What a racket is made of matters just as much, especially as a child progresses. The wrong material at the wrong stage can hold a player back, make the game physically harder than it needs to be, and in some cases even risk discomfort in the arm. The right material lets a developing player generate power, stay stable through the ball and keep improving.

There are two materials used in tennis rackets - aluminium and graphite - but three types of racket, because there's a blend in the middle. This guide explains all three, when each is right, and why one particular size is the best-value racket your child will ever own.

Junior rackets come in three types: aluminium (budget, for the youngest beginners on red ball), composite (an aluminium-graphite blend, ideal for the middle stages on orange and green ball) and full graphite (performance frames, the same construction as adult rackets, for advanced juniors and beyond). As a child moves up through ball stages and court sizes, the material needs to keep pace with the length. Composite quality varies significantly between brands, which is why in-store advice matters.

Every tennis racket is built from one of two core materials, or a blend of the two.

Aluminium is cheaper, heavier in feel and structurally weaker. It's the material used in budget and entry-level frames.

Graphite is the performance material. It's what every proper adult racket and every professional's racket is made from. It's strong, stable and stays solid through contact while still allowing the racket to generate speed.

The blend of the two - composite - sits in the middle, and it's one of the most useful options in junior tennis. More on that below.

Aluminium rackets are made from two pieces joined together with pins, typically around the bottom of the hoop where the throat meets the frame. That join is the racket's weak point. The aluminium itself is also prone to warping, going out of shape and even breaking if it's used with the wrong balls in the wrong environment.

That sounds like a list of problems - but for the right player, none of it matters.

If your child is playing red ball tennis on a red court - in general terms, the under-8 and under-9 stages - an aluminium racket is absolutely fine. At that stage, the ball is slow and low-bouncing, the court is small, and the player isn't trying to hit through the court with any real force. They don't need the structural integrity of a better frame to generate power and stability, because the game isn't asking them to. Unless you have a genuinely high-performing young player, aluminium does the job.

Aluminium is right for: beginners and young players on red ball and red court, roughly up to 21 inch rackets.

Here's the problem aluminium creates. You want to leave aluminium behind at around 21 inches, when a player moves up from red ball. But full graphite frames really start at 25 and 26 inches. That leaves a gap in the middle - and composite rackets fill it.

A composite racket has an aluminium base with graphite added into the frame, usually through the throat and into the top of the hoop. That added graphite does two important things. It gives the racket extra stability, and it makes the frame a single piece - no pinned join, and therefore no structural weak point.

The result is a genuine halfway house: the budget-friendliness of aluminium with much of the playability of graphite. And modern composites have come a long way - some now play almost as well as a full graphite frame.

This makes composite the ideal choice for the 23, 24 and into the 25 inch range. Most players can comfortably use a good composite for both orange ball and green ball.

One honest caveat: not all composites are equal. Each brand puts a different amount of graphite into its frames. Some genuinely invest in the construction and produce composites that play beautifully. Others add just enough graphite to call the racket "composite" while keeping the cost down, and there isn't much in there. From the outside, you often can't tell the difference. This is exactly the kind of thing worth asking us about in store - we know which composites actually perform and which are composite in name only.

Composite is right for: players on orange and green ball, roughly 23-25 inch rackets.

Full graphite is the top end of the spectrum - the same construction as proper adult rackets and professional frames.

A full graphite racket is full of structural integrity. It stays solid, strong and stable through contact, gives you power and lets you generate racket-head speed without the frame being too flexible or doing too little to help. The top-end models also include the same playability technology found in the premium adult and professional rackets, which makes for an even better experience as a player develops.

For most players, the move to full graphite becomes necessary at the green ball stage - but not for everyone. If a player is big and strong, or has a genuinely fast swing speed, they'll need the extra stability of full graphite to handle the pace they're generating. A green-ball player who isn't yet swinging with much speed can often stay on a good composite a while longer. As with racket length, it comes down to the individual player rather than a strict rule.

Full graphite is right for: advanced juniors, players on green and yellow ball, and anyone with the size or swing speed to need the extra stability - roughly 25-27 inch rackets.

Here's something most parents don't know.

The major brands put enormous effort into their 26 inch rackets. The reason is simple commercial sense: if they can get a junior playing their racket at that age, that player often stays loyal to the brand for life. So they make their 26 inch frames genuinely excellent - full-spec performance graphite, the real thing.

And because they're competing so hard at that size, the 26 inch frame is often the best-value racket your child will ever own. You're getting a full performance graphite frame, frequently at around half the price of the equivalent 27 inch super-light adult version - where you're effectively paying a premium for that one extra inch.

It's one stage we'd strongly advise not skipping or cutting corners on. We stock full graphite 26 inch frames from the major brands, and it's well worth coming in to see them.

Stage	Ball	Typical Size	Material
Beginner / under 8-9	Red	17-21 inch	Aluminium
Developing	Orange	23-24 inch	Composite
Intermediate	Green	25-26 inch	Composite or full graphite
Advanced / full court	Yellow	26-27 inch	Full graphite

As always, this is a guide. Size, swing speed and how a player actually strikes the ball matter more than age - and the right material for your child might sit slightly either side of where the table suggests.

Choosing the right material is just as important as choosing the right length - and the two work together. A correctly sized racket in the wrong material won't serve your child well as they progress.

Bring your child into any of our North London stores and we'll fit them properly - the right length, the right material, and a frame that suits where they are now and where they're heading next. If you want to understand sizing first, our junior racket fitting guide walks through the two simple checks you can do at home.

Check out Junior Rackets here!