TENNIS.com - Gear

Gear Talk: An Interview with Joe Heydt

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:50:00 GMT

Joe Heydt
—Stringer, Team Luxilon
—Master Racquet Technician, Racquet Corner

Justin diFeliciantonio: May I ask whose racquet you’re restringing at the moment?

Joe Heydt: This is Robin Haase, or Haasa, depending on how you pronounce it. I’m putting in Sonic Pro. Right now he’s doing 25 kilos in the mains and 24 in the crosses—a hybrid tension. Same string, one piece, but hybrid tension.

JD: Why the hybrid tension?

JH: There’s a couple of theories. Some of them do their crosses at lower tensions than the mains; some do crosses at higher tensions than the mains. Some players believe it’s a sweet spot size or shape manipulation. Because lower tension has a bigger sweet spot than tighter. But usually what they’re doing is trying to give their main strings—if they’re doing the main strings tighter and cross strings looser—a little bit more propulsion, so it gives them a little better feel. If you have two different types of string, for example, if you have a stiff string in the mains and a softer string in the cross, sometimes to make up for that, they string the crosses tighter. So that it’s not too soft. Because the softness is built into the string rather than strung into the string [with tension].

Quite honestly, pros have all different theories on why they do things. And ours is not to question why [laughing].

JD: So you’re saying that there are different methods to achieve the same outcome.

JH: In a way, yeah. It’s all dictated by the feel of the player. So if they experiment with something—whether we think it’s right, or they think it’s right or wrong—and if that’s what sings to them, if that’s what makes it work, great. You know, I’m not going to say, “What’s this guy doing?” I don’t know more than what their feel is. You know, it’s like food. It’s a taste thing.

But, I think there are some different ways to achieve softness: You can achieve it through material or through tension, but it’s not always going to come out with the same result.

JD: What got you started stringing? When’d you make it to the pro level?

JH: I started stringing in ’92. There was a shop in Lincoln, Nebraska. I broke my first string and I went in to talk to these guys. And it was like, Oh, this is really cool, and I kind of got into it. I was rabid about tennis; I’d picked it up when I was 17, self-taught, and tennis was my new hobby. Like, when you talk about stringing a racquet, who does that? You know what I mean? So I started stringing at the shop, and I really liked it. I mean—all these guys [on the Luxilon Team], we love it. This is great. So, worked there from about ’92 to 2000, and ended up doing some things over seas. And I came back and met my wife and we were going to move to Omaha, Nebraska—we were in Lincoln—we were a ways away. And I said to the guys, “What do you think about opening up a location in Omaha?” And they said, “Yeah, sure.”

So I opened a shop in ’03, and then started stringing professionally in ’09. I’ve been doing this since then. It’s pretty cool, pretty fun. But it hasn’t been the easiest path. I mean, quite honestly, I’ll string tennis, I’ll string racquetball, I’ll string badminton, I’ll string wooden racquets, I can string anything. And if it’s anything I know, it’s stringin’. And then I came to do training here in Miami in ’09 to qualify for the Luxilon Team, and I don’t know anything. I was just like, you’ve gotta be kidding me. I certainly didn’t come in here saying, “Oh yeah, I’m going to be great” or whatever. But I thought, I’m pretty secure in my talent, I’m secure in my speed. No.

JD: What specifically did you find difficult about the ’09 experience? What separates really good stringers from the best?

JH: It’s not just the speed. Speed comes just through repetition. But the consistency of perfection, is what training entails. The best way I can describe it is, let’s say you’re a runner and you’re an amateur runner, and you can run your marathons and you’ve done this and that. But someone actually trains you to run a four-minute mile. Which is a big deal. And you can run a four-minute mile. And they say, “Great. That’s fine. Now. Run that four-minute mile for an entire marathon and do it again and again and again, and don’t screw up, and don’t ever run shorter than four minutes.” You know, that’s kind of the difference. You can pat yourself on the back that you can do a racquet fast, yeah. But do it perfect. Do it again and again. Do it when the player’s waiting. Do it when they’re on the court. Do it when it’s Nadal. Do it. All day long. That’s what they train you to do. And you better care about it, because it you don’t care about it, you’re not swimming.

I mean, that’s the thing that I’ve learned the most—like, yeah, it’s a big flippin’ deal. [Laughing] I knew that but—wow, these guys are crazy. You know, I’ve told this story to people before: When I get done with tournaments, my wife says the ends of my fingers are like M & Ms. They really are. Do it 14 hours a day for two weeks. You know, it’s physically demanding. It’s mentally demanding. I gotta work with all these guys [on the Luxilon Team], and we’ve gotta get along, and I’ve got to work with those guys up there [front desk]. You gotta have all of it. That’s what this level is. And I think a lot of people think, “Oh, I can do this. It’d be easy.” I don’t think they understand.

JD: Do you use any methods to make sure you keep your consistency up to par?

JH: Not really methods for consistency. Once you get your technique down, you can do it over and over. It’s about making something that’s a conscious thought unconscious. You do it so often you just know it cold. A lot of it is mindset. You get in here and you know it’s go time. You know? Before the tournament, even during the flight here, you get amped it. You’re like, even on the bus ride here, you’re like, “Okay, here we go.” And the tournament’s exciting and all the players are around and you string your first racquet and you just go. And next thing you know—

JD: So it’s almost like the beginning of a race.

JH: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is. The next thing you know, you’re done and you look at your count and you’re like, “Wow, I did 30 racquets today. I’m really tired.” And then you go to bed. You get back at 11 at night. You go to bed. You wake up. The shuttle comes at 8. And you’re in here and you’ve got two racquets in your box and you start another day. And it’s everyday. It’s funny, because I get back and my customers are like, “How was it? Was it fun?” It’s a lot of work. Don’t think I’m sitting up in the stands watching tennis. Maybe there’s some time you can hang out with the guys and get a drink; that’s kind of your down time. It’s not like a vacation. People are like, “Cool, you went to Australia.” Yeah, and then I hopped on a plane and came home.

JD: The mindset you have here, how would you describe that?

JH: Let me tell you, when I was going through training and you get here, like anyone you’re like, “Oh that was Venus, that was Serena.” There’s that kind of buzz. And you still get that a little bit. But trust me, when I was going through training, about two days into it I was like, “I hate all you people. I hate you, and I hate you, and all you do is bring me work, and I’m tired of it, and I’m mad. This is not fun anymore.” [Laughing]. That’s kind of what it was like going through and you’ve gotta work through that. And I think what happens is, when you get in here, the mindset is—there is that, hey this is what I do and it’s special and it’s fun. But at the same time, this is a racquet. And I gotta fit all the holes in it, and I gotta do it perfect. And it doesn’t really matter whose it is. “Ohmygodi’mstringingsoandso’sracquet!” No. It’s a frame. And it’s 25 kilos in the mains and 24 kilos in the cross. And it’s Sonic Pro. And I’m gonna get it done and I’m gonna stencil it. And I’m gonna put it in the box. And they’re gonna pick it up. And they’re never gonna know I did any of it.

Gear Talk: An Interview with Todd Mobley

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:32:00 GMT

Todd Mobley
—Stringer and Captain, Team Luxilon
—Master Racquet Technician, Stadium Tennis

Justin diFeliciantonio: When did you start stringing? Where did you get started?

Todd Mobley: In 1986, at Terrell Mill Tennis Center, in Atlanta, GA. It’s a Cobb County park. I used to run a pro shop and teach tennis full time. And one of the pros needed somebody to take over stringing, because another pro who had been stringing was fired. So he showed me how to use the stringing machine, and I’ve been stringing ever since.

JD: But before that you were a certified teaching pro?

TM: Yes, for the USPTA. Yeah, I kind of got burned out on teaching. I was teaching 50 hours a week, doing camps, advanced clinics for kids, adult round robin socials. There’s lot involved with teaching.

JD: What drew you to stringing? What did you find in stringing that you didn’t with teaching?

TM: It’s kind of—when you work on here [pointing to the stringing machine], you don’t have all the distractions of a tennis court. Like, what’s Bobby doing over there? How’s this woman swinging over here? And stringing is pretty much straightforward—to me, it was like meditating. This is why I do it, because I can stand 18 hours a day and just keep stringing, stringing, stringing.

JD: How would you describe the sensation of stringing a racquet?

TM: For the pros, it’s rewarding. For recreational players, you can make changes in their racquets and help them improve their playing style. But I would describe it as basically putting away all the worries and distractions you have in everyday life, and you just string. It’s kind of like quiet time. Of course, stringing for a tournament is a lot different. There’s a lot of hustle, bustle, racquets going in and out. And I have other job responsibilities here as well.

JD: Like what?

TM: I’m the String Captain for the Luxilon Team—the intermediary between the Team’s Manager [Ron Rocci] and its stringers. I supervise the other stringers and make sure that everyone is caught up on what they’re doing, that they’re making their racquets on time. If there’s a technical problem, I’ll provide expertise.

JD: So you’re almost like the general on the field.

TM: In a way.

JD: What is the Luxilon Team’s normal working hours for a Masters-level tournament like Miami?

TM: We leave the hotel about 7:30 a.m., and we have to stay at the tournament until the last match is done. Which can be as late as 12:15 p.m. And if we’re not done at midnight, we stay ‘till we’re done. We have to make sure we make deadlines. Because every morning more racquets come in. We’ve had four days in a row of 400 plus racquets a day. Four days in a row. With just a dozen or so guys. That’s a lot of racquets.

Four Strings

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:39:00 GMT

22 March 2012, 7:42 p.m., Key Biscayne, FL.—Backstage, beyond the alphabet soup of credentials, enclosed in a fluorescent-lit cell of a room deep within the catacombs of Crandon Park’s stadium court, 11 men in black shirts stand weaving. I’m here with Team Luxilon, the official tournament stringers—actually, not so much with as alongside, on the periphery, a foreign spectator. A couple disinterested looks, they give me, and the stringers are back to their labors, a metronomic bustle of dextrous and quick movements.

Their looms are uniform, the Wilson Baiardo, a space-age stringing machine that adjusts ergonomically to a stringer’s posture and executes perfect tension, and is pretty much as technically advanced and sophisticated a stringing machine can get. One lean man, his brown hair slicked back into a mold, begins stabbing through the strings with an awl (exorcising a fiend at a player’s behest, perhaps?). Others furrow their brows and thread crosses. The walls are posterless and totally white. No one talks. Though apparently someone has a weakness for Daft Punk—“One More Time” in particular, which plays from a speaker in the corner. The stringers add in their own unique percussion: the sporadic clak-pops of clamps grabbing strings and the high-pitched whir of friction, the sound like a revving r.c. car as mains saw crosses. Suddenly Romanthony’s auto-tuned voice: Oh yeah, alright, don’t stop the dancin’. Certainly no one’s dancing. Or bobbing about. Has anyone even smiled? One bald-headed man breaks rank and snaps the racquet off his machine. He applauds the stringbed about his ear and then, cocking his head to the side, examines the racquet myopic-like at arm’s length. A quick nod and the stick’s in plastic, a gift from the forge of Hephaestus to the gods.

*****

The Wilson Baiardo stringing machine.

7:44 p.m.—Into a small adjoining office I follow Ron Rocchi, a large, affable man with spiky hair who looks no older than 40. He’s Wilson’s Principal Designer and Global Tour Equipment Manager—i.e., designer of Wilson products (he invented the Baiardo) and general padrone of the company’s professional stringing operations. From what I gather, he is a very good stringer. And to be honest, before meeting Ron, I thought I wasn’t bad, either. Could you ever get good enough to string with a Team?, I had asked myself. With practice, I thought, Sure, why not? It’s just a matter of picking up the pace, right?

How sophomoric of me, I think, as Rocchi, with a smile on his face and the dark cheer of a competitive marching band director, quickly disabuses me of my whimsical pro stringing aspirations, the disabusing process highly contingent on a run of increasingly impressive (and harrowing) factoids. Ron R.: “We’ve had 4 days of 400 racquets in a row…Each stringer keeps a pace of about five racquets in two hours [that’s 24 mins./racquet]…There are some days we’re here 20 hours a day…It’s not uncommon for a stringer on our team to have to do 30 racquets a day, without a single mistake, with a proper stencil, in the right bag, with the right strings, on time.” And so on.

But it’s the bootcamp that’s the real zinger. Again, R.R.:

“We have in the past had a need to add a few stringers. And we’ve developed a training program—a boot camp, if you will, a two-day event [usually at a tournament] when we’re trying to push that stringer to the breaking point and maybe a little past and see how they react. We train them on ways we do things, certain knots we like to tie, and we sort of throw everything we can at them. Usually we do it a tournament. So we stick them in a back corner. They’re not stringing player racquets, but it’s the same type of process. And they get a sense of what it’s really like. To date, we have about a 25 percent success rate. Only one out of every four makes it through.”

“This is the apex of the stringing world,” Rocchi declares with a wry smile, “the World Series of the Major Leagues.”

*****

Click here for an interview with Todd Mobley.

8:15 p.m.—And now Ron is leading me through the stringing room. The music has changed to Taio Cruz, he of the wailing “Higher.” First I meet an Atlanta-based stringer, one Todd Mobley, Luxilon Team’s String Captain and second-in-command. He’s stringing Ana Ivanovic’s Yonex EZone Xi 98, but periodically looks over his shoulder, keeping tabs on the rest of the team.

“Yeah, I kind of got burned out on teaching,” Todd tells me. “I was teaching 50 hours a week, doing camps, advanced clinics for kids, round robin socials.” He points to the machine. “And then one of the pros needed somebody to take over stringing. It’s kind of—when you work on here, you don’t have all the distractions of a tennis court. Like, what’s Bobby doing over here, how’s this woman swinging over there. And stringing is pretty much straightforward, easy to—to me, it was like meditating. This is why I do it, because I can stand 18 hours a day and just keep stringin’, stringin’, stringin’.”

*****

Click here for an interview with Joe Heydt.

8:25 p.m.—“Quite honestly, pros have all different theories on why they do things. And ours is not to question why [laughing].” Meet Joe Heydt, a man with animated eyes who speaks fast and hails from Nebraska. Right now he’s stringing for “Robin Haas, or Haasa, depending on how you pronounce it.” Head Prestige. Sonic Pro. 25 kilos in the mains, 24 in the crosses. Don’t tell me. You haven’t heard of hybrid tensions? Haas likes his crosses soft.

“It’s all dictated by the feel of the player,” says Joe. “So if they experiment with something—whether we think it’s right, or they think it’s right or wrong—if that’s what sings to them, if that’s what makes it work, great. I’m not going to say, ‘What’s this guy doing?’ I don’t know more than what their feel is. You know, it’s like food. It’s a taste thing.”

Food indeed; the players never tire of eating.

Justin diFeliciantonio is the gear editor for TENNIS.com and writes The Pro Shop blog. He strings his racquet at 52 lbs.

Shoe Spotlight: New Tennis Footwear

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Justin diFeliciantonio breaks down the styling of this season’s new tennis shoes.

2012 Gear Guide: Shoe Reviews

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 08:00:00 GMT

From top left: Men's Wilson Tour Ikon; Women's New Balance 1005; Men's Babolat SFX Ergo-Motion; Men's K-Swiss Tubes Monfils Mid; Men's Asics Gel-Resolution 4; Men's Head Speed Pro Lite; Women's Prince T-24; Women's Prince Rebel 2LS; Women's Adidas Barricade 7.0; Women's Yonex Power Cushion 308

Take the right first step with the sport’s latest footwear releases.

Start with your foot type

Before you pick out your next pair, consider the shape of your foot. Shoes that fit poorly can hinder your movement, or even lead to injury.

Supinated feet have high arches. People with this foot type will have shoes that show wear on the outside of the heel and forefoot while the inner portions will be barely worn. Supinators tend to have a wide forefoot and need shoes that provide more comfort. They require extra cushioning to compensate for their high arches and the fact that their feet tend to be inflexible when they hit the ground.

Pronated feet are the opposite of supinated feet; with pronators, the inside of the forefoot area wears down the most. Pronators tend to have flat feet and need a shoe with extra support on the medial (big toe) side to help keep their feet from rolling inward.

Neutral feet are the most efficient and versatile type. Players with neutral feet can wear just about any shoe they want.

How We Test

Dozens of weartesters, from recreational players to former touring professionals, put this crop of shoes through their paces. They rated each shoe with scores from 1 (poor) to 10 (outstanding) in six categories: stability, cushioning, arch support, weight, ventilation and break-in time; the results were then averaged for an overall satisfaction score. (Shoes’ weights represent a size 9 in men’s and size 7 in women’s.) Dr. David G. Sharnoff, a consulting podiatrist for the WTA Tour, rated each model separately based on technical components. We averaged the weartesters and Dr. Sharnoff’s ratings for a combined score. While we don’t evaluate shoes’ long-term durability, you can get a sense of how models will likely stand the test of wear and tear if they come with outsole guarantees. And of course, every model’s sizing is different. Make sure the shoe fits properly before you step out onto the court.

2012 Shoe Reviews

Adidas Barricade 7.0 (M/W)	Asics Gel-Resolution 4 (M/W)
Asics Gel-Solution Speed (M/W)	Babolat SFX Ergo-Motion (M/W)
Head Speed Pro Lite (M)	K-Swiss Tubes Monfils Mid (M)
New Balance 1005 (M/W)	Nike Zoom Court Lite 3 (W)
Nike Air Max Courtballistec 4.3 (M)	Prince T-24 (M/W)
Prince Rebel 2LS (M/W)	Wilson Tour Ikon (M/W)
Yonex Power Cushion 308 (M/W)

2012 Gear Guide: Racquet Reviews

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:17:00 GMT

How We Test: Racquet Playtesting at TENNIS

We received at least four samples of every racquet reviewed. Each model was strung with the manufacturer’s recommended string and tension to optimize the frame’s playing characteristics. The racquets were then distributed to playtesters based on their level of play (NTRP 3.0 to NTRP 5.0). TENNIS editors and recreational players participated in our evaluations, with TENNIS' racquet advisor Bruce Levine lending his expertise throughout the process. All racquets were playtested at tennis clubs around the New York metropolitan area. To read more about these clubs, click here.

Racquets were evaluated using a number of criteria, including power, control, comfort, maneuverability, and overall playability. Each tester was encouraged to try a racquet for as long as it took to get a feel for its particular playing characteristics. In some cases, testers returned to a frame a week after they first hit with it just to be sure that they liked (or hated) it.

We also compiled quantitative data—such as racquet length, weight, head size, balance, and beam width—so players can compare the frames’ specifications. (All values, unless otherwise noted, represent strung racquets.) This list of specs appears here.

It will take some time to digest all the information in this guide. But when you find that special racquet, one that feels like an extension of your arm, you’ll know it was time well spent.—J.D.

2012 Racquet Reviews

Babolat Pure Drive/Pure Drive Lite	Babolat Pure Drive 107
Donnay Pro One 16 x 19	Dunlop Biomimetic 700
GAMMA RZR 98/98T	HEAD YouTek IG Prestige (Pro, MP, Mid)
HEAD YouTek IG Radical (Pro, MP, OS)	HEAD YouTek IG Prestige S/Radical S
Prince EXO3 Rebel 95/98	Prince EXO Warrior 100
SOLINCO Tour 8	Völkl ORGANIX V1 (MP, OS)
Wilson Juice 100/108 BLX	Wilson Pro Staff Six.One 100 BLX
Wilson Steam 100 BLX	YONEX EZONE Xi 98/100
YONEX EZONE Xi 107

Continue to Page 2 for a comprehensive listing of our terminology as well as all racquets' specifications.

The Specs

Click on the picture to expand the chart.

To make it easier to compare racquets, we’ve filled this chart with all the pertinent technical information. Head size is the area of the racquet head in square inches. The bigger the head, the bigger the sweet spot, and vice versa. Length is measured from the cap of the handle to the top of the head. Longer racquets give you more leverage on serves and greater reach on volleys; shorter racquets are more maneuverable. Stationary weight is how much the racquet weighs when strung. A light racquet will be more maneuverable; a heavy frame will be more stable. In the Balance column, HH stands for head heavy and HL for head light. Pt. stands for 1 point, which represents a 1/8th inch difference between the racquet’s balance and its midpoint. Swingweight is how heavy the racquet feels when you swing it as measured by a Racquet Diagnostic Center; the lower the number, the greater the maneuverability. Flexibility refers to the racquet’s construction. A flexible frame bends more and gives you additional control and feel, while stiffer beams offer more power but less control. We categorized frames as flexible, firm, stiff, and very stiff. Beam width is a measure of the thickness of a racquet’s sidewalls. Some frames have a constant width (one number), while others taper from one width at the top of the head to another at the base of the head (listed as two or three numbers). Thick racquets tend to be stiffer and more powerful, while thin frames are more flexible and provide better feedback. String pattern lists the number of main strings (up and down) first and crosses (side to side) second. The tighter a string pattern, the stiffer and more control-oriented the stringbed is; the more open the string pattern, the looser and more powerful the stringbed is. Ideal swing is the type of swing for which the racquet is best suited. Typically, beginners have more compact, slower strokes and advanced players have longer, faster strokes. NTRP recommendations will help you target racquets that are appropriate for your skill level. If you don’t know what your NTRP rating is, ask a tennis pro. (If you’re a beginner, start by looking for racquets that have an NTRP recommendation of 2.5 or 3.0.) Price is the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.

For the full list of reviews, go to Page 1.

Special Thanks: Tennis Clubs That Helped Us

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:33:00 GMT

Special thanks to the following clubs that generously provided court time for racquet playtesting:

CityView Racquet Club
43-34 32nd Place
Long Island City, NY 11101
(718) 389-6252

CityView Racquet Club is a private, members-only facility featuring the finest tennis and squash courts in the New York metropolitan area. CityView exceeds all expectations with an accomplished teaching staff, a Pro Shop with services by a world-renowned on-site stringer, state of the art fitness area, full service spa, juice bar, cocktail lounge, and an outdoor deck showcasing breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline. For more information, visit CityView’s website here.

CourtSense at Tenafly
195 County Rd.
Tenafly, NJ 07670
(201) 569-1114 

Tenafly Racquet Club is located in northeast Bergen County, NJ and is only 9.6 miles from the George Washington Bridge. TRC is an eight-court, indoor facility that was fully renovated in 2009. Amenities include a fully-equipped fitness center, cardio room, and NFL all-season turf field for speed and agility workouts. Above all, TRC is home to the renowned CourtSense teaching program, which has trained a number of highly talented players, including current WTA pro Christina McHale. A USTA Regional Training Center, CourtSense uses teaching progressions that have been created from some of the world’s brightest minds in the game, while using the most sophisticated technologies to help accelerate the learning process.

Courtside Racquet Club
1115 Route 31
South  Lebanon, NJ 08833 
(908) 713-1144

Located in Lebanon, NJ, the Courtside Racquet Club is a top-class facility that boasts six indoor tennis courts and a swimming pool. Tennis Instruction and competitive match play is available for all age groups, and the Top Dog tennis academy is one of the best in the State of New Jersey. For more information, visit Courtside’s website here.

Midtown Tennis Club
341 8th Avenue (27th Street)
New York, NY 10001
(212) 989-8572

Conveniently located in the heart of Manhattan, Midtown Tennis Club is New York City's original indoor tennis facility. Midtown hosts eight Har-Tru courts, four of which are bubbled for the Winter Season. The club offers court time, private lessons and clinics for all levels, as well as a junior program by The Manhattan Tennis Academy. For more information, visit Midtown’s website here.

The Dick Savitt Tennis Center
Columbia University
218th Street (West of Broadway)
New York, NY 10034
(212) 942-7100

Columbia University's Dick Savitt Tennis Center hosts the home courts for the men's and women's varsity teams. The six cushioned, indoor hard courts are also available for use by Columbia University alumni, faculty, staff, parents, students, and anyone working in one of the hospitals affiliated with Columbia. Unaffiliated players may be sponsored by one of the members. For more information, visit the Dick Savitt Tennis Center’s website here.

Special thanks also to the following for technical assistance:

Grand Central Racquet
341 Madison Avenue (on 44th Street between Vanderbilt and Madison)
New York, NY 10017
(212) 292-8851

2012 celebrates Grand Central Racquet's 20th anniversary! Woody Schneider and his talented group of stringers have been servicing NYC tennis enthusiasts for 20 years. Last year their flagship location NYC Racquet Sports was named pro specialty retailer of the year by RSI magazine. For more information, visit Grand Central Racquet's website here.

New to Tennis? A Brief Racquet Primer for Beginners

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Tennis is a fun, healthy way to exercise and compete—but not without the right racquet.

Just starting out? Don’t know which is right and what is wrong? No worries. If you’re a beginner, this buyer’s guide is for you. It will help you choose a suitable racquet out of the thousands on the market today, so that you can make the most out of your on-court potential.

When shopping for your first racquet, bear in mind the following criteria: the racquet’s materials and pricing, head size, weight, balance, length, and grip size. Let’s get down into the details.

1. Materials & Pricing
Racquets today can be broadly (and somewhat crudely) divided into two categories: Frames made primarily out of aluminum, and frames made primarily out of graphite.

Aluminum frames are usually sold pre-strung (i.e., with strings). They’re a great choice if you’re unsure you want to commit to playing long-term, or you just want to whack a few balls around with friends. What’s more, they’re affordable, only about $30 in sporting goods stores.

But if you are looking to commit to the game—and plan to join a team and/or take lessons—go ahead and buy a racquet made out of graphite. A graphite frame’s light weight and rigid construction make it much more powerful and accurate. And, if you take care of it, it should last you for multiple years.

The prices of graphite frames range greatly, from about $60 to upwards of $300. If you’re on a budget, a great way to get value for your money is to go online or to your local pro shop and look for sales on older, discontinued models. Sometimes you can find an extremely nice racquet that’s only a few years old for less than $100.

2. Head Size
Another consideration is a racquet’s head size, or the size of the area where the strings are. Head size is by and large provided in square inches. The smaller the head, the more maneuverable and control-oriented the racquet will be; the bigger the head, the more margin for error and power a racquet will have. Most beginners should use a racquet with a head size between 100 and 115 sq. in.—on the smaller end of the spectrum if you’re coordinated and/or looking to develop long, fluid swings through practice and lessons.

3. Weight
A third thing to keep in mind is the racquet’s weight, usually given in ounces. Generally speaking, a light racquet will be more maneuverable; a heavy racquet will be more stable. Beginners should choose a racquet that weighs somewhere between 9.5 and 11 ounces—on the heavier end if you’re strong or relatively athletic.

4. Balance
A further consideration is balance, which tells whether a racquet has more of its weight distributed toward the tip (head heavy) or toward the handle (head light). A racquet’s balance is usually measured in a unit called “points,” and can make a big difference in how heavy a racquet feels when swung. If you take two racquets, for example, one with a head-heavy balance and another with a head-light balance, both of which weigh exactly the same: the head-heavy racquet will feel noticeably heavier to swing.

To a certain extent, balance is a matter of personal preference; some people, usually more advanced players, like head-light racquets, while others prefer head-heavy ones. If you’re just starting out, choose a racquet that has a balance somewhere between 5 pts. headlight and 5 pts. headheavy—and, most of all, feels comfortable to swing.

5. Length
Finally, make sure you buy a racquet with the right length, which is measured from the cap of its handle to the top of its head. Longer racquets, the theory goes, give you more leverage on serves and greater reach on volleys; shorter racquets are more maneuverable. Until you’ve played long enough to know what your strengths and weaknesses are—and what you need from your racquet—it’s best to play with a racquet with a standard length, or 27 inches.

6. Grip Size
Lastly, pay attention to grip size, or how big the racquet’s handle is. (It will be listed on the butt of the handle.) Most women use a grip size between 4 1/8” and 4 3/8”, while most men use a size between 4 3/8” and 4 5/8”. Choose a grip size that feels comfortable in your hand—or ask a knowledgeable tennis professional, at a club or pro shop, if you’re unsure of your size. If you’re in between two grip sizes, buy the racquet with the smaller size; a grip can easily be built up (about 1/16th inch) by adding an overgrip.

To Sum It Up
—Materials: If you’re unsure of your commitment, buy an aluminum racquet. If you’re looking to start playing competitively, buy a graphite racquet.
—Head Size: Choose a racquet between 100 sq. in. and 115 sq. in.
—Weight: Pick a racquet that weighs between 9.5 oz. and 11 oz.
—Balance: Choose a racquet with a balance between 5 pts. headlight and 5 pts. headheavy.
—Length: Pick a 27 in., standard length racquet.
—Grip Size: Choose a grip that feels comfortable in your hand.
—When in doubt, speak with a tennis professional or certified racquet technician.

Justin diFeliciantonio is the gear editor for TENNIS and TENNIS.com.

A Minute in the Zone

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

When it comes to choosing a racquet, I’ve always been a fair-weather player. Nothing but a No. 1's frame will do for me.

I started, in the early 1980s, with my first idol Bjorn Borg’s orange and black Donnay, a sledgehammer carved out of wood. Under pressure from the midsize graphite revolution, and wanting to stick with a winner rather than a retiree, I switched to my second idol John McEnroe’s equally club-like Dunlop Max 200g in 1984. Even as Mac himself began to fade, I stuck with the ol’ green-and-black through high school, until the next great American player, Pete Sampras, came out of nowhere to blitz his way to the 1990 U.S. Open title. Sampras was never an idol of mine, but I immediately loved the 85-inch, and extremely dead, version of the Wilson Pro Staff that he used. It took me 10 years to trade that one in, and even now, when I pull it out and take a few swings, it still feels perfect—perfectly dead.

By the time I reached 30, though, 85 inches wasn’t quite getting it done anymore. I moved on to another, larger, friendlier version of the Pro Staff, the purple 5.3. No racquet has ever felt quite so right in my hand, but Wilson stopped making it fairly quickly, and my last one finally broke in half. Plus, the best player who endorsed it was Magnus Norman. The Swede was No. 2 for about a minute and a half, but whatever his ranking and whatever his nationality, he was no Bjorn Borg.

Each summer, for the last few years, I’ve picked up a new racquet in Tennis magazine’s offices. That’s not a bad perk, but it has kept me from getting grooved with any one frame. There hasn’t been much rhyme or reason to my choices, and I’ve had to alter my game slightly each year to fit my new, temporary racquet. One summer it was a Boris Becker Serve Man model; another year it was a Yonex with a very open string pattern. Last year I went back to my roots with a thin-beam Donnay. And I did gravitate to a new No. 1 player’s racquet one season, when I had a brief, difficult relationship with the Wilson that Roger Federer was using at the time, the NCode or the KFactor or the BLX or whatever it was called that year. Federer’s 90-inch frame wasn’t easy to swing, but when you swung it right, the ball went to good places. I’ve always been amazed at how the pros basically want the toughest thing they can find to play with, and then they proceed to make it even tougher by adding all kinds of weight to it. I tried one of Yevgeny Kafelnikov's Fischer frames one year at Wimbledon and had to put it down after 15 minutes. I’m not sure what it did to my arm, and I don’t want to know. It took half the fortnight to recover.

This summer, when I got back from Wimbledon and began searching the offices for my new summer stick, our gear editor, Richard Pagliaro, suggested I try Novak Djokovic’s 100-square-inch Head racquet. I was torn. I’d never used anything bigger than a 95, and I didn’t want to admit that I might need the bigger head to give me back a little of the power I’ve inevitably lost. But Djokovic was a No. 1 now, so I decided to keep the tradition going and took it home.

I didn’t love it at first. The extra head size bothered me. It’s just a little more racquet that you have to get through the hitting zone, and that’s particularly tough on one-handed backhands. (It’s the two-handed guys who typically use the big frames, and I can see why Roger Federer would be loath to move up.) But after a few sessions, I got the hang of the Head. My first serve had more pace, second serve had more bite, and I was even coming over my topspin backhand more easily, and occasionally keeping it in the court. My opponents immediately noticed the difference. I had to admit it: I really had needed the extra space.

Of course, all problems were not suddenly solved forever. I still missed just as many first serves, still threw in ugly shank backhands at inopportune moments, and still hit my share of ill-advised crosscourt approaches—there was nothing the Djoker’s racquet could do about that.

It’s been a good abbreviated summer on the courts nonetheless, and the bigger stick has given me some new life, and perhaps new prospects for improvement. I’ve been able to move back farther behind the baseline again, a particular pleasure for anyone who plays in New York. There’s rarely much room behind any court here, but a couple of them at my club do give you some space. It’s fun to roam, take time to set up, launch topspin balls from far away—we always tell Gael Monfils to move up in the court, but I can see the appeal of hanging back, even if it isn't the smartest way to go.

On humid weekday afternoons I’ve gotten to play on an otherwise empty set of courts, with only the rising sound of the cicadas all around us for company. In the evenings, I’ve played until the only thing you can see is the yellow of the tennis ball coming out of the dusk. I’ve been unable to get any number of songs out of my head as I’ve played; today’s was “Marianne,” by Nolan Strong and the Diablos, not a bad tune to have stuck in there. And I’ve given myself the usual wide variety of instructions and reminders in my mind: “Reach up” for my serve; “hit out” on my second delivery; “attack the ball” on returns. I even tried a tribute to my favorite departing TV show this year, Friday Night Lights: “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose," I mumbled to myself as one set began. Just so you know, it’s not true.

I also, for a few games, found the Zone. They say it’s a peaceful, Zen kind of place, where you can’t miss even if you tried, and that is how it felt. I really didn’t think I could miss a forehand from any part of the court, and for the span of maybe 20 minutes I didn’t. And then it was over. There was no explaining it's coming, or it’s going; it wasn’t connected to anything I told myself or what I ate that day or how much sleep I had or even what I was consciously thinking. One minute I felt like if I swung all out at a forehand, whether it was high or low, crosscourt or down the line, it was going to find the corner. But by the start of the next set, I felt different as I swung. It felt like the ball might go out, might sail long if I took a big cut, and that made all the difference. I didn’t start shanking forehands all over the place, but I stopped hitting winners.

Our confidence, or at least my confidence, seems to move like a pendulum. It swings between poles, and every so often it swings into the elusive zone where you can make the ball go exactly where you want it to go. It’s true, as they say, that when you’re there, you’re not really thinking; your arm takes over for your brain. But it’s not as if you can control this, either. You don't play well every time you stop thinking—more often than not, the opposite is the case.

No, you can’t talk or think you’re way into the Zone. It doesn’t last long. And it’s sad to leave it behind when it does go. But where else in life can you feel, for a few minutes at least, that you can do no wrong?

This article was originally published in the Concrete Elbow blog as part of Steve Tignor's "Playing Ball" series.