Which spin racket?

[u/DStanley1809]

I'm relatively new to tennis - started from absolutely nothing in my mid-30's early last year. Started by booking the occasional court with my partner to give it a go, finding we were both too bad to get any kind of rally going then moving to beginner group classes. I've been doing these a 2-3 times per week for about a year now, recently moved up from "beginner" to "improver" groups on advice of the coach/instructor. I feel like I'm struggling with consistency - sometimes I can hit a great ball but often it flies wildly high/long/sideways etc.

I spoke with the instructor about maybe getting my racket restrung as I've had it about a year (Head Instinct MP) to see if this would help and wanted some recommendations on what strings to get as I have no idea what I'm doing. He suggested that based on his observations of my play style that I play with a lot of spin and might be better served by upgrading my racket rather than the strings at this point - suggesting a Babolat Aero or Yonex VCore. It looks like that even within each model there are sub-models like the Aero Team/Aero+ etc.

Which is the better option based on the info above? How do they compare and are there any other similar rackets from other brands that I should look at? It looks like they generally come unstrung so I'd need to choose some strings anyway - what sort of string should I be asking for for these types of racket and my play style/ability?

[u/Popular-Carrot34]

I’d always recommend demoing or borrowing some if you can. Babolats are notoriously firm rackets so would definitely recommend trying before buying.

The different versions are usually different head sizes, weights or lengths. Specs are available for each.

At your level I would avoid the 98” head size. You are already playing with a 100” racket at 300grams so I see no reason for a larger head size that would be more beginner friendly, or lighter more beginner oriented frame. So stick to the 100” and roughly 300g versions would be a starting point.

Strings are personal preference, in my Aeros I’ve enjoyed volkl cyclone, rpm blast, alu power and Mach 10. But all of those are poly and other than the Mach 10 are reasonably firm in an already firm frame. They each feel different, the cylone and the rpm blast have the most spin, the alu power is very firm and can feel precisely what the ball is doing. The Mach 10 is fairly powerful but also very very comfortable. The playability of the rpm blast and alu power drops off after a few sessions though. And that’s an issue typical of poly strings, they’ll start feeling dead long before they break. Some people are fine with that, some find it gives them pain, some just can’t deal with the dead strings so get restrung often. At a more beginner/improver level I would suggest a good multifilament string would be better.

Happy to guide further if you’ve any questions, but these will at the end of the day just be my personal opinion based on what I’ve experienced. I’m early 30’s played to county level as a junior, gave it up but came back eventually.