Tennis Racquets Through the Years
Jimmy Connors, considered one of the best players in tennis history in the 1970s and 1980s
Tennis has a long history. The history of tennis goes back to the 12th century.
The game called 'La Paume', which was popular among European aristocrats from around the 12th century, is known as the beginning of tennis. At the time, it was just a simple ball game where aristocrats and French monks hit the ball with their palms and catch it.
'La Pomme' developed into a sport called 'Jeu de Paume' as the ruling class of the time, the clergy and nobles, created the rules.
The monks who played ball with their bare hands began to use gloves because their hands hurt, and when the gloves did not relieve the pain, they began to use wooden paddles. It was not until the 14th century that a form that could be called a racket rather than a hand appeared.
The shape of the early medieval racket
Early medieval racquets consisted of a large wooden frame with gut strings tied to it. They were more teardrop-shaped than the oval we know today.
So when did the racket shape we see today first come into use?
The origin of the tennis racket
wooden racket
The tennis racket as we know it today was invented in 1874 by British Army officer Major Walter C. Wingfield .
Major Walter Wingfield, a British Army officer who developed the first lawn tennis racket.
The early wooden rackets he invented were made with wide heads to make it easy to hit the ball, but they were made of hard wood and were large and heavy. However, wooden rackets allowed all players to play fairly, and led to the popularization of tennis, and wooden rackets remained the standard for about 100 years.
The wooden racket era lasted for almost 100 years and was established as a standard.
Then in 1947, the laminated wood racket, which changed the landscape of wooden rackets, appeared. It was the first tennis racket made of laminated wood (a technique of gluing thin layers of wood together), and the iconic wooden racket started to gain popularity as it could be painted and decaled. During this period, Dunlop, Wilson, Slesinger, and Spalding dominated the wooden racket market. Most other racket manufacturers failed to keep up with the innovation and disappeared during this period.
Dunlop Maxfly Port Racket
The most important tennis rackets of this period were the Dunlop Maxply Fort and the Wilson Jack Kramer.
Wilson Jack Creamer Racket
Metal racket
Tennis rackets, which had been made primarily of wood for a long time, underwent a change in 1961. René Lacoste, the founder of Lacoste, invented a metal racket.
René Lacoste, the first to develop a metal racket
Metal rackets have been around since the early 20th century, but they were so heavy that players continued to use lighter wooden rackets. René Lacoste patented the first steel racket in 1957, and the metal was lighter than wood and had a better grip thanks to the medical tape wrapped around it.
René Lacoste also invented the ball launcher, which allowed tennis players to practice on their own.
Afterwards, Wilson purchased the rights to Lacoste's rackets and opened the era of steel rackets in 1967 by introducing the 'Steel Racket T-2000' model in the Wilson catalog.
Wilson's 'T-2000' model that opened the era of steel rackets
The T-2000 model was favored by tennis legends Billie Jean King and Jimmy Connors, who used this steel racket to win the US Open, one of the Grand Slams, five times.
Wilson's T-2000 metal racket, popularized by Jimmy Conners, considered one of the greatest male players in tennis history.
Tennis queen Billie Jean King, who won a total of 39 Grand Slam titles
Rackets continued to evolve, with functional improvements such as a larger sweet spot, and from the 1970s onwards, rackets made of aluminum, which was lighter than steel, began to be used. The introduction of aluminum and steel frames resulted in lighter but more durable rackets, which provided greater power and maneuverability, allowing players to generate more speed and spin in their shots.
Graphite racket
The transition from wooden to metal rackets was a major turning point in the evolution of tennis rackets. But the real game changer was the introduction of graphite in the 1970s .
Prince Graphite Pro Series Racket (1983)
Graphite and graphite are lightweight yet durable, making it possible to create powerful yet maneuverable rackets.
In 1980, Dunlop developed the legendary MAX 200G model, a tennis racket using graphite, which quickly became a bestseller with the likes of John McEnroe and Steffi Graf using it.
John McEnroe (1983) using the Dunlop MAX200G model
John McEnroe was one of the greatest tennis stars of his generation, forming a rivalry with Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, and Ivan Lendl.
In particular, Steffi Graf swung this racket during the historic 1988 season when she won the Golden Grand Slam (winning all four major tournaments in a tennis career and an Olympic gold medal in the same year) .
Steffi Graf (1988), the only tennis player to achieve the Golden Slam in one year
Steffi Graf wins the 1988 Wimbledon Championships
Graphite rackets began to gain popularity after being used by famous players such as Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe, and Steffi Graf.
The 1975 Wimbledon match featuring Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe
Modern tennis racket
In the late 80s, technology began to advance further, and today tennis rackets are made from a variety of advanced composite materials, including ceramic, carbon fiber, and titanium. These materials make the rackets lighter and stronger, allowing for more power and control.
The materials and structure of the racket, as well as the shape and design of the racket, are diversifying to suit the needs and preferences of players.
Rackets are made in a variety of sizes and weights to suit different playing styles, with some players preferring a larger racket head size, while others prefer a smaller one.
(Original source: Racquet Magazine Issue 8, Evolution of Tennis Rackets , Evolution of Tennis Rackets )
A look at the history of tennis rackets can give us an idea of how tennis has evolved.
From a simple ball game played by French monks with their bare hands, the British introduced the game to their country and created what we know today as 'lawn tennis', in which a ball is passed over a net with a wooden racket on a large lawn.
When the British introduced this game to their country, they used the word 'tennez', which means 'hitting the ball', and the name tennis came to be known today.
In order to establish a lawn tennis tournament at that time, new rules were created and a tournament was held at a club in Wimbledon in 1877, and this tournament became the Wimbledon Tournament, one of the four major Grand Slams .
Wimbledon, one of the four Grand Slams, is the oldest tennis tournament, with the first tournament taking place in 1877.
From the early wooden materials to the metal rackets to the advanced composite materials used today, rackets have undergone many changes and have evolved to improve performance and durability. These racket advancements have allowed players to play with more power, control, and accuracy, taking tennis to a new level in terms of speed and athleticism.
Thanks to this, tennis is now becoming more popular as a sport where spectators are captivated by the dynamic play of players, and players and spectators breathe together more than ever before.