HEAD GRAPHENE 360+ SPEED MP discussion/appreciation/pics

Hit with a demo and I was very impressed. It was strung with ALU which was half dead but I was still able to get a feeling. I added some weight (a few nails) to the handle to bring the total weight to 11.7 oz. It's plenty stable. The racquet is like a Babolat in the sense of giving easy power/spin, but has much better comfort and a very sweet ball feel. Plush and responsive. I feel very connected to the ball. Much better playing racquet than the ProStaff 100 V13 I demo'd at the same time. Very tempted to get one. I leather grip every racquet so the weight will be perfect.
 
Shangri La said:
Hit with a demo and I was very impressed. It was strung with ALU which was half dead but I was still able to get a feeling. I added some weight (a few nails) to the handle to bring the total weight to 11.7 oz. It's plenty stable. The racquet is like a Babolat in the sense of giving easy power/spin, but has much better comfort and a very sweet ball feel. Plush and responsive. I feel very connected to the ball. Much better playing racquet than the ProStaff 100 V13 I demo'd at the same time. Very tempted to get one. I leather grip every racquet so the weight will be perfect.
Click to expand...

I use a leather grip on mine with overgrip
 
Shangri La said:
Hit with a demo and I was very impressed. It was strung with ALU which was half dead but I was still able to get a feeling. I added some weight (a few nails) to the handle to bring the total weight to 11.7 oz. It's plenty stable. The racquet is like a Babolat in the sense of giving easy power/spin, but has much better comfort and a very sweet ball feel. Plush and responsive. I feel very connected to the ball. Much better playing racquet than the ProStaff 100 V13 I demo'd at the same time. Very tempted to get one. I leather grip every racquet so the weight will be perfect.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comparison! I was wondering if the PS100v13 could dethrone my Black 360+ Speed MP, I guess not! For me, mine plays awesome with a little lead at 3&9 and a leather grip!
 
Shangri La said:
Hit with a demo and I was very impressed. It was strung with ALU which was half dead but I was still able to get a feeling. I added some weight (a few nails) to the handle to bring the total weight to 11.7 oz. It's plenty stable. The racquet is like a Babolat in the sense of giving easy power/spin, but has much better comfort and a very sweet ball feel. Plush and responsive. I feel very connected to the ball. Much better playing racquet than the ProStaff 100 V13 I demo'd at the same time. Very tempted to get one. I leather grip every racquet so the weight will be perfect.
Click to expand...

Could you give some more of your thoughts on how the Pro Staff 100 compares?
 
iceman_dl6 said:
Thanks for the comparison! I was wondering if the PS100v13 could dethrone my Black 360+ Speed MP, I guess not! For me, mine plays awesome with a little lead at 3&9 and a leather grip!
Click to expand...
beltsman said:
Could you give some more of your thoughts on how the Pro Staff 100 compares?
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My PS100 demo was strung with some NXT and I handle-weighted to 11.9oz. It's a versatile racquet and has good control. But if you want to hit a heavier ball, you really need to put in the effort. Whereas the Speed inherently has more power/plow. The PS100 swings faster, but the ball leaves the stringbed pretty quick and doesnt have much dwell. It's a ligher-weight players racquet that requires good footwork and preparation. While the Speed MP gives easy power/spin/plow yet has very very good ball feel. Its swingweight is slightly high for me. I'd place a custom order with TW for one under 325sw. Some of the observation may have to do with the demo string but should be mostly true.

In the end it all depends on what you're looking for from the racquet. I used to like PS100 type of racquet, but these days I just find easy plow/power more addicting.
 
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Shangri La said:
My PS100 demo was strung with some NXT and I handle-weighted to 11.9oz. It's a versatile racquet and has good control. But if you want to hit a heavier ball, you really need to put in the effort. Whereas the Speed inherently has more power/plow. The PS100 swings faster, but the ball leaves the stringbed pretty quick and doesnt have much dwell. It's a ligher-weight players racquet that requires good footwork and preparation. While the Speed MP gives easy power/spin/plow yet has very very good ball feel. Its swingweight is slightly high for me. I'd place a custom order with TW for one under 325sw. Some of the observation may have to do with the demo string but should be mostly true.

In the end it all depends on what you're looking for from the racquet. I used to like PS100 type of racquet, but these days I just find easy plow/power more addicting.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
EggSalad said:
I added the Tennis Warehouse leather grip with 1.5mm thickness. I made the change more so for bevel feel than weight distribution. I have a Wilson pro comfort overgrip on top of it and love how it feels.
Click to expand...

I ended up going with Oehms with an OG for bevel distinction too
 
Also, my two cents on the Speed MP 360+; I agree that it’s a Jack of all trades, master of none racquet and that’s actually what I loved most. What’s misleading though is that is does everything well above average. It’s like an A- in everything, and could easily be an A based on certain player strengths. One of the biggest surprises to me after playing with the racquet for a month now is how quickly it can go from defense to offense. It’s a great counter punching racquet that you can get aggressive with in a hurry if the ball is right.

I’m still getting my string preference down. I loved it with a Poly/syn gut at 53lbs but broke the syn gut in a hurry. I them strung it with head sonic pro (Rec from shop) which I like the full Poly but my arm is taking a beating from it. I have a couple sets of FireWire boost coming on Thursday and can’t wait to get that in the racquets at around 48-50 (haven’t made up my mind yet.

But I just really enjoy the playability from everywhere on the court.
 
beltsman said:
I am more interested in handle mass. Does anyone use a leather grip or weight up the handle? I think I might like a little more HL balance.
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Quoting this post as it hits the mark for me. The more I play with my Speed MP and the more my game is coming back (from 20 year younger me) I’m really wanting a more HL set up.

What mods or set ups are you all playing with on your Speed MPs?

I currently have a leather grip and two overgrips, which was originally more of a function of needing a 4 1/2 grip and liking leather but has now really benefited me from a HL perspective. I also just added 6g of putty in the handle.

With strings and the tourna Pete Sampras O dampener, I’m right at 338g with the majority of the mass added to the handle.

I haven’t done any calculations but if the racquet is 1pt HL stock, I’m guessing I am 6-7pt HL now. They feel great in my hands and I’m looking forward to hitting them this evening to see if this set up plays as well as it feels.

Anyone else find a setup they really like with the speed?
 
EggSalad said:
Quoting this post as it hits the mark for me. The more I play with my Speed MP and the more my game is coming back (from 20 year younger me) I’m really wanting a more HL set up.

What mods or set ups are you all playing with on your Speed MPs?

I currently have a leather grip and two overgrips, which was originally more of a function of needing a 4 1/2 grip and liking leather but has now really benefited me from a HL perspective. I also just added 6g of putty in the handle.

With strings and the tourna Pete Sampras O dampener, I’m right at 338g with the majority of the mass added to the handle.

I haven’t done any calculations but if the racquet is 1pt HL stock, I’m guessing I am 6-7pt HL now. They feel great in my hands and I’m looking forward to hitting them this evening to see if this set up plays as well as it feels.

Anyone else find a setup they really like with the speed?
Click to expand...

Leather grip + OG for me seems to be very nice.
 
I have the 360 and 360+ MP, both with one OG
The 360 is around 12.2ish oz and 10pts HL (there’s lead in the hoop too)
I didn’t measure the 360+ but I put a bunch of lead in the butt cap and under the replacement grip (no lead in the hoop…yet, since the way it swings feels like the 360
Also using an O damp (Babolat Custom damp)
 
EggSalad said:
Quoting this post as it hits the mark for me. The more I play with my Speed MP and the more my game is coming back (from 20 year younger me) I’m really wanting a more HL set up.

What mods or set ups are you all playing with on your Speed MPs?

I currently have a leather grip and two overgrips, which was originally more of a function of needing a 4 1/2 grip and liking leather but has now really benefited me from a HL perspective. I also just added 6g of putty in the handle.

With strings and the tourna Pete Sampras O dampener, I’m right at 338g with the majority of the mass added to the handle.

I haven’t done any calculations but if the racquet is 1pt HL stock, I’m guessing I am 6-7pt HL now. They feel great in my hands and I’m looking forward to hitting them this evening to see if this set up plays as well as it feels.

Anyone else find a setup they really like with the speed?
Click to expand...

Quoting myself to follow up on this in case anyone cares (spoiler: they probably don’t).

Adding weight exclusively to the handle (except strings and dampener) has completely changed my perception of the Speed. Perhaps it’s because I was used to a heavier and HL racquet from my youth but whatever it is has been a game changer.

In addition to the leather grip + 2 OG (1 Wilson pro comfort + 1 Tourna blue), the 6g or so of putty in the handle has been amazing. On top of the way the new weight feels/plays, the vibration dampening has been incredible, especially when returning serves. The racquet just feels more solid and the ability to hit against both pace and soft shots is fantastic.

The change has breathed new life into my Speeds and has slowed down my desire to play with a new racquet.

I’ve been most impressed with my ground strokes and first serve. My volleys and second serve still need to adjust to the new weight though it could be operator error too.

I just added 1.9G to the upper hoop, as I agree that the sweet spot doesn’t extend as high up and want to see what this does.

But I’m overall all at a 340.5g static weight and probably somewhere between 6-7pts HL. No idea about swing weight but I’d guess I’m in the 335 range.

But mainly I wanted to share this as I feel putty in the handle of the speed has such a positive change in both how the racquet plays and especially dampening characteristics.
 
temnik said:
Is that 340.5g strung or unstrung? Could you summarize how much weight you added - starting from 300g stock - when it's all done?
Click to expand...

340.5 g strung currently (with tape in hoop)

I have 16G gamma synthetic gut w/ weatherguard strings and a tourna Pete Sampras dampener. Not sure how much weight that added but I guess it’s standard for a strung racquet.

I removed the stock grip and replaced it with the TW leather grip and then have a Wilson comfort over grip and tourna blue OG. I put about 6g of putty in the handle under the trap door. Maybe that’s + 28g to the handle.

All of that resulted in a 338.5g static weight.

I just added 1.9g at ‘12 o’clock to the hoop to see what it would do and will report back.

But prior to adding weight to the hoop, I was very satisfied with how the speed played.
 
The main thing is making the speed more HL by adding weight to the handle and getting the static weight to 335-340g.
 
Do agree that the Head + technology which claims superior vibration dampening does check out. Prev gen Speeds went through less feel harsher feedback.
 
I made a successful switch from the blade v7 16*19 to the speed mp. I always strung up my blade with HyperG but in the speed i find it to be a bit too stiff. Any low powered string recommendations for the speeds? (I'm not able to do hybrids)
 
Internety said:
I made a successful switch from the blade v7 16*19 to the speed mp. I always strung up my blade with HyperG but in the speed i find it to be a bit too stiff. Any low powered string recommendations for the speeds? (I'm not able to do hybrids)
Click to expand...

FireWire
 
Internety said:
I made a successful switch from the blade v7 16*19 to the speed mp. I always strung up my blade with HyperG but in the speed i find it to be a bit too stiff. Any low powered string recommendations for the speeds? (I'm not able to do hybrids)
Click to expand...
Hyper g soft?
 
A_Instead said:
The 300 RS has better feel..more spin... power and control seem to be equal..
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I found 300RS is much easier to use when I demoed it. Might more spin, power seems equal to speed. However string on demo racquet is too old so I can not tell feel. I’m going to find one and try more.
 
xlv said:
I found 300RS is much easier to use when I demoed it. Might more spin, power seems equal to speed. However string on demo racquet is too old so I can not tell feel. I’m going to find one and try more.
Click to expand...

I found the 300 RS to be harsher and too (more) powerful. Granted it was a short demo period. But I think the Speed is way more comfortable.
 
speed-mp-laver-cup-2021.jpg
Laver Cup edition just came out, sexy!!

Speed MP Laver Cup 2021

Play fast with a limited-edition Laver Cup® version of the HEAD SPEED MP tennis racquet, which has a fresh design in the competition's colors of blue and red.
www.head.com www.head.com
 
Just got this racket last week and am loving it.

Transitioning from Pure Strike 2nd gen, I didn’t lose anything, but gained better comfort, manuverability, and due to 100 sq inch also an improvement on returns, slice and volleys

This was my first Head racket. I’m not a particular fan of Djokovic but decided to pull the trigger based on good reviews.
 
Saitamaxpunch1 said:
Just got this racket last week and am loving it.

Transitioning from Pure Strike 2nd gen, I didn’t lose anything, but gained better comfort, manuverability, and due to 100 sq inch also an improvement on returns, slice and volleys

This was my first Head racket. I’m not a particular fan of Djokovic but decided to pull the trigger based on good reviews.
Click to expand...

Yes I resisted Head rackets for years but I'm a convert.
 
n8dawg6 said:
i believe that a full bed of hyper G soft would 1. pop, appearance-wise, and 2. play really well
Click to expand...

I actually just bought some HG soft 17 to use in it. I was going to pair with GhostWire. But you think a full bed would be good? Was thinking 46 tension maybe.
 
EggSalad said:
Quoting myself to follow up on this in case anyone cares (spoiler: they probably don’t).

Adding weight exclusively to the handle (except strings and dampener) has completely changed my perception of the Speed. Perhaps it’s because I was used to a heavier and HL racquet from my youth but whatever it is has been a game changer.

In addition to the leather grip + 2 OG (1 Wilson pro comfort + 1 Tourna blue), the 6g or so of putty in the handle has been amazing. On top of the way the new weight feels/plays, the vibration dampening has been incredible, especially when returning serves. The racquet just feels more solid and the ability to hit against both pace and soft shots is fantastic.

The change has breathed new life into my Speeds and has slowed down my desire to play with a new racquet.

I’ve been most impressed with my ground strokes and first serve. My volleys and second serve still need to adjust to the new weight though it could be operator error too.

I just added 1.9G to the upper hoop, as I agree that the sweet spot doesn’t extend as high up and want to see what this does.

But I’m overall all at a 340.5g static weight and probably somewhere between 6-7pts HL. No idea about swing weight but I’d guess I’m in the 335 range.

But mainly I wanted to share this as I feel putty in the handle of the speed has such a positive change in both how the racquet plays and especially dampening characteristics.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing that cause the other day I was just wondering what would happen if I added weight to make this racquet more headlight. I was thinking of doing that to try to make it more maneuverable/easier to swing but I wasn't sure if it would achieve that cause its adding more overall weight when its already a fairly heavy racquet. Always good to hear major success transformations.
 
Reading all the information about the excellence of Speed MP, I'm just a bit confused. I demoed a lot of rackets including the latest Speed MP, and I ..... For me, Speed is sluggish, head heavy that doesn't excel in any department. It's just an average racket. It didn't play well with my OHBH. It's not bad but there are better options. In one session I played with Speed and Babolat Pure Aero VS ( 2 hrs, clay court, strung with Confidential 24kg in both racket), and the Babolat was better in almost every aspect. It cut the air faster, more power and control, better spin and maneuverabilty. Head Extreme Tour, Pure strike 98 and Ezone 98 also better for my style. I just didn't fall in love with Speed. It just didn't click.
 
The Speed MP is not a very HL frame. But it’s light enough that you can tail weight it - and get it to 32 CM and it’s still only 324 grams.

At that stage it’s a 100 with a bigger sweet spot than your 98s. But has the control of many 98s. Little more pop. Great spin potential. VERY stable. Hits a heavy ball.

Strings can make a big difference with this frame. Keep that in mind.
 
Giani said:
Reading all the information about the excellence of Speed MP, I'm just a bit confused. I demoed a lot of rackets including the latest Speed MP, and I ..... For me, Speed is sluggish, head heavy that doesn't excel in any department. It's just an average racket. It didn't play well with my OHBH. It's not bad but there are better options. In one session I played with Speed and Babolat Pure Aero VS ( 2 hrs, clay court, strung with Confidential 24kg in both racket), and the Babolat was better in almost every aspect. It cut the air faster, more power and control, better spin and maneuverabilty. Head Extreme Tour, Pure strike 98 and Ezone 98 also better for my style. I just didn't fall in love with Speed. It just didn't click.
Click to expand...

I've used both and the Pure Aero VS is the beast you wanna use if you just wanna hit very spinny high pace shots with a very aggressive playstyle from the baseline. The Speed I think shines in defense, stability, transitioning from defense to offense very quickly taking over a point when you were on the backfoot, can block back high pace shots for winners (very cool subtle aspect of this racquet for me), great control with still plenty of spin...

The racquet is not average at all imo you might have the wrong string, a poor overgrip (I thought it was sluggish/heavy until I replaced my bad overgrip and then it was perfectly fine), or not adjusting to the way the racquet wants to be swung.
 
Giani said:
Reading all the information about the excellence of Speed MP, I'm just a bit confused. I demoed a lot of rackets including the latest Speed MP, and I ..... For me, Speed is sluggish, head heavy that doesn't excel in any department. It's just an average racket. It didn't play well with my OHBH. It's not bad but there are better options. In one session I played with Speed and Babolat Pure Aero VS ( 2 hrs, clay court, strung with Confidential 24kg in both racket), and the Babolat was better in almost every aspect. It cut the air faster, more power and control, better spin and maneuverabilty. Head Extreme Tour, Pure strike 98 and Ezone 98 also better for my style. I just didn't fall in love with Speed. It just didn't click.
Click to expand...
I'm a huge fan of the 360 Speed MP. It had a swingweight around 317 and swung very fast indeed, living up to its name, as did all Speed MPs since the 1st Graphene model back in around 2013. Though I felt the 360 was fastest and best of them all.
With the 360+ the Speed MP swingweight has been dramatically increased to 329. Head has maneuvered the Speed line to have the highest swingweight racquets bar the Prestige line.
So the new Speeds aren't really aimed at the average type player anymore, more an advanced stronger level.

The new Boom line specs seem to be more aligned with the previous, easy to handle Speed specs.
 
tegg96 said:
I'm a huge fan of the 360 Speed MP. It had a swingweight around 317 and swung very fast indeed, living up to its name, as did all Speed MPs since the 1st Graphene model back in around 2013. Though I felt the 360 was fastest and best of them all.
With the 360+ the Speed MP swingweight has been dramatically increased to 329. Head has maneuvered the Speed line to have the highest swingweight racquets bar the Prestige line.
So the new Speeds aren't really aimed at the average type player anymore, more an advanced stronger level.

The new Boom line specs seem to be more aligned with the previous, easy to handle Speed specs.
Click to expand...

Have both racquets.

Certainly struggle with the 329SW of the +version and although have 10g under buttcap that not change SW at all, does nothing. (Thankypu to these forums that teaches that!) So do I trim bumper, done that before to other racq and it certainly works. Or trim bumper AND sand down paint?
 
My 360+ are not 330SW. Have two white with 291 unstrung SW and two black with 293 SW. I play with 1.20 poli that add 29 pts and two points anti in my case. And the 1.25 gauge added 32 pts.
none of mine is above 325 SW.
but guess that with a 1.30 gauge and 295 starting SW you end up at 330.
Love the speed MP 360 mould and in feel prefer the 360+ over the 360.
 
Aestheticsaboveallelse said:
I've used both and the Pure Aero VS is the beast you wanna use if you just wanna hit very spinny high pace shots with a very aggressive playstyle from the baseline. The Speed I think shines in defense, stability, transitioning from defense to offense very quickly taking over a point when you were on the backfoot, can block back high pace shots for winners (very cool subtle aspect of this racquet for me), great control with still plenty of spin...

The racquet is not average at all imo you might have the wrong string, a poor overgrip (I thought it was sluggish/heavy until I replaced my bad overgrip and then it was perfectly fine), or not adjusting to the way the racquet wants to be swung.
Click to expand...
I'm really glad you like the Speed line and chose it instead of the beast:))

We're all different and have different tastes. So don't get me wrong. I'm not a big fan of 100 inch stickers for my one-handed backhand. Speed is NOT great in this departament. Period. It was the worst of all I tested:))) Even Pure strike 100 was better, but the hollow plastic-like feel.... Radical MP and Extreme Tour were great for OHB. Extreme Tour is IMO one of the best rackets in the head line.

Playing 93 inch rackets for many years I don't think I need huge sweet spots. Beginners may be better off, not advanced players. Speed MP limited my OHB and forehand, and its aerodynamics were not great. My old 350 g Head swings faster than Speed.

Sinner is the only guy in the tour that handles this stick exceptionally :) But I guess he uses different specs. Others chose different rackets for some reason...

Trust me. It's not about strings, tension, grips and so forth. I had high expectations for the Speed having read lots of positive reviews. It just disapointed me. There will be no love not because this is a bad one but because there are better rackets:)
 
tegg96 said:
So the new Speeds aren't really aimed at the average type player anymore, more an advanced stronger level
Click to expand...
I couldn't agree more. I wouldn't recommend it for beginners. For advanced players....lets say.... I repeat myself " there are better options". I didn't play 360 Speed. So you may be right. The Speed line in the latest version should be called "the sluggish line" ...
 
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