Racket review

Adidas Metalbone HRD 2026 Review

Updated August 31, 2026

A firm, head-heavy diamond that stays light at 355g, built for the advanced attacker who wants pace without dragging a heavy head into fast hands.

Adidas Metalbone HRD 2026 Review padel racket
SpecificationsLive catalog
Shape
Diamond
Weight
355g
Balance
High
Core
EVA High Memory, hard
Surface
16K aluminized carbon, rough
Frame
Carbon
Level
Advanced
Best for
The quick-handed attacker
Playing characterHigh balance
Control
Power
from~€251.46
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Verdict

The verdict

The Adidas Metalbone HRD is a full attacking frame that keeps one foot in the speed game. It is a hard diamond, stacked head-high, so a clean overhead comes off heavy and steep. What sets it apart from most diamonds is that Adidas kept the weight down to 355g, which is light for the shape, so the head does not feel like a brick you have to haul into every fast exchange at the net. This is a racket for the advanced player who attacks first and wants the head to keep up when the ball comes back quicker than they hit it.

The Metalbone name is Ale Galán's signature line at Adidas, and the whole family is built around aggressive, top-of-the-net padel. The HRD sits in that world with no apology. It is firm through the core, rigid across the face, and it wants a grooved swing and a body that can take a stiff hit. Read the skip list before you reach for your card. If your technique is still coming together, or your arm complains after a long match, this frame will find that out fast.

The build · materials

The build

A hard EVA core

Adidas builds the HRD on an EVA High Memory core, and the important word for a buyer is hard. This is a firm foam that barely gives under the ball, so contact is short and direct and the ball leaves with little of the cushioned give a softer core would offer. That firmness is what makes the frame hit flat and fast when you time it. It is also what sends more of every contact straight back up the handle, so a middled ball feels crisp and clean while a mishit reports as a sharp jolt. There is no soft landing built in here. The core rewards a clean strike and tells on a lazy one.

A 16K aluminized carbon face

The hitting layer is a 16K aluminized carbon weave with a rough finish. The dense 16K carbon keeps the face stiff, so the surface holds its shape at impact rather than flexing and pocketing the ball, which is part of why the HRD plays so direct off the strings. The rough texture is the grip: it bites the ball on a brushed contact, so a víbora or a topspin lob leaves with real rotation on it. On this frame spin is the tool that lets you keep an aggressive ball inside the court, and the surface is set up to give you that.

A head-high diamond in carbon

The mold is a full diamond with the balance set high, which puts the mass up toward the tip. That loading is what stands behind the smash: swing an overhead and the weight up top carries through the ball and drives it down heavy. The same high balance is the tax you pay everywhere else, since a head that hits hard also takes a touch more effort to redirect in a hurry. Holding it all together is a carbon frame, which keeps the hoop from flexing out of true when you swing at full commitment. The 355g overall weight is the counterweight to the head-high build: it is light for a diamond, so the frame stays movable in the hand even with the mass sitting high.

How it plays · on court

How it plays

On the smash and attack

Set your feet for an overhead and the HRD does exactly what an attacking frame should. The ball comes off steep and with weight behind it, the kind of smash that kicks up off the back glass and out of the point. The víbora and bandeja land where you aim them once you commit to the swing, and the rough face lets you shape them with spin instead of just poking the ball back into play. This is the shot the whole racket is arranged around, and it is where an advanced hitter will feel the value first.

Quick hands at the net

This is where keeping the weight to 355g earns its money. Because the frame is light for a diamond, you can reset your hands and fire a second volley without waiting for a heavy head to catch up. Meet the ball early and the volley comes off clean and firm. The head still sits high, so a shot that jumps at you late asks for a quick, deliberate move rather than a flick, and if you are slow to it the volley can spray. Play forward and stay early with your hands and the racket keeps pace with a fast exchange.

Defending from the baseline

Back at the wall the HRD asks you to bring the touch, because the firm build offers almost no rebound of its own. Digging a ball out of the corner or floating a defensive lob is on your hands and your timing, not on any cushion in the frame. When you catch it clean the reset is precise and goes where you send it. When you are stretched and late the stiffness shows, and a hurried block can sit up short. This is a frame that defends well in skilled hands and struggles in tired or rushed ones.

Comfort and the arm

Be honest with yourself here. A hard core, a stiff face, and a high balance add up to a frame that sends a lot of the hit back through the wrist and into the elbow, and 355g does not soften that the way a heavier, plusher racket can. Time your contact and it feels crisp and controlled. Catch one off center late in a match and you feel it in the joint. If your elbow or shoulder already grumbles after a long session, this is not the frame that will quiet it, and no wrap or grip swap changes what the build does.

Who it's for

Who it's for (and who should skip it)

Buy it if

  • You are an advanced attacker who plays forward and wants a diamond that keeps up with quick net exchanges.
  • You generate your own pace and want the head-high smash without the full weight of most diamonds.
  • Your technique is grooved and your arm handles a firm, direct contact all match.

Look elsewhere if

  • Your arm is sensitive. A hard core, stiff face, and high balance push more shock into the elbow and shoulder than most frames, and the light weight does not cushion it.
  • You are still building your swing and need a frame that forgives an off-center hit rather than punishing it.
  • You defend more than you attack and want free rebound off the back glass, since this frame gives you almost nothing to lean on there.

Not sure it's your match? The free 2-minute quiz reads your level, style, and budget and tells you which racket is.

The bottom line

The bottom line

If you attack first, play forward, and want a diamond that keeps up with fast hands instead of dragging a heavy head into every exchange, the Metalbone HRD is a real match, provided your arm can take a firm, direct frame. If any of the skip list sounds like you, look for something softer and rounder. Not sure which side you land on? The free 2-minute quiz reads your level, style, and budget and points you to the racket that fits.

Frequently asked

Frequently asked

No. The Metalbone HRD is an advanced attacking diamond: hard-cored, stiff-faced, and head-high, so a newer player will fight it on mishits and feel it in the elbow. A round, soft-cored frame around 360g will teach you more and hurt you less. Come back to the HRD once your swing is grooved and your attack is your strength.

It is a power racket. The diamond shape and high balance load the head for the smash, and the hard EVA core sends the ball out flat and fast. Control comes from the rough face, which lets you shape shots with spin, but placement here is earned through your own timing rather than handed to you by a forgiving frame.

Pricing is shown live in the where-to-buy block above, pulled from our approved retailers and localized to your region. It sits in the flagship tier, in line with other top-line diamonds from the major brands. Because stock and prices move week to week, the buy block is the number to trust, not a figure quoted here.

The Metalbone is Ale Galán's signature line at Adidas, and the family is built around aggressive attacking padel. The HRD is one frame within that line. We do not claim any specific pro plays this exact variant, so treat the line's identity as the story rather than a specific player endorsement of the HRD.

The HRD pairs an EVA High Memory core, which is a hard foam, with a 16K aluminized carbon face in a rough finish. The hard core makes contact short and direct, the dense carbon keeps the surface stiff for a flat, fast ball, and the rough texture grips for spin on the víbora and topspin lob.

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