RACQUET RESEARCH
C O N T E N T S  O F   T H I S   S I T E

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Choosing a Tennis Racquet
    Short summary of the main points.  For a more detailed explanation, read the following Introduction.

Introduction to Racquet Science
    Introduction to the racquet ranking and evaluation method used on this site.  Read this first to understand how science relates to tennis racquets.  Topics include: what causes tennis elbow, the effect of string tension, whether light racquets are better, the effect of heavy, large, or soft balls, the effect of extra-long racquets, the effect of handle size, whether big head racquets are better, the effect of weighting at 9 and 3 o'clock, and whether your racquet should be head-heavy. 

Formulas
    This is the list of formulas used to evaluate the racquets under the performance criteria.   A complete legend of variables is included at the end.  The constants in the formulas are supplied by the benchmark conditions. 

Derivations of Formulas for the Racquet Performance Criteria
    The math is only high school algebra.  The Derivations Page has preliminary remarks explaining the procedure and assumptions for the derivations.  For the equations and mathematical notation, go to these particular formula derivations:

• Torque
• Impulse Reaction
• Shock
• Work
• Shoulder Pull
• Impact Force
• Tip Speed
• Parallel Axis Theorem

Science Topics
    One of the benefits of spending some time at this site is that you will pick up the rudiments of first-year college physics by examining a real-life problem, instead plodding through frustrating and overly abstract exercises.   It's the difference between doing scales and listening to music -- which do you think is better?

• Conservation of Angular Momentum
• Conservation of Linear Momentum
• Coefficient of Restitution (for calculating racquet bounce)
• Parallel Axis Theorem (for swingweight calculations)
• Units of Measurement and Conversion Factors

About this Site 

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2002 Survey of 167 Racquets
Based on racquet specs furnished by our kind friends at the US Racquet Stringers Association (USRSA) and published in RacquetTech

Overall Racquet Rankings for Expert Players

Overall Racquet Rankings for Weak Players

Rankings under the Macro Criteria:
Efficiency | Elbow Safety | Shoulder Safety | Wrist Safety | Dexterity

Manufacturer Report Card - All Rankings for Each Racquet:
Babolat | Blackburne | Cayman | Dunlop | Fischer | Gosen | Head | Prince | ProKennex | Slazenger | Topspin | Volkl | Weed | Wilson | Yonex

Rankings Under the Evaluation Criteria:
Moment | Torque | Shock | Work | Shoulder Pull | Shoulder Crunch | Elbow Crunch | Wrist Crunch |  Impact Force | Sweet Spot | Flex | Swingweight | Weight

How to use the Quality Index to evaluate new racquets not ranked here.

How to Use the Rankings

Racquet Specs according to U.S. Racquet Stringers Association of 167 racquets currently available, including price, head size, string pattern, and flex

Weighting Factors used in the composite rankings

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Other Useful Resources:

Customizing Balance
    A formula and guide to finding the new balance point resulting from added weight.  Better than trial and error.  Here's the derivation.

Customizing to Match Racquet Specs
    How to make two racquets play the same, so in case you break a string you will have an identical spare in your bag.

Tailweighting Study of Wilson Hammer 6.2 95
    The benefit of adding a handle end weight is calculated using the evaluation criteria and measurements taken on the Babolat RDC.  Performance improves significantly.

Measurements of Discontinued Racquets
    Including discontinued models.

A Few Tennis Links
    Annotated links to sites that may be of interest to our visitors.

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