TW visits with Siegfried Kuebler, inventor of the widebody racquet

[TW Staff]

We recently had the opportunity to catch up with Siegfried Kuebler, racquet collector and inventor of the widebody racquet.

For the full story head to:
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/kuebler.html

Chris, TW.

 

[Gaines Hillix]

We recently had the opportunity to catch up with Siegfried Kuebler, racquet collector and inventor of the widebody racquet.

For the full story head to:
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/kuebler.html

Chris, TW.

Nice piece, TW. I can't imagine how stiff one of the original Kuebler 280hz frames was(like 5 regular frames stacked on top of each other)!

 

[Grimjack]

My old club pro told me once, "Grim, it's the newest thing. It's called the Wilson Profile. Pretty soon, every pro on the tour will be using one. It's got so much power, it's going to revolutionize the game! Just you watch! 200 mph serves!"

My old club pro was a horse's ass, and Siegfried Kuebler owes me an apology and a Guinness for what he did to the elbow of a starry-eyed kid dreaming of a 200 mph serve.

 

[POGO]

Great article. I was quite surprised that it was Bentley Fortissimo that introduced the first Oversize Racket back in 1972. This was about two years before Prince introduced their first oversize, the POG OS, and yet Prince got the credit for introducing the first oversize....Hmmmmmmmmm.

 

[Capt. Willie]

Interesting article, I had never heard of the Bentley Fortissimo. I was always under the belief that Tad Weed had invented the oversize racquet but was beaten to the patent office and assembly line by Howard Head who had more resources. And that the first Weeds to hit the market were over 135 sq. in. because the Prince patent covered racquets below that size. Anyway, now we know it wasn't Howard Head or Tad Weed after all.

 

[POGO]

Interesting article, I had never heard of the Bentley Fortissimo. I was always under the belief that Tad Weed had invented the oversize racquet but was beaten to the patent office and assembly line by Howard Head who had more resources. And that the first Weeds to hit the market were over 135 sq. in. because the Prince patent covered racquets below that size. Anyway, now we know it wasn't Howard Head or Tad Weed after all.

Hehhe Tad Weed??? Hhehehehe.. that is such a cool name. I once had a friend in High School that went under the name of Bong

YO....Yo!!!! Capt. Willie is in the HOUSE!!!!!

 

[Capt. Willie]

Hehhe Tad Weed??? Hhehehehe.. that is such a cool name. I once had a friend in High School that went under the name of Bong

YO....Yo!!!! Capt. Willie is in the HOUSE!!!!!

Glad I could amuse you Pogo, but the guy's name is "Tad Weed"...I did not make that up. I believe the original patent filed by Howard Head for the Prince racquet covered racquets between 95-135 sq. in. This is basically why Weed went into the super-oversize business.

 

[Gaines Hillix]

Great article. I was quite surprised that it was Bentley Fortissimo that introduced the first Oversize Racket back in 1972. This was about two years before Prince introduced their first oversize, the POG OS, and yet Prince got the credit for introducing the first oversize....Hmmmmmmmmm.

Actually, the POG OS wasn't the first Prince OS frame. I have a Prince OS that has a 100% aluminum frame with a large plastic insert in the throat area. It's a bit odd shaped from too many encounters with the court! I believe the Graphite Classics(what we now call POGs) were not introduced until the early 1980s.

 

[joe sch]

Keubler is the guru of tennis racket design !
Sigfields book of tennis rackets is the bible for tennis racket collectors, it is a truely amazing volume that most of the collectors and players on these boards would love.
Here is a little more info :
http://www.woodtennis.com/history10s.htm
Cheers, Joe

 

[Capt. Willie]

Actually, the POG OS wasn't the first Prince OS frame. I have a Prince OS that has a 100% aluminum frame with a large plastic insert in the throat area. It's a bit odd shaped from too many encounters with the court! I believe the Graphite Classics(what we now call POGs) were not introduced until the early 1980s.

You are right. The first one was aluminum with a green throat and was simply called "Prince" racquet. When they added more racquets to the line-up (1979 I believe) this one was renamed "Prince Classic".

 

[Kirko]

I remember when that racket came out I bought two right away and traded them for four POG's new. very popular Jim pugh used it .

 

[Gary Britt]

Actually, the POG OS wasn't the first Prince OS frame. I have a Prince OS that has a 100% aluminum frame with a large plastic insert in the throat area. It's a bit odd shaped from too many encounters with the court! I believe the Graphite Classics(what we now call POGs) were not introduced until the early 1980s.

Yes you are correct. I remember playing fairly regularly against a guy who used one of those new fangled Prince big head aluminum racquets, while I was using a Head Arthur Ashe Comp II, normal size racquet.

Boy did those aluminum racquets vibrate, but he could hit more topspin with that racquet than people with a normal head size.

Gary

 

[joe sch]

Yes you are correct. I remember playing fairly regularly against a guy who used one of those new fangled Prince big head aluminum racquets, while I was using a Head Arthur Ashe Comp II, normal size racquet.

Boy did those aluminum racquets vibrate, but he could hit more topspin with that racquet than people with a normal head size.

Gary

The aluminum prince classic rackets were produced in several different models which had different colored plastic throats like brown & green. Here is a picture showing some of the interesting models in the prince lineup thru transitional years :
http://www.woodtennis.com/prince/prince1.jpg

 

[Gary Britt]

The aluminum prince classic rackets were produced in several different models which had different colored plastic throats like brown & green. Here is a picture showing some of the interesting models in the prince lineup thru transitional years :
http://www.woodtennis.com/prince/prince1.jpg

The first one I saw was the Green throated one, and I once owned the black one laying on top of the green one (but long after it was obsolete).

Gary

 

[Steve Huff]

Obsolete??? I've strugn 2 Prince Pro's (the black one) this year for people still using them. One is a woman on my wife's team.

 

[Gary Britt]

Obsolete??? I've strugn 2 Prince Pro's (the black one) this year for people still using them. One is a woman on my wife's team.

Hey Steve, good to see you again.

Well they may still be in use by some, but they were obsolete since the 90's. I did like the way it hit in some ways, but the vibration was unbelievable compared to todays stuff. At least to me.

Gary

 

[Ultra2HolyGrail]

I use to use the Wilson Profile as a junior with Prince original synthetic gut(gold)61lbs and loved it...Still do.. I believe they were made in St.Vincent...White but cap...

The cool thing abought profiles is there nice and headlight with terrific balance.. And were very high quality made.. I remember the old senior doubles players using them LoL... Im sure they or i knew at the time how stiff they were...

 

[TommyGun]

Did Kuebler invent the nCode shape? www.kuebler-tennis.com

 

[the green god]

speaking of the prince pro does anyone remember kent carllson and his underhanded serve

 

[armand]

I sure don't. Someone actually served underhanded, and what solar system was he from?