How many people still play with rackets that are over 20 years old?

Well, last evening I played doubles with the HS team that will likely win our state tennis tournament this year... when they saw my PK Copper Ace, they were fascinated. When we went 3 sets and I was chipping huge serves cross court and coming in, they were astounded ;)
Kids are fun...
 
Great story. The thing to keep in mind with the high schoolers is that they HAVE no option. . . they MUST buy a new frame, since they couldn't load up on past great models. I'm at first impressed when I go to a HS match and see all the new racquets, but it's just a practical fact of the situation, not that the kids are highly demanding players requiring the latest technology. They just need a racquet and have to buy what's available now.

During the period of very stiff, very light frames, I think the tennis market provided teens with frames that worked against them developing full tennis skills.
 
I still use my PC600..its a great racquet, but definitely notice a power difference between it and the more modern Donnay I have as well.

The pc600 swings so well though..real classic stick in every way.
 
mad dog1 said:
how does it play? i haven't gotten around to restringing mine yet.
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Well, i didn't play often with it but I had very good feeling, as it has a perfect balance : the racquet is easy to swing despite its weight, and this is just the most control otriented stringbed you can find, yet confortable due to the softness of this string.

You have to try it, it's a very special and interesting one !
 
gloumar said:
Well, i didn't play often with it but I had very good feeling, as it has a perfect balance : the racquet is easy to swing despite its weight, and this is just the most control otriented stringbed you can find, yet confortable due to the softness of this string.

You have to try it, it's a very special and interesting one !
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i'm intrigued now. :) i'll have to pull it out some time soon!
 
I played singles against my buddy on the clay courts at Pismo Beach with my Slazenger Challenge 1 wood racket from the 70's. I wasn't able to generate the pace, but I couldn't believe the control I got with that racket.
 
I often play with rackets that are older than 20 years old. Elite Pro is my main racket, sometimes I play still play with the Graphite Pro.

Lately, all the tennis I have been playing is in a San Jose State's tennis class. Competition isn't the best but it fits my schedule. I am always amazed how many people appreciate a good racket when they see it. I have been asked frequently to let people try my rackets because they know I use good stuff.

But there are those occasional newbie where they would tell me "you use that racket (in a disgusted way)" and at first I wonder why and then I realized because they're into the the latest and greatest so called "technology." I just let them know that I haven't found a better racket so why should I switch.
 
haha. i had the same experience. this teenage boy on the next court over asked me with disgust in his voice "you are using that racquet to play?"

i was using a 1920 wright & ditson big bill tilden racquet and it did look pretty weird :)
 
Mick said:
haha. i had the same experience. this teenage boy on the next court over asked me with disgust in his voice "you are using that racquet to play?"

i was using a 1920 wright & ditson big bill tilden racquet and it did look pretty weird :)
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That is impressive Mick.

Did you put a grip on that bare wood beast ?
 
joe sch said:
That is impressive Mick.

Did you put a grip on that bare wood beast ?
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just the prince overgrip.

i have a very unsual style of play in that my level doesn't drop very much when i play with older racquets, so most players would under-estimate me when they see me using such a racquet. one would think if i pick up a new babolat i would play much better but unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. i would play better but not that much better :)
 
Play with my regular sticks all the time Head Prestige 600 (the one in between Prestige Pro and Prestige Classic) just about 20 or 21 years old and still the best IMO
 
I'm still playing with a Prince CTS Approach 110. Bought it used, and on the handle it says Patented 1988, I'm assuming it was made in that era. Looking for a lighter racquet, but it still plays well against against new racquets I've tried. Kinda wish I had my old Wilson wood racquet just for grins.
 
Post some pix

It would be great if we all post some pix to share with others of our classic rackets. I just received as a gift a PS85. I love the feel and the plow came from it in today's match. I will post its pix soon.
 
jimanuel12 said:
i was just wondering, i see allot of people on here play with the older "players" rackets.
i just bought two prince 110 rackets, one is a pro series and the other is a spectum 110 composite.
i loved the way the older rackets played and just found these two at a great price so i went ahead and picked them up.
have not hit with them yet (the weather is too bad) but can't wait to get out on the court and hit a few around.
i played with these back about 20 some years ago but sold them and went the newer rackets.
just wanted some more input from folks that love the older rackets.
thanks:???:
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just an update: i have bought allot of the classice older racquets on fleabay over the winter and have played with them this spring since the weather has gotten warmer here.
i love them. they play better (for me) than any of the new racquets but what do i know - i am just an old fart who loves to play.
hope all of you that love the older racquets keep playing and beating all those young player who do not know what a wood racquet is.
 
I played with my original Kennex Black Aces most of the winter indoor season. Since I was only playing about once every other week, I thought it was better to play with the racket and string combo that was best on my arm. Heavy racket that damps vibration, multi strings - instead of stiffer racket with poly.
Not that much difference in terms of how well I play, just choose to hit more flat and slice shots. Probably actually have more velocity on the ball.
 
jimanuel12 said:
just an update: i have bought allot of the classice older racquets on fleabay over the winter and have played with them this spring since the weather has gotten warmer here.
i love them. they play better (for me) than any of the new racquets but what do i know - i am just an old fart who loves to play.
hope all of you that love the older racquets keep playing and beating all those young player who do not know what a wood racquet is.
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last week i took a chris evert autograph wood racquet to the court. it wasn't the young players who laughed at me but it's the old guys. they told me to get serious and put that wood racquet away. i told them, it's not only a wood racquet, it's a woman's wood racquet. well, i made chris evert proud that day :)
 
i used a 25 year old yamaha ceramics gold 90 up until it was stolen a few months back. best racquet ive ever used. never had so much confidence with a racquet. i always felt like i could put the ball exactly where i wanted to with it. i'd put it up against any other players racquet that ive used and liked (rebel 95, prince original graphite, prestige midsize, kblade 93). none could match it in power, precision and feel.
 
blue steel said:
i used a 25 year old yamaha ceramics gold 90 up until it was stolen a few months back. best racquet ive ever used. never had so much confidence with a racquet. i always felt like i could put the ball exactly where i wanted to with it. i'd put it up against any other players racquet that ive used and liked (rebel 95, prince original graphite, prestige midsize, kblade 93). none could match it in power, precision and feel.
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Aha the Gold 90. One of my favourite racquets as well! A real shame they don't make them anymore.
 
My main racquets are Dunlop MAX IMF frames - 200g, 300i, and thinking about picking up a 400i just to play with. I don't have any choice really but 20+ year old frames...
 
Virginia said:
I have a Ceramics White Gold 90 - would that be the same racquet - or similar layup?
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Never owned the White Gold- I think it would be a similar mold but with slightly different composition, ceramic, that is. Similar to what Pro Kennex did with the Silver Ace and Silver Ace Ceramic I guess? I need to have a hit with the Silver Ace Ceramic sometime!:)
 
Count me in.

I play with:

-2x Pro Kennex Black Ace 86 (second one just arrived yesterday!)
-Pro Kennex Composite Ace 90 (not sure how old this one is, but I played with it in high school, so it is at least 18 years old)

I've just recently started to get back into playing tennis. Tried some of the newer lighter rackets, and found that I really liked my old high school racket the best. I was unable to find another composite ace 90, so I went with the black aces. They are pretty similar, and easy to find on the bay.
 
Playing quite often with my POGs OS can still manage them well, sometimes with my beloved F200 but this one is not my cup of tea anymore, back in time I was just younger faster and stronger eheheheh.
 
Stuck between the Pro Kennex Silver ace, or the PS 6.0 85 or the Pro Kennex Graphite Conquest 90, or the Head Pro Comp, or the Wilson Graphite matrix, or the head graphite edge...
 
still love to pull out the 200g, the prince precision 730 long or the kneissl twin star but only on the synthetic grass....would never expose my babies on the hard stuff!
 
Just picked up a Kramer Staff Braided Midsize to try out. I've heard that it's basically the same as the PS85, but with a bit more flexibility - which sounds perfect to me... Looking forward to giving it a go...
 
I play Prince CTS Approach 90, circa 1987/88. I regret switching to a Babolat Storm for 1 year...I seriously wrecked my wrist and it has never been the same. Old widebodies are great...good heft and power.
 
My main racquet is a newer Wilson K6.1, but I'll play often enough with my Prince Tricomp 90. And after reading some folks praising the Wilson Graphite Agressor, I'm going to hit a little with it this morning, and will likely start putting that in the rotation.

My wife aslo has an old Wibledon (probably a ProKennex) that I have spent some time regularly, and I've been thinking of stringing that one up again, too.
 
I don't play much anymore, but when I do I sometimes use my old Wilson Ultra II Standard. I was thinking just yesterday that I think I'm going to use it full time.

Now if only I could find a decent Ultra original as a backup.
 
DBH said:
I still play with a Zebra Pro 109 (oversize) racquet (which is a POG OS clone) that was originally bought in the late 1980s. It still fits my game fine, but to be honest I haven't seriously played with any other racquet (other than just messing around for fun). The only problem with it is that the grommets are close to shot, and since it's a long discontinued racquet, I wouldn't be able to find exact replacements. But I'll play with it as long as I can. Then maybe I'd replace it with a Radical OS or POG OS, which are roughly similar in terms of headsize and weight to the Zebra.

DBH
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I played with a Zebro Pro88 in late 80's early 90's just restrung and cant wait to hit it. Do you have any info on who manufactured these? Any history? It was a gift from my mentor then and I just knew it was not a big manufacturer.
 
dannymck said:
I played with a Zebro Pro88 in late 80's early 90's just restrung and cant wait to hit it. Do you have any info on who manufactured these? Any history? It was a gift from my mentor then and I just knew it was not a big manufacturer.
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Zebest more or less 'closed out' around the turn of the century. I bought a few hundred sets of string from a 'salvage' seller in west Cobb County. Vincent last shipped frames from his place in Alpharetta...not sure how he disposed of his racket stock. They had a significant presence in north Georgia and quite a few college players throughout the southeastern US. Not sure if the family actually owned the racket manufacturing facility but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. They made some pretty good knockoffs ;) .
 
I found an old 1980s Black Ace in a recycle store a few years back and have been taking it out and re-learning the art of flat attacking shots. It plays almost the opposite of modern day racquets in that you can execute flatter harder strokes much more confidently than you can when you try to attack coming over the ball with topspin. It is amazing the control it has with these flatter kind of strokes on both sides.
 
Zebra Pro88

coachrick said:
Zebest more or less 'closed out' around the turn of the century. I bought a few hundred sets of string from a 'salvage' seller in west Cobb County. Vincent last shipped frames from his place in Alpharetta...not sure how he disposed of his racket stock. They had a significant presence in north Georgia and quite a few college players throughout the southeastern US. Not sure if the family actually owned the racket manufacturing facility but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. They made some pretty good knockoffs ;) .
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Is there anyway to get ahold of Vincent or anyone else who might be able to get some of these racquets? I personally had the pleasure of playing college tennis with these racquets at West Georgia College in Carrollton, Georgia in the late 80's (87' & 88') and have been trying to find out further details, which you've provided in this post.

Thanks for your help.
 
Dakar said:
Is there anyway to get ahold of Vincent or anyone else who might be able to get some of these racquets? I personally had the pleasure of playing college tennis with these racquets at West Georgia College in Carrollton, Georgia in the late 80's (87' & 88') and have been trying to find out further details, which you've provided in this post.

Thanks for your help.
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I was never aware of anyone who 'stockpiled' those rackets, since it was so easy to special order and get them quickly. Blackburn Tennis Center sold them WAY back, early '90s and before; but again, there was no need to stock many of them. The person from whom I purchased the Zebest 'old stock' strings did not have rackets for sale as part of her salvage stock; so I don't know that a large quantity of 'leftovers' ever existed. Sorry I'm not more help. :(
 
I just want to kick myself for letting them as I owned 5-6 of them at the time and ended up selling them off but regret it now as I can't find a racquet that plays as well as they did even to this day!
 
Marketing is what keeps tennis racquet manufacturers in business. I doubt that anyone has actually come up with super technology in the last 20 years.
 
When I played in high school around 6 years ago i used prince graphite oversize racquets from the 80s

we had about 5 of them.. i think they're the best racquets ever but i prefer not to use OS racquets anymore
 
my max200g is still my main frame. also occasionally pull out a mid-80s (?) wilson graphite matrix, which is fun. bought it in the late 90s for $30 when i had moved sans rackets and just needed something to hit with. ended up really liking the feel. in college in early 90s felt pressure to upgrade to something more modern and used a wilson prostaff 6.0 (the shiny blue one). was ok at the time but don't really enjoy it now.
 
and yeah, i occasionally get the "you're playing with THAT?!" treatment. was hitting around with a guy--15-20 years older than me--recently and he just couldn't understand why i wouldn't go with one of these wonderful, light, easy, powerful modern things. he was playing with some kind of new, budget head model. well i was beating him just fine with the 200g. at one point he insisted we switch, so i gladly continued beating him with his piece of s*** while he struggled with the dunlop. fun!
 
So, as I rapidly approach the age of geezerdom, I'm thinking of dropping in on a senior men's group at a local tennis center for a hit and giggle. Thought I should show up in Boast navy shorts, white polo shirt, white shoes and bring a collection of classics like the Jack Kramer Auto wood, Yonex 8500 'greenie' and perhaps a SuperForm or Arthur Ashe Comp. Maybe since I live so close to New Braunfels, I should use the Rawlings TieBreaker. The Seamco Rosewall or Durbin could be interesting, as well. (Disclaimer: I'll likely drop my DNX 9 in the bag just in case I get pressed into a serious match ;) ).
 
coachrick said:
So, as I rapidly approach the age of geezerdom, I'm thinking of dropping in on a senior men's group at a local tennis center for a hit and giggle. Thought I should show up in Boast navy shorts, white polo shirt, white shoes and bring a collection of classics like the Jack Kramer Auto wood, Yonex 8500 'greenie' and perhaps a SuperForm or Arthur Ashe Comp. Maybe since I live so close to New Braunfels, I should use the Rawlings TieBreaker. The Seamco Rosewall or Durbin could be interesting, as well. (Disclaimer: I'll likely drop my DNX 9 in the bag just in case I get pressed into a serious match ;) ).
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Rick, don't forget to wear your Todd1 warmup! Bonus style points awarded if your shoes are a pair of canvas Tretorns (offset with minus points for your feet's overall happiness).
 
Count me in. After hitting very well with my Carbonex, I'll briefly switch to them. However, since I cracked it today, I will rid you off of Carbonex 8's:P
 
retrowagen said:
Rick, don't forget to wear your Todd1 warmup! Bonus style points awarded if your shoes are a pair of canvas Tretorns (offset with minus points for your feet's overall happiness).
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Hah! I'll bet my brother has a three-stripe Adidas 'silky' warm-up jacket somewhere!(Minus one point since they've re-introduced the style). Oldest shoes I have are Nike Crosstrainers(McEnroe style ca 1985) but I could score the 'new' Stan Smith/Haillet model.

It's amazing how horrible the Tretorn Nylite shoes were. If you didn't have perfect feet(Borg), you were likely thinking you were playing in bedroom slippers. The Nike All Courts and Wimbledons weren't much better...like wearing the box with laces.

Anybody remember the short-lived Jimmy Connors 'JC' shoe from the late '70s? Those soles used to BREAK before they wore out!

Hmmm...the oldest bag I can find is a pink/green Babolat ca 1984. Better yet, I should just stick a racket under my arm and walk out on the court. I've got a few burlap/canvas covers from the early 1900s, but I doubt they could make the trip without disintegrating. :)
 
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