HEAD Prestige Pro 16/19

I have been asking for the more open string pattern of the HEAD Prestige Pro for some time. Thanks to HEAD for listening!

The HEAD Prestige Pro is the HEAD control racquet that kind of takes you back to the “good old days” with its low flex rating, thin beam and high static weight (320 grams unstrung). The standard Prestige Pro is 18/20 and that is definitely as old school as it gets, but the Auxetic 2.0 tech brings a slightly more generous sweet spot and a tad more dampening to the playability. This is a double-edged sword for racquet purists.

I do enjoy the Prestige Pro a lot, but my muscle memory still craves the more flexible and raw feel of the Prestige MP 2019, which is the same mold, but they changed the naming of the different models in the Prestige line-up. For players who are into HEAD Pro stock codes, the 2019 Prestige MP is called TGT 345 and you separate the string patterns so that the 345.1 is 18/20 and the 345.2 is 16/19.

I am not sure what the code is for the Auxetic 2.0 versions of the Prestige Pro, so if you know, please comment below.

HEAD Prestige Pro 16/19 Specs

The HEAD Prestige Pro 16/19 is only available from Tennis Warehouse Europe at the moment, but will hopefully be available for other continents as well later on.

I have two of these racquets at home, and they spec up well despite being from different sources. I get the feeling that racquet companies are finally paying extra attention to quality control, something I also noticed with recent Wilson Blade racquets.

When you see the specs, the RA rating of 58 stands out. This should be strung, as it drops 3 points with strings. Still, it is remarkably low. However, some recent control racquets I have tried with low RA do not play like similarly rated racquets some years back. I also felt this with the recent Prince Phantoms, for example. They play firmer than the stiffness rating, which improves stability and sweet spot size but does not make the hitting quite as “sweet.” But if this helps comfort and playability, I am fine with it.

However, when it comes to the Prestige, I am personally more inclined to go towards the flexier versions from a few years back, but I do know that many players prefer the more stable and forgiving response of the Auxetic versions.

Playability

I am working on my review, so these are first impressions, but you do get a slightly higher launch angle and a tad more free depth with the 16/19 Prestige Pro over the standard dense-patterned version. However, the more open pattern does not turn this racquet into something else. It is still a very demanding control racquet that requires a lot of game. If you are an aspiring pro who wants pinpoint precision, the Prestige Pro might be for you. Maybe you are a slightly weaker player that enjoy playing with this category of racquets, then that is fine too. But with the Prestige line of racquets, you cannot expect anything for free, you need to bring your own power and spin.

Despite being 16/19, this racquet is not a spin monster. It opens up for a bit more rotations on the ball than the standard version, but it remains a very controlled racquet. I did prefer stringing it at a low tension (44 lbs or 20 kg) with a shaped polyester string over for example a multi/poly hybrid, as that does open up the sweet spot a bit and it also enables for more confidence when you take big cuts at the ball.

I am not quite sure whether I like this open pattern version over the standard. I need more time with it. But I am happy it exists!

Let me know if you have tried the HEAD Prestige Pro 16/19 and what you think about it.