Head Hawk Review and Play Test
String: Head Hawk (16 1.30 mm)
Construction: Co-polyester Monofilament
Racket Used: Babolat Aero Pro Drive
Tension: 60 lbs (about 27 kg)
Cost: $15 a set
Hawk – What You Need to Know
Head Hawk is a very slick polyester string that in a full set does very little to impress. For $15 a set I have to say I was expecting a lot more. This string plays like a typical polyester but with a deader feel than most. Some players may find that to be a positive but I was definitely missing that pop and nice response you find from other high end polyesters in this price range. I find it odd that they stress this is a “power polyester.” I personally found this string to sit on the opposite end of the spectrum or perhaps that was just because the feel was so dead. Either way this string will certainly cater to a certain niche of polyester players but I didn’t find it impressive in anyway.
From what I read this string works great as a cross to natural gut based on how slick it is. Based on lab testing it is one of the slickest strings you can buy. The string definitely snaps back (the strings stay in position) but in terms of playability I wasn’t impressed.
Hawk – What I Loved
Lots of control. To me the packaging is a little misleading. They list “power” as one of the major attributes but it pales in comparison to the control. You can swing extremely hard and the ball will stay in. The snapback is nice as well (strings don’t move) but that’s what you expect from a polyester.
Hawk– What I Hated
The feel really killed this string for me. It was extremely dead and stiff. It’s a personal thing but I just can’t stand that kind of response off the string bed. I can certainly see why this string would pair well with Natural Gut but on it’s own I could only stand a couple hours with it. I was honestly too scarred to really go for serves with this one for my arms sake.
Value
Too expensive for what it is in my opinion.
Who this string IS for
High end juniors, college players, and NTRP 4.5 and up players who mostly stick to the baseline and prefer the “deader” feeling polyesters. This string does have a market but I definitely think there are strings for a fraction of the cost that can get you the same result.
Who this string is NOT for
If you do not fit the bill for the type of player listed above I’d honestly tell you to pass on this string. I love the ultra control polyesters but the dead and stiff feel on Head Hawk was too much for me.
Final Verdict
PASS ON IT
I was very excited to try Head Hawk. A couple of people I know play with it and asked me to review it. Based on the description on the back of the package I was expecting a string closer to hyper-g in character but that wasn’t the experience I had when I played with it. This is not a “bad string” but for me it was just too dead and too stiff to a point where I really wasn’t feeling the ball and subsequently didn’t feel confident hitting it. Some people really do love the stiffer/deader feeling polyesters and if that’s what you prefer you probably should try this one. I think for everyone else there are much better options out there for the same price or less. This is one of the more expensive polyesters money can buy and for that reason I’m probably being a little tougher/more critical on this one than most because I was just expecting so much more. As I told you in the video when I put down my freshly strung racket with Head Hawk and picked up a racket that had 2-month-old Solinco Tour Bite in it I stuck with the latter. The one thing I will say is that if you are looking for a string to hybrid with natural gut I can see why people recommend this one. It would definitely temper the raw power and feel of the natural gut and based on the slickness this string would allow the gut to slide and snap back nicely indeed.