The weight of a tennis racquet

The weight is extremely important when you choose a tennis racquet, it's really one of the main characteristic to take into consideration.

This parameter influences the power of your shots and the maneuverability of the racquet.

An improper weight for your tennis racquet will hinder your technique but may also cause injuries.

Tennis racquets for adults usually weight between 9.5 ounces and 13 ounces strung.

In this range of weights, the challenge is to find the right weight for YOU, not too light, and not too heavy.

I give you my advices to find the right weight for your tennis racquet, feel free to ask a question at the bottom of the page.

How to choose the weight of a tennis racquet ?

My advice is to choose the heaviest tennis racquet you can handle without feeling excessive muscle fatigue, and without having to change your strokes.

How can you determine that weight ?

I recommend that you try some tennis racquets with different weights, until you determine the one which is fine for you.

If you can not play with some demo racquets, these are my advices :

For the beginners and young players (above 12 years old), preference should be given to light racquets (9 - 9.5 ounces unstrung) without trying to choose the lighter racquet,
for the net players or players hacing short swings, a rather light racquet is also a good choice
for the intermediate players : 9.8 - 10.5 ounces unstrung,
for advanced players, with large swings, heavy racquets (more than 10.5 ounces unstrung).

If you have a doubt, choose lighter instead of heavier : it's possible to increase the weight of racquet but it's not possible to reduce its weight !

Light tennis racquets

Light tennis racquets are sometimes attractive because they have a very good manoeuvrability and it's pleasant to hold a light racquet.

However it's not always a good choice.

Light racquets are less powerful than heavier racquets.

Light racquets are said to be more manoeuvrable, it's true if most of the weight is not located in the head of the racquet.

It's a common mistake to look for the lightest tennis racquet. Indeed, a light tennis racquet won't absorb shocks and vibrations instead of your arm as well as a heavier racquet, and that may cause injuries.

It would be a bad idea to look for a very light racquet in case of arm injury.

Moreover, a very light racquet is less constraining for your technique than a heavier racquet. This kind of racquet gives more freedom to your technique but this may lead to bad technique habits.

A heavier racquet will "force" you more to find the proper technique for your swings.

Heavy tennis racquets

Heavy tennis racquets give more power, if they are not too heavy, in which case they could become difficult to handle and could cause injurires, just like racquets that are too light.

They absorb shocks and vibrations better than lighter racquets.

They can help develop a good technique because in order to swing a heavy racquet, one must find the proper technique to manoeuvre it without extreme tiredness.

The weight and the balance of a tennis racquet

There is a close link between the weight and the balance of the tennis racquets and it's important to make the difference between those two characteristics.

A light tennis racquet may sound heavy if most of its weight is in the head of the racquet (head heavy balance) and a heavier tennis racquet may sound lighter if most of its weight is in the handle (head light balance).

So, you must take into consideration the weight and the balance of the racquet at the same time.

Don't be impressed by the weight of a tennis racquet which is a bit high, if its balance is head light you might find it manoeuvrable.