About the Wilson T-4 Tennis Racket

Another in its game-changing series of new rackets, the Wilson T-4 tennis racket belongs to the Triad Series. This series of rackets is made from a composite of hyper carbon and graphite, which quadruples the strength and stiffness of the original Wilson graphite rackets. Wilson has a reputation for innovative designs when it comes to tennis rackets. It was responsible for marketing the first metal racket in 1967 which was made popular because Jimmy Connors used it to play in major tournaments around the world. The tennis rackets produced by this company consistently have been the choice of champions like Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Serena Williams, for example.

The Wilson T-4 racket's design evolved from earlier Wilson tennis rackets which were made from wood. In fact, the earliest patent for a wooden lawn tennis racket was filed in 1874 in England by Major Walter C. Wingfield. Wood continued to be the material of choice until Wilson made the first metal racket. This was made from aluminum which, while being less prone to breakage than wood, was too flexible to withstand the powerful hits and serves of the most dominant professional tennis players. Aluminum rackets were not as efficient shock absorbers as the wooden rackets either so the players who used the metal rackets had to consider the potential damage to their wrists, elbows and shoulder joints.

By 1980, Wilson developed a new composite material, graphite, from which to make tennis rackets. This involved mixing carbon fibers with a plastic resin. The result was a stiffer racket than aluminum but the graphite rackets were still heavy. They did not perform much better than aluminum, either, when it came to absorbing the vibrations left by the ball. In 1987, Wilson introduced its Prostaff racket which was specially designed for Pete Sampras who was seeded number one in the world from 1993-1998. This racket was wider because of a thicker frame which increased the stiffness and helped absorb shock. Next came rackets made from hyper carbon. The first one was the Wilson Hyper-Hammer. This is what is used to make the T-4 racket as well.

The Wilson T-4 is also made out of 20% hyper carbon mixed with 80 percent graphite. Hyper carbon, which is widely used in aerospace, is stronger, lighter, and weighs less than titanium. This allows the T-4 racket to be relatively lighter than the earlier graphite rackets. It has a strung weight of 9.5 ounces. Because the rackets use Wilson's exclusive Iso-Zorb grommets to absorb shock when the ball hits, players who use T-4 rackets are better protected from damage to their wrists, elbows and shoulders.

The Wilson T-4 racket comes in a "stretch" length of 27.5 inches. It features a standard head with an area of 110 inches which gives more power than a smaller head which can improve a player's maneuverability. The Wilson T-4 racket comes with a standard string pattern, 16-by-20 inches. Players can choose to play with a more open pattern which gives more potential for them to put spin on the ball. Or they can elect to use a denser string pattern which makes the strings last longer.

The Wilson T-4 racket's balance is head heavy. This means that more of the weight is in the head of the racket instead of in the handle. Its most innovative feature is the shape of the cross beam where the head attaches to the handle. The T-4 racket has a 28 millimeter dual tapered beam. Because of the added strength of the metal, this area of the racket has been designed to function as a spring in response to the ball's impact.