The Different Parts of A Tennis Racquet
Let’s break down the individual components of a tennis racquet with a brief explanation of each part.
Head
The head of a tennis racquet is where the strings are placed, creating the primary hitting surface. Head sizes can vary significantly from racquet to racquet. However, generally speaking, most head sizes will typically fall between 95 and 110 square inches. For beginner racquets, we recommend 100 square inches or greater, which allows for a higher margin of error.
Generally, the size of a racquet head has a direct influence on the overall power of a racquet. A racquet with a larger head will give a player more power, while a racquet with a smaller head will lend less power – but more control.
Beam
The beam of a tennis racquet is simply the thickness of the racquet head, which tends to differ between the three different types of tennis racquets. Perhaps one of the most overlooked parts of a racquet is the beam, which can have significant implications on overall racquet performance.
Often, power racquets will have a wider beam, which allows the strings to move more freely and therefore help generate additional power. On the other hand, with control racquets, the beam is often smaller, allowing for less movement (or less power) and more control.
You can easily compare the beams of various racquets by placing them on the ground side by side. It’s another component that you may want to consider when purchasing a new racquet.
Strings
While not directly connected to a racquet, your tennis strings are a core component of a racquet. When strung, they provide the flat trampoline-like hitting surface.
Tennis string comes in a variety of gauges, or thicknesses, and materials, and it can have a tremendous impact on overall racquet performance. Strings and the tension you string a racquet can directly impact power, control, spin, and vibration.
Bumper Guard
At the top of a racquet’s head, covering the beam, a bumper guard protects the impact zone of a tennis racquet, which is often scraped across the ground when hitting groundstrokes.
Typically, bumper guards are made from durable plastic. Over time, they will require replacement to avoid scraping the frame of a racquet, which eventually may lead to a cracked frame if not addressed.
Grommets
Tennis racquet grommets are plastic inserts that extend through the string holes around the entire head of a tennis racquet. Grommets help protect the strings from the typically harsh surface and edges within string holes.
In addition, the thickness of the grommets often comes in a specific width per tennis racquet to allow for or constrict movement of the strings. With power racquets, you’ll often find that the grommets are wider, allowing for free movement of the strings, while control racquets will have narrower grommets to help prevent too much movement.
Took my new tennis racket to be stringed and the stringer said the covers for the grommets that slide on the frame were missing –do the grommets have covers ?
Hey Laurence! Thanks so much for your question and congrats on the new tennis racquet!
This definitely sounds a bit odd, as grommets are typically inserted into the frame, so normally they won’t slide or move. However, to answer your question, grommets do not have covers. Instead, grommets at the top of the racquet head will cover the outer edge, i.e. beam, of the tennis racquet, so perhaps there was a slight miscommunication?
What would be helpful is to know the exact tennis racquet that you have. This way I can take a closer look and make sure there isn’t something I’m missing :)
I HAVE A ( HEAD INSTINCT REV RACKET ) AND THE TENSION LEVEL MAX ON THE RACKET IS 57LBS.
I’M GOING STRING IT WITH ( HEAD FXP TOUR ) FOR THE FIRST TIME AND I NEED TO STRING MY RACKET AT 62LBS ( 5LB OVER THE LIMIT )
: QUESTION
1. WILL 5LB OVER THE LIMIT DO DAMAGE TO MY RACKET
2. WHATS THE MAX LBS YOU SUGGEST I CAN OVER THE LIMIT
P.S THIS IS MY FIRST TIME GOING TO A MULITFILAMENT STRING…. ( I WAS HITTING WITH A POLY BUT NOW I’M GOING FOR A MUCH SOFTER STRING )
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP ……
Hey Trey, thanks for the questions! To start, here are some direct answers:
1.) No, at 5 lbs over the recommended limit you shouldn’t have any problems at all as long as you don’t have any structural imperfections, such as cracks or significant dings
2.) This is a little more difficult of a question to answer, but generally speaking I would not recommend going over 80 lbs on most racquets.
A little more detail…
One thing to note is that the recommended string tension is just that, recommended. Generally speaking most racquets can be comfortably strung above or below the recommended string tension. Typically the recommended string tension range is determined through extensive play-testing by actual players.
Based on feedback given by play-testers, racquet manufactures will set a “recommended” string tension range. In essence, this is the range that most players will find the racquet performs well at, however if you’d like to move up a few pounds for more control or down a few pounds for a little extra power, most modern racquets shouldn’t have any structural issues with these adjustments.
WORD OF CAUTION: Have your stringer check for any structural imperfections prior to stringing. They should be able to tell you whether or not they see any issues and if they’d be comfortable stringing at a higher tension.
As for your new string, Head FXP Tour, is a polyester monofilament with multifilament wraps. As such, this string will perform and feel similar to a pure poly, yet provide a little more forgiveness. As such, you’re likely on the right track with stringing a few pounds tighter to achieve a similar feel, but you might consider only 2-3 pounds tighter if you were using a true poly, such as Prince Tournament Poly.
If you’re up for it, you may want to check out two of our articles on the different types of strings and string tension, which provide some more detail on these two topics:
https://tenniscompanion.org/types-of-tennis-string/
https://tenniscompanion.org/tennis-string-tension/
Good luck, and feel free to let us know if you have any additional questions.