What is swing weight, and why should you care?

If you’re looking at buying a new squash racket, there’s a big chance there’s two things you’re going to be looking for – a racket’s weight and its balance. Did you know there’s a third measure though that’s rarely mentioned but arguably the most important? Let me introduce you to ‘swing weight‘.

First of all, what actually is ‘racket weight’?

Most modern squash racket frames weigh somewhere between 110-140 grams – there are lighter and there are heavier ones, but they’re few and far between. Racket weight is exactly what it says on the tin. If you put your racket on the scales, what you see is what you get.

However – you might be in for a surprise. Your trusty 125 gram racket probably weighs a little more than you’d expect. That’s because racket manufacturers only weigh the frame, opting to leave out grips, bumpers and strings. This usually adds around 25-30 grams extra to the weight.

This is because most squash players modify their racket in some way, shape or form after buying it, whether it’s changing strings or the grip. By measuring the frame weight alone, this gives a fair and impartial measure across every squash racket.

You might also be surprised to find out that racket weight actually tells you very little about the feel of a racket. In fact, of the three measures we’re looking at in this article (frame weight, balance and swing weight), it’s the least important.

Racket balance

A racket’s balance tells you where most of the weight is situated in the frame. You can find it yourself by measuring the ‘balance point’ – how high up the frame you have to go for the racket to balance either side.

Generally speaking, rackets that have a balance point of 37cm are considered evenly balanced, 38cm and above are head heavy, and 36cm and below are head light.

Balance can, in theory, make a 125 gram racket ‘feel’ heavier to swing than a 150 gram racket. This is thanks to the additional force required to generate racket head speed, due to its centre of mass being further away from its centre of rotation.

So, you’re probably wondering whether there’s a way of actually measuring how heavy a racket ‘feels’ in practise. Well…

Let’s talk about swing weight

Swing weight is a measurement of a racket’s resistance to being rotated about an axis. It’s measured by a machine that looks something like this. Swing weight is measured in ‘points‘, and is a true to life measure of how heavy a racket’s actually going to feel in practise, rather than just on the scales.

It’s the most important measure of a squash racket. Unfortunately, a quick Google search will tell you that it’s almost impossible to find.

There’s simply too many factors that impact swing weight for manufacturers to advertise it. A difference of just 3 grams in the head of a racket will completely change its measurement. Manufacturers have a ‘tolerance’ for weight and balance variances, therefore most squash rackets have a different swing weight when they leave the factory.

As well as this, things such as wear and tear on the bumper, the type of string you use, heck, even the colour grip you use all have an impact on swing weight.

There are occasions when squash players do measure swing weight. Professional squash players who have 5 or 6 of the same racket will have their rackets ‘balanced’ by professional technicians. This ensures all their rackets have the exact same swing weight.

How does swing weight impact the way a racket plays?

Rackets with a lighter swing weight are able to move faster through the air, which in turn means they’re more manoeuvrable. However, this does mean power is sacrificed. This is because when these rackets come into contact with a ball, the ball is able to ‘push’ the racket back further.

Rackets with a heavier swing weight are generally less manoeuvrable, thanks to it being harder to generate racket head speed. However they are able to deliver more power, even with a slower swing. Though this is only up to a certain point – a racket can be ‘too heavy’ to be useable.

If you’re feeling especially nerdy, an in depth experiment by Tennis Warehouse shows exactly how changing the swing weight of a racket impacted how a tennis racket performed. The full experiment goes into detail about how weight, balance and swing weight individually affect racket head speed, ball velocity and more. While this experiment was carried out with tennis rackets, it’s a fairly safe assumption that you would see similar results with a squash racket.

In real world terms, what does this mean?

Our good friends at QSS Squash offered their help with a little experiment using their swing weight machine. Here, we took three rackets, all with very similar frame weights, and found out exactly what their swing weights were.

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Even though each racket has near enough the same frame weight, thanks to their significantly different balances, they all have vastly different swing weights.

What if I told you a 195 gram squash racket could feel almost the same as a 128 gram racket? You’d probably think I was crazy.

So you’re probably wondering ‘how do I find the swing weight of a racket?’…

I’m going to assume you don’t own a swing weight machine. So, if you’re feeling a little crafty, you can try a DIY method of measuring your rackets. Note that you’ll only be able to measure your own rackets. There’s a huge margin for error if you were to try compare to others’ measurements.

You can always get an idea of how a racket’s swing weight might feel. You can do this by looking at a racket’s weight and balance in tandem. Try remember that a head light 180 gram racket can have the exact same swing weight as a head heavy 130 gram racket.

Think about swing weight when buying your next racket

I know players that wouldn’t consider using a racket weighing over 135 grams, yet still use a head heavy racket. This is probably the biggest misconception around racket weights.

My advice – the next time you’re choosing a racket, don’t immediately discard some of the heavier rackets. These rackets often have head light balances, and if you try them out, you might find they actually feel lighter than your current racket.

You should still give the 195 gram racket a miss though, probably for the best.