Head Squared Racquet Review

From the baseline, the Squared offered easy playability and a good amount of power and spin. Another standout area of performance was the racquet's inherent comfort. For Brittany, the Squared's defining trait proved to be its maneuverability. She said, "The first thing I noticed was how fast the Squared swung. It was easy to get the racquet around my body and generate racquet head speed. There were definitely a couple times I was even early to the ball. Additionally, there was easy power and spin potential, and the launch angle was slightly on the higher side. I could rotate my wrist quickly and hit some nice spinny shots. I really liked the Squared when practicing, and for getting into a groove hitting cross court. When it came to point play and putting shots away, I felt like I was missing a little 'oomph' behind my shots, and a couple more shots were coming back than normal."

Chris was able to lean into the Squared's comfortable nature to go for more powerful groundstrokes, rallying with ease even during extended hitting sessions. He explained, "The Squared is an incredibly forgiving racquet for hitting groundstrokes. The racquet felt very easy to maneuver, and I felt like I could rally with it all day long. I liked the Squared the most when strung with a multifilament. I had a better sense of what the racquet was doing and found it reacted best with a softer string rather than a firm co-poly. I was happy with the level of spin I was able to generate and really liked the racquet on my one-handed backhand. I was able to accelerate the Squared through contact and add spin or pace at will. Stability was OK but better with a multifilament string installed."

Tiffani was quite surprised by the unusual playing nature of the Squared, but she loved it for rallying or playing dingles. She said, "I've played tennis most of my life and have hit so many racquets it's rare that I feel myself surprised by how a racquet feels and plays. Head managed to surprise me with the Squared! My first hit, I just smiled during my first hit because it felt so different. The racquet felt soft, yet stable for its weight. It swung so quickly that it took longer than usual to adjust back to my own racquet. I really loved drilling and playing games with the Squared. It just manages to send the ball back when I hit with a relaxed motion and easy swing. The Square could absorb pace pretty well when I was up against bigger hitters, but it didn't respond with added power when I swung harder or quicker. An easy, relaxed motion gave me my best groundstroke results. Although I did find it surprisingly comfortable and stable for its weight, it’s on the lighter side and very head light. There is some noticeable flutter when facing heavy balls."

Oak had some difficulty getting his weight behind his groundstrokes when he attempted to drive through the ball. He noted, “Hitting with the Head Squared was one of the most unusual hitting experiences I've ever had. This is a racquet that is both easy and hard to play with. It is extremely straightforward and simple to hit a viable shot with a very small flick of the wrist, but putting any kind of mass behind the ball was extremely difficult to do effectively. Absorbing pace was much easier than generating my own, even on my more trusted shots. Spin was pretty available overall with just a slight flick of my wrist. Slices were decent, but my backhand had better depth and shape. My forehand slices were sitting up a little more, especially if I was trying to throw in a drop shot or a short angled ball. The frame is extremely maneuverable and flexible, which I'm generally a fan of for most racquets. Despite its lighter weight and ridiculously head-light balance, I found the Squared to be surprisingly stable. As more of a counterpuncher, I wasn't really able to fully trust this racquet because I rely on being able to make the transition from defense to offense knowing I will be able to hit through the court when the time is right. The Squared was good on defense, but I definitely struggled when looking to end a point.”

At the net, the maneuverability of the Squared proved to be its saving grace, letting our team prepare with time to spare. That said, our testers noted a definite lack of stability, especially against hard-hitting opponents. Oak appreciated the easy handling of the Squared, but he also had a harder time against heavier pace. He noted, "Volleys proved to be one of those areas where the frame was obedient but nothing exemplary. Quick handling at net is always appreciated, though, and again, the frame absorbed pace well. It was definitely easier for me to put shots away at the net compared to going for winners off the baseline. That said, I had more success going for shorter angles compared to deeper put-aways. I felt mostly connected to the ball but likely would've appreciated some extra mass at contact. Overheads were a little all over the place, and I definitely was wishing for a little more reliability on that front."

Tiffani enjoyed the speedy nature of the racquet when setting up for her volleys, but she did pick up on some instability when facing bigger hitters. She described, "I most appreciated the quick handling of this Squared racquet at net. I'm not super confident with my volleys, so I like it when I can get the racquet into position quickly. I also liked the comfort up at net. The biggest issue is, again, its weight if I'm playing against big hitters. The Squared can get pushed around."

Like the other testers, Chris loved the Squared's handling and was aware of the lower stability factor, prompting him to aim deeper in the court with his volleys. He said, "As on groundstrokes, the Squared felt very fast and was easy to position at net. I liked punching volleys the most with this racquet. Volleys were the one shot where I would have liked a little more stability. Punching volleys and adding a little tip speed and push through the ball helped the response of the racquet. I did hit a couple of touch volleys into the net due to the lack of racquet mass to help guide the ball."

Despite having some similar concerns about stability, Brittany had an enjoyable time at net, where she felt connected to her shots and was able to mix in lots of variety. She said, "I was really impressed by the feel of the Squared at the net. I was very connected to my shots, and I felt like the ball was sinking into the stringbed and staying there a little longer than normal. This gave me the opportunity to hit with a little more variety. It was also very quick in hand, and I was able to hit reflex volleys with ease. With the lighter weight and its target audience being more beginner to intermediate, I definitely felt like the Squared could get pushed around against bigger hitters, and it twisted in my hands at contact at times. However, I could squeeze the grip a little extra on impact to help with this."

When it was time to start a point with the Squared, our playtesters appreciated the plentiful spin access and easy power they consistently found on serve. Chris enjoyed the inherent pace he was getting and wholly trusted his ability to shape his serves back down into the service box. He said, "Both my first and second serves were working well with the Squared, and I was happy with the amount of pace I was getting. The response from the Squared felt crisp and lively, and it was so easy to snap the racquet through contact. My serves had some nice arc to them, giving me good clearance over the net while still dipping nicely inside the lines."

Brittany's top shot of the playtest proved to be the serve, where she noted high consistency and more free points than expected. She explained, “Surprisingly, the serve was my favorite shot to hit with the Head Squared. The racquet was easy to get up and over my head time and time again. I could play a whole match without any arm fatigue, and I was able to keep my racquet speed up. Thanks to data from our Zenniz machine, I did notice my overall speed was just slightly lower than normal (about 1 to 4 mph on average) on first serves. However, my consistency was higher, and I was able to be fairly accurate with my targets. This translated to a couple more free points than expected. Second serves were a similar story; they weren't as heavy as I typically hit, but the racquet made up for it in consistency and placement."

Oak had a tougher time serving with the Squared. He described, "Serving with this racquet took quite some time for me to figure out. While it was easy to snap my wrist and produce heavy pace and spin, shaping the ball with intent proved much harder overall. Similar to my groundstroke experience, getting mass behind the ball was quite inconsistent and frustrating at times. I think this frame could shine with some modification, but in stock form it was just a tough frame to really get behind (literally). My favorite serves were topspin-heavy shots to the body. I found that if I loosened up and tried to be more fluid through the ball I was rewarded with a more reliable serve. It was also tough at times to tell what was actually happening during contact, and it was more difficult to make adjustments."

Tiffani also had some concerns about the Squared's lack of mass on serve, but she still found ways to employ the power and spin of the frame. She said, "My preference on serves is a heavier racquet to pull through the hitting zone. My serve with the Squared was the shot that took me the longest to get used to in terms of timing. It's not often that I find myself ahead of where I want to be when serving, but it did take me a few minutes to find the right timing. I could also get the ball moving, but I wasn’t hitting top speed because this racquet is so light. It's still very reliable on serve and easy to be consistent with, but I'm not getting many free points off my serve with this Squared."

Returns with the Head Squared were one of the highlights of the playtest, with each tester appreciating the excellent handling and its surprisingly good ability to absorb incoming pace. Tiffani noted, "I liked the mix of maneuverability and comfort on my returns. It's very quick to get around, so I didn't feel late on my shots very often. The Squared can feel a bit unstable against serves once they're eclipsing 85 mph. Still, I felt like I could swing out on most returns and chip when needed."

Oak enjoyed the Squared the most on returns, and he especially liked its ability to block or chip shots back. He said, "Returns were an area where I found this racquet to do really well. Since the Squared shines most brightly for me when absorbing pace, smaller motions and more compact strokes when returning were pretty reliable for me. I could block the ball back or use a quick flick to roll the ball deep with heavy spin. While it didn't quite have the level of spot-targeting I crave for returns, I was mostly comfortable picking bigger targets and letting the racquet do the work (even if it did it more quickly than I'm accustomed to)."

Since the return is usually her favorite shot, Brittany is especially attuned to understanding how a racquet may or may not work for return, and the Squared surprised her with its ability to absorb pace, albeit with a tad of instability. She explained, "Like with all the other strokes, the Squared was easy to maneuver around my body when returning serves, no matter how hard they were hit at me. For its weight and swingweight, the Squared did a remarkably good job of absorbing power and then redirecting it accurately. My only issue, again, was with stability. I definitely found the racquet to flutter at times, especially against heavier hit serves."

Chris had an easy time preparing, but he would've appreciated just a little more mass through contact. He described, “I was able to catch up to most serves thanks to the maneuverability of the Squared racquet. I liked taking the ball early and sneaking in some chip-and-charge play during doubles matches. My topspin returns were working well, with good pace and spin. I was hitting my slice returns well as long as I maintained some racquet head speed through the stroke. I had a tendency to hit a little shorter than expected when I tried to block a return.”