Playing tennis with a Wilson T-2000 steel racquet

Описание: Introducing the Wilson T-2000. Yes it is a tennis racquet. You won't find it in stores anymore, but one time it was as popular as the original Volkswagen Beetle was in its day. I still use it. I have a portable stringing machine and adapters and instructions on how to string this racquet, because it requires a different procedure for stringing and it doesn't stay secure without the special adapters. And I string this racquet with very thin and stretchable string at a fairly tight tension, but it pounds it is low compared to today's racquets that require higher tensions. And this racquet doesn't require that much string length and because it has a small head and the strings are fairly close together, the strings last a long time before they break. I experiment with adding lead tape around the head. I do get more power with more tape, but then it tends to slow the swing and maneuverability so it tends to be a bit of trade off, so it is hard to tell where is the optimum weight and balance. Right now I think it is not that heavy. I have had it set heavier before.

In this video I tell a little bit about the history of this racquet.

Billy Jean King played with this racquet. Jimmy Connors played with it throughout much of his professional career. He only changed to modern racquets as early as 1984, but switched back to the T-2000 in 1985. Finally in 1987, he switched to a Slazenger, and then in 1990, to an Estuza. I don't believe he ever had a contract from Wilson to play with the T-2000. He did get a contract from the modern racquet manufacturers for their racquets late in his career.

The disadvantage of using this racquet is that it is not made anymore, but that is not too much of a problem as you may be able to find it on eBay. The advantages of this racquet is that it lasts forever compared to modern tennis racquets. The apparent disadvantage is the smaller head, but with practice you will quickly get used to the smaller head and will find that it improves your precision. This could be because a larger head even though it may have a larger sweet spot, you will get different results from hitting the ball in the different areas of the racquet. Plus you may get more power than you need. You may want to consider trading in some power for more control by switching to a smaller headed tennis racquet. Unfortunately the manufacturers tend to push the selling of larger size heads, however the best players in the world have opted for control and therefore seek the smaller headed racquets. The smallest one that Wilson now makes appears to be 93 square inches and it is being used by the one of the top players in the world. And Roger Federer also uses a Wilson with a small head. I am not sure what square inches it is but it may be 95. And Pete Sampras used a 90 square inch Pro Staff, I believe. You should try smaller heads. You will be amazed. You can hit out on the ball and you seem to have more control.