How we read a racket: the makeup card explained

Surface, core, frame, weight, balance and shape. On 15 October 2026, 202 adult rackets in the catalogue had shape, weight and balance; frame material was named for 22 of them.

• Surface: the hitting face, carbon, fibreglass or both. Of the 202 rackets, 118 have carbon faces, 52 fibreglass and 31 a mix.
• Core: the foam under the face, EVA or foam, rated soft, medium or hard by the shop (70 soft, 69 medium, 63 hard).
• Weight in grams: 300–375 g, median 365 g.
• Balance in millimetres from the end of the handle: 235–275 mm, median 265 mm.
• Shape: 57 round, 48 teardrop, 68 diamond and 29 hybrid.

Guides give different millimetre thresholds for "head-light" and "head-heavy", sometimes on the same page. So the catalogue is split into thirds of its own rackets: the lower third ends at 260 mm, the middle third runs from 261 to 265 mm and the upper third starts above 265 mm. The split is recalculated when the catalogue changes, and the date is shown next to it.

K numbers on carbon faces (3K, 12K, 18K) are shown as the shop writes them but not ranked, because brands use them differently.

Score = the sum of (question weight × match from 0 to 1) for the questions you answered, divided by the sum of those weights. Weights: level 30%, style 25%, arm 15% (only if you answer yes), racket weight 10%, shape 10%, price 10%.

Hard filters: the best shop price is within your budget, the racket is an adult racket, at least one shop in the catalogue sells it, and its shape, weight and balance are known. Ties go to the cheaper racket. If nothing fits, the finder says so and shows the cheapest racket rather than raising your budget.

Shops name the same racket differently. A price from another shop is matched by brand and model words without colour, year and player names; a different model year is never matched. A price more than 40% away from the product-page price of the same model is rejected, and so is a match when one name covers rackets with different specs.

On 15 October 2026, 42 matches were rejected this way. The arm question is not medical advice: it only shifts the score towards softer cores, lighter rackets and fibreglass faces.