Expert knowledge on tennis rackets

Weight, balance, swingweight, frame, string pattern and grip – all parameters explained in detail.

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Tennis racket knowledge in detail

Weight – the basis of every movement

Weight is the resistance to movement in a straight line – i.e. how easily or heavily your racket can be moved.

Heavier → more stable on ball contact, less vibration, more "plow-through", but more effort.
Lighter → more manoeuvrable, quicker to accelerate, but often less stable.

Weight does influence balance and swingweight, but on its own it is rarely what you directly feel in the swing.

→ More mass requires more energy to reach the same speed.

For context: we make our custom rackets from 250 to 330 g in 1-gram steps – with a tolerance of ±0.5 g. Standard rackets often deviate from the nominal value by ±5 g and more.

Balance – the weight distribution

The balance point is the point along the racket where it stays in equilibrium:

Even → balance = centre
Head-heavy → balance point towards the head → more drive
Handle-heavy → balance point towards the handle → more control & manoeuvrability

Important: "head-" or "handle-" heavy does not mean that one side is heavier – it only describes the mass distribution.

Swingweight – the true measure of dynamics

The swingweight describes the racket's resistance to circular motion. This is the quantity you really feel when you swing.

Put simply:

A high SW is perceived as fuller, calmer and more powerful.
A low SW feels more agile, faster and more explosive.

But:

More weight only brings advantages up to a point.
Beyond a certain inertia you lose racket head speed again – ball speed drops.

Trade-off:

Low SW → more acceleration, more speed from the arm, higher final speed, but also more recoil from the ball.
High SW → more inherent power from the mass, less acceleration, but less influence from the ball, better stability.
Optimal is when racket speed and mass work together perfectly.

The swingweight combines mass and balance – it is the most honest indicator of power, control and comfort and of your feel and playing behaviour.

For context: with the custom racket we set the swingweight specifically between 245 and 340.

Power potential & hittingweight

The power potential (ACOR) shows how efficiently your racket returns energy on ball contact.

Hittingweight is the "effective mass" at the contact point. Where you hit, a certain mass acts – not the total mass of the racket.

→ The highest value is typically closer to the balance point than to the tip.

This means: even small changes in balance or tape tuning can noticeably shift the sweet spot of your power zone.

Plow-through & whip-through – feel meets physics

Plow-through: feeling of a massive, calm hit – the racket "pushes" through. (More weight = more plow-through)

Whip-through: feeling of a whip movement – fast acceleration, the racket "pulls" itself through. (a slightly head-heavy build = more whip)

Both effects arise from the mass distribution, the swingweight and the timing.

The physics of the swing – the double pendulum

A tennis swing is not a simple arm pull – it is a perfectly tuned system of energy transfer and can be modelled as a double pendulum:

Upper body starts → energy goes into the upper arm.
Upper arm is braked → energy goes into the forearm.
Forearm is braked → energy goes into the racket.

The wrist delivers the final impulse precisely.

myRacket insight: timing is more important than muscle power. We analyse your swing curve and adapt the racket optimally.

Frame behaviour & stiffness

Stiffness is the frame's resistance to bending.

A distinction is made between:

Static stiffness: measured in the lab (e.g. RA value)
Dynamic stiffness: real during the stroke – influenced by distribution, head size, flex zones

Stiffer frame → more direct, more explosive.

Softer frame → more comfortable, better in feel.

Vibration & frequency – the feedback

After ball contact the frame vibrates – that is the vibration.

Stiff & light: high frequency, short period, small amplitude → precise, hard feel.
Soft & heavy: lower frequency, longer period, larger amplitude → softer, damped feel.

There is the vibration node (sweet spot of calm) – an area where hardly any vibration is felt.

Customising & tuning

Individualise your setup:

More weight at 12 o'clock increases power & length

More weight at 3 & 9 o'clock improves stability on off-centre hits

More weight in the handle creates a softer feel and less vibration

Energy transfer in the stroke

With every stroke energy flows:

45 % into ball deformation
approx. 40 % into string deformation
approx. 10 % into frame deflection
Remaining loss: heat, sound, vibration

Goal: as much energy as possible into strings/racket and as little unnecessary loss as possible.

myRacket insight: we look at your whole system: how frame + strings + mass work together.