Tennis Rackets : Ratings of Sources

Our AssessmentTennis Magazine's website offers capsule reviews of 186 rackets and gives Editors' Choice designations to 26 of them. The reviewers really don't appear to dislike anything – although the budget-priced elbow-wreckers just aren't included. One handy device on the website is the racket finder powered by the U.S. Racquet Stringers Association. It lets you start with one model and then tweak the specs to find a model that is, for instance, more powerful or longer or less expensive. This website doesn't make the research effortless for the consumer, but its assessments are credible and the number of products reviewed is unbeatable. Tennis Magazine also gives awards for Best Gear of the Year. Winners for 2007 include the Prince O3 Speedport Red for best tweener frame, the Head MicroGEL Extreme and the Dunlop Aerogel 5Hundred Tour for favorite new player frames, the Wilson [K] Six.One and the Babolat Aeropro Drive with Cortex for best updates and the Dunlop Aerogel 7Hundred for best sleeper stick.

Our AssessmentWhich? is a British-based magazine that rivals Consumer Reports in thoroughness (though Consumer Reports doesn't review tennis rackets). Nine rackets are tested in a tennis laboratory where devices shoot balls at them at up to 78 mph. Veteran tennis coach Toby Clark also tests them on the court, and three are named "Best Buys." The Prince O3 White has a large head and sweet spot which make it an ideal choice for beginners and improvers, the testers say. The Head Flexpoint Radical and Yonex RDS 001 Square Shape are reported to be great for volleying, but not suitable for beginners.

Our AssessmentThis tennis commentary website reviews five rackets by Prince, three by Wilson and one by Babolat, but none of the reviews have been written since November 2006. Reviews are thorough and insightful – with hands-on testing and comments from three players at Levels 5.0 to 5.5 – but there is no attempt to rank products.

Our AssessmentThe California-based tennis magazine, which has announced New York and Atlanta editions for 2008, gives a good explanation of how nano-technology is applied to the manufacturing of tennis rackets, then reviews 18 rackets in this somewhat dated report. There is helpful information, but there are no negative comments, and the tennis rackets aren't ranked.

Our AssessmentBest Life, an offshoot of Men's Health magazine, picks three tennis rackets in three price ranges but doesn't say which rackets were considered or whether there was hands-on testing. Selected, cheapest to most expensive, are the Dunlop M-Fil 300, Wilson K-Zen and the Prince O3 Speedport Red.

Our AssessmentJohn Gugel is a "Master Racquet Technician" and tennis shop owner in Winter Park, Florida. As of this writing he reviews four tennis rackets. Reviews seem knowledgeable and are based on his observations while stringing a racket and during post-stringing testing.

Our AssessmentTennis Warehouse Australia is an online retailer that offers customer reviews of some of the rackets it sells, plus it has a pretty good forum section. Comments are usually positive, but contributors seem serious about their tennis playing.

Our AssessmentThis British retailer offers basic information and statistical comparisons about the somewhat obscure Kuebler and ROX rackets that are hard to find elsewhere. In fact, it says, "The main brands of rackets such as Head, Prince and Wilson are not shown as information can easily be obtained from other sources." The website also includes a short but informative newsletter.