Head Graphene 360+ Extreme MP Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 81

As those familiar with the racquet line might expect, the Graphene 360+ Extreme MP is loaded with power and spin. Those attributes immediately caught Brittany's attention. She said, "The Extreme family has easily become my favorite in the Head line-up, with the MP typically being the standout for me. This update does not disappoint in the spin and power departments. I found easy power and depth on my groundstrokes, and I could step in and be aggressive with very little effort. I loved being able to utilize my shorter, angled groundstrokes with this racquet to pull my opponent off the court, hit a passing shot or even an offensive short ball. When I was on the defensive, the Extreme MP did a great job of helping me stay in a neutral-to-offensive position. Even when I was reaching, I could get the ball back deep in the court with power and spin. I did have to hold back at times, especially on my approach shots, since it was easy to overhit if I wasn't careful about adding enough spin."

"Spin was the name of the game with the Graphene 360+ Extreme MP," Kristen continued. "When I was rallying from the back of the court, I had fun seeing just how much spin I could tap into, and I loved hitting those high-arcing balls that dropped deep at the baseline. With its mid-320s swingweight, the racquet offered nice plow through and was definitely very powerful. Sometimes that power was tricky to rein in, especially when it came to point play. I felt I was missing the confidence to really go for my shots because I found it difficult to gauge the depth of my shots when under pressure, so I was always a bit nervous about overhitting. I was hitting more slice than I normally would to try to maximize control. Also, I noticed that this racquet felt slightly firmer than the previous iteration. I tend to hit my groundstrokes in the upper hoop a bit, and it could feel a little jarring there."

Erik loves to ramp up the spin, and the Extreme MP fits right into his game style. He said, "I was able to hit a ton of topspin with this racquet. My slice tended to sit up, but I could hit it really deep in the court, so my opponent couldn't attack. There was a ton of power with this racquet — so much that I had to make sure to rip the ball with a lot of topspin to keep it dropping in the court. This racquet was pretty maneuverable, but I did find it a bit chunky at times, and the head felt huge. Although it worked pretty well for my game style, I found myself hitting the ball long a lot, and my shots were a little erratic off the stringbed."

Jason discovered some improvements over the previous version that allowed him to stay aggressive from the back of the court. He said, "Right away, I noticed that this new version was easier to swing than the previous model. This update felt whippier and more maneuverable, which meant I was able to get more racquet head speed. I really enjoyed it on my groundstrokes, because I was getting really good depth and pace without changing my strokes. Compared to the new Tour model, this MP was just easier to win points with, and it kept me in a better offensive position. The negative for me was that I had to be conscious about adding topspin to my shots when swinging out; otherwise, my shots tended to launch long."

Volleys - Score: 85

Maneuverable, stable and no slouch on touch shots, the Graphene 360+ Extreme MP excelled at net. Volleying was a standout portion of the playtest for Kristen. She said, "I actually enjoyed this racquet more up at net than from the baseline, which is not something I say often, since I love to hug that baseline! I thought it offered good feel and good stability, and I felt connected to my volleys. I thought there was enough mass to stick an aggressive volley, and I also found great touch."

Jason had a similar experience. He said, "The racquet felt nice and solid on my volleys. I could block shots back and bleed pace off my opponent's shots with relative ease. There wasn't much torsional instability, which is great considering the racquet weighs around 11 ounces. On sitter shots, there was definitely enough pace there to put the ball away. And with the new Graphene 360+ tech, the feel is much improved, which was great for touch volleys and drop shots."

As someone who loves to charge the net and has an affinity for touch shots, Erik gelled with this racquet. He described, "The Extreme MP was pretty quick up at net and not that hard to get into position. The feel off of the stringbed was great; I felt very connected to the ball and could weigh my volleys accordingly. I really like hitting drop volleys with this racquet. I feel like it's one of the best frames in that department, and the spin I could achieve was an added bonus."

The Graphene 360+ Extreme MP helped Brittany close out points at the net. She said, "When I transitioned up to net, as expected, I found the most success punching volleys deep in the court to finish the point. The feel was updated slightly and was a little more responsive compared to the previous version. I did hit a couple more touch shots, but that typically isn't my game. I was also impressed with the stability. I never felt the racquet twisting in my hands, even when I was reaching for a passing shot or volleying back a hard-hit groundstroke. This helped elevate my doubles game."

Serves - Score: 85

With improved maneuverability and access to plenty of power and spin, the Graphene 360+ Extreme MP did not disappoint on serves. "Serving with this racquet was very solid," said Erik. "I had access to a lot of spin and could really get my opponent off of the court with a kick serve. I could also tap into a good amount of power when I wanted to really go for a serve. I was very confident hitting serves, but it was tough for me to hit slice serves with this frame, and I resorted to hitting more kick serves as a result. My favorite serves were the kick up the T on the deuce side and the kick out wide on the ad side."

Kristen could keep her opponents at bay and start service points aggressively with the Extreme MP. She explained, "Serving was another one of my favorite parts of this playtest. It's definitely a racquet that won't let you slack on serves; you really need to commit and power through your service motion. When doing so, I was able to hit a heavy serve loaded with spin. I felt connected to my serves and could pick my spots well."

"I was serving well and winning points more easily on my serve with this racquet compared to the Extreme Tour model," Jason added. "I didn't feel like the higher swingweight was impacting my serve percentage, but it was slightly tougher to hit the wide serve on the ad side."

Brittany was pleased to find that the Graphene 360+ Extreme MP's user-friendly nature carried over to serves. She said, "Without repeating myself too much, serving with the Extreme MP was extremely easy. There was plenty of power and spin to tap into. First serves came with good pace, and I liked that I could switch it up with some slice serves out wide. I had a lot of confidence on my second serve and was able to create a consistent neutral serve that landed deep in the box and kept me in the point."

Returns - Score: 81

With power and spin being the major themes of this Graphene 360+ Extreme MP playtest, the potential for a scorching return was there. However, our playtesters found it a bit too easy to overhit when they weren't careful. As someone who gravitates toward powerful frames, Jason used this racquet's powerful nature to his advantage. He said, "The Extreme MP allowed me to really 'grip it and rip it' on my returns. If I was fully swinging out I just had to make sure to brush up on the ball to bring it down in the court. But it was easy to hit deep, penetrating returns with this racquet."

Brittany also enjoyed being aggressive with returns. She said, "The solid response enabled me to step in and block back big first serves. I could easily generate my own pace on second serve returns to be very offensive to start the point. Like groundstrokes, it is easy to overhit at times. I just had to make a mental note and a small adjustment to add a little extra spin. I will say my favorite return to hit was deep down the middle and back at my opponent. It is a high-percentage shot that forces the server to move out of the way to hit the next ball."

Though she usually prefers to return rather than serve, Kristen never fully dialed-in on her returns with the Extreme MP. She explained, "This is an area where I struggled. I often found myself overhitting when going for a more aggressive return, and I tended to lack control when blocking back serves from heavier hitters. I felt I had to take a very conservative approach on returns and shorten up my stroke a bit to get better accuracy."

Erik enjoyed counterattacking heavy serves, but he found he could miss his mark when creating his own pace. He said, "Returns were tough to adjust to. If my opponent was hitting with a lot of pace, it was easy to chip the returns back deep into the court because of the racquet's stability. However, if they took some pace off of the serve, it was hard for me to gauge the depth of my shots, and I would find myself spraying returns long quite a bit when I wasn't totally dialed-in."

Overall - Score: 84