How we pick the rackets shown on this site
We don't invent playtests we haven't done and we don't use opaque AI to make the call. Every recommendation comes from a deterministic scoring engine matching your profile against a catalogue with verified specs. This page explains exactly how it all works.
Last editorial review:
The catalogue
We cover 30 rackets from brands with strong distribution in Europe: Babolat, Wilson, Head, Yonex, Dunlop, Tecnifibre, Prince and Völkl. We prioritise the current generation — when a model is updated (for example Head Speed 2026 in January), the catalogue is refreshed. We only keep light variants (Team, Lite, 100L) when they cover a genuinely different player profile.
The specs
Head size, unstrung weight, balance and string pattern always come from the manufacturer's official product page. For stiffness (RA) we use Tennis Warehouse University's RDC lab measurements first — it's the most comparable source across frames. When a manufacturer doesn't publish RA and TWU hasn't measured it, we use the best consensus estimate and flag it as "approx" along with the reason.
The scoring
Each racket is scored against your profile by summing explicit weights: level fit, priority matches, style, comfort (extra boost if you flag arm issues), swing power fit, and a small bonus for balanced rackets when you have no priorities. We then subtract penalties: high difficulty for beginners, incoherences (very powerful racket when you asked for control), non arm-friendly frames when arm issues are declared, and budget. The code is all in src/lib/recommender and the constants in weights.ts are adjustable.
When we step in editorially
In the SEO guides (beginners, control, best overall) we sometimes lock the top-5 manually when the engine alone wouldn't produce a list coherent with the page promise. For instance, a control guide can't include a frame whose control rating is 3/5. Every editorial pick still passes the page's criterion and the copy explains why. The personal quiz (when you take the test) never uses overrides — the algorithm alone decides.
Independence
We don't take commissions from any brand or retailer listed. If we ever add affiliate links, it will be disclosed explicitly here and at the bottom of each guide. In the meantime, prices shown are official European MSRP in euros and external links are informational, not commercial.