RACQUET BUYER'S QUIZ {2001}

By Vince Chiarelli, PTR, MRT and Owner of String Along With Vince in Largo

People come into my shop every day looking for a new, or first racquet. Most don't really know what they want; they just want to play better, and feel a new racquet will help. Unfortunately, some of the places that sell racquets don't have people with the knowledge or desire to help you determine which frame may be best for you. To assist you, I've come up with a little quiz that may cut your choices from hundreds to fewer than 10.

1. Would you consider yourself
a. a competitive junior player?
b. an adult player?
c. a beginning junior player?
d. a senior player?

2. What level of player are you?
a. 4.0 level or above
b. 3.5
c. 3.0 or below
d. What's a level?

3. How would you describe your physical condition?
a. Very athletic
b. Somewhat athletic
c. Exercise once in a while
d. Only exercise when I play tennis

4. How often do you play?
a. 3 or more times a week
b. 2 times a week
c. 1 time a week
d. Less than once a week

5. Do you play
a. Mostly singles?
b. Mostly doubles?
c. About half and half?
d. What's singles and doubles?

6. When you hit the ball with your present racquet, does it
a. Mostly bounce long (behind the other baseline)?
b. Land between the service line and the baseline?
c. Rarely hit past the service line?
d. Hardly get over the net?

7. What part of your game do you MOST want to improve?
a. Serve and/or overheads
b. Ground strokes
c. Volleys
d. All of the above

8. When you hit the ball, do you
a. Have long strokes with lots of follow-through?
b. Have a fairly long stroke, but not much follow-through?
c. Have a shorter, more compact stroke?
d. Have no idea about your strokes?

Your answers to these questions should start to give the racquet sales assistant a GENERAL idea of what types of racquets you should try. The answers can roughly sort players into four groups. Mostly "a" answers would be players who can hit successfully with flexible, small head, lower power racquets. For something different, they could try a longer length model. Mostly "d's" would be a person who would likely benefit from a larger, more powerful frame. Players with mostly "c's" might consider moderately powerful frames featuring maneuverability. Players answering with mostly "b's" might like to try frames with a bit more power than the ones for "a's", and consider an oversize head version. Once you've narrowed the field, sometimes just picking up the racquets that fit your general profile will tell you a lot. Some will feel more comfortable than others. I suggest you use this to narrow your choices further. Demo what's left and you should be able to make a final choice that will meet your needs. Just for fun and contrast, demo a racquet you think is LEAST likely to work for you!

If you've narrowed your favorites to one or two, but can't quite decide between them, you can do one more thing. Pay the shop to restring the demo(s) with the string and tension you believe is best for you, then try the racquet(s) again. This may sound extreme, but it could be just what you need to be sure of your selection.

Finally, be sure you PLAY with the demo you take out. Just hitting a few ground strokes won't be enough to give the racquet a fair trial.

Copyright 2001 (Previously published in FLORIDA TENNIS - June, 2001)