I’ve gotten quite feedback on my post The Best Tennis Racket for Intermediate Players and decided it was time for an update. In my previous post I reached the rather obvious conclusion that there is no Best Tennis Racket for Intermediate Players, but that everything is very individual. A club player might prefer playing with his old super-heavy Sampras Pro Staff 85, although it might on paper benefit his game to move to a lighter, swing-friendly stick with a bigger head size because he will get more power with less effort and fewer off center hits and probably also less arm-strain.
Most tennis coaches say that you should play with the heaviest racket you feel comfortable with and I completely agree with that opinion. A heavier racket will give you a heavier shot (plow-through) and more control, but don’t lose sight of comfortability, because many players do get arm problems from stiffer and heavier rackets.
If you go to Tennis Express for example you can find Top Ten rackets in three different categories, Control, Tweener and Power. The Tweener category will be the right category for you, listing rackets such as the excellent Babolat Pure Drive
series, Babolat Aero Pro series (now Babolat Pure Aero
), Head Radical
series, and the new Wilson BLX Juice series. If you are a club player who’s serious about improving your game you can’ go wrong buying something from that category, but I would definitely recommend you play-testing the racket first.
I tried the Wilson BLX Juice Pro the other day and really had a fun hit. It gives plenty of power and control and is a good test for lots of different players and techniques. Another favorite of mine is the new Head Youtek IG Prestige MP
 which is actually in my racket bag as we speak. This is an absolutely beautful racket for volleys and slice shots, but also packs a punch for players with full swings. Worth a try, definitely.
I’m sure you’ll find something you like, but would like to reiterate testing the rackets first (using the Tennis Express Demo Program is a good idea) because even though I’ve bought rackets successfully online without ever holding it in my hand first, it’s always a gamble.
Good luck in finding your racket and keep me posted (comment!) below. I would also happily answer any racket questions you might have.
