Best Tennis Rackets for Doubles in 2025

If you play 80% doubles, you should not be playing a singles racket. The spec that wins from the baseline is not the spec that wins at the net, and the spec that helps your second serve in singles often hurts your first volley.

This guide is for the recreational doubles player, the league regular, and the serve-and-volley specialist who has been forced into a 300-gram all-court frame because that's what the wall says is "intermediate." There is a better answer.

What's different about doubles

You spend most of the point at the net or moving toward it. The shots you hit are shorter, faster, and more reactive. The serve becomes more important than in singles because you only have one chance to set up your partner's poach. The return becomes a low-trajectory dink or a soft block, not a topspin pass.

This changes the racket spec in four ways.

Maneuverability matters more than plow-through. A 320g player frame swings beautifully through a 100-mph baseline ball but gets stuck in your hand when an opponent rips a return at your hip. You need a quick frame.

Stiffness matters less than feel. You're not generating the swing speed required to fully load a stiff frame. You're absorbing pace and redirecting it. Soft frames excel here.

Head-light balance is non-negotiable. A head-heavy racket may give you free power, but it will be slow to set up at the net and slow to react to a low volley. Head-light or even slightly head-light-with-static-weight is the doubles spec.

Sweet spot size matters more than head size. You'll hit more off-center on volleys than you ever will on groundstrokes. A frame with a forgiving sweet spot beats a frame with a "bigger" head that's still hot in the middle and dead on the edges.

Seven rackets we recommend for doubles

Best overall: Wilson Shift 99

The Shift was designed with the swing-through-the-contact-zone player in mind, and that flexible RA 58 hoop is exactly what you want when blocking a fast return back. It's heavy enough at 310g to give you stability on the volley, but the balance is well managed and it doesn't feel like a brick. We recommend the Shift more often for doubles than any other frame.

Best for the quick-handed netter: HEAD Boom MP

The Boom MP is what you give the player who reacts more than they attack. The 295g weight makes it whippy at the net for quick reflex volleys, and the 100 head size means you don't have to be perfect on the kick serve. The spin rating of 8 is unusually high for a frame this light, which means you can still hit a serviceable kick serve and a heavy topspin lob.

Best for the serve-and-volley specialist: Yonex Percept 97

The Percept is the closest thing in our catalog to the classic serve-and-volley spec: a 97-inch head, sub-60 stiffness, 310g of stability, and feedback that lets you feel the ball on the strings. If you're playing 4.0 or above doubles and you live at the net, this is the frame.

Best for the lefty / right-handed-but-flat-volleyer: Wilson Blade 100L v9

The Blade has always been a strong doubles frame in the heavier Blade 98 spec. The 100L gives you the same plush feel and 16x19 pattern at a lighter, more maneuverable weight. The 285g is on the lighter side for the doubles player who has a strong base, but if you want quickness and you can put your own weight behind a volley, the Blade 100L is the most refined-feeling frame at that weight.

Best on a budget: Tecnifibre TF-X1 V2

The TF-X1 V2 is the budget pick that doesn't feel like a budget pick. At 285g with an RA of 62, it's positioned as a comfort-first all-court frame, but the maneuverability makes it a doubles standout. We've seen recreational doubles players pick this up out of price-driven necessity and never go back to a more expensive racket.

Best for power volleyers and the doubles servebot: Wilson Ultra 100 v4

If your doubles game is "big first serve, hit-and-run-to-the-net," the Ultra gives you the easiest free pop on serve and volley of any frame in our catalog. The RA 72 is too stiff for many players' elbows, so this is a healthy-player recommendation only. But the depth you get on the kick serve and the put-away volley from the Ultra is real, and most other frames cannot match it.

Best for the comfort-first doubles player: Wilson Clash 100 Pro v2

The Clash 100 Pro is heavier than the standard Clash 100 and adds the stability you want for doubles without losing the flexible, arm-friendly feel. If you have any history of elbow trouble and you play a lot of doubles, this is the frame we steer you to.

Rackets to avoid for doubles

Anything 320g or heavier. Yes, that includes the HEAD Prestige and Wilson Pro Staff RF97. These are singles player frames. They are too slow at the net for almost everyone, and the only people who play them in doubles are players who came from singles and refuse to switch.

Anything 100+ square inches and head-heavy. The Babolat Pure Aero, Pure Drive, and HEAD Ti.S6 all give you cheap power from the baseline but cost you reaction time at the net. The Babolat Boost Aero, in particular, is a beginner singles frame and a doubles disaster.

Stiff 100-square-inch power frames with a closed pattern. They reward the wrong thing for doubles. You don't need free power; you need a frame that responds quickly and predictably to angled volleys.

The doubles-specific string setup

Doubles benefits from a softer, more responsive string. Recommendations:

• For comfort: Wilson NXT 16 or Tecnifibre X-One Biphase 16 at 54 to 58 lbs.
• For control on the volley: Solinco Tour Bite Soft or Yonex Poly Tour Pro at 48 to 52 lbs.
• For the touch player: Natural gut at 56 to 60 lbs. Expensive, sublime feel on the volley.

Tension should be 2 to 4 lbs higher than what you'd string the same racket for singles. The slightly higher tension gives you a quicker, more responsive stringbed for blocking returns and put-away volleys.

Grip and overgrip for the doubles player

Doubles is a sweaty game. You're constantly moving, gripping, regripping. Pick an overgrip with high absorbency:

• Tourna Grip Original (XL). The bone-dry overgrip the pros use in hot conditions.
• HEAD Xtreme Soft. Slightly cushioned for players who don't like a thin overgrip.

Re-grip every 5 to 10 sessions. A dead overgrip will steal more touch from your volleys than any frame difference.

The doubles return spec myth

You'll see advice online to "use an extended-length frame for doubles return." This is mostly outdated. Extended-length (27.5" or 28") rackets give you more reach but cost more swing speed and more accuracy. They're now a niche choice for tall players who specifically want the added leverage on serves. For the average recreational doubles player, a standard 27" frame is the right answer. None of the rackets we recommend above are extended.

What changes if you play mixed doubles

Mixed doubles tends to feature more lobbing, more poaching, and more changes of pace. The frames that work for level-doubles still work, but lean a notch lighter for the woman in mixed (so reaction time stays sharp on the lob and the cross-court angle) and a notch heavier for the man (so the put-away volley has more punch). The HEAD Boom MP and Wilson Shift 99 are both flexible enough to play either side of mixed well.

Bottom line

If you don't know where to start, the Wilson Shift 99 is the modern doubles frame to beat. If you're a true serve-and-volley specialist with a strong technical base, Yonex Percept 97. If you're on a budget, Tecnifibre TF-X1 V2 for an unexpected steal.

The most important advice we can give: stop using your singles racket for doubles unless your singles racket is already in the spec sweet spot above. The frame you pick has a bigger effect on your doubles result than your singles result because the points are shorter and the reactions matter more.

Related guides

• Best tennis rackets for intermediate players
• How to choose the right string tension
• Best rackets and strings for tennis elbow
• The complete tennis gear guide