Wooden racquets

[Tennis Man]

I decided to start colecting the old wooden tennis racquets after one of my tennis partners gave me one for free.

Today, I went to a flee market and picked up 2 well-preserved Slazenger's KEN ROSEWELL and VIKING racquets with wooden cases. At this point I just buy them cheap locally but going forward I may have to go on **** to look for more rare items?

I belong to a farely recent generation and have not experienced "wooden" tennis. What should I look for in the wooden racquets? Any particular brands, names (Jack Kramer, Billy King, etc.). Thanks.

 

[movdqa]

Jack Kramer Autograph, Stan Smith Autograph, Pro Staff, Chris Every Autograph, Dunlop Maxply Fort, Head Pro, Head Master, Davis Classic (these have a lot of fine detail work on them), Adidas (don't remember the model name but Nastase
used this - they weren't terribly durable), Donnay, Prince Woodie, Head Vilas. The Spaulding Natural series really look nice but don't play very well.

Bancroft Player's Special.

The Pro and Master were Alumninum. For steel, there's the T2000, T3000.

 

[Mick]

i got me a mint conditioned donnay borg pro from the big auction site last week. it's pretty neat to have something so old yet so new, appearance wise.

 

[vsbabolat]

Any Snauwaert wood racquets were very good, Wilson Jack Kramer Pro Staff, Wilson Jack Kramer Autograph, HEAD Edgewood, Pro Kennex Golden Ace, Donnay Borg Pro, Donnay Allwood, Dunlop Maxply Fort, Dunlop Maxply Tournament, Maxply McEnroe (the real one made from wood), and the Rossignol Strato are just some of the really nice playing wood racquets that you can look into.

 

[Keifers]

At a garage sale yesterday, I bought a wood racquet with "Lawford" on one side and "Marathon" on the other.

I'd never heard of this brand before. Anyone know anything about it? Thanks.

 

[Tennis Man]

Jack Kramer Autograph, Stan Smith Autograph, Pro Staff, Chris Every Autograph, Dunlop Maxply Fort, Head Pro, Head Master, Davis Classic (these have a lot of fine detail work on them), Adidas (don't remember the model name but Nastase
used this - they weren't terribly durable), Donnay, Prince Woodie, Head Vilas. The Spaulding Natural series really look nice but don't play very well.

Bancroft Player's Special.

The Pro and Master were Alumninum. For steel, there's the T2000, T3000.

Thanks movdqa. It woud help. Here's what I got today. Slazenger Viking (made in Japan) and Ken Rosewell Autograph (made in England). Any idea when these were made?

 

[Keifers]

Wow, those Slazengers look in wonderful shape!

Excellent photo, too.

It's great to see Rosewall's pic on that woodie.

 

[Tennis Man]

Wow, those Slazengers look in wonderful shape!

Excellent photo, too.

It's great to see Rosewall's pic on that woodie.

Thanks Keifers. Yeah, they are quite well-preserved and tightly-strung. Any idea what period they belong to. My guess would be late 1970s.

 

[Keifers]

Thanks Keifers. Yeah, they are quite well-preserved and tightly-strung. Any idea what period they belong to. My guess would be late 1970s.

Unfortunately, I don't really know. Maybe earlier than that. Hope others can help.

 

[VGP]

Unfortunately, not too many people around here care for wood rackets all that much.....you'd be better off getting info off the internet.

www.woodtennis.com

is a great place to start.

I started picking up additional wooden rackets cheap about thirteen yeas ago when they were just considered old junk. Now certain ones are collectible.

Best places to look are thrift stores and garage sales. E-bay is always an option if you know what you're looking for.....

My personal favorites are:

Wright and Ditson, Spalding, and A.J. Reach frames from the early 1900s
Wilson Jack Kramer Autographs and Pro Staffs from the 60s-early 80s
Dunlop Maxply Forts
....among others.

Plus, I like to collect old tennis ball cans. E-bay and antique shops usually for that kind of stuff......

Well, have fun tracking down old rackets and stuff. I know that I do.

 

[mclee025]

For a few more really nice high end wood racquets, check out the Tad Davis racquets and the Wilson Advantage. The advantage was a real hardwood beauty that played really nice too. I've seen a few come and go on the big auction site over the past year.

 

[Mick]

they are playable too. I played two sets of tennis (double) today with the wood racket and did alright. The only shot that felt a little strange was the serve. I need to put in some practice time for that shot. I can serve pretty hard with the Wilson Prostaff 6.0 (95) but I could not do it with the Donnay Borg Pro, which was no surprise to me.

 

[Stu1961]

Any Snauwaert wood racquets were very good, ...

I'll second that selection! The Snauwaert Jan Kodes was terrific.

 

[LoveThisGame]

I doubt the pictured racquet are from the late 1970s. By then you already had the Wilson T-X000 series (first ones came out in the late 1960s), Prince Classic, Head XRC, and some other fiberglass and boron frames.

My *guess* is early 1960s for those wood racquets.

 

[movdqa]

Forgot about the XRC. I used that for a while.

Also the Head Comp I and II. I think that Arthur Ashe used one of them.

 

[movdqa]

Stuff from the closet:

 

[Tennis Man]

I doubt the pictured racquet are from the late 1970s. By then you already had the Wilson T-X000 series (first ones came out in the late 1960s), Prince Classic, Head XRC, and some other fiberglass and boron frames.

My *guess* is early 1960s for those wood racquets.

WOW, that's nice. 50 years old !!!

 

[Tennis Man]

BTW, Ken Rosewell Autograph has a leather-wrapped buttcap. I've not seen anythin like that. I think it has never been dropped on the ground.