How to Choose the Perfect Tennis Bag? (Useful Tips)
A tennis bag is essential for carrying your tennis gear to the court. It also helps you keep all your equipment in one place.
A high-quality tennis bag keeps your tennis gear protected from weather impact and increases its durability.
But when it comes to picking one tennis bag for you, there are hundreds of available options, and you might get confused.
If you still doubt what model or what size to get, stick with this article. We will show you how to choose the perfect tennis bag for you.
Choose Your Tennis Bag by Type
There are different tastes for everything in life, even for the tennis bag you’ll carry to the court. Each player knows what is more functional and easy to carry around for either occasional sessions or long tournament trips.
Below are the different types of tennis racquet bags you can mostly find.
3-pack bag
It is a nice and simple way to carry up racquets along with smaller items like grips, dampeners, bottles, ball cans, wallet, and your phone.
It is easy to carry to the court, but you can’t store big items like clothes or additional shoes.
This suits occasional players or people who drive on motorcycles to their clubs.
6-pack bag
This one is relatively bigger to hold up to 6 racquets. In general, it comes with two large compartments and a side pocket for accessories.
It is convenient for people who want the perfect mix between convenience and carriage capacity.
9-pack bag
You won’t need a 9-pack bag unless you’re someone who plays at local or national tournaments. The bag will help you carry up to 9 racquets and offers plenty of room for all your gear including your clothes, towels, shoes, drinks, food, and other important accessories.
This choice is good for regular amateurs or tournament competitors.
12-pack or 15-pack
These are the ultimate tennis bags destined primarily for the elite players, also called supercombi bags.
They are huge and can hold 12 or 15 racquets. With plenty of room inside, you can carry anything a professional tennis player needs.
They often have the best materials and innovative technology like Thermoguard or CCT, which protect your gear from the roughest conditions.
These bags are the best for pros who travel a lot to compete in different tournaments.
Backpack
Tennis backpacks are perfect for players who play on intermittent occasions and don’t want to carry all their equipment to the court.
They can fit 2 racquets with additional accessories like balls, grips, dampeners, and drinks.
They are great for people who go to the club on foot, bicycle, or motorcycle. In addition, you can’t shower in your club if you go for a backpack.
Shoulder tote
It is close to a backpack but with more style. In general, women love this type of carriage giving them more fashion and facility to carry in the club.
Duffle bag
Duffle bags are great for being versatile. In addition to your tennis gear, you can also carry gym equipment and travel items.
They are good for tennis along with personal or business trips.
Choose Your Tennis Bag by Brand
A brand is a powerful association that makes anyone feel happier and more satisfied with his product.
In general, what happens is that tennis players especially beginners or amateurs are seduced more by the brands of their favorite players.
For example, if you’re a big fan of Rafael Nadal, the first thing that you’d think of is to look for Babolat Pure Aero racquets and bags. It is an emotional decision based on your love for your favorite champion and the brand he uses.
In addition, the prior choice of your racquet affects the choice of your bag since you’ll need a bag with the same brand. For example, if you feel comfortable with a Tecnifibre racquet, you will search for a Tecnifibre bag.
Alternatively, we have the following recommendations for you regarding the brands of tennis bags:
- Try to pick a bag with thermal protection.
- Wilson tennis bags are famous for being durable and molded to protect your gear adequately.
- Babolat bags are convenient and comfortable to carry for tournament trips
- Dunlop tennis bags provide awesome durability and feature Thermo technology to protect the equipment.
Choose Your Tennis Bag by Size & Specs
Once you’ve determined your tennis bag style. You can compare the available options based on the size and the specifications you desire.
Let’s say you are picking a 9-pack bag. You may look at the different features like:
- The total capacity (indicated on the specs or calculated by multiplying the dimensions)
- the number of compartments
- The number of accessory pockets
- Thermo-protected or not?
- Is there a ventilated pocket for shoes?
- Does it have grab handles or not?
- Are the back straps padded enough?
If you have the opportunity to try them at a tennis store, then great. You can also ask an assistant for more information and feedback.
As a rule of thumb, go for a bigger bag in its category. The extra space can come in handy and save you money for an additional bag.
Choose Your Tennis Bag by Materials
Apart from carrying your gear to the ground, a bag is essential for keeping your tennis equipment safe. Hence, selecting a bag made from rigid and resistant materials is a smart decision.
Some bags have rigid external materials that keep the moisture away from your gear. It is also more durable and saves you additional costs in the long run. Wilson bags are famous for being EVA-molded and super protective against moisture and temperature.
The trend nowadays is quality polyester & nylon bags with external plastic finishing. The upper shell can be shiny with attractive and colorful looks.
The benefit of polyester in tennis bags is the easy washing. The inconvenience is the reduced lifespan compared with better materials like leather or nylon.
Add-ons in Tennis Bags
Some add-ons in tennis bags add more value and convenience. Here is a list of clever tricks applied in the tennis bags industry.
- Multiple zippered pockets are helpful for separating towels, clean clothes, dirty clothes, drinks and other stuff.
- Wheels help you carry your bag easily around the club.
- Some bags come with small hangers, which can be handy in the showers.
Do You Need Two Tennis Bags?
You come across this thing on TV in big tournaments. Many professional players carry two bags to the court.
Some pros say that carrying two bags allows them to transport more equipment that may come in handy during match day. Others say that the extra bag consists of training gear or old equipment that may be useful in an emergency.
It also contains sponsored products that can be distributed to the audience for marketing purposes and to increase PR ratings.
“It looks as if they have packed for a week. It has turned into a culture, and new players that watch them try to do the same.”
TV Pundits about tennis players
Recommended Tennis Bag
If you are stuck and can’t decide what tennis bag to get. These are our best recommendations based on people’s opinions and feedback from many sources.
Please know that the names of the bags contain links to Amazon.com
- 3-pack bag: Wilson Advantage Tennis Bag 3-pack
- 6-pack bag: Vessel Baseline 6 Racquet Tennis Bag
- 9-pack bag: YONEX Pro Racquet 9 Pack Tennis Bag
- 12-pack bag: Dunlop Sports SX Performance 12-pack
- 15-pack bag: Wilson Super Tour 15-Pack
- Backpack: Babolat Pure Backpack
- Shoulder tote: Ame & Lulu Love All Court
- Duffle bag: Tecnifibre Tour Endurance RS
Final Thoughts
A tennis bag is an important part of any player’s gear. You need to take some time to choose one according to your requirements. Whether you’re looking for a specific type, brand or size, you better pick a bag with thermal protection and good durability.
Finally, remember to clean your tennis bag from time to time.
