Head Increase MP 2022 Assessment

New for 2022 is the Head Increase line of rackets that take up an extra spot within the Austrian agency’s ever-growing racket lineup.

The Increase line comes with a brand new head form, which suggests the racket is broader across the contact zone, enhancing spin energy and providing you with extra buy on the ball from off-centre hits.

Like the brand new Status rackets, it additionally options Auxetic know-how, which makes the racket flex in several methods whenever you hit the ball. It does this because of the yoke piece adapting its inside construction, deforming to provide you optimum affect really feel and extremely correct suggestions.

Lastly, the racket has Morph Beam, which mixes an elongated field beam shaft with a extra sturdy building within the head.

The Increase line has two rackets proper now, the Increase MP, which is the lighter (295g), bigger head dimension (100sq”) mannequin, and the Increase Professional, which is a 98sq”, 310g racket.

The MP is designed explicitly for bold intermediate and superior gamers and is available in at a weight that works for a variety of taking part in ranges. However how did it carry out for me? Discover out on this full Head Increase MP playtest and overview.

Head Increase MP Cosmetics

The Increase MP has a easy colour-blocked design; half the racket is black, with the opposite half (throat and grip) coming in a coral design.

I have never seen this coral/teal/turquoise used on a racket earlier than, and I believe it seems to be fairly good. It appears much like the Diadem Elevate FS 98 however is a extra matte pastel. The suggestions I obtained through the testing reveals that the colors are particularly well-liked with feminine gamers.

Alongside the colors, I additionally just like the design of the body by way of its form. It has a teardrop form hoop with a modified field beam throat. The throat is sq. on the outer facet, however the internal portion of the throat has a contoured design (Morph beam) presumably to assist with aerodynamics.

The teardrop design provides it a considerably Yonex isometric kind form, and when you pair that with the specs, you get one thing of an EZONE assembly the Wilson Conflict 100.

Specs and Setup

After taking the plastic off the deal with and eradicating the cardboard plaque, I acquired the Head Increase MP straight on the scales.

Having seen another specs and critiques posted on the boards, a number of of the Increase MP’s and Increase Professional rackets have are available in fairly a bit beneath spec, however mine got here in at 298.6g, 3.6g over Head’s offered 295g spec.

That is inside most producers’ tolerances and is not at all the worst I’ve seen. I believe those that are into tools would at all times favor higher high quality management, however 3g is manageable, and on this case, I like a couple of grams of additional weight as this implies extra graphite and extra mass.

You may see the official (+ Tennis Warehouse) Head Increase MP and Increase Professional specs under, together with my self measured Increase MP specs for comparability.

	Head Increase MP	Head Increase Professional	My Head Increase MP Specs
Head Measurement	100 in / 645.16 cm	98 in / 632.26 cm	100 in / 645.16 cm
Size	27in / 68.58cm	27in / 68.58cm	27in / 68.58cm
Unstrung Weight	10.4oz / 295g	10.9oz / 310g	10.5oz / 298.6g
Strung Weight	11.1oz / 315g	11.6oz / 329g	11.4oz / 317.4g
Strung Steadiness	12.87in / 32.69cm / 5 pts HL	12.79in / 32.49cm / 6 pts HL	12.64in / 32.10cm / 5 pts HL
Swingweight	318	325	320
Stiffness	64	66	N/A
Beam Width	24mm / 24mm / 24mm	24mm / 24mm / 24mm	24mm / 24mm / 24mm
Composition	Graphene Inside/Graphite	Graphene 360+/Graphite	Graphene Inside/Graphite
Energy Degree	Low-Medium	Low-Medium	Low-Medium
Stroke Type	Medium-Full	Medium-Full	Medium-Full
Swing Pace	Medium-Quick	Medium-Quick	Medium-Quick
Racket Colours	Black/Coral	Black/Coral	Black/Coral
Grip Kind	Hydrosorb Professional	Hydrosorb Professional	Hydrosorb Professional
String Sample	16 Mains / 19 Crosses	16 Mains / 19 Crosses	16 Mains / 19 Crosses

After unpacking the racket, I acquired it onto my transportable MiStringer machine a couple of hours later and strang it with Head Lynx Tour in 1.25mm at 45lbs. Lynx Tour is a monofilament polyester, not dissimilar to Mayami Tour Hex I reviewed not too long ago, and I figured it could pair nicely with the Increase MP.

The Increase MP is simple to string, and for novice stringers like myself, I like Head rackets as they’re marked which skip and tie holes to make use of, so there’s much less faffing round searching for PDF directions in case you are not sure.

After stringing, the Increase MP had a strung weight of 317.3g and a swing weight of 320 kg*cm^2.

I then added a Head Xtreme Tender Overgrip as a part of my ongoing overgrip testing; this took the ultimate weight to 322.4g.

As you’ll be able to see within the picture above, the HEAD Xtreme overgrip ruined the cosmetics barely because it has bigger perforations which present the color of the bottom grip beneath. White with coral dots beneath does not look significantly nice.

Head Tennis Racket Management Energy Index Chart

You may see the place Head place the Increase MP of their lineup.

The decrease the Management energy index, the extra management the racket has; the upper the quantity, the extra energy it has.

Management Energy Index	100	200	300	400	500	600	700	800	900	1000
Status		Professional	Tour	MP	MP L
Gravity		Professional	Tour	MP	MP L	S	Lite
Radical		Professional		MP			S	Lite
Pace			Professional		MP	MP L	S	Lite		PWR
Excessive				Professional	Tour	MP	MP L	S	Lite	PWR
Increase				Professional		MP		Group	Group L

First Impressions

It has been a number of years since I’ve used a HEAD racket as my go-to body, and over the past 12 months, except for racket critiques and demoing frames, I’ve performed primarily with a Wilson Professional Workers 97 v13 and a Wilson Blade 98 v8 18 x 20. Each have barely heavier static weights and better swing weights, however they aren’t one million miles away from the measured specs of this explicit Increase MP.

After a brief courtroom warm-up, my preliminary feeling of the Head Increase MP was it was easy to swing, the response felt good, but it surely felt slightly flimsy on sure contact pictures. 

With some frames, you are feeling like on a half volley within the service field, simply placing the racket behind the ball is sufficient to therapeutic massage it over the web, however the Increase MP felt prefer it wanted extra of a swing than a bunt.

After getting the legs shifting, it was again to the baseline to see the way it carried out.

Full Head Increase MP Assessment

Groundstrokes

My playtests with the Increase MP had been on a fast indoor courtroom produced from Taraflex, which ITF classifies as a category 5 courtroom (that is the quickest classification, and there are at the moment zero on this class on the ATP tour). In the event you’ve been taking part in on a slower outside courtroom earlier than heading onto this, it’s a actual baptism of fireside!

Fortuitously, I’ve gotten used to it, and it is a enjoyable floor to play on the place factors are over in a single or two pictures, and aggressive play is rewarded.

After a couple of minutes, I realised that the Increase MP is just not a powerhouse racket that may behave like a rocket launcher. As a substitute, it is a mid-level energy racket that rewards you for what you set into the shot.

Swing quick and committing to the shot? The Increase MP will ship a speedy ball with a superb quantity of spin on it.

The pinnacle form appears to assist on this regard, and I used to be in a position to get a wonderful form on the ball with none points with the launch angle.

Swing gradual and seeking to place the ball with extra old skool kind strokes? I do not suppose the Increase MP will be just right for you because it wants trendy strokes to carry out its finest options.

Outdoors the forehand and backhand drives, the slice labored nicely for me, it wasn’t the knife-like slice I can hit with sure rackets, however I acquired loads of management on the shot and a very good form on the ball, which despatched it deep in direction of the baseline.

The one space I felt much less comfy with was the half volley kind pictures from the baseline. I struggled ever to really feel assured in these forms of pictures even after 4 hitting classes. We are going to see if that improves as I plan to maintain utilizing the racket for a couple of extra hours.

Serving

When my first couple of serves landed in with some first rate pressure behind them, I knew the Increase MP can be a superb serving racket for my fashion.

My service movement is a faster arm movement, relatively than a sledgehammer kind method (Wawrinka, Norrie and many others.), so the Head Increase MP works nicely for this fashion because it cuts via the air rapidly, and I can swing it quick. 

The form of the racket additionally helps create spin on the serve, as you’ve got acquired the broader part of the teardrop in direction of the tip of the racket, and that is the place you make contact when reaching up, so you have got fairly a little bit of stringbed to play with.

Volleys

Together with half volleys, volleys are the one space the place I struggled to gel with the Increase MP.

Up on the internet, it felt a bit unstable and did not give me the kind of precision I like.

After I had time on the ball and will shut the web, it was fantastic, however it isn’t a racket the place when you get the strings behind the ball, then the body itself will do the work.

It wants extra of a swing to knock the volleys off, so I do not suppose it’s a racket for a serve and volley kind participant as taking low volleys from the service line will probably be troublesome with this racket in inventory type.

Nevertheless, the Increase MP is extraordinarily manoeuvrable up on the internet, so for a leisure doubles participant hugging the web, the convenience of swing makes it excellent for fast changes.

Returning

Returning with the Increase MP was a little bit of a combined bag. If you may get into place early and take an aggressive reduce on the ball, it is incredible as clear strikes are rewarded with tempo and depth. Even off-centre hits carry out fairly nicely when you have got sufficient racket head pace.

Nevertheless, when you’re having to dam the ball again or hitting at full stretch with out your toes planted, the Increase MP lacks stability. 

For gamers who stand again on the return, this may not be an excessive amount of of an issue as you may get a while on the ball in opposition to most servers, however in opposition to gamers who can bomb down the serves and you are not taking part in on a courtroom with a Phillip Chatrier kind runoff, a racket with extra mass is required.

Who is that this Racket For?

Whereas some rackets are area of interest in whose sport fashion they match (suppose RF97), the Head Increase MP is the kind of racket that gamers of many ranging ranges can choose up and play first rate tennis with.

Outright novices to gamers who’ve been taking to the courts for years will be capable of discover one thing they like within the Increase MP.

In my view, it’s best suited to intermediate to superior gamers who play commonly over the summer season months, then gradual up a bit through the winter.

The explanation I say that’s as a result of as quickly as spring rolls round, you’ll be able to choose this up and hit the bottom working as it is a racket that makes the sport really feel simpler.

It is the kind of racket the place you’ll be able to take a two-week break from play however get straight again into it with out the sport feeling alien to you. Different rackets do not have that form of forgiveness.

It is also the kind of body that may swimsuit gamers who declare to love heavy rackets however would play higher tennis in the event that they dedicated to a lighter body, as they’d be capable of swing it sooner, for longer, with out tiring or struggling to get the burden round. (I ought to know, I am one in every of them 😁)

For guys on the greater stage who’re dealing with 120mph+ serves and booming groundstrokes week in and week out, they will need extra stability, so the Status or Gravity line is extra of their wheelhouse. 

I may additionally see the Increase MP racket being a good selection for higher-level juniors progressing to full-size rackets as in inventory type; it is a manageable weight.

Last Ideas

Given the identify Increase, you would be forgiven for pondering that this racket is designed for firing missiles that blow your opponent off the courtroom, however the Increase MP is just not a body that’s going to allow you to intimidate opponents by blazing heavy winners.

As a substitute, it is a extremely playable racket that matches someplace between the ‘tweener’ and ‘gamers’ racket. It does not fairly have the soundness or management of a participant’s body, whereas on the similar time, it isn’t some powerhouse racket that sends the ball to the fences when you take any kind of swing.

Nevertheless, when you give it sufficient racket head pace, you may be rewarded with tempo and spin. Whereas it would lack a few of that plough via and solidity in opposition to the actual massive hitters, for many membership gamers, this racket falls into the spec vary that’s going to permit them to play at a constant stage with out arm fatigue or being late on the ball when pushed into the corners.

Lastly, the Increase MP is at a spec stage the place it is open to loads of customisation the place you may make varied tweaks with a leather-based grip a couple of grams of lead for stability to get it the place you need it by way of static weight and swing weight.

Professionals

Cons

Have you ever tried the brand new BOOM line from HEAD? Obtained any questions on it? Let me know within the feedback.