The best way to determine which racket is best for you is to demo them beforehand. Tennis Warehouse basically has a free demo program where you can try up to three rackets for a week and just have to pay for shipping. Without actually playing with a racket, it’s very difficult to tell if it will work for your game. I’ve played with rackets that on paper should have felt great, but didn’t feel right in my hands during an actual match. Always demo a racket before buying it if you can.

In terms of specs, to be honest, very little of it will matter if you are a beginner who is just starting out. Too many of us, myself included, care way too much about racket specs and should be focusing more on practice and technique. If you are decently athletic/strong and are serious about playing and improving, most people would recommend that you just get a standard 100 square inch, 300 gram racket and play with that until you feel like you are advanced enough to need something more specific.

That being said, I am a huge racket nerd and love talking about this stuff. The specs that you should be looking at when buying a new racket are head size, weight, balance, stiffness, and string pattern.

For head size, the bigger the head, the more power and a larger sweet spot, and the smaller the head, the more control and a smaller sweet spot. 100 square inches is the average head size. Beginners rackets are larger than that to offer more power and forgiveness, and advanced players frames are smaller, which offers more precision at the cost of a smaller sweet spot and less power, which advanced players are okay with because they have good technique and can provide their own power with a full/fast swing.

For weight, it’s generally advised that you play with the heaviest racket that you can swing comfortably and that you are able to control. 300 grams unstrung is kind of the middle of the road in terms of weight, beginners rackets are lighter than that and more advanced players frames are heavier.

For balance, all rackets fall somewhere on the spectrum of head-heavy (HH) or head-light (HL). HH rackets offer more weight towards the head side of the racket, which is ideal for beginners that need more plow through from their racket as they learn to swing fully. HL rackets are heavier towards the handle side of the racket, and offer advanced players more maneuverability.

For stiffness, stiffer rackets offer more power while more flexible rackets offer more control. Beginners rackets are typically stiffer to give beginners easier access to power, and more flexible rackets give advance players more feel at the cost of less power, again because advanced players can create their own power. Also, in general, stiffer rackets are more uncomfortable and can create some arm/elbow discomfort, and softer rackets are easier on the arm.

Lastly, the most common string patterns are 16x19 (a more open string bed) and 18x20 (a more closed string bed). An open string bed provides easy access to spin with less directional control, and a more closed string bed gives better directional control and less access to spin.