Head (company)

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Head Sport GmbH
Head Austria GmbH
Head N.V.
Mares
Websitehead.com

Head Sport GmbH is an American-Austrian

manufacturing company headquartered in Kennelbach. It owns the American tennis racket brand Head. Head GmbH is a group that includes several previously independent companies, including the original "Head Ski Company" (founded in the United States in 1950); Tyrolia, an Austrian ski-equipment manufacturer; and Mares, an Italian manufacturer of diving equipment.[3]

Head currently produces a wide range of products for skiing, snowboarding, swimming, tennis and other racket sports. Head Ski Company produced one of the first successful metal-wood composite downhill skis, the Head Standard, and one of the first oversized metal tennis rackets.[4]

History

Head Sport GmbH was founded in

Baltimore, Maryland, United States, in 1950 by aeronautical engineer Howard Head, after he took a ski trip and was surprised to find his skis were made of wood in an era when metals and plastics were replacing wood in many product designs. Head worked at the Glenn L. Martin Company
where they used a form of aluminum and plastic laminate to build the fuselages of aircraft, and he felt the same material would make an ideal ski. After two years of continually breaking prototypes, by the winter of 1950 they had a design that was durable enough to use and turning significantly easier.

The

AMF, and took up tennis. He later bought a controlling interest in Prince Sports
.

Head products
Wimbledon
2017

In the late 1960s, a

Wimbledon, defeating favored Jimmy Connors in 1975. Also during the 1970s, Head acquired a diving manufacturer, Mares, and a ski binding company, Tyrolia. While under AMF ownership, Head manufactured tennis racquets in Boulder, Colorado, and Kennelbach, Austria. Also in 1969, Head signed Olympic champion ski racer Jean-Claude Killy to endorse a new metal and fiberglass
ski, the Killy 800. Head subsequently developed a product line of Killy skis.

In 1985, Minneapolis-based Minstar Inc. acquired Head through hostile takeover of AMF.[5] Two years later, Head started making athletic footwear and introduced the "Radial Tennis Shoes". The following year, Head opened a new plant in Australia to produce more tennis rackets. In 1989, management bought out Head, Tyrolia, and Mares, to form HTM. The takeover was backed by private equity firm Freeman Spogli & Co. In 1993, HTM was sold to tobacco conglomerate Austria Tabak. Johan Eliasch, the current chairman, took over the company in 1995, which in 2014 was a Netherlands Antilles corporation.[6]

For a short time, around 1995, Head offered golf clubs as well.

In 1997, Head created the first titanium and graphite tennis racket. Over the next two years, Head acquired three more companies, DACOR, BLAX, and Penn Racquet Sports. Penn tennis balls are used in many high-profile tournaments worldwide, while Penn racquetballs are the official balls of the IRT and U.S. Racquetball Association. Penn once produced tennis balls and racquetballs in Phoenix, Arizona. In March 2009, Head shut down the Penn ball manufacturing factory. Now all tennis balls are produced in China.

Head also licenses its brand to makers of clothing apparel (including shoes), accessories, bicycles, skates, watches, balls, fitness Equipment, and drinks.[7]

Head proved to be successful in 2012, with three Major winners during the year: Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, Maria Sharapova at the French Open and Andy Murray at the US Open.[8]

In 2019, it was reported that Head purchased ASE assets.

Oval, Performance Bicycle Stores and Nashbar. On January 22, 2019 it was reported that Head Sports backed out of the deal to buy ASE.[10]

Graphene

Head started integrating graphene into their rackets in 2013.[11]

Products

The current range of products by Head includes:

Sport Equipment
Golf Golf clubs, bags
Skiing Skis, boots, bindings, poles, helmets, goggles, bags
Snowboarding Boards, helmets, sunglasses, boots, bindings, bags
Swimming Swimwear: suits, goggles, apparel
Padel
/Squash
clothing
, bags
Scuba Diving
 Regulators, BCDs, Wetsuits, boots/wetsuit accessories, Closed Circuit Rebreathers, Gauge/Instruments
Pickleball Rackets, Balls
A Pickleball paddle made by Head.

Sponsorships

Some of the athletes sponsored by Head are:

Tennis sponsorships

Men

Women

Retired players

See also

  • Shock stop, invention by the firm

References

  1. ^ "Sports – HEAD". www.head.com. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  2. ^ a b c "Annual Report 2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-03. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  3. ^ a b "Head N.V. History". Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  4. ^ "Howard Head: Ski and Racquet Revolutionary". Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  5. ^ Daniels, Lee A. (15 June 1985). "AMF Agrees to Offer By Jacobs of $24 a Share". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  6. ^ "Annual Report 2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-03. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  7. ^ "About". Archived from the original on 2015-05-06. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  8. ^ "Tennis". Archived from the original on 2014-12-14. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
  9. ^ Head Sport agrees to buy most ASE assets for $22M by Steve Frothingham on Bycicle Retailer, January 17, 2019,
  10. ^ "ASE explains why it rejected the largest bid for its assets". Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  11. ^ "Head Racquet Technology". Tennis Express. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  12. ^ fisalpine.com - April–2011
  13. ^ "Lara Gut - Professional Skier from Switzerland".
  14. ^ Kjetil Jansrud - https://www.aftenposten.no/norge/i/kRLMQ/Jansrud-ogsa-med-Head-ski
  15. ^ skiracing.com - May–2010
  16. ^ "PINTURAULT Alexis - Athlete Information".
  17. ^ "Cyprien Richard rejoint Head" [Cyprien Richard joins Head]. Le Dauphiné libéré (in French). 8 June 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  18. ^ Aksel Lund Svindal - http://msn.tv2sporten.no/ovrig/lund-svindal-bytter-skimerke-faar-gullkantet-avtale-3182196.html Archived 2010-04-16 at the Wayback Machine

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Head (brand).
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