Learn How to Choose a Tennis Racket

Knowing how to choose a tennis racket is more important than you may realize. Because different racket characteristics are best suited for different styles of play, the tennis racket that you choose can have a significant impact on your game. Furthermore, the characteristics of a tennis racket are also important based on personal preference and skill level.

How to Choose a Tennis Racket for Your Style of Play

There are 7 primary factors you should consider when choosing a tennis racket. They are weight, swingweight, stiffness, head size, balance, length, and string pattern. I’ll explain how each of these individual characteristics relate to various styles of play so that you’ll know how to choose a tennis racket that’ll elevate your game.

Racket Weight

Based on the laws of physics, a heavier racket will impart more force to the ball and result in more power and spin. However, this comes at the cost of maneuverability, and if you don’t have the skill and strength to handle the weight of your racket, it will hurt your game more than it will help.

Some people suggest that using a heavier racket will result in less shock being transferred to your arm and will alleviate the risk of tennis elbow and shoulder problems. While there’s some merit to this, swingweight and stiffness play a role as well. Besides, if you’re racket is too heavy for your strength level, you’re more likely to hurt yourself regardless of the amount of shock transmitted to your arm from contact.

The pros typically use rackets that are above 12 oz while recreational players tend to choose rackets that are 11 oz or more and beginners often use rackets that are even lighter. These are only guidelines and you should aim to choose the heaviest racket that you can swing comfortably.

Swingweight

Swingweight is actually more important than weight, but most people don’t understand what it means. It’s a significant part of knowing how to choose a tennis racket and is basically a measure of how much force is required to rotate a racket from the base of the handle. Swingweight is intended to give an approximate idea of how difficult a racket is to swing.

As an indication of weight distribution, a tennis racket with a high swingweight will have more of it’s mass towards the tip of the racket, will be harder to swing and maneuver, and will be more powerful. In contrast, a racket with a lower swingweight will have more of it’s weight distributed towards the handle, will be easier to swing, and will provide less power.

A baseliner that likes to hit hard will typically be served well by a higher swingweight while a net rusher or a doubles player may prefer to choose a racket with a lower swingweight for it’s maneuverability on volleys.

Male tour players typically play with a swingweight above 350, but this is far too much for most recreational players. Most recreational players, even the most advanced amateur players, typically choose a swingweight between 300 and 340.

Racket Stiffness

Another important factor in knowing how to choose a tennis racket is it’s stiffness. It has a significant influence on how contact will feel and how much power the racket will provide. A stiff racket transfers the most force from the racket to the ball while a softer racket will absorb more of the impact. As such, a stiff racket typically has more power and feels crisp and maybe even harsh at contact while a flexible racket has less power and typically has a more comfortable and muted feel at contact.

Power usually comes at the cost of control, and this is typically the case with racket stiffness. As such, if control and touch is your main objective, a more flexible racket will be your best bet. If hitting with power is more important to you, then you’d probably be better off with a stiff racket. However, keep in mind that a stiffer racket will create more jarring vibration and will put you at greater risk for arm injuries.

The stiffness of most tennis rackets ranges from 55 to 70. Mid 60’s and up is generally considered stiff while anything below that is considered flexible.

Head Size:

The head size of modern tennis rackets ranges from 90 all the way up to 130 and beyond. A bigger head size has a larger sweet spot and therefore provides more power. As you may guess, this also means there is a compromise in control, and this is exactly why some people prefer the superior control of a smaller head size.

The most common head sizes are 98 and 100. Anything smaller will provide more control, but will produce very little power if you miss the sweet spot, particularly since most rackets with a smaller headsize also tend to be more flexible. In contrast, with a larger head size, you may feel as if the ball sprays off your racket and you have little control of your shots. However, you’ll be more likely to hit the sweet spot and less likely to give your opponent sitters.

Balance Point

The balance point of a tennis racket is exactly what it sounds like - the point on the racket at which it balances. In general, rackets are either head light, head heavy or balanced depending on their weight distribution. Although this isn’t always the case, a head heavy racket typically has a higher swingweight while a head light racket has a lower swingweight. Thus, head heavy rackets tend to be more powerful and less maneuverable, and as you might guess, head light rackets are less powerful but more maneuverable.

Because swingweight takes rotation into account and balance point doesn’t, swingweight is more representative of a tennis swing and is a better measurement to pay attention to when you choose a tennis racket.

Racket Length

The standard length of a tennis racket is 27″, and although rare, can be as long as 29″. Based on physics, a longer racket means that the contact point will be further from your hand, and this will result in more power. However, as is normally the cases, this can come at the cost of control because a heavier racket typically has a higher swingweight and is more difficult to maneuver.

Most extended length rackets are only a quarter or half of an inch longer than standard, but on the pro tour, it’s not uncommon for players to use rackets that are a full inch longer.

As is typical of a racket characteristic that provides power, extended length rackets are popular choices for baseliners. They’re also popular among big servers because of the additional contact height. Despite the compromise in control that you may notice, keep in mind that you can have the best of both worlds with an extended length racket by choking up on the grip a bit when you need to. I play with an extended length racket and this is exactly what I do when I’m at the net.

String Pattern

The string pattern of a tennis racket represents the number of cross strings (horizontal) and main strings (vertical) that a racket should have and is usually an indication of how close the strings will lie to each other. It’s not the most important aspect of knowing how to choose a tennis racket, but it can certainly make a difference.

A “tight” string pattern typically has 18 mains and provides a stiffer string bed that promotes more control and less spin. An “open” string pattern, which is standard, typically has 16 mains and promotes more power and spin. As such, tight string patterns are a good choice for control and touch players or those who hit flat while an open string pattern is more suited for a baseliner, especially one who hits with a lot of spin.

A Subtle but Significant Advantage

Most recreational players don’t know how to choose a tennis racket and are playing with rackets that oppose their style of play. This makes it more difficult for them to execute their favorite shots and causes them to make more mistakes. Know that you know how to choose a tennis racket, you’re armed with a subtle but significant advantage that will help you bring your game to the next level.

Know that you know how to choose a tennis racket, your next step is to learn how to choose strings, string tension, and grip size. Once you decide on a racket, it would be in your best interest to also buy a backup racket.