Today I hit with the Wilson T-2000 !
 

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.

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

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.

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.

^^^ 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!
(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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Come on... even a 10 year old should be able to figure out that the answer is 1000.

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.

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!

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.

The Ken Rosewall had a fairly soft feel to it - it reminded me of the Head Master.

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.

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.

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. :|

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.