What was your first racquet?an story of your racquet?
452003
My first racket was a $3 Spaulding beauty (1974). \n\nHaving developed tendinitis at the age of 19 so severely my arm would not swing when I walked,  an orthopedic surgeon gave me a series of 6-7 cortisone shots.  \n\nIn addition he asked me to take up the game(s) of tennis and/or racquetball with the instruction of  - the more I use my shoulder the greater chance I have my tendinitis would not return.\n\nThe severely excruciating pain of the tendinitis was certainly a motivator.  Never having any interest in tennis previously, I watched players on TV and copied their strokes as hit up against a school building in a small Nevada town.  \n\nWith only 400 people in the town, there were no tennis courts so the wall was my only competition.  During many, many hundreds of hours, I would improve my skills playing make believe matches against Borg, Connors, Stan Smith, Nasty,  and the other icons of the era.  I did this every day in the desert heat and cold for over 2 years before ever stepping on a tennis court of any kind.\n\nToday, after just over 30 years, and without wanting to bore you any further, I have that doctor to thank for a free college education, a case full of dusty yet still meaningful trophies, great health, and a lot of wonderful friends.\n\n - Thanks again Doc, you changed my life.
621020
First you must practice the ball toss. Before even using your racquet, just throw the ball up at about 1 o'clock in front of you. Make sure the toss is high and accurate and u point to it the whole time, with ur other hand held behind your head. \n    After doing this for a while, now take the hand that was behind your head and try and follow through and catch the ball.  \n    After doing this for a while, now pick up your racquet.\nGo against a high fence or wall and once again begin throwing the ball up while pointing to it. Try and follow through with your racquet and catch the ball againts this high fence or wall.\n    Now you are ready to start serving on the court. Use these same forms that you used practing the ball toss. Make sure you are following through every time and the face of your racquet is pointing at the box you are serving to. Practice serves from each side of the court. Hit them slow and steady for now, just making sure they get in for the next couple months.\n**Grip--- In order to get the correct grip, turn your racquet on its side so that the non-string side is facing up. Put your hand on the racquet so that it is directly in between your thumb and pointer finger. It may feel wierd for the first couple days but eventually you will get used to it, and it is the only effective way to hit a powerful or slice serve later on when you get good at serving.\n\nGOOD LUCK, These things all worked for me and now I'm one of the best servers on my school tennis team.
786442
The best cue/ the cue i felt most comfortable with was my modest EMBASSY ARENA by POWER-GLIDE. A good player generally plays well with most cue's, however i find it dont always pay to spend a fortune. Its about finding the right cue/player balance. & remember.... a poor workman always blames his tools!\n                                                                                                                                                   I did once get a birthday prezzie, it was a Jimmy White Whirlwind cue (probably £10 from Argos) & i also found i played extremely well with that one it really was comfortable. anyway... Keep potting & good luck shopping.
1046814
RULE #1: Don't buy a racquet before comparing it with others. Most tennis clubs and racquet stores will have some sort of demo program that will let you try out a variety of racquets for a few days for just a couple of bucks. Often, they'll let you put this money towards your futures purchase. If you're having a hard time finding a store that will let you demo a racquet, then check out the website included in the sources.\n\nRacquets come with different stiffness, weighting, stringing patterns and lengths. All that adds up to a lot of different choices and a lot of different feels. If you're a beginner, then you probably don't need to shell out much money yet for a racquet, just find something that feels good in your hand and use it until you want to try something new.\n\nIf you have loopy strokes and have no trouble adding your own power to your shots, then you want a racquet that isn't as stiff, and that is head-light--usually termed a control racquet. However, most of the population will find these racquets ill-suited for their skill. With that in mind, I'll mark some rules of thumb below to help you sort out the differences:\n\n1) Stiffness. The stiffer a racquet is, the more power it produces. You mentioned that your racquet isn't controllable. If you mean that you have a hard time keeping the ball in the court, then it's probably because your racquet is too stiff for your style of play.\n\n2) Weight. Heavier racquets are usually less stiff, because they allow you to generate more momentum behind the ball (as an analogy, think of the difference between a hammer and a sledge hammer; if a racquet has more weight to it, it can pack more of a punch). Most players will want a stick that falls in the middle of the pack to the light side.\n\n3) Head-heavy or head-light? Head-heavy racquets are usually those that allow you to generate more momentum (see #2). Pros will play with HH, while recreational will play with HL, because it requires less effort to hit the ball.\n\n4) Stringing patterns. Some racquest have more open stringing patterns while others have more dense patterns. You can judge by looking at how close together the strings are across the racquet face. Different patterns have a different feel and make it easier to apply spin and also give a larger sweet spot. You may want to see if you can find a pattern that feels better with your game.\n\n5) Lengths. Manufacturers make racquets that are an inch and a half longer than normal. These racquets give you more whip to your serves. Some people find them unweildy. I don't like playing with a longer stick, but you may.\n\n6) Feel. Each manufacturer has its own feel. I am a Wilson fan, because I love the feel of the racquet. You feel every aspect of the contact. I don't like Prince's feel, because it feels heavier and more dead to me, but that's just my opinion. Babolat racquets have a similar feel to Wilson. Try a bunch of manufacturers and find one that you like.\n\nAgain, demo a bunch of racquets. Don't buy anything unless you're sure that you like it enough to buy three.\n\nI hope that helps.
392997
Try a Wilson nCode. They are probably the best rackets out there right now.\n(Just my opinion)\n\n:D
194572
Back in high school, we would set up the jugs machine in the gym and fill it with tennis balls. we would then take batting practice, and pummel the gym with wicked line drives!
372077
Here ya go!!!\nhttp://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=48141&page=1
1082147
I was originally an english sport.
279549
It'd have to be tennis or Basketball.  Whats yours?
1174977
depends on your level and your swing (if it is fast or not), there are raquets more suitable for baseliners, other raquets are better for serve and volley players... \nyou should go to a tennis pro shop where you can ask for help and you should try the raquet before you buy it. In pro shop stores they ussualy have demo raquets.
399121
I play tennis.\n\nI think that at the beginning you just need to do your best and try to hit the ball, at least!\nHowever, it is much more difficult to improve in this sport. The basic skills are something possible to learn, for everyone...\nIf you want to become super player with a great technique in your strokes, well, you'll need lots of training!\n\nDon't worry if you have never played. Are you going to take an instructor? It is important to tell him/her you've never played before. Try to listen carefully at what he/she says and look at how he/she hits the ball.\nIt might be difficult at the beginning, but you'll probably be able to hit the ball during your first day, if you really want to. Just try to do your best, don't worry if you feel like a stupid and you cannot do anything.\nAlso the greatest tennis players in the world were not good, when they began playing tennis! \nNo one is given to birth with a tennis racket in his hand!\n\nOnce you learn your basic skills, you will be able to improve your technique, be quicker and stronger. You just need time and lots of training.\n\nTennis is a wonderful sport. \nDon't give up if you don't like it at first: once you learn the basics and become confident with them, you will have much more fun and you'll look forward to improve and to compete against other players!
812965
have you tried Amazon? well selling tennis racquet is not really a good idea.. i mean people who will buy a tennis racquet would like to hold the grip or feel the weight of the racquet if it is comfortable for them... it is like buying a perfume you never smell before on the net... probably the best way to sell your racquet is by your friends or some garage sell...(usually it is better to sell it your "not-so-close friends) because you would not offer much discount for them...
390677
Err why not made up, i am a good story teller. fine. you want a real story that is funny?... i was playing baseball/golf. i was hitting the golf ball as far as i could with those plastic yellow golf clubs. just plastic. i was so strong as a child ( i was 8 or so) that i swung so hard that on the follow-through i accidently hit my friend who was for some stupid reason standing right behind me. So this was plastic golf club, nothing should have happened, but as i said i was so strong that i cracked his head and made it bleed. ahahahahah. kinda sad. but whats funny is he asked me if anythign was wrong , and i said no man its all good. and like 2 minuutes later he says are you sure? so i look and say.. uhhhh i think its bleeding. and his whole face was covered in blood.
715445
Try Wal-mart of Target. I got my first raquet from Wal-mart and it still works great.
674303
Tennis: Originating in England in the late 19th Century, the game spread first throughout the English-speaking world, particularly among the upper classes.\n\nRugby:The legendary story/myth about the origin of Rugby football—whereby a young man named William Webb Ellis "took the ball in his arms [i.e. caught it] and ran" while playing Rugby School's already distinctive version of football (not to be confused with association football, which was codified much later) in 1823\n\nCricket:A basic form of the sport can be traced back to the 13th century, but it may have existed even earlier than that. The game seems to have originated among shepherds and farm workers in the Weald between Kent and Sussex. Written evidence exists of a sport known as creag being played by Prince Edward, the son of Edward I (Longshanks), at Newenden, Kent in 1300.\n\nIn 1598, a court case referred to a sport called Creckett being played at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford around 1550. The Oxford English Dictionary gives this as the first recorded instance of cricket in the English language.\n\nVolleyball:On February 9, 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, William G. Morgan, a YMCA physical education director, created a new game called Mintonette as a pastime to be played preferably indoors and by any number of players. The game took some of its characteristics from tennis and handball. Another indoor sport, basketball, was catching on in the area, having been invented just ten miles away in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts only four years before. Mintonette (as volleyball was then known) was designed to be an indoor sport less rough than basketball for older members of the YMCA, while still requiring a bit of athletic effort.
628723
There are many sites but I like those the most:\n\nhttp://www.tennisexpress.com/Head-Tennis-Racketse.html\n\nhttp://www.tennis-warehouse.com/\n\nhttp://www.consumersearch.com/www/sports_and_leisure/tennis_racquets/index.html\n\nI hope to help you...:)
697094
My cousin had a banana bike, and we rode double and we used her feet as training wheels.. She taught me how to ride, and we had alot of fun. Thanks! I am sitting here chuckling about it, and that was almost 40 years ago.