Head Graphene 360 Radical MP Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 81

The Head Graphene 360 Radical MP offered our playtesters easy playability from the baseline, but they wanted a little more from the racquet at times. Chris tapped into the racquet's spin potential and maneuverability during this playtest. He said, "The Graphene 360 Radical MP felt very light and fast off the ground. I found it easy to whip the ball with spin, and that helped me generate some nice angles. Likewise, I was able to get a lot of spin on my lobs, which helped me hit them with pace and still keep them well inside the baseline. This racquet definitely felt best when I was taking a full cut at the ball. I liked its crisp response and the amount of spin I could generate. It felt like the racquet got pushed around too much on slower swings, so I made sure I drove through all of my shots."

The new Radical MP helped Jason add depth and spin to his groundstrokes. He said, "I was getting a higher launch angle, so depth was easier to come by. The open string pattern was great for accessing spin on my forehand. The biggest difference I noticed between this version and the previous model was the increased stiffness. I could definitely feel the effects of mishits much more with this racquet. On the plus side, I thought the feel was improved, and I didn't feel as disconnected from my shots."

Erik felt the Graphene 360 Radical MP would benefit from a little customization. He explained, "This is a more control-oriented frame, but it still offers a good amount of depth because the launch angle is a little bit higher off the stringbed. I generated a lot of topspin with this Radical MP because it was quite maneuverable and I could generate a lot of racquet head speed. My slice tended to sit up unless I really focused on knifing it low and hitting the ball out in front with a solid, stable arm through contact. This racquet tended to get pushed around a good amount because of the weight distribution, so I would add some weight to the hoop at 10 and 2 o'clock, or maybe 9 and 3. This racquet made me play a little more defensively and take my time if my opponent was really ripping the ball. It was tough to handle a lot of pace, but rallying from the baseline was solid just as long as I was being hit a ball with a bit less heat."

Brittany has playtested the last five iterations of the Radical MP (since the IG version), and she felt confident playtesting this new offering from Head. She said, "This Graphene 360 Radical MP had a lot of similarities to the previous version, but a couple of notable differences. The biggest thing that stands out to me is how easy it is to rally with this racquet. I loved getting in long practice sessions where I was grooving cross court. I did notice the racquet played a tad more stable, and I had to work a little harder for depth than the previous iteration. This small change only took about 30 minutes for me to get used to. However, just like the previous version, I ran into issues when it came to playing points. I felt like I lost my accuracy, and the stringbed played a little erratically. I had to adjust my style of play and aim for safer targets. This translated into longer points and my opponents getting one or two more balls back. I did notice that my arm and shoulder would be a little sore after playing multiple hours a day, and I attribute this to the stiffer frame."

Volleys - Score: 80

Our team found the Graphene 360 Radical MP to be very maneuverable up at net, even with its swingweight of 324. While Brittany's style of play mostly keeps her at the baseline, when she comes to the net it's for a purpose. She explained, "I normally finish a point with one or two volleys max. I like to punch my volleys deep, and this racquet allowed me to do so. I could get it into position on quick reflex exchanges and only felt twinges of instability on a couple of off-center shots. The feel up at net was better than I expected, and I was even able to throw in a few touch volleys."

"I really enjoyed the response of the Graphene 360 Radical MP when I was punching my volleys with authority," continued Chris. "The crisp response and very maneuverable feel made it fun to drive volleys deep with lots of pace, and I found excellent control on my volleys when I was attacking the ball. When I was looking to bleed some pace off the ball with a more compact swing and soft hands, I again found the stability of the racquet lacking. To counter the stability issue I made sure I cut aggressively under my drop volleys to kill the ball with lots of spin rather than a delicate touch."

Erik also noticed a lack of stability at net. He added, "I had no problem maneuvering the Graphene 360 Radical MP, and it was extremely quick up at net. The racquet was a little bit unstable though, and I felt like I couldn't get it through the ball as much as I wanted. I didn't feel very connected on my volleys, and I couldn't feel the ball on the stringbed in the precise spot where I was hitting it. I found myself hitting shorter volleys with this racquet. It did have a softer feel when I was going for drop shots and drop volleys, so I really enjoyed it from that perspective."

Jason found both positives and negatives with the Graphene 360 Radical MP's volley performance. He said, "The power to put shots away was there and the spin was there, but I was left wanting more stability up at net. I think just a bit of weight at 3 and 9 would go a long way toward stabilizing the racquet on mishits."

Serves - Score: 83

All of our playtesters were able to tap into the depth and spin potential the Head Graphene 360 Radical MP offered on serves. Erik was a big fan when it came to serves. He described, "This was my favorite part of the Graphene 360 Radical MP playtest. It was quite controlled, but I could really rip serves with this racquet. On my first serve, I enjoyed hitting flat serves up the T on the deuce side and slice serves on the T on the ad side. I had to make sure to explode up at the ball on my second serves to maximize the amount of spin and send the ball up and over the net."

When serving, Jason found power and spin potential when serving with the Graphene 360 Radical MP. He noted, "I was getting a nice combination of pace and spin on my serves. The mid-320 swingweight helped me accelerate through the ball to get some pop on my serves, and access to spin was great."

The Graphene 360 Radical MP exceeded Chris' expectations on serves. He said, "I served well with the Graphene 360 Radical MP. I was able to generate more pace than I expected. Considering how light and fast the racquet felt, I was surprised at how much drive I was getting on my serves. Like my other strokes, it was also easy to generate a lot of spin on my serves. I found myself adding more spin than usual to my first serves to add some consistency without having to give up much pace."

"The Graphene 360 Radical MP is a pretty easy racquet to maneuver, so I had no issues getting it up and over my head and generating racquet head speed in the process," said Brittany. "I could hit flat, slice and kick serves. However, my serve wasn't penetrating through the court and was sitting up for my opponent. I definitely wasn't getting as many free points as I would have liked."

Returns - Score: 81

While the playtesters enjoyed the Graphene 360 Radical MP's quick feel and spin when returning, they would have liked a more consistent response off the stringbed. The combination of a low 11-ounce weight with a beefier mid-320 swingweight gave Jason the best of both worlds, whether he was returning offensively or defensively. He said, "I felt like I could take nice big cuts at the ball and hit with depth when given time. When I was just blocking a serve back, I could still get enough on it so the ball wouldn't sit up in the middle of the court. It wasn't so nice mishitting a return when I swung aggressively, though; the stiff response and shock vibrations were quite noticeable."

Brittany likes to stand on the baseline and take the ball early to start points aggressively against both first and second serves. She had to be more cautious with her return choices when she used the Graphene 360 Radical MP. She commented, "No matter what serve I was returning, I had the same feelings of disconnect I had when I was hitting groundstrokes. I had to dial back and aim for bigger targets. When I was returning first serves I could block the ball back with pace deep into the middle of the court and take time away from my opponent. When I was took some risks with my second serve returns I found myself making some extra errors."

"I was trying to be more conservative on serve returns because I found the response off the stringbed to be a little erratic at times," said Erik. "My returns had a little too much power, and I found myself launching the ball long at times. The Graphene 360 Radical MP would get pushed around a decent amount when I returned first serves, but I could get it into position easily because it was very maneuverable. When I was returning second serves I was quite confident attacking the ball and hitting it deep into the court because it was so easy to generate racquet head speed."

Chris wrapped up the playtest on a high note. He concluded, "I enjoyed attacking with this racquet when returning. My returns had lots of spin, and I was able to hit big and keep the ball well inside the lines. I liked how fast the racquet felt on my topspin backhand, and I was driving the ball very well with that shot. On my slice backhand, I found it best to knife through the ball to help keep the racquet stable."

Overall - Score: 81