Head instinct Midplus Tennis Racquet Review

September 5th, 2011

It was pretty big news when Maria Sharapova switched to HEAD tennis racquets. Head gave her a “blacked-out” racquet while making the final design choices for their new version of the “Instinct” line. She has had a good season this year—maybe the new racquet had role in her success. I thought I’d give her (& Pro Tomas Berdych’s) racquet a try.

APPEARANCE / STYLE

The Head YouTek Instinct Midplus racquet is very attractive. Everyone at my club, when seeing it for the first time, made remarks about it’s good looks. It is a metallic gray, with blue accents and “chrome” lettering. Parts of the hoop are clear-coated and one can see the material weave inside—pretty cool! Men and women should equally like it’s appearance.

TECHNOLOGY

YouTek is Head’s way of saying that features are incorporated into their racquets to enhance your play, regardless of your playing style. The Head Youtek IG Instinct MP uses 3 of Head’s unique design features: 1) d30—a “smart” material at the molecular level that tightens-up on hard hits and remains looser on soft hits. This, Head says, makes passing shots harder and touch shots more precise; 2) innegra—the world’s lightest high-performance fiber. This reduces vibration and also increases the racquet’s lifespan; and 3) Teflon Grommets which prevent string restriction and, therefore, increase power.

SPECIFICATIONS

The Head Youtek IG Instinct Mid Plus has a 100” head and weighs 10.6 oz. unstrung. It has an open 16 x 19 pattern and is 1” head-light. It has a moderate 23/25/21mm beam with a stiffness rated at 69 on the RDC. It is rated by Head as appropriate for players with a medium to long swing (L3) and is 27” in length.

GROUNDSTROKES

The Head Youtek IG Instinct MP is a very solid performer at the baseline. I was very comfortable with this racquet in only a few minutes, which is a rare occasion for me! It comes around quickly and delivers plenty of power. You can really swing-away with confidence and there was very little shock or vibration.

VOLLEYS

The Head Youtek IG Instinct handles well at the net. Volleys were crisp and it’s excellent balance really helped when in a defensive (reflex) situation.

OVERHEADS

This racquet was, again, a stable performer on overheads. I always felt like I knew exactly where the ball was going and at what pace.

SERVES

The Heady Youtek IG Instinct MP is a great racquet for both, flat and/or spin serves. I tried to find something—anything—wrong and could not.

SPIN POTENTIAL

This racquet has an open 16 x 19 string pattern and it really bites the ball. I was hitting a great deal of flat shots at first (to test). When I switched to top-spin I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of spin generated (a little more than my regular racquet).

CONCLUSION

The Head Youtek Innegra Instinct MP really impressed me. As much as I tried, I could not find anything to dislike with it’s performance, feel, or style. It does everything you ask it to and does it well. With it’s medium weight, 100” head size, open pattern, and head-light balance it is a racquet that will please a large segment of the tennis player population. I believe any player in the 3.5 to 5.5 category would enjoy this stick.