Two versions of the same family, side by side: what adidas says about each one, card against card.
The same shape
Both round, with medium balance: on top of each other they are one drawing.
In what both brands state (weight, balance and power), the Metalbone Ctrl 2026 and the Metalbone Ctrl 2023 are the same.
The dot is the balance the brand states (low, medium or high), not a measurement.
Feel
Power
Weight
| Fact | adidas Metalbone Ctrl 2026 | adidas Metalbone Ctrl 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Feel | 4/10 | Not stated |
| Power | 2.1/10 | 2.1/10 |
| Shape | Round | Round |
| Style | Control | Control |
| Balance | Medium | Medium |
| Weight | 345–360 g | 345–360 g |
| Level | Pro | Pro |
| Core | Eva Soft Performance | Eva Soft Performance |
| Face | Carbon Aluminized 16K | Not stated |
Feel is the one each brand states, from 0 (soft) to 10 (hard).
Power is our own sum, from 1 (control) to 9 (power), of what the brand says: style, shape, balance and, when it publishes them, its own scores.
Everything comes from each brand’s own site, with a link to its page. No shops, no review sites.
Feel. When the brand gives it in words, we turn it into a number: "soft" is 2 and "medium-hard" 6.5.
adidas does not give the feel of each racket, but it ranks its cores and faces from hardest to softest. We turn that order into a number: the core sets the base (EVA High Memory 7, EVA Soft Energy 5, EVA Soft Performance 3) and the face moves it (Carbon Aluminized 2 to 1 or 24K +1.5; 15K to 18K +1; Carbon 3K or 6K 0; flax −0.5; glass fibre −1). If the face is not in that ranking, the racket has no feel.
Power. We add up what the brand says, each with its weight: style counts half (control, all-round, power); shape three tenths (round, teardrop, diamond); balance two tenths (low, medium, high). When the brand publishes its own power and control scores, they count as much as everything else together. Weight counts a little: heavier leans to power. It runs from 1 to 9, not 0 to 10, because no category makes a racket all power. When a brand says little, the racket stays near the middle.