The Story behind the BOOM Racquet Series from HEAD - Living in the Moment

Tennis players talk a lot about 'the moment'. Being in the moment, staying in the moment, living in the moment.

It's simpler to do all that with the new BOOM racquet series from HEAD, which is built for the here and now. The first time you pick up the BOOM racquet, you'll instantly find it easy to play with. And you'll have so much explosive fun hitting tennis balls with this racquet - with its sublime impact feel, amplified by the pleasing sound it makes - that you won't have to think about anything but enjoying the moment. 

Creating that perfect moment for you has taken months and months of work from HEAD's team in the laboratory, the tennis court and the prototype facility. This BOOM series is unprecedented. More research, development, testing, tinkering, tweaking and refinement have gone into creating this BOOM racquet series than into any previous launch in HEAD's history. 

And, after months of science, you get art. In the words of Stefan Mohr, who is part of the research and development team, HEAD put so much into creating the BOOM racquet series that the finished product feels like "a piece of art", which touches on perfection. "In the history of HEAD, we have never had more preparation, so many prototypes and so much testing. For me personally, this racquet is a well-orchestrated piece of art in racquet sport engineering," Mohr says. "All the pieces are aligned perfectly in the BOOM racquet - the frame, the string-bed, the geometry, the grommets, everything's perfect. This is the best racquet we’ve created so far.”

Engineers think in an analytical, mathematical way. But, as Mohr explains, they were working towards something more emotional, which you can't find in an equation or a drawing: putting a smile on players' faces. "That's when we realise that we have achieved something, and that our mission is accomplished." 

For sensational feel with every shot you play, the BOOM racquet series has state-of-the-art Auxetic construction in the yoke piece, giving you optimal impact feel and super accurate feedback. Other innovations include the unique Morph Beam frame construction, which merges an elongated box beam shaft with a powerful head for the perfect blend of feel and ease on court. Another technology that has been developed specifically for the series is the Uni Pattern, a uniform string pattern which allows for a consistent ball trajectory on every shot for reliable and forgiving play.

This was the ultimate lockdown project. While the world was locked down during the pandemic, HEAD continued to develop a racquet that promises to supercharge players' power and confidence. Whatever your level, you will find a racquet in the series that suits you, and you get to decide how seriously you want to take your fun.

"We had a clear focus on creating something unique and easy to play with," discloses Tiffany Dittmer from HEAD's product management team. "We wanted you to be able to pick it up and be ready to play right away. It gives you power, it’s powerful yet stable when you swing through the ball and it has an especially nice impact feel and sound. You'll want to make the next shot."

Playing with the BOOM racquet, you'll feel something, even if you won't necessarily find it easy to articulate what that feeling is. "The right impact feel is really important for the athlete. Players must feel comfortable and confident with the racquet and their strokes," says Dittmer. 

With their own prototype facility on site at their headquarters in Kennelbach in Austria, HEAD could quickly make new versions of the racquet with slight variations. "It was pretty awesome to be part of such a milestone project," says Thomas Hohenegg, a member of the production team.

Every element of the BOOM racquet series was carefully considered. While prototypes always have black frames, one of the most important considerations was the color of the BOOM racquet series, giving it its identity. The challenge for Thorsten Kopf, the lead designer for graphic and color design, was to find a color that would differentiate it from HEAD's other series as well as from what else is on the market. A color that would ensure the racquet made "a strong visual impact". In Kopf's view, there was the moment when he found "the perfect color".

Everyone involved in the development of the BOOM racquet series had a moment like that.