Many players that think about changing Tennis Raquets are not sure whether they should chose a standard sized or a racquet with increased length.
Like so often it really depends on the personal playing style and several other criteria if a tennis player can benefit of a longer racquet.
However some basic information will be given here.
The Tennis Raquets length is the distance from the bottom of the handle to the top of the head.
The standard length of raquets measures 27 inches.
Since several years many manufacturers are offering longer racquets.
Today the available racquet length is between 27 and 29 inches.
This is the length range that is allowed for tournament play by the International Tennis Federation.
In general, a longer raquet gives the player more power.
While the raquet power can also be increased by a adding weight, it can be accomplished more effective by an increased its length.
Especially at the serve a longer raquet covers an extended arc which provides the stroke more power but this also holds true for all kinds of playing situations if all the other parameters like head size, weight, stringing, material are equal.
Of course another benefit of a longer raquet is that the overall reach is better.
For most players that are used to a standard 27 inches raquet it usually doesn't take much time and it is quite easy to get familiar with a longer one.
Despite increased length most of the prolonged racquets do have less weight than the standard 27 inch models.
Because the dynamic swing-weight increases for a longer racket it is necessary to reduce its weight to keep it playable.
Therefore the length of a raquet didn't exceed the standard of 27 inches before manufacturers were able to use alternative materials besides wood.
If the length simply would have been increased it would have been much worse to play so there had not been a positive effect at all.
In conclusion it can be said that increased length is definitely not the only criteria that is important to find the best fitting raquet but nowadays longer Tennis Raquets have positive effects for the game of many players.
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covers an extended arc which provides the stroke more power but this also holds true for all kinds of playing situations if all the other parameters like head size, weight, stringing, material are equal.
August, 2007