Head Hawk String Family Guide: Which Hawk Is Right for You?

Head's Hawk family is one of the most thoughtfully differentiated string ranges in the market. Each variant is built around a distinct playing characteristic — not just cosmetically different, but meaningfully different in how they play. The original Hawk, Touch, Power, Touch Rough, and Tour rPET each serve a specific player type. The challenge is knowing which one you are.

I've played a fair bit with the Hawk family in my Head Gravity Tour — a frame that suits them well given its lower RA and 16x19 pattern — and I'll give you my honest read on each variant, what it does well, and where it falls short.

Head Hawk (Original): The Benchmark of the Family

The original Hawk is a round co-polyester built around Head's Crystal Core technology. The concept is a dual-layer construction: a firm outer layer that provides control and durability, wrapped around a more flexible inner core that adds feel and reduces harshness. The result is a round poly that feels more comfortable and responsive than a standard monofilament at the same stiffness level.

In practice, the original Hawk is a control-first string. It doesn't add pop or spin — what you put in is what comes out, with precise directional response. It's comfortable for a poly, which makes it usable over long sessions without the arm fatigue you'd get from something like Tour Bite. It's a legitimate all-round choice and a good starting point if you're new to the family.

It's not the best Hawk for spin, not the most comfortable, and not the best for tension maintenance. But if you want a reliable, comfortable, control-oriented round poly with good feel, it delivers. Available at thetennisstore.com.au.

Head Hawk Touch: Comfort, Pocketing, and Feel

Hawk Touch uses a co-extrusion process — a completely different construction from the original. A soft, elastic inner material is surrounded by a hard, translucent outer polymer. The result is two distinct zones within the string: the outer layer maintains control and durability while the elastic core absorbs shock and adds pocketing. It's genuinely more comfortable than the original Hawk, not just marginally so.

What you notice is the pocketing. The ball sits in the stringbed for slightly longer on contact, which creates a softer, more connected feel. Off-centre hits are more forgiving — the elastic core compensates better than a standard mono would. This also means Hawk Touch offers more feel and touch than the original, which makes it appealing for players who value those qualities in their groundstrokes.

The trade-off is power. Hawk Touch is not a low-powered string — it has more pop than the original Hawk — and players in already-powerful frames might find it needs to be strung higher to maintain control. Available at thetennisstore.com.au.

Head Hawk Power: When You Need More Pace

Hawk Power is the outlier in the family. It's designed to increase power output while retaining the control character the Hawk name implies. The round construction is similar to the original but with a compound tweaked for more energy return.

It works — the power increase is real. But there's a meaningful weakness: Hawk Power drops tension relatively quickly compared to the rest of the family. That's a significant trade-off. A string that starts powerful will become less controlled and even more powerful as tension drops. For players who string frequently, this may not matter much. For players who keep strings in for three to four weeks, the tension inconsistency will become noticeable. Worth considering before committing to it. Available at thetennisstore.com.au.

Head Hawk Touch Rough: Touch Construction Meets Spin Surface

Hawk Touch Rough takes the co-extrusion construction of Hawk Touch — the same soft elastic inner core and hard outer polymer — and adds a grooved, textured surface. The texture creates additional friction on ball contact, increasing topspin and slice potential without changing the core playing characteristics.

If you want the comfort and pocketing of Hawk Touch but feel like your spin production is leaving something on the table, the Touch Rough bridges that gap. The textured surface makes a perceptible difference in spin — not as dramatic as switching to a shaped poly, but meaningful for a round string. Available at thetennisstore.com.au.

Head Hawk Tour rPET: The Best in the Family

The Tour rPET is the most technically interesting Hawk variant and, in my view, the standout of the family. It does several things differently from all other Hawk variants.

First, the profile: it's heptagonal — seven sides. Not just a slight angular edge but a genuine seven-sided shape that creates meaningful bite on the ball. This is where its spin advantage over the rest of the Hawk family comes from. The seven-sided profile engages the ball more aggressively than the round original or the textured Touch Rough.

Second, the material: the Tour rPET is made from recycled plastic (rPET — recycled polyethylene terephthalate). This is a genuine sustainability feature, not just marketing language. The recycled polyester construction also happens to deliver the best tension maintenance in the Hawk family. Tennisnerd describe it as a "near-perfect balance of spin, control, touch, and durability" — which is a strong endorsement from a source that doesn't throw that phrase around lightly.

In the Head Gravity Tour, the Tour rPET feels excellent. The seven-sided profile adds spin that complements the frame's control characteristics, and the tension maintenance means it holds its performance consistently across multiple sessions. It's slightly firmer than Hawk Touch but significantly more spin-capable, and the feel is more than good enough to not feel like a sacrifice. This is the Hawk I'd recommend to most players who want the best all-round option from the range.

The sustainability angle is also genuinely compelling. If you're choosing between two strings that play similarly and one is made from recycled plastic, that's worth something. Available at thetennisstore.com.au.

Head Hawk vs Head Lynx: How the Families Compare

Head makes another well-regarded string family — the Lynx — which has similar range logic. The Lynx family uses a different Crystal Core-based approach and includes a hexagonal Tour variant and heptagonal Edge variant for spin seekers. If you've explored the Hawk range and want to see how the Lynx compares, check out our Head Lynx family guide. The two ranges share technology but attract slightly different player types.

Quick Reference: Which Head Hawk Should You Choose?

• Hawk Original — Round, comfortable, control-first. All-round starting point.
• Hawk Touch — Co-extrusion, softer and more elastic, best pocketing and feel. Great for touch players and off-centre hits.
• Hawk Power — More power than original. Note: tension drops faster than other variants. Best for frequent stringers.
• Hawk Touch Rough — Touch construction + textured surface. Best of Touch + better spin.
• Hawk Tour rPET — Seven-sided, recycled plastic, best tension maintenance, best spin. The top recommendation of the family.

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Frequently Asked Questions — Head Hawk Strings

The full Head Hawk range is available now in Australia from The Tennis Store, with fast shipping Australia-wide.