Both our boys play tennis.

A racket upgrade has been suggested for one.

Now I love trawling reviews and options but I’m astounded by how many options are available.

Spec recommendations from coach are:

27”
~270g
Composite

For reference he is 10 and this would be his first racket upgrade.

Sub £75 seems possible with the coach suggesting sub £50 should be sufficient.

I understand that a 27” should last a while 🤷🏻‍♂️

All help, pointers and avoidances are much appreciated.

Cheers,

Mark

Did the coach not suggest a local racket shop? When mine played there was a decent LRS with a hit room so they can try a few out and get the right size.

What you’re missing in your specs there is the balance of the racquet – whether it’s head heavy or light. Head heavy gives more power (momentum) but harder to move quick i.e. at the net. Really need to try a few.

Thanks folks. Sadly no LRS nearby.

Will ask a few more questions and report back.

Most of the current rackets are very good and well balanced and a lot of good shops have test rackets you can borrow for a hit.
I used to play quite a bit of tennis and it was the strings which made all the difference so when you do buy one, have the original strings cut out and restrung by the shop stringer.
I used to have different crosses and mains because I hit the ball flat with not much topspin so talk to the shop about your kids style of game.

Every racquet is a composite these days. Most kids racquets will be 270 ISH grams.

What is your lad playing with currently?
I’d expect the coach to make specific recommendations for what to buy as he knows way more about your lad’s game (how he wants it to develop) and racquets than you do, or a local sports shop does in relation to your lad’s game
I’d hope that he has a relationship with the local sports shop and can arrange a trial with a couple of different racquets.

Alternatively, Wilson, Head, Babolat all produce great kids racquets, and go for the one your kid likes best.,..funky color schemes that make him feel good and enthusiasm to get on court and hitting balls is probably more important at 10 than fretting about head heavy, string tension etc

27″ isn’t a kids racquet, it’s a standard size adults racquet and the variables are weight (270g being light), grip size (kids will probably want the smallest which is a no 1) and balance (as before, heavier head gives power).

Thanks again folks.

Bit of a step into the unknown here but have bought a Dunlop (insert fancy name) that is a 27” 265g with an L2 grip. InIt is ever so slightly weighted towards the head end but less noticeable than the L1 gripped version.

It wasn’t expensive but is a huge step up from what he currently has.

Will talk to the coach about a possible restring, if needed, once he has seen LMTTM Jnr play with it on Saturday.

I’m guessing rackets are a bit like bikes with N+1 or saddles*, handlebars* etc.

Oh and colour was important …. or more specifically the lack of colour!

* Maybe this is just me 🙂