HEAD MxG 1 is the third racquet in the HEAD MxG series, featuring the special MxG magnesium bridge. Rumours are that Rafael Nadal tried this racquet in 2017 off-season.
HEAD MxG 1 comes in one of the most common specs of today’s racquet market – 98 sq inches, 300 grams unstrung and 22 mm beam. It’s the smaller, more advanced version of the MxG line of racquets. It will launch in May. I reviewed the MxG 3 and 5 a while back (read my racquet review here) and I was mildly impressed since the elongated main streams did seem to offer a slightly softer response than the RA ratings.
The MxG 3
and MxG 5
were a bit too light for my taste and needed customization to be playable at a more advanced level, but they were not bad racquets. I don’t think the MxG line has received a lot of love among customers or tennis nerds, at least that’s what I heard from retailers and players. Ever since HEAD introduced Graphene into their racquets they haven’t had an easy time making friends among racquet purists, but that doesn’t mean they don’t make good racquets anymore. I’ve heard quite a lot of positive feedback about their new HEAD Graphene Touch Prestige line for example and will test them myself soon.
Buy the HEAD MxG 3 racquet
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HEAD MxG 1 – What is it all about?
The HEAD MxG 1 racquet is tailored more towards advanced players than the MxG 3 and 5, but at 300 grams unstrung it’s still quite an easy racquet to swing. And if you want more weight, it offers you a good platform for customization. I don’t have more specs than the head size, beam width, weight and length, but I assume it will have quite a high RA that will be dampened by the Graphene Touch technology.
I personally find there are too many HEAD racquets on the market right now and it must be mess for a players who is relatively new to tennis gear to know which racquet to buy. The MxG series is a new addition to already existing lines: Extreme, Instinct
(this one we don’t need), Radical and Prestige. This means there are five lines of tennis racquets from HEAD with about 3-4 different racquets in each line. I’ve mentioned this before, but I really think simple is better in this case.
HEAD MxG 1 – Expectation management
What can we expect from HEAD MxG 1 racquet? I think it will play pretty nicely. If it’s a little softer than the other MxG racquets and you add some lead tape to make it more stable, I’m sure it it will work for a wide group of players. But will it have any wow-factor, like I felt with the Angell K7 Red and the Prince Phantom Pro 100P, that I reviewed recently? I doubt it. There are so many racquets with similar specs out there right now so it’s hard to tell them apart. The MxG “Power under control” is a decent choice, but nothing really special in a very competitive market.
Let’s hope I’m wrong and that the HEAD MxG 1 exceeds expectations and becomes a modern classic. What do you think its chances are? And have you tried the MxG 3 or 5 racquets?
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6 comments
Forgot the speed
You’re absolutely right, somehow I didn’t think there were enough racquets…;)
I have read a lot of comments and many reviews about the MXG series and can’t find any useful information except from the manufacturer. Reading that there are too many rackets is like saying there are too many choices of soft drinks at the convenience store or too types of cars. Hearing that the racket isn’t acceptable because of the silver color magnesium is useless. After playing Wilson rackets my entire life I tried several Head rakets but chose to play with two MXG 3 for over a year now and the racket weight plays quick and very well. It does require some customization such as lead tape between 3-9 to increase the sweet spot and help with my serve. It adds controllable power and a little spin to your swing from the base line and great for volleying. For winners you may have think about adding more spin until you get used to it. Playing against some heavy hitters I don’t mind the graphene dampening to preserve my arm but I had to increase the grip size and use softer string to help control off center ball contact. I’m looking forward to testing the MXG 1 soon.
I agree that the criticism of the MxG line has been a bit exaggerated and unwarranted. I see your point when it comes to saying there are too many racquets to choose from, but my main issue with this is that specs are close to identical even between different racquets from the same supplier. I hope you enjoy your test of the MxG 1, would be interesting to hear how you think it plays. Cheers / J
My son played with a demo frame (mxg 1) at his club and he really liked it for groundstrokes and kick serves. He did remark that the sweetspot was small but there was plenty of power and control (strung with intellitour 53/51 lbs). Stability was an issue in stock form for volleys but he said it felt extremely solid even without a dampener (not pingy at all). Definitely needs more mass for hard hitters, but plenty of room to customize.
True. There is room for lead tape there!