Racquet Research was launched May 31, 1998, at a time when light, stiff, and head-heavy racquets were being touted as a miracle cure for weak games. The objective analysis offered here raised a warning of the danger of such racquets, and set off a controversy in the tennis world.
September 9, 1998 feature article in San Francisco Examiner
Over time, however, especially with the advent of the Tennis Warehouse Racquets Board, playtest opinion has supported the unpopular conclusions offered at this site (head-light and heavy is good; head-heavy and light is bad), and the tide of public opinion seems to have turned (as of June 2000) against the super-light, super-stiff racquets as more and more tales of tennis elbow accumulate. Unlike racquet evaluations published elsewhere, the opinions here are the mechanical result of plugging the measurements done by the U.S. Racquet Stringers Association (who have kindly allowed the use of their published specs, by permission) into the formulas on the site. Derivations of the formulas are provided, so as to show how the evaluations follow from principles of basic mechanics (first year physics). Therefore, there is no room at all for the personal bias of the reviewer, and therefore no possibility of undue influence.
No consideration of any kind, whether money, goods, services, or anything at all, has been paid by anyone for anything on this site. It is partially mirrored on Tennis ONE, the leading tennis site, gratis. There are no ads. I pay for the server space and for all expenses out of my own pocket. Although many correspondents have helped to improve the site, there have been no contributions of other kinds.