How To Size A Tennis Racket (Steps)

Choosing the right size for a tennis racket is a must for everyone that is slightly interested in the game. One can only play the strokes and hits right if the size fits your hand properly. They come in different styles and sizes according to how experienced a tennis player you are. One should look for the four things while choosing a tennis racket: control, power, precision, and feel. Let’s look at how to size a tennis racket that will make sure you are enjoying your game and not just winning.

How To Choose The Right Frame

A frame of the tennis racket is something that builds the overall racket by giving it a proper foundation. This is one factor that you should look for at first, and after that comes the rest of the components to get you a perfect racket. You should consider things in a frame, like height, weight, and width, depending on what type of tennis player you are or how your strikes are, and even the strength.

1^st Step: Finding Your Swing Style

•  In this step, you should figure out how much you actually need to swing your racket.
• You can consult professional tennis players or coaches to determine the speed of your swings
• Usually faster swings, generate more power, so any normal racket should work as you would be providing the power yourself
• Faster swings also demand control which is why I would prefer you the narrower frames.

2^nd Step: Finding the Playing Style

• Find out whether your gameplay is more on the defensive side or aggressive
• Aggressive players should opt for a powerful frame that is the wider frame. It will help them have more intricate strokes and hits
• Defensive players would prefer a narrower frame as that would be helpful to tackle the hits from the opponent.

3^rd Step: Choosing the Weight of the Frame

•  Rackets that weigh between 240-265 grams are better for a good grasp and control
•  Junior tennis players or beginners would find this racket very maneuverable as they can move around the court with ease
•  Middleweight rackets at around 270-295 grams of weight are pretty good at both power and control
• This can be the perfect racket for those that want to step up their game from rookie level to novice
• Rackets over 300 grams are ideal for generating more power and controlling the faster swings pretty good
• Professional players or maybe someone that knows what they are playing can choose this racket.

4^th Step: Choosing the Height of the Frame

• Longer rackets are much lighter than the normal frames and provide more power while you’re hitting the ball to make a serve. So any rack between 27-29 inches is fine, but I suggest the lower heightened ones for the complete beginners for more control
• One drawback that this frame has is controllability, so you must figure out whether you will be able to manage the longer frames before straight-up buying it. 

How To Choose And Measure The Grip Size

Since everyone’s hands are different sizes, you should double-check before buying the racket you like. Rackets come in a variety of grip sizes, and the best way to figure out which one you prefer is to grip and play with a variety of grip sizes before considering which one you prefer.

1^st Step: Measuring the Hand

• Take a measuring ruler and determine the length between your ring finger and the second line from below of your palm. It is that simple to measure the hand with which you will be playing the game
• When holding the racket in your racket hand normally, you should be able to fit your non-racket hand’s index finger in between your fingers and palm. This is more than enough to make sure you have the proper grip on your hand.

2^nd Step: Determining Grip Size According to the Size of Hand

•  In the US, the racket grip sizes start from size four where 100 millimeters is the size four and goes up to 115 millimeters being the size 4 ⅝
•  When you’re not sure what gripping size is right for you, get a smaller handle because then you can use overgrip on it. And it will add up more thickness to the racket according to what you need.

3^rd Step: Choosing for Kids and Women

• Usually, for the juniors, I recommend the size 1 or 4 ⅛ inches one. It would easily fit in any kid’s hand and give a proper hold for their small hands.
• A women’s racket grip size generally ranges from size 2 or 3, which is about 4 ¼ to 4 ⅜ inches respectively.  But if someone is comfortable playing with the bigger sizes, then they can get that too.

4^th  Step: Adding the OverGrip and Its Maintenance

• Overgrips are a cheap alternative to make your own perfect-sized grip
• The overgrips are also easily replaceable when they are worn out. You can have a fresh grip before your important games without going broke
•  Some people find it a bit challenging to wrap the overgrip on the first try. So it’s better you either get it done by someone or maybe just learn yourself from someone
• After every 10-20 times of playing, I would recommend you change your overgrip. They are usually worn out within this time period, but if you’re someone whose hands get sweaty very easily, then you might need to change it early.

How To Size A Tennis Racket: Alternative Ways

1^st Step: Getting Only the Frame

• Most often, you will find that rackets with pre-installed strings aren’t of very good quality. Manufacturers don’t even string the frames properly or with any care
• Frame-only or tennis rackets without the strings are what I would suggest almost everyone get.
• After getting the frame-only racket, you can add the racket’s strings from a professional stringer or some sports shop.
• Even though this is a bit pricier than the other options, we would recommend you to get this because of how well it will perform in the near future.
• Getting an expensive racket with bad strings might be a heartbreaking scenario for the regular players because strings are the part that contacts the ball when you take a hit or strike it. So, they also are more likely to be changing throughout the game; hence there is the option to go for more than one racket.

2^nd Step: Buying More Than One Rackets

• As we mentioned above, due to strings being in most contact in gameplay, they carry a high probability of tearing.
• This leaves you in a dilemma because you will never know when your rackets might snap the strings off. Be it during an important match or even an important shot.
• Thus, an extra racket comes in very handy as you wouldn’t need to get a racket from other players you are unfamiliar with.
• So, I would say you carry at least two rackets with you if you are going on some kind of important match. Make sure they have a similar string arrangement with equal tension in each. That way, even if your strings snap mid-game, you can just take out another one and continue your game or match.

3^rdStep: Getting Stringing Rackets

• If you are a beginner or new in this whole tennis scenario then it is better for you to get those multifilament strings. Seniors or people with elbow problems should also go for it to focus more on control than power.
• For advanced or professional players, the polyester strings are perfect as they are stiff and sturdy. It helps you get more power along with good precision in controls.
• You can also go for the hybrid option, where the stringing is done with half polyester and half multifilament. Here, the polyester is stringed about 2 lbs. under the multifilament.

4^th Step: Customizing Your Own Racket

• If the ready-made options don’t work for you, then you always have the opportunity to customize your own racket.
• Starting from the color of the hoop, frame to adding different logos and engravings on the rackets’ body, you can choose it all.
• And the best part is you can have a bunch of your own options for the grip size that actually suits your hand.
• You can check out the official page of Wilson to make your own customized racket. They have a wide range of colors that you can choose from. And not only that, but you can also select specific lines of product to design on without spending a lot.

Final Words

Hopefully, from our article, you have gotten an overall idea of how to size a tennis racket. Now that you know it, the only thing left for you to get is the actual racket from a store. Be it online or a physical one. Some websites let you borrow the racket to feel how it is on your hands before buying it. Make sure you have the other accessories like shoes, balls, overgrips, racket bags, etc., with you that will add the perfect touch to your matches.