Beginner: Old Racquet, Wrist Pain, What Next
I'm a beginner, 12 weeks in and having a lot of fun playing 1-3 times a week.
I'm currently using a Dunlop Tectonics Muscle Weave Tour Pro 95 that I got as a hand-me-down from a friend of a friend who's a former pro.
It's old enough that I can't find much information online but per a forum post that I did find the specs are "95sqi, 335g strung, 16x19, 18.5mm-23mm-22mm, ~325sw, ~67ra".
It's strung with old poly strings that are very rigid (I can't bend them by pressing with my fingers).
The grip was quite old and flaky when I got it and I replaced it with an overgrip over the bare handle before I knew that base grips were a thing. Maybe as a result, the grip is a bit small for me and my fingers touch my palm when I hold it.
About 3 weeks ago I started getting wrist pain after playing, and that has steadily gotten worse to the point where I'm taking a break and have made an appointment with my doctor to get it checked out.
This timeframe roughly coincides with me getting more confident in my strokes and starting to hit the ball harder and with more topspin than before. I've previously played table tennis and badminton, so I think I've probably been overusing my wrist while doing that, rather than my whole arm and body as I know I'm supposed to.
I'll take my doctor's advice on the medical side of things, but figured it would be useful to ask here about the equipment and the role that might be playing.
From reading around, I've come to understand that what I'm playing with is not a very arm-friendly setup.
What I'm wondering is whether it's salvageable. After my research what I have in mind is:
- a new base grip (Head Hydrosorb Comfort)
- a new overgrip (Yonex Super Grap)
- a restring with multifilament (Head Velocity MLT)
Is that worth trying, or am I better off buying a new racquet? I assume I'll want to do that at some point anyway, and that I might have a better learning experience if I do it now.
My shortlist if I do get a new racquet is:
- Head Squared
- Wilson Clash 100 V3
- Ezone 100 (though I can't seem to find this in stock anywhere)
If relevant, I prefer my current Dunlop to a couple of aluminium ones I've borrowed - which are currently my only basis for comparison - and before I started getting the wrist pain I had no problems with it; though of course it may just be that I don't know any better.
Any advice appreciated.
Posted Aug 13, 2026, 4:38 PM UTC