Tennis

How to choose a tennis racket for kids

Our guide to selecting the right racquet for kids

Kid looking at their kids tennis racquets

Your child has just told you that they would like to try tennis for the first time. Or perhaps they are already playing regularly and are becoming more advanced. Whether your son or daughter is a beginner or an ambitious junior, you naturally want to make sure they are playing with the right racquet. We’re here to help.

Which ages are junior tennis racquets for?

Kids don't need to be able to see over the net to pick up a racquet and try tennis for the first time - they can play from as young as 2 years old. Our junior range starts with racquets designed for children aged from 2-3, including products named after HEAD ambassador Novak Djokovic, and goes all the way through to frames for ambitious, up-and-coming players up to around 11 years old. From that age, kids tend to switch from a junior racquet to one of our adult frames.

Tennis racquets for kids

How do I choose a tennis racquet for my child?

The most important thing to get right is the size of the racquet. If you choose the correct size - and a racquet isn’t too big or heavy - your child is much more likely to have fun on the court, and there will be a reduced chance of injury. But if your child is playing with a racquet that’s too small that’s also not ideal as it can slow down their improvement and limit their fun.

Kid is plying tennis on a blue hard court

Get the rights size of racquet for your child

When your child is new to tennis, it’s easier to go for a pre-strung racquet. It's also worth ensuring your child's racquet is robust enough to withstand some bumps and scrapes (because there are bound to be a few of those, on and off the court).

Juniors with all different kind of tennis racquets staning next to each other on a blue tennis court

Kids versions of the adult racquets

If your child plays with modern power, they will love the GRAVITY racquet series, while the SPEED is for kids who live to play fast. If your child likes to play with variety, they will adore the RADICAL racquet while the EXTREME racquet is for kids who hit the ball with lots of spin. If your child really gets into tennis and starts to play more often, you may wish to invest in a racquet designed for more advanced juniors. We produce kids’ versions of the adult racquets – the GRAVITY JR, the SPEED JR and the RADICAL JR – with the same technologies and similar performance characteristics as the frames for grown-ups.

Boy hitting a forhand on a blue tennis court

How a racquet looks will matter to your child

How a racquet looks will matter to your child. Younger kids, and those trying tennis for the first time, love racquets with colorful and vibrant designs while older children and those who play more often will probably be looking for frames that look just like – or very similar to – adult racquets.

How do I make sure I get the right size tennis racquet for my child?

You will have noticed the numbers on our junior tennis racquets page – each number is the length of a racquet in inches. Your child's age will help you to get the size right.

As a general rule, we recommend that a 2-3-year-old who is trying tennis for the first time plays with a 17-inch racquet. A child aged between 2 and 4 should pick up a 19-inch frame, and a junior between 4 and 6 should be using a 21-inch frame. Kids between 6 and 8 should be playing with a 23-inch racquet and kids from 8 to 10 would probably be best suited to a 25-inch frame. Kids between 9 and 11 should be looking at a 26-inch racquet. For comparison, a standard adult racquet is 27 inches.

If your child is significantly bigger or smaller than most of their friends, they might be more comfortable using the next size up or down.

If you're unsure whether a racquet is the right size, ask your child to grip it with their arm by their side and the head of the racquet pointing towards the ground. If the racquet is brushing the floor, it's probably the right size. But if the racquet's bumping against the ground, it's almost certainly too big, and if the racquet is some distance from the floor, it’s likely to be too small.

Can adults play with junior tennis racquets?

We don't recommend that adults play with junior racquets, which are designed for kids. Our adult racquets are designed for a range of abilities, from complete beginners all the way to advanced players, and include lightweight frames. We’re sure that adults will find a racquet that suits them in our adult range.