Introduction

I started playing tennis 9 months ago as an adult, so I’m very much a beginner and playing for recreation only. Still, I’m hitting the ball decently well, hard enough to break the Babolat RPM Blast 1.25mm I had on my racket after six months of playing twice a week (some of you may find this ridiculous, some others may have had the factory synthetic gut strings on for years!).

My current racket is a Prince Graphite Extender, pretty much a relic my neighbor was giving away. It’s a light racket (285 g strung) with the biggest head size. I figured some modern strings would turn this into a decent setup for a beginner. And so it was, this has been my only racket since I started.

Now, after breaking strings (and laughing at the question of whether I had a re-placement), my coach handed me a Head Graphene 360+ Prestige Mid (incidentally with the same strings). He did say it was a tough racket to use…

Testing a pro racquet

Indeed it was – I did not strike a clean ball for ten minutes and framed most of them. I blamed it on the head size, as I hadn’t seen such a small racket before (93 sq inches). I could also notice the weight difference (330 g), but to my surprise, this didn’t bother me at all.

On the plus side, the grip size (No. 2) felt immediately right, which was a bit of a revelation. I usually use a grip No. 3, I didn’t think a lot about this as it had passed all the usual tests (hold the racket and fit your left index finger in the space, etc). But this smaller grip gave me so much more maneuverability, even though it was a much heavier racket – I have no doubt in my mind my next racket with be size 2.

Things started to work out

As the session continued, I slowly got the hang of the new racket. At some point, it stopped being a burden, and I started discovering everything it had to offer. From then on, I played the tennis of my life! It was almost comical, missiles (for my standards) were coming off that racket without me doing anything for it, just swinging with confidence. The extent to which the racket could produce a different shot was unreal.

I’ll try to describe my impressions as best as I can. What stood out the most for me was the stability. I often regarded this idea of ‘plow through’ as somewhat unspecific (‘what does that even mean?’ I used to think), but it definitely came to mind when using this racket. It felt like the racket would go through the ball without even noticing it as if there was a huge mass difference between them. Provided I hit the ball clean, there would be zero response on my hand (which is not the case with my Prince Graphite Extender, even if I hit the sweet spot). I’d say the sweet spot was smaller but better… if that makes sense. Once I started hitting the ball well, the racket did my job.

I did notice less spin than usual with this racket, which I personally did not like, although it helped me hit some really deep balls. I’d say this racket made me hit flatter, and maybe that was part of what surprised me – I was hitting with a pace I didn’t know I could generate. Surprisingly, nothing was sailing long.

Another aspect of the game that improved a lot with this racket was my volleys. I often miss the unmissable volley: right at the net with a manageable incoming pace, feeling the point is already in the bag, yet inexplicably my racket wobbles at contact and the ball bounces on my side. That did not happen with this racket – despite the smaller head size, I could hit excellent volleys from almost any position. It felt like the racket had given me some extra stability and a lot of control over where the ball was going.

Summary

Try, try, and try more. If there is anything I learned from this fortunate incident, it is that even beginners can feel a huge difference with a new racket. I’m not saying you should start with a pro racket at all, and I don’t think I would buy this racket for me, either. The general guidelines one can find online definitely work, but they’ll always be general. There is nothing like finding out what works for you, and testing as many rackets as you can is the only way.

Also, I wouldn’t say you should do this on day one because you would not notice many of the things I’ve just described. But after a few months of practice, you can tell what a racket is doing for you. This is more than enough time to develop some feel and know your game, your strokes, and your weaknesses. Then, I’d say, you’re ready to embark on a journey to your new racket. You may be in for a few surprises.

Ps. If you need help finding a racquet, you can check out our course, e-book and consultations in the Tennisnerd store. Ds.