Measuring your tennis racket's swingweight

 A tennis racket's weight and swingweight may sound familiar, but the two terms refer to something very different.

Lets forget about a tennis racket for a second and use a hammer as an example.

How would we measure how much a hammer weighs?

Simple: just place the hammer on a scale to get the total weight.

However, would the hammer feel the same if I held it by the metal end and tried to hammer a nail with the handle? Of course it would feel different, and not work very well. 

A hammer has a high swingweight precisely because the metal end is the part of the hammer that is made to accelerate and hammer the nail. 

Using it the other way would not generate power and would be a poor product.

The same goes for our tennis racket.

We want a swingweight that is heavy enough to hit the ball hard, but also light enough for us to accelerate quickly through the ball. 

Swingweight is measured in units of kilograms/cm 2, but we usually just refer to these units as the swingweight.

Most rackets will have a swingweight of 290-320 strung.  The more advanced players will prefer a higher swingweight with younger or less advanced players preferring a lower swingweight.

For example, Novak Djokovic plays with a racket with a 360 swingweight, although that number may be lower now.

A good recreational racket, like the Wilson Blade 98 v9, has a swingweight of 324.

If you are looking to increase your racket's swingweight, a simple thing you can do would be to add 2-6 grams of lead tape to the hoop.

For anyone interested in customizing their racket's swingweight, please feel free to contact us at friscotennisstringing.com.

Racket matching and customizing is a service we offer to customers.