Breakdown

Groundstrokes: 8.3

As expected, the Head Extreme Pro 2024 offered tons of power and spin from the baseline for our testers. They highlighted the improved response and feel of this racquet compared to the previous Extreme Tour. The high power and spin levels really complemented Chris' aggressive game style. He said, "The Extreme Pro 2024 was a fun and easy racquet for me to hit with from the baseline. I liked that I could whip the racquet through contact to find ample pace and spin. I found this racquet to feel very maneuverable, and I was encouraged to take the ball early. I also had solid success changing the direction of play. I also liked the shape I found on my topspin shots, with the ball clearing the net well before dipping inside the lines. I hit my backhand slice well with this racquet and found good drive and spin on that shot."

On the other hand, Munish had a harder time adjusting to the power levels of the Extreme Pro. He said, “This racquet had a lot of power from the get-go. I was coming from the Yonex Percept 100D, so adjusting to the Extreme Pro took a while. Once dialed in, I was able to swing with tons of racquet head speed to fully utilize the racquet's spin potential. I wasn't able to hit a lot of flat shots because I was too worried about hitting the ball out, but anything with a little bit of topspin landed in. The Extreme Pro compensates for the massive power by adding a little bit more stability than the previous version."

Michelle found that her hitting experience differed from her experience when playing points. She explained, "This was a tale of two playtests for me. The racquet performed differently depending on whether I was drilling and hitting or playing points. I could swing effortlessly when drilling and hitting and the ball would land deep in the court with easy power and great spin. Cross courts were so fun to hit during drills with the Extreme Pro 2024. It swung with little effort compared to my normal racquet of choice (the beefier Wilson Pro Staff RF 97). Even mis-hits were forgiving, and the racquet felt stable. However, the playtest changed for me when I transitioned into point play. I began to struggle, with the sweetspot feeling very hot and the racquet offering too much power the second I went to attack. I quickly realized I was really struggling to redirect the ball down the line, and some of my confidence waned. I craved a bit more mass behind my shots for added control, and I had to change my swing style to feel successful. On the positive side, this Extreme Pro is much more maneuverable than most racquets I play with, and I found cross courts and angles to be my key to success when crafting points with it."

Troy was pleasantly surprised by how maneuverable and stable the racquet was. He did go on to note that he wanted a little more control and feel on certain points, especially on flat drives and slices. He said, "I found this Head Extreme Pro 2024 to be very fast and maneuverable due to the 305-gram unstrung weight and a pretty easy swingweight, much like the Yonex EZONE 98. Given how maneuverable this racquet felt, I found it to have better-than-average stability. When it comes to control, I feel like this Extreme Pro is designed for my kind of strokes. I felt like I could swing freely, but I think that's partially because I play with a lot of topspin. There were times when I was craving a little bit more precision and feel on flat drive shots, slices, drop shots and touch shots. On those types of shots, I tend to prefer racquets with slightly thinner beam frames, like the Head Radical Pro and Prestige Pro."

Volleys: 7.9

At the net, our playtesters were rewarded with great maneuverability and stability. The testers were also able to use the power of the Head Extreme Pro to drive the ball through the court or take advantage of the feel and spin to sneak in some drop shots. Michelle loved the Extreme Pro at net. She fully tapped into the spin potential of the racquet and was hitting the nastiest drop shots and powerful drive volleys. She described, "I didn't have too many issues volleying with this racquet. It was stable enough but allowed me to impart extra pop or absorb pace. I did try some drop shots and fun shots that I don't normally go for. I also enjoyed letting balls bounce in the service box and whipping angles or driving them deep through the court to put them away. Swinging volleys were also awesome and fun to hit!" 

As a player who prefers heavier, more control-oriented racquets, Troy had to adjust his game a fair amount to suit the lower swingweight of the Extreme Pro. He said, "This Extreme Pro 2024 was pretty easy to use at the net. It had a quick and maneuverable feel combined with pretty good control and stability, so I felt confident in executing volleys and had good consistency at net. On the other hand, I tend to prefer volleying with a racquet that has a bit more mass and swingweight, and a slightly thinner beam. I guess the way I would put it is that this Extreme Pro 2024 was sufficient on my volleys most of the time, but ideally, I would like a bit more feel from the racquet (thinner beam) and some added mass to help it hold up against big hitters."

Munish loved volleying with the Extreme Pro 2024. It checked all the right boxes for his volleys, and he was able to create some great shots at the net with it. He said, "Volleying with this racquet was amazing! The Extreme Pro offers tons of stability and maneuverability, and for me, these qualities are the most important. Hitting drop volleys was a breeze because I had the right amount of feel and spin to cushion harder hit shots and drop my volleys right at the net. It was easy to direct the ball thanks to the racquet's stable nature and its maneuverability. I did have a problem with overhitting at times, especially on finishing volleys, but I was able to make up for it by slowing down my racquet speed."

 Chris made some comparisons to his Head Speed Pro, saying, "The Extreme Pro 2024 felt lighter, faster and crisper at net than the Speed Pro I use a lot. What the Extreme Pro 2024 lacked was some of the Speed Pro's stability and plushness. On the downside, I found the Extreme Pro 2024 a tad more prone to fluttering at impact when I hit a little off center. On the plus side, it was very easy to carve angles and add spin to volleys since the Extreme Pro 2024 felt so fast in my hands. My punch volleys had good pace, and I also found the racquet to be very accurate."

Serves: 8.7

With a sub-325 swingweight paired with Head’s unique Auxetic 2.0 material and Spin Grommets, the Extreme Pro 2024 allowed our testers to add all the spin and power they could to their serves. Michelle was the first to compliment the Extreme Pro on serves. She said, "This was probably my favorite spot to use the Extreme Pro because it really allowed me to go big in terms of flat serves, spin serves and kick serves. I tried to really exaggerate my kick serves and go after the ball, and I found success on both first and second serves."

Troy served up massive kickers with the Extreme Pro 2024, and he was hitting all of his spots. At the end of the playtest he talked about the possible customizations he would make to the frame. He said, "This racquet helped me hit some especially good kick serves. I don't really have much to complain about on my serves with the Head Extreme Pro 2024. If anything, a bit more mass added to the racquet would help me get more heaviness and pace on my first serves. Also, a slightly extended length on this racquet might give me more plow through power on my flat first serves, kind of like my Yonex EZONE 98+."

Having played with a racquet with similar specs, the Head Boom Pro, earlier this year, Chris discovered that he was getting a lot more forgiveness and better shaping with the Extreme Pro than he did with the Boom. He explained, "I liked serving with the Extreme Pro 2024. The racquet was easy to swing, and I was enjoying good pace on my serves. It felt just as easy to snap the racquet through contact for a flat serve as it did to brush the ball for spin. I served consistently with the Extreme Pro 2024 and found it a very forgiving racquet. I was able to get better shape on the ball with this racquet than I did with the Boom Pro from Head, which shares similar specs. For some reason, my serves get much more net clearance and dip into the box better with the Extreme compared to the Boom."

As much as he enjoyed hitting kickers with the Extreme Pro, Munish had some difficulty with his flat serves. He noted that just slowing down his swing speed helped overcome these issues, though. He said, "Kick serves were an absolute blast. A little bit of spin and my balls were bouncing above the shoulder level of my opponents. Flat serves were one aspect I had some issues with, and I had to significantly drop my swing speed in order to get them in. The Extreme Pro has a ton of power, and as good as that was on groundstrokes, my overheads and flat serves struggled a little. That said, I still got lots of free points from the Extreme Pro."

Returns: 7.8

With an extreme head-light balance, the Extreme Pro allowed our playtesters to hit their returns with a lot of net clearance and spin. This not only let them neutralize aggressive first serves to get into the point, but also attack second serves. However, the slightly lower swingweight and mass would become an issue for players like Michelle when facing big servers. She explained, "While I enjoyed serving with this racquet, my least favorite shot of this playtest was my return. The racquets I normally play with have heftier swingweights and weigh more, so I lean on that for the control I need on returns. Sometimes when I was facing big serves I would try to block the ball back and it would launch and miss the court. The ball also flew if I took a big cut. I had to aim for large targets and really make sure I was hitting my returns cross court and loading balls with more spin than power to get points started effectively. This is where I could use a tighter, deader string setup."

Conscious of the high power levels of the Extreme Pro, Munish relied on his ability to use tons of spin to get high net clearance. He said, “First serve returns were fairly easy to direct. I was cautious to attempt anything too bold because I didn't think I would have enough control. Instead, I channeled Djokovic and relied on big net clearance and spin to get the ball back deep and center. More often than not, this allowed me to neutralize the serve and get into the point. Second serves were far easier to attack because I could step into the court and rely on the racquet's power to get the ball back aggressively. I had to tell myself not to swing too big on my second serve returns, but otherwise it was all good."

Contrastingly, Chris had an absolute blast on returns. He was able to step onto the court and use the Extreme Pro's power to attack the ball. He said, "One of my favorite shots to hit with the Extreme Pro 2024 was the return. I found this to be a great racquet for taking the ball early and attacking. I found it easy to accelerate the racquet off a compact backswing to redirect the incoming serve with pace and spin. I liked going down the line with my returns because I could go high over the net and still get my shots to land on target."

Despite having a good experience overall, Troy found his returns landing slightly short at times. He reiterated how a little more mass on the top of the frame might help give his returns more plow through and depth. He said, "When it came to serve returns, I had a similar experience to how it was for me on volleys. This Head Extreme Pro 2024 was sufficient on most of my returns, and I didn't necessarily have a bad experience. However, I felt like I needed more mass and plow through to hold up against big-hitting servers. I also needed the extra mass and plow through to help me get more depth when I had to block my returns back. My returns were landing a bit short and sitting up a lot of the time, which allowed my opponents to pounce on the ball. I think I just prefer racquets with a bit more mass and a slightly softer feel when hitting returns, like the Speed Pro or Radical Pro."

Breakdown Summary