cheap tennis raquets against high quality ones. What's the difference?

The difference is the material and purpose... Top end rackets are meant to suit the specific needs of certain players -- they are made to meet well defined, calculated and measured performances in certain areas like flexibility, head size, weight, weight balance, etc. The intent is to maximize a striking potential. It's indeed easier to pick up for instance a Wilson 6.1 95 and hit volleys than with it than with an AeroPro Drive, but there's a little "IF" condition we must add: you need to have the technique to suit the weapon and, to enjoy the benefit, you need your game to focus on what the racket makes easy...

In simple terms, if we take those top end frames you see players using on the tour, you need very decent swinging mechanics to really see a difference and the difference is still manageable if you go down a bit in quality -- e.g.: I, for instance, can pick an intermediate or a beginner's frame despite being an advanced player and still be able to play my game... I wouldn't have the same ease because I am used to my racket and I wouldn't necessarily be able to push the ball as near the limits as I normally could, but it would still be pretty efficient. It's like a percentage adding: it takes what you already have and makes it better. The problem is if you take too good a racket for you is that you will not be able to improve using it as well as you would have improved using an other one because the specs are simply too demanding. For example, if you try to hit one handed backhands, which is already hard in itself, and begin with Federer's tour 90, you risk to never make it because the thing is heavier than a frying pan...

Now, the thing with 20 bucks frame from the wallmart is that they do not even suit a beginner's game if he tries to play proper swinging mechanics. It's nice for kids, but for someone who tries to learn the game, putting it a bit more money wouldn't be exaggerating. Indeed, some frames are made for beginner's purpose and they do give them a chance to get some pace without perfect swing -- in other words, quality rackets for beginners are forgiving frames. They ranger from 100 to 200 bucks, but, being a beginner, you can certainly "endure" having something else than the latest frame that is just out and pick up any beginner's racket that is on sale in a sport store. You can get for less than half the price sometimes! So, instead of having a cheap not so good wallmart 20 bucks racket full price, you'd get a decent well thought out frame with customer advice from a seller for 55 to 70 bucks... if you have the budget, it's worth it. You'll be able to get a frame that will help you progress because it will put you into the right zone for learning: it won't be bad and it won't be too hard to handle -- it will be just ok for you to get some feedback, have fun and get to improve your abilities.

Now, obviously, if you play twice a year, it's not necessarily worth it... but, if you play once a week, putting in a less than 100 bucks for a racket is worth it. When you think about it, the play season spans about 5 to 6 months even around the geographical height of Montreal in Canada, so you can certainly get a nice 20 to 30 weeks of play, 2 hours a go for a total perhaps 40 to 60 hours. It makes your racket cost 2 bucks an hour if you use it for only one year, but you will use probably more than that.

The saying goes "It's not the wand, it's the wizard". Same applies here. It's not the racket, it's the player. That being said, in general it will not matter what racket you use because a racket can't substitute for technique. Since you are a beginner I would say that it does not matter what racket you use, focus on your form.

If you plan on continuing tennis then I would suggest investing in a better racket. As others have pointed out, go to a tennis club and try a few rackets. It will probably cost you in the range of $80 to $200 for a players racket. The racket you currently own is not great, but is fine for recreational play. If you plan on competing I would invest in a better racket.

To answer your question on high quality rackets creating more power and if there is a difference - don't worry about this. You should not be concerned with generating power. I don't know how advanced you friends are in tennis, but my guess is they are not. The racket will not be generating the power, you will be - based on your technique. Players prefer different rackets based on preference only. If you find that a different racket feels better, by all means purchase that one.

Best of luck with tennis and if you have any specific questions feel free to contact me through email.

Tennisman91389@yahoo.com

That depends. It may be cheap because it's a second hand, meaning used by another person already. But most brand new tennis raquets that are cheap are usually cheap because of their poor structure, materials, or whatever that affects the tension, weight, size of the raquet. Reply to add. details: Well, it's not bad to try. You said it's cheap so try it. If it is good, you will know for yourself.

Well, first off, let me say that your friends are wrong. Very wrong. At least in their analysis of the difference between cheap frames and quality frames. Frames that are typically considered higher-power just fit into a certain range of specs, not price. And actually, the cheap frames are usually spec'd more to the powerful side of the spectrum.

To clarify what I mean by 'powerful', I mean a frame that helps to compensate for a lack of power coming from the player. If you have slow swings, these more 'powerful' frames are going to be a bit springier, and don't require you to swing as hard to get the ball over the net. This does not mean that if the pros were to use frames with these specs, that they would suddenly see 10mph more on all their shots. The pros have such good form and fast swings, that they can actually get more power out of a 'control-oriented' (heavier/smaller) frame than they could out of one that's larger and lighter.

The biggest difference between the high-quality ones and the cheap ones is material (and, well... quality). Those cheap frames are often made of some sort of aluminum alloy. They are meant to be lightweight and made as cheaply as possible. Higher-end frames are made of materials such as graphite and/or fiberglass, with some other additives like kevlar, titanium, etc. These frames are built to meet certain target specs for the frame (weight/balance/flex). If one is made that doesn't meet these specs within a certain tolerance range, they are rejected. They don't care about the specs on the cheap frames.

Rackets can never improve your technique or the fundamentals but better rackets can give easier power or more spin depending on the racket especially if you are a little more advanced or play regularly. I prefer babolats which usually start in the $180"s. I would recommend going to your local pro shop and demoing some rackets to see which you are most comfortable with and the staff at the pro shop will help you out too! Good Luck!

Huge! The one you've got is made from a bent piece of aluminum and has a separate piece dropped in for the cross bar- quality racquets are made from graphite fiber woven into a mold then backed to form a single piece construction. The difference is huge! Nobody ever ayes good tennis without a proper stick!

(plus, if you start hitting hard at all or with any sort of spin you'll shred your arm)

If one does not know how to play tennis in does not matter what racket he uses.

On the other hand if one knows how to play tennis everything matters:tennis shoes , tennis racket, tennis strings.

I wil illustrate importance of quality racket (with quality strings):

Djokovic is the presently best player, and he played Nadal this year and he won all six times they played.It means Djokovic is clearly better.

If Djokovic uses your $20 dollar racket instead of his and plays Nadal he would loose easily.No contest.

So you can from this example see importance of quality tennis racket (with quality strings) for someone who knows how to play tennis