Head Graphene XT Radical MP A Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 82

The Head Graphene XT Radical MP A has the unique ability to play as a 16x19 string pattern or 16x16 string pattern. For this playtest, the TW playtesters tried out the 16x16 pattern, with surprising results. Brittany said, "This racquet felt very familiar in my hands when I hit the court. The crisp feel was very comfortable from the baseline. This racquet is very easy to swing and I loved just grooving my groundstrokes during drills and practice sessions. I was so surprised when I realized I was hitting with the more open, 16x16 string pattern. I thought the launch angle was perfect, and this was probably the easiest adjustment I have had to this type of string pattern. However, when I started playing points I was missing a bit of precision when I was more aggressive. Regardless, it was very easy to get depth, and even my defensive balls were landing deep and keeping me in a neutral position."

Tiffani is no stranger to the Radical line of racquets. She explained, "The first Radical I played with was the MicroGEL version. This Radical line has changed quite a bit since then. The feel is much firmer, and the string pattern is a lot more open. We tested the 16x16 version -- a far cry from the 18x20 pattern of days past. This Graphene XT version has a more modern feel. It's stiffer and more powerful. With the racquet set up as a 16x16 I wasn't getting as much control as I like and would prefer the more traditional 16x19 setup. Thankfully, that's easy to achieve with a quick change of grommets when restringing. I've changed up my grip and swing path to flatten out my shots, so I was struggling with the wide open pattern and wasn't consistently taking advantage of the extra spin potential to keep more of my shots in play. Because I typically hit flatter groundstrokes, I think it would have been interesting if the string pattern options were 16x19 and 18x20."

"I was definitely hitting with more power than I expected," said Jason. "I used to use the Microgel and Flexpoint models, and I don't remember them having this much pop. I found it was fairly easy to hit shots with depth, even while on the run. I was really enjoying the easy access to spin that came with the 16x16 string pattern, as that is right in line with my game style. Unlike some other 'spin' racquets, this Graphene XT Radical didn't have an unusually high launch angle, which meant there wasn't an adjustment period; I could just pick it up and play from day one."

Chris enjoyed the spin, saying, "Hitting with lots of spin was easy with this racquet thanks to its very light and maneuverable feel. I found I could swing it very quickly, and that allowed me to get lots of spin even when I had to rush my shot. This racquet worked great on quick flicks and angles. I really liked the response when I was swinging quickly. When driving through my slice I was getting good spin and pace, although I wasn't hitting a heavy shot. However, I really liked the mobility on my topspin backhand, as I got lots of spin for angles. This racquet was borderline too light to be strung with a poly string for me. The combination of a firm frame and the lack of mass had me yearning for a softer, multifilament type of string strung at a lower tension."

Volleys - Score: 78

There were mixed feelings from the playtesters when hitting with the Graphene XT Radical MP A up at the net. Jason found added stability, saying, "The forgiving stringbed and solid feel really had me enjoying being up at net. It feels more stable than the 11 ounce weight would suggest. I think users will be pleasantly surprised with the stability on volleys. It didn't feel as fast and maneuverable as I would've liked, which was the one downside at net."

On the other hand, Chris was looking for more stability. "I would have liked some additional stability from this racquet on volleys. If I punched volleys with a lot of authority this racquet felt ok. However, when I was just looking to caress the ball or place a volley it got pushed around by the ball too much. Access to spin was great, though. Rather than caressing a drop shot I was able to aggressively cut under the ball to help me drop it short with lots of slice."

"Up at net, the Radical MP A was maneuverable and easy to get into position," Brittany added. "After playing both singles and doubles with this racquet I found the most success punching the ball deep into the court. When I tried to soften my hands and hit touch volleys I wasn't getting the response I wanted. Like the previous version, I noticed some instability when volleying outside of the sweetspot. When I was playing against harder hitters it felt like the racquet collapsed in my hands a couple times."

Tiffani agreed with Brittany, saying, "I noticed the firm feel and the lack of mass when I was up at net. Shots caught outside the sweetspot caused the racquet to flutter. I also had a hard time gauging any touch, and my drop volleys were landing too deep to be effective. On the plus side, I had no troubles getting the racquet into position."

Serves - Score: 79

The spin potential was the highlight when our playtesters were serving with the Head Graphene XT Radical MP A. Chris found room for customization, saying, "Spin was the name of the game for me when serving with this racquet. I was able to find a good amount of slice or topspin on both first and second serves. The speed of my serves was good, but I'd need to add some weight to this racquet to get more out of it. My flatter serves tended to sit up a bit too much, making them more attackable than usual. However, I was really enjoying the way my spin serves were moving around so I focused on maximizing spin."

Brittany needed a small adjustment period on her serves before she felt confident when playing. She said, "First serves had plenty of power and my flat first serves were definitely benefitting from the racquet head speed. My favorite serve to hit was a flat serve out wide on the ad side. According to my Playsight data my top serves were around the mid 90s, which is slightly under my average. I would have liked a little more plow through to get my speed up. Second serves had plenty of spin thanks to the extremely open string pattern. I needed that spin to reel in some of the power I was getting."

"Admittedly, I never hit monster spin serves, but I was still expecting more help in this department because of the open pattern," Tiffani said. "I hit my typical spin levels, but I was expecting a boost. As usual, placing my serves was more effective for me than hitting with extreme amounts of spin and power."

Jason raved, "The Graphene XT Radical MP A really offered up a nice blend of both power and spin. The power I found in my groundstrokes was also available when I wanted to hit a bigger serve, and I could hit effective spin serves when needed."

Returns - Score: 80

Our playtesters found excellent power and spin when returning serve with the Graphene XT Radical MP A, but they would have liked more stability. Tiffani used the maneuverability to her advantage. She said, "I felt confident taking the ball early and attacking with my returns. This racquet did get pushed around a little bit, especially on shots struck outside the sweetspot. I could feel the racquet twisting in my hand when I was returning hard struck first serves."

Jason found both power and spin when hitting returns, saying, "It's not every day that I can say I overhit with an 11 ounce racquet, but when I was being aggressive on my returns with this racquet I had to dial it back just a tad. The spin was great, though, so a lot of my shots dropped in at the last second."

"Again, keeping this racquet moving quickly produced the best results for me, " Chris said. "When I was swinging big the racquet responded very well. I got good spin and some nice pace on my returns. This racquet was also easy to accelerate quickly. On block and chip returns the racquet felt a little unstable. With that in mind, I just swung more aggressively at every opportunity and returned pretty well for most of the test."

Brittany added, "For the most part I really enjoyed returning with this racquet. Its quick feel allowed me to get into position in plenty of time to return even the hardest hit serves. My returns were landing deep in the court when went after them and I had decent enough control when I needed to block the serve back up the line. However, there were a couple of times each set when the racquet would get pushed around and 'collapse' in my hands."

Overall - Score: 80