{"id":10063,"date":"2022-08-09T11:08:08","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T11:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/?p=10063"},"modified":"2023-10-18T18:39:01","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T18:39:01","slug":"thick-vs-thin-beam-tennis-rackets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/thick-vs-thin-beam-tennis-rackets\/","title":{"rendered":"Thick vs Thin Beam Tennis Rackets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The beam width<\/a> of a tennis racket plays an important role in its playability but it is often overlooked by recreational players when they are buying a new frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article will look at what the beam width of a racket is and at the pros and cons of using a frame with a thick or thin beam width<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Thick<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Beam Width<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The beam width of a racket<\/a> refers to the thickness of the frame at three different points: Head, Side, and Throat<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They generally range from 18mm to 28mm with widths under 23mm considered thin<\/strong> and widths over 23mm considered thick<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An example of a thin beam would be the Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph<\/a> which is 21.5mm wide while an example of a thick beam would be the Wilson Clash 100<\/a> which is 24.5mm wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thick vs Thin Beam Width<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Below I will look at the pros and cons of thick and thin beam rackets so that you can get a better idea as to which may suit your game better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pros and Cons of Thick Beams<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The main pro is that it is easier to generate power<\/strong> on your shots, which makes them ideal for beginner to intermediate players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are also a bit more forgiving<\/strong> as they usually have a bigger head size and a larger sweet spot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main con is that the extra power you get comes at the cost of control<\/strong> so if you are more of an advanced player then you may have a tendency to overhit your shots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another con is that they tend to be stiff<\/strong> so they may cause arm issues or tennis elbow<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pros and Cons of Thin Beams<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The main pros are that you get more touch, feel, and control on your shots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also tend to have flexible frames with a stiffness rating in the 55-65 range so they are a good option if you have had tennis elbow in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only real con is that they are usually low powered frames so you will need a full and fast swing with good technique if you want to hit your shots with power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recommendations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you are a beginner to an intermediate player then I think a racket with a thicker beam e.g. Wilson Clash 100<\/a> is the better option for you as the extra power<\/strong> you get on your serve and groundstrokes will do more for your game than having a racket that gives you more control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, once you develop into more of an advanced player then it is likely you will want a racket that gives you less power and more control<\/strong> so you are likely to switch to a frame with a thinner width.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My recommendations for advanced players would be the Wilson Pro Staff 97<\/a>, Head Gravity Pro<\/a>, and the Yonex Vcore Pro 97<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, I would recommend that you demo any tennis racket<\/a> before making your final buying decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The beam width of a tennis racket plays an important role in its playability but it is often overlooked by recreational players when they are buying a new frame. This article will look at what the beam width of a racket is and at the pros and cons of using a frame with a thick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10063"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10063"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28556,"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10063\/revisions\/28556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toomanyrackets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}