There’s an adage in sports that you can’t teach speed. The thinking is, while it can be trained and improved, there are just some athletes who have a natural burst that can’t be duplicated with hard work. Fool’s errand or not, the obvious value of the attribute—“speed kills” being another sports maxim—incentivizes the pursuit. Whether dashing across the court, or taking a big cut at the ball, it’s better to do it fast.
That was the thinking behind Head’s Speed franchise. The aerodynamic cross-section of the Speed beam was designed to maximize swing speed and the resulting pace and spin that comes with it. For its recently-released 2022 edition of the frame, Head looks to improve the formula. Fast just got faster.
The Speed frames slot in somewhere between the precision of the Prestige and Gravity franchises and the easy power and spin of the Extreme and Boom. It fits comfortably into the modern game of baseline aggression, yet still has enough versatility to be an all-court asset. The overall playability has spurred the racquets to be some of Head’s bestsellers.
