The history of the tennis racket

Since tennis began, the racket has changed quite a lot over the years, which has made the game faster and added a lot more spin to the shots!

The first "lawn tennis racket" was made in England in 1874, and rackets made of wood were used in the game right up until the late 1950s! In the 1930s and 1940s, 3 major tennis brands began making these rackets - Slazenger, Dunlop and Wilson. These companies still make tennis equipment today!

In 1957 Rene Lacoste patented the first metal racket, although it generated more power than the wooden rackets, it was extremely heavy because it was made of steel! Many olayers continued with wooden rackets right up until the early 1980s

From the early 1980s, materials used in rackets began to change so that there could be more powerful shots without neing so heavy. At this time, aluminium started to be used as well as Graphite and carbon fibre

Modern day rackets are now all made of graphite - and the size of the racket heads are the biggest in history, with most pros using 98 - 100 square inch frames. The most popular brands amongst the pro players are: Head, Babolat, Wilson, Tecnifibre and Yonex