Any of you catch the WSJ article on the new technology in tennis racquets? I'll post it here for convenience. Nice to see tennis getting a story in the WSJ. Wonder why the writer never mentioned "paint jobs." Thinks she knows about them?
Nanotechnology hits the tennis court
Thursday, August 25, 2005
By Ellen Sheng, The Wall Street Journal
When No. 1 men's player Roger Federer steps onto the court at the U.S. Open later this month, he will be wielding a racket infused with nanoparticles that will make it feel more solid without any added weight. Andre Agassi will be using a specially designed racket that can "cup" a ball on impact -- giving him a bit more control.
The manufacturers of those rackets, in an effort to give their revenue some extra topspin, are making the same technology available to recreational players as well. Head, Prince, Babolat, Wilson and Fischer are among those featuring nanotechnology, magnetic forces, aerodynamics and advanced physics principles in their new rackets, which claim to help players add power and precision to their strokes.
One of the most high-tech offerings comes from Fischer GmbH. The Austrian sporting-goods maker, best known for its ski equipment, is gearing up to unveil a new racket next month that garners the power of magnets.
Named "Magnetic Speed," the racket has similarly charged magnets hidden on either side of the head. The magnets repel each other to help the racket bounce back into shape after impact with the ball. The idea is that the faster recovery gives the ball more speed and power.
To power the magnets, the racket uses piezoelectric crystals inside the shaft: When the racket hits the ball, that instantly fires up the magnets and forces the racket back to its original shape. The racket, which will retail for about $189, will be out in stores this fall. It has already been introduced in Europe and is used by top players such as Andrei Pavel and Vera Zvonareva.
The new crop of rackets are an effort to create some new excitement for recreational players -- much as the introduction of graphite in the late 1970s allowed for larger heads and bigger sweet spots. Since then, some of the recent technology advances have seemed "gimmicky," says Adam Furber, an amateur tennis player in Hong Kong who hits the courts two to three times a week. Formerly a competitive tennis player in college, Mr. Furber says he tends to seek out rackets that are most like his previous ones.
"Is it going to make me have a better forehand? No," says Bill Severa, global director of technology for Wilson Tennis. But, he says, new technology can make rackets last longer and feel better in a player's hands.
Sales of tennis gear have picked up in recent years but are down from a decade ago. According to the Tennis Industry Association, a trade organization, companies sold about 3.9 million rackets in 2004. That's up from 3.1 million in 2003 and 3.3 million in 2002, but down from 4.4 million in 1992. The number of players has been essentially flat at about 24 million since 2000, the association says.
Technological advances keep customers coming back for new models, says Mark Mason, owner of Mason's Tennis, a specialty tennis shop in Manhattan that sells close to 2,000 rackets a year. "People want new rackets when they come out," he says. "They are not waiting for the (old) racket to break, believe me."
That is why companies are tinkering with racket shapes and materials. Dutch sporting-goods maker Head NV's Flexpoint, introduced in March and favored by Mr. Agassi, has special holes and "dimples" positioned on either side of the head at 3 and 9 o'clock; the company says the dimples effectively cut into the frame, making the head more flexible and able to curve around a ball. Head says this design gives added control without sacrificing power.
Head has nine models for different player levels; each costs about $200. Mr. Agassi won his 60th career title with a Flexpoint.
Prince Sports Inc., a closely held New Jersey racket maker, has also changed the design of the string holes. The company, which introduced the first "oversized" racket, replaced the old pin-sized holes with large oval-shaped ones in its new "O3" racket. The oval holes help the strings become more responsive and increase the racket's sweet spot by 54 percent, Prince says. Large holes also make the racket more aerodynamic, it adds, allowing users to swing the racket more easily.
The racket has four models that range in price from $220 to $300. Top players using the racket include Guillermo Coria and Paola Suarez, both of Argentina.
In addition to design, companies have also altered the materials used in tennis rackets. Both Wilson Sporting Goods Inc., a Chicago-based sporting-goods maker owned by Amer Sports Oy of Finland, and French maker Babolat have rolled out rackets that incorporate nanotechnology.
Babolat began adding carbon nanotubes to some of its rackets in 2003. Carbon nanotubes are 10 times stiffer than conventional graphite and are extremely durable. The nanotubes are placed at strategic locations along the frame in an effort to make the rackets stiffer and more powerful. Designed for recreational players, the rackets sell for $199.
Wilson, the biggest racket maker in the U.S., started adding nanosize silicon dioxide crystals to its "nCode" racket -- Mr. Federer's favorite -- last spring. The nCode starts at $170 and goes up to $300. Besides Mr. Federer, Lindsay Davenport and Serena and Venus Williams are among those who use it.
New racket technology has helped make tennis more appealing to ordinary players. "One of the extra benefits of modern tennis is people learn more quickly ... the newer rackets are far more forgiving," says Stuart Miller, technical manager at the International Tennis Association.
Tennis's stars don't always adopt the newest high-tech racket -- Pete Sampras stuck with the Wilson ProStaff for years. But deals between manufacturers and professionals often mean that big-name players are outfitted in the newest tennis technology.
The official rules of tennis allow for quite a bit of variation among rackets. The International Tennis Federation, which establishes basic tennis regulations that are adopted at all tournaments, doesn't actively approve rackets. It only tests models when manufacturers approach it or when rackets include claims that seem to flout regulations.
The rules of tennis specify, for instance, that a racket "shall be free of any device which makes it possible to change materially the shape of the racket or to change the weight distribution." A team of researchers in the United Kingdom meets twice a year to evaluate suspicious models.
A variety of innovations have been banned in years past, including Head's Tsi7 racket and the Dynaspot movable mass racket, which has a liquid-filled inner tube inside the head that moves weight around the racket during a swing. The federation also banned "spaghetti"-strung rackets, which were found to create excessive spin. (With those rackets, the strings don't crossover each other, which is the case with most rackets.)
Reflecting the increasing pace of change, the International Tennis Federation has changed its tennis-racket rules 14 times since first putting them into words in 1978. It doesn't look like that trend will slow down anytime soon.
Nanotechnology hits the tennis court
Thursday, August 25, 2005
By Ellen Sheng, The Wall Street Journal
When No. 1 men's player Roger Federer steps onto the court at the U.S. Open later this month, he will be wielding a racket infused with nanoparticles that will make it feel more solid without any added weight. Andre Agassi will be using a specially designed racket that can "cup" a ball on impact -- giving him a bit more control.
The manufacturers of those rackets, in an effort to give their revenue some extra topspin, are making the same technology available to recreational players as well. Head, Prince, Babolat, Wilson and Fischer are among those featuring nanotechnology, magnetic forces, aerodynamics and advanced physics principles in their new rackets, which claim to help players add power and precision to their strokes.
One of the most high-tech offerings comes from Fischer GmbH. The Austrian sporting-goods maker, best known for its ski equipment, is gearing up to unveil a new racket next month that garners the power of magnets.
Named "Magnetic Speed," the racket has similarly charged magnets hidden on either side of the head. The magnets repel each other to help the racket bounce back into shape after impact with the ball. The idea is that the faster recovery gives the ball more speed and power.
To power the magnets, the racket uses piezoelectric crystals inside the shaft: When the racket hits the ball, that instantly fires up the magnets and forces the racket back to its original shape. The racket, which will retail for about $189, will be out in stores this fall. It has already been introduced in Europe and is used by top players such as Andrei Pavel and Vera Zvonareva.
The new crop of rackets are an effort to create some new excitement for recreational players -- much as the introduction of graphite in the late 1970s allowed for larger heads and bigger sweet spots. Since then, some of the recent technology advances have seemed "gimmicky," says Adam Furber, an amateur tennis player in Hong Kong who hits the courts two to three times a week. Formerly a competitive tennis player in college, Mr. Furber says he tends to seek out rackets that are most like his previous ones.
"Is it going to make me have a better forehand? No," says Bill Severa, global director of technology for Wilson Tennis. But, he says, new technology can make rackets last longer and feel better in a player's hands.
Sales of tennis gear have picked up in recent years but are down from a decade ago. According to the Tennis Industry Association, a trade organization, companies sold about 3.9 million rackets in 2004. That's up from 3.1 million in 2003 and 3.3 million in 2002, but down from 4.4 million in 1992. The number of players has been essentially flat at about 24 million since 2000, the association says.
Technological advances keep customers coming back for new models, says Mark Mason, owner of Mason's Tennis, a specialty tennis shop in Manhattan that sells close to 2,000 rackets a year. "People want new rackets when they come out," he says. "They are not waiting for the (old) racket to break, believe me."
That is why companies are tinkering with racket shapes and materials. Dutch sporting-goods maker Head NV's Flexpoint, introduced in March and favored by Mr. Agassi, has special holes and "dimples" positioned on either side of the head at 3 and 9 o'clock; the company says the dimples effectively cut into the frame, making the head more flexible and able to curve around a ball. Head says this design gives added control without sacrificing power.
Head has nine models for different player levels; each costs about $200. Mr. Agassi won his 60th career title with a Flexpoint.
Prince Sports Inc., a closely held New Jersey racket maker, has also changed the design of the string holes. The company, which introduced the first "oversized" racket, replaced the old pin-sized holes with large oval-shaped ones in its new "O3" racket. The oval holes help the strings become more responsive and increase the racket's sweet spot by 54 percent, Prince says. Large holes also make the racket more aerodynamic, it adds, allowing users to swing the racket more easily.
The racket has four models that range in price from $220 to $300. Top players using the racket include Guillermo Coria and Paola Suarez, both of Argentina.
In addition to design, companies have also altered the materials used in tennis rackets. Both Wilson Sporting Goods Inc., a Chicago-based sporting-goods maker owned by Amer Sports Oy of Finland, and French maker Babolat have rolled out rackets that incorporate nanotechnology.
Babolat began adding carbon nanotubes to some of its rackets in 2003. Carbon nanotubes are 10 times stiffer than conventional graphite and are extremely durable. The nanotubes are placed at strategic locations along the frame in an effort to make the rackets stiffer and more powerful. Designed for recreational players, the rackets sell for $199.
Wilson, the biggest racket maker in the U.S., started adding nanosize silicon dioxide crystals to its "nCode" racket -- Mr. Federer's favorite -- last spring. The nCode starts at $170 and goes up to $300. Besides Mr. Federer, Lindsay Davenport and Serena and Venus Williams are among those who use it.
New racket technology has helped make tennis more appealing to ordinary players. "One of the extra benefits of modern tennis is people learn more quickly ... the newer rackets are far more forgiving," says Stuart Miller, technical manager at the International Tennis Association.
Tennis's stars don't always adopt the newest high-tech racket -- Pete Sampras stuck with the Wilson ProStaff for years. But deals between manufacturers and professionals often mean that big-name players are outfitted in the newest tennis technology.
The official rules of tennis allow for quite a bit of variation among rackets. The International Tennis Federation, which establishes basic tennis regulations that are adopted at all tournaments, doesn't actively approve rackets. It only tests models when manufacturers approach it or when rackets include claims that seem to flout regulations.
The rules of tennis specify, for instance, that a racket "shall be free of any device which makes it possible to change materially the shape of the racket or to change the weight distribution." A team of researchers in the United Kingdom meets twice a year to evaluate suspicious models.
A variety of innovations have been banned in years past, including Head's Tsi7 racket and the Dynaspot movable mass racket, which has a liquid-filled inner tube inside the head that moves weight around the racket during a swing. The federation also banned "spaghetti"-strung rackets, which were found to create excessive spin. (With those rackets, the strings don't crossover each other, which is the case with most rackets.)
Reflecting the increasing pace of change, the International Tennis Federation has changed its tennis-racket rules 14 times since first putting them into words in 1978. It doesn't look like that trend will slow down anytime soon.
