How to Buy a New Tennis Racquet (At Any Level)
The tennis racquet market is extremely competitive. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by choice in a world that markets the words “Pro” and “Tour” to death. Today we are going to look at some different strategies to make buying a new tennis racquet easier, whether your an absolute beginner, a veteran returning to the game after a few years off or someone who just needs to upgrade.
The Racquet Wall at Courtside Sports.
Absolute Beginner
So you are new to the game, and someone told you that you need a new racquet, but should you trust them? Coaches sometimes get paid commissions when they sell racquets, and your 3.0 hitting partner may know a lot less than they pretend to. Here’s a few questions to help you narrow down whether or not you even need a new racquet.
Is the racquet made from anything that’s not graphite? Obviously wooden racquets haven’t been viable for anyone since the 1980’s, but even metal racquets are outdated. Many of today’s cheapest racquets are still made of metal, or some sort of composite graphite-metal construction. There’s one easy way to tell if your racquet is made from metal.
Is the racquet a 2-piece design? Racquet’s that have a separate piece as the bridge to the throat are always metal and they are always junk. Totally fine if you are playing extremely recreationally with zero intentions of improving, but even the worst players will benefit from a 1-piece design. When the racquet is a 1-piece design, it mean you are getting a graphite racquet from at least the handle to the throat. Some cheaper racquets with have metal hoops, but it can be hard to tell which do and which don’t.
Wilson “Federer” Tennis racquet. Very cheap. Metal construction. Note the which bridge across the throat of the racquet being a seperate piece from the rest of the frame.
Head Extreme PWR. A grandma racquet. See the extreme large head, thick beam and fan string pattern.
Do you have a grandma racquet? Grandma-racquets, sometimes called “game-improvement” racquets, will not improve your game. They are extremely light, have very large heads with super thick beams. They are really designed for seniors who’s physicals abilities (speed, strength, agility) are hindered, so they need supremely forgiving, maneuverable and powerful racquets that allow them to hit the ball over, even if the user can’t get into position. The reason these aren’t suitable for beginners is that they can form bad habits. These racquets are designed for people who are unable to get into position on every ball, which means you can get away with bad footwork and poor preparation but still see success. Unfortunately, these racquet lose playability at the intermediate level due to lack inherent stability (low recoil weight) and horrendous control. Once you get the hang of playing tennis, these racquet will hold you back more than help you win.
Do you have a junior racquet? Measure your racquet from top to bottom. If it’s less than 26.5inches long, it’s a junior racquet. The standard length for tennis racquets is 27 inches. Quality control and stringing can lead to some racquets falling just under that, which I why we are using 26.5 inches as a barometer.
If you answered yes to one of the above, then you probably do need a new racquet. But how do you even know where to start? Do you need to spend over $200USD on a premium frame?
I would start with the used market. Facebook marketplace is a good place to start. I recommend looking for frames from the most popular racquet lines. Babolat Pure Aero (previously called AeroPro Drive), Babolat Pure Drive, Head Instinct MP, Head Extreme MP, Wilson Ultra 100, Wilson Burn 100, Yonex EZONE 100 and Yonex VCORE 100. Depending on age and condition, expect to pay between $70 and $200 for these used. Be wary of cracks in the graphite and worn grommets. A few scuffs in the paint won’t affect playability, but if you see big cracks in the frame, that racquet is garbage. If you do find something good on the used market, make sure to get it restrung and replace the grip.
The general spec range I would look for is between 280-310 grams unstrung with a 100-105 square inch head. Average specs for the average player are 300 grams and a 100 square inch head.
The other option is to look for discounted models. You’ll be looking for the same racquet mentioned above in the same spec range. Big retailers, like Dick’s, or Sport Chek in Canada, often have some budget racquets that are discount versions of premium racquets. These will be fine for beginners as long as they fall in the above spec range.
At this time, it is probably not worth it for most beginners to buy a brand new premium tennis racquet at full price. Yes they are better, but the beginner tennis racquet is a temporary investment that may need to be updated in the near future as you improve your game. It’s important to buy a tennis racquet that works for you today, not one that you assume with work for you tomorrow. Don’t do into a shop to buy a premium tennis racquet, thinking, “this is the only racquet I’ll even need.” You game with change and evolve as you continue play tennis.
The major variable for beginners is grip size. Too small or too big, and you can start squeezing the racquet too tightly because you cannot comfortably grip the racquet. This can lead to strain in your wrist and forearm, leading to injury. Grip sizes range from 4” to 4 5/8”, or L0 - L5, and the sizes increase in 1/8’ increments. 4” = L0; 4' 1/8” = L1; 4 1/4'“ = L2 etc. Most people are 4 3/8'“ = L3, but it’s totally personal. For example, Rafael Nadal famously uses an L2 grip size, while his compatriot, Carlos Alcaraz, uses L4. These men are both the same height, and have relatively similar forehand techniques. I myself feel comfortable gripping L2, L3 and L4, but L5 and L1 are too extreme. You’ll want to try a few different sizes, and look for something that leaves a small space between the ring finger and the pad of your thumb.
Returning Vet’s
Now this really depends on how much time you took away from the game. If you haven’t really played tennis since before 2000, it’s almost definitely time for a new racquet. While graphite racquet were present through the 1990’s, the beam designs are extremely difference. We now have much lighter racquets with bigger head sizes that are much more stable due more efficient beam designed and manufacturing processes. The other change was strings, but that another article in itself.
That said, many racquets produced around 2000-2008 are still the same as what we use today. So if you’ve been away from tennis for less than 20 years, you probably don’t need to buy a new racquet. For example, Babolat’s Pure Drive and Wilson’s Blade are largely the same as they were previously.
You best solution is to demo tennis racquet if you can. You’ll want to really get a feel for how equipment has changed and how that may affect your game. Be sure to ask what kind of strings are in the demo. If you been away from the game for a long time, the string materials and tensions are much different than they were even 15 years ago. Most people are using polyester strings are around 50lbs, where as you may be used to nylon synguts string in the high 50’s or low 60’s.
Go on to the next section to get an idea of how to choose racquets to demo.
Understanding Your Starting Point
If you are actively playing, but it’s time for a new racquet because you need help with something in your game, or simply your racquet is getting worn out, it can still be tough to narrow down the field. Should you just get the new version of your old racquet? Is it time to switch entirely?
Tennis racquets can change a lot from model to model. In some cases, it’s really just a paint job, but in other, there can be a significant spec change. For example, the Graphene 360 Radical Pro is a vastly different racquet from the Graphene 360+ Radical Pro, featuring completely different beam designs and specs. For this reason, it’s crucial to understand as much as possible about your racquet. Here is a list of specs you’ll need in no particular order:
Headsize - The hitting surface of the stringbed, measured from the inside of the beam. Note that Head used to measure their headsizes from the outside of the beam, which meant they overrated headsizes until about 2016. For example, older Radicals and Prestiges were listed as a 98 square inch head, when they were true 95’s by everyone else’s measuring method. Headsizes are mostly measured in square inches, and the size if regularly listed in the racquet’s name, for example, the Wilson Ultra 100.
String pattern - String patterns dictate the launch angle of the ball off the stringbed. Presented in the form (number of mains) x (number of crosses). Common patterns are 16x19 and 18x20.
Static Weight - How much the racquet weights on a scale. Static weight is measured in ounces, but more commonly, in grams.
Swingweight - How heavy a racquet feels when you swing it. A great indicator of a racquet’s power and spin potential. Units are not typical displayed for this number, but they are kg-cm2. Here is a dedicated video on the subject.
Balance Point - The point along the racquet’s vertical axis where the racquet balances. Sometimes measured in points (from the centre line of the frame), but is more accurately described in mm or cm, measured up from the buttcap.
Length - The length of the frame from tip to tail. Average length is 27 inches, but some frames come extended to 27.25 inches, 27.5 inches or more, up to the legal limit of 29 inches.
Twistweight - This describes how much weight there is a 3 and 9 o’clock on the racquet. Similar to swingweight, this is a dynamic measurement, using the same units, kg-cm2. There’s a lot more to unpack on this, which is why I have a separate video on it.
Beam width - Beam thickness is measured in three areas, and is listed in the following order, tip, 3/9 o’clock and the shaft. If you read something is a flat beam, it means the thickness at all three areas is the same. Typically measured in millimeters.
Stiffness - How the racquet is flexed along the vertical axis. This does not have a unit, simply referred to as RA.
Vibration Frequency - A dynamic stiffness measurement shares how a racquet vibrates on impact. It’s less of a indicator of performance, and more of a subjective indicator for feel. In my experience, racquets with similar vibration frequencies feel similar.
In most cases, you’ll want to make a pretty marginal adjustment when shopping for a new racquet, unless a serious change is warranted. There are lots of reasons why a new racquet can really help your game. At the professional level, we can look at Roger Federer, who earned a late-career resurgence in 2014 following his switch from a 90 square head to a 97 square inch head. This was a pretty jarring change for him, and his play suffered in 2013 as he got used to the bigger head size, but also a much thicker beam. At the end of the all, I think Federer would agree that the lull in his 2013 performance was well worth the huge success he saw in 2014, 2015 and 2017-19. The only way that Federer was able to make this switch was by understanding what his problem was and being able to identify how his racquet could help remedy that issue.
Looking at your own game, I would recommend making broad, vague statements, like “I need more power,” or “I need more control.” Here are a couples questions you can ask yourself to really pin-down the problem you are facing in your game.
What shot am I missing? (Forehand, backhand, volley, etc.)
What am I trying to do when I miss? (Aggressive, defensive, neutral)
Where am I missing? (Long, wide, net, shank, not actually missing, just dropping the ball short)
What is my opponent doing to me when I miss? (Aggressive, defensive, neutral)
Am I experiencing injury because my racquet is uncomfortable to swing or on impact with the ball?
This should get the ball rolling in terms of what is actually going wrong in your game. There are a ton of different scenarios where we can experience difficulty on the court. Some things you’ll need to change to see positive results, and some things you’ll need to keep the same. This brings us to the hardest part, which is connecting the specs of the racquet to the problem you are experiencing on court.
How Spec’s Describe Performance
Understanding how spec changes will affect the performance of a racquet is crucial. Let’s revisit the 10 key specs and breakdown how changing them will affect the playing experience. Assume that all factors are held constant, except the metric in question.
Headsize
Bigger headsizes are more powerful (more ball speed and depth), spin friendly, stable and forgiving.
Smaller headsizes are more maneuverable, and control-oriented, offering superior precision and stringbed consistency.
String pattern
More open string patterns often have fewer strings, such as 16x19’s. Typically, the fewer the strings, and the more open the pattern and the higher the launch angle. String spacing is also a factor, as some 16x19’s are more open than others. More open string patterns also offer reduced friction in the stringbed, which may produce more spin.
Tighter patterns, like 18x20’s, offer a more predictable response, but it is harder to access depth due to a lower launch angle. Tighter patterns also typically have more friction in the stringbed, leading to a reduced spin potential.
Static Weight
Heavier racquets will be more stable and comfortable. More mass helps absorb the shock from impact, and the greater the momentum through the swing, the greater the energy (power + spin) that can be applied to the ball.
Lighter racquets are easier to swing. They may let you swing faster to deliver more spin and power, but they also may help you play for longer, if fatigue becomes an issue for you over the length of a match or practice.
Swingweight
Increasing the swingweight will yield a substantial increase in power, spin and stability through contact, if you can keep your swing speed up. There is no serious decrease in control if you can keep your swingspeed up enough to take advantage of the increased spin.
Decreasing swingweight will make the racquet easy to maneuver. The ease of the swing can help increase racquet-head speed which may increase spin, but it will also help you with endurance over long matches. If swingspeed is constant, lower swingweight have less power, stability and spin, but you won’t necessarily gain any control either.
Balance Point
Racquets with higher swingweights typically also have higher balance points, suggesting greater spin and power.
Racquets with lower balance points are associated with superior maneuverability.
This stat alone doesn’t describe very much, as it requires the static weight and the swingweight to provide context. This often ends up being more a preference-based stat, where you shouldn’t necessarily shop for a racquet with a higher balance point for more power, but rather you should search for racquets that have similar balance points to your current racquet if you like how it feels.
Length
Longer racquets offer better reach, power and spin potential due to increased leverage, but maneuverability can be sacrificed.
They pretty much aren’t any racquets shorter than 27 inches, but they would offer superior maneuverability.
Twistweight
The greater the number, the greater the torsional stability and the better the performance on off-centre shots.
Lower twistweights have better maneuverability, with decreased stability.
Beam width
The thicker the beam, the more forgiving and stable the racquet will feel on off centre hits, often offering better power and spin throughout the stringbed.
Thinner beams often offer better flex and a sweeter ball-pocketing experience. Control is also improved, as it can be harder to access depth. Some find thinner beams to feel more maneuverable due to reduced drag, but I think this is more placeabo than anything else..
Stiffness
Higher flex (more stiff) means more spin, power and stability.
Lower flex means better ball-pocketing and more control
Vibration Frequency
Racquets with more mass and lower flexes with have lower vibration frequencies than lighter racquets with higher stiffness’s. It’s less of a indicator of performance, and more of a subjective indicator for feel. In my experience, racquets with similar vibration frequencies feel similar.
Solutions for 5 Common Issues
While there are an infinite number of problems we can experience on court, I believe that there are only 4 things a racquet can change:
Increase comfort to reduce injury. The goal here is to play tennis with less pain. There are two types of injuries that can be solved by a racquet change. The first is wrist/forearm strain that is exacerbated by a light/stiff racquet. The second is shoulder pain that is often caused by a racquet that is too heavy. If you upper body is not strong enough to swing the racquet, either due to outright weight, or fatigue over the length of a hitting session, you can experience shoulder pain.
Increase the heaviness of your ball through speed, power and depth. The goal could be any of the following: force more errors from your opponent, hit more winners or to stop your opponent from dominating your rally balls. The reason I don’t just say “increase power,” is because power can be a pretty vague statement. It’s unclear whether power simply refers to ball speed, depth or some combination of the two, as our perception of power on court can be extremely inconsistent. Increasing the “heaviness” of your ball means that your ball becomes harder to hit back for your opponent, which should be the desired outcome of increased power. Increased heaviness is achieved by deeper, faster and more spinny shots.
Increase your confidence by offering a more predictable string bed response/feel. The goal here is to start swinging more freely, and to your potential on your tennis court. Being able to trust your racquet is a huge part of the sensation of control. The primary concern here is the launch angle off the stringbed, meaning, how high or low the shoots off the stringbed after impact. Typically, lower launch angles are associated with control, as it’s very hard to miss long with them. There is one level further, however, which is the consistency of the launch angle. Some racquets have a more consistent stringbed than others, meaning that regardless of where you hit the ball on the stringbed, the ball with have the same launch angle. Some racquets will have a higher launch angle in the sweet spot, and a lower one towards the edge of the frame, or a high launch angle lower down in the hoop, and a low one low in the hoop.
Increase your margin of error. The goal here is to reduce unforced errors. Increasing your margin of error can come in a couple of different ways. The first is getting a higher launch angle to help your clear the net. The other is the get a more forgiving racquet that can help your if you hit the ball off-centre.
Increase stability. The goal here is to stop/reduce the racquet’s twisting or shaking on impact. When the racquet start “losing” the collision with the ball, it can be hard to trust the frame, causing you to slow down your swing to guide the ball back into play. This can lead to errors or weak balls to be gobbled by your opponent.
Let’s take a look at which specs are best suited to solve these problems.
Increase comfort to reduce injury:
Increasing static weight is a great way to increase comfort caused from impact. More mass will absorb the shock from impact.
Decreasing static weight or swingweight can increase comfort if your issue comes from strain or fatigue after a long hit. If you racquet is too heavy, it can stress the shoulder.
Decreasing stiffness often increases comfort, as the flexing of the racquet absorbs the energy from impact. Stiffer frames translate the shock from impact to your arm much more efficiently than softer frames.
Decreasing vibration frequency also typically increases comfort, as the factors that affect comfort (static weight and stiffness) also affect vibration frequency.
Increase the heaviness of your ball through speed, power and depth:
Increasing the swingweight is the only really way to reliably increase your ball speed. If you can keep your swingspeed up, you can deliver substantially more power and spin while retaining controllable access to depth.
Increasing the stiffness of the frame should also increase ball speed, but I find this is to substantially less effective than increasing swingweight.
Reducing swingweight can increase your ball speed if your racquet is too heavy. If you swingspeed with severely limited due to a heavy racquet, you will be losing a lot of power and spin, and be risking injury.
Increase your confidence by offering a more predictable string bed response/feel:
Get a racquet with a tighter string pattern. String spacing is the most important thing, as not all 16x19’s are created equal. For example, the Pure Aero has a very open 16x19 and the Extreme Tour has a very dense 16x19. The tighter pattern results in a lower launch angle, making it harder to miss long. This should give you the confidence to take full, fast swings, without the fear of missing out.
Reduce headsize. Smaller headsizes make it easier to located where the ball hit the strings, leading to a more responsive impact feel. Smaller headsizes also typically have denser patterns due to reduced string spacing.
Increase your margin of error:
Increase head size. The larger the head, the more hitting area.
Increase beam thickness. Thicker beam typically offer better power and spin inside and especially outside the sweetspot.
Increase racquet stiffness. Stiffer racquets will be more powerful, stable and spin friendly.
Increase twistweight. The greater the twistweight, the greater the racquet’s torsional stability, leading to superior performance outside the sweetspot.
Increase stability:
Increase twistweight. The greater the twistweight, the greater the racquet’s torsional stability, the less twisting will occur if your impact the ball outside the sweetspot.
Increase swingweight. Also known as plow-through, increased swingweight will help the ball win the collision with the ball, leading to a more more stable experience.
Increase static weight. Greater static weight typically also increase swingweight or twistweight. If neither swingweight or twistweight are increased, that means the majority of extra weight is added in the handle. This is known as recoil weight, and with increase the stability on more static shots, like returns, volleys and slices. This is essential for players who like to take the ball early.
Next Steps:
At this point it’s just an exercise in research. You should have the tools to analyze your own game and racquet. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses, as well as how they might relate to your racquet. If you still aren’t sure where to go, I am excited to offer a couple racquet consultation services, where I will offer my years of experience as a professional stringer, Master Racquet Technician and customer service rep to help you buy the right racquet for your game.
*Use the code TENNCOM10 for 10% off regularly priced tennis racquets valued at $175CAD or more. Free shipping available.
