Today I hit with the Wilson T-2000 !

Sentinel

Bionic Poster
I normally use the PS 6.0 95" but decided to try out the T2000 my brother pulled out of his attic. Remember the headsize is about 70 sq inches.

People on the adjoining courts were staring to see what was shining so much - it has a metallic frame :)

It hits well, as is certainly not heavy (if you play with a 350 gm racket daily).

I liked the hits on the sweetspot. I was brushing up on the ball just fine. No problems. The 1h backhand was going well too.

The only issue I had was the metallic sound it makes when you hit near the frame.

After about 15 minutes, I shifted back to the Prostaff. The main difference I immediately found was in the solid feel of the PS. The PS felt heavenly - the sound and the feel of the hit.

It was only 15 minutes of play, and no competition but I was certainly not framing the ball, nor did it feel more difficult than a 95". I liked it.

Anyone else have memories of the T2000, or hit with it recently. Would like to hear other experiences.
 
The famous young writer, David Foster Wallace called it "the single sh!ttiest piece of tennis equipment ever produced".

Kind of a fun puzzle to string. IF it's in good shape, a quarter fits down in the 'shaft' and rests right above the handle.

The sound is an acquired taste.
It twists less than an aluminum frame. I feel it is more powerful than a wooden one.
Off center hits are not good with it.

Sentinel, it is impressive that you played well with it. You'll play even better with a standard sized wood frame that's freshly strung. Nothing like it. A good wood frame will make your Pro Staff feel tinny.
 

McLovin

Legend
My parents told me of a tournament they went to in Florida years ago where Connors was playing (most likely, The Lipton when it was played in Boca). He started the match out w/ the original Pro Staff (it was brand new back then) and played like crap, losing the 1st set horribly.
He then went over to his bag, muttered some obscenity about the racket, reached in, and pulled out his trusty T-2000.
I believe he went on to win the next two sets something like 6-2, 6-1.

I grew up w/ the T-2000 & T-3000. I really can't remember what was different between the two...I was only 10.
 
I had a T4000, it was the "higher taech version of the T3000.

I switched from that to the wood
"Wilson Advantage" .

Now that was a nice stick! in it's day.
 

Sentinel

Bionic Poster
^^^ slice, lol, I am still waiting to meet the old fogey :) who was throwing away his wood racket - he's disappeared since the day I decided to relieve him of it!
A good wood frame will make your Pro Staff feel tinny.
(laughing at this one!) Sir, my prostaff 6.0 is like caviar, like camembert, like crisp buttered toasted bread ... I can't imagine it being tinny !
After putting down the T2000, when i hit with the PS, it was like falling in love again :)

Anyway, thanks a lot for your insights.
 

LuckyR

Legend
I had a T 3000 it was the worst racket ever. The only reason anyone used it was Conners used it.

Well, the only reason Conners used it was that his was heavily modified and did not resemble the tinny POS that was available to the public.

BTW, if you are pulling one of those things out of the attic, you would need to restring it to get the real feel of the stick. 1977 strings aren't going to cut it...
 

Freedom

Professional
I have a few of them, and some wood racquets with ancient string. I like hitting with them- they are great for warming up before a practice. You really have to swing through and get moving to make it work.
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
I grew up w/ the T-2000 & T-3000. I really can't remember what was different between the two...I was only 10.
If I remember correctly, the T-3000 added a stabilizer piece of metal near the throat that was welded in between the two metal bar shafts.
 

Tchocky

Hall of Fame
I have a T-2000 but have never had it restrung. Did anyone ever use this racquet besides Connors?
 

Deuce

Banned
Tchocky said:
I have a T-2000 but have never had it restrung. Did anyone ever use this racquet besides Connors?
Well, René Lacoste invented the T-2000...
He never used it in competition, though, as he was about 60 years old when he invented it.

I grew up w/ the T-2000 & T-3000. I really can't remember what was different between the two...I was only 10.
Come on... even a 10 year old should be able to figure out that the answer is 1000.
 

Sentinel

Bionic Poster
It's not so bad really. The head is so small by today's standards that its just a sweetspot with a frame around it.
You hit the ball, and it IS on the sweetspot. (ok, i know thats pushing it a bit :) )

Then you move over to a 95" and it feels like it has the area of a soccer field.
 

HypheN

New User
T3000 & T5000...

I'm sorry, but I couldn't disagree more about the previous comment saying that the old T3000, 5000, etc series is crappy. I've been using my trusty T3000 since the 6th grade.. I'm now 28, and I still love that shiny "beast". It's also good to learn on, because it trains you to hit within a smaller space on the racquet, thus honing your skills that much further.

Today, on a chance visit to the local thrift store, I picked up a T3000 AND a T5000 -- both with their original covers! There were a few minor knicks/wearing on the leather handles, but it was nothing a little bit of tightly-wound electrical tape didn't cure. The strings on both of them are still nice and tight. I picked them both up for a whopping $6!! I just got back from the court with my wife. I used the T5000 the whole time, and loved it! The way the T5000s are strung, it seems to allow a bit more precise control over the T3000, which has a much more even string spacing throughout. (My wife told me the other day that she wanted to learn tennis... So I'm having her start out with the same racquet I started with! -- She did quite well for her 1st time out!)

Anyways, these younger kids these days are all caught up with the lighter composite racquets with the larger hitting areas... I think more people should try the metal T series out thoroughly before passing judgments. :D

Cheers!
 

superstition

Hall of Fame
A forgotten racquet is the Seamco Ken Rosewall. It was a solid aluminum with large thick black rubber grommets on the inside of the frame. The string when through them and not through the metal frame. I have one with a broken grommet and I have no idea how people were able to string them and without replacement grommets the racquet is unusable. The Ken Rosewall was made as a competitor for the T-2000, but didn't catch on. I enjoyed playing with the racquet (despite the horribly thick string in it). Forehands were pin-point, more perfectly aimed than with any other racquet I've used. Volleys were abysmal. Flat serving was effortless. It was quite stiff.

I'd like to play with it again, but the grommets are impossible to find. Even if I find one on the auction site, I have no idea how it could be strung by a stringer.
 
I played a Chemold aluminum for a while back in the seventies. More buttery than the T-4000, more power than the woodies. Used it for about a year in high school.
 

Steady Eddy

Legend
Well, the only reason Conners used it was that his was heavily modified and did not resemble the tinny POS that was available to the public.

BTW, if you are pulling one of those things out of the attic, you would need to restring it to get the real feel of the stick. 1977 strings aren't going to cut it...

I got to be curious about what it would be like to hit with a pre-oversize racquet. I called around, and found that the only place that has racquets like that is Goodwill. They had an old T-2000 (was I just redundant?)

I had it restrung and regripped. (Gross grip) I find it almost impossible to play with. I have to use a very short stroke and be content with just chipping it back. Can't really aim it very much as it seems to shoot all over.

Connors put lead tape on his, but wasn't that what he used for most of his carreer?
 

LuckyR

Legend
I got to be curious about what it would be like to hit with a pre-oversize racquet. I called around, and found that the only place that has racquets like that is Goodwill. They had an old T-2000 (was I just redundant?)

I had it restrung and regripped. (Gross grip) I find it almost impossible to play with. I have to use a very short stroke and be content with just chipping it back. Can't really aim it very much as it seems to shoot all over.

Connors put lead tape on his, but wasn't that what he used for most of his carreer?


Congrats in finding someone who knew how to string it.

Connors did use it for the majority of his initial career.
 

fridrix

Rookie
I had a T-3000 in high school and recent acquired one from a thrift shop. To me, it plays like a heavy wood racquet, which I like. The head really looks small.

I enjoy hitting with it.

I don't enjoy hitting my knee with it. :|
 

Steady Eddy

Legend
Congrats in finding someone who knew how to string it.

Connors did use it for the majority of his initial career.

Not really. The first place I went to was able to string it. In this case the guy at Sports Authority. And he doesn't even play tennis! My brother worked in a pro-shop and told me that they didn't like to string T-2000s. Something about if you make a mistake, you have to start all over.
 
This is from an article in Sports Illustrated written by Alexander Wolff:

'Connors had picked up the Wilson T-2000 racket for the same reason any teenager would, because its extruded-aluminum frame looked cool. Yet the T-2000 proved to be a perfect technical match for his game and far too temperamental for anyone else's. No one but Connors had the eye and the grooved ground strokes to find and exploit the racket's tiny sweet spot. "Everybody thought I hit the ball hard--I didn't hit the ball hard," he says, with a nod to the T-2000. As tennis journalist Peter Bodo puts it, Connors simply brandished "a futuristic instrument that gleamed with the promise of heroic deeds and lethal power. It was Arthur and Excalibur all over again."'

Good article ... describing Connors as a kind of Elvis.

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1104307/index.htm

As I recall, there was one US Open in the late 1980s where Connors ran out of T2000s (and when Wilson stopped making them). So he made a public appeal to weekend hackers. He received something like 1500 offers.
 

fridrix

Rookie
Not really. The first place I went to was able to string it. In this case the guy at Sports Authority. And he doesn't even play tennis! My brother worked in a pro-shop and told me that they didn't like to string T-2000s. Something about if you make a mistake, you have to start all over.

You don't string it just straight across one string at a time, you make a kind of box pattern. The stringing pattern is completely bizarre.
 

fridrix

Rookie
This is from an article in Sports Illustrated written by Alexander Wolff:

'Connors had picked up the Wilson T-2000 racket for the same reason any teenager would, because its extruded-aluminum frame looked cool. Yet the T-2000 proved to be a perfect technical match for his game and far too temperamental for anyone else's. No one but Connors had the eye and the grooved ground strokes to find and exploit the racket's tiny sweet spot. "Everybody thought I hit the ball hard--I didn't hit the ball hard," he says, with a nod to the T-2000. As tennis journalist Peter Bodo puts it, Connors simply brandished "a futuristic instrument that gleamed with the promise of heroic deeds and lethal power. It was Arthur and Excalibur all over again."'

Good article ... describing Connors as a kind of Elvis.

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1104307/index.htm

As I recall, there was one US Open in the late 1980s where Connors ran out of T2000s (and when Wilson stopped making them). So he made a public appeal to weekend hackers. He received something like 1500 offers.

It's steel not aluminium? :confused:
 

yourmailman

Rookie
T-2000 still a fine racquet

I started playing tennis again last year after a 27 year layoff. I still had 2 of my T-2000's from the 70's (with a 1980 or 81 string job). I went out and bought a cheap Wilson Federer and didn't like it at all. I pulled my trusty T-2000's out of moth balls and started hitting with them. It still hit like a baseball bat and actually improved my game from the cheap Wilson (go figure).

I played in a league with them and didn't do too bad considering how rusty I was and the fact that I was playing with an ancient racquet. I did get a lot of strange looks trotting out onto the court with my steel racquet and my Rod Laver shoes (which Adidas is making again!). But I also got quite a few compliments on my shot-making with "that tiny racquet".

I think I may have one restrung to see what that will do.

I currently use the Dunlop AeroGel 500 Tour. I demo'd quite a few racquets, but it felt the most familiar to the T-2000. I have added lead tape to make it heavier like the old steel trampoline. Still, nothing feels quite like taking a hard, fast, high (two-handed) backhand shot on the rise with the T-2000 and rifling it back over the net to the disbelief of your stunned opponent.
 

meltphace 6

Hall of Fame
I restrung a T3000 recently (some sort of boxed pattern). My most terrible stringing experience so far. Who came up with this bs design?
 

yourmailman

Rookie
Rene Lacoste came up with the design in 1963. It was marketed in Europe under the Lacoste brand and in the U.S. by Wilson.
 

Sentinel

Bionic Poster
Accidentally found this thread got bumped. Last i played with it, i recall it making a tinny vibration at times. And yes the glint of the racquet got a lot of looks.

Wonder if i could get it restrung ?
 

tennisee

Rookie
I have a T3000, but my friend has a T2000 - way different IMHO. I was playing with a mate on grass, and this third guy brought his T2000 out for us to try.

Very flexible. Many slips out of the hand on serve (old leather grip) OK on grass but not so good on a hardcourt!.

A long time needed to set up - very leisurely strokes and follow through.

We each played a couple of games with it, and switched back to our regular sticks.

Funny thing was - the T2000 won most games! Not that I'd dream of using it in comp - but a good lesson to test one's expectations!
 

Sentinel

Bionic Poster
Having had a 2 year layoff due to shoulder injury, i'd probably keep the T2000 and other relics in the cupboard and probably buy a new larger head size when i get back.
 

bugeyed

Semi-Pro
snip

As I recall, there was one US Open in the late 1980s where Connors ran out of T2000s (and when Wilson stopped making them). So he made a public appeal to weekend hackers. He received something like 1500 offers.

At the '86 US Open Connors was hanging out at the Babolat stringing area & someone mentioned that they had found a T-2000 if he wanted it. He rolled his eyes & said "I'll never be able to change racquets. People keep sending them to me!"

Cheers,
kev
 

coachrick

Hall of Fame
I was at a local thrift store this week and found a near-pristine T-3000 with original red spiral International nylon. I have a few and couldn't decide if it was worth the $4.99 price(with cover). Figured 'why not' and went to check out. Didn't realize the store had switched to 'by the pound' pricing...everything is left in the shopping cart and weighed to determine price. The checker looked a little puzzled and I told him to shoot for 18 ounces(with cover). He said the scale registered in 'half-pound' increments and finally came up with a price.....eighty-one cents!!! I think I made out OK. :)
 

GS

Professional
How could Connors become one of the best returners of all-time with that tiny sweetspot? Incredible.
After he changed to midplus racquets later, he said, "If I switched earlier, I would of won alot more tournaments."
I've got a T-2000. My favorite tennis shop here still has a T-3000. When I almost bought it years ago, they said, "This once belonged to Renee Richards." So I felt queasy and stayed away....
 

yourmailman

Rookie
T-2000 strikes again

I was playing a match on Wednesday and towards the end of the match, decided to pull out one of my old T-2000s from the magic bag of stuff.

I was surprised by a few things:

1) Darn thing still hits pretty well, despite having a sweet-spot the size of a dime, and being a lot heavier than most modern era racquets.

2) The sweet sound of the ping of the strings when you hit the ball. When I had mine strung, some 32 years ago, I had it strung at 80. It still feels like it might be somewhere around 68-70.

3) The leather grip feels awesome.

4) I won 50% of the games playing a higher level player with a modern racquet.

Not a bad outing for the old girl.
 

jimanuel12

Semi-Pro
I had a T 3000 it was the worst racket ever. The only reason anyone used it was Conners used it.

you have got that right - i bought one in 1980 - gave $40.00 for it - which was allot of money back then.
the sweet spot was tiny - had allot of power but they sucked.
i finally sold my 2 (had a T-2000 and a T-3000).
worst racquets ever designed.
yes - i got one because Conner used it.
glad i got rid of those things.:)
 
My stringer has had mine for about a month now as a template for stringing another T2000 for a customer. Previous to me lending mine to him, he had the other one sitting there unstrung for about a month and a half. He just couldn't get his head around it and he's an excellent stringer (he really is, one of few people I fully trust my racquets with)!

On the plus side, it hits quite well!
 

yourmailman

Rookie
I have been lowering the tension on my modern racquets. In fact, I just got through stringing one at 30#s!

I think I may have to add one of my T-2000's to the experiment now that I have stringing instructions.
 

_skunk_

Rookie
All those metal rackets were junk, never liked could really not understand how people could use those clubs.
 

_skunk_

Rookie
I think Jimmy Connors might disagree with you. :)

I know :) and i liked him a lot.

But I never understood how you can leave the wood rackets for those ones. I also remember that a journalist who knows Connors personally, during a broadcast of a tennis match of Connors, said that the beginning of 80's Connors he searching for T2000 pubblishing adds in the newspapers.
 
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LeeD

Bionic Poster
Head Master was prolly the first really good alloy racket. Then Pro and YonexOPS's were excellent because they were stiff and swung fast.
Wilson's steel rackets were great for redirection of the ball, great for controlled swings to produce power, great for precise swings.
Horrid for fast swings....control wise.
 

yourmailman

Rookie
I've always been told I have a pretty fast swing, and I don't recall having any issues with control with the T-2000's.
 

LeeD

Bionic Poster
That's your problem, you listen to other's, while YOU should be the judge.
If you had fast strokes, you could hit ATP level shots with almost any racket, and you'd not be searching for new rackets.
But you don't, and worse, you listen to what your peers and friends say, and they are at WHAT level?
 
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