Racket choice is driven usually by two motives. The first is the playing characteristics of rackets. Do you prefer to spin, power, or control? Or do you need to mix it? The second motive is emotionally based. What design do you prefer or what racket is used by your favorite player? Babolat vs Head is a hard choice for anyone thinking about buying a new racket.
Babolat and Head tennis rackets are similarly popular among recreational players. Both have one big star under the contract, so your choice is a choice between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic or between Karolina Pliskova and Ash Barty. Here are a few pieces of information about both tennis racket brands to make your choice easier.
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My Babolat racket choice
BABOLAT PURE DRIVE
Babolat Pure Drive offers power and explosivity. Additionally, you will get a great feel with SWX Pure Feel Technology.
Babolat versus Head comparison
[companies, design, product range]
Companies background
Babolat
Babolat VS S.A. is a French company owned by the family Babolat with headquarters in Lyon, France. Babolat was established in 1875 by Pierre Babolat, who invented natural gut tennis strings. Babolat produces rackets, apparel, shoes, and other equipment for tennis, badminton, and padel. The company is still run by the Babolat family and CEO is Eric Babolat. Babolat is the leader in connected sports technology and in 2015 it introduced the first connected tennis racket.
Head
Design
Babolat
The Blue and white combination is a characteristic color for Babolat tennis rackets. But you can fairly often see also yellow and black color combination, or red and white. Blue and white, or white and black, or blue and black combination is less common but you can still recognize the usual double stripe.
Head
Head is definitely the boldest tennis brand in terms of design. Their frames are known for striking colors that catch your eyes. From orange-blue Head Radical via blue Head Instinct to clear yellow of Head Extreme. Head rackets can be hardly overlooked. They are not very popular among conservative players used to grey and black racket frames and white only shirts and shorts, but the younger generation is all in for Head striking racket design.
Product Range
Babolat
PURE AERO | PURE DRIVE | PURE STRIKE | EVO |
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Spin | Power | Control | Transition |
Babolat is also manufacturing one of the most popular kids and junior tennis rackets – Babolat Nadal Junior
Head
GRAVITY | PRESTIGE | SPEED | RADICAL | INSTINCT | EXTREME |
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New! Force | Full Control | Ultimate Power | Control and Spin potential | Power and Comfort | Power and Spin |
SHOP HEAD SPEED TENNIS RACKETS ON AMAZON | SHOP HEAD RADICAL TENNIS RACKETS ON AMAZON |
Head introduced special kids racket series Head Maria and Head Novak for young players.
Players
Babolat and Head belong to the top four tennis racket brands in terms of popularity among professional players. Babolat is a solid second on the WTA tour and third on the ATP tour. Head is generally more popular among men than women. However, even with a lower number of ladies professionals using Head rackets, they have some very popular and successful players [Barty, Krejcikova] under the contract. Check the most interesting names of the players using Babolat and Head below.
Babolat
Nadal is definitely the name of the Babolat. Rafa Nadal is probably the first thing that comes to your mind when seeing the Babolat logo. Babolat has also a strong ladies line-up under the contract with a lot of top 10 members.
| Men | Rafael Nadal | Dominic Thiem | Jack Sock | Fabio Fognini | Jo Wilfred Tsonga | Sam Querrey |
| Ladies | Caroline Wozniacki | Garbine Muguruza | Karolina Pliskova | Julia Goerges | Johanna Konta | Elise Mertens |
The full list of players using Babolat rackets can be found here
Head
Head is very strong among men professionals. Novak Djokovic, the current no.1 in ATP ranking is the brand name, and Alexander Zverev with Andrey Rublev is the future of Head. Head usage among ladies is much lower, but they still have a lot of promising young players signed. Bianca Andreescu, Sloane Stephens, Ashleigh Barty, or Karolina Muchova, if we want to name a few.
| Men | Novak Djokovic | Alexander Zverev | Marin Cilic | Andrey Rublev | Taylor Harry Fritz | Diego Schwartzman |
| Ladies | Sloane Stephens | Asleigh Barty | Barbora Krejcikova | Bianca Andreescu | Daniele Collins | Maria Sharapova |
The full list of players using Head rackets can be found here
Check latest numbers of players from ATP and WTA TOP 100 using respective racket brands here
Babolat vs Head, my subjective pick is …
It is a pretty hard job to pick the better racquet between Babolat and Head. Head had a wider product range and a more appealing design. However, Babolat’s racket characteristics seem more comfortable for me.
In the end, the decision depends on what is your favorite playing style. And if it does not help then just ask yourself: Do you more Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal? Do you play more flat shots or use a spin all the time?
I personally like aggressive and offensive tennis using power as the main weapon to beat an opponent. My choice would be Babolat Pure Drive or Head Speed MP.
All Head rackets can be bought at Amazon here
All Babolat rackets can be bought at Amazon here
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Hi Simon, great piece, thanks.
Having researched a lot, I’m stuck with the same decision as your conclusion – Pure Drive vs Speed MP.
I am an intermediate player working towards advanced. I play 3-4 days a week, with a ball machine and once a week with a coach. My style is flat ground strokes from the baseline, hard serves, low on top spin but trying to add more spin to my game, single handed backhand (spin and slice).
I like the stylings of the babolot, but more Djokovic than Nadal. The expert at the shop said it was like picking between a merc and a bmw. Same, just personal preference.
Any advice on the two based on the description of my style?
Appreciate any advice.
Hi.
The guy at your shop is absolutely right.
I would go with Pure Drive, but that is just me. (Nadal is playing with Pure Aero, so with your Pure Drive you will keep the distance from Rafa 🙂 Pure Drive should be a bit better for a spin than Head MP.
The best thing you can do is do a trial with both rackets. Ask in the shop, take each racket for two or three sessions and you will see which one suits you better.