I’ve been playing with the HEAD Liquidmetal Tour for a while and I thought I’d give you an update on the racquet. The LM Radical Tour is from 2003 so not available in the store sadly…
The HEAD Liquidmetal Radical Tour (abbreviated LM Radical Tour) is first and foremost a stable racquet. It sits at around 335 grams unstrung and a decently head light balance of 32 cm (5-6 pts) strung. It is labelled to be 98 sq inches because older HEAD racquets are measured from the outside and not the inside like most other brands. This means the actual real estate in the racquet face is 95 sq inches. Similar to most player frames on the market.
What is liquidmetal? Liquidmetal is a technology that doesn’t only appear inside the frame, but also outside in a easy-to-identify ridges on the racquet placed at 8, 10, 2 and 4 o’clock on the frame. Liquidmetal is a strong substance and helps to add stability. The LM Radical Tour feels comfortable to me even strung with poly, but I’ve heard that some people call it a little firm. It has a stiffness rating of 63 however so it is by no means a harsh racquet. The LM Radical Tour also includes previous Head technologies such as TwinTube frame construction and Intellifibres.
If you want to know more about liquidmetal, here’s a part copied from Wikipedia:
Liquidmetal alloys combine a number of desirable material features, including high tensile strength, excellent corrosion resistance, very high coefficient of restitution and excellent anti-wearing characteristics, while also being able to be heat-formed in processes similar to thermoplastics. Liquidmetal was introduced for commercial applications in 2003. It is used for, among other things, golf clubs, watches and covers of cell phones.
I’ve been enjoying my LM Radical Tours ever since I got a hold of them. They have a dense 18×20 string pattern that gives you utmost precision, but thanks to their high static weight (and swing weight) they still pack a punch. With its weight I wouldn’t call it a “fast”, spin-friendly frame, but if you have flatter, aggressive shots or play serve-volley tennis, the LM Radical Tour could be wonderful for your game. I particularly enjoy it on my serve and forehand.
In short, the LM Radical Tour has been working out nicely for me and plays very similar to my beloved Six One 95. The racquet gives a heavy ball that penetrates the court. Since it’s control-oriented, I wouldn’t call it particularly string-sensitive and although I rarely use multifilaments or synthetic gut strings, I think the LM Radical Tour responds well to pretty much whatever string you put in it. I would say this is good news for you who try to avoid harsh polyester strings.
If you’re a player who likes to stay back and roll back heavy top-spin shots that bounce up to the shoulders of your opponent, I think there are more suitable racquets out there, but if you play with flatter shots and like to attack your opponent from the baseline or at the net, the LM Radical Tour can potentially be your next best friend.
Please remember however that it is a little heavy to swing if you’re used to more modern, lighter racquets and it does require solid technique.
This is a quote from the TW Playtester that I agree with:
A heavy solid racquet that can be demanding, the LM Radical Tour can take massive flat swings and really punish the ball. The ball had lots of weight behind it. My opponents commented on how the ball I was hitting felt like they were returning a steal ball. Angle shots were very easy to hit. Again there was “substance” behind every shot I was hitting. The weight distribution felt like you were swinging a sledgehammer. Groundies were penetrating deep and had massive kick. If my shots were landing on the service line they would kick to well behind the baseline. This racquet was a bit on the stiff side and even though I fancy flexible racquets, I really liked this one very much. Volleys were awesome and solid. Serves were very big with amazing kick. Only gripe with this racquet is touch and comfort. If you can handle the weight and do not care much about touch/feel, then this is the best racquet on the market.
The LM Radical Tour is really hard to get a hold of these days, but if you’re lucky you might find one or two at eBay or why not buy my racquets? Comment with your e-mail if you’re interested or send an e-mail to helloATtennisnerd.net and I’ll send you some more pics and price. I currently own three racquets in good to great condition.
LM Radical Tour specs:
Headsize: 98
Length: 27
Strung Weight: 12.3 oz (350 grams)
Balance: 6 pts hl
Stiffness: 63
Swing-weight: 332
Beam width: 21mm
Pattern: 18X20
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48 comments
Johnny on the spot with the review of a 14 year old racket.
Yes it was a good one with a huge sweet spot.
If you want a new one just like try the Yonex EZONE (310). Really nice and plays about the same but updated materials.
That was then this is now 2017.
Thanks for your comment. I don’t really agree that the Yonex Ezone 310 g plays close to the HEAD LM Radical Tour. I would say the Wilson Six One 95 is closer. Cheers / Jonas
Hi Tennis Nerd,
I have recently purchased 2 Wilson Six One 95 rackets. One 16×18 and the other the new 2017 Six one 95 18×20 (which is aesthetically beautiful and very classy). I much prefer the older 16×18. But looking at your web, most pro players that use this stick use the 18×20.
My question is what are the benefits of an 18×20 compared to an Open String pattern and why do you believe this is far more popular on the tour?
Is this the same or similar to Djokovic’s pro stock racket?
Yes, very similar to the Djokovic mold! Not sure if it exactly the same, but I’ve heard it is close and that he’s played with the LM mold in the past.
is this the only kind of the Radical Line? a Prestige spec wise in the old radical mold? or was the mold different from the regular radicals back then?
Djokovic can’t be using this. The ridges would be so obvious under a pj. Maybe he uses the mould but without the ridges on the side?
Yes, I think that sounds like the reasonable solution. The ridges would definitely be easy to spot. T1000 style racquet! :) Cheers / J
Could you compare it to the tc 97 18×20 ? You also had it with A style grip?
Hi Danny,
My Angell TC 97 Custom 18×20 had B-style grip but I’ve played with all grip shapes so that doesn’t matter. I really love the Angell racquet, it offers better feel on the ball and more spin, but somehow these HEAD LM Radical Tours just fit me like a glove. I do prefer 95 sq from 97 sq inch racquets which can have something to do with it. The Angell is a more all-round racquet while the slightly stiffer LM Tour suits an aggressive flatter hitting style where you take the ball on the rise and move towards the net. That’s at least my observation.
Wouldn’t hesitate to buy an Angell racquet again…but for my game to settle in between play-tests and reviews, I have committed to the Racial Tours and I’m playing much better now that I don’t change racquets every other session or so.
Cheers / Jonas
Tennisnerd,
I THOUROUGHLY agree with you on this racquet! Do you still have any of the ones you were selling left? If so, will you please email pictures and prices please?
Thanks!
Mark Easley
Tennessee
Hi Mark,
You have a good taste in racquets! This has become my racquet of choice, but since I have seven I might be able to sell a couple to make space for other racquets in the collection, will have to think about it. Meanwhile, I’ll send you some pics via e-mail.
Cheers / Jonas
Hey Jonas,
I recently picked one up at a garage sale here in the bay area. Did you have any recommend setups in terms of string/tension/lead?
Hi Tan,
Depending a little on the weight and balance of your copy, I don’t like to add lead. My Radical Tours usually end up 350 grams with overgrip and 32 cm balance. It plays amazing with natural gut/poly hybrid and when it comes to polys only I like Solinco Hyper-G 1.25.
Enjoy the stick! Cheers / J
Does the Head Prestige XT MP racquet have similar stability to the Radical Liquidmetal Tour?
Would you like to know the difference between both rackets?
I would like to know the difference between the two rackets?
Do you think LM Radical Tour are just weighted up LM Radicals or is there a different layup in play here?
Hi Anton,
The Radical MP should be slightly stiffer than the Tour. But not by much so with some weight they will play very similar. Cheers / Jonas
Hi, TennisNerd!
What is the twistweight for the Liquidmetal Radical Tour?
Hi Marcelo,
Not sure! Pretty high with all the weight at 8, 10, 2 and 4. Cheers / Jonas
Hi tennisnerd,
Very late question on this topic but I can’t help asking. I’m 41 years old, Swede playing once every second week but is planning to step up my game now. Used to be rather good back in the days (won district and regionals in Florida once upon a time).
Profile:
Very, very flat forehand, flat killer backhand, terrible serve compared to my height (6-4) and good volley.
I’ve been playing with the HEAD Liquidmetal Radical MP since it arrived and I would love to get some new racquets and I would appreciate if you could give me some tips of racquets that could suit me. I’ve been testing the new radical as well as the babolat strike for a few weeks and they are ok but just not better than my old spades.
Thanks for a great site!
Kind regards
Henrik
Hi Henrik,
Nice to hear from another LM Radical fan!
I am a flat hitter too and I am most comfortable playing with 18×20 (or 16×20) string pattern racquets like the LM RAD MP. I have played a few nice ones recently that I can recommend:
HEAD Graphene 360 Speed Pro. Bigger sweet spot, a bit more spin, but still a controllable launch angle. Will be more forgiving compared to what you currently use.
Yonex VCORE 95. The 16×20 pattern opens up for more spin but is still controlled. Good power for a 95 sq inch racquet and solid comfort too.
Prince Phantom 93P. This racquet is a dream to serve with. Great on volleys and slice shots too. About the same when it comes to forgiveness with the Rad MP.
Srixon Dunlop CX 200 Tour. A racquet I currently play it. Slightly heavier than what you are used to unless you had lead tape, but great for precision and easy on the arm.
I think either one of these sticks could work well for your game.
Good luck! / Jonas
Hi, Tennisnerd
Love the reviews, very interesting and insightful as always. I’m currently playing for my university team and was thinking about upgrading my sticks. I notice you have the head flexpoint radical mp’s but no review. I’m curious to know how you feel about those and how they compare to the LM radical tours.
I consider myself a ‘aggressive baseline’ type of player, liking to dictate the point from the baseline rarely coming into the net, slapping winners from the back as much as possible haha.
I have demo’d my coach’s flexpoint radical mp and have really taken well to it. Just want to hear your thoughts on it. If you have any recommendations for anything similar i’m all ears.
Love the site and the channel!!
Kind Regards
Carlos
Hi Carlos,
Thanks for your nice comment.
I really like the Flexpoint Radical MPs. They feel a bit more lively/soft than the LM Radical Tours, but still offer great control.
Just very competent racquet if you are looking for control. Works well from the baseline if you can create your own power.
Have three for sale if you’re interested. Too many racquets…
Cheers / Jonas
Hi,tennisnerd
Can you recommend me a heavy racquet for baseliner and heavy topspin like you mentioned in the post? Actually play with a Blade 2015 16×19 but feels light
Hi,
You should check out one of the following:
Babolat Pure Aero Tour
HEAD Graphene 360 Extreme Pro
Prince Beast 100
All killer racquets with power and spin.
Good luck / Jonas
Hi Jonas
I tried many racquets including pro stock, and for me, i have never ever found something approaching the LM radical tour . Even the h22 is behind because of the perfect weight distribution of the LM . It is very very difficult to customize an h22 like the unique weight distribution of the LM . It is not a question of lead tape, balance or total weight but a question of mass distribution inside the frame and it’s almost impossible to reach . The h22 is superb, but different . It depends a lof of the customization.
I string them with luxilon 4g soft at 21 kg . Unique control, stability and strangely a lot of spin with my game ! This 95 sq inch racquet is more stable outside of the sweet spot than a “modern” 100 sq inch racquet !!!!? I nerver saw that !
This racquet is a dream . I cannot believe it !
But i have an ultimate dream ? To find a pt113b 16×19 ( verdaco \ m.zverev) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A kind of pro stock LM radical tour with an open string pattern ! Probably impossible to find !!!!?
Another thing : i live in Marbella, and one day you told me that you come here. So if you want, we can play ! You have my Email .
Michel
Hi Michel,
Good taste in racquets! Yes, the LM Radical is a fine racquet! Agree that it would have been really nice to test a PT113B in an open pattern. But the PT113B has a more noticeable flex in the string bed than the LM Radical so I think the H22 is the closest you will get to it. Not sure if there is an LM Radical Tour in an open pattern, would love to try it in that case!
Next time I am in Marbella, I will let you know! Regards / Jonas
Hi,
I have recently purchased one of these racquets and was wondering if you added any led tape to your racquet.
Hi,
No, the beauty of the LM Radical Tour is that it doesn’t require any lead tape :) Enjoy it! Regards / Jonas
Hello Jonas,
First of all, thanks for your great reviews,really enjoy it and feel vindicated in my thought at the most playtests.
How would you weight up the lm radical to make similar/to ge a similar feel to the lm radical tour?
I would lovely try the tour version but currently cannot find some.
Hi Johannes,
Thanks a lot! I would put lead tape on all the silver/Liquidmetal parts, just enough to cover them so short strips. Then I would counter with the same weight on the handle. The Tour version is a top notch frame! But nothing wrong with the MP one.
Cheers / Jonas
Hello Jonas,
thank you very much for recommendations, really appreciate it.
Maybe i will give the Radical a try. I have seen the non tour radical does have a lower stiffness rating than the tour version. Do you think this will be a noticeable difference in how the racket feels compared the radical tour?
Or do you can recommend any other frame which plays similar to the radical LM tour?
I have tested a few rackets but didn´t really felt home with them:
Pure strike PO7: really didn´t like the muted feel
Pure drive 2015: simple too stiff, didn´t feel the ball comming into the string bed.
Aeropro drive 2013: a little stiff, backhand was way to sluggish cause of instability, also didn´t like the hollowing sound when hitting the ball
AI98: to much vibrations, unstable as well and not as maneuverable for it´s light weight.
Prostaff 97 (315g): hard to control
Maybe you have a tip for me which racket could suit? ;)
Hi Johannes,
No, the feel of the Radical Tour and the MP won’t be that different, especially if you add weight to the MP.
If you are open to adding lead tape, you can check out Srixon Dunlop CX 200 Tour, which did not play exactly like the Radical Tour but close enough and you can customize the weight to your liking.
Another stable but low weight racquet I like is the Tecnifibre Tfight 305 XTC. You can play that in stock form and the racquet does most things well. I would also put the Diadem Elevate Tour into consideration.
Cheers / Jonas
Thanks Jonas for your recommendations.
I may give the radical a try and tune it up to 320g unstrung and will see.
Do you have a kind of forum were we can discuss with you about general topics around tennis rackets? (racket tuning, how to balance a racket and stuff like that)
I´m also wondering if you ever tried adding blu tack in the handle to weight a racket up and make more headlight and what do you think about it?
Many thanks in advance!
*edit. I have bought an Radical LM but i’d like to add a little bit of weight to the handle. It looks like the butt cap can’t be removed. How did you add weight to the handle of this stick?
Cheers Jo
You can remove the grip and just add lead tape underneath it and then put the grip back on. Cheers / J
Hi,
I found your videos on Youtube and really enjoyed them. The last one where you have shown this racket caught my eye and maybe you can help me a bit.
I start playing the Agassi Head Radical OS back in ’95 as a Junior. A stopped playing in my 20is and started back again in ’05 and got myself this Radical Liquid Metal rackets, but the OS Model, 690cm2 (107in?) As I never was good in watching the ball, I preferred a bigger racket and stayed with the OS Models now for over 25 years.
Since last year I started playing again a lot more and the passion for the sport came back. Now I wanted to change the rackets as I think would be a good time, to get myself some new ones. I was thinking about getting the Bumblebee original as last year was the 25 years Edition that came out. But as I asked Head they told me they are using the old technology in that one and maybe for my level and with getting older the new technology might help me a bit more in the future too.
Now I was looking around but I can’t find any big rackets that are having a good weight on them too. All the OS Models are under 300gr. Mine is 310gr. now. And I don’t want to tune it too much around. So would prefer a stock Model with bigger size and weight if possible.
I am testing now the Speed Pro Model and I like it on the forehand. I bought the sensor to check the sweet spot and forehand is good. But on my backhand it’s a mess. And there is where I most like the OS racket and were it helped me a lot. As my backhand is much weaker too.
Now do you maybe have some recommendation on something closer to the original radical OS? I really prefer Head and would like to stay with it if possible.
I am also waiting for the next week as you tested the new Head proto typ model and said that there should come some new ones too.
I would really much appreciate your help if possible as I am really stuck at the moment.
Or should I stay with mine, have 5 of them, or maybe check the old Bumblebee?
Thank you very much!
Hi Jonas, I was wondering if you still have a LM Radical Tour racquet for sale?
Cheers,
Peter
Hi Peter,
I still have one in Tennisnerd paint job. Cheers / J
Despite having had shoulder issues with serving and smash for the last 8 or so years I keep going back to my heavier racquets. I just love the weight in the swing, the stability and the feeling of playing with ‘players racquets’. A good few years ago I decided to have a break from my Babolat Pure Storm Carbon and grabbed a couple of K Factor 6.1 95 18x20s. I quickly feel in love with these and thy seemed to suit my aggressive all court game to a tee. A few years or seasons on I scratched a big itch and bought the BLX 6.1 90 after playing against a guy using one. I played with this for a good couple of seasons and did more research and really got into the old skool sticks. Next was finding procuring an original ProStaff 6.0 85, and best I can tell from the various online experts, it’s a St Vincent’s one. Along with that I purchased a TW Prostaff 6.0 85. To be honest I have mainly played with the reissue version, and what a joy that is. Took a few hits to dial in my forehand but slice was there from the go.
Last year when I was having shoulder trouble I went back to my Pure Storm. Got a GT version some time back too, but the last few weeks have got me itching to play with the big boys again. Last week (I play mens doubles once a week) I did a transition week, using a Dunlop Biomimitec 200 that I’ve had for 6-7 years but only hit with once before. Tonight I am bringing out the 6.1 95 for a reunion tour.
Years back when i had funds for racquets I seriously considered the Liquid Metal Radical. Your review was a nice reminder of that. Love the site and contents!! Cheers, Brett
Hi Jonas.
I was wondering if you or any of the readers have tried the Head Radical Flexpoint Tour? It seems very similar in appearance and specs to the LM Radical tour and you can clearly see the four LM segments embedded in the frame. I think it’s the same weight, with the only difference being the drilled flex points at 9 o’clock.
Has anyone tried it and what do you of it guys?
Cheers,
Petet
Hi Peter,
I never tried that one sadly, it is actually 100 sq inches, so quite a different racquet compared to the LM Radical Tour.
Cheers / Jonas
Hi Jonas,
Thanks for the fast reply, you are right that it’s different from the LM Radical tour despite using almost the same technologies. The unstrung weight is 325g, 1pt head light and the most appealing aspect is the 16×19 string pattern. It’s a rare beast indeed and difficult to find, but you can find them from time to time on eBay.
I got one recently, but sadly could test it properly before the courts were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Couldn’t find an on-line review although it seems that TW published one that was later removed or archived. My brief impressions are that it produces nice spin, but surprisingly incredible amount of speed, on the serve and also on ground strokes. Not sure why is that, but may be because of the decent weight and the neutral almost head heavy design. The sweat spot is not that large, but the racquet is very stable even when you hit outside of it. I read that the flex rating was 58, but I’m not sure if that’s correct because I don’t feel the flex, npor any increased dwell time.
The intended head flexibility/folding was the most intriguing aspect for me as it is a radical concept and sounds rational in theory, but it seems that the flexpoint racquets weren’t very popular with recreational players. Not sure if that was the case indeed as I was young at that time, but would appreciate any comments from the community.
Cheers,
Peter
Hi Jonas,
I recently played with one of my old LM radical mp that’s strung with Alupower and remembered how tinny the LM radicals feel and sound when they strike a ball. Not sure if that’s specific for the strings or the racquet in general, but was wondering if the LM radical tour also behaves like that?
P
I ve got the LM radical tour mp. What are the differences? And the weight? (it’s not reported on the racquet. Thanks
The weight and balance are the differences – the MP is lighter with the weight added in the head, while the Tour is heavier and more headlight. Swing weights are not that far apart and with some weight in the handle, you can make an MP play similar to a Tour.
Hi Jonas,
I finally got my hands on this racquet and I have to say I’m very impressed! This thing is like a tank and I’m serving cannons with it. The racquet needs new strings though, so what is your recommendation and what have you tried so far? What would be the best string to maximize spin?