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This page explains what governing bodies, standards bodies and researchers publish. It is not a substitute for lessons from a qualified coach or for medical advice.
This section is a reference to the equipment rules of five separate sports: tennis, pickleball, padel, squash and badminton. It is not a buying guide and not an instruction manual. Stringing, string tension, grip sizing and shoe fitting are outside its scope and belong with a qualified coach or specialist. No item of equipment is presented here as preventing injury.
The sports are never merged on these pages. A tennis ball and a padel ball look alike but are governed by different bodies under different documents, and a pickleball paddle used in a professional match may be judged against a different list from the one used at an amateur event. Every figure below names its sport, its body, its document and edition, and its rule or appendix number.
Who decides, sport by sport
| Sport | Body and document read | Rackets or paddles | Balls or shuttles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tennis | ITF, Rules of Tennis 2026 (the ITF now trades as World Tennis; the 2026 rule book still names ITF Limited) | No approved list: Rule 4 and Appendix II set the limits, and the ITF rules on a racket when asked | Every ball used in a tournament under the Rules must be on the ITF approved list (Rule 3) |
| Pickleball | USA Pickleball, 2026 Official Rulebook and Equipment Standards Manual, Revision 3.0 (January 2025) | Tournament paddles must be on the USA Pickleball approved list and carry its seal; the PPA Tour and MLP professional play use a separate UPA-A list | Tournament balls come from the USA Pickleball approved list |
| Padel | FIP, Rules of Padel, applying from 1 January 2026 | Made to the FIP's racket homologation annex, which was not found for this site; a wrist cord is compulsory | Only FIP-certified balls in FIP official-calendar events |
| Squash | World Squash Federation, World Squash Singles Rules 2025, effective 1 September 2025 | Must meet WSF specifications, which the rule book places on separate web pages that could not be read | The same; the WSF is reported to keep an approved-ball list, not confirmed here |
| Badminton | BWF, Laws of Badminton (Statutes Section 4.1), read from version 2.1 of 29 May 2023 | Law 4 sets the limits and Law 5 lets the BWF rule on compliance; no racket approval list was found | Law 2 sets the shuttle specification; synthetic shuttles have been allowed at BWF sanctioned tournaments since 2021 |
Editions and gaps to know about
- Tennis: the ITF's 2026 amendments changed foot faults, error correction, advertising and a beach tennis racket rule, but not the ball (Appendix I) or racket (Appendix II) specifications.
- Pickleball: the 2026 rulebook moved court and equipment rules into Section 3 (Section 2 in 2025). The paddle power (PBCoR) limit in the Equipment Standards Manual, Revision 3.0, section 2.E.6.f, fell from 0.44 to 0.43 on 1 November 2025, and a spin limit set in a USA Pickleball update (about July 2026) applies to paddles submitted from 1 October 2026.
- Padel: FIP documents give three different altitude thresholds for the altitude ball, set out on the padel page.
- Squash: the numeric racket and ball specifications could not be read from World Squash, so this site does not state them as fact.
- Badminton: new Laws adopted on 25 April 2026 take effect on 4 January 2027. The BWF's own site could not be opened, so the 2023 text was read and compared with an independent copy of the 2027 text; the equipment wording matched.
- Eye protection: the ASTM racket-sport standard has been F3164 since 2019, while several squash bodies still name the older F803, and the Finnish Standards Association's listing of F803-25 (1 September 2025) names racket sports again. Both sides are on the eye protection page.
To compare a racket's or paddle's measurements with the size limits in its own sport's rule book, use the racket size checker. The injury research and the eyewear rules by body are in the safety section, and category buying guides with no brands or prices are in guides.
Sources
- ITF, Rules of Tennis 2026 (Rules 3 and 4, Appendices I and II)
- ITF, Procedures for obtaining 2026 ITF Approval of Tennis Balls (E97-010 rev. 25, August 2025)
- USA Pickleball, 2026 Official Rulebook (copy hosted by Pickleball Canada)
- USA Pickleball, Equipment Standards Manual, Revision 3.0 (January 2025)
- Pickleball.com, UPA-A announces 2025 equipment rules and regulations (16 January 2025; a UPA-affiliated outlet)
- FIP, Rules of Padel (review of application 1 January 2026)
- FIP, Certifications: Approved Balls (2026)
- World Squash Federation, World Squash Singles Rules 2025, effective 1 September 2025 (copy hosted by Squash Nederland)
- BWF, Statutes Section 4.1, Laws of Badminton, in force 29 May 2023, version 2.1 (hosted copy)
- worldbadminton.com, Laws of Badminton reproduction (text adopted 25 April 2026)
- ASTM, F3164-24 Standard Specification for Eye Protectors for Racket Sports (store page)
- Sportcal, ITF to rebrand as World Tennis (16 October 2025)
- ITF, Rules of Tennis and Rules of Beach Tennis 2026 Amendments
- USA Pickleball, Update Regarding the USA Pickleball Spin Rate Test and Implementation Timeline (about July 2026)
- BWF announcement on synthetic feather shuttlecocks (21 January 2020, republished by Badminton Oceania)
- World Squash Federation, approved balls page (search-result summary)
- invisionmag, The Vision Council announces publication of ASTM F3164-19 (2019)
- Scottish Squash, Eye Protection Policy HS03-P01, version 5.0 (16 January 2023)
- Finnish Standards Association (SFS) store, ASTM F803-25 listing