Just starting out with Tennis, etc.

Need a racket. Is the racket important? even for beginners? (Taking Tennis Seriously though) any recommendations? etc, etc.

Thanks.

My Background in Tennis:
- Vice Captain of my Squad
- Played for 7 Years now
- Won 10 Junior Medals in High school and University Tournaments

Here are some of my recommendations:

1. Condition yourself
- Train your Cardio (Running, Skipping)
- Train your Strength (Shoulder, Back, Arms)

2. When Playing
- Wear Proper Shoes when playing, you can easily injure yourself if you don't
- Wear Clothes that are lose fit and very comfortable

3. Racket (Important)
- Beginner 1st Racket:
Buy a Racket that is affordable, don't buy an over priced racket because you will probably destroy the racket.
My First Racket was 30-40 Dollars can't remember the price, but the pricing range should be around there
IMPORTANT: Choose a racket your comfortable with, not to light, not to heavy, just right. Treading and Racket material don't really matter, just the weight counts for now.

- Amateur 2nd Racket:
As you get better, buy a new racket which suits you more! lol

4. Tennis Style
- Beginner
Start out practicing your serves, make sure you can get the ball in the service area comfortably before trying technique serves.
Next practice your basic strokes, forehand, backhand, overhand and underhand hits
Next practice controlling the ball, know how much weight and power you need to hit the ball, as well know the height of the racket when hitting the ball.
Next practice calling your shots, know where the ball is going to land, don't guess
Last practice cross court hits, don't hit the ball in the same areas all the time, mix your hits up a bit

- As You Get Better
Learn the Serves: Flat serve, Top Spin Serve, and Slice Serve
Practice Smashing, have a partner lob shots to you and practice your forehand and back hand smashes
Practice Slicing
Next practice court control, in a game you should be the one in control not your opponent, if your the one running around trying to hit the ball while your opponent is standing there, your in big trouble!

- As You Get even Better!
Know your strong sides and weak sides, don't let your opponent expose your weakness

Well I hope this guide helps because this is how I started off! Good Luck

well i'm not a tennis player myself but i'm sure your advices will help lots of people bboy...

Thank you so much.

Are you learning by yourself? from friends? or from a tennis instructor. If its from a tennis instructors, im pretty sure they'll have quite some racquets to lend to their "students". And if you really like tennis, and you can then choose go get yourself a better racquet If you're learning from friends, perhaps, you can ask them if they have a spare racquet to lend you or not =)

I play tennis myself as a leisure sport for a while now and I completely didn't follow your order of events bboy xD

I learned how to hit shots by instincts before I got the hang of serving.

Still can't get hard serves in all the time but its better than when I started hehe.

Maybe I should have gotten an instructor, I still don't know the difference between top spin and w/e spin even though I consider myself an intermediate player now LOL.

Wow, you people sound so awesome at tennis.
Eh, I'm bad at tennis because I don't really want to try playing for real.

My CCA in school is tennis,
i've been learning for 5months and i've already learnt to use my forehand and backhand to hit the ball and to serve the ball.
About the tennis racquet, i think it isnt important for beginners.

Equipment is always important, but i can play quite good with every racket.
If you r learning tennis by yourself, its really big mistake. You are not able to learn it well.

i wouldnt recommend buying the most expensive raquet right off the bat; but i dont suggest buying the cheapest one.

i'd say a decent priced tennis racquet would cost ~$70? (cdn)

and once you play more and more with it, you will learn more about: the weight of the racquet, the tension of the string, the material of the string, the head size, and the list goes on and on...

until then, train lower and upper (you know what? just train everything lol), buy a decent racquet, and you'll find out what works and doesnt work in no time

Well there's nothing i really can said since everyone here pretty much point out the main thing you need to do while learning about Tennis. Of course it's better if you have a mentor of sort to teach you the right way of everything because you don't need to develop a bad habit for learning the position of tennis techniques. If you don't understand something best to research on your own time, ask someone who have correct knowledge experience or simply read books about tennis in general. Other than that just train yourself to the best of your ability and don't get discouraged when things don't go your way or get nasty feedback.

As for equipment that won't be much of problem as a beginner. Get a decent racket around 30 to 50 dollars or some type of racket that is on sell for lot less but good racket at the same time. You can get a better racket once you have the better understanding of Tennis in general. Good Luck.

fora racquet i would start off with one of those racquets that are meant for beginniners, basically meaning head heavy, light, and maybe a oversized head. If you start off with a good expensive racquet it would be harder to learn since those are smaller, heavier, and stiffer. A lighting racquet is easier to swing and it will help u develop your strokes. once you get the basics down you can get a good frame and then really improve. Its also not a good idea to start off with a really good frame since you dont know how you like to play yet and how you like your racquet to feel yet since all racquets feel differently when hitting the ball. Once you get enough experience you can demo a couple player frames and see which one fits you the best so you can save money.

wow, that is some detail info from BBoyCruise, i personly think that racket is important for any level of player, even for beginner should find one that is comfortable to hold. If you find one with the handle is too big to hold, the racket would slip out of your hand. If it is too small, your nail might hurt your palm.

well if its too big then its bad but most people use 4 1/2 so you can stick with that. If the grip is too small like if its 4 3/8 or just 1 size smaller than what you are suppose to use its not too bad since smaller grips can help generate spin lol. You can always overgrip it to make the grip bigger tho or use those heat shrink sleeves if you grip is too small.

basically the first post sums up everything

-make sure the grip of your tennis racquet isn't to big or to small
- Demo out racquets from your sporting stores or tennis shops to figure out what type or racquet you feel comfortable with
- don't forget to stretch before and after playing
- practice footwork drills
- as a beginner get the stroaks down and don't go for power.. go for consistency
- if you can take group lessons or have a private coach
- hydrate urself
- as stated before dress comfortablly but in tennis gear
- wear sunscreen
- if you can.. wear lowcut socks..( haha.. unless you want to have a badass sock tan line.. )
- join round robins where you can play other people
- and don't forget.. if you want to get better you gotta practice on your own

tennis is a fun sport.. and a great social sport and competitive sport.. so i'm glad your picking up tennis.. enjoy and have fun..

just post here if you have any questions

actually for tennis gear the only thing you really need are string, racquet, and shoes. Those tennis shirts and shorts are expensive and uncecessary. Everytime i see someone on the court with some type of pro outfit and they play horrible i just laugh

Yeah, I think it is very important.

NO

I too started playing tennis for my health reason

I want to start playing again. I played for many years, but since I have come to Japan, I haven't picked up a racket at all.

At beginner level you don't really need a really good racquet.

I like to play tennis however I'm not really good player not like professional tennis. Mine is beginner. It is hard to control and need good balance.

At beginner level, just learn how to stroke/hit the ball correctly, don't need to put power but get the hitting correct first.