Evolution
One thing left out of this article was that the inventor of the metal tennis racket was Renee Lacoste and this came out in the form of the T-2000 by Wilson and popularized by Jimmy Connors. I never liked the racket myself but it did start a move toward metal frames that dominated the sport for over a decade until composite frames came along.
Then came the oversized rackets with the big heads. First came the Weed. It was huge and I think the reason it never took off was the balance and control issues that came with a racket that resembled a butterfly net that was tightly weaved. It gave you power but control was something else. Then along came Howard Head. Howard Head Wiki
Obituary - Howard Head - 1991
This article strays from invention to make clear the title of the story really is about social causes which is not what I want to show you but the article does have some good information on Howard Head. It's funny to see engineers go on about social issues. Think of the real and actual benefit of the oversized rackets. It did make life easier for many players. But the tennis boom had occurred before the big rackets came along and it was dying because the sport was difficult among other things and disorganized. The mistakes made were with governments who thought that if you built lots of courts everywhere that people would play and they did for a while. What was really needed was the Junior programs, tournaments, and coaching to get people involved in the sport and get past the hard beginning. The big rackets helped as well since they made up to some extent for technique and mobility but in the end those two things still carry the day once the big size rackets are factored in. As a correction: The Weed Racket was the first oversized frame and the details of it's invention aren't known to me, but it's possible that more than one person came up with the idea at the same time.
Racket-ball is an easy sport by comparison and you see how that has all but gone by the wayside as a means of recreation. So making a sport easy is only part of it. It also has to have enough complexity and benefit of continued effort to prove that someone is not just a jock but a disciplined athlete or at least a focused competitor. We'll see how Pickleball fares over the long term but for now it seems that it is designed for Seniors who either have trouble moving as much or never really learned to play tennis.
Now with USTA leagues the sport at least has a strong following among adults but other sports such as soccer still have the greater support of county programs.
This is where the ITF gets some credit. You have to strike a balance between making the sport easy and just taking away the essential elements that make watching good tennis so wonderful. Thus the ITF defines the rules on how a racket must be designed to be allowed in amateur and professional play.
Big Bubba and other Outlaws - The 29 inch racket rule
I always got a laugh looking at some of these frames. The problem is that you have to change your game to accommodate them as even Roger Federer found out during his transition to a larger racket head but the positive outcome is hard to dispute.
10 Rackets that changed the Game
I've played with many of these and am quite happy to enjoy the Head Radical OS Series now. In their day each of these frame contributed to some great tennis performances.
