The Budget Tennis Gear Guide: Where to Spend and Where to Save
Tennis can look expensive, but most of that cost is optional. Ask experienced players where a beginner's money is well spent and where it's wasted, and the same answers come up again and again. Here's how to kit yourself out for the least money — and, more importantly, the one or two places where cutting corners will actually cost you.
Spend the most on: shoes
If you take one thing from this guide, it's this: proper tennis shoes are the least optional purchase you'll make. Tennis is a game of hard stops, lateral slides and sudden changes of direction, and running shoes — built only for forward motion — roll ankles and wreck knees.
You don't need the flagship model, though. Last season's mid-range court shoes, often heavily discounted, protect you just as well as the newest release.
Racquet: cheap or used is completely fine
You do not need a $230 player's frame to start — and you actively shouldn't have one. A light, forgiving frame under $100 is perfect for your first year or two.
The savviest move of all is the used market: last-generation and lightly-used mid-tier racquets sell for a fraction of retail, and a racquet from a few years ago is not meaningfully worse than this year's repaint.
Strings: skip the expensive stuff at first
A synthetic gut or an inexpensive multifilament is comfortable, lively and cheap — everything a developing player needs. Save the premium strings for when you actually know what you want to change.
And here's a money-saver: when a racquet feels dead, it's usually the strings, not the frame. A fresh restring costs a fraction of a new racquet and often feels like one.
Balls: buy in bulk, and go pressureless for practice
Pressurised balls go dead within a few sessions, which gets expensive fast. For practice, hitting against a wall, or a ball machine, pressureless balls last for months. Keep a fresh can of pressurised balls for actual matches and grind the cheap ones into the ground in practice.
Overgrips and dampeners: pennies well spent
A pack of overgrips costs almost nothing and transforms how the handle feels (and how hygienic it stays) — replace them often. A vibration dampener is optional and cheap; use one if you like the muted feel, skip it if you don't. Neither is worth agonising over.
The best practice partner is free
A hitting wall never cancels, never gets tired and costs nothing. A wall plus a hopper of cheap used balls will build more consistency than any gadget on the market. Ten focused minutes against a wall beats an hour of aimless rallying.
Where to buy smart
Shop clearance and last-season stock at the big tennis retailers, watch the used market and community marketplaces for player frames, and use a retailer's demo program before committing to a racquet. Patience with timing saves more than any single deal.
The two places NOT to skimp
To recap the whole guide in one line: spend on shoes that protect your body, and make sure your racquet is strung with something that won't hurt your arm. Everything else, you can do on a shoestring.
Not sure which affordable frame suits your game? Answer four quick questions and get matched — including genuine under-$100 picks.
Try the Racquet Finder →