The Snauwaert fanclub _/¯

[Rorsach]

An ode to the classic racquets from Snauwaert, the manufacturer from Belgium.

They were the first (afaik) to engrave the weight and balancepoint of that particular stick on the racquet, making it very easy to find comparable frames. And who can forgot their (failed) adventure with the Ergonom.
Some of the pro's that used Snauwaert were Mikael Pernfors, Vitas Gerulaitis and Miloslav Mečíř.


There's very little information about Snauwaert to be found on the internet, so anyone that has some info, please post it in this thread.

Also feel free to add pictures from your frames.


I'll start with my small collection from this innovative company (click the pics for the full screen version):



Picture 1:
ATP Tour 103
ATP Tour 93
ATP Tour 85
Hi-Ten 50
Hi-Ten 30
Mikael Pernfors


Picture 2:
Comp Dyno (2x)
Dyneema S60
Vitas Gerulaitis AUtograph


Picture 3:
Ergonom
Comp Mid
Cosmos Pro
Graphite Mid

[Il Mostro]

Great collection. I wish I could find a Hi Ten here is the USA, but they never seem to surface. In fact, other than the Ergonom's, it is rare to find Snauwaerts in good condition here. I love the attention to detail in these racquets.

[galain]

Really nice collection Rorschach. I'd give my left arm (well, not really, but you could have my wife) for one of the Hi Tens. I've only ever seen one come up for auction - always been curious.

[Rorsach]

Originally Posted by galain

I'd give my left arm (well, not really, but you could have my wife) for one of the Hi Tens.

Thanks, but no thanks. I'm having trouble enough with my own spouse.

[NoBadMojo]

Originally Posted by Rorsach

Thanks, but no thanks. I'm having trouble enough with my own spouse.

spousal abuse using a HiTen shall not be tolerated ')

i was fully sponsored by Snauwaert back in the day. played the Kodes Auto (International Club) (still have one), then the FibreComp (have at least a couple around here). The Gottfried Auto was a popular one.

mine were always 360 320 5 LM

[Rorsach]

Originally Posted by NoBadMojo

i was fully sponsored by Snauwaert back in the day. played the Kodes Auto (International Club) (still have one), then the FibreComp (have at least a couple around here). The Gottfried Auto was a popular one.

mine were always 360 320 5 LM

Post pics plz.

[SirBlend12]

Hell yeah! Someone finally started the Snauwaert club. Big fan of the ATP Tour 85's. I've got 2 that were made for Lacoste and are PJ'ed as such. Neat little rubber stopper and all.

[vsbabolat]

I am a big fan of Snauwaert racquets. I used and still have the Brian Gottfried Autograph, Vitas Gerulaitis Autograph, And Vitas Gerulaitis Graphite Pro Mid.

[treblings]

Originally Posted by NoBadMojo

i was fully sponsored by Snauwaert back in the day. played the Kodes Auto (International Club) (still have one)

Snauwaert&Depla Kodes is a beautiful racket. i have one in vg condition. there must have been different versions of that racket?

i used to play the Gottfried Autograph(fully sponsored by my parents)
Later on the ATP 93 and the Pernfors Autograph.

at a flea-market i found 2 MCE 9003 with signature by McEnroe and a 10x9 string pattern. you can get incredible spin with that racket and the strings break after 10 to 15 min

[NoBadMojo]

Originally Posted by Rorsach

Post pics plz.

not a picture sort of guy

Originally Posted by treblings

Snauwaert&Depla Kodes is a beautiful racket. i have one in vg condition. there must have been different versions of that racket?

i used to play the Gottfried Autograph(fully sponsored by my parents)
Later on the ATP 93 and the Pernfors Autograph.

at a flea-market i found 2 MCE 9003 with signature by McEnroe and a 10x9 string pattern. you can get incredible spin with that racket and the strings break after 10 to 15 min

The one I have has the old Snauwaert Superman 'S' logo and not the last stylized S...it is white ash w. a blue vulcan fibre reinforced shaft. His autograph on one side on the throat and his name in block letters on the other side.

This is an 18 mains frame. 18 mains on a 65 sq inch frame is a VERY closed pattern. Mine is tubed and power padded in the throat and has Victor Imperial blue spiral gut. It is still very playable. It's a really exceptional racquet which is very attractive...the sweetest looking racquet to me was the Adidas Hallet..mine were both light and very headlight,,nastase used these for quite some while

[Martingale]

Loved them in the 80s. Had a few of the Graphite rackets, but somehow the ones I owned and have hidden out of reach in the attic seemed to have been blue and yellow. I really played some of my best tennis with them. Last time I checked them, I noticed I left the original gut string on them, and the tension not only has pulled the strings through the grommets, but has actually carved canyons into the graphite as well!

[galain]

Ed

I used to have Victor Imperial Blue in an old Volkl TR30 - really nice strings! That brought back some memories.

(sorry - not trying to derail the thread)

[treblings]

Originally Posted by NoBadMojo

not a picture sort of guy



The one I have has the old Snauwaert Superman 'S' logo and not the last stylized S...it is white ash w. a blue vulcan fibre reinforced shaft. His autograph on one side on the throat and his name in block letters on the other side.

This is an 18 mains frame. 18 mains on a 65 sq inch frame is a VERY closed pattern. Mine is tubed and power padded in the throat and has Victor Imperial blue spiral gut. It is still very playable. It's a really exceptional racquet which is very attractive...the sweetest looking racquet to me was the Adidas Hallet..mine were both light and very headlight,,nastase used these for quite some while

From the description it sounds like my Kodes. S D for Snauwaert&Depla on the Buttcap.
But i had to count the strings twice, because my model has 21 mains and 18!
That is a very closed pattern.

agree on the Haillet, haven´t seen one in decades.

[NoBadMojo]

Originally Posted by galain

Ed

I used to have Victor Imperial Blue in an old Volkl TR30 - really nice strings! That brought back some memories.

(sorry - not trying to derail the thread)

I agree about the Vic Imperial..every bit as good as VS and less money. This Kodes racquet still plays fine and hasnt been strung since the 80's !

Originally Posted by treblings

From the description it sounds like my Kodes. S D for Snauwaert&Depla on the Buttcap.
But i had to count the strings twice, because my model has 21 mains and 18!
That is a very closed pattern.

agree on the Haillet, haven´t seen one in decades.

sounds like yours is older than mine. that's a very funky stringjob you got there...it's an 18x20

[daveyboy]

I'll post pics of mine soon...the hi ten, the meso fibre, the graohite la grande, the graphite pro and its interations....love them all. Especially the Golden Mid.

[retrowagen]

Originally Posted by daveyboy

...love them all. Especially the Golden Mid.

The Golden Mid is my favorite Snauwaert of all time. I also like the Graphite Mid and Dyno, and the Boron Mid and Dyno, and the Brian Gottfried Graphite Mid and Tomas Smid Graphite Mid (both actually mostly wood composites, as used by Miloslav Mecir).

Snauwaert/Depla was one of the last vestiges of old school wood craftsmanship, and tried very hard to be innovative (albeit while still holding on to traditional materials) in the 1980's. They get full marks for:

Warren Bosworth designed rackets

Marketing the first commercially-available oversized racket (predating the Howard Head-designed Prince Classic!)

The Carlo Gibello-designed Ergonom rackets (a commercial flop, but proof positive of how far they would push the traditional+modern formula of racket design)

Use of "modern" fibers (Kevlar/aramides, Boron) in their layups years before the larger brands took the plunge

I still enjoy playing with old Snauwaerts occasionally. On a slower court, it's hard to imagine a better racket for baseline play. If they were still making rackets in Belgium, I'd still be buying their gear consistently...

[treblings]

Originally Posted by retrowagen

The Golden Mid is my favorite Snauwaert of all time. I also like the Graphite Mid and Dyno, and the Boron Mid and Dyno, and the Brian Gottfried Graphite Mid and Tomas Smid Graphite Mid (both actually mostly wood composites, as used by Miloslav Mecir).

Never heard of the Smid model. Was the Gerulaitis a similar racket? And i always thought Mecir had his own signature racket.

[Captain Haddock]

My first racquet in 1978 was a Snauwaert Caravelle strung with Victor Imperial. What a beauty it was! Snauwaert made wonderful wood racquets and had some of the most skilled workers of the wood racquet era. True perfectionists. But they did not really handle the switch to graphite very well (although their Graphite Mid and the Dyno series were excellent frames) and had distribution problems outside of Europe. I think they went under around 1992. Their last generation of widebody frames (Dyneema S60, etc) were also pretty good. They tried to hire McEnroe as a last ditch effort, but all he did was stencil an "S" on his Max 200Gs. Their other sponsored players (Gottfried, Kodes, Smid, Gerulaitis, etc.) apparently did not do enough for the visibility of the brand. Snauwaert also had the first polyester string I can recall, called "Dyno" as well. It had the color of dark brown taffy (and played like it, too).

[netman]

My Snauwaerts:





Both acquired at thrift stores for a couple of bucks. Enjoy taking them out for a hit once in a while.

-k-

[Il Mostro]

^^^^^

You know who to call if you feel like thinning the herd.