About this Review: This review is my honest opinion of the tennis racquet, which I tested for 5 days in November of 2022.

My take

The Head Speed Team 100 is an outstanding racquet choice for intermediate and ambitious beginner players looking for controllable power and maneuverability to help them continue to improve their games. With great feel and pinpoint control, players looking for a lighter-weight version of the hugely popular Speed MP should look no further than the Speed Team 100.

About the gear

• Model: Head Speed Team 100 2022
• Grip Size: 4 ⅜ / EU 3
• String and Tension: Head Lynx 16g Mains with Head Velocity MLT 16g Cross 55lbs
• Head size: 100
• Racquet Length: 27
• Any Customizations: Tournagrip Overgrip, Tennis Express Dampener

About me

• Height: 5’11”
• Weight: 185lbs
• Previous Racquet Played With: Head Graphene 360+ Gravity MP with Head
• Experience: 28 years of playing tennis
• NTRP/UTA Rating: 5.0

Test conditions

• When I tested these: November 2022
• Days tested: 5
• Court Surfaces: Hard
• Match Play/Practice Session/Both: Both
• Where I’ve used it: Eastside Tennis Courts, Iron Mountain, MI

How it performs

What I was looking for

The 280-290g static weight racquets are a category of racquets that I recommend to a large cross-section of players I help at Curated. They are perfect for dedicated intermediate players in the 3.0-4.0 NTRP range. Still, they are also an excellent pick for ambitious beginners looking to improve their games and get into tournament play, as well as for high-level juniors who don’t have the strength for an MP or a standard modern player’s racquet frame. As a lighter version of the hugely popular Head Speed MP, I wanted to give the Speed Team 100 a thorough test for first-hand experience when recommending racquets to our customers.

Why I chose to test this gear

The Wilson Blade 100L V8 is a more user-friendly version of one of the market's most popular modern player's racquets. As such, it is a racquet that should appeal to a wide variety of players, from ambitious beginners to competitive intermediate players looking to keep advancing their games. It also suits advanced junior players who need a lighter-weight racquet to match their strength levels. While it isn’t a racquet that I would personally play with at this point in my career, it is certainly an impressive option that I will continue recommending to Curated shoppers.

What I love about it

• Control: One key attribute of the Head Speed series of racquets has long been controllable power, and the Speed Team 2022 continues in that tradition. It’s easy to generate racquet head speed to produce topspin to keep the ball in the court, and the straight 25mm beam gives a connected feel, allowing players to know where the racquet is going confidently.
• Feel: I absolutely love the feel of Head Auxetic racquets. The Auxetic fibers in the throat of the racquet flex just enough to reduce vibration and dampen the impact but stiffen in time to give clean feedback of where the ball is on the strings. I am continually impressed by the feel of every model I’ve tested with Auxetic this summer.
• Maneuverability: A low 306RDC swingweight allowed me to really swing through the ball when on the run and react to fast-passing shots at the net.
• Power: The Speed Team 100 offers plenty of controllable power, as I mentioned above. There is pop off the strings when need be, but it allows players to let their games generate the pace rather than using technology or an overly stiff frame to augment it.
• Volleys: With the great feel from the Auxetic fibers and a maneuverable weight to react quickly, the Speed Team 100 was a lot of fun to play doubles with and really worked on my net game.
• Ground Strokes: The controllable power and easy access to spin, thanks to high racquet head speed, made hitting groundstrokes a lot of fun with the Blade 100L. This racquet has a very small learning curve, so players of a wide range of abilities can pick it up and be comfortable without much adjustment.

Issues I’ve encountered

• Stability: A 306RDC swingweight is the lowest of any racquet I’ve tested this year and showed decreased stability against hard-hit balls. My wife likes to take the ball early and hit a flat ball deep to the baseline, not to give me as much time to react. She did this when I played the Speed Team. The racquet tended to twist in my hand and either give a weak reply for her to put away or not make it over the net at all.
• Serves: The light, whippy feel of the Speed Team compared to my current Head Gravity MP had my timing a bit off on my serves. When I had the timing dialed in, I could hit an effective kick, slice serves, and place my first serve well, but it took quite a bit of getting used to.

Favorite moment with this gear

The Head Speed Team 100 was a great racquet to have in my hand during a mixed doubles match between my wife, my sister, her husband, and me. I used quick handling and excellent feel to let me be very aggressive at the net and poach for any ball I could get my racquet on. We dominated the match and had a lot of fun playing that day.

Value for the money vs. other options

The Head Speed Team 100 2022 represents a solid value in the intermediate performance racquet range. It is competitively priced with similar racquets, such as the Wilson Blade 100L V8 and the Babolat Pure Strike Team 100.

Final verdict

The Head Speed Team 100 2022 is a top choice for intermediate and ambitious beginner players looking for a fast-moving racquet with controllable power and an outstanding feel.