I demoed the Defyer Pro tonight. It is very similar to the Pure Aero. Lots of power and spin, plays stiff and a little bit tinny. Sweet spot is moderate not small not large. Off-center hits die hard so it does not tolerate that well, but the string setup was unfortunate - Alu power at relatively high tension almost immediately made my elbow hurt a bit. It is quite maneuverable, but wow can you hit this thing out of the park with even the slightest bit of misjudgment - the power is hard to contain. Spin can be outstanding. A lot of people will love this frame. It plays stiff and ringy and for someone who is an all court player who can generate a lot of pace, it was difficult for me to rein it in properly. With different string setup at lower tension it might be manageable, but for me a frame like this just limits the viable string setups and would be a guarantee of joint injury.
I have also play tested the new Head Extreme Pro and that racket is probably going to be the one I stick with. It leans much more towards control, and has a slightly lower RA rating or stiffness, so for me that means I can put just about everything I have into my strokes and the racket creates more what I would call usable power. It also is not so stiff that it will limit my string setup, and still provides a reasonable amount of power and spin as a bonus. It is a more balanced racket that will suit all-court players especially if you play doubles a lot and find yourself alternately bashing from the baseline and defending at the net. The hybor update is outstanding in this frame and it is the best Head racket I’ve ever played with.
For someone with joints prone to damage, the Defyer could work but would require softer strings or lower tension, and still would not provide the feel and touch of the Extreme Pro. I think I would like to try the Defyer with a different string setup, but tonight it only took me about 2 games to start feeling it in my elbow and that was that. The spin however was glorious, like crazy stuff happening on serves in particular - combined with the power this thing is a vicious animal on serve. With the Defyer you pretty much must hit with some kind of shape on the ball or it is definitely going to blast straight off the court, which was a major problem when defending in volleys and other touch shots because the ball just rockets off this thing. Flat hitters beware. The Extrme I can wind up with everything I’ve got and as I said, it provides a much more usable range of power for me, though you will most definitely not get to the same extremes of power and spin that you can with a well-formed strike on the Defyer.
The Defyer would be quite hard to beat for pure violence from the baseline or completely absurd spin, but again for me during actual play I need something I can control better so I can target the shots that actually win points, because only rarely does it come down to a rally shootout in doubles. Defyer probably would be superior for singles play because you can almost immediately put your opponent on defense or push them back to the baseline or force them to chase some insane spin or knock them back with topspin - if you can keep the damned tennis ball on the court, that is. I tend to have a flatter hard and fast swing style so it’s tough for me to groove with this frame, I get into a lot of trouble with it. It’s definitely going to have a lot of fans out there, but you had better be using a more extreme grip and have resilient young joints or you really must use a softer string setup with this thing. I can tell it is a beast mode racket but it needs a certain play style to maximize it.
I think I just need a more balanced all court racket for my play style, and because I almost always play doubles. The Extreme does I think have a slightly more generous sweet spot but it is not night and day, but it will give you a better response from an off-center hit. The Defyer is a touch more head light and so even though they have identical static weight at 305g and identical head sizes and shapes, the Defyer has ever so slightly more head light balance. The two rackets swing extremely similar and they do share something in terms of the way they hit, with the Defyer leaning towards a more raw power and spin and the Extreme more control and touch. Neither is extremely stable but the torsional stability also isn’t bad. I would add weight at 9/3 or 10/2 probably to both rackets to stabilize the frame a bit. The Defyer will almost certainly require a dampener either string dampeners or frame to stop the excessive vibration. The Extreme hybor seems to both stiffen the frame and also absorb some vibration somehow so it plays with noticeably greater energy and crispness than the 2024 version to great effect but doesn’t seem to translate into more vibration absorption in your wrist elbow or shoulder, which for me is truly critical.
