Things You Didn’t Know About Tennis Racquets

The tennis Racquet is like your trusty partner on the court, but do you know it well? Here are 20 things you may be surprised to learn about tennis Racquets:

• Tennis Racquets used to be made of wood from the 15th century to 1965, and they had strings made from cow intestines, which have been twisted and stretched to create an elastic surface with a high tension on the Racquet’s head.

• Before the 15th century, Tennis-like games used to be played literally by hand and people wore custom-made gloves or wrapped rope around their hands.

• Rene Lacoste created the first Racquet with a steel frame, and it revolutionized the manufacture of tennis Racquets when it enabled the increase string tension and the size of the head.

• The first professional player to use steel tennis Racquets was Jimmy Connors.

• The first modification made to traditional gut string Racquets was accomplished with nylon strings.

• For years, a lot of professional players believed that wooden Racquets provided greater ball control and accuracy, so they refused to use steel frame Racquets. However, the wooden Racquets were no match to the steel framed Racquet’s power.

• Wooden Racquets typically weighed around 350 grams, and some weighed half a kilogram. Modern Racquets weigh an average of around 250 grams, with lighter versions available.

• Tennis Racquets that are supposedly made of graphite are not made using the mineral that bears the same name. Instead, ‘graphite’ pertains to the reinforced thermoplastic visco-elastic polymer, which is durable and lightweight.

• Graphite tennis Racquets were popularized by John McEnroe.

• Many of the tennis Racquets we know today are manufactured in Asia, particularly in Japan.

• Some modern Racquets have heads with tiny chambers, which contain ball bearings to absorb impact and to minimize tennis elbow.

• High-quality Racquets are sold without their strings, so experienced players have more freedom to pick the strings and tension according to their preference.

• In the 1980s, ITF banned ‘spaghetti string’ Racquets to prevent low-ranked players from consistently defeating skilled players.

• Low tension strings offer more power, and high tensions provide more control over the ball’s behavior.

• The spacing of the tennis Racquet’s strings can affect the ball’s angle of deflection. Hence, rules restrict the distance to 1.3cm.

• A modern tennis Racquet has a head with a surface area that can be as big as 137 square inches, which is almost double the maximum size of the head of wooden Racquets.

• If you choose a lightweight Racquet, you get a smaller sweet spot, more vibration, and reduced power.

• The size of the tennis Racquet’s grip is more crucial than other factors when choosing a tennis Racquet. Choose the wrong size and you risk injury and becoming easily fatigued.

• There are no laws regulating tennis Racquet length.

• The tennis Racquet evolved with reducing vibrations upon impact with tennis balls as the main goal.