Head Gravity Pro 2021 Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 87

Whether they were attacking the ball or playing more defensively, our playtesters were able to hit with confidence from the back of the court with the Graphene 360+ Gravity Pro. First impressions were positive for Chris, who found that the racquet complemented his game beautifully. He said, "I loved the Graphene 360+ Gravity Pro off the ground. It had the mass to drive through the ball, yet it still felt fast and easy to position. I had a lot of success taking the ball early, using my opponent's pace and redirecting the pattern of play to take control of the point. The response in the upper hoop of the racquet felt very forgiving, which made it a great option for me as I tend to hit in the upper portion of the stringbed. The head shape is also very wide towards the tip, so I had a lot of racquet face to play with when looking to maximize spin and cut the ball finely. I preferred the Graphene 360+ Gravity Pro strung with a co-poly around 44 pounds. At a lower tension the response felt velvety smooth, and the launch angle was perfect from the 18x20 stringbed."

It was a smooth transition into the racquet for Troy, who could hit out with success from the baseline. He said, "Dependability, stability and a high level of feel are all attributes that came to mind when I first struck the ball with the Graphene 360+ Gravity Pro. This racquet is 15 grams lighter than my Yonex VCORE Pro 97 (330), but the swingweight is almost identical. With that in mind, this racquet packs plenty of plow through. I loved taking the ball early and on the rise, finding that I could block the ball back deep into my opponent's side of the court. This racquet felt stable enough to handle heavy pace, which made it easy for me to counterpunch against big hitters like Michelle. The Gravity Pro provides a lot of control and precision on groundstrokes for its 100 square-inch head size, similar to a Prince Phantom Pro 100 18x20. The tight string pattern and relatively high swingweight allowed me to rip groundstrokes hard and flat whenever I needed to attack. My backhand slice felt very smooth, and depth came with ease. This racquet wasn't as spin friendly as my VCORE Pro 97 (330), but I found that its round head shape made it more spin friendly than most 18x20 patterned racquets."

Michelle loved the distinct feel of the Graphene 360+ Gravity Pro, and she loved how she could switch up her baseline game with ease when needed. She described, "This racquet had a feel unlike any other Head racquet I've hit in my time at Tennis Warehouse. Right away, the stringbed felt soft and I was connected to the ball. I don't normally like tighter string patterns, but the spacing and specs of this racquet allowed me to generate enough power to put points away with pinpoint accuracy. I loved how I could go from offense to defense and back to offense with ease. The thin beam felt silky soft without sacrificing any responsiveness. Sometimes with more flexible beams I feel like I can't generate adequate power, but the swingweight here provided plenty of mass behind the ball. The sweetspot was nice at impact, and the stringbed felt forgiving, so even when I wasn't hitting the ball exactly where I wanted to it wasn't too detrimental. I also consistently found easy depth, which was another positive for me."

For Mark, the Gravity Pro incorporated all the ingredients he needed for success from the back of the court. He said, "By far, I spend most of my time on the tennis court at the baseline, so I am always hoping for a racquet that does it all. I want it to be heavy and stable for directional control, yet light enough to be maneuverable. I want it to offer easy access to topspin without having to sacrifice the effectiveness of my slice. Hey, that is exactly what I got from Head's new Gravity Pro!"

Volleys - Score: 86

Up at net, the Gravity Pro demonstrated its top-notch stability and feel. Troy found a good response both when blocking back volleys and when going for more touch. He described, "The stability and large sweetspot made this racquet very easy for me to use when coming to net. I could block my volleys back deep, and the racquet did not flutter when facing heavy pace. The touch and feel were very much to my liking: neither too firm nor too soft. This Gravity Pro gave me the confidence to go for the lines on my volleys, and there was plenty of feel and response for hitting deadly droppers. I wouldn't necessarily call this racquet a full-on scalpel, like my old Wilson Six One 95 18x20, but the precision was about as good as I have experienced from a 100-square-inch head size."

Michelle had no issues transitioning forward. She noted, "I was happy with the stability of the Graphene 360+ Gravity Pro at net. It consistently felt super accurate and solid at contact. There was good touch, pop and predictability. I never had any issues with fluttering, and swinging volleys felt pretty awesome!"

The specs aligned nicely for Mark's net game. He said, "As with my groundstrokes, the Gravity Pro's hefty 11.7-ounce strung weight and low 330 swingweight was the 'Goldilocks' combination of maneuverability and stability on volleys. Besides benefiting from its overall weight and balance, the Gravity Pro's 18x20 pattern helped keep me feeling very connected to the ball."

Chris' net game came alive with this racquet in hand. He said, "I volleyed very, very well with this racquet. I loved how stable the Gravity Pro felt at contact. Likewise, the feel was superb. My drop volleys and angles were totally dialed in. I also found very impressive accuracy on my punch volleys. Both in singles and doubles, I was volleying to the best of my ability (and sometimes above) with this racquet. I surprised myself several times with how much I was able to get on tough volleys that I had to dig out. I had expected the racquet to flutter and my volleys to land short, but the Gravity Pro responded very well, and I was still able to stick my shots."

Serves - Score: 84

The rounder head shape of the Gravity Pro opened up the spin window on serves, which helped our team achieve great precision. Michelle explained, "I found a rhythm with this racquet on my serves from my very first hit. Again, I think the feel, mass and controlled stringbed allowed me to hit out and dial in my targets, and there was still nice access to spin for any kicks or slices. I could pick my spots and execute my serves effectively."

Chris found sufficient power and spin to start service points assertively. He commented, "I liked the way the Gravity Pro came through contact on my serves. The racquet had enough mass to provide plenty of power, which had me feeling like I was getting nice pace on both first and second serves. Spin was also easy to generate. My slice serve was working very, very well with this racquet. The amount of spin I could hit with the Gravity Pro allowed me to stay aggressive on second serves and remain confident on big points."

Troy felt that he could pretty much do it all when serving with the Graphene 360+ Gravity Pro. He said, "Whether I was going for heavy spin or flat serves, this racquet was working very well for me. I wasn't getting the free and easy power that I do from racquets like the Babolat Pure Drive Tour Plus or Yonex VCORE 98+, but the mass of this Graphene 360+ Gravity Pro allowed me to feel the ball flatten on the stringbed like a pancake on flat serves. I felt like I was dropping the hammer with this racquet on flat first serves, while the round head shape was beneficial when hitting spin serves. The large spin window allowed me to attack my kick serves aggressively, and I was less likely to shank. The only thing that I would have preferred was a bit more of a head-light feel. I would likely tail weight this racquet with about 10 to 15 grams to bring it closer to the specs of my VCORE Pro 97 (330)."

Mark required a slight adjustment period to get the hang of serving with the Gravity Pro. He explained, "Visually, the Gravity Pro was love at first sight, but not at first serve. The same combination of specs that immediately benefited my volley and ground game took a little more time to dial in with regards to my serve. I had approximately three weeks of testing on this racquet, and by the end of the second week (maybe eight hours of play), I became confident enough to play tournaments with it."

Returns - Score: 85

Our playtesters all appreciated a stable, controlled response when returning with the Gravity Pro, which allowed them to find success when swinging out on returns or opting to chip the ball back defensively. Mark continued to laud this racquet's feel and playability. He said, "It's a pretty fine line between racquet stability and sluggishness, and for my return of serve the new Gravity Pro rode that line almost perfectly. For the most part, I stuck to my chip return style since the heft, head size and tight pattern of the Gravity Pro complemented that approach nicely."

Troy had no issues returning successfully with the Gravity Pro. He said, "Once again, the large sweetspot and the stability were the key attributes when it came to returns. I could block back hard-hit serves with easy depth, and I didn't have any issues with the racquet fluttering in my hands. The large sweetspot helped me hit my two-handed backhand returns more effectively. I don't hit my backhand return as cleanly as my forehand, and this racquet helped to compensate for that. I could slice my backhand with depth and keep the ball low off the bounce. My only knock against this racquet's returns is that the launch angle was lower than the launch angle of my VCORE Pro 97 (330), so there was a bit of an adjustment period. I was clipping the net frequently on my returns at the beginning of the playtest, but I was able to dial it in after a few sessions."

Hitting returns was another high point for Chris during this review. He described, "One of my favorite shots with the Gravity Pro was the return of serve. The racquet felt perfect for taking returns early and redirecting all of the incoming pace back at the server. I had all of the control I needed to drive returns back or float them deep, depending on whether I was looking to steal time away from the server or buy time to recover from a difficult return. Again, feel was top notch, and I had fun sneaking in some drop shot returns too."

Michelle had similar sentiments. She added, "This was one of my favorite shots to hit with the Gravity Pro. As I tend to enjoy hitting big, explosive returns, the controlled feel and tight stringbed allowed me to swing fast and find my targets easily. Also, the Gravity Pro was stable, which made it easy to send big serves back with shorter backswings. I could effectively use my opponent's pace to block balls back nice and deep into the court."

Overall - Score: 87