Head padel rackets

Head doesn't come from padel, and it shows in its rackets

Head was born in Baltimore in 1950 making skis. Today it is de facto Austrian, its operational headquarters is in Kennelbach, and it has been in padel since around the year 2000: it celebrated its 25th anniversary in the category in 2025. The first Head rackets were manufactured in Argentina in the late 80s, under license.

That origin as a racket manufacturer explains what distinguishes it most: Head brings its tennis R&D to padel. Its flagship technology, Auxetic, debuted in padel before tennis, December 2021 versus January 2022.

What Head racket lines are there?

Head organizes the catalog by families, and each family tells you both the shape and the playing philosophy. Knowing the family you already know almost everything you need:

And a fact that saves confusion: Head does not renew all lines every year. As of today, Coello and Radical from 2026, Extreme mid-2026 and mid-2025, Speed from 2025 and Gravity from 2024 coexist.

That means that a Gravity 2024 is not an old racket: it is the current Gravity. The same with all the Speed 2025. If you see those dates, you are not looking at clearance.

What Pro, Motion, Team and Team Light mean

Here is the useful part, and it has a trick: they are not a level ladder, they are three different changes. With the Radical 2026 it is clearly seen:

The three rules, which are repeated in all families:

1. From Pro to Motion only the weight changes. Same face, same rubber, same mold, about 15 grams less. So if you doubt between Pro and Motion, the question is not about level: it is about arm.
2. From Motion to Team the material changes. It goes down from carbon to fiberglass. It is not the same racket cheaper: it is another racket, softer, more forgiving and with less ceiling.
3. From Team to Team Light the mold changes, which goes to round. There you are already in a beginner racket.

And apart from all that, there is One and One X

One and One X are not a step below the Pro: they are another construction.

A One racket is a one-hole racket. In Head's words: "with a single hole a continuous playing surface is created, improving the precision and stability of the shots", and also "the wider sweet spot reduces unforced errors".

• One is the lightweight version of that construction.
• One X is the same construction, heavier and more stable.

So One does not mean less level: it means a single hole. Choose One if you are looking for lightness and One X if you are looking for stability.

The Head rackets that are no longer manufactured, and what replaces them

There are many people looking for Head rackets that the brand discontinued a long time ago. This is what each one was and what to look for today:

If one of these models fits you and you find it here, do not discard it for being from a discontinued line: the mold and the rubber still do the same thing they did. What you will no longer find is the next season.

Auxetic, the rubbers and the faces: what you really feel

Auxetic, the house signature

Auxetic is a material structure placed in the bridge that widens when stretched instead of narrowing. What it does: it does not give more power, it gives more information. An off-center shot feels more like a centered one, and you know better where you hit it.

The 2.0 version also puts that same structure in a carbon bar along the handle. The difference between 1.0 and 2.0 is where it goes, not what it is. It is noticeable in a more continuous feeling in the hand and less dry hit.

Honesty first: no one has published how much it improves. There is no figure of power gained or expanded sweet spot. What is verifiable is what the material does and where it is.

The four rubbers

Head does not call its rubbers EVA. They are foam, and each one is in very specific places:

"EVA Soft" is not a Head name: the brand does not use that nomenclature in any model.

And a technology that is a real technical fact

Tailored Frame means that Head builds the racket without tubular, extending the rubber material to the edge of the face. What you feel: the ball stuck to the frame does not sink or sound hollow. Forgives the edge hit much better than a construction with a tube.

Head also does not use 3K or 18K, by the way. Its faces are UD Carbon, the hardest and most explosive, and punishes the arm, Double Carbon, rigid but oriented to control, Carbon Hybrid, the middle ground, hits like carbon and forgives like glass, and fiberglass in the entire Team range.

What the laboratory says about Head

Five Head rackets are in the 2026 guide of Testea Sport Lab, the laboratory of the ai2 institute of the Universitat Politècnica de València, which measured 60 models from thirteen brands with the same method:

Three readings that come from there:

1. The Gravity Pro gets the maximum grade in sweet spot, in vibration absorption and in manejability. Head says it is the racket with the largest sweet spot in its catalog, and for once the laboratory agrees with the brand.
2. The Coello Pro scores 5 out of 5 in ball output and in power at the same time. Only four rackets out of sixty achieve it, and one is this. It also has the highest balance of the five: 278 mm, one of the highest of the entire test bench. It is a demanding racket, and it is not bad that it is known.
3. The Extreme Pro and the Coello Pro are both diamond and they do not look so similar. The Extreme is more balanced; the Coello goes to the extremes. Choosing between the two is not choosing level.

What rackets do the Head professionals use

Arturo Coello is the youngest player who has reached number 1 in the world, and he has his own line with his name.

As always: the racket of a professional is made for the arm of a professional. If you like the Coello Pro, the sensible path is the Motion, same racket, 15 grams less, or the Team, which changes to fiberglass and forgives much more.

Are there women's Head rackets?

Head does not divide its catalog by sex: it divides it by family and by suffix. What distinguishes a model labeled for women in the entire category is the weight band, about fifteen grams less. Same mold, same materials, same technology.

So the useful question is how much do you want the racket to weigh. In Head that is solved by itself: any family has its Motion, about 355 grams, and its Team Light, 339, the lightest of the catalog. Filter by weight, not by label.

To compare Head with the rest, you have the adidas padel rackets, the Bullpadel padel rackets and the Wilson padel rackets, or all padel racket brands. The entire range is in padel rackets.

Guide updated in September 2026.