Quick Answer: The Head Radical Team 2026 is the fiberglass entry point into Head’s four-model Radical family — a 360g teardrop racket with a 255mm balance point, priced at $209.95 at US retailers. The counterintuitive part isn’t the Team itself, it’s its own sibling: the lighter, rounder Radical Team Light ($189.95, 340g) actually carries a 270mm balance point, higher than the Team’s 255mm, because its round shape pushes mass out toward the rim. Lighter doesn’t mean more head-light here.
This site’s best Head padel racket guide and the Radical Pro 2026 review both cover the carbon half of Head’s renewed 2026 Radical line — Pro and Motion, $299.95 and ~$254.95, both built around a Double Carbon face. What neither has covered yet is the fiberglass half: Team and Team Light, the two models that make the Radical shape and control profile available for $90-$110 less, at the cost of a real material downgrade most buyers never see spelled out on a product page.
By the numbers
- US retailers price the Radical Team 2026 at $209.95, per Tennis Warehouse’s own US product page — about $45 less than the Radical Motion (~$254.95) and $90 less than the Radical Pro ($299.95).
- Per Head’s published spec sheet, the Radical Team Light’s 270mm balance point is higher than the standard Team’s 255mm, despite the Team Light weighing 20 grams less (340g vs 360g) and using a round rather than teardrop head shape.
- Head’s Radical line expanded to four distinct 2026 models (Pro, Motion, Team, Team Light), per Head’s own padel collection pages — but only the top two (Pro, Motion) use a carbon face; Team and Team Light both switch to fiberglass.
Head Radical Team 2026 at a glance
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Shape | Teardrop |
| Weight | 360g (+/-10) |
| Balance | 255mm |
| Core | Control Foam |
| Face material | Fiberglass |
| Profile | 38mm |
| Player level | Intermediate / Advanced |
| Price | $209.95 (US retail) |
What’s actually in the frame
The Radical Team keeps the same teardrop shape and Control Foam core as the pricier Pro and Motion, and Head markets it to the same “Intermediate / Advanced” player with a “Polyvalent / Tactical” style — nearly identical language to what’s printed on the Motion’s product page. What’s different is the face: fiberglass instead of Double Carbon. Fiberglass flexes more at contact, trading some of carbon’s stiffness and pop for a softer feel and a lower price. Head still builds in Graphene Inside reinforcement, Auxetic 2.0 for stability, and a Smart Bridge throat connector — none of that is stripped out — but the hitting surface itself is the one line item that separates a $209.95 racket from a $254.95 one wearing the same shape and nearly the same balance point.
Head Radical Team 2026
- 255mm balance point — close to the Radical Pro's 260mm, in a lighter, cheaper frame.
- Fiberglass face and Control Foam core, not the Double Carbon face used on Pro and Motion.
- Graphene Inside, Auxetic 2.0, and Smart Bridge carried over from the carbon-tier models.
- About $45 cheaper than the Radical Motion, $90 cheaper than the Radical Pro.
Restringing or picking up a spare overgrip before a club night out is the kind of small order worth bundling into one trip — start your free Audible trial and queue up something for the drive to the courts while that order ships.
Team vs. Team Light: the balance point runs backward
| Racket | Shape | Weight | Balance | Face | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head Radical Team 2026 | Teardrop | 360g | 255mm | Fiberglass | $209.95 |
| Head Radical Team Light 2026 | Round | 340g | 270mm | Fiberglass | $189.95 |
That table reads backward from how most padel naming works. “Light” usually signals a more head-light, more forgiving racket, and the Team Light is genuinely lighter (340g vs 360g) and round-shaped — the shape typically associated with bigger sweet spots and easier comfort. But its balance point is 270mm, 15mm higher than the standard Team’s 255mm. A round head shape distributes material out toward the rim rather than concentrating it near the throat the way a teardrop does, so even a lighter overall frame can carry its weight higher in the head. The practical result: the Team Light swings lighter in the hand but can feel more head-heavy through contact than the “non-Light” Team it’s supposedly a step down from.
For how the fiberglass Radical pair stacks up against the carbon Pro and Motion, see the Radical Pro 2026 review or the full Head padel racket lineup for every model Head sells in the US right now.
Who should buy it — and who shouldn’t
The Radical Team 2026 makes sense for intermediate-to-advanced players who want the Radical family’s teardrop shape and low-balance control feel without paying carbon-tier prices — it’s the cheapest way into that specific shot-shaping profile. It’s a poor fit for anyone who wants the stiffer, more direct response a carbon face delivers at speed; those players should budget for the Motion or Pro instead. And anyone drawn to the Team Light expecting a softer-feeling, more head-light racket should know its balance point actually runs higher than the standard Team’s — try both before assuming “Light” means “easier.” Beginners still building consistent technique should start with this site’s best padel racket for beginners guide instead, which points toward lighter, more forgiving frames in the $65-95 range.
The bottom line
The Head Radical Team 2026 is an honest value play — the same teardrop shape and nearly the same balance point as the $299.95 Radical Pro, for $209.95, with fiberglass standing in for carbon as the one real trade-off. The surprise is in its own sibling: the Radical Team Light markets itself as the softer, more beginner-friendly option, but its 270mm balance point is actually higher than the standard Team’s 255mm. Buy the Team if you want the Radical control profile at the lowest carbon-adjacent price; buy the Team Light only after demoing it, since “Light” here describes the scale, not necessarily the feel at contact. Round out the kit with a pair of padel shoes built for the lateral movement a control-first game demands.