Head Gravity Pro Padel Racket 2024

A round head puts the sweet spot in the middle of the face, which is why beginners are told to start with one. The Gravity Pro keeps that shape and builds it for people who already know what they are doing. Instead of soft fibreglass and squashy foam, it uses a Hybrid Woven face, carbon woven with fibreglass, on Head's Control Foam, with a textured Spin Surface that Head introduced for the 2024 range.

Padel Addict's coverage of the 2024 launch adds that Head made the new Gravity lighter and lower in balance than the one before, on a new round mould. Head's sheet now reads 365 g and 265 mm. Shops can't agree how to describe that balance; Tennis Nuts says head-light, Racketpedia says neutral. The number is the useful part.

Padelful's scores tell the story clearly: 9.4 for control, 8.5 for sweet spot, 8.4 for manoeuvrability, 8.0 for rebound and 7.3 for power, with a medium feel. Its reviewer singles out how well it moves between defence and attack, which is exactly where a round frame earns its keep: blocking a hard ball back deep, then stepping in to place a volley at the feet.

Power is the price. A 7.3 means smashes that land in the court and stay there, so you will be winning points with angle and patience rather than pace. Padelful also notes that shots off the edge of the frame could be better.

Is that a bad trade? For the right player, it's the best trade in padel.

All four Gravity models are round and built on Control Foam. The Pro is the only one with a carbon-woven face, which is where its firmer, more precise response comes from. The Gravity Motion is lighter and quicker, the Gravity Team is the club version on fibreglass, and the Gravity Team Light is the lightest of the range.

Head's other control family is Radical, and it is a teardrop. The Radical Pro uses the same Control Foam idea in a 370 g teardrop with a 260 mm balance and a 3K carbon face, so it carries a little more reach and bite overhead than the round Gravity. If you want control but still like to smash, look there first, or at the lighter 355 g Radical Motion if you play a lot of fast exchanges at the net.

Across brands, Bullpadel's round Ionic Control 26 and the wider control padel rackets range cover the same ground, and the Speed Motion is Head's all-rounder if you are not sure control is your game.

Players who win points with the smash. And, perhaps surprisingly, real beginners: the round shape forgives, but a 365 g carbon-woven frame labelled advanced is a lot of racket for someone still learning to make contact. The beginner padel rackets page has softer, lighter round frames.

A control racket lives on a secure, consistent grip, so fit a fresh overgrip such as the Head Prestige Pro and change it often; the padel grips page explains thickness. Tape the rim with a strip from the racket protector range, since round frames take a lot of low balls off the glass.

Pick balls from the padel balls range (Head's control-minded Pro+ dozen suits this racket), a racket bag from padel bags, and a stable court shoe from padel shoes; long defensive rallies are hard work on the feet. Every model we stock is under padel rackets, and the guide to choosing a padel racket explains shape and balance in detail.