How to Buy a Racket

Eliminate your romantic notions about that old wooden racket in your basement. It won't help your game, whether you play tennis, squash or racquetball. Today's rackets are lighter, larger and stiffer. Popular brands including Wilson, Head, Prince and Dunlop offer a range of design options; test as many as possible. And with a price tag to fit any game ($20 to $590), you're sure to keep your eye on the ball.

FEATURES: WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Grip Size:

Too small a grip is hard to hold securely. Too large a grip tires your hand and arm. To test, grasp the racket and place your thumb along the shaft, pointing away from you. You should see a space about the width of your index finger between your fingertips and palm.

Frame Material:

Heavier frames generate more power and less vibration. Aluminum rackets are inexpensive but may cause excessive vibration. Carbon, graphite and titanium composite rackets are more expensive and offer increased durability and stiffness. As you move up in price, rackets generally become stiffer, an advantage for advanced players who want more power....read more...

Head Size:

Rackets are frequently identified by the size of the head, measured in square inches. A smaller head appeals to experienced players seeking more control, while larger racquets appeal to beginning and intermediate players seeking more power and a larger "sweet spot." Larger rackets may weigh more. A common head size is from 95 to 110 square inches.

Tennis Racquet Care and Stringing

Taking care of a tennis racquet is a lot easier now that graphite, resins, ceramics, and metals have replaced wood in the construction of frames. We no longer have to carefully clamp a big, heavy brace onto our racquet after each match to keep it from warping. Of course, we don't get to peer suspiciously at the racquet's side profile when the ball goes eight feet astray, either. No, your racquet's not warped. Maybe it's the strings.

Racquet care is mostly common sense:

Don't expose it to extreme heat or cold such as by leaving it in your car.
Keep it out of the sun when not in use.
Don't throw it, bang it, or sit on it.
Avoid scraping it while picking up balls.
Put protective tape over those parts of the outer surface that you might scrape reaching for low balls.
Install a fresh overgrip whenever your grip gets slippery. Having the racquet slip out of your hand is a common cause of breakage, and it can injure another player.
String within the recommended range.
Exceeding this range can break your frame and will usually void your warranty.
Stringing is a little more complicated.
I'll try to answer the three most common questions:

How often should I restring?

The conventional rule of thumb is to restring as often per year as you play per week, but no less often than twice per year.

What's the best string?

There's generally a trade-off between resiliency and durability. The most durable strings, such as Kevlar, are extremely stiff. Highly resilient and/or thinner strings, which many players find offer a better feel, tend to break faster. Many strings have durability and resiliency (or playability) ratings on the package.

Durability is a must for me, and I like a moderately stiff string bed, so I use Kevlar main strings with synthetic gut cross strings. (Mains wear out much faster than crosses and are almost always the ones that break.) I string the crosses ten pounds tighter than the mains so that the stiff Kevlar in the mains won't prevent the more resilient crosses from providing some rebound effect on the ball. If the Kevlar were as tight as the synthetic gut, its stiffness would not let the ball ever "get to" the synthetic gut.

Finding strings you really like can require some experimentation. If you start by deciding how much durability you require, then you'll be able to stick with the results of your play-testing. There's no point falling in love with highly breakable strings if you're a big spin hitter who can't afford to chew through a pair every week. The performance of Kevlar strings seems fairly consistent across different brands, but other types of string are less predictable. Two brands with similar resiliency and durability ratings can feel quite different. If you bring comments such as "too springy," "too soft," or "too stiff" to the stringing technician at your pro shop, he or she should be able to point you toward strings that feel more like what you want.

What's the best tension?

Generally, tighter strings offer more control, looser strings more power and comfort. String tension has a profound effect on the way a racquet performs and feels. I've seen lots of players hate a racquet strung at one tension, then love an identical frame strung differently. (This is a good point to keep in mind when trying racquets you're considering buying.) There's no single best tension, and the pros offer little guidance, with a huge range in their preferred tensions and no apparent correlation to style of play.