The Head Supershape i.Speed imparts two simultaneous sensations that are normally impossible to combine: unassailable security and insane agility, as if it were a bomb shelter on skates.

Compared to the i.Supershape Speed that preceded it in the Head line, the 2018 Supershape i.Speed takes all of the considerable talents of its predecessor up a notch or two. The current sidecut is even more shapely than the already exaggerated hourglass silhouette of its original iteration, so tight corners are even more of a kick. It bows more easily because of a thinner core profile, particularly underfoot where its Graphene reinforcement is concentrated. Once tipped and pressured into its very tidy 14m arc, its grip is World Cup quality, intensified by two end-to-end slabs of Titanal.

To the short list of life’s certainties – death and taxes – you can add the security on edge of the Supershape i.Speed. Although it’s shaped for short turns, it can bolt down the fall line in a heartbeat and never break a sweat. The Sport Loft tester who goes by colorful sobriquet Rico Suave anointed the Supershape i.Speed “the funnest Super Shape of all! Sweet, playful and butter smooth.”