The most critical factor when buying a tennis racket is weight. Most adult strung rackets fall between 9 and 12 oz. You can always add weight to a racket if it is too light, but it is very difficult to reduce racket weight.

A racket that is too heavy can incur arm, shoulder or wrist discomfort and will slow down your stroke. Conversely, a racket that is too light sacrifices power and can throw off your timing.

A racket’s head size, which is measured in square inches, will have a direct effect on racket performance. Larger head sizes are classified as oversize (typically 106+ square inches). Any rackets smaller than that qualify as midsize.

As racket head size increases, power and forgiveness also increase. For players who hit the sweet spot consistently, a smaller head size will afford more precision and control.

Another factor for racket performance is balance, which measures its weight distribution. Rackets can either be head-light, head-heavy or even-balanced. Head-light rackets have more weight concentrated toward the handle, whereas head-heavy rackets feature more weight concentrated toward the head.

Balance is indicated on a point scale, with larger negative numbers being more head-light and larger positive numbers being more head-heavy. Smaller numbers close to 0 indicate more evenly balanced rackets. Note that strung rackets will be more head-heavy than unstrung rackets.