Head Graphene XT Prestige Midplus Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 80

Even though this racquet was noticeably low powered for all our playtesters, there were some benefits that came from this, such as the ability to swing with confidence on groundstrokes. Karly enjoyed the control, saying, "I like to play with racquets that offer a lot of control, and this racquet fit the bill. The Graphene XT Prestige Midplus was a very low-powered racquet that allowed me to swing hard without the worry of overhitting. It was also maneuverable and stable, so I could swing it easily through the ball without feeling pushed around. I appreciated how little effort I had to put into swinging the racquet to get good control on my shots. The sweetspot, however, was smaller than most and unforgiving if I hit outside of it. When I made contact outside of the sweetspot my shots felt especially dead. Stringing the racquet with a softer string helped open up the sweetspot, but I would've liked a more consistent response throughout the stringbed."

Sebastian enjoys playing with denser string patterns like the 18x20 of the Head Graphene XT Prestige Midplus, and he enjoyed the ability it gave him to go on the attack in points. He said, "Hitting from the baseline was my favorite part of the playtest with this racquet. I always appreciate playing with a denser string pattern and the ability it gives me to swing out more on shots. I really enjoyed the control-oriented feel from the back of the court, allowing me to really attack my shots when using an appropriate string/tension combination. I preferred using a softer multifilament string setup to open up the sweetspot of the racquet and to give it a livelier feel for more power and spin potential. I noticed an incredible difference compared to when using a firmer co-polyester string."

Chris noticed a lack of depth on his shots. He liked the feel and control aspect but struggled to gain consistent depth. He mentioned, "I found this racquet to be very low powered from the baseline. At first I felt like I was working hard to find my usual pace and depth. On the plus side, since I was swinging faster I was getting lots of spin. On the downside, my shots were landing shorter in the court and were slightly more attackable. After a couple of hitting sessions I had the racquet strung at a lower tension with a more powerful setup and found the response much improved. I still had to work harder than I do with my Babolat Pure Drive Plus, but that is to be expected with this racquet's more flexible beam and dense string pattern. I liked the feel and control I was getting on my backhand slice, and that was definitely my favorite shot with this racquet."

Marco had a similar experience to Sebastian when it came to the string setup that worked best for him. He found the softer string really gave this racquet a livelier feel. He added, "I playtested this racquet with two vastly different string setups; one was a firm poly strung at 55lbs and the other was a natural gut and soft poly hybrid strung at 46lbs. I preferred the hybrid setup by quite some way, especially on my groundstrokes, where it softened up the stringbed and allowed me to get substantially more feel and pocketing of the ball. This is definitely a low powered racquet, and I wasn't feeling very connected with the ball at first, so I struggled to get the responsiveness I like. The looser tension didn't allow me to get quite the control I like, but the overall playability of this racquet increased tremendously with this setup."

Volleys - Score: 81

Overall, our playtesters had a good experience up at net. Karly said, "I thought the stability of the Graphene XT Prestige Midplus was even better when I was volleying with it. The response on contact felt much more solid and crisp at the net than back at the baseline. The ball sprung off the stringbed, while the racquet stayed stable in my hand. The exceptional control and maneuverability were also there. I loved volleying with this racquet because it allowed me to move the racquet into position quickly, felt great on contact, and I could hit my targets with plenty of confidence. I had no complaints at net."

After adding some tungsten tape, Chris really liked the feel this racquet provided up at net. He explained, "When I was hitting my volleys in the sweetspot I liked the feel of this racquet. I felt very connected to the ball. However, I was finding some instability even when I hit only slightly off center (more than in the YOUTEK IG version I used to use). I added some weight to this racquet at 10 and 2 for better stability at net and it improved the response for me. Again, using a very low tension and a multifilament string or gut/poly hybrid worked better than a full stringbed of poly. The softer string options opened up the sweetspot and provided a nice power boost to the racquet to help me put my volleys away."

Marco felt dialed in on volleys and was in full control of where he was placing the ball. He mentioned, "I did enjoy volleying with this racquet. The lower power gave me the ability to place volleys more often without spraying them long or wide. I feel comfortable generating my own pace on volleys so I enjoyed the added stability this racquet gave me up at net."

Wanting a bit more natural stability from this racquet was Sebastian, who struggled to find his rhythm at net. He explained, "I was hoping for even more stability during contact on my volleys. I did struggle to find the sweetspot a times, and I was hoping for an even more forgiving feel on those off-center shots. Adding a bit of weight to both the racquet head and the grip would take care of that. I did enjoy the maneuverability of the Graphene XT Prestige Midplus, which made it a great weapon for doubles play."

Serves - Score: 80

The low-powered nature of this racquet was evident again on serves, where our playtesters lacked the ability to get pace on the ball. The Graphene XT Prestige Midplus may not have supported Marco's big serving ability like he would have liked, but he appreciated the bucket loads of control that came in with this stick. He said, "I found this racquet gave me a good level of control on my serves, but it didn't let me hit any serve in particular better than others. It brought a steady feel to my service games, where I felt like I was going to be in control of my pace, accuracy and spin."

Sebastian experimented with a couple of different string setups, but he eventually found that adding some tungsten tape coupled with softer strings was the way to go. He explained, "When I used any string except a firm co-polyester I loved the power and precision when serving with the Graphene XT Prestige Midplus. Even on second serves, I could really hit my spots and generate plenty of spin. Again, adding a bit of weight to both the racquet head and the handle of the racquet would allow for even more power and spin."

Slice and body serves worked well for Chris with this racquet. He said, "I served all right with this racquet. I wasn't getting much in the way of free power, but I was happy with the spin and placement of my serves. I was able to hit a nice body serve since I was getting enough slice to get the ball to bite and kick into the returner's body. My slice serve out wide was also working pretty well."

Karly found the going to be pretty tough on serves. She struggled to get the response she wanted. She said, "What little power this racquet offered on groundstrokes and volleys was gone on my serves. The power dropped even more, and it took a lot of effort to hit a serve with pace. The Graphene XT Prestige Midplus was still easy to maneuver and felt stable on contact, but there was hardly any power behind the ball once it left the stringbed. I actually found more pop on my second serves because of the racquet's good spin potential and maneuverability. I could brush over the ball quickly and add a ton of spin to my serve effortlessly. I could get on the offensive faster with my kick serve than when I hit a hard flat serve."

Returns - Score: 82

Our playtesters liked the control they had on returns due to the low powered nature of the Graphene XT Prestige Midplus. Using his trademark craft and touch, Chris found this racquet complemented his finesse returns, and he felt in full control. He added, "This racquet worked well on returns. I found it easy to maneuver, and it also offered lots of control. Again, I was taking a good swing at the ball and that had me tapping into lots of spin potential. I was able to hit some nice angles, and I liked the amount of spin I was getting on my slice backhand returns."

Marco also received a stable response from the Head Graphene XT Prestige Midplus, which helped him to know exactly what to expect on returns. He explained, "This was a steady racquet for me on returns; it was easy to snap into position and didn't require much effort on that front. I liked that I could swing out on returns, and I was comforted by the low power, which I felt helped me make more returns."

Echoing a similar story of consistency on returns, Sebastian found plenty of comfort from the Graphene XT Prestige Midplus. He said, "With racquets that have smaller head sizes I sometimes struggle to find the sweetspot when hitting returns. The feel and comfort on off-center shots were much improved once I switched to a hybrid setup during our playtest."

Karly also found that she could put a lot of balls in play when returning with the Graphene XT Prestige Midplus. She stated, "The control in this easy-to-swing racquet was great! It allowed me to setup quickly and make aggressive cuts at the ball. I loved how easy it was to get the ball back in play, especially when playing against fast servers. However, the biggest downside was the small sweetspot. I noticed that when I made contact outside the sweetspot the response felt dead and my shots lacked depth. Most of my concentration was on swinging hard and making good contact on the stringbed when returning with the Graphene XT Prestige Midplus."

Overall - Score: 78