In every sport an athlete’s equipment is very vital to how well they perform. In tennis the most important piece of equipment is the tennis racquet. How do you choose what kind of racquet to use? Maybe you’re new and want to buy the right kind of tennis racquet or maybe you’ve been playing a while but think a change of tennis racquet will improve your game. Well, here is how you should decide what kind of tennis racquet to buy.
The first factor in deciding what kind of tennis racquet to get is dependent on how long you’ve been playing. If you’re new to tennis then chances are you’re not great yet and hitting the ball doesn’t come as easily. So if you’re new to tennis you should buy a tennis racquet that has a large head. The reasoning is pretty simple. The bigger the head of the racquet is, the easier the ball will be to hit. Also in order to hit the tennis ball well you should hit it with the soft spot on your racquet and the bigger the racquet is, the bigger the soft spot and again that makes it easier to hit the ball.
If you’ve been playing tennis and have become more experienced then you have a tougher decision to make. To decide what tennis racquet you want you must first know what style of tennis player you are.
There are three types of tennis players. Some tennis players depend on power. They usually stand at the baseline and volley back and forth and try and simply score on their powerful hits. These players also tend to have very straight, powerful serves. The second type of tennis player is someone who is fast. They usually run back and forth all over the court, they like to come up to the net a lot and they’ll often put spin on the ball rather than a powerful shot. The third type of tennis players is an all around tennis player. They usually play both at the baseline and come to the net.
If you are the type of player that uses a lot of power then you want a tennis racquet with a large head. First of all, as I mentioned above, a bigger head means it’s easier to hit the sweet spot and if you have a power game then it’s important the ball hits the sweet spot. A tennis racquet with a bigger head is also important because they are probably heavier, due to their size. Since the racquet is heavier it will be easier to hit the ball harder.
If you are a power player you should probably get a racquet that is heavy. Some people might think a lighter racquet is more comfortable but the truth is trying to swing a light racquet hard enough for your power game is only going to injure your arm. A heavier racquet might seem harder to swing but it’s actually easier on your arm if have power.
Most tennis racquets with large heads also have very tight strings, which is also helpful because the stiffer the strings the harder the impact will be.
You can probably guess by now that if all those things are used for a power game that someone with a speed game wants the opposite. If speed is your style of play then you want a tennis racquet with a smaller head. Having a tennis racquet with a smaller head gives you a lot more control over your shot.
A tennis racquet with a smaller head is also lighter. Lightness is important to a speed player because he has to run around a lot and he won’t have to lug around a heavy racquet. Since a speed player doesn’t have to hit the ball real hard he doesn’t have to worry about throwing out his arm trying to hit the ball hard with a light racquet.
Tennis racquets with small heads also have looser strings, which provide a lot of flexibility in the tennis racquet. If your tennis racquet has flexibility then putting spin on the ball will be a whole lot easier.
What if you’re an all around player? I can’t help you there. If you’re an all around player the best thing to do is try different types of tennis racquets and find out which one is most comfortable to you. If you’re all around player but your strength leans towards one side or the other you should probably go with the tennis racquet for that type of player.
