austria |
| Reference Tension | 58 lbs - 26.3 k |
| String: Main/Cross | Polyester |
| Machine Used | TT Professional |
| ASPS, RDC | 64 |
| ASPS, FlexFour | 63 |
| Racquet Flex, RDC | 48 - After stringing |
| Racquet Flex, FlexFour | 44 |
| Weight, Grams | 352 |
| Weight, Ounces | 12.42 |
| Balance, mm | 329 |
| Balance, Inch | 12.95 |
| Length, Cm | 71.1 |
| Length, Inch | 27.992 |
| Head Width | 10.23 |
| Head Length | 13.43 |
| Head Area, cm2 | 695.9 |
| Head Area, Sq. Inch | 107.9 |
| Beam Width, mm, Shaft, Center, Tip | 21, 21, 21 |
| In Plane Stiffness, Pounds/In | 285.7 Lbs/In. |
| In Plane Stiffness, Kg/cm | 51.1 Kg/cm |
| Number of Main Strings | 18 |
| Number of Cross Strings | 19 |
| Ratio Cross/Mains | .721 |
| Main String Grid | 7.81 |
| Cross String Grid | 10.12 |
| Density (% of head filled with string) | .733 |
| Average Cross String Space | .533 |
| Average Main String Space | .434 |
| Dynamic Tension, Kp, ERT | 37 |
| Dynamic Tension, Lbs/in | 206.94 |
| First Moment, Nm | .894 |
| Polar Moment | 389 |
| Torsional Stability | 20 |
| Swing Weight, Kg/cm2 | 369 |
| Swing Weight, Ounces | 13.03 |
| Swing Weight Calculated | 381 |
| Power, RDC | 36 |
| Control, RDC | 66 |
| Manueverability, RDC | 41 |
| Power, Calculated | 2063.3 |
| Head Points | 8.35 (negative = head heavy) |
| Head Weight, % | 46.3% |
| Center of Percussion | 22.0 |
| Dwell Time, ms, No Swing | 7.96 |
| Effective Stiffness - lbs | 27.4 |
| K, Lb/In (SBS) RDC | 205.13 |
| Recoil Weight | 186.9 |
| Twist Weight | 273.6 |
| End Weight | 139.3 |
| Tip Weight | 213.3 |
| Total Weight | 352.6 |
| 9 O'Clock | 106.3 |
| 3 O'Clock | 106.0 |
| Butt Cap | 140.7 |
| Total Weight | 353 |
A Rarity!
Just like an animal that is near extinction you hardly ever see one, but three at the same time is unheard of!
Of course, we are not talking about animals here but the rarity still applies to these racquets!
Head Twin Tube Radical
Most players have heard of this racquet but many probably have never seen one!
Three (3) of them came into the World Headquarters today for some TLC.
The bottom one is brand new with the protective sleeve still intact! So intact that it was nearly impossible to get it off, except in little tiny pieces.
However, the top one was well used, including the overgrip!
All of these racquets are getting new grip pallets so it is not an issue!
I will add more pictures as the work progresses on these rare racquets!
Head Extreme Tour
Head is, I believe, going to expose and promote the Extreme Series to a greater extent than before.
Why do I think that? Because I am holding in my very own hands a Head Extreme Tour! This 98 square inch racquet continues the Graphene 360+ technology which has become popular in the last several releases of Head Racquets!
The new Extreme series will be shipping in July so we can’t show many pictures except the all-black version I am holding.
Head Extreme Tour
The other Extreme models will be:
Extreme MP – 100 square inch head size, 300 gram
Extreme S – 105 square inch head size, 275 gram
Extreme Lite – 105 square inch head, 265 gram
Extreme PWR – 115 square inch head, 230 gram
Extreme Jr – 100 square inch head, 240 gram
All of this series continues the “extreme” optic yellow colorway but it is now complemented by a really nice grey upper shaft and hoop! The optic yellow grip may be over the top but that is easily changed.
The Extreme Tour is fitted with a TK82S grip pallet for a comfortable rounder feeling.
Take a look at the specs here:
| Manufacturer | Head |
|---|---|
| Racquet Model | Head Extreme Tour |
| Reference Tension | 55 lbs - 24.9 kg |
| String | Victrex PEEK fiber Experimental 7718 |
| Machine Used | True Tension Professional |
| ASPS, RDC | 52 |
| ASPS, FlexFour | 63.5 |
| Racquet Flex, RDC | 62 - After stringing |
| Racquet Flex, FlexFour | 40 |
| Weight, Grams | 320 |
| Weight, Ounces | 11.29 |
| Balance, mm | 323 |
| Balance, Inch | 12.72 |
| Length, Cm | 68.6 |
| Length, Inch | 27.008 |
| Head Width | 9.59 |
| Head Length | 12.87 |
| Head Area, cm2 | 625.1 |
| Head Area, Sq. Inch | 96.9 |
| Beam Width, mm, Shaft, Center, Tip | 22, 23, 21 |
| In Plane Stiffness, Pounds/In | 359.5 Lbs/In. |
| In Plane Stiffness, Kg/cm | 163.0 Kg/cm |
| Number of Main Strings | 16 |
| Number of Cross Strings | 19 |
| Ratio Cross/Mains | .627 |
| Main String Grid | 7.12 |
| Cross String Grid | 9.63 |
| Density (% of head filled with string) | .708 |
| Average Cross String Space | .507 |
| Average Main String Space | .445 |
| Dynamic Tension, Kp, ERT | 35 |
| Dynamic Tension, Lbs/in | 195.76 |
| First Moment, Nm | .794 |
| Polar Moment | 322 |
| Torsional Stability | 16 |
| Swing Weight, Kg/cm2 | 306 |
| Swing Weight, Ounces | 10.79 |
| Swing Weight Calculated | 333.9 |
| Power, RDC | 47 |
| Control, RDC | 55 |
| Manueverability, RDC | 83 |
| Power, Calculated | 1856.5 |
| Head Points | 6.30 (negative = head heavy) |
| Head Weight, % | 47.1% |
| Center of Percussion | 20.8 |
| Dwell Time, ms, No Swing | 8.62 |
| Effective Stiffness - lbs | 28.3 |
| K, Lb/In (SBS) RDC | 166.67 |
| Recoil Weight | 149.14 |
| Twist Weight | 220.52 |
| End Weight | 132.8 |
| Tip Weight | 190.4 |
| 9 O'Clock Position | 96.6 |
| 3 O'Clock Position | 98.3 |
| Butt Cap Position | 126.3 |
Weight is Your Friend!
If you have been following the Racquet Quest Podcast you know how much we rely on weight to mitigate some poor shot execution or physical issues!
So, don’t be surprised if that position continues for a while! It is majorly important now that we are beginning to play (openly) again!
It is not clear to me why some players object to even discussing weight let alone add it to their racquet!
The latest podcast episode, The String Holder – Part Two, focuses on three (3) players of about the same age and skill and looks at the differences in racquet setup including weight.
If weight is so scary why do most racquets have a bunch of it hidden away from us?
This is a Tecnifibre racquet however most performance racquets will have a similar setup. Game Improvement (ultralight) racquets, typically, will not!
What you see in that groove is lead! If you flip the racquet over you will find the same thing on the other side! Lot’s of lead means lots of weight, relatively speaking!
If we wanted to reduce the weight of this racquet we could remove some or all of the weight without affecting the swing weight very much. The static balance, however, would be very different. That is why we don’t rely on “balance” as a performance metric.
In the case of this racquet, we are printing a grip pallet that will replace the original pallet but be heavier so we can remove some of the lead weight to make the new version the same weight if we wanted to. We don’t want to!
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