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 !