Any advice for a tennis newbie?
Discussion
I'm aware of the other tennis thread, but it seems to be totally full of people arguing over Andy Murray's mental strength and I'm not one to get in the middle of a skirmish!
Anyway, played tennis for the first time in 14 years on Thursday and although I'm still aching I really enjoyed it. I used an old racket of my colleague, which in about 1996 was really good. Now, I'm sure it's still very good, in fact I think it's way better than I am, with very tightly tensioned strings.
As a beginner should I use a looser strung racket? Only curious really, as it seemed really difficult to get any control with it. Just wondered if I bought a cheaper racket with presumably machine tensioned strings would it be more controllable for a ham fisted wimp like me?
I'm sure somebody round here knows enough to see my right. Ta.
Anyway, played tennis for the first time in 14 years on Thursday and although I'm still aching I really enjoyed it. I used an old racket of my colleague, which in about 1996 was really good. Now, I'm sure it's still very good, in fact I think it's way better than I am, with very tightly tensioned strings.
As a beginner should I use a looser strung racket? Only curious really, as it seemed really difficult to get any control with it. Just wondered if I bought a cheaper racket with presumably machine tensioned strings would it be more controllable for a ham fisted wimp like me?
I'm sure somebody round here knows enough to see my right. Ta.
Yes, I bought a £15 (Sports Direct discount) racket to start with and it had quite soft strings. Got quite used to it, then tried a £50 racket (RRP ~£150) and just could not deal with how firm the strings were. So you're right to go for a "softer" racket.
The important thing is to learn technique (top spin, low to high) otherwise you'll hit a ceiling in terms of how good you can go if you're always hitting "open" shots as when you're at the base line, if you whack it hard you'll just send it into orbit which leaves you with doing relatively soft half-hearted lobs to keep the opponent back and means you'll be giving them easy returns.
Guess it depends on your goals. If it's just for fitness, give the opponent easy shots and he'll have you running around the court like a drill sergeant.
The important thing is to learn technique (top spin, low to high) otherwise you'll hit a ceiling in terms of how good you can go if you're always hitting "open" shots as when you're at the base line, if you whack it hard you'll just send it into orbit which leaves you with doing relatively soft half-hearted lobs to keep the opponent back and means you'll be giving them easy returns.
Guess it depends on your goals. If it's just for fitness, give the opponent easy shots and he'll have you running around the court like a drill sergeant.
*shrug* I didn't have a racket or I'd have used whatever. You can always put more grip tape on it especially if the handle feels a little skinny for the size of your hands. I think the key thing is to use the same racket so you're used to the dimensions of said racket and can then work on developing the skill rather than having to adapt every time you play. I was jumping between both rackets but in the end forced myself to use the better racket and now I'm used to it. 
My advice could be complete bunkum as I've only been playing for two years.
My advice could be complete bunkum as I've only been playing for two years.
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