So, my 10 year old son wants a "good" tennis racket

[Mursilis]

Tell him that using the cheap racket is akin to a sprinter running with a weighted vest. He's not as fast with the vest on, but it gets him ready to fly with the vest off. He needs to get really good with the cheap racket so he'll be that much better when he finally gets the expensive one. Getting the good racket too early would only hamper his progression.

That's all BS of course, but you should always lie to your children while they're still young enough to buy it.

Not necessarily BS. Greg LeMond used to train with a heavier bike before breaking out the super-lightweight bike for target races (mostly the Tour de France). He claims it gave him a mental edge and he felt faster.

 

[TheGardener]

If you are concerned about his commitment to the sport, then make him a partner in the investment. Assign him chores that will help the family out. He'll also learn the value of money. Kind of a win-win for everyone.

 

[JulesMaximus]

My son plays basketball so we bought him a new ball for Christmas a few years ago. That ball is so rough looking now but he loves it that way.

 

[Matthiasa]

Some of the best athletes in the world grew up in the slums with little to no equipment at all. If one is dedicated and loves the sport enough, they will continue to play no matter what the situation is. Quitting due to lack of support, or booing from the crowd, or lack of equipment is just stupid if you actually love what you're doing on the field/court/ice/whatever it is you're playing on. It's all part of the game - get used to it and accept it.

Not saying it isn't but the kid is only 10. At that age one does not think about things like that, as much as anything they are looking for acceptance.

uh..wow.

equipment for karate? all you have to get is a gi and thats not even really needed.

him quitting sports most likely that he just does not enjoy those sports. not all kids enjoy each sport.

When I was younger and still participating in martial arts besides the gi , if there for more than a few months, one needed various padded parts including gloves to prevent injury, aka liability of the dojo. Certain lessons were about application and without that, outside of grappling which was also taught, one was not allowed to participate. Even with that equipment people still occasionally got injured.

Of course not all kids or people in general enjoy each sport but it typically takes a lot less than a year for them realize that.

 

[Homerboy]

I'm ashamed to admit what I have spent on baseball bats over the past 5 years. Granted I never pay retail!!

There's an old adage in the baseball world: "A $500 bat, won't fix a $5 swing."

Which is entirely true. However, I often like to note that it won't hurt a $5 swing either.

That being said, I feel if your son is good, and likes the sport, then investing a little more in equipment isn't going to negatively affect him at all. He has to realize though that the tool is only as good as the person swinging it.

 

[sdifox]

I'm ashamed to admit what I have spent on baseball bats over the past 5 years. Granted I never pay retail!!

There's an old adage in the baseball world: "A $500 bat, won't fix a $5 swing."

Which is entirely true. However, I often like to note that it won't hurt a $5 swing either.

That being said, I feel if your son is good, and likes the sport, then investing a little more in equipment isn't going to negatively affect him at all. He has to realize though that the tool is only as good as the person swinging it.

real pros cut their own tree and turn their own bats

 

[Mandres]

He's 10. A $50 racket is more than adequate for a recreational player of most any age - much less a child. It is important that the grip and strings be replaced periodically. Check those and out and make sure they're in good shape.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I've played tennis for 15 years and have easily played with 20-some different racquets on various demo programs. Generally rackets work like this:

A bigger head surface area means you'll be able to hit the ball with a bit more power easier, at the loss of a bit of control. Bigger heads also have bigger sweet spots. Bigger heads also mean that it's easier to hit the ball with the strings instead of shanking it on the frame.

A head-heavy racquet will feel heavier to swing than a head-light racquet with the same overall weight. Head-heavy racquets are great for beginners practicing their swings and getting their strokes and timing dialed-in and becoming muscle memory. They are not the best for net play because they are less maneuverable and can tire someone out quicker in a fast-paced game (where the ball comes at you really fast) or one with long rallies (again, because the head is heavy and it takes more energy to get the racquet in position and to initiate the swing). But they're primarily used for dialing in your strokes and timing and honestly as a beginner the shots aren't going to be coming at you that fast.

A racquet that is more head-light or balanced will swing easier and be more maneuverable, but the head will be a bit more "wild" and can be a real detriment to someone who hasn't gotten their strokes and timing down pat. They are more intermediate and expert-level racquets.

A racquet that is heavier overall will be able to absorb the impacts of hitting better and the extra momentum can make the hit feel more solid and controlled. This comes at the expense of tiring a person out and maneuverability.

A racquet that is too light with not enough weight in the head will feel horrible since the impacts of the strikes will be unsettling and you'll have to put more oomph into the strike since the racquet itself won't supply much additional momentum. On the flip side, a racket that is too heavy with too much weight in the head will be harder to swing over and over again and to constantly be moving around in long rallies and at the net. You also lose a bit of finesse since they'll be less "flickable." I used to have one that was practically a hammer (It was actually called the Hyper Hammer). It was super fun to slam down fast winners to try and end points quickly, but my endurance just wasn't enough to handle it for the long term and I didn't have the strength necessary to do finesse shots like acute angles and such with lots of spin.

For a beginner, get a racquet balanced with more weight in the head. A beginner needs to get their strokes, timing, aiming, and consistency down first. By "down" I mean as muscle memory. This can take time. They'll be doing slower but more **measured** swings with it - which is what you want. If you start off with a really head-light and light-feeling, flicky racquet that needs to be swung fast with too much feedback on the impact you'll develop lots and lots of bad habits very quickly if you're just starting out.

For beginners and even for the vast majority of intermediate players, you'll be winning matches with consistency and aim, not with power. Plus, it makes the games more fun because it sucks when games are lost and won purely on the number of errors that the players commit as a result of never properly training their consistency and accuracy.

Forget about getting a "pro" or "tour" level racquet, like one of the pretty ones with Nadal's/Federer's/Djokovic's face plastered all over it because "that's the racquet they use." Bull. Those racquets are not intended for beginners or even intermediates. I'd like to see an average intermediate play well with Federer's old 90 sq. in. racquet or even his newer racquet that's a beast to swing.

BUT be prepared to buy different racquets as skill improves.

Cheap Walmart racquets aren't good either. They're usually too light and lack any kind of dampening or proper balance.

And some tips on training and lessons:

It's all about repetition and consistency. Rallies and games are not good for practicing strokes, consistency, or aiming. Renting a ball machine and having it feed you 50 balls into the same part of the court and hitting those same balls over and over and over again back to one specific part of the court is what'll do it. It's boring (you can make a game out of it though) but it's what you need to do to actually get the whole aiming and timing thing down.

Tennis is weird because, unlike other sports where you're looking at and at least facing the thing you're trying to aim for, you're often staring at the ball on impact, which means your eyes and body are *totally* not looking at the place where you want the ball to go when you strike the ball. In the case of serving or overheads, your eye is looking upwards at the ball in the *sky* but you need the ball to land at a very specific point on the *ground*. In this manner tennis is much more like golf and there's a lot more feel and muscle memory involved. And this means getting equipment that'll be conducive to measured strokes and getting fed the same balls over and over again and trying to hit them back to the same spots over and over again until you've developed the feel for everything.

 

[squirrel dog]

I know what Jon Luc Picard would say . " Make it so , Number One" .

 

[NoTine42]

I'm ashamed to admit what I have spent on baseball bats over the past 5 years. Granted I never pay retail!!

There's an old adage in the baseball world: "A $500 bat, won't fix a $5 swing."

Which is entirely true. However, I often like to note that it won't hurt a $5 swing either.

That being said, I feel if your son is good, and likes the sport, then investing a little more in equipment isn't going to negatively affect him at all. He has to realize though that the tool is only as good as the person swinging it.

I was reading this and thinking that in comparison the little league bats .... $150 MSRP is kinda cheap.
Although the most I've spent on a bat was about $100 for an "old model" ~$299 bat on clearance.

 

[MongGrel]

And some tips on training and lessons:

It's all about repetition and consistency. Rallies and games are not good for practicing strokes, consistency, or aiming. Renting a ball machine and having it feed you 50 balls into the same part of the court and hitting those same balls over and over and over again back to one specific part of the court is what'll do it. It's boring (you can make a game out of it though) but it's what you need to do to actually get the whole aiming and timing thing down.

Tennis is weird because, unlike other sports where you're looking at and at least facing the thing you're trying to aim for, you're often staring at the ball on impact, which means your eyes and body are *totally* not looking at the place where you want the ball to go when you strike the ball. In the case of serving or overheads, your eye is looking upwards at the ball in the *sky* but you need the ball to land at a very specific point on the *ground*. In this manner tennis is much more like golf and there's a lot more feel and muscle memory involved. And this means getting equipment that'll be conducive to measured strokes and getting fed the same balls over and over again and trying to hit them back to the same spots over and over again until you've developed the feel for everything.

I've never been a tennis player, used to do some racquetball, but it does sound pretty much like when I was learning to play drums around that age long ago.

Podemski's Stick Control was a boring repetitive set of patterns that I learned at the time, but once you conquered the basics there you're progress advanced much more rapidly.

Learning how to do the basics in many things as a solid foundation is always the start, rather than overpriced equipment in most cases, but of course as you learn you would progressively improve the equipment you use.

I can play a drum set way above average, but have always sucked at golf. I still have a old decent set of clubs I haven't even used in years, but just one of the things I never spent the time to learn the basics of I guess.

I wasn't too bad for awhile, just something I never bothered working on I guess.

 

[MasterAndCommander]

Here's a real nice one for cheap!
http://www.midwestsports.com/head-youtek-ig-extreme-tennis-racquet/p/230123/

 

[BrokenVisage]

Here's a real nice one for cheap!
http://www.midwestsports.com/head-youtek-ig-extreme-tennis-racquet/p/230123/

Head is good. I recommend Head. Get Head and be happy. You just can't say no to Head. Now, about this racquet...

 

[DrPizza]

I know nothing about tennis, except if you're a professional woman tennis player, you're supposed to grunt a lot.

That said, I do know about some other sports that my kids have participated in. In some of those sports, equipment doesn't make any difference for kids at that age, in others, it makes all the difference in the world. E.g. cheap roller blades from Walmart - hit a pebble and you're going to land on the ground. More expensive roller blades: same pebble will make zero difference. Shelling out an extra $100 or so for my kids gave them a sport that they spent a LOT of time involved in (hey, it got the kids outdoors, instead of in front of the television playing video games), as well as a broken arm or two. Motocross racing - there was plenty of equipment that wouldn't have made much difference (e.g., the $8/gal racing fuel vs. the $12/gal racing fuel). And, there was plenty of equipment that made all the difference in the world, e.g., $100 every other week for a new rear tire - for the 10 year olds, this would have made a significant difference for the kids in the front half of the pack, and probably no difference for the kids in the back half of the pack.

That said, I have no clue if a $150 racket is going to make a lick of difference to a 10 year old. However, as someone mentioned with Greg LeMond, sometimes, there's a mental edge - someone might have more confidence.

One final thought: does that $150 racket have resale value IF the kid quits? A $50 racket from Walmart isn't going to sell for more than $5 at a garage sale, but that $150 racket, used, might get a reasonable return on it on ebay. It's conceivable that if you got a demo model, after reselling it if your kid quits, you could be better off than you would be with a Walmart racket.