Thanks Adz,

The information on picking my first racquet was very helpful. I'll let you know what i find. Thanks again for all the help.

Michael

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Yikes! Caps Lock overload there Michael?

Anyhow, to the point at hand! Racquets. Which one, which size, which weight, which brand, which material etc etc!

Choosing the first racquet is really tough. There's so many to choose from and so many different points of view. I'll give a brief summary and points of view below:

1) Go for something as expensive as you can afford:

Pros: You get a light, well balanced, good quality racquet, which is made by one of the top brands that all the professionals use.

Cons: Lighter means less dense material went into making it. That usually means that if you hit the wall badly the racquet is going to break!

2) Go for something as cheap as possible because it doesn't matter if you break it:

Pros: You get a racquet that will cost you less than a few pints and some peanuts in the pub. It doesn't matter if you break it because you can always go out and buy another one in the morning. Hell, at this price why not buy two to begin with and have a spare!

Cons: Very cheap usually means EXTREMELY bad materials formed into a squash racquet shape and then strung with the type of stuff you hang clothes out to dry on. These racquet won't break before they've deformed into square shaped corners and the strings have gone out of line. The poor material means vibration will be a problem and could cause injury if you start playing often.

3) Go for something middle of the range in price and quality:

Pros: It will be more durable than the top end stuff, but won't deform or give you the vibrations of the cheap nasty racquets. The price won't be too high to afford, and will give you a better starting point than a racquet that costs more that you won't be able to appreciate or a racquet that costs less and gives you an elbow injury!

Cons: Being better quality material, these racquets will break if you smash them into a wall (or the floor!) so you'll need to take your times near hard surfaces! Also these racquets tend to be slightly heavier than the tpop end stuff and will be harder to move at speed (not that your arms or reactions will be fast enough for a little while to full appreciate this!).

As you might have guessed, my advice would be option number 3! You can pick up a good quality and budget racquet for half of what I spend on alcohol on a good night out! Aim for something around 150 to 160 grams in weight with a single beam shaft, made of a titanium composite material (Dunlop Black Max Ti for example). Head size isn't important, but as a guide, most racquets these days are above 450 square cms reaching up to 500 square cms. Tear-drop shape or oval head won't matter to begin with, but later on as you get better, you might want to try different types of racquets until you find something that feels right for you. There's lots of reviews on products on this site, but nothing beats going on court with someones racquet and trying it for yourself!

Find a list of mid-priced, good value racquets and let us know and we might be able to give you some pointers in the right direction (see the "Browning Racket" thread).

Good luck!

Adz

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