New for 2022 is the Head Growth line of rackets that take up an extra spot within the Austrian agency’s ever-growing racket lineup.

The Growth line comes with a brand new head form, which suggests the racket is broader across the contact zone, enhancing spin energy and providing you with extra buy on the ball from off-centre hits.

Like the brand new Status rackets, it additionally options Auxetic expertise, which makes the racket flex in several methods once you hit the ball. It does this because of the yoke piece adapting its inner construction, deforming to offer you optimum influence really feel and extremely correct suggestions.

Lastly, the racket has Morph Beam, which mixes an elongated field beam shaft with a extra strong development within the head.

The Growth line has two rackets proper now, the Growth MP, which is the lighter (295g), bigger head measurement (100sq”) mannequin, and the Growth Professional, which is a 98sq”, 310g racket.

The MP is designed explicitly for formidable intermediate and superior gamers and is available in at a weight that works for a variety of taking part in ranges. However how did it carry out for me? Discover out on this full Head Growth MP playtest and evaluate.

Head Growth MP Cosmetics

The Growth MP has a easy colour-blocked design; half the racket is black, with the opposite half (throat and grip) coming in a coral design.

I have never seen this coral/teal/turquoise used on a racket earlier than, and I feel it appears to be like fairly good. It appears just like the Diadem Elevate FS 98 however is a extra matte pastel. The suggestions I acquired in the course of the testing exhibits that the colors are particularly widespread with feminine gamers.

Alongside the colors, I additionally just like the design of the body by way of its form. It has a teardrop form hoop with a modified field beam throat. The throat is sq. on the outer facet, however the interior portion of the throat has a contoured design (Morph beam) presumably to assist with aerodynamics.

The teardrop design provides it a considerably Yonex isometric kind form, and in the event you pair that with the specs, you get one thing of an EZONE assembly the Wilson Conflict 100.

Specs and Setup

After taking the plastic off the deal with and eradicating the cardboard plaque, I obtained the Head Growth MP straight on the scales.

Having seen another specs and critiques posted on the boards, a number of of the Growth MP’s and Growth Professional rackets have are available fairly a bit below spec, however mine got here in at 298.6g, 3.6g over Head’s supplied 295g spec.

That is inside most producers’ tolerances and is on no account the worst I’ve seen. I feel those that are into gear would at all times choose higher high quality management, however 3g is manageable, and on this case, I like a number of grams of additional weight as this implies extra graphite and extra mass.

You’ll be able to see the official (+ Tennis Warehouse) Head Growth MP and Growth Professional specs under, together with my self measured Growth MP specs for comparability.

	Head Growth MP	Head Growth Professional	My Head Growth MP Specs
Head Dimension	100 in / 645.16 cm	98 in / 632.26 cm	100 in / 645.16 cm
Size	27in / 68.58cm	27in / 68.58cm	27in / 68.58cm
Unstrung Weight	10.4oz / 295g	10.9oz / 310g	10.5oz / 298.6g
Strung Weight	11.1oz / 315g	11.6oz / 329g	11.4oz / 317.4g
Strung Steadiness	12.87in / 32.69cm / 5 pts HL	12.79in / 32.49cm / 6 pts HL	12.64in / 32.10cm / 5 pts HL
Swingweight	318	325	320
Stiffness	64	66	N/A
Beam Width	24mm / 24mm / 24mm	24mm / 24mm / 24mm	24mm / 24mm / 24mm
Composition	Graphene Inside/Graphite	Graphene 360+/Graphite	Graphene Inside/Graphite
Energy Stage	Low-Medium	Low-Medium	Low-Medium
Stroke Model	Medium-Full	Medium-Full	Medium-Full
Swing Velocity	Medium-Quick	Medium-Quick	Medium-Quick
Racket Colours	Black/Coral	Black/Coral	Black/Coral
Grip Kind	Hydrosorb Professional	Hydrosorb Professional	Hydrosorb Professional
String Sample	16 Mains / 19 Crosses	16 Mains / 19 Crosses	16 Mains / 19 Crosses

After unpacking the racket, I obtained it onto my moveable MiStringer machine a number of hours later and strang it with Head Lynx Tour in 1.25mm at 45lbs. Lynx Tour is a monofilament polyester, not dissimilar to Mayami Tour Hex I reviewed lately, and I figured it could pair nicely with the Growth MP.

The Growth MP is simple to string, and for beginner stringers like myself, I like Head rackets as they’re marked which skip and tie holes to make use of, so there’s much less faffing round on the lookout for PDF directions if you’re not sure.

After stringing, the Growth MP had a strung weight of 317.3g and a swing weight of 320 kg*cm^2.

I then added a Head Xtreme Mushy Overgrip as a part of my ongoing overgrip testing; this took the ultimate weight to 322.4g.

As you’ll be able to see within the picture above, the HEAD Xtreme overgrip ruined the cosmetics barely because it has bigger perforations which present the color of the bottom grip beneath. White with coral dots beneath does not look significantly nice.

Head Tennis Racket Management Energy Index Chart

You’ll be able to see the place Head place the Growth MP of their lineup.

The decrease the Management energy index, the extra management the racket has; the upper the quantity, the extra energy it has.

Management Energy Index	100	200	300	400	500	600	700	800	900	1000
Status		Professional	Tour	MP	MP L
Gravity		Professional	Tour	MP	MP L	S	Lite
Radical		Professional		MP			S	Lite
Velocity			Professional		MP	MP L	S	Lite		PWR
Excessive				Professional	Tour	MP	MP L	S	Lite	PWR
Growth				Professional		MP		Staff	Staff L

First Impressions

It has been a number of years since I’ve used a HEAD racket as my go-to body, and over the past 12 months, other than racket critiques and demoing frames, I’ve performed primarily with a Wilson Professional Workers 97 v13 and a Wilson Blade 98 v8 18 x 20. Each have barely heavier static weights and better swing weights, however they don’t seem to be one million miles away from the measured specs of this specific Growth MP.

After a brief court docket warm-up, my preliminary feeling of the Head Growth MP was it was easy to swing, the response felt good, however it felt just a little flimsy on sure contact pictures. 

With some frames, you’re feeling like on a half volley within the service field, simply placing the racket behind the ball is sufficient to therapeutic massage it over the online, however the Growth MP felt prefer it wanted extra of a swing than a bunt.

After getting the legs transferring, it was again to the baseline to see the way it carried out.

Full Head Growth MP Assessment

Groundstrokes

My playtests with the Growth MP have been on a fast indoor court docket constituted of Taraflex, which ITF classifies as a category 5 court docket (that is the quickest classification, and there are presently zero on this class on the ATP tour). If you happen to’ve been taking part in on a slower out of doors court docket earlier than heading onto this, it’s a actual baptism of fireplace!

Fortuitously, I’ve gotten used to it, and it is a enjoyable floor to play on the place factors are over in a single or two pictures, and aggressive play is rewarded.

After a couple of minutes, I realised that the Growth MP just isn’t a powerhouse racket that can behave like a rocket launcher. As an alternative, it is a mid-level energy racket that rewards you for what you place into the shot.

Swing quick and committing to the shot? The Growth MP will ship a speedy ball with a superb quantity of spin on it.

The pinnacle form appears to assist on this regard, and I used to be in a position to get a superb form on the ball with none points with the launch angle.

Swing sluggish and trying to place the ball with extra old-fashioned kind strokes? I do not suppose the Growth MP will give you the results you want because it wants fashionable strokes to convey out its greatest options.

Outdoors the forehand and backhand drives, the slice labored nicely for me, it wasn’t the knife-like slice I can hit with sure rackets, however I obtained loads of management on the shot and a very good form on the ball, which despatched it deep in direction of the baseline.

The one space I felt much less snug with was the half volley kind pictures from the baseline. I struggled ever to really feel assured in these kinds of pictures even after 4 hitting periods. We’ll see if that improves as I plan to maintain utilizing the racket for a number of extra hours.

Serving

When my first couple of serves landed in with some respectable drive behind them, I knew the Growth MP could be a superb serving racket for my type.

My service movement is a faster arm movement, quite than a sledgehammer kind strategy (Wawrinka, Norrie and many others.), so the Head Growth MP works nicely for this type because it cuts by the air rapidly, and I can swing it quick. 

The form of the racket additionally helps create spin on the serve, as you’ve got obtained the broader part of the teardrop in direction of the tip of the racket, and that is the place you make contact when reaching up, so you’ve got fairly a little bit of stringbed to play with.

Volleys

Together with half volleys, volleys are the one space the place I struggled to gel with the Growth MP.

Up on the web, it felt a bit unstable and did not give me the kind of precision I like.

After I had time on the ball and will shut the online, it was effective, however it’s not a racket the place in the event you get the strings behind the ball, then the body itself will do the work.

It wants extra of a swing to knock the volleys off, so I do not suppose it’s a racket for a serve and volley kind participant as taking low volleys from the service line can be troublesome with this racket in inventory type.

Nevertheless, the Growth MP is extraordinarily manoeuvrable up on the web, so for a leisure doubles participant hugging the online, the benefit of swing makes it best for fast changes.

Returning

Returning with the Growth MP was a little bit of a combined bag. If you will get into place early and take an aggressive reduce on the ball, it is improbable as clear strikes are rewarded with tempo and depth. Even off-centre hits carry out fairly nicely when you’ve got sufficient racket head pace.

Nevertheless, in the event you’re having to dam the ball again or hitting at full stretch with out your toes planted, the Growth MP lacks stability. 

For gamers who stand again on the return, this may not be an excessive amount of of an issue as you may get a while on the ball towards most servers, however towards gamers who can bomb down the serves and you are not taking part in on a court docket with a Phillip Chatrier kind runoff, a racket with extra mass is required.

Who is that this Racket For?

Whereas some rackets are area of interest in whose recreation type they match (suppose RF97), the Head Growth MP is the kind of racket that gamers of many ranging ranges can choose up and play respectable tennis with.

Outright novices to gamers who’ve been taking to the courts for years will be capable of discover one thing they like within the Growth MP.

For my part, it’s best suited to intermediate to superior gamers who play repeatedly over the summer time months, then sluggish up a bit in the course of the winter.

The explanation I say that’s as a result of as quickly as spring rolls round, you’ll be able to choose this up and hit the bottom working as it is a racket that makes the sport really feel simpler.

It is the kind of racket the place you’ll be able to take a two-week break from play however get straight again into it with out the sport feeling alien to you. Different rackets haven’t got that kind of forgiveness.

It is also the kind of body that can go well with gamers who declare to love heavy rackets however would play higher tennis in the event that they dedicated to a lighter body, as they’d be capable of swing it quicker, for longer, with out tiring or struggling to get the burden round. (I ought to know, I am one among them 😁)

For guys on the increased degree who’re dealing with 120mph+ serves and booming groundstrokes week in and week out, they’re going to need extra stability, so the Status or Gravity line is extra of their wheelhouse. 

I may additionally see the Growth MP racket being a sensible choice for higher-level juniors progressing to full-size rackets as in inventory type; it is a manageable weight.

Closing Ideas

Given the title Growth, you would be forgiven for pondering that this racket is designed for firing missiles that blow your opponent off the court docket, however the Growth MP just isn’t a body that’s going to allow you to intimidate opponents by blazing heavy winners.

As an alternative, it is a extremely playable racket that matches someplace between the ‘tweener’ and ‘gamers’ racket. It does not fairly have the steadiness or management of a participant’s body, whereas on the similar time, it isn’t some powerhouse racket that sends the ball to the fences in the event you take any kind of swing.

Nevertheless, in the event you give it sufficient racket head pace, you may be rewarded with tempo and spin. Whereas it’d lack a few of that plough by and solidity towards the actual large hitters, for many membership gamers, this racket falls into the spec vary that’s going to permit them to play at a constant degree with out arm fatigue or being late on the ball when pushed into the corners.

Lastly, the Growth MP is at a spec degree the place it is open to loads of customisation the place you may make varied tweaks with a leather-based grip a number of grams of lead for stability to get it the place you need it by way of static weight and swing weight.

Execs

Cons

Have you ever tried the brand new BOOM line from HEAD? Bought any questions on it? Let me know within the feedback.