Frequently asked questions

Judge it by what happens in your rallies, not by a rating. If you are still finding the center of the string bed, you are a beginner. If you rally consistently and generate some of your own pace, you are intermediate. If you create pace routinely and your problem is keeping it in the court, you are advanced. Racquet sports skill levels explained goes into detail.

100 sq in is the standard adult playing shape and suits most players. Going up to 105-115 sq in buys forgiveness at the cost of precision, which is a fair trade in a first year. Dropping to 98 sq in buys precision and is worth it once you generate your own pace. See head size explained.

For how a racket feels in play, yes. Swingweight measures resistance to rotation around the handle, which is what you fight when you are late on a return. Two 300 g rackets can feel completely different because one carries its mass further up the hoop. Balance and swingweight explained covers it.

Measure from the tip of your ring finger to the second crease of your palm, along the lifeline. That measurement in inches is your grip size. If you fall between sizes, buy the smaller one — an overgrip adds roughly half a size and you cannot remove material from a handle. Full method in our grip size guide.

The common rule of thumb is as many times a year as you play in a week. It is rough but directionally right: strings lose tension continuously, not only when they break, and a bed that has lost 8 lb plays like a different racket.

No. Polyester is stiff, it loses tension quickly and it is the string type most associated with arm discomfort. It rewards a fast swing that most beginners have not built yet. Start with a synthetic gut or a soft multifilament — see strings for beginners.

Start in the middle of the range printed on the frame, then move in 2 lb steps. Lower tension gives more power and comfort; higher tension gives more control and a lower launch angle. String tension explained has the numbers.

You can, but you should not. Running shoes are built for forward motion and are deliberately soft and unstable laterally. Tennis loads the shoe sideways during hard direction changes, which is the most common way recreational players roll an ankle. See tennis shoes vs running shoes.

If you play clay regularly, yes. Full herringbone tread grips and then releases the clay instead of packing it in. For occasional clay play, an all-court shoe is fine. Best clay court tennis shoes has the models.

Extra duty felt is woven more densely to survive abrasive hard courts. Regular duty is thinner and is correct on clay and indoors, where extra duty picks up material and fluffs up quickly. Getting it backward costs you a can a session.

Mass adds stability and plow-through against incoming pace, which feels like power on returns and volleys. On your own serve, a frame you cannot swing fast produces less power, not more. Match swingweight to your swing speed first.

See a physiotherapist or doctor for persistent pain — nothing on this site is a treatment. On the equipment side, change string type and tension before you change rackets: moving from polyester to a soft multifilament at lower tension is the single biggest comfort change available. Best rackets for tennis elbow covers frames.

No. Padel rackets are solid, stringless and perforated, and the rules cap their length. A tennis racket is not legal and would be unmanageable near the walls anyway.

Round, with a soft EVA core, around 350-360 g, head light. A round frame centers the sweet spot, which is what you need while your contact point is still variable. Padel racket shapes explains the alternatives.

A 16 mm core with a carbon or textured fiberglass face, in the 7.8-8.3 oz range. Thicker cores are softer and better at the soft game, which is where pickleball points are actually won. Best paddles for beginners has the shortlist.

Not remotely. A padel court is 20 m by 10 m with glass walls that are in play; a pickleball court is 13.4 m by 6.1 m and open. The scoring, the ball and the rackets are all different too. Padel vs pickleball is the full comparison.

Because there is no live price feed connected to this site, and a price quoted at the time of writing goes stale within days. A stale number is worse than no number — you would plan around it. Every buy button takes you to the current listing instead.

No, and we never say we do. We do not run a test lab. Our picks come from manufacturer specifications, published playtester reviews from named outlets, and cited third-party measurement, all set against written criteria. The method is on how we choose.

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