How to choose a tennis racket

Step 1 — be honest about your level

Everything downstream depends on this, and it is the step people skip because it feels like the least technical one. It is not: it is the one that determines whether the other five decisions produce a racket that helps you.

The mechanical definitions are on racquet sports skill levels explained. In summary: beginner means your contact point is still inconsistent and you cannot reliably generate your own pace; intermediate means you rally consistently and produce some pace; advanced means you produce plenty and your problem is keeping it in the court.

Step 2 — head size

100 sq in is the default for a reason: it is large enough to forgive a normal player's mishits and small enough to be controllable once they improve. Go above it if forgiveness is your binding constraint; go below it only if your misses are long and flat. Head size explained has the detail.

Step 3 — swingweight, not static weight

This is the step that separates a useful racket decision from a superficial one. Static weight is what the racket weighs on a scale. Swingweight is its resistance to rotation around the handle — what you actually fight when you are late on a return.

Two frames can weigh the same and feel completely different. The Babolat Boost Drive is the lightest beginner racket in our roundups at 275 g strung and has a higher swingweight (312) than the HEAD Speed MP UL at 278 g (291), because the Boost carries its mass further up the hoop.

• Under 305 — easy to accelerate. Right for a developing swing.
• 305-318 — the broad club range.
• 318-330 — competitive. Stable against pace, tiring if you are not fit for it.
• Above 330 — tour territory. Almost nobody reading this needs it.

Balance and swingweight explained goes through how balance produces these numbers.

Step 4 — stiffness (RA)

RA measures how much a frame resists bending. Higher numbers return more energy to the ball, which reads as power, and transmit more shock to your arm.

• Under 60 — genuinely flexible. The Wilson Clash's 54 is near the soft extreme.
• 61-65 — moderate, and where most comfort-oriented performance frames sit.
• 66-70 — firm. Most modern power frames.
• Over 70 — stiff. Powerful, and unforgiving on mishits.

Step 5 — string pattern

A 16x19 pattern has wider spacing, so the main strings slide sideways on impact and snap back, brushing the ball and generating topspin. An 18x20 restricts that movement, lowering the launch angle and making the response more repeatable.

The rule: if your misses are long and flat, a denser pattern helps. If your misses are into the net because you cannot get the ball to dip, an open pattern helps more. Buying 18x20 because it sounds more advanced is how good players spend a season fighting their racket.

Step 6 — grip size, which is last and most important

It is last because it is independent of the other five, and most important because getting it wrong hurts you. A grip that is too small makes you squeeze to stop the frame twisting, which loads the forearm extensors — the direct route to tennis elbow.

Measure from the tip of your ring finger to the second crease of your palm. That figure in inches is your grip size. If you are between sizes, order 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 diagnostic, if you already play

If you own a racket and want to know what to change, this is faster than the six steps. Hit ten crosscourt rally balls at three-quarter pace and watch where they land.

What to ignore

• The professional's name on the frame. Tour players use custom-weighted versions of retail molds, and their specs are not yours.
• Proprietary technology names. Most describe a real engineering choice, but the measurable consequence is already visible in the RA, the beam and the swingweight.
• Cosmetics. Genuinely irrelevant, and the most common actual reason people choose between two similar frames.
• Last year's model being cheaper. Often the best value in the sport — generational changes are usually incremental.