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Our Top 15 Tennis Gift Ideas

After testing and consulting with fellow coaches and players in our community to gather their favorites and recommendations, we are excited to present our list of best gifts for 2023.

Tennis Tech Gifts for Tennis Players

These are a must for tennis lovers, especially avid, intermediate, and advanced players.

1. NormaTec:

For players who frequently endure long, grueling three-set matches or multiple games in a single day, and find their recovery time excessively long, NormaTec offers a promising solution. These innovative compression boots, designed to envelop your legs, use varying pressure levels to help relieve potential injuries or strains affecting the feet, knees, and thighs. Optimal results are achieved through daily usage, ranging from 45 minutes to an hour. This routine enhances blood circulation in the legs and helps prevent lactic acid buildup. The price of NormaTec is $699 at the time of this review — and we like this; HSA covers it.

Normatec Hyperice Compression Boots


2. SwingVision:

This innovative app revolutionizes how players improve their court skills. This is a game-changing solution for effortlessly monitoring essential statistics during singles and doubles practices, and it even works seamlessly with a ball machine. The app brings an objective lens to evaluating performance, minimizing subjective biases. Simply set up a camera, and let the app do the heavy lifting. You'll be able to review your play—or that of the person you're gifting this to—through comprehensive playback features and detailed statistics. For a deeper tactical analysis, take a look at this thorough review by Meike Babel, a former Top 30 WTA Pro and a member of our community. The current price of a 1-year subscription is $170 (usually $250) at the time of this review. This price includes their branded phone camera mount. Use this link for an affiliate discount.

SwingVision AppSwingVision Tennis Stats


3. Ball Machine:
 

If your player often struggles to find a tennis partner due to various reasons like schedules, the weather, or skill levels, a ball machine could be a game-changer. As an early backer of the Slinger bag, I personally favor the value given its portability and design; however, it’s worth considering other options, especially when accounting for speed and features like remote control. Here’s a concise chart comparing four popular options:

Ball Machine Ball Speed Ball Storage Capacity Weight Battery life Differentiated Pros Price (at time of post)
Slinger Bag 10-45 mph 144 33 lbs 3.5 hours Easy to transport.

Packed with helpful features like USB charging and a phone/camera holder.
$799
Spinshot Player 19-80 mph 120 41 lbs* 2-3 hours Remote control options via phone or watch.

Comes with 12 pre-programmed drills.
$999
Lobster Elite 2 Portable 10-80 mph 150 42 lbs 4-8 hours Has many different oscillation settings.

Longest battery life.
$1,619
Tennis Tutor Tennis Cube Ball Machine (with or without oscillation) 10-50mph 70 24 lbs 4-6 hours Oscillation feature for practicing both forehands and backhands.

Small, cube shape, making it easy to carry and also the lightest by far.

3-year warranty (most are 2).
$769 - $859

*without the battery


Tennis Gear Gifts for Tennis Players

4. Topspin Pro:

 If you’ve ever received feedback encouraging you to “brush the ball” more or if you’ve struggled with this technique, the Topspin Pro is for you. Ideal for beginners to intermediate-level players, this tool features a vertical nylon screen with a spring-loaded tennis ball. Setup is a breeze; use it outside or even in your living room or garage during those colder days. Simply slide your racquet along the screen to practice your topspin forehands and backhands. With dedication, you’ll be hitting Nadal-like shots in no time!

Topspin Pro Tennis Training Tool


5. Tennis Racquets:

Yes, we won’t get into the debate of which one is hotter than the next, as the criteria of what feels and works the greatest will vary from player to player. What’d probably be more helpful is to share this nifty table we put together outlining what some of the top players own and feedback about the key pros. 

2023 Racquet Player Key (+) Specs
Babolot Pure Aero 98 Carlos Alcaraz Excellent spin, good control, and stability. Head size: 98 sq in.
Unstrung Weight:
10.7oz
Length: 27 in.
HEAD 339.2 Coco Gauff Good balance of power (from the graphene technology), control and maneuverability.   Head size: 100 sq in.
Unstrung Weight: 11.4oz
Length: 27 in
Head PT346.1 (custom) Novak Djokovic Control, feel, and stability. Head size: 95 sq in.
Unstrung Weight: 12.7oz
Length: 27.1 in
Babolat Aero Pro Drive Original Rafael Nadal Heavy topspin, fast racquet head speed Head size: 100 sq in.
Unstrung Weight: 11.2oz
Length: 27 in.
Tecnifibre Tempo 298 IGA frame Iga Swiatek Balance of control and power. Head size: 98 sq in.
Unstrung Weight: 10.5oz
Length: 27 in.
Wilson Ultra 100 v4 Maria Sakkari Powerful performance, spin, and stability at the net (not just attributes from the racquet, but the use of low string weight, too). Head size: 100 sq in
Unstrung Weight: 10.6oz
Length: 27 in.
Head Innegra Radical MP (TGT 260.3) Taylor Fritz Effective for serves, playability, and balance. Head size: 98 sq in.
Unstrung weight: 10.6oz
Length: 27 in.
Yonex Ezone 98 Ben Shelton Increased power, enhanced spin, and control. Head Size: 98 sq in.
Unstrung Weight: 11.1 oz
Length: 27 in.
Decathlon Artengo TR 960 Control Tour Gael Monfils Enhanced control and precision. Head Size: 98 sq in
Unstrung Weight: unknown
Strung Weight: 12.7 oz.
Length: 27 in.
Wilson Pro Staff 97 Ons Jabeaur Stability and power control in volleys. Head Size: 97 sq in.
Weight: 11.1 oz
Length: 27 in.

 

6. ADV Bags:

We know, it’s us. However, we believe we’ve introduced bags with the needs of serious players in mind — far from repurposed basketball duffles.  Let's start with our Pro bag — it holds up to six racquets, has a cooler, and has a high-quality, weatherproof military-grade nylon shell. There’s, of course, a compartment for your shoes, an organization panel, and luggage-quality YKK zippers.  Our backpack is an on-the-go version that allows players to easily transition from the office, home, gym, and/or a cafe, to the courts. Several of the Pro features are included in the backpack in a consolidated accessible form. Unique to the backpack, however, is the laptop pocket, a cape to cover your racquets (or use without), and it can hold up to 3 racquets (versus the standard 2 on the market). Check out our Kickstarter from earlier this year to hear more about the features and listen to our founding story.


Gifts for tennis lovers

7. Branded Tournament Gear:

Know someone who could not make it to the US Open this year or just loves Grand Slams? Consider getting them something from their favorite tournament as part of a curated gift. Check out the links for more:

US Open Shop
Wimbledon Shop
Roland Garros Shop
Australian Open Shop
Tennis Plaza Shop

Subscriptions

8. Streaming Service:

Undoubtedly, the person you’re shopping for is watching tennis when he/she isn’t playing it! A Tennis Channel Plus or ESPN+ subscription can give your player access to tournaments year-round, especially in cases where they’re hunting down their match, as networks (like CBS or NBC) don’t have exclusive broadcasting rights anymore.

Tennis Channel Plus is a standalone streaming service that gives you access to live and on-demand tennis matches. Like other streaming services, you don’t need a cable provider to access Tennis Channel Plus. At $109.99 a year, you can catch replays of matches across networks and, most importantly, watch your favorite players compete at smaller tournaments.

ESPN+ comes in handy during grand slam season. Subscribers can watch three of the four slams live and on-demand — the US Open, Wimbledon, and Australian Open.  Perhaps the best commodity of ESPN+ is seeing matches on extra courts that the main networks would not normally televise. The cost is $10.99 a month (or $14.99 if you bundle with Disney+ and Hulu), or a $109.99 for the year payment for the year. For a better pricing breakdown, including options without ads, go to this very detailed Disney pricing page, here.


9. Print:

For the tennis athlete who appreciates (tennis) culture, loves art, and appreciates fantastic writing— a subscription to Racquet Magazine is for him/her. This is a quarterly magazine founded by Caitlin Thompson and David Shaftel — tennis players and fanatics with journalism backgrounds. To name a few, David and Caitlin have written for The NY Times, Time Magazine, The Washington Post, and the Financial Times.  Their magazine is published 4X per year, described as ‘slow-cooked’ print, and is often acclaimed for its writing content and visually appealing aesthetic.  Aside from their print magazine, they have a weekly newsletter that goes out. $75 for an annual subscription plus shipping at the time of this article.


Tennis Lessons

10. In-person:

For 1:1 or group coaching options, consider purchasing a gift card at your local tennis center or club. Should that not be an option, visit sites like PlayYourCourt.com, which allows patrons to create a custom profile based on preferred location and skills. This site will match your gift receiver with top-rated coaches near local tennis courts of their choosing. Players can then decide how many lessons they would like to pre-purchase with their selected pro and let the hitting begin. Note that the link above is an affiliate link with a built-in discount.

11. Virtual:

Our good friend and former top WTA 30 player, Meike Babel, offers a virtual tennis stroke analysis. If you’ve ever seen one of Meike’s YouTube videos, you’ll appreciate her expertise in improving a player’s game. All you or your tennis enthusiast need to do is record your groundstroke with a camera phone and send it to Meike; she’ll then work on your stroke frame by frame and focus on areas of improvement, all within 72 hours for $65. Kind of hard to beat virtual coaching from a former WTA-ranked player as a gift.


Style

12. Art:

Whether your player works from home and needs a better backdrop or appreciates infusing tennis culture in his or her space, purchasing a tennis print or digital download is a great way to go. Here are a few modern prints we really enjoy: Racquet Patent Print, Set of 3 Tennis Prints, and Grand Slam Gallery Wall.

13. Clothing:

Tennis isn’t complete without the culture and style that goes with it (evidenced by our earlier recommendation of Racquet Magazine). There are a number of great options out there. However, we really enjoy some recent collections by two brands. First, Sigrun Tennis — based in New York, this brand focuses on a clean, modern aesthetic. It uses quality materials and sustainable production to deliver gear that ‘keeps your head in the game.’ Second, Vuori — if you’re based in CA, you know this brand intimately; however, elsewhere, you may have seen them at REI or other used in complementary sports to tennis. We enjoy the quality material and discrete branding.
 

Tennis Destinations as Gift Ideas

14. Monte Carlo Masters:

If you’ve been following some of the AI-generated tennis scenes posted this year, you may not be too far off with this tournament. The Monte Carlo Masters is an ATP 1000, held on clay courts with the Mediterranean Sea as the backdrop. It’s held in April and is one of the key prep events for the French Open.

15. Indian Wells:

Dubbed the ‘fifth grand slam,’ the California tournament is a must and one of the few tournaments that combines both the male and female tours (ATP and WTA 1000). It’s massive, with over 20 courts and high-capacity seating. For example, Stadium 1 sits 16,000, which is second only to Arthur Ashe, which sits close to 24,000. Additionally, the amenities and infrastructure, from the luxurious lounges and dining options, make it a must-see for tennis players and/or fans.

Wheew.

A long read indeed, but maybe just long enough to get your creative juices going for gift-giving this year! To explore additional options, below are two additional lists we enjoyed. 

 🎾 Written by James Pressley, Staff Writer
      Updated by Maybelline Sak

 

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