Head Boom Team L

[Yurifi]

so, as I am getting back into the tennis, after some 20 years of hiatus, I realised, that much has changed. I managed to adapt my technique so it is a bit modernish, so to speak, but yeah ... I realised that my trusty old racket won't do it anymore so I went down the painless path of testing different rackets. so far I have tested a bunch, and settled down to Yonex Ezone 100/VCore Pro 100L (love them both) and Head Gravity MP (closest to my trusty old racket). almost pulled the trigger on Gravity MP but it's not in stock. yet.
meanwhile, I bought my wife a Head Boom Team L - already when I was testing the racket, I was pretty amazed (never liked Head rackets - may they do skis and skiboots, but leave tennis alone) ... so I dipped my feet into Head tennis rackets and tested Boom Team L for wife and at that time Gravity MP / S for my self and was really surprised by performance. like, a lot!

yesterday I was playing with my wife and she said that something was weird about the racket and that I should check, what's wrong. so after playing with her I agreed to play with my colleague and grabbed her Boom and ... BOOM! I was even more amazed! It was ... bwoah, have no idea where to start. if I wanted to play defensively, no problem. if I wanted to go from defence to attack, aggressively, no problem. spin? no problem. drop shot. why not. only thing that this racket came short was volley at net, and even this was playable, but it was the part where 260g of weight showed it's weakness. the only part, actually. I play a combo of two handed backhand and one handed backhand, had no problem transitioning between the two, even though it has that big 107 head.

and what amazed me the most, was the ball trajectory. a few centimeters over the net and onto the baseline. so ... now I am completely bedazzled - this is supposed to be a beginners racket. but I am 4.0-4.5, on a very good day (yesterday with boom) I can reach even 5.0 I guess ... and it is messing with my head - little voice on shoulder "you need this". "this is THE racket". "you saw yourself what a weapon it is to you" ... but then my other part of the head starts ... "yeah ... but it's only 260g..." "its 107" head size" "you need something heavier" "you always played with heavy rackets" ... and have been going back and forth, on and off since yesterday evening when I put my wife's racket back into the bag with a big grin on my face. what to do? any ideas, inputs?

oh. in case you're wondering what was wrong with the racket? worn grip.

 

[A_Instead]

I often say to my Team..." If the shoe fits... wear it.."

 

[ChanterRacquet]

Andre Agassi played with the 107” Radical. Serena Williams with a 104”. If it works for them, why not?

I tried the Boom MP and found it to be a very accessible racquet. Have you tried the MP or Team, just for giggles?

 

[Trip]

Honeymoon hit, for sure. Give the frame another 25 sessions, minimum. Then you'll know what you're really dealing with. And presuming you're playing the frame in stock form, I would stay away from full-bed poly, and instead use synthetics at mid-tension, or if you must, a hybrid (with non-poly mains) but string it low, because a frame with that little recoil weight (a mere 138) is probably not going to be very comfortable over the long haul with a fully-plasticized string bed.

That being said, I could see the frame maybe being a decent platform stick if you have the means and knowledge to customize for a proper amount of static weight, balance, SW and RW for your physicality and skill level.

 

[sharif]

I thought the Head boom team is 102 size not 107?! I recently demoed it. edit - NVM just saw realized you wrote head boom team L. I demoed the head boom team.

 

[Yurifi]

Honeymoon hit, for sure. Give the frame another 25 sessions, minimum. Then you'll know what you're really dealing with. And presuming you're playing the frame in stock form, I would stay away from full-bed poly, and instead use synthetics at mid-tension, or if you must, a hybrid (with non-poly mains) but string it low, because a frame with that little recoil weight (a mere 138) is probably not going to be very comfortable over the long haul with a fully-plasticized string bed.

That being said, I could see the frame maybe being a decent platform stick if you have the means and knowledge to customize for a proper amount of static weight, balance, SW and RW for your physicality and skill level.

when demoing, it was strung with Singum Pro Hyperion. seemed very comfortable. when I bought it I strung it with Volkl V-Star, 22/22kg and it’s very comfortable. supercool feel on ball contact. I would probably string it with Signum Pro Tornado, maybe a kg or two tighter …

yes, honeymoon period … on the other hand Yonex I demoed last week could also be great due to honeymoon period. and the Head Gravity MP … that’s the problem with demoing - when/how do you know/tell the racket is simply awesome or it’s just a honeymoon period?

 

[Yurifi]

Andre Agassi played with the 107” Radical. Serena Williams with a 104”. If it works for them, why not?

I tried the Boom MP and found it to be a very accessible racquet. Have you tried the MP or Team, just for giggles?

only tried Gravity MP and S. actually liked them both. but Boom? another level. haven’t really tried MP or Team as they’re out of the budget …

 

[Yurifi]

just played with a bomber hitter … or better said tried to play. low, fast, heavy penetrating balls. couldn’t do anything with the Boom Team L except to defend. if I wanted to counter attack, it was mission impossible. grabbed my Ezone 100 and things were better but even Ezone 100 felt noodley and overwhelmed. too light. ran out of time to try with oldie Wilson Ceramic FP with cca. 360 weight (or Pro Staff RF97) plow through would be helpful, I guess. but intrigued, if it would help.

 

[jimmy8]

Just put 100 grams of lead on the head boom team l. Problem solved.

 

[Trip]

just played with a bomber hitter … or better said tried to play. low, fast, heavy penetrating balls. couldn’t do anything with the Boom Team L except to defend. if I wanted to counter attack, it was mission impossible. grabbed my Ezone 100 and things were better but even Ezone 100 felt noodley and overwhelmed. too light. ran out of time to try with oldie Wilson Ceramic FP with cca. 360 weight (or Pro Staff RF97) plow through would be helpful, I guess. but intrigued, if it would help.

As expected. Lack of string bed control. Lack of static weight. Lack of swing weight. Lack of recoil weight.

 

[Yurifi]

Just put 100 grams of lead on the head boom team l. Problem solved.

I think I rather invest into my tennis technique … might be easier than to get Boom Team L up to speed … weight … whatever …

 

[Yurifi]

As expected. Lack of string bed control. Lack of static weight. Lack of swing weight. Lack of recoil weight.

it’s interesting, really. up until today, Boom Team L was perfect for everything. played against good players (definitely better than me) with big hits and it wasn’t a problem (I was an equal oponent). now, this is an open level player, the matter to the fact is, I don’t often get to play against such players, it’s more of a treat, lets put it like this, rather. but still … no matter what I did, I could only defend. if I wanted to topspin. net. was only able to return dead balls, which were placed well, but dead. you know. on a platter to be returned as a winner. slice was working nicely, though.
what surprised me most was - Boom Team L has CPI900 - Head’s power range, that is. it goes from 100-1000. I expect at least some power help, but nothing. Ezone felt like it had more power (and it doesn’t).

what bothers me more - why the hell (pardon my french) was Ezone 100 so … overwhelmed? I mean, I know I am not technically the best player, I was late on balls, footwork was sloppy (was tired already, too), but still got some decent hits and rallies, topspin, slice, hitting hard. and those hits I got right, the racquet felt so … soft …

 

[Yurifi]

just to elaborate, why I am concerned - I was basically determined to pick up Head Gravity S on Wednesday, but now I have big second doubts … will it be to soft, will it have enough power, is it still too light … many things going through my mind right now.