The Racket of the Future

Harry Campbell for The Wall Street Journal

BABOLAT WANTS TO give you a reason to buy a new tennis racket. Its pitch? This racket has a computer chip that can help you take a long, honest look at your forehand, backhand or serve and fix it—based on empirical evidence. Where you make contact with the ball. How hard you hit it. What kind of spin you apply. How consistent you are. If it works, it could be the first true advance in tennis rackets in a dozen years or more.

I recently tested new tennis rackets from Prince, Head and Völkl. In years past, I've hit with Wilson, Dunlop, Donnay, Yonex, Gamma and others—almost every brand on the market. One racket I tested this year, made by Asics, has a 125-square-inch head, which almost qualifies as a New York City bathroom. I liked some better than others, but I've noticed something over the last five or six years: Fact is, it's much harder than it used to be to find an awful tennis racket, and very easy to find a perfectly acceptable one—and even an excellent one—from every manufacturer on the planet.

I could have happily played for years with 10 or more of these frames, and never once complained that my equipment, rather than my flat feet or unrefined technique, made me miss a shot. Even the 125-square-inch behemoth—a racket so large your tennis partners would fall over laughing, until they realized you would never again frame a volley into the net—felt great. So which one did I buy? None of them.

Here's the problem for racket manufacturers today: Tennis rackets are too good. Some experts warn that rackets degrade over time, that their materials weaken and their performance wanes. I've found no evidence of this. Unless you have a John McEnroe-size temper, a racket can last 10, 20, 30 years, maybe more. I've played with a Head Intelligence iPrestige since 2002 and while my game isn't as good as it used to be, that's because I'm busier, heavier and slower these days. I have less hair, too, which really hurts my forehand—Andre Agassi didn't wear a wig for nothing. My rackets, I can say without reservation, are as good as ever.

Last year was a woeful one for companies that sell tennis rackets: 10% fewer rackets were sold than the year before and revenue dropped 8%, according the Tennis Industry Association, a trade group. Sales are up so far this year, yet those gains are small comfort considering 2011's performance was on par with 2004 (and that's without adjusting for inflation). For sure, the economic downturn has played a big part in this decline. My recent experiences highlight a larger problem: There's no reason to buy. Racket manufacturers continue to refine their products, tweak them and add bits of technology that may or may not make you happier on the court. But there hasn't been anything revolutionary, not like the switch from wood to graphite, or the perfection of the oversize frame.

“Inside the handle, a chip captures biomechanical information.”

"Instead of revolutionary, it's been more evolutionary," said Cory Springer, the business director for rackets at Wilson. "Is there another revolutionary advance in our future? I'm sure there is, but those things don't come along every day."

That's where, just maybe, Babolat comes in. In Paris last week, the company demonstrated a prototype of its new racket, called Play & Connect. It won't be sold until next year, and Babolat hasn't let anyone other than stars like Rafael Nadal, Kim Clijsters and Li Na (the defending French Open champion), hit with it. I've held it, and it feels like a normal racket. What's different is inside the handle: a chip that captures biomechanical information and links to your computer, smartphone or tablet via a wireless connection.

At the moment, the racket's technology can identify the type of shot a player hits (forehand, backhand, serve), the kind of spin a player imparts on the ball and the power of a swing. It also can record the point where ball meets racket, rate your consistency and measure intensity (shots per minute and amount of actual playing time, rather than time on court). Players can then compare the data to those of peers, or even pros, if those players eventually make their profiles available.

"In five, 10, 20 years, tennis without data will not be possible," said Eric Babolat, the company's CEO. "That's how convinced we are of players' interest in something more than the score."

Tennis has largely missed out on the information age and remains a "feel" sport. From pros on down to local players, one hears about shots that "felt great" or "felt terrible," but real answers are scarce. Here, at last, is technology that might give players ready access to biomechanical information that, at the moment, can't be captured unless you have tens of thousands of dollars in intricate high-speed cameras and software.

There are reasons to be skeptical of this venture. It's difficult to get better at tennis, especially as we age and have less time to practice. If six months go by and there's no improvement, will players bother looking at all these data anymore? How durable will the technology be, and will it withstand all the times a racket accidentally scrapes the court in a typical match? There also are early indications that the data need refining. The racket measures the power of a shot via a percentage (the percentage of the racket's optimum power). That's not particularly useful; miles per hour would be better. It measures type of spin (topspin or slice) but not how much spin in revolutions per second, which is far more meaningful.

"We're curious to see it," said Mr. Springer of Wilson. "But for us, it's about the practical day-to-day use of the technology. Is it going to attract a niche, or is it something that players of all skill types will use?"

Mr. Babolat isn't about to set limits on what the racket might do in the future. He sees this as a first step in a new future for tennis rackets—and for tennis players. "If I don't use it to have more pleasure, to improve my game, then I will just forget it because it was just a gadget," he said. "And we don't want to make a gadget." He's right, tennis has plenty of gadgets. It's time for something better.

A Brief History of Advanced Rackets

Dunlop Tennis

Rod Laver, Virginia Wade and John McEnroe used the Dunlop Maxply.

Dunlop Maxply

One of the most famous rackets in the sport's history and the weapon of choice for many all-time greats, including Rod Laver, Virginia Wade and John McEnroe, who began playing with it as a child and won his first Wimbledon title with it in 1981. The racket was known for its incredible feel. Its secret? It was made from six kinds of wood from three different continents. The frame's 25 layers, or plies, were multilaminated and bonded in a time-consuming process.

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Bjorn Borg

Donnay Borg Pro

One of the most stylish rackets ever and a favorite of Bjorn Borg, who won his last Wimbledon title with it in 1980 over John McEnroe. The Borg Pro was a heavy racket, around 13½ ounces, and had an extra-long handle to accommodate Mr. Borg's hands and his famous two-handed backhand. The 1980 Wimbledon final was widely seen as the greatest ever until Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer for the 2008 title.

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Jimmy Connors

Wilson T2000

Jimmy Connors's racket was made of steel and built by Lacoste on behalf of Wilson. Unlike wooden rackets, it wouldn't warp and had less wind resistance. Mr. Connors played with it until 1984, when he switched to another Wilson built for him, but he would again play with the T2000 before finally switching over to graphite.

Wilson

The Wilson T2000

Prince

Michael Chang, Monica Seles and Gabriela Sabatini used the Prince Graphite.

Prince Graphite

It's the racket that everyone, it seems, has either owned or played with at least once (it was one of my two childhood favorites, along with the much less popular—but oh-so cool—Yamaha Secret 4). Michael Chang, Monica Seles and Gabriela Sabatini used it. The racket's crossbar, at the top of the throat below the face, is instantly recognizable. It was supposed to stop the racket from twisting off-center on contact.

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