Movie showing 'history of tennis racket' in 1 minute 30 seconds is open

The minimum necessary to enjoy tennis is ball and tennis racket. The origin of tennis dates back to BC but the shape of the tennis racket that has been used in recent years has been decided in the second half of the 19th century. After the shape of the racket is decided, Bloomberg explains how the tennis racket evolved in 1 minute 30 seconds.

How Tennis Rackets Got Their Shape - YouTube


The tennis racket we know well was invented by Mr. Walter Crawton Wingfield in 1874.

At this time he has not only tennis rackets but also patents on the rules of tennis in general including balls and nets.

After that, the appearance of the tennis racket will not change greatly, but the material changed rapidly. A wooden racket was mainstream when entering the 20th century, but in 1961 René Lacoste announced the prototype of a metal tennis racket called "crocodile".

Wilson began selling stainless steel racket "T - 2000" in the coming years.

The T - 2000 has a small racquet head, a hole in the throat between the head and the grip, and it is designed with consideration of air resistance. This tennis racket was to be loved by Mr. Billy Jean King and Jimmy Connors who were current active players at the time. In addition, Mr. Connors has succeeded in winning the US Open five times by using this T - 2000.

In the 1970s aluminum lighter than iron was used as a material.

Afterwards, because it applies strong force to the ball, improvement in function has been done, such as enlarging the sweet spot, it seemed that new material did not come out ... ...

In recent years rackets using light and durable new materials such as graphite and Kevlar have appeared.

In the 2017 professional tournament, professional players who use Wilson and Babola 's tennis racket account for the majority, the proportion of which is 71%. Between professional players these two tennis rackets are mainstream.