Tennis is one of the most popular racket sports in the world. However, it is believed to have been originated as a game played with bare hands. If one were to travel back in time to 11th century France, they would find French monks playing a crude courtyard ball game against their monastery walls or over a rope hung across a courtyard [1]. It took about 500 years for the first rackets to surface in tennis. In the early 16th century, the game moved away from handball to being played with a wooden frame racket laced with sheep gut. The modern racket was still more than 400 years away and came into existence only in 1947. Advances in laminating technology resulted in the first tennis racket made of laminated wood. This was a game changer in racket technology as racket strings were introduced. Until then tennis rackets were made of solid wood, first introduced in 1874 to enable playing tennis on the lawns of England with bouncier balls made of vulcanized rubber.
Substantial technology-driven improvements have gone into racket frames as well as racket strings. The start of the open era in 1968, when professionals and amateurs began competing together for cash prizes, was probably a key driver behind the rapid development of tennis rackets seen around this period. Luca et all have rightly stated that materials have driven the historical development of the tennis rackets. The shift from wood to steel in 1968 allowed Wilson to produce larger, lighter, and stronger rackets. These rackets had a larger power or sweet spot, a place in the hoop where the racquet strings vibrate best to translate player effort to kinetic energy for the ball. Ever since, the quest to reduce racket weight and increase the sweet spot of rackets has driven manufacturers to move from steel to aluminum to feather-light carbon graphite, Kevlar and titanium. A lightweight modern racquet with a lower moment of inertia about the handle is also easier for the player to wield, and they tend to swing them faster during strokes.
The design of racket strings and managing the right tension in them also contributes to the success of a modern tennis player. Racket strings which were initially made from cow intestines, are today made from nylon and polyester because of their cost and durability. The right string stiffness, vibrations, weight, and power distribution allow players to generate adequate power as well as spin on the ball. Grips used on rackets too need to be perfect as there are a few different types of tennis grips players can use to help facilitate consistent, powerful groundstrokes and shots.
In elite sports, one solution does not fit all. Customization is at the heart of improving player performance. Smart rackets, with sensors that track movement, power, and resistance are the latest additions to practice courts right now. Statistics on speed, spin and the point on the racket that’s connecting with the ball provide invaluable data for players to improve their game as well as for racket manufacturers to customize rackets better. CAD systems, finite element analysis and 3D printing are some of the technologies that are being used inside the labs of racket manufacturers to enable them to build the best rackets for players.
Sustainable manufacturing is the latest trend creating waves among racket manufacturers. Modern composite tennis racquets made using labour intensive processes are not very environmentally friendly and has been a point of contention. Racquet manufacturers have started exploring more sustainable materials, such as recycled and natural fibre composites, and more automated manufacturing techniques like additive manufacturing. Head, an Austrian racket manufacturer has replaced carbon fibres in racket frames with flax based plant fibres, used recycled plastic in racket handles and substituted nylon strings with strings made of reinforced natural gut.
Racket manufacturing, like every other aspect of tennis, is constantly undergoing technical reinvention and there is no doubt that further advances in racket technology will shape tennis into the future.
References:
1. History TV. (2019). History of Tennis. [online] Available at: https://www.history.co.uk/history-of-sports/history-of-tennis.
2. Thomas Allen, T.C. (2020). A smashing history of how tennis rackets evolved from wood to fibre and changed the game. [online] Scroll.in. Available at: https://scroll.in/field/950696/a-smashing-history-of-how-tennis-rackets-evolved-from-wood-to-fibre-and-changed-the-game.
3. Luca Taraborrelli, Robyn Grant, Matthew Sullivan, Simon Choppin, James Spurr, Steve Haake and Tom Allen. “Materials Have Driven the Historical Development of the Tennis Racket”. Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(20), 4352;
4. Gurvinder Singh Gandu (2012). The Evolution of the Tennis Racket. [online] Complex. Available at: https://www.complex.com/sneakers/2012/08/the-evolution-of-the-tennis-racket.
5. Ainbinder, R. (n.d.). The Evolution of the Tennis Racquet. [online] www.sportstechbiz.com. Available at: https://www.sportstechbiz.com/p/the-evolution-of-the-tennis-racquet.
6. UK, S. (2018). The Evolution of Tennis: How Technology is Advancing the Game. [online] The SOLIDWORKS Blog. Available at: https://blogs.solidworks.com/solidworksblog/2018/07/the-evolution-of-tennis-how-technology-is-advancing-the-game.html.
7. Popular Mechanics. (2020). Tennis Racket Technology Is Way More Elaborate Than You Think. [online] Available at: https://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/sports/a30610612/tennis-racket-technology/ [Accessed 12 Oct. 2022].
As a tennis player, this article immediately caught my attention. I enjoyed the short history lesson as somehow I had never thought of how tennis was played hundreds of years ago; I always thought that tennis started to be played when the first wooden rackets were introduced.
However, sometimes, I believe that too much digitalization is not necessary in every field; sport being one of them. One of the few things in today’s world that remains fully dependent on human skill is a sport and, call me conservative if you may, but I would prefer it to remain that way. Thinking of a time that perhaps racket manufacturing has further evolved, offering personalized rackets to tennis players, I believe that if rackets are “optimized” too much, they may start to have an influence on the results of tennis games. It could be the case that players with newer, perfectly manufactured rackets have an edge on players using rackets produced by “older” means. In addition, one ought to keep in mind that tennis is not solely played by the highly acclaimed players on TV, so such rackets might be viewed as unnecessary by a good chunk of the market.
I really enjoyed the article, as it clearly provoked my thoughts and I realized I have some set opinions on this case hahah.
Haha the conservative tennis fan in me also felt the same for a long time. While i agree with you that sports is probably one of the last things that depends a lot (though not fully) on human skill, elite sport has already been digitized beyond recognition for a player from the 20th century. Two of the main reasons for this are money and reputation that comes with being at the peak of any professional sport. Digitalization is at least a better and a transparent way of improving the game than doping. Also, unlike sciences, where we think of a solution and then think of a way to teach a machine to automate it and forget about it, sports science, however advanced still depends a lot on the skill of an individual. You cannot create Carlos Alcaraz in a test environment. His inherent skills matter. And even after identifying his skill and providing him with the best racket, he needs to play to his potential to win.
I feel if not the game itself, such racket could be extremely beneficial for a player to train and understand his game
As a tennis enthusiast, this post was very interesting to read! It was especially interesting to read about the development of the tennis strings, as it is something that only few people pay attention to, but is actually one of the most, if not the most, important parts of a tennis racket.
In terms of the smart rackets, I am still very skeptical about it. Having spent a large time of my life travelling to different tennis tournaments and working closely with high-level professional tennis players, I can confirm that they don’t use smart rackets themselves, even though the technology has been around for a while already. They make use of the smart court technologies and ball tracking technologies, but smart rackets still have not found their way into professional tennis. But this could be due to the fact that the professionals can get little insight into their game with the smart rackets, while for beginners or even semi-professional players this technology could be more beneficial.
With all things said, it was a great read and just like you, I am also excited to see how the games and the technologies in it change in the nearest future.
Hi Ivan, would love to catchup with you offline on your tennis travels and experiences. I agree that professionals don’t use smart rackets during matches as there is an ITF ban on using such rackets. The on court coaching ban too renders such technologies useless during matches. However, Babolat has published that a number of players using Babolat rackets, actually use smart rackets while training. While there has been no clear statement from Babolat’s biggest embassador, Rafael Nadal, players like Karolina Pliskova, Julia Goerges, Yanina Wickmayer, Caroline Wozniacki and Jo Wilfred Tsonga have openly spoken about analysing their practice sessions using smart rackets. Nadal too has spoken about it in passing. (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/sports/2015/1/19/analysing-the-smart-racket). Like I said earlier, if not the actual game the smart rackets would be a big competitive advantage for players and trainers while they train to understand the game better.