HEAD of Austria, known as a long-established tennis-racket maker, announced a new pickleball paddle "Boom Pro EX15" in the week of June 25, 2026. What's notable is not the product itself but the organizational move revealed at the same time. HEAD moved the base for developing and marketing its pickleball business from its home country of Austria to Phoenix, Arizona, USA, and newly established a dedicated team. A brand that made its name worldwide in tennis equipment publicly stated, "We don't want to be a brand that also does tennis; we want to become a pickleball brand," and moved the center of gravity of development to the U.S. This series of decisions reflects where the leadership of the sport lies. For players choosing paddles in Japan too, it becomes material for discerning which brands are serious and where that seriousness is aimed.
What HEAD announced
What HEAD put forward this time was two things: a product and an organization. The product is the new paddle "Boom Pro EX15." On the organizational side, it placed a dedicated team handling the development, testing, marketing, and ambassador operations of its pickleball business in Phoenix, USA. For HEAD, moving the product development and marketing of a sport—starting with tennis—outside Austria is said to be a first. Leading this business globally is Philippe Oudshoorn (Global Pickleball Director), who has indicated a policy of getting involved, through the Phoenix team, in the local community, ambassadors, and grassroots spread as well.
Symbolic are his words. He said he wants to make HEAD "a pickleball brand, not a brand that also does tennis." A brand with home-country R&D assets deliberately moves its development function to the sport's largest market. This declaration accompanying the product release can be read as a statement of intent that it's not a side gig.
Why move the base to the U.S. now?
Behind this is the geographic skew of the sport of pickleball. The birthplace and the center of the competitive population are both the U.S., and most of the testing of new products, contracts with top players, exposure around tournaments, and sales channels are concentrated in North America. In paddle development, whether you can cycle player feedback at high speed is vital, and the advantage of having users and developers in the same region is large. Rather than drawing blueprints at the Austrian head office and sending them to the U.S., making them in Phoenix and testing them locally is faster. Oudshoorn having even the local grassroots spread in view is likely because there's an aim to advance product development and market-building as one.
The contents of the new paddle Boom Pro EX15 are also not unrelated to that degree of seriousness. HEAD explains that it adopted a 3-layer full-foam core called "TriFlex Power" for this paddle. The design places, at the center, PP foam handling rebound and pop; outside it, a ring of EPP foam suppressing impact and vibration; and at the outermost, EVA foam that lets the core flex to widen the sweet spot. The surface is an uncoated carbon face called "Hexagon Raw Carbon," aiming to bite the ball and apply spin. It's positioned as a power-leaning one, aimed at baseline-oriented players who swing aggressively. There's a largeness of stance in hitting a dedicated-design new work and a base relocation at the same timing.
The Boom Pro EX15's specs
The main confirmable specs are as follows. As the manufacturer's suggested price, 199.95 dollars is presented in the U.S. Note that figures such as weight and thickness are values listed by retailers, and there may be a range depending on distribution and lot.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Model Name | HEAD Boom Pro EX15 |
| Core structure | 3-layer full foam "TriFlex Power" (PP / EPP / EVA) |
| Face | Hexagon Raw Carbon (uncoated carbon face) |
| Shape | Elongated (long shape) |
| Thickness | 15mm |
| Length / width | 16.5 inches / 7.4 inches (retailer-listed value) |
| Grip length | 5.5 inches (retailer-listed value) |
| U.S. manufacturer's suggested price | 199.95 dollars |
A makeup of an elongated shape and 15mm thickness is a design going after reach and power. The build of producing pop with the foam core while earning flex and sweet spot with the outer-perimeter EVA is consistent with the intent to suppress the burden on the arm characteristic of hard power-type paddles. For those considering a same-price-range power-type paddle in Japan, it becomes one that gets onto the arena of comparison.
The industry's view
ギア界隈の受け止めは、おおむね三つの方向に分かれている。一つは「ようやく本腰か」という歓迎の声だ。テニスで蓄積した素材や設計のノウハウを持つブランドが、専用チームを置いて開発するなら、製品の完成度が一段上がるはずという期待がある。
二つめは冷静な見方で、ブランド名だけでは勝てないという指摘だ。実際、テニスやアパレルの大手がパドルに参入しても、専業ブランドの牙城を崩すのは簡単ではない。ロゴの強さより、トッププレーヤーの使用実績と打感の評価が市場を動かしてきた。HEADの宣言が本物かどうかは、これから出てくる契約選手や大会での使用率で測られることになる。
The third is attention to the structure itself. The event of a European-born long-established name moving its development function to the U.S. can be read as the brand side admitting that pickleball's center lies entirely in the U.S. Beyond the merits of the product, it's talked about as a moment when the sport's geopolitics moved.
Implications for Japanese players
So how do you use this news from the standpoint of choosing a paddle in Japan? The point is the perspective of looking at "what that brand is investing in pickleball," not the "brand's title." The banner of a tennis prestige name doesn't guarantee a paddle's performance. Whether it prepared a dedicated team and dedicated design like HEAD, and whether top players use it in real matches, are far more instructive.
Another is the spread of foam-core paddles. A multi-layer foam core like the one the Boom Pro EX15 adopted is a design in the direction of suppressing the burden on the arm while producing power, and the choices have changed from a few years ago when it was all hard carbon. For Japan's middle tier of players who have concerns about their elbows or wrists but also want power, a paddle of this structure becomes a realistic candidate. If you have a chance to test-hit, the difference in core structure comes out directly in the ball feel, so you'll want to confirm the actual pop and vibration with your body, not just the numbers.
Like HEAD, the move of tennis and other-sport majors flowing into paddles continues. Reading it together withthe article on Mizuno's entry into pickleballwhich followed the entry of general sports makers, andthe article on Skechers' entry into paddleswhich discussed the wall between brand power and specialists, makes visible where HEAD's decision is positioned in this large flow.
Ripple Effects on the Market
The impact HEAD's move has on the industry is broadly twofold. One is that a long-established brand's "serious entry" raises the level of competition. If brands investing dedicated teams and dedicated designs increase, a competition in product completeness advances, which leads to a lifting of quality for those choosing. The development of the substance getting better even with the price held steady is not bad for players.
The other is the polarization of brand strategies. While HEAD attacks with capital and organization, there are also emerging brands that concentrate resources on development and price and avoid flashy marketing—establishing a presence, so to speak, through a contrarian play. Which of the two poles resonates changes with the market's maturity. As for the thinking of competing on development and price rather than marketing,the article on U.S. FLiK's contrarian paddle strategyis detailed, and contrasting it with HEAD's resource-heavy strategy makes the axis of future paddle selection easier to see.
Practical Information and Related Links
The Boom Pro EX15 is for power-oriented baseline-type players, and for people who emphasize control or prioritize delicate touch at the net, a different lineage of paddle may suit them in some cases. If you're considering a purchase, you'll first want to sort out your own play style (aggressive type or rally type) and your tolerance for the burden on the arm. Because domestic distribution status and prices in Japan move with the timing, it's safe to check the actual market at multiple retailers. If possible, it's good to confirm the ball feel of a multi-layer foam core at a demo event before deciding.
If you want to follow brands' entry trends all at once, starting from the related articles above and checking each company's contracted players and usage rates at tournaments lets you choose without being misled by the banner.
Summary
HEAD calling itself a pickleball specialist and moving its development base to Phoenix, USA, is, at once, product news and an event showing that the leadership of the sport lies in the U.S. The next actions Japanese players should take are three. First, look not at a brand's title but at the dedicated structure and contracted players that brand is investing in pickleball. Second, put a multi-layer foam-core paddle like the Boom Pro EX15 as a candidate from the viewpoint of the balance of power and burden on the arm, and test-hit it if possible. Third, line it up with the moves of other brands such as Mizuno, Skechers, and FLiK, and judge by the actual market of price and performance. Having an eye that measures serious substance over the size of the banner will make future paddle selection smarter.
