SWING DOWN MEMORY LANE {2009}
By Vince Chiarelli, PTR, MRT and Owner of String Along With Vince in Largo
We are celebrating 20 years in business [as of 2009], so I thought it would be interesting to revisit the racquet technology changes over those years.
In 1989, it was still common to see wood frames. The average weight of a frame was in the neighborhood of 12½ ounces (almost 355 grams). Add another half-ounce for the string!
Other common frames (which weighed about the same as wood) were Prince Classic and Pro Oversize (metal) and Prince Graphite (both oversize and mid). The oversize concept was Prince’s innovation, catapulting them to the top almost overnight. Dunlop had a lot of success with the 300G since John McEnroe and Steffi Graf made that racquet famous.
Wilson then made the leap from standard to “widebody” frames making them the leader of the pack and graphite became the material of choice for most racquets. Shortly afterward, all the manufacturers were on the bandwagon with less rectangular profile frames. Wilson also brought out the ProStaff 6.1 Classic, a frame that has continued with minimal change to the present.
Wilson’s Hammer and Sledgehammer frames started the move toward stiffer, lighter racquets with more of the weight in the head to compensate somewhat for the instability and loss of power. This is when sales of tennis elbow supports shot through the roof. Racquet heads grew larger and racquet weights dropped: topping out at 135 square inches (or 137, depending on who is doing the math) the largest head possible under ITF rules, and weights lighter than 8 ounces.
Time marched on with Wilson and Prince vying for #1 when light frames became paired with the misnomer “Titanium” by Head. We saw a revolution propelling Head to a high level of sales. Head has since maintained one of the top 3 places with their frequent so-called “innovations” and superb marketing campaigns. All the usual suspects followed suit adding the word “Titanium”, if not the material, to most of their models. Thankfully, that nonsense has pretty much died out.
In another wave, we saw frames getting longer and longer. The original Gamma Big Bubba had the largest head size and longest length (32 inches) allowed by ITF rules at the time. The current ITF limit is 29 inches. Few super long racquets exist today.
Of late, there has been a return to sanity whereby most manufacturers have increased their offerings of standard length (27 inches) frames weighing 11½ ounces or more. This construction dominates the advanced player frames.
Twenty years, and we are almost back where we started. I guess the old specs for length and weight weren’t so bad after all.
COPYRIGHT 2009
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Editor's note pertaining to all articles presented.
All articles are presented as they were written and published. Some information contained in these articles may have changed over the years. Please be cognizant of this as you read. Additionally, since these articles go back as far as 1994, some of the technology may have changed, and new methods and advancements may have come about. Please contact us if you have any questions.
