Posted by New racquet in the popular Extreme line that delivers BIG SPIN and BIG POWER but does this racquet give you the same abilities as the previous ones?
Finally it’s here, the racquet I have been waiting for so long, it’s the brand new Head Graphene 360+ Extreme Tour. This new racquet from Head is updated with spiralfibers to improve feel but it’s also a completely new mould and a new edition in the Extreme line. The racquet I got is blacked out so it is not the original paint, down below you can see it clear for yourself. The Extreme line is made for players wanting EXTREME power and spin and therefore uses it to dominate the match. This Tour version is between a Extreme and a Radical in terms of playability and feel. The specs almost matches a Radical but the feel, power and spin are more like an Extreme racquet.
Racquet specs:
- Head size: 98 sq.in or 630 cm2
- Length: 27 inches or 68.5 cm
- Weight unstrung: 305 g or 10.8 oz
- Balance: 315 mm
- String Pattern: 16/19 (tight, not like the normal Extreme)
- Beam Width: 22/23/21 mm
- Stiffness: 65
- Power level: Medium (CPI 500 on the Head power scale)
I really enjoyed playing with this racquet and I’m actually considering into making the switch from my Dunlop CX200 Tour 16×19. It really is a great racquet, but is it an Extreme? I don’t know, it kind off feels the same but it doesn’t play the same which is the meaning of this racquet but calling it an Extreme? Babolat have done the same thing with their Pure Aero VS (original Pure Aero converted to a more controlled frame), the Pure Aero VS and the Extreme Tour are basically the same racquet (click here for comparison) but they feel very different. The Extreme Tour has a more disconnected feel on impact while the Pure Aero VS has better feel but more shock absorption and also you need to get used to the Aero beam.
It’s still a very spin friendly racquet with a tight 16×19 string pattern that delivers precision and control, I had no problems going for my targets. One issue I had was on short low balls where I just wanted to gently drop the ball back over and I didn’t hit the sweetspot perfectly, I got no “pop”, no lift on the ball, it simply just died and went straight into the net. The same thing happened on groundstrokes when I didn’t come under the ball creating much spin, the ball wouldn’t lift up, it just went flat right into the net.
I tested this racquet with two different string setups, one full bed of Head Lynx Tour and another with Lynx Tour in the mains and Head Sonic Pro in the crosses, both at 24kg (54lbs). I played well in all areas of the court and especially on mid to high level attacking shots, there wasn’t any balls coming back afterwards 😉
So if the older Extreme racquets wasn’t a match for you, give this a shot because it’s pretty much a controlled version of the Extreme MP but it’s still not a complete control racquet. It’s more of a tweener racquet that will fit a lot of players. That is all for this review and I hoped you’d liked it! Please comment if you have any questions and check out my Instagram, bye!
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