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Head Flexpoint 4 Review
Ever since last August, I had this very bad case of tennis elbow. Many of my friends attributed this problem to the racquet I was using. It unfortunately my favorite racquet, the Babolat Pure Drive Standard (see, my personal review of the Babolat Pure Drive) I really loved the racquet a lot, but I personally felt that the stiffness of the racquet, as well as the larger than usual grip size gave me this tennis elbow problem. Incidentally, I played and felt less pain after I removed the original grip and used 2 overgrips instead, the downside of this is that you constantly felt the wooden handle and the bevel of the racquet. Although reducing the racquet grip size benefited slightly, I was already in much pain, so that didn’t really make much of a difference as my elbow was already inflamed.
I started out on my quest to find another racquet that will play and feel something very similar to the Babolat Pure Drive Standard. It however needed to be something noticeable less stiffer to alleviate the pain in my elbow. I thought of trying something lighter thinking that it will cause considerably lesser pain in my elbow. I made a mistake of not researching for a racquet that will suite my immediate needs. I should have read this excellent article about tennis elbow treatments and the ideal tennis racquet for tennis elbow injuries. Another great site in my opinion will have to be racquetresearch.com. They dwell into specifics and highlight crucial details that many racquet review sites miss, such as the dynamics of the tennis racquet, human bio-machanics and how they affect play, cause injuries and most importantly selecting the right tennis racquet.
I went down to Queensway Shopping Center to source for a new racquet not having any idea what might come into the picture. I was recommended the Head Flexpoint 4. It felt very light and slightly head heavy. It also had an oversized frame. Although I can play with various frames from midsized to oversized ones, I personally prefer mid sized models. I compared it with it’s predecessor, the Head Liquid Metal 4 which had a mid sized frame but since it was cheaper by something like SGD$20, I decided to give the new Head Flexpoint technology a whirl. I bought the racquet for SGD$290 with Toalson Apex strings strung at 57 pounds and put it through it’s paces.
At first, like any virgin tennis racquet, that has not been “broken” the strings felt really stiff and I had problems hitting balls over the net. After about 10 minutes, it started to feel better and I was beginning to hit some pretty decent shots deeper into the base line region. After the first hour, I started feeling the full potential of what the Head Flexpoint 4 is capable of. I found that my volleying and smashing practically improved overnight probably due to the combination of it’s lightness and head heaviness giving me the added maneuverability for both volleys and smashes. Power was a little bit compromised for an oversized racquet, but I was amazed that although it was light, it did not lose it’s control like most lightweight tweener racquets. It did not feel really whippy and produce wild shots like most tweener racquet do. It surprising played with a lot of control and I was hitting pretty good shots off the backhand and forehand. Heavy topspin was eminent from the start and being light and head heavy, it had a perfect blend for individuals who love to hit with a lot of topspin.
Conclusion
The Head Flexpoint 4 is an ideal racquet to keep the opponent behind the baseline, so that they cannot really hurt you, but unfortunately it lacked the crucial bite or kill factor to make it a killer racquet with the ability to finish points with one shot. It definitely did not have the same bite as the Babolat Pure Drive Standard did in that department.
The other thing was that since it was head heavy, the forward momentum was pulling my elbow forward aggravating my tennis elbow even more. This was not a good sign and I decided that this racquet was not for suited for me with my present condition. It’s a great racquet but did not fit my current needs of something that will cause less pain to my elbow or help me on my road to recovery.
I would however highly recommend this racquet to ladies who needs a ligher racquet and hits with lots of top spin. It is also great for the Week End Warrior kind of players as well as doubles play. With this racquet, I became a great volley and smasher overnight. This was incredible, but it did not fix my problem, as the head heavy frame was causing my elbow to really hurt. I finally sold this racquet off and started on my quest to find the next suitable racquet. I ended up with the Head Liquid Metal Prestige… Here’s my personal review of the Head Liquid Metal Prestige.
I started out on my quest to find another racquet that will play and feel something very similar to the Babolat Pure Drive Standard. It however needed to be something noticeable less stiffer to alleviate the pain in my elbow. I thought of trying something lighter thinking that it will cause considerably lesser pain in my elbow. I made a mistake of not researching for a racquet that will suite my immediate needs. I should have read this excellent article about tennis elbow treatments and the ideal tennis racquet for tennis elbow injuries. Another great site in my opinion will have to be racquetresearch.com. They dwell into specifics and highlight crucial details that many racquet review sites miss, such as the dynamics of the tennis racquet, human bio-machanics and how they affect play, cause injuries and most importantly selecting the right tennis racquet.
I went down to Queensway Shopping Center to source for a new racquet not having any idea what might come into the picture. I was recommended the Head Flexpoint 4. It felt very light and slightly head heavy. It also had an oversized frame. Although I can play with various frames from midsized to oversized ones, I personally prefer mid sized models. I compared it with it’s predecessor, the Head Liquid Metal 4 which had a mid sized frame but since it was cheaper by something like SGD$20, I decided to give the new Head Flexpoint technology a whirl. I bought the racquet for SGD$290 with Toalson Apex strings strung at 57 pounds and put it through it’s paces.
At first, like any virgin tennis racquet, that has not been “broken” the strings felt really stiff and I had problems hitting balls over the net. After about 10 minutes, it started to feel better and I was beginning to hit some pretty decent shots deeper into the base line region. After the first hour, I started feeling the full potential of what the Head Flexpoint 4 is capable of. I found that my volleying and smashing practically improved overnight probably due to the combination of it’s lightness and head heaviness giving me the added maneuverability for both volleys and smashes. Power was a little bit compromised for an oversized racquet, but I was amazed that although it was light, it did not lose it’s control like most lightweight tweener racquets. It did not feel really whippy and produce wild shots like most tweener racquet do. It surprising played with a lot of control and I was hitting pretty good shots off the backhand and forehand. Heavy topspin was eminent from the start and being light and head heavy, it had a perfect blend for individuals who love to hit with a lot of topspin.
Conclusion
The Head Flexpoint 4 is an ideal racquet to keep the opponent behind the baseline, so that they cannot really hurt you, but unfortunately it lacked the crucial bite or kill factor to make it a killer racquet with the ability to finish points with one shot. It definitely did not have the same bite as the Babolat Pure Drive Standard did in that department.
The other thing was that since it was head heavy, the forward momentum was pulling my elbow forward aggravating my tennis elbow even more. This was not a good sign and I decided that this racquet was not for suited for me with my present condition. It’s a great racquet but did not fit my current needs of something that will cause less pain to my elbow or help me on my road to recovery.
I would however highly recommend this racquet to ladies who needs a ligher racquet and hits with lots of top spin. It is also great for the Week End Warrior kind of players as well as doubles play. With this racquet, I became a great volley and smasher overnight. This was incredible, but it did not fix my problem, as the head heavy frame was causing my elbow to really hurt. I finally sold this racquet off and started on my quest to find the next suitable racquet. I ended up with the Head Liquid Metal Prestige… Here’s my personal review of the Head Liquid Metal Prestige.