Yonex R7

Yonex R7 with original Yonex racquet bag from early 1980s

The previous owner of this stick must have been a Navratilova fan because not only is this the racquet that she started her career with but the racquet bag is a special edition to commemorate her Grand Slam achievement in 1983 -4.  She won the Australian, Wimbledon and US in 83' and picked up the French in 84'.  Not a bad year's work!  Unfortunately, I cannot offer comments on the playabilit of this racket because the string tension is such that it feels like a trampolene.  But a nice piece of tennis history nonetheless.

Wilson Hammer 6.2 Stretch (aka 'The Skunk')

The distinctive black and white paint job of 'The Skunk'

A racket I picked up recently for a couple of euros...one that I had heard a lot about.  In fact, I used it this morning for the first time and won my match.  Firstly, it offers good control combined with good plough through due to its head heavy balance. Being a bit longer it means you can hit the ball higher/earlier on the toss, which helped me make fewer double faults because the angle of the ball leaving the racquet was narrower and so reduces the likelihood of hitting long.  Getting familiar with the longer frame will no doubt take a bit more practice because the swing pattern is slightly different from my normal game, but this stick could definitely become a favourite of mine.

Yamaha Silver 90

The Yamaha Silver 90, with sliding side bars so head weighting can be altered

Yamaha is one of the lost names of tennis racquet production, but their quality is second to none.
These are ceramic frames, which I normally do not go for since I find ceramics a bit toothless ususally. However, what makes these frames notable is the way you can alter the weight/head balance by moving plastic sliding panels on either side of the frame in order to generate more spin or more plough.  I am suprised this very innovative idea never caught on, but I imagine the patent was lost when Yamaha exited the tennis scene.  Maybe it is time to resurrect this idea...come on Wilson, give Yamaha a break and either buy the patent off them or allow Yamaha to re-enter the racquet market.

by moving the slide panel, head balance can be altered

Prince Graphite

The Prince Graphite 90 Series and original Prince Graphite (110)

The Prince Graphite is one of those sticks that often comes up in players' all-time favourite racquet lists.  Used by Michael Chang and Andre Agassi to name but two pros who swung them to great effect. With the distinctive T-bar, Prince never really made anything better than these beauties and it is not too suprising that they  recently re-introduced these classic looking frames for a new generation of tennis fans.  But these are the original early models.  For consistent and solid play I would put them right up there with the Wilson Pro Staffs.

Dunlop Max 150g and Dunlop Max 200g

Dunlop Max range : the 150g (top) and 200g (forever to be associated with McEnroe and Graf)

 Found these two at my local recycling centre and was mightily pleased, as you might expect to get a piece of tennis history for a few euros.  The smaller headed Max 150g was the forerunner for the larger Max 200g, but more about that in a moment.  The Max 150g was styled on the old wooden frame and is fairly rare to find these days. With its 63 sq. inch head size and blue paint job, it otherwise shares the same injected graphite moulding process as the Max 200g, which John McEnroe would make famous. It packs quite a punch for its size given the hefty plow through it generates.

The Dunlop Max 200g is, of course, a well known classic used by The Mac and Steffi Graf.  Hard to know what to say about this stick that hasn't been said.  It has a nice smooth feel, generates good plough through and can still give modern frames a run for their money.  That said, both these rackets are heavy for serving.  But when one considers they were up against rival wooden frames there is just no contest.  Ironic that McEnroe championed the era of graphite sticks but nowadays he often laments the passing of wood and the rise of power tennis over spin and guile that the players of eras past displayed.I didn't notice him complaining when his ground breaking Max 200g was crushing his more traditionalist wooden frame wielding opponents!

Yamaha's Hi-Flex Lite and Hi-Flex Super Lite

The excellent Hi-Flex Lite from Yamaha

Flexible rackets are my favourites to play with and Yamaha and Fox are the two brands that, for me,
offer excellent arm friendly play and also give good control.  The Yamaha Hi-Flex Lite is a personal favourite.  Despite the rather plain paintjob, this racket really sparkles on court.  Flexible frames need to be strung at a fairly high tension, in my view, for the frame to really bend and snap back when ploughing through the ball.  This one is not has high as I would like, but is sufficiently tight to really 'Feel The Difference', as Yamaha's rhetoric goes.  Unfortunately, the Superlite (see below) needs a restring because the tension is far too low for anything to flex except the strings themselves.  However, I fully expect it to perform well once this is done.  These rackets are light, evenly balanced sticks that make me wish Yamaha still made ones like them!

In need of a restring, but the Hi-Flex Super Lite is one I really look forward to using soon.

Yamaha EOS (Efficiency of Swingweight) and Yamaha EOS RZ

Yamaha EOS with weight distributed towards top of the frame to promote swingability

 The Yamaha EOS was this great company's final entry into the tennis racket market - a sad day indeed.  Having owned a few rackets I can say that Yamaha have some of the nicest constructed rackets I have come across - real build quality!  They look good too.  Such as shame they no longer appear on the tennis tour.  The word online is that the EOS led to a patent infraction with Wilson over their Hammer model, and in order to settle the dispute Yamaha agreed to quit racket production altogether.  If true, I can see why Wilson settled for this because they knew they were losing a major competitor in the market.

The EOS is a lightweight frame with nice flex, but certainly not as flexy as other sticks of theirs I have tried.  Importantly, these EOS frames can still hold their own against modern rackets, which is one of the reasons I love Yamaha so much.  Pictured above is the 100 sq. inch EOS model in sandal brown...and below is the EOS RZ, with the slightly larger 110 sq.inch frame and the much
 nicer paint job, don't you think?

a 1990s classic - powerful and light!

Yamaha Secret 04

the legendary Yamaha Secret 04

 Revered as one of Yamaha's best ever sticks!  Of course, beauty (and status) is very much in the eye of the beholder when it comes to tennis rackets as everyone's playing style and racket bias is different.  I bought this one knowing that it was a very stiff and heavy frame...not light and flexible like most of my other Yamaha frames, which I prefer.  But curiousity in a racket which seemed to be a seeming opposite to the other Yamaha's I had tried made be want to get it.  In terms of comparison, think more in the line of Wilson Pro-Staff for stiffness and plough through.  It is certainly a beast! Hard to find good examples too, so if you want a nice second hand one check the paint job carefully to make sure there are no chips.  Mine has several, but it hard to tell from the photos until you get up close and personal in real life!  Endorsed by Yannick Noah, this tells you how old it is.

strange signature style Mr Noah!

Coming this summer!

coming to classic racquets soon!

A lot of 'new' classic racquets are waiting in the wings to be uploaded this summer...these include the following:
Wilson Pro Staff Classic 6.1
Pro Kennex Shadow 90
Prince CTS Lightning
and many more....
For neat pics and insightful comments please drop in to www.classicracquets.blogspot.com !

Fox Bosworth Tournament

My all-time favourite stick, the Fox Bosworth Tournament: flexible frame, dense string pattern, tapered handle - just awesome!

This racquet is my match favourite and has been for a long time, even though I regularly test out other frames.  But this is the one I always come back to.

For those that don't know, Fox were an American racquet manufacturer who teamed up with Warren Bosworth, a professional racquet technician and innovator who worked with some of the sport's greats! He is possibly best known for being Ivan Lendl's personal racquet stringer in the 1980s.The story goes that Lendl needed rackets restrung and dispatched to him asap.He rang Bosworth up late one night but when asked for the stringing tension Lendl was not sure. So Bosworth set up a tape recorder and got Lendl to give the string tension tone of his existing match racket over the phone. Using this he was able to string up Lendl's new racquets to perfection. But Bosworth is also a master of experimentation with racquet materials and shapes and in this regard Fox signed him up to develop their Professional and Signature Series sticks.

the tapered handle that makes this racquet uniquely comfortable and spin friendly

The one here has a dense string pattern (18 x 20) that allows for a lot of control.It is also head light, which promotes good spin. But the standout feature of this model is the unique grip shape, which is tapered to fit easily and smoothly into the hand. It allows for extremely wristy shots and is paricularly helpful for imparting extra slice and spin because you can really snap your wrist sharply as you execute the shot. In my view, all racquet handles should be made like this but I imagine Bosworth owns the patent.It is the ONLY racquet I have ever seen with this feature and is why I love this stick so much. Added to which, this is a very flexible frame that holds the ball as you hit it for a milisecond and is arm friendly too. All in all, and pound for pound (well, gram for gram/ounce for ounce) this is my fave racquet of all time....and I have used quite a few!

Originally, I came across my beloved Fox Bosworth Tournament in a charity shop for around 3 GBP and this seemed a gamble as I had never heard of Fox or Warren Bosworth at this time. But I am SO glad I bought it.  I have used a lot of flexible frames, in particular Yonex frames (RD series, RQ, RDS) and also some other Fox Bosworth frames too - but none of these even come close to the flex and control I get with my Fox Bosworth Tournament.I especially enjoy using it to win against players using expensive modern frames, who often ask me what brand I am using. This really is an undiscovered classic in this reviewer's opinion! 
 
I have tried to find more examples of this stick on online auction sites but despite finding lots of Fox Bosworth sticks, never this one!  I would love to buy a spare frame, so if anyone has one to sell or will possibly swap with me for one of my other sticks, please get in touch!

Donnay Graphite Plus 35

Donnay produced this one in the early 1980s and was apparently used by Chip Hooper - but this name is a bit before my time.  The design reveals that Donnay were still in the early days of moving away from wood.  But this stick would have offered a flexible option back then.  The number 35 appears to relate to head size.  Donnay made a 25, 35 and 50 plus stick with the head size 25%, 35% and 50% larger than standard respectively.  However, if I am wrong about this and the number does relate to flex, then let me know.

Fischer Match Maker (1&2)

the fairly rare Fischer Match Maker 1 and rarer Match Maker 2

Here we have some of the first post-wood frames from Fischer - the Match Maker 1 and Match Maker 2.  These sticks from the late 1970s were designed to blow away wooden frames for power!  The heft, especially on the MM2 is massive - this being the heaviest frame I have ever picked up.  It is almost like wielding a sword rather than a racquet! It is essentially a wooden frame in design but cast in metal - or graphite composite. In comparison, the MM1, with its open throated design is closer in design to modern sticks, but it is still heavy.

Apparently the Matchmaker was used by Australian champ Bob Hewitt and his doubles partner, Frew McMillan - a bit before my time.

I don't have specs for these sticks but in terms of head size think of your classic wooden racquet.  May give these a try soon, though for serving one will need a strong arm and wrist. They do feel very inflexible to me also, but one link on Tennis Warehouse suggests they were designed to mimic the feel of wood.  Hard to believe on current evidence.

Yamaha Hi Flex Special

a little known classic - the Yamaha Hi Flex

This, in my view, is something of an undiscovered classic stick that I picked up from a recycling centre recently. From the lush padded case (these little things add to a racket too), to the neat silver finish, this racket just told me to buy it.  But the real clincher was the fact that I love flexible frames and the name of this racquet promised all the benefits of an arm-friendly experience with the wonderful hitting experience you can get from a frame that bends with the ball. Anyone who loves flexi frames knows what I am talking about - that sensation of bend and release that comes when you connect sweetly with a hit and also the sense of suspended time as the ball is held by the racket for a split second.  So, I was excited to try it, though not expecting too much since Yamaha are hardly a manufacturer people usually rave about.  But straight away this racquet gave me what I wanted.  It bends so sweetly when you strike the ball cleanly.

It has a 90 sq. inch head (approximately) but despite this the sweet spot seems generous.  The spin it gives me is considerable and this allows me to put more power into my shots without hitting long.  All in all a wonderful racket and one that is now right up there among my very favourite racquets. If anyone knows anything about the Yamaha Hi Flex range (I know there is a Hi Flex 3 and 9 respectively, for instance) then please leave a comment.

Pro Staff 6.1 Classic (Tour Edition)

Having used the original Pro Staff (110 sq. inch) I decided to splash out and buy the 6.1 stick.  Not quite sure what I expected but I was immediately disappointed.  Maybe it was the string tension or maybe the grip size (L5) that meant this racket never quite worked for me.  It also did not have the same heavy dependable feel of my other beloved Pro Staff.  The feel of this racket was predictably stiff as you would expect from a Pro Staff but with a smaller sweet spot too I never warmed to it.  However, the paint job is lovely.  With a 95 sq. inch head and a stiffness rating of 72 you will need a swift swing speed to get the most from this frame.

Wilson T2000

The racquet made famous by the great Jimmy Connors.  The Wilson T2000 is one of the most recognizable racquets of all-time.  Its appearance marked the transition away from wooden frames and marked the dawn of a new era in tennis that ultimately lead towards graphite frames.  These frames are steel in construction and are incredibly heavy - no wonder Jimmy played with two hands!!
The stringing is also interesting, with the strings attached to the frame by wire grommets.  I have never really used these.  The heads are incredibly small - much less than 90 sq. inches (possibly 63 sq. inches ).  To use one you would need to be extremely accurate and have great technique. But they offer a fascinating glimpse into the tennis history.

Wilon Pro Staff 110 (large head version)

One of my all time favourite sticks - the Chicago made Pro Staff.  This large headed version is great for me because it combines a large hitting area with superb plow through to put real weight on the ball.  It is one of the very few vintage racquets that can still hold its own against modern sticks.  However, it is heavy for serving and hard to create whip, so you need a strong wrist for this. But it is amazingly stable and great at the net for volleying.  All in all one of the best racquets ever made in my view. 

Snauwaert Ergonom

This stick has to be one of the most eccentric ever made.  The idea was to improve the hitting area for forehands and backhands by changing the angle of the head by 45 degrees or so.  However, when serving they feel very strange and the position of the head gets some getting used to.  Maybe this is why they are something of a 'one hit wonder' - most people try them out to satisfy their curiosity and then put them away again.  Not sure if they are easy to restring on modern machines either, so another reason not to risk using them too much.  Again, found this one in a charity shop and mighty surprised I was to see it too! 

Snauwaert Hi-Ten 30

The Snauwaert Hi-Ten 30 is one I picked up from a charity shop/thrift store for a few pounds, so imagine my surprise when I I found the same racket priced on eb** for quite a bit more.  Snauwaert's innovative reputation is demonstrated here by the extraordinary 12 x 13 stringing pattern.  The large space between strings means this racquet can generate considerable bite and put heavy spin on a ball.  The strings too are incredibly thick.  I have not used this one much - it is more of a talking point in my collection than a stick I use. Plus, I am not sure that if a string broke I could find replacement gut of the same gauge for it.  The Hi-Ten was one of a number in the Hi-Ten range that were notable for their spin potential.  Definitely the most collectable of the sticks in this collection.

The thick gauge of  string that features on the Snauwaert Hi-Ten 30 racket

Yonex RX-32

No cover for this one, unfortunately and due to the broken strings I have not yet had a change to try it.  But many Yonex fans cite this racquet as a real all-time classic and one of the finest that the Japanese company ever produced.  Round or oval headed, and not the famous isometric shape that Yonex is renowned for, this thin beam 16x20 strung stick is geared for control rather than power.  Similar in flex to the R-22 but a heftier hitter. Just wish I could have found that case...oh well.

Yonex Rexking 22

The R-22 made famous by Martina Navratilova

One of the most flexible Yonex racquets and the one that took Navratilova to the top of world tennis. She used it from 1984 to 1987.   With a 90 sq. inch head and a stiffness rating of 52 this graphite and fibre glass stick has a bit of a cult following.  More of a control than a power frame but with a large
sweetspot for its head size.  Looking forward to using this one over the summer.

80s advert for the Yonex R-22