Steve Huff
G.O.A.T.
Interesting, especially the frame brace at the neck. Looks too flimsy to be an actual brace, but the black looks like rubber maybe, and the brace could actually be for vibration dampening. Maybe that's where Snauwaert got the idea. Nice racket.
Henry Hub
Hall of Fame
I have the same racket, I think. The head can be taken apart with that tool to remove the strung internal face. Not sure why yours isn’t strung, though?
From memory, Kuebler has it as late 60s, early 70s.
From memory, Kuebler has it as late 60s, early 70s.
Yes the racquet looks the same, the splitting of the bottom part was a surprise to me. I don't know why it hasn't been strung, I think because it was never used. Do you know if all of these racquets came with the internal face prestrung?
and what about decade of manufacturing 60s? 70s ?
Thank you.
Sanglier
Professional
This design was patented in 1968. Per Kuebler, it was produced in Sweden, in contrast with Tretorn's other offerings, many of which were rebadged Snauwaert.
Each of these racquets was supposed to come with three inner frames. The user could carry the dismounted frames as pre-strung spares, or put different strings and/or tensions in them for almost-on-the-fly experimentation. Along with the adjustable handle-length, the design effectively puts half a dozen racquets in the user's hand that would fit inside a single standard-sized racquet case.
One obvious weakness in this type of design is the number of disjointed parts it contains. As anyone who has used an adjustable tool of any kind can readily attest, the junctions between the sub-components are high stress wear areas that can eventually work loose. The more loose components there are, the sooner the tool would fail. Tolerance issues notwithstanding, reinforcing these junctions to prevent premature failure results in additional weight that does not directly contribute to work or performance, meaning that an adjustable tool can never match the performance of its unibody counterpart of the same weight and build-quality. What you end up with is something that is heavier than necessary to do the job, which rattles, squeaks, or loosens more and more the longer you use it.
Your Tretorn is quite rare and very collectable, but it's probably best to leave it as is and hang it on a wall somewhere, rather than risking that stressed-out turnbuckle or the flimsy-looking handle joint by needlessly putting it to work again (and be disappointed by its less-than-stellar performance) nearly six decades after its birth and virtually simultaneous retirement.
Each of these racquets was supposed to come with three inner frames. The user could carry the dismounted frames as pre-strung spares, or put different strings and/or tensions in them for almost-on-the-fly experimentation. Along with the adjustable handle-length, the design effectively puts half a dozen racquets in the user's hand that would fit inside a single standard-sized racquet case.
One obvious weakness in this type of design is the number of disjointed parts it contains. As anyone who has used an adjustable tool of any kind can readily attest, the junctions between the sub-components are high stress wear areas that can eventually work loose. The more loose components there are, the sooner the tool would fail. Tolerance issues notwithstanding, reinforcing these junctions to prevent premature failure results in additional weight that does not directly contribute to work or performance, meaning that an adjustable tool can never match the performance of its unibody counterpart of the same weight and build-quality. What you end up with is something that is heavier than necessary to do the job, which rattles, squeaks, or loosens more and more the longer you use it.
Your Tretorn is quite rare and very collectable, but it's probably best to leave it as is and hang it on a wall somewhere, rather than risking that stressed-out turnbuckle or the flimsy-looking handle joint by needlessly putting it to work again (and be disappointed by its less-than-stellar performance) nearly six decades after its birth and virtually simultaneous retirement.
Interesting that the racquet pictured does not have insert put in correctly. You can see the strings and stencil are a little askew. Apparently, you could put the strung insert in so the strings run diagonally rather than vertically and horizontally.
In the guarantee leaflet the ability to remove and replace the inner frame is mentioned and also the "Made in Sweden " is marked on the handle and the sticker (photo).
I tried to find the same tennis racquets on the internet but I couldn't, the only similar one I found is on https://racquets.tennisfame.com/metal-composite/tretorn
So, if I understand correctly by the info you gave me this racquet belongs to the same collection of the late 1960's metal compose Tretorn as described in the link?
Sanglier
Professional
It’s the same model of racquet shown on that site, because Tretorn never made another. There is no ‘collection’ of such racquets per se; the site owner (who had designed some very cool racquets himself in the early ‘70s) is simply putting this model in a category of innovative designs that he considers historically significant from that very creative era.
Your father obviously never used this racquet. You will have no trouble attracting interest if you decide not to keep it, especially if you manage to find the other two inner frames.
Your father obviously never used this racquet. You will have no trouble attracting interest if you decide not to keep it, especially if you manage to find the other two inner frames.
