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TennisOne Lessons
Is Your Racquet Too Light? Daryl Fisher
Do you like to hit hard when you play tennis? Do you play against opponents that hit hard? Do you have nagging arm injuries? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you should probably pay attention to the weight of your racquet. Most people recognize fairly quickly when a racquet is too heavy for them, but for someone to use a racquet that is too light is so common that it must be more difficult to know it. A racquet that is too light can negatively affect your game in a number of ways including, but not limited to, how hard you can hit, how much power from your opponent you can consistently hit against, and perhaps even your potential for arm injuries. To be fair, the advance of going from heavier wood to lighter graphite helped most players, but as manufacturers have made racquets lighter and lighter it is the savvy player that understands that there are some advantages associated with weight. The following information will not tell you exactly what weight you should be using, but it will provide some guidance that will help in your search for the right weight for you. Injuries
Good technique is the best defense against arm related injuries, but even players with good technique can suffer from arm problems due to playing with a racquet that is too light. For some arm related problems, one possible resolution is to try playing tennis with a heavier racquet. Really. If all other factors are equal, a heavier racquet will defend the arm better, especially against the more powerful hitters. A lighter racquet will be more easily jarred and twisted by oncoming shots. A heavier racquet, on the other hand, will be more stable. Tennis balls only weigh about 2 ounces (or about 57 grams), but a well-struck ball can still produce a substantial force. As your opponents hit harder, your arm must be able to handle greater forces, and a heavier racquet makes this easier. Imagine a tennis ball hitting an empty tennis ball can and then imagine a tennis ball hitting a brick. It would be no good to play with a racquet as light as a tennis ball can nor as heavy as a brick, but the example makes the point that a racquet with greater weight will protect your arm better because an oncoming tennis ball will affect it less. Using racquets that are easily knocked about by oncoming tennis balls really do lead many people to injuries. If you imagine that using a heavy racquet strains your arm just to move it through the air, consider that even the heaviest racquets currently for sale still weigh less than a pound, and most players do not endure much strain from moving such little weight. Granted, a racquet that is too heavy might not lead to your best play, but in general, at least it will not physically hurt you. Kids often learn tennis using old heavy racquets that were found in garages and basements, and while their level of play might benefit from using lighter racquets, at least the weight of the heavier racquets is not a risk factor leading to arm strain injuries.
Generating and Handling Power For the following sections on generating and handling power, imagine you were to take two racquets with different weights but that are identical in every other way (same balance, same length, same stiffness, same head size, same string pattern, and so on). It does not matter exactly how heavy each racquet is, but assume that you can at least swing both racquets. Note that if you swing them each at the same speed, then you will be able to hit a ball harder with the heavier racquet because of the racquet's greater mass. The reply in defense of the lighter racquet’s power generating ability is that the lighter racquet can be swung more quickly, and so the additional racquet head speed could provide additional power to offset what is lost with less weight. Based on these trade-offs alone, it is not clear which end of the weight spectrum is better for your game, so there is more. If you are struggling just to get the racquet into place to make good contact with the ball, then the racquet is probably too heavy for your current level of technique. Generally speaking, however, as your technique improves, you will be able to handle heavier racquets. The ability to use a heavier racquet could in fact be a good checkpoint for testing your technique. If you are using good technique then the effort of moving the racquet through the air will come mostly from your legs and torso and not from your arm, and even racquets on the heavier end of the weight spectrum will feel like nothing to strong and large torso and leg muscles. If your current technique involves quite a bit of effort from your arm muscles, however, then playing with a heavier racquet will be more difficult.
Most players are concerned with being able to generate their own power, but sometimes what is more important is to be able to handle the power that your opponent generates. A heavier racquet often allows a player to handle and use an opponent’s power more easily. One reason for this is that timing is often much easier if you do not have to swing as quickly to generate the same amount of power. Another reason is the already mentioned greater stability provided by a heavier racquet. Greater stability means having to make fewer subtle adjustments with your arms and hands, and this leads to less tension and strain which thereby fosters greater feel and control for handling harder hit shots. (For a more thorough discussion of the benefits of using less effort with your hands and arms see my articles Relaxed Hands and Overcoming the Mental Challenges of Relaxing.) Finding the right weight The challenge of finding the specific weight that is best for you is in fact so great that professionals will often pay customization companies thousands of dollars to help in determining the best combination of racquet traits for them. While most of us will not go to such great lengths, you might like to try some variations of racquets that seem close to what you like through a company called Vantage that sells custom racquets for prices that are similar to factory-made racquets (you may use my Vantage coaches code for 15% off of the advertised price: DF08).
Many professionals have their racquets custom-made and painted, but you can often see lead tape on the racquets of players that actually use production made frames (Andy Roddick, for example). Since your racquet is probably too light, you might also consider customization of a racquet that you already own using lead tape. By using lead tape you will also learn with your own racquet how added weight can influence a racquet’s performance. And lead tape is not just about the added weight. The placement of the extra weight can affect your racquet’s balance, sweet spot location, stability, and power. While this article generally encourages you to consider the benefits of a heavier racquet, you may have noticed that no specific weights are mentioned. Unfortunately it is not possible to say exactly how heavy your racquet should be. Your playing style, your skill level and the skill level that you want to achieve, and any arm injuries you may have will all play a role in identifying the proper weight for you. Consider the above information and then go experiment with different racquets to find the optimal weight for you. Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Daryl Fisher's article by emailing us here at TennisOne. |
