Steel Racket Nirvana Dunlop Mono Shaft 1972ish

[muddlehead]

Can't wait to hit w/it
Weighs in at a sweet 13.74oz
Amazingly not in the eb*y database in for sale or sold, so has to be rare, right?

 

[Grafil Injection]

I look forward to hearing about it if it's safe to play.

 

[JW10S]

Can't wait to hit w/it
Weighs in at a sweet 13.74oz
Amazingly not in the eb*y database in for sale or sold, so has to be rare, right?

I hit with one back in the day. I'll just say there is very good reason you don't see many of these.

 

[kevin qmto]

Looks like a golf club shaft lol. I bet it’s miserable unless you strike it perfectly in the sweet spot.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

I have one also- found at a thrift shop.
Hit with it once. It hit better than expected,
but just "OK".

 

[Sanglier]

This "International" is one of the few racquets that gave me trouble when I tried to get a flex reading (the others were those with a crooked handle or dual handles), because its round shaft would roll on the fulcrum bar when pressure is applied to the head. I had to duct-tape the handle to the rig to get consistent readings, which were higher than one might expect based on the looks of this thing. Mine came out to 57 RA; not as stiff as the much more handsome and surprisingly rigid 68 RA Slazenger "Plus" produced by the same factory, but nowhere near noodle-like. The strung frame has a near-perfect neutral balance, which shouldn't surprise anyone, as the mono-shaft must be thick-walled for this design to survive beyond its first ball impact on the court.

To me, it plays like a hefty but maneuverable wooden frame. No more, no less.

More than a dozen years ago, @coachrick thought he remembered seeing Betty Stove playing with this thing. I wonder if he has figured out whether this was dream or reality in the intervening years.

 

[Grafil Injection]

Quite a bold decision by Dunlop who would be well aware of the options available for metal shafted sticks. Surely must have one of the lowest twistweights ever. I noticed one on Italbay that is strung 18x24 rather than 18x21 above, so yours must be the high-spin version!

 

[retrowagen]

Seemed like Dunlop engineers quickly realized what a torsional disaster this model was, and created a new model with TWO straight steel shafts between grip pallet and head! Problem solved!!

 

[muddlehead]

Check back next week. Just bot a Seamco/Seamless Rosewall. I'll compare play testing that one, this Dunlop Mono - teaser- it was awesome yesterday, my clubhouse leader in the steel / aluminum category Spalding Smasher, and the widebody Wilson TX3000.

 

[coachrick]

More than a dozen years ago, @coachrick thought he remembered seeing Betty Stove playing with this thing. I wonder if he has figured out whether this was dream or reality in the intervening years.

You caught me!!! I actually hadn't given any more thought to this "dream". I found a few pics that look like she's using the twin-shafted Slazenger variant; but nothing with the mono-shaft.

 

[muddlehead]

You caught me!!! I actually hadn't given any more thought to this "dream". I found a few pics that look like she's using the twin-shafted Slazenger variant; but nothing with the mono-shaft.

Yup
Looked at quite a few YT vids and photos of Stove
No sign of a mono shaft

Stove is the answer to one of my fave tennis trivia questions.
1977 Wimbledon who lost in the finals of singles, doubles, and mixed doubles?

 

[muddlehead]

Here's a great look at the Slazenger Double Steel racket. Bot one a while ago. Has a plastic name label figure eighted on the throat near the grip. VA's pic tells me to keep it on.



As for my play testing and commenting about this racket above the Slazenger Double Steel shaft 14.04 oz w/over grip - the Dunlop Mono 14.15 oz w/lead tape at 9 and 3 and overgrip - the Spalding Smasher - the Rosewall Seamco aluminum - the Wilson wide TX3000 - and the composite Ashe Head Competition 1 (the 2 and 3 are too flexy for me) - it occurred to me my opinion is too unique to be useful.

((Which one do I like best?
The Seamco is a 4 3/4 heavy. The 3/4 grip is really a 5/8 which is what I use. The weight is a sweet nirvana like 13.87 oz. The plow through is 10 outa 10.
It is my second favorite racket ever to the ones I currently use. I would totally 100% make this my everyday stick))

Next behind on my faves list the Rosewall Seamco is the Spalding Smasher. 14.14 oz with nothing added. Close call between the Smasher and the Seamco. Both are stiff and robust and sturdy and weighty. Perfect in every way.

You see, I play w/the widest, heaviest, stiffest and most loosely strung racket ever made.
(I can't play with any other stick. I've tried over the years)
Wilson Profile 95 (unmarked 2.7 which is a little longer than 27 inches) leaded to 13.50 oz strung at 33 to start.
So, naturally any racket I like has to have those characteristics.
And, I have yet to meet another player who shares the same ideas as me regarding racket specs.
That's my story.
There you have it.