Playtest: Head Liquidmetal 4

I playtested a new racquet a few weeks ago, after not having playtested anything in perhaps seven years. I have been using the same stick, the Head Ti.Fire Tour Edition, since the late 1990s. My goal: Find a slightly head-heavy racquet with a bigger stringbed than my Ti. Fires (97 sq. inches). Unlike more professional racquet-review operations, such as Tennis Warehouse, whose reviews are marvels of exhaustiveness, my reviews are based on one thing and one thing only: How does the racquet feel? I'm after a very specific feel, which is sort of medium-stiff and medium-powerful. My Ti.Fires fit this description perfectly. However, I have been struggling with my serve of late, and have always found that head-heavy racquets (the Ti Fires are head-light) deliver more spin, for me. I hit very spinny serves, but I don't like to swing super-hard.

The Liquidmetal 4 is a Head model from several years back that you can still get for around $90. It's allegedly manufactured in Austria, not China, which means something to fans of Head racquets—some of the "great" Head sticks of past were Austrian-made. What's Liquidmetal? Who cares—it seems to stiffen the frame without making it feel "pingy." Works for me. This is a nice all-around racquet. It drives the ball deep without undue effort, and it's fine for serving and for volleying. Am I nuts about the feel? Not really, but that could be chalked up to the strings that were in my demo. I think they were too tight for my tastes.

Verdict? If you came down from hardcore "players" racquets in your late twenties, moving on to so-called "tweener" sticks, but have lately come to think that even tweeners are too much work, this Liquidmetal 4 is a great deal, at the current price. If I thought it might suit my game, which is all over the place, it should be good for lots of different types and ages of players. A true multigenerational offering.

Unfortunately, I didn't like the Liquidmetal 4 enough to consider replacing my current head-heavy backup, a Dunlop Vision 102 (my "doubles" racquet). Head racquets generally come off as more precise to me, but Dunlops have more of the feel I'm after in a racquet balanced toward the head. I think it has something to do with the shock-absorption material they build into the handles.