PadelGuru analysis
Verdict
The Adidas Metalbone HRD+ 2026, Alejandro Galán’s racket, is built for the advanced attacker who wins points in the air. On the bandeja, the vibora and the smash, the ball comes off the face very easily. The price is physical: you need the strength to swing a head-heavy racket, and you need precision at the net, because it forgives very little there.
This is an attacking diamond-shaped racket with very high ball exit and little control. If you’re coming from a round racket or a head-light one, the change will be very noticeable.
- Best for
- Advanced attackers with good technique at the net and the strength to handle a head-heavy racket.
- Not for
- Players who spend a lot of time defending, who want control, or who need a light, fast racket at the net.
Strengths
- Deep bandejas and viboras from a short swing
- Powerful smash with little effort when you hit it clean
- Handles fast incoming balls better than other rackets with a similar feel
- Large sweet spot
Weaknesses
- Head-heavy, so it wears you out in long matches
- Unforgiving on the volley
- Turns harsh on off-centre hits when defending
- Feels almost the same as the 2025 model
01 Back of the court: helps against pace, punishes mishits
From the baseline it gives you more help than its feel would suggest. When your opponent speeds up the rally, it sends the ball back with more exit than other rackets of a similar feel, and you don’t have to load up the swing to do it. The EVA High Memory core and the Carbon Alum 16K face with a 3D textured finish give it a medium-soft feel. The flip side of all that ball exit and so little control is that judging the length of your lobs takes a good touch.
Where it falls short is off-centre contact. The sweet spot is large, but when a rushed defensive shot drifts towards the frame, the racket goes harsher and stops pushing the ball. On top of that, the weight in the head makes it slower to react to a ball that catches you by surprise than a racket with a medium balance.
02 Volley: firm hands, short swing
At the net this racket asks a lot of you. It weighs between 345 and 372 g, but with a head-heavy balance of 270 mm, much of that mass sits in the head, so in quick exchanges it moves more slowly than the numbers suggest. If you don’t get the racket out in front and strike cleanly, it will rarely bail you out. And with this much ball exit, a poorly judged block volley sails long.
We’d recommend it to players who already volley with solid technique and a short, compact swing that takes pace off the ball. If you still rely on the racket to fix your volleys, the fast exchanges will be a struggle.
03 Overheads: depth without a big swing
The overhead game is its strongest case. On the bandeja and the vibora the ball reaches the back of the court without a long swing, so you can hold the net with comfortable shots and never have to force it.
On the smash, power comes easily when you strike clean in the middle of the face, and that’s where the head-heavy balance carries the ball through. If the contact drifts off-centre, much of that help disappears, so it rewards a well-set-up smash far more than an improvised one.
Frequently asked questions
- Which racket does Alejandro Galán use?
- Galán plays with the Metalbone HRD+ 2026. It's a head-heavy, diamond-shaped racket that sends the ball off the face very easily on overheads.
- Is the Metalbone HRD+ a stiff or soft racket?
- It sits on the softer side of medium. Clean hits feel smooth rather than harsh, but once you miss the sweet spot it firms up noticeably.
- How heavy is the Metalbone HRD+?
- It comes in at 345 to 372 g, which isn't a lot on paper. The catch is the 270 mm balance, which puts the mass towards the head, so it feels heavier than its weight at the net and as a long match wears on.
- Is it worth upgrading from the Metalbone 2025 to the 2026?
- We don't think so. On court it plays very much like last year's model, so you gain little by switching.
- Is the Metalbone HRD+ hard to control?
- Yes, control is where it struggles most. The volley is the clearest example: unless you make clean contact with a compact swing, the ball tends to fly long.