Even before the official release, mijnracket.nl player Mike had the opportunity to test the new Head Graphene Touch Extreme MP ! In addition to beautiful new looks, the Extreme series has also lost its characteristic round blade shape. This Graphene Touch Extreme MP, on the other hand, offers an incredible amount of power and spin from the baseline with a fairly comfortable playing feel.
Tested racket:
Brand: Head Model: Graphene Touch Extreme MP Headsize: 100 sq/inch Weight: 300 gr Balance: 32.5 cm Stringing pattern: 16/19 Length: 27 inch RA: 64 Stringing: Head Lynx 17 (1.25 mm) at 23-22 kg. Good all-round poly with a round build with a good mix of comfort, power and spin.Tester:
Name: Mike Playing strength: 4/4 Type of player: somewhat classic player, flat groundstrokes, generates little spin himself. Had shoulder problems until recently. Player's racket history: Head Ti Fire, Babolat Pure Drive, Prince EXO3 Rebel Team, Wilson Steam 100 BLX2, Head Graphene Radical MP and the Prince Textreme Warrior 107. Recently also the Babolat Pure Strike 16/19 2017 in use.Technology:
This latest version of the Extreme MP has been extensively modified. First of all, the characteristic round blade has been replaced by a normal blade shape. The round blade shape made it easier for players with extreme grip positions to get under the ball and thus 'grab' the ball in the strings, whereby the rotation then came out even easier. The latest versions of the Extreme series always received good reviews, but the rackets turned out to be less attractive cosmetically. All that is now a thing of the past thanks to the regular blade shape, but also due to the fresh design of this Head Graphene Touch Extreme MP.
This racket also uses the Graphene Touch material, the latest version of Graphene from Head. This gives the racket a very solid feel, with added comfort/vibration dampening. Rackets with this material update should feel more 'homogeneous', something that has certainly succeeded with this racket. More about that below. The strings of this Head Graphene Touch Extreme MP are pulled quite far apart. This ensures a fairly open stringing pattern, also clearly visible in the sweet spot of the racket. The racket also has 360 degree Spin Grommets at 12 o'clock in the blade. This gives the main strings more freedom of movement for extra snapback of the main strings and therefore spin.
Baseline:
From the baseline, the Head Graphene Touch Extreme MP plays like a rocket! It took me some time to find the right tuning. In the beginning, I hit all the balls too long. A little more rotation gave me more margin in my strokes and therefore control. That rotation is also very easy to play with this racket. Due to the fairly open stringing pattern, the ball is easy to grab in the strings for solid spin, but also sharp slices. At ball impact, the racket felt remarkably stable for a racket with so much power. For comparison, I recently also grabbed the Babolat Aeropro Drive and the newer Pure Aero. These rackets offer just as much power and easy access to spin, but still feel clearly stiffer. With this Head Graphene Touch Extreme MP I clearly felt more connection with the ball and therefore ball feel. The RA value (stiffness) of the new Extreme MP is also clearly lower at 64 than the 69 of the Pure Aero. You can certainly feel this. This gives the Graphene Touch Extreme MP a more dampened feel and more comfort.
Service:
Serving is very easy with this racket! It is easy to put mass in the ball, where spin and slice serves also come out very easily. Serving is always an extra point of attention for me because of my sensitive shoulder. But this racket offers a nice feeling at ball impact. Due to the easy power, the Head Graphene Touch Extreme MP feels little burden on the shoulder.Just:
At the net I still had to get used to the new Extreme MP. The 32.5 balance makes the racket slightly less manoeuvrable than my current Prince Textreme Warrior 107. My Prince racket has a lower balance point: the weight is more towards the shaft/grip of the racket. However, this Extreme MP also feels wonderfully solid once you have it behind the ball. For optimal performance at the net I still need some extra playing time, but that is a matter of getting used to.
Power/control:
The power that this new Head Graphene Touch Extreme MP offers is insane! What a load of power there is in this racket. You do have to play with rotation to be able to keep control of the ball. Shorter balls are easy to hit, depth in your strokes: no problem. The control is certainly also there due to the torsional stability of this frame. However, it is clearly power over control with this Extreme MP. The racket is highly recommended for the baseliners among us.Comfort/arm friendliness:
I find the comfort very good with this Head Graphene Touch Extreme MP. The racket has a fairly generous and forgiving sweet spot. The switch from my current Prince Textreme Warrior 107 to this racket went relatively easily. Serving also went with little strain on my shoulder due to the free power. This is always important to me.
Overall impression:
It was bold of Head to overhaul the Extreme series like this, but in my opinion it worked out very well. This Head Graphene Touch Extreme MP has had a great update. For me, the racket is already a contender for racket of the year 2017!
The Head Graphene Touch Extreme MP is now available in our webshop!