Caversham Lawn Tennis Club

Choosing a racket is easy, but finding the perfect racket is somewhat complicated. I will give you some suggestions, but I recommend that you “demo” a variety of racquets, on court in order to find your perfect weapon!

The professionals tend to favour a heavier racket to create more power whereas a beginner or intermediate is usually better off with a lighter racket.

Head size follows a similar pattern, with the pros using a smaller head size and beginners preferring an oversize racket.

The grip should be large enough so that you can put your other index finger in the space created when you wrap your hand around the grip.

Stiff racket flex will give you more control, and a more flexible racket will give you more power.

Tighter strings give you more control, and looser strings give you more power.

Every 18 months or so racket manufacturers bring out new and improved rackets featuring new technology and materials evolve, so it is often very hard to find the perfect racket for you. My search for the perfect racket continues!

A lot of you will know Gary Drake as an excellent coach, whose commitment to perfecting your game of tennis is never failing.  Gary may spend hours feeding you balls to work on that top spin or drop shot or just makes you aware that by holding the racket slightly differently will give you more control over the ball or lowering that ball toss by a fraction will get you one step closer to serving that ACE!!!!

But what a lot of you are unaware of is that Gary Drake is still very much a competition player.  After a typical day of 8 hours coaching, Gary changes into his GB gear and heads to Wimbledon to represents GB in the Over 35 squad.  This month saw Gary playing for the GB Over 35 against visiting Spanish players from the Barcelona Academy.  Gary played and won all 3 doubles matches a total of 6 sets.

Gary also has been competing in the All England Club Championship, and this week will see him play against Lee Childs in the quarter finals of the Men’s Singles and also playing alongside Gary Stewart in the quarter finals of the Men’s Doubles. 

Good luck in the next round of competitions Gary and keep us posted on how you’re doing.