Racquet sports gifts: what to give, and what to leave to the player.

Better left to the player

Several kinds of kit are hard to buy as a surprise, for reasons the rules themselves give:

• Pickleball paddles. For sanctioned play, a paddle has to be on the USA Pickleball approved list and carry its seal or text (2026 Official Rulebook, 3.D.1), and professional PPA Tour and MLP play uses the separate UPA-A list. Lists change: paddles are added, sunset and removed. Grip size is personal. See the pickleball guide.
• Tennis, padel, squash and badminton rackets. The ITF, the FIP and the BWF set maximum sizes (World Squash's could not be read for this site), but racket length and grip size for a particular player are settled with a coach in person. A padel racket also needs its compulsory wrist cord under the FIP Rules of Padel.
• Strings. Stringing and tension are for a qualified stringer and the player; this site gives no tension advice.
• Shoes. They are fitted in person. The Grand Slam Rulebook 2026 has its own shoe rules for the majors, and pickleball tournaments require non-marking soles (Rule 18.B.2).
• Eye protection. Which standard is acceptable depends on the body: England Squash names "BS EN 18527-2:2021", ASTM's racket-sport standard is F3164-24, and several squash bodies still name F803. Fit is checked in person. See the eye protection guide.

Nothing in this guide says a product is approved, certified, safe or legal; the body's list, standard or rule decides.

Balls and shuttles, if you know the sport

Balls and shuttles can make a gift once the sport, and sometimes the level, is known. Each sport has its own rule:

• Tennis. Any ball used in a tournament under the ITF Rules of Tennis 2026 must be on the ITF approved list (Rule 3). Appendix I Case 1 pairs Type 1 (fast) balls with slow courts and Type 3 (slow) with fast courts, with Type 2 between; the "ITF Approved" logo appears on packaging, never on the ball.
• Pickleball. USA Pickleball posts its approved ball list online, and every approved ball may be used indoors or outdoors (Rule 3.C.1).
• Padel. FIP official-calendar events, Premier Padel included, use only FIP-certified balls, and the FIP's online list prevails over printed copies.
• Squash. Balls come by dot. The PSA, as reproduced by Squash Canada, describes the double yellow as the professional and tournament ball, with single yellow, red and blue balls hanging progressively longer.
• Badminton. Law 2 of the BWF Laws allows feathered and non-feathered shuttles. Makers' speed grades were found only on retailer pages, which disagreed, so none is given here.

Small extras the rules allow

• Dampeners. ITF Rule 4 Case 3 allows them on the strings, outside the pattern of crossed strings. They are not presented here as reducing injury.
• Overgrips. No rule book read for this site describes grip materials; the size underneath is the player's own matter.
• Paddle covers and edge-guard tape. USA Pickleball Rule 3.D.6 allows edge-guard tape on a certified paddle, and Rule 3.D.7 limits how far tape and decals reach onto the face.
• Bags and ball hoppers. No rule or standard governs them, and they do not have to fit the person.

Second-hand kit and recalls

The web searches made for this site found few regulator recalls of racquet kit, which is not proof there are no others; the cases found were chemical, not structural. Health Canada recalled one maker's junior aluminium tennis racquets on 5 November 2025 because the butt cap contained phthalates, and said recalled racquets may not be resold or given away in Canada. A paddle removed from a pickleball approval list is a different matter: that is a decision about tournament play, not a safety recall. Both are on recalls, and a recall says nothing about other models or makers.

For readers

Books are an easy gift, and the histories are full of accounts that differ. Major Walter Clopton Wingfield's lawn tennis is dated 23 February 1874 by the International Tennis Hall of Fame's patent page, December 1873 by another Hall of Fame history, and March 1874 by Wikipedia. Pickleball's accepted founding year is 1965, but HistoryLink, Washington State's online encyclopedia, records that Joel Pritchard once said 1963 and Joan Pritchard wrote 1966. Any book's account is its author's; this site's history pages, such as lawn tennis and Wingfield, pickleball on Bainbridge Island and rackets from wood to graphite, give each version with who says it.

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