postheadericon Learn About The History Of Tennis Rackets


by Tom Doerr


The use of tennis rackets for game play has been around for centuries. The games that were originally played were played using one's hands to bat the ball back and forth. However eventually someone decided to try to create a club to use rather than the hand which became painful after a period of time. A wooden frame was fashioned using animal intestine to create the webbing.

From the first introduction and over many years until new materials were put to use as the handle and frame, the racket changed very little. Slight improvements were made to the process used to create the frame and head while the webbing was left unchanged for several years. The original clubs were much smaller than those we easily recognize today.

Additionally, because of the smaller head and heavy weight to the clubs, the games played were similar to modern day squash which uses a ball that does not bounce very much and is easily controlled. Unlike the game of squash however the game was usually played over nets rather than against a wall.

While the strings have undergone changes from the gut to the nylon currently used, there appears to be no actual historical record of when this change was made. The body however was improved by using aluminum rather than wood which lightened the weight dramatically.

Players using aluminum noticed that they had little control over the direction of the ball because of the distortion to the head when the ball is struck off center. While the clubs tended to be lighter and stronger which provided for more power, the lack of control tended to cause many players to prefer the wooden frame.

The early clubs were much smaller than those of today. Additionally they were heavy and lacked power. Compared to today's modern clubs, the original racket more closely resembles still the modern day squash clubs used today.




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