Why Is a Tennis Racquet Selection Guide Important?

While in the process of selecting a new tennis racquet, it may be helpful to refer to a guide that is written by experts to eliminate the guesswork and narrow down the choices to only the best racquets that suit your ability and skill level, as well as your playing style. A tennis racquet selection guide can help you choose the best product according to personal factors. Some of the best tennis racquet selectors are based on specially formulated algorithms that take a look at the data points from your answers to specific questions before recommending a reliable and unbiased selection of tennis racquets to you. This way, you can minimize the need to spend a lot of time researching and looking up user opinions.

When choosing a tennis racquet, it is easy to choose a product based on what professional players are using. However, that should not be the sole basis for selecting the right racquet, especially for beginners and intermediate players. This is where a tennis racquet selection guide can help by making you understand the factors that will affect your tennis game and your playing style. The guide lets you go over the string pattern, stiffness of the frame, the string material and tension, gauge, swing weight, head size, balance point, and other important factors to help you identify the best racquet for your needs. Those parameters are crucial if, for instance, you are looking for something that can provide more control or power, or a combination of both.

All kinds of players can benefit from referring to a reliable tennis racquet selection guide. By referring to a guide, beginners can easily determine the right racquet that can help them develop their swing, power, control, and serve, and intermediate and advanced players can acquire reliable and accurate information when they want to upgrade their gear.

Things to Consider Before Choosing Tennis Racket as a Beginner

Tennis rackets vary in terms of size, weight, features, and their overall look and feel, and these factors must be considered before you choose any tennis racket as a beginner. Rackets for beginners are designed with the skill level and the age of the player in mind. The ideal weight for the racket will depend on your gender and age, with lighter rackets weighing between 0.15kg and 0.18kg recommended for older players and women, and those weighing between 0.17kg and 0.2kg recommended for men. Regardless of the weight, beginners must look for rackets that have larger heads, which can be more forgiving with a bigger sweet spot. Here are more things to consider before selecting a tennis racket for beginners:

• Game improvement or power rackets – Consider tennis rackets with oversize to super-oversized heads that are about 107 to 135 square inches, but make sure they are light (i.e. eight to 9.5 ounces) and long (27 to 29 inches). These rackets are stiffer and head-heavy, so there is enough weight in the hit zone. Hence, they are ideal for players who have short and slow swings, but would like more power from their racket.

• Prices – Comparing the prices can become overwhelming when choosing a tennis racket as a beginner. Keep in mind that manufacturers may produce rackets in similar sizes and weights and comparable price points and features. To avoid confusion, decide on a budget that is based on your frequency of playing tennis. Consider a reasonably priced racket first, then upgrade as you improve your standard. Rackets that are in the $50 to $150 range may not contain dampening features and not completely made of graphite, but they should be ideal for occasional players. If you are serious about tennis and play frequently, consider rackets that are at least $150.

• Type of strings – You are most likely choosing your first tennis racket as a beginner, so it is okay to buy one that has already been strung. If the strings break, consider a softer synthetic variety, like Wilson Sensation or synthetic gut because they provide excellent feel and power, while being kind to your arm. Serious players may consider firm polyester strings like Volkl Cyclone and Babolat RPM.

• Refer to an algorithm that lets you choose the right tennis racket online – Answer a few questions and the algorithm analyzes them before recommending accurate and unbiased results on the best tennis rackets for beginners. This way, you can save a lot of time and effort, and avoid the guesswork.

Tennis Racquet Strings Guide: How Useful Is It to Know About Strings?

It is easy to overlook the type and quality of the strings when choosing a tennis racquet, but these factors actually matter. In fact, if you want to ascertain the function and quality of your tennis racquet, you need to look up a tennis racquet strings guide and make sure that you choose the right strings and tension for them. Playability is one of the qualities you should look into when selecting strings. You may like them firm and crisp, or comfortable and soft. Playable strings were historically gut-like in resilience and feel, making natural gut strings (traditionally made from the intestines of cow) popular with players in the past. Natural gut is still widely preferred, but there are high-quality and reasonably priced synthetic types that offer high-quality playability, too, such as Dunlop Silk, Babolat X-Cel, and Prince Premier Power.

Referring to a tennis racquet strings guide can help you understand how durable the strings should be. When it comes to tennis strings, increased durability typically reduces playability, especially when doing shorter strokes, which can feel dead and stiff. Strings that are abrasion resistant and made in thicker gauges may be more durable, but they are not that resilient and elastic compared to their thin counterparts.

Hence, if you are breaking 16-gauge nylon strings, you may want to upgrade to a 15L version of the same strings. If you prefer a softer, multifilament feel, consider the comfort strings from Prince. They come in thicker gauges, like the Premier Control 15 and Premier Touch 15L. Otherwise, go for a durable nylon string like Wilson Synthetic DuraMax and Gamma Marathon DPC. Other alternatives are polyester hybrids (i.e. Volkl Psycho), firm polyester (Super Smash by Kirschbaum), and soft polyester (i.e. Polyfibre TCS). Advanced players may consider Kevlar hybrids, but they must be careful as the material can generate too much shock to tendons. You should be able to learn more about these materials by referring to a tennis racquet string guide.

In terms of string gauge, the rule of thumb is thinner strings improve playability, and thick strings improve durability. Gauges range from 15 (the thickest) to 19 (the thinnest). Half-gauges are identified with an L (i.e. 16L and 15L), which stands for ‘light’.

Can the Wrong Choice of Tennis Racquets Affect Your Tennis Game?

The tennis racquet is one of the major factors that can affect the way you play and ability to improve your game. Hence, the wrong racquet will definitely affect your game, impair your ability to play well, and make it difficult to master swing and serving techniques. Selecting the right tennis racquet makes sense if you want to improve your game, so you need to be careful in doing so. The following tips should make it easier to choose the best racquet that will enhance your tennis game:

• Things to consider – Take note of the weight, head size, string pattern, swing weight, string gauge, string tension, frame stiffness, string material, and the grip size. That way, you can easily understand how crucial it is to pick a tennis racquet that suits your unique needs. Some players may be looking for a racquet with more power, while others may prefer control. There are racquets that can provide the best of both worlds, too.

• Think about your play level – Manufacturers typically design and build tennis racquets based on a player’s skill level and ability. Hence, racquets for beginners are typically larger, longer, and heavy at the head, with a larger sweet spot, while those meant for advanced players are heavier with smaller heads, a balanced head, and have more flexible beams. You might be able to find a tennis racquet that is versatile and can easily be customized for beginners, intermediate, and professional players, too.

• Do the math – Some experts have developed custom programs that can help recommend the best tennis racquets to you based on your answers to a few questions. Look up an online service that can do this, so you can easily narrow down the choices in tennis racquets and explore unbiased recommendations based on those algorithms.

How to Manage Your Daily Diet While Playing Tennis

What you eat matters when you play tennis, so it makes sense to maintain proper eating habits and eat the right food that will give you enough energy and stamina, strengthen your immune system, and build your muscles. While there is no such thing as miracle food, having a balanced and varied meal with all the right nutrients should suffice. Here are some pointers for managing your daily diet while playing tennis:

Load up on carbs – If you regularly play and engage in intense workouts, eating lots of carbohydrates will provide you with the energy your body needs to move. Carbs are stored in the liver as glycogen, and they should provide about an hour’s worth of energy. Maintaining a diet that is rich in carbohydrates before a match should double your liver’s capacity for storing energy. Some of the best sources of carbohydrates are pastas, breads, rice, potatoes, fruit, and beans.

Eat a sufficient amount of protein daily – Protein is an essential part of a good tennis diet as it restores and strengthens you after intense workouts and play. When your body runs out of energy from carbs, the amino acids from proteins will serve as an energy source. For optimal performance, your carb intake should be higher than your proteins, but be sure to eat the right food like milk, potatoes, grains, fish, and meat to fulfill your daily protein requirements.

Maintain a low-fat diet – Make sure that not more than 30 percent of your overall calorie intake is coming from fats. The average western diet consumes around 35 to 40 percent of fat, but as a tennis player, you should minimize your fat intake before and after matches. Consider eating lean poultry, beef, and ham instead of fatty meats like bacon and sausages. Moreover, try to eat three square meals a day and avoid snacking on potato chips and peanuts. You may want to consider using margarine instead of butter, and avoid gravy and dressings.

Take vitamin supplements – Lack of vitamins will result in poor athletic performance, but keep in mind that they are not magic pills that will give you an edge in tennis. Vitamin supplements may be advisable if you cannot get enough nutrients from your daily meals, especially if you are a vegetarian.

To know more about some essential tips for playing tennis browse through tennisracket.me

7 Benefits of Babolat Tennis Racquets

Babolat is one of the top brands you will encounter when choosing a tennis racket, and for many good reasons. The Babolat tennis racquets are preferred by professional tennis players and aspiring champions for its technology and innovative features. To understand why it may be the best tennis racquet for you, here are seven benefits of a Babolat racquet:

1. It comes with features that let you play well – Tennis racquets by Babolat are developed with the skill levels and needs of every type of player in mind. Hence, you should be able to find the perfect racquet that matches your play style, skill, and preferred level of comfort.

2. Custom racquets for advanced needs – AeroPro and Pure Aero are recommended for players who require more spin and pace on the court. A Babolat tennis racquet from any of those lines feature a combination of a lively and firm beam and a speedy feel, so you can play aggressively. The racquets come in a variety of weights to suit every level of ability.

3. More feel and control – Babolat came up with the Hybrid Beam Construction in their Pure Strike series to provide more control and feel. Hence, you get impressive stability despite the weight, and the FSI technology in 2016 models optimize the string spacing for better power and spin.

4. More power – Check out the Pure Drive series if you are looking for a Babolat tennis racquet that can give you more power. Pure Drive racquets have a lively and thick beam, a fast feel, and an open string pattern to provide best in class speed, precision, power, and spin.

5. There are racquets for every player – Beginner and intermediate tennis players need a light and user-friendly racquet, which they can get from the Lite & Drive series. Babolat has a line of junior racquets for young competitors, too.

6. Technology – Babolat invented the VS string, and since then, they have been continuously innovating to produce the best breakthroughs while improving existing products, all while ensuring that their innovations can enhance player performance.

7. Versatility – Babolat came up with the ‘Smart’ tennis racquet called, ‘Connected Racquet’, which is designed for amateur and professional players alike. It has already been tested by top players like Rafael Nadal, Li Na, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The racquet acquires data about the player through chips and sensors in the handle, and it shows players a breakdown of incidents, such as why a forehand smash ended up on the net or why the serve went wide, so they can refer to it for improvement. It can collect information on the power of shots, the level of spin, technique, endurance, energy, consistency, and other factors.

Things to Keep in Mind When Choosing a Tennis Grip

Tennis grip size is the perimeter of the octagonal cross-section of the handle of your tennis racket. Basically, it is the thickness or outline of the handle that pertains to the grip size. The right tennis grip size is one of the factors that can affect your play. Hence, you need to make sure that you choose the right one, or you risk compromising your entire game with poor performance. The wrong tennis grip may injure you, too, leading to injuries to the elbow, wrist, and hand, and irritation. Tennis grips typically range in sizes from 101.6mm (four inches) for juniors to 123mm (4¾ inches) for adults in the US. Grip size is rated in numbers from 0 to 5 in Europe. Take note of the following pointers when choosing a tennis grip that is right for you:

• Take note of factors like the type of grip, handle shape, and the use of an overgrip – Overgrip adds either an entire size (1/16 to 1/8 inch) or half to your racket. If you want to use an overgrip, make sure that the racket is half to one size lower, depending on the type you will use.

• Can’t decide? Pick the smaller one – A smaller tennis grip will be more forgiving in case you decide to use overgrips later to increase its size.

• No overgrip? Do not choose a smaller grip – A racket with a smaller grip will make you exert more force and squeeze the handle harder. This can harm your elbow, forearm, and hand, since it leads to fatigue and cause tendonitis. Likewise, avoid a racket with a larger grip as it will restrict movement on your wrist, tire you out easily, and make it difficult to change grips.

• Pick a grip that large enough and comfortable for play – A tennis grip in the right size will enable a full range of motion and let you play comfortably.

• Refer to the racket’s buttcap – You can typically find the right tennis grip size for your tennis racket on the buttcap. Otherwise, check the throat of the racket’s frame.

Tennis 101 – How to Hit the Perfect Serve as A Beginner

Learning how to hit a perfect serve is crucial to a beginner tennis player. Tennis rackets for beginners can help you generate more power to hit the ball and send it over the net, so they have larger heads and a bigger sweet spot compared to rackets for intermediate and advanced players. However, you need to make sure that you can hit well, too. Here are some of the things you should consider to hit the perfect serve, even as a beginner:

• Make sure you have the correct stance – All strokes start from the ground up, and to hit a perfect serve, you need to stand sideways, look down, and make sure that your feet are around shoulder width apart. Turn your front foot (right for left-handed players, and left for right-handed players) to make it point towards the net.

• Toss the ball consistently – A consistent toss is key to a good serve, so practice your tossing. If you are right-handed, place the end of your racket on the ground before your left foot while the racket is pointed at one o’clock. Keep your tossing arm straight. Your shoulder should act like a hinge, so you can toss the ball up to make it land on your racket’s face. The height of your toss must be slightly higher than what you can reach with your racket at full extension. If you are left-handed, do everything aforementioned, but switch the arms and feet.

• Practice throwing the tennis ball – The way you serve a ball is considered similar to the way you throw things, except you are throwing the racket at the tennis ball. You can achieve a smoother throwing motion by taking one tennis ball for each hand and toss one at one o’clock before tossing the second ball at it. Throw the ball when the toss has reached its peak, and keep practicing until you can achieve contact multiple times.

Professional Tennis Trick & Tips

Tennis comes with a continuous learning process where professional players thrive on tips and tricks from other players. Amateur players can improve their game by looking up tennis tricks and tips from experts and their coaches, too. That way, every player can understand the right strokes that can improve their game. Here is an overview of professional tennis tips and tricks that anyone can apply:

• Keep practicing – To make practice more effective, do it with a specific objective in mind, like mastering a specific technique. Once you have mastered certain moves (i.e. generating more power on the forehand, serving variety, and sharper volleys), you can move on to another objective.

• Practice with an experienced player – You can make the most of the practice by playing with a player who is senior to you or someone who plays better than you. This way, you can maintain your defense and exert more effort in your shots. Remember your objective in practicing and do not be intimidated by a more experienced player.

• Have the right tennis equipment – Adults need a 26-inch or 27-inch racket. When determining the right grip size, hold the racket hand out, palm side up, and measure from your ring finger’s crease to that finger’s tip. That way, you can determine the measurement around the handle, which is typically four inches in diameter.

• Watch professionals play – Look up footage of professionals playing tennis and replay them in slow motion. Focus on their movements to gain insight and compare them with your own game. Professional tennis players watch recordings of one another so they can learn, too.

• Try coaching a less experienced player – Another way to learn and master tennis is to teach it to another player who is less experienced than you. That way, you can further examine and understand certain techniques.

Things You Didn’t Know About Tennis Racquets

The tennis Racquet is like your trusty partner on the court, but do you know it well? Here are 20 things you may be surprised to learn about tennis Racquets:

• Tennis Racquets used to be made of wood from the 15th century to 1965, and they had strings made from cow intestines, which have been twisted and stretched to create an elastic surface with a high tension on the Racquet’s head.

• Before the 15th century, Tennis-like games used to be played literally by hand and people wore custom-made gloves or wrapped rope around their hands.

• Rene Lacoste created the first Racquet with a steel frame, and it revolutionized the manufacture of tennis Racquets when it enabled the increase string tension and the size of the head.

• The first professional player to use steel tennis Racquets was Jimmy Connors.

• The first modification made to traditional gut string Racquets was accomplished with nylon strings.

• For years, a lot of professional players believed that wooden Racquets provided greater ball control and accuracy, so they refused to use steel frame Racquets. However, the wooden Racquets were no match to the steel framed Racquet’s power.

• Wooden Racquets typically weighed around 350 grams, and some weighed half a kilogram. Modern Racquets weigh an average of around 250 grams, with lighter versions available.

• Tennis Racquets that are supposedly made of graphite are not made using the mineral that bears the same name. Instead, ‘graphite’ pertains to the reinforced thermoplastic visco-elastic polymer, which is durable and lightweight.

• Graphite tennis Racquets were popularized by John McEnroe.

• Many of the tennis Racquets we know today are manufactured in Asia, particularly in Japan.

• Some modern Racquets have heads with tiny chambers, which contain ball bearings to absorb impact and to minimize tennis elbow.

• High-quality Racquets are sold without their strings, so experienced players have more freedom to pick the strings and tension according to their preference.

• In the 1980s, ITF banned ‘spaghetti string’ Racquets to prevent low-ranked players from consistently defeating skilled players.

• Low tension strings offer more power, and high tensions provide more control over the ball’s behavior.

• The spacing of the tennis Racquet’s strings can affect the ball’s angle of deflection. Hence, rules restrict the distance to 1.3cm.

• A modern tennis Racquet has a head with a surface area that can be as big as 137 square inches, which is almost double the maximum size of the head of wooden Racquets.

• If you choose a lightweight Racquet, you get a smaller sweet spot, more vibration, and reduced power.

• The size of the tennis Racquet’s grip is more crucial than other factors when choosing a tennis Racquet. Choose the wrong size and you risk injury and becoming easily fatigued.

• There are no laws regulating tennis Racquet length.

• The tennis Racquet evolved with reducing vibrations upon impact with tennis balls as the main goal.

How to Care for Your Tennis Racket and Other Equipment

Your tennis racket and other equipment for the sport are investments you should never take for granted. Hence, it makes sense to practice proper care and maintenance to prolong their life span and to save money in the long run. Here are a few guidelines and tips to care for your tennis racket and other tennis equipment:

• Do not use your racket to hit other things (and people) – Performance rackets are made of sensitive materials, like graphite. Each impact can break the composite of graphite fibers down, even if the damage is usually invisible, and the frame becomes compromised. If your racket keeps hitting the iron net or the concrete floor, you may need to buy a new racket sooner than you should.

• Do not leave it under the sun or in extremely cold areas – Too much heat will cause the frame to soften, especially if it is made of graphite, and when it does, the pressure from the strings will make it warp. Heat will make the strings lose tension and stretch, and extreme cold will make them hard and brittle, and increase your risk of developing tennis elbow.

• Restring your racket – Strings lose their tension after a year. Remember that tension directly pertains to control, feel, and power of the racket. Restring as often as you can according to the number of hours you play each week. For instance, if you play three hours each week, restring your racket three times annually.

• Work with a professional – Be sure to have your racket serviced by a USRSA master racket technician or a certified stringer. USRSA is the only organization that is recognized in the tennis community around the world to certify and train racket service professionals.

• Change your grip – A worn out grip reduces comfort and control. Not only that, it can become a place where bacteria can thrive. Hence, replace grips at least twice a year. If you use overgrips, change then monthly or weekly, depending on the amount of time you spend on the tennis court.

Find Your Perfect Tennis Racket at Tennisracket.Me

Finding the perfect tennis racket will be one of the biggest hurdles you might encounter as a tennis player, whether you are starting out or have advanced to the intermediate stage. Even professionals may have difficulty in choosing a tennis racket due to the overwhelming amount of options available today. Moreover, the technologies used in modern tennis rackets may leave you confused when you have to compare them and find out what they do. You can scour the web, talk to your coach, and ask professional players for guidelines and tips on choosing the best tennis racket for you, or you can rely on an algorithm that can help you find the perfect tennis racket at Tennisracket.Me.

An entrepreneur, Mike Volkin and tech specialist, Thomas Jensen, are tennis players who are passionate about the sport and their game. They created Tennisracket.Me to make it easier for other players to find the right tennis racket based on algorithms and certain points. The site was born when Mike, a 4.5 singles player, was searching for a racket and explored the web for the newest rackets from different manufacturers. He is an experienced player, but he had difficulty in accurately knowing the swing speed, stiffness index, and other specs that can affect his game. Hence, he created a spreadsheet of those data points to be analyzed and looked up a service that can narrow down the selection of rackets he could pick from. Seeing that there was no such service, he got in touch with his friend, Thomas, who did some numbers on the spreadsheet and applied Excel programming to remove rackets that were unsuitable for Mike.

Mike and Thomas developed a proprietary algorithm to analyze thousands of data points and weigh them against one another to come up with the perfect tennis racket for you without any biases. Simply answer a few questions at Tennisracket.Me and you should be able to pick a racket in under two minutes.