Racquets

All racquet performance technologies boil down to two things — altering the stiffness of the frame and stringbed and the amount and distribution of weight. These, in turn, determine the power, control, and feel of a racquet.

INTRODUCTION

Hitting a tennis ball is an epic battle between player, racquet, and ball. The player ultimately wants to be able to swing the racquet as fast as possible and to change its direction in a split second, but he does not want the ball to be able to do the same thing to the racquet. He doesn't want the ball pushing the racquet backwards, twisting it in his hand, or bending it out of shape and direction. But making it more difficult for the ball to move the racquet also makes it more difficult for the player to do so. For the player to achieve the most maneuverability, the racquet has to be light, but to prevent the ball from knocking the racquet all over the place, it has to be heavy. And if the ball is pushing the racquet around, power is lost. So, the player also wants the racquet to be heavy to get the most power. But if it is too heavy, he can't swing as fast, and he loses power. What a problem!

Choosing a Racquet — the Basics

Given these problems, how does one choose a racquet? First we will start with some general common-sense principles and then get more specific. The hardest part of buying a racquet is to find one that you like best. The problem is not that there are not enough to choose from. The problem is that there are too many (Figure 1.1). You could spend six months trying every racquet on the market, each at a few different string tensions, and you might still have trouble finding the right racquet and string combination. In any case, by the time you tried number 100, you would have forgotten what the tenth one felt like.

Choosing a racquet is a process of elimination. You might find that you don't like heavy racquets or you don't like light ones. That eliminates about half of all racquets. You might also find that you prefer a large head to a small one or that you like stiff frames rather than flexible frames. That way you can eliminate about 90 percent of all racquets quite quickly. The best way of choosing a racquet is to spend about half an hour on a court hitting with as many different racquets you can find — the more the better, but at least ten. You will be able to reject half of them almost immediately because they won't feel right. By the end of the session you might find one or two that are pretty good. Come back a few days later and try the best ones again. Then decide. Either buy the best one or try another ten.

If you can't find a club or shop that will let you try ten racquets, then be persistent. Get your club to organize a racquet hitting — like a wine tasting where you can taste as much as you like for free.

Mistakes When Buying a Racquet

There are several common mistakes that you can make when buying a racquet. The first one is to choose one because you liked the advertisement you saw in a tennis magazine or because some new high-tech feature appeals to you. By all means try it if you like the sound of it, but don't forget to compare it with a few others.

Another mistake is to buy the racquet that feels best in the tennis shop. Hitting the air with a racquet is not a good way to find out how the racquet behaves when you hit a tennis ball. There is no shock, no vibration, and no sense of feel or power when you swing at the air.

Don't buy a racquet because your favorite player uses it or because your friend uses it. Racquets don't do all the work. You have to match the racquet to your own strengths and playing style in order to find one that works best for you. Try the same brand as your favorite player or friend if it appeals to you, but try a few other brands as well.

Players often decide that they want a racquet that is both light and powerful, a perfectly natural choice. Here again, it is better to try hitting with a variety of racquets before buying one. You might find that a 250-gram racquet is indeed light but a 300-gram racquet also feels light and delivers a bit more power.

The last mistake is to buy the cheapest or the most expensive racquet because of its price. Maybe the best one for you is indeed the cheapest or the most expensive, but price alone is not a good way to choose a racquet. There are lots of good racquets in the medium price bracket. The most expensive racquets tend to be the new high-tech models that everyone wants to try because they are new. Sometimes they are indeed very good, but it is really up to you to be the best judge of that.

Three Types of Racquet

Racquets can be classified as being suitable for beginners, recreational players, and serious competition players. Different folks have different strokes and benefit from different types of racquet. Serious competitors and professionals generally use a moderately heavy and flexible frame with a relatively small head and narrow cross-section — about 20 millimeters (mm) in the direction perpendicular to the string plane. Recreational players tend to prefer lighter and stiffer racquets with larger heads that have relatively wide cross-sections, typically around 25 to 30 mm, classed as "widebody" racquets (Figure 1.2).

Professionals hit the ball in the middle of the strings about 9 times out of 10, whereas some recreational players miss the middle 9 times out of 10. A big head helps to minimize this problem by keeping the ball well away from the frame. A racquet with a large head has the additional advantage that it rotates less about its long axis when a ball is hit off-center. The advantage of that is that the shot will be more accurate because the tendency for the ball to fly up into the sky or into the bottom of the net is reduced (see "Twistweight" later in this chapter). The disadvantage for a top player is that it is harder to rotate a racquet with a big head about its long axis. Professionals swing and twist their racquets around much faster than recreational players. A racquet with a big head would slow them down.

There are many other differences between different racquets. For example, there are differences in the number and spacing of the strings, differences in the size and shape of the holes and grommets where the string passes through the frame, differences in the shape of the handle and the head, etc. Some racquets might have a bigger sweet zone than others or are more powerful than others or will give you better control. Each of these differences can be confusing to someone unfamiliar with the jargon or who is not completely familiar with the technical details of racquets.

Equipment selection can be confusing for reasons other than just the racquet features themselves. The player's...