'How Many Of You Played With One Of These As A Kid...?'

[Panther_99FS]

I did.....
(I'm watching Hitchcock's "Strangers On A Train"...)

[OBIO]

I have fond memories of a wooden tennis racket. During the time that my BB/Pellet rifle was in the penalty box as part of my punishment for shooting my younger sister in the hand (she deserved it, she put her hand in front of the barrel of a loaded firearm and refused to move it...I told her several times that if she did not move her hand I was going to shoot her...she didn't move her hand...I pulled the trigger....anyone dumb enough to place their hand in front of the barrel of a loaded firearm deserves to get shot..my parents did not agree with my assessment of the situation)...I needed something to "shoot" cans with. My older sister had a wooden tennis racket. I found that I was quite adept at using the racket to hit small rocks and hitting cans up to 60 feet away. I was in the drive way, with the racket in one hand, a fist full of M&M sized stones in the other....and I was pinking away at cans. My older sister came out, saw me with her racket (which she never used) and called me some very unflattering names...mostly to do with the horrible speech impediment I suffered as a kid. Noting made me madder than having someone make fun of my stuttering and stammering and mispronounciation of words. It was about that time that I found out that my older sister was as stupid as my younger sister. If a person sees a kid using a tennis racket and small stones to blast holes in pop cans 60 feet away, it is not a good idea to stand 10 feet from them and make fun of their stuttering. I peppered older sis with a good dozen stones before she could make it to the safety of the kitchen door. Boy did she have some serious welts on her back and the back of her legs.

Can you believe that I got in trouble for that, too? Wasn't my fault that my parents gave birth to two of the stupidest girls ever born!

OBIO

[harleyman]

Not only did I play tennis, I had a Wilson and a Spalding racket..

One was strung with cat gut ..i forget which one now..

I played on our local Country Club team, and was pretty darn good too !

Actually won many matches and trophies ...

[Ken Stallings]

I did.....
(I'm watching Hitchcock's "Strangers On A Train"...)

Not only did I use to play tennis with a wooden racket, but I believe it may have been one of those exact types in your photo!

I also certainly remember the brace that kept the racket from warping, which in eastern North Carolina (with its humidity) was very necessary.

Cheers,

Ken

[Ken Stallings]

I have fond memories of a wooden tennis racket. During the time that my BB/Pellet rifle was in the penalty box as part of my punishment for shooting my younger sister in the hand (she deserved it, she put her hand in front of the barrel of a loaded firearm and refused to move it...I told her several times that if she did not move her hand I was going to shoot her...she didn't move her hand...I pulled the trigger....anyone dumb enough to place their hand in front of the barrel of a loaded firearm deserves to get shot..my parents did not agree with my assessment of the situation)...I needed something to "shoot" cans with. My older sister had a wooden tennis racket. I found that I was quite adept at using the racket to hit small rocks and hitting cans up to 60 feet away. I was in the drive way, with the racket in one hand, a fist full of M&M sized stones in the other....and I was pinking away at cans. My older sister came out, saw me with her racket (which she never used) and called me some very unflattering names...mostly to do with the horrible speech impediment I suffered as a kid. Noting made me madder than having someone make fun of my stuttering and stammering and mispronounciation of words. It was about that time that I found out that my older sister was as stupid as my younger sister. If a person sees a kid using a tennis racket and small stones to blast holes in pop cans 60 feet away, it is not a good idea to stand 10 feet from them and make fun of their stuttering. I peppered older sis with a good dozen stones before she could make it to the safety of the kitchen door. Boy did she have some serious welts on her back and the back of her legs.

Can you believe that I got in trouble for that, too? Wasn't my fault that my parents gave birth to two of the stupidest girls ever born!

OBIO

LOL!!!!

Pure classic!

[djscoo]

I've used metal rackets my whole life, but I happen to have two wooden rackets from the 70's that used to be my parents. I took one to my tennis class just to be funny, but everyone wanted to try it. Makes for a good handicap if you are playing against someone good.

[txnetcop]

I played on the tennis team at school. I had a Jimmy Connors Wilson T2000...excellent!
Ted

[Moses03]

I still have one out in the garage somewhere. I recall it's a Pancho Gonzalez model.

[Panther_99FS]

. I recall it's a Pancho Gonzalez model.

LoL....

[Lionheart]

Moses,

Your avatar rocks!





Bill

[jmig]

Yep, I had them and used them. Grew up playing tennis at the local city park a block away from my home.

[Ken Stallings]

I've used metal rackets my whole life, but I happen to have two wooden rackets from the 70's that used to be my parents. I took one to my tennis class just to be funny, but everyone wanted to try it. Makes for a good handicap if you are playing against someone good.

Yep, the sweet spot on one of the modern oversized composite rackets is about twice to three times the size of what it was on one of those wooden rackets from the seventies.

John MacEnroe has said he'd like wooden rackets to be mandatory for the men's game because he believes the rackets have provided such an advantage that the skill level of the game is reduced. He might be right. It would certainly reduce the number of service aces and restore the long volleys back to the game.

Ken

[cheezyflier]

obio we must be long lost cousins i sometimes think.

we had a couple of wooden rackets in our house. every now and again my lil sis would want to go to the tennis courts. and every time i put her on the far side of the court. behind her was the public pool. every time we went, i would hit a few to her, then sail one into the pool. she couldn't go home without the ball, so i would just go home and leave her to fetch it from the pool. every time she would say "DON'T HIT IT OVER THE FENCE THIS TIME!!!" and i would always say "ok, i won't" then i did anyhow.

[TomSteber]

We had 'em. Sometimes we played tennis with them but mostly used them to hit bat's in our basement! (Old house) It's amazing just how far you can backhand a flying bat with one of those.

[Cazzie]

The one sport that I cannot play now because of my degenerative disk in my 5th lumbar is tennis. I hate to watch it on TV, but I did so much love playing the game in my time. I got real good, won a city championship in my age bracket in 1982. One year later I damage my fifth lumbar doing construction work and though I tried, I could never play the game at the caliber I did before the injury and I had to give it up, because I was couch ridden a day after playing a complete set. I walk and ride a bike for my exercise now, but the two sports I loved playing the most, baseball and tennis, are just too strenuous on my old back.

FWIW, after high school, I started putting on pounds until I reached 181-lb. I said enough and since I couldn't play baseball year-round, I took up tennis. In one Summer, I had lost back to 160-lb., I have never been above 175 since and I have never stopped doing some form of exercise since save for my operations for cancer in 1995.

Caz