A first tennis kit: what each piece is, and which rule sits behind it.

Lessons come before kit

We suggest a first tennis season starts with lessons from a qualified coach, and this guide recommends no club, academy, coach or shop. The coaching schemes are named on how people learn: a search summary of the ITF's coach education article lists levels from Play Tennis (entry level) up to High-Performance Players, with certificates issued by national associations, and in the United States the RSPA (formerly the USPTA) and PTR certify coaches, according to search summaries of their pages. A coach will also deal with racket length and grip size in person; this guide describes neither.

Tennis's world body, the International Tennis Federation, now trades as World Tennis, while its 2026 rule book is still issued as the ITF Rules of Tennis by ITF Limited. This guide uses that rule book. Players who use a wheelchair have their own equipment rules, set out on wheelchair tennis equipment.

The racket: limits, not a list

The ITF keeps an approved list for balls, but not for rackets. Rule 4 says a racket must comply with Appendix II, and the ITF rules on whether a particular racket or prototype complies, on its own initiative or when someone with a genuine interest applies, under the Appendix XII procedures. So no racket is "ITF approved" in the way a ball is. Appendix II sets these limits:

SI units take precedence where the figures differ. Rule 4 Case 5 says a player may use only one racket at a time during play. The ITF's four text amendments for 2026 did not change Appendix II. These are maximums: they say nothing about what length suits a particular player, which is left to a coach. Any racket can be checked against them with the racket size checker.

Strings, dampeners and grips

• Strings. The ITF's technical note "Strings" (November 2019) describes natural gut as the most elastic common material and Kevlar as the stiffest, with nylon and polyester between them, and defines gauges from 19 (thinnest, 1.00 to 1.10 mm) to 15 (thickest, 1.41 to 1.50 mm). It also says strings lose tension over time. This site gives no tension figures, stringing patterns or string choices; stringing is for a qualified stringer. More is on strings and grips.
• Dampeners. Rule 4 Case 3 allows vibration-damping devices on the strings, but only outside the pattern of crossed strings. No dampener is presented here as reducing injury.
• Grips and overgrips. No rule book read for this site describes grip materials. Grip size is a fitting matter and is not covered.

Balls: the ITF approved list

Rule 3 requires every ball used in a tournament played under the Rules of Tennis to be named on the ITF's list of approved balls. The ITF's procedures for 2026 (reference E97-010 rev. 25, August 2025) say:

• ITF Approval means only that the ball conformed to the Rules of Tennis when tested, and implies no other approval or endorsement.
• Approval testing is done only by the ITF Technical Centre in London, and the 2026 list was due on the ITF website from 1 January 2026, showing each ball's name as printed on the packaging.
• The "ITF Approved" logo may appear on packaging but not on the ball itself.
• Approved balls are sampled on the market, and repeated failures can bring a "yellow card" and then a "red card" removing approval for 12 months.

Appendix I sets four adult ball types: Type 1 (fast), Type 2 (medium), Type 3 (slow) and High Altitude. Its Case 1 pairs Type 1 with slow-pace courts, Type 2 with medium-slow to medium-fast courts and Type 3 with fast courts; the five pace categories are on court surfaces and pace. Type 2 may be pressurised or pressureless. The full figures are on tennis balls and approval.

Shoes: the rules belong to the events

No shoe rule from the ITF Rules of Tennis 2026 was recorded for this site. The four majors set one in the Grand Slam Rulebook 2026: tennis shoes generally accepted as proper attire that do not damage the court beyond normal wear. At Wimbledon only rubber-soled grass-court shoes without heels, ribs, studs or coverings may be worn, and at Roland-Garros grass-court shoes are barred in matches. Those are tournament rules, not advice for a public court. No shoe is presented here as preventing injury, and shoe fitting is not described; the rules are on court shoes.

Eyes

The ITF Rules of Tennis 2026 contain no eyewear requirement. ASTM's racket-sport eye protector standard, F3164-24, names tennis among its four sports. The standards are in the eye protection guide.

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