Popular tennis rackets vary primarily long , weight, balance point, stiffness, beam thickness, string pattern, string density, and head size. they typically conform to unofficial standards that differ from past rackets. Currently, most adult rackets produced by companies like Prince Sports, Yonex, Wilson, Babolat , Dunlop Sport, Head, Wilson and Völkl are made up of a graphite composite. Those made up of wood (the original racket frame row material), steel, fiberglass, or aluminium are considered obsolete, although those materials are technically legal for play. Inexpensive rackets often have poor performance characteristics like excessive flexibility and inadequate weight. No recent manufacturers use single-throated beams, although Prince tried to reintroduce the sole throat design within the 1990s: the only professional who used one was Mirjana Lučić. Braided graphite rackets were considered high-end until recently and molded rackets are the norm for a few time. Molding is a smaller amount expensive to manufacture and offer high stiffness. Graphite-composite rackets are today's industry standard in tennis .

For length, 21 to 26 inches (53 to 66 cm) is generally the junior racket range, while 27 inches (69 cm) is for stronger more physically-mature players. Some also are available at lengths of 27.5 to 29 inches (70 to 74 cm). The Gamma Big Bubba was produced with a 32 inches (81 cm) length but it's not legal therein length. Gamma responded by changing the length of the grip portion of the racket, to continue sales. The length restriction was supported the priority that such long rackets would make the serve too dominant, but that concern has never been objectively supported with testing. Moreover, some players, like John Isner, are much taller and have longer arms than average professionals (and especially low stature ones), giving them a way larger advantage in terms of height for the service than is feasible with several inches of racket length. This makes the length restriction more questionable. Finally, the professionals who nearly always prefer to use the longest rackets typically choose them because they use two-handed groundstrokes for both forehand and backhand, using the additional length to enhance their reach. An example is Marion Bartoli. As this sort of player isn't dominant within the sport, or maybe on the brink of being average in terms of per capita representation, the length restriction seems even more unnecessary. Despite Prince's plan to market longer length "longbody" rackets within the 1990s, standard length remains the overwhelming choice of players, further negating the argument in favor of the length restriction. When most players who prefer to use a extended racket than 27 inches (69 cm) choose one, they typically only use a 27.5 inches (70 cm) model, instead of one approaching 30 inches (76 cm). Longer rackets were introduced by Dunlop.