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Only legally playable for mere months, the Spaghetti Tennis Racket allowed amateurs and virtual nobodies to beat top ranked players at the world’s biggest tournaments. As word spread of this racket system’s supposed magical capabilities backed by real results, behind the scenes were those determined to stamp the racket out before it truly took off, a controversy who’s ramifications potentially changed the entire future landscape of tennis.
CULT TENNIS brings you player profiles and analyzes some of the best stories in the world of Tennis! Subscribe to see more content like this, and thank you for stopping by!
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This video contains footage licensed through Getty Images and Reuters
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I have seen some ;ess power pro players now have normal strung racquets but have loser strings like a little kids racquet using thin synthetic deigns closer to what a little kids racquet might use only more durable materials or some kind of full gut, and this is probably one of the only ways to have a racquet set up so a player can use a similar bend in strings helping create more topspin.
I really like the idea of pre-sponsor sports having these crazy innovations and upsets by random people.
large amounts of money shot sports to never before seen heights while simultaneously destroying the culture behind them. I wonder if it was worth it :(
Fishbach: "I could play with a shoe..." After beating Stan Smith
Stan Smith: Chalenge accepted
American Dad???
My brother wa sa tennis pro in the eighties. reached number 35. (not as a result of the spaghetti racket). but he did play with it for about 3 months, and beat Vilas on clay somewhere in Europe. He still has is on a wall in his house. He was sponsored by Slazenger. I have often asked him to take it down and lets get on a court, he says it would probably crumble within the 1st 5 minutes as it has been on a wall for about 40 years. Thanks for the vid, it brought back memories
Recently I played with someone locally. He played over 10 years ago. He put on his shoes from when he was 20, there were bits of shoes all over the court.
Racket strings really don't last very long. Of course, over 40 years, the rest of the racket might not either
That's pretty amazing, Vilas was essentially the new Borg on clay in the early 80's, can you say who your brother is?
Your father is right, there is a lot of energy bound into a racket, any stress and it'll probably come apart pretty quick
@@tzimiscelord8483 actually these rackets were strung very loose which is why it had all the "extras" added to prevent strings from rubbing together and wearing out quickly.
Ilie Nastase didn't break a promise. He promised not to play AGAINST someone that is using the spaghetti racket. He didn't say HE wouldn't use it.
... become a 'Pasta Masta' 😂
Average romanian mental gymnastic
It would've been pretty funny if he would've played with a spaghetti racked *and* then thrown a fit and resigned when faced with an opponent doing the same.
@@jeanxza5395 It is true though. It's a odd thing to use it himself but he didn't break any promises.
I knew an ambidextrous lawyer, Rob, who came on a squash court with a raquet in each hand.. they had to add a codecil ".. and the maximum number of raquets to be carried is one." 1974ish.
Too bad. Can you imagine people learning how to play with more racquets? So many possibilities were closed! Professional sports are no fun.
As a table tennis player, when you mentioned that Fischer went down the route of racket improvement rather than skill, I thought that was very much a table tennis mindset. Then learning that Fischer a indeed a table tennis player made so much sense
Table tennis requires as much skill as tennis
but why is the table tennis mindset blames so much on equipment instead of skill
Agree!!! The gap between racquet characteristic between each table tennis blade and rubbers can be enormous.for example, in table tennis, we can make one side very spinny but other side very slippery. Good luck making tennis racquet tennis like that. 😍😍😍
Becuae tt has so much variety, he created the long pips of tennis and the wimps couldnt handke it so banned it
@@QwertyUser1983 In tennis, we have rackets with heads ranging from less than 80 to 135 square inches. We have rackets from 230 to 400 grams. We have stiff or flexible rackets. Control, power, beginner, intermediate, advanced rackets. We have over 700 different strings (with specifications from brands), from various materials (nylon, poliester, kevlar, natural gut, etc...). We have different string gauges (from 0.60mm to 1,80mm). To over complicate, we can make hybrids with those strings (one type in the mains and another on the crosses). We have different string tensions, ranging from less than 30 to over 65 lbs, according to each player. We have at least 5 grip sizes. I will not details about grips, overgrips, vibration dampeners, lead or tungsten weights, string savers, different types of shoes (according to each surface: cement, grass, clay, carpet, synthetic), socks, etc.... Tennis market is way bigger than table tennis market. Believe me.
Maybe 3 weeks ago I strung a racquet without weaving the mains. It produced a wild amount of topspin, but the strings broke in 20 minutes.
Get 50 racquets and show up to a tournament
only stringing mains you could get away with 10 racquets and string between matches.@@JimmyButler101
@@JimmyButler101lmao That would be amazing 😂
I've done this with kevlar string on the mains and a smooth poly on the crosses. First time I had just fucked up the weaving on accident but I like the spin it generated. I usually do it just above the sweet spot so I can still hit a nice flat shot.
Without those string savers mentioned, the Spaghetti would have only lasted mere minutes before a string snap!
just when I think you've covered every possible quirky/interesting story in professional tennis, you find something else
WELCOME BACK OUR GOAT 🐐 Very interesting video, and incredible editing as usual!
The love is mutual Wivo ❤
The classic case of "If our favorites can't beat it, ban it..."
What are you talking about? It's just simply unfair, making it impossible to tell where the ball would go when hit. Where is the favoritism in that? It's like how Nike's shoes were banned from the Olympics and full body swimsuits as well, just because they were unfair and gave an advantage not by thr player but by their equipment.
Also happened when a high-school girl softballer struck out Babe Ruth when they were trying to decide if desegregating baseball meant degendering it too.
Funny to think Wimbledon had a restrict dress code but didnt had a single line about how the "instrument" should be.
It is shocking how many old-fashioned games have very little in the rules about these things. It took until 1979 for cricket to explicitly say that their bats had to be made of wood (after some controversy about someone using one made of aluminium).
I've heard of the spaghetti string racquet but had no idea what it was all about. Such a pity Werner Fischer got screwed by the tides of controversy, but sometimes it's innovative dead ends like these that really force the conversation to move forward. Definitely wouldn't mind seeing this racquet in action today, just to see the spin!
I hate how often someone comes up with an innovative and intelligent way to play a game only for the people in power to reject it and change the rules themselves to ban it.
This is neither innovative or intelligent. It’s a cheat. Before they dictated what a “conforming racquet” was it was already a cheat and everyone knew it. Removing the aspect of skill from competition is not a good thing. Ever.
If something comes along that dominates a sport, the decision should be based on what's best for the sport. If it makes the game boring because it's impossible to return a volley, nobody will want to play or watch it. TCGs do that kind of thing all the time. They ban cards that dominate tournaments and make the game stale.
@@cadekachelmeier7251 TCGs are actually a perfect example of why this is trash. Someone could spend hours, days, or weeks researching hundreds of thousands of card combinations to find something unique that works and wins. Then invest thousands of dollars to get the required cards. Only for some judge at the event to make a single ban ruling to not only remove the person's deck from the competition but invalidate everything they have done and all the money they have spent. how is that in any way fair to the player? You know what would be a much better option than that. Full open selection so we just don't see mirror decks with slight changes and if a card is truly uncontested create counter cards to be released in the next batch.
If the racket was actually this good they didn’t have much choice. It’d be like allowing aluminum bats in MLB. It fundamentally breaks the sport in a way that would destroy the sport long term.
@@CoconutMigrating or people would learn to adapt. a lot of things we do in modern sports would have been considered impossible in the past and are only now seen as normal due to the increase in technology and technique. if I went back in time with any of the modern equipment should it be banned because it would be hard to play against? people would find a way to play with or around these bats they just didn't want to "change the meta"
no footage or showcase of this racket at all? :(
Makes you wonder if such footage even exists tbh
@@Graceclaw it may but maybe not in public domain, or no one bothered to digitise them
might be on the dark web...@@shreya1100
It wouldn't be that special anyway, less spin than the Nadal forehand we've been watching for over a decade.
Your maps are wrong, the reunification of Germany was only in 1990
It also has the Czech Republic instead of Czechoslovakia
Thought I knew it all on rackets... But this is new to me and a great summary video!
All I hear is a bunch of crying cause they got beat.
Thats tennis
It seems to me that making the game less predictable also makes it less fun and less about skill.
@@2MeterLP It simply shifts the skill focus of the game from the player receiving a hit to the technique of the player hitting the ball due to the increased ball control it offers. The skill factor wasn't removed and thinking it was betrays a lack of insight.
@Atlas-nf2gw Do you play tennis? I dont want to assume anything.
Hmm, you should try court tennis, real tennis or Jeu de Paume. The balls are the random element!
Please make a video about Matteo Berrettini. From Wimbledon finalist and top 3 contender to barely staying in the Top 100 now. What happened to him? He is an absolute fan favourite, id love to see a video about him.
Sounds like a skill issue
Fantastic information!!! Really enjoyed your research and presentation!!
I feel it's very sad that it ended this way A part of table tennis is designing a racket that fit your play style and even in tennis we see a bit of this with the selection of weight and materials
You must be a bot using ai generated comments.
@@verlatenwolf and what are you basing your comment on? genuinely curious, machine learning is doing immense damage to our society, as you're demonstrating, and I am very interested in exactly what triggered this paranoia for you (hint: bots don't tend to bother with saved playlists or actual unique usernames)
true
Fitting your play style and making it so that there is NO way for your opponent to prepare for what’s coming are not the same thing. Tennis wouldn’t have survived if this had continued.
Table tennis rubers need to be ITTF approved
The graphics are unbelievable in your videos. Top quality
0:39 love an intro that contradicts itself within a single sentence
Your videos have an energy akin to those of summoning salt’s. They inspire fascination for a world I’ll never join myself.
THE GOAT CULT TENNIS
me see cult tennis. me watch cult tennis.
The production quality of your videos is next level
Love it mate another great video!
Oh my, Cam, you’re everywhere!
^ The real GOAT of tennis KZhead
As a romanian, i have only one thing to say: i hope nastase kept the spaghetti string raquet. Makes for a good story about being salty 😂😂
Still i think it would be fun to see a solid player use a modern racket and modern strings to recreate that string pattern to see what would happen. Like if you are just as curious as i am to see what would happen because no actual video other than the close up is not shown.
Today with the oversized racket, strung with different strings and different tensions between the mains and crosses you can generate massive topspin. Think Rafa. Interestingly, Djoker is one of the few to still use a 95 which I can say from experience has more precision but the sweet spot is smaller so its harder to use...
I remember the spaghetti racket when Nastase used one against Vilas. It created a double hit by design and so was rightfully banned. However, as John McEnroe complained a few years later, there were no strict rules about what a tennis racket could be. He pointed out by contrast how Major League baseball bats were strictly controlled. As a result of the lack of tennis racket restrictions, Prince started the larger racket revolution. Add graphite frames and better synthetic strings and tennis was completely transformed from 1980 to 1990+. Ironically McEnroe was at first best able to take advantage of a larger graphite racket. But soon Lendl, Agassi and Sampras overpowered him.
I remember in 1990's or early 2000's when a maximum head size had to be instituted for play at most levels as you saw 120 square inches or 305 square cm as a big jump in late 1990's due to Willams twins and heard the pro levels racquets at 135 square inches or 343 square cm in play by no later then 2001 and Jr capped later at X for each age group.
@@caseysmith544 yes, super sized rackets became a problem. Since I’m an older guy I remember the classic wooden rackets of the 1970s (Bjorn Borg) which had a head size of 65 inches. Racket size exploded quickly (by Prince) to over 100 square inches. I believe the limit today involves length and width which as you wrote comes out to be a maximum of about 135 inches.
@@bb1111116 Yes and I remember when 110 square inches was broken by Kent or Kennex and everyone in tennis was in an uproar making issue go on mainstream sports news until older traditional brands like Wilson or Spalding were soon at same sized heads. I have seen perfectly round heads on tennis racquets mainly on kids smaller Jr racquets where size is 135 square inches of head size in very late 2000's. Same round 135 square inch racquet design ended up being used for new game Speedmitton that never lasted as a new sport. Now if brands making speedmiton were not using round 135 square inch head, they used long design Kennex and Head pioneered for 117--120 square inch head. A main reason Speedmitton died off was lack of a head shape and how the birdie should be, some wanted foam in a bigger tennis sized shuttlecock while others used a tennis ball in a shuttlecock deign. Some odd versions of Speedmiton made for beach used same big wooden paddle as in Paddleball/beach tennis.
We need more of your videos mate :)
The way you put it "rather than attempt to improve his lousy game, he instead became fixated on the prospect of improving his lousy equipment", I loled so hard. So many times in life I have seen several people including myself falling into that mindset. Thankfully, I have tried and mostly succeeded in walking the path of "its the Indian not the arrow".
well in his case he just upgraded his arrow and it worked
@@robertgarcia2266added some dynamite to the arrow lol
Wake up babe, new CULT TENNIS video just dropped
Truly a fantastic video. Great job! 👍
Fantastic video! Didn't have to bring up the trauma from that match point from the Federer-Djokovic 2019 Wimbledon Final though 😭
I was lucky to hit wirh one Fischer racquet spaghetti strung and I have to tell you, it really is a cheat code. The amount of topspin and sidespin that thing can produce, coupled with clay, produced some unpredictable and sometimes hilarious bounces.
As a Video Editor myself, this is one of the best edited videos i've seen lately. Congratulations.
Owned at one time a Pancho Segura Sweetspot. A Garcia Frame ( think Harold Soloman) with many strings missing. LOVED this frame but eventually it suffered cracks from wear and tear. I wanted another one but they were no longer available. SO sad!!
If one could produce strings that are very grippy like table tennis rubber then it would not only be legal, but also consistent spin
Great video as always! I reckon you should cover the Isner vs Mahut 2010 Wimbledon match. It is very historical and would very great if you’d do a video on it.
So before the ban, you could use a baseball bat?
Yes(I think), but good luck making shots in.
love this story.... bravo!!!!
Very interesting history. Thanks for sharing this. This was a bit before my time. I do remember when one of the Australian Woodies (Woodbridge? Woodford?) using a diagonally strung racket that caused controversy. I also remember when textured stings (Gamma Ruff?) showed up. After one set the balls were shaved clean. I would like to see regulations put in place regarding rackets ... not unlike Major League Baseball requiring wooden bats.
Two cats watching a game of tennis. One says to the other, "I've got a brother in that racket."
Don't worry, hybrid stringing with sub 100cm head rackets allowed for players to develop insane spin. In high school I played with prince tricomp 90s while everyone else was playing with Head TI S6 rackets and oversized heads with oversized sweet spots. My entire game was control and spin so I have insane respect for someone that made a racket where the entire point was unpredictable spin and absolute chaos on the other side of the net.
increased spin is one thing, but unpredictability should be regulated fiercely. Having an opponent that can hit shots with unpredictable bounces equivalent to hitting divets in clay... it makes it something too random to still be considered sport. The fact that people retired from matches (lol) proves it must have been INFURIATING. Not just better spin, but no consistency at all with the bounce. also, unless every player is ivo karlovic, pros today arent hitting casual rally balls that bounce higher than the fence. They might produce more mphs with their rpms than the spaghetti racket allowed, but the ratio between power input and spin was surely absurd on that old thing. It's better that it was banned. It's something to use for fun between friends.
Does anyone remember the 80s and 90s when all of those wooden rackets hit the thrift stores, garage sales, and estate sales? _They couldn't give them away._ Seeing McEnroe with one is shocking and nostalgic all at the same time.
The best racquet ever made was the Davis Classic II. Not the best for power, but for control and lack of arm/elbow stress, it is still unbeaten.
A $650 racket? The advertisement for the spaghetti racket in 1976 said it was $119.99. That’s $650 in today’s money. How many people today spend that much on a tennis racket?
It's easy to spend $300 on a production racket today. For a totally custom, innovative, minuscule production run option paying double is not unreasonable.
Your editing is amazing
Too much spin, huh? "chuckles in table tennis"
“Chuckles at the thought of only having to manage a five foot wide table”
Lol ok have fun covering a court larger than a table
That technicality is the purest form of “watch me” I’ve ever heard of. Two hits because of two distinct points of contact against two sets of strings.
My mother used to own a diagonally-strung racket back in the 1980s which was eventually passed on to me in my high school years. I think the manufacturer 's name was Volkl or something. Personally I thought the coolest innovation was the length-adjustable racket by Puma which was used by Boris Becker in his early years.
1:40 That's a very young Andy Murray!
God damnit Cult, you did not have to include a clip from the 2019 Wimbledon final.
Huh....Not too long ago at the recycling center I noticed some old racquets in the heap. As I'm assuming most of the fans of this channel would do I wandered over towards them to see if there where any hidden gems, the one that caught my eye was a wooden Wilson "Chris Evert" racquet, but I was puzzled by the weird orange stain on the middle of the racquet's (now very broken) strings, it looked part intentional but also, was very sloppy and very damaged so I didn't really go out of my way to inspect it closely. The frame itself didn't look in good shape either so I left it there...but that weird orange stain in the middle seems suspiciously similar to the spaghetti string adhesive and pattern.
I started playing tennis in the 80s when wood was being phased out for metal. Ive picked up a few wooden rackets years ago to compare with the rackets of the present. You understand why serve and volley died out with the modern technology in tennis.
@@jaaklucas1329 Between racquets and I think it was McEnroe that said something along the lines of courts being better built/maintained and less grass courts mean a far more consistent bounce, so less need to keep the ball in the air and far less risk of the ball skidding/dying on you if you let it bounce. I do want to hit with a good wooden racket just to see how different the game is.
Agreed on the grass courts getting better bounces and less skidding. They started using sand and laser levelling to make it more like a modern putting green. Slower and more consistent.A few years ago Misha Zverev won Eastbourne doing pure serve and volley, the grass was old school. Johnny Mac had the Dunlop Maxply wooden raquet mid-career and it was the pinnacle of wooden rackets. Then they came up with steel ala Jimmy Connors. I kept an old wooden raquet around for years to prove to my son that it was the shotmaking that was more important than power. Less errors,etc. We called the power on those old rackets "trampoline power"! I think theres some videos around with modern players using wood...@@zeroelus
@@jaaklucas1329 Yeah I think it was Dimitrov and Zverev hitting with some old school racquets? In any case I've seen the video you mention. It's so cool you've been able to play through such an important phase in tennis, so much variety! How do you feel about the last 10 years of racquet evolution? I personally feel that strings and frames have been improving incrementally, but nothing really big that stands out from the initial advent of poly strings and graphite racquets. And if you don't mind me asking, what racquets do you use?
I can understand why they removed it. The racket introduced a high level of randomness to the game which takes away from the skill vs skill aspect of it. No completive sport can have the outcome rely on randomness it destroys the competition
To me this seems more like the existing pros decided they wanted to keep playing on easy mode rather than be forced to actually improve their game.
5:00 you gotta love it when the “experts” don’t know what they’re talking about
you're not allowed to show the wimbledon passing shot without a trigger warning. my lawyer will be in touch :P
I play silent temnis now. Its just like regular tennis, but without the racket.
Good one
I love two handed backhands. I had a power two handed back hand that shot just over the jet and super quick diagonally
I’ve never watched tennis, but it sounds much more interesting if you could choose your type of racket that would have different advantages and disadvantages and be forced to play around it. Basically what I’m saying to everyone that lost against is: skill issue
This gives me a really good idea. I know how to maintain the same pattern no double strings and still generate the same spin. This new racquet will bring this back.
Seriously want to learn how u make these videos. Teach us Sensei 🙏
It seems like Mr. Fisher was the last man (that we know about) who wanted to change something. Tennis is the modern Roman circus. It's too much money involved in this industry for any unexpected results.
I just love this channel
I had no idea I had an interest in Tennis. Thank you so much!! Also I've watched a few of your previous videos and have to thank you for introducing me to the hilarious self importance and pompousness of Organized Tennis.
"I need my racquet strung." "OK, let's... nope - fuck THAT."
My father actually beat the TC Grün-Weiß Vilsbiburg in the German Bundesliga many years ago by starting to hit short and slow balls to get the opponent to the net and also to make him miss a lot of shots, because you could not generate any pace on you own with that racket.
Id watch tennis if all 4 people in duos had spaghetti rackets. That way theres 2 people trying to predict the ball and not just one who cant run fast enough.
In my personal opinion, I agree that equipment that grants a player or team a distinct advantage shouldn't be used. They all should use the same equipment. but with that said, I would love a version of tennis in which everyone used this racket.
Believe it or not, I first learned to play tennis with woood rackets in the mid 90's. They had the shape of modern rackets, but were made of wood. I've no idea what happened to them, I wish I had kept them as a momento. Now that I'm middle aged, I wouldn't mind an old wood racket to hang on the wall.
Great video. It would have been nice to see real footage of the spaghetti raquet, to understand even better the reasoning for its prohibition
Damm thats the best version of airbud rule ive ever seen.
Very interesting story and it's funny that such a goofy thing happened in Tennis but it's for sure for the better that it didn't take off: for a competitive sport control and predictability are must haves. Else there is too much randomness, which kills the very idea of fair competition.
We can’t have tennis being interesting, now can we?
Would be interesting to see what would happen if the current top players try this racquet
"Everything has already been thought of" is the mantra of losers
reminds me of the argument for aluminum bats in MLB lol
this channel is tennis ❤
Absolutely amazing video.
He’s back!
"this won't do anything and can't possibly beat what already exists. There's no market." *Beats what already exists* "OMG this is so broken please ban."
Honestly I don't care about tennis at all, but I love someone coming up with something new...
Honestly would've been interesting to see different players wielding their own type of "weapon"
Just started the video. But minor error here, the Dunlop Maxply Fort (the model mcenroe used to win that Wimbledon) actually ended production in 1980, not 1981. McEnroe was probably sent a large supply of them to use (painted as Maxply Mcenroe’s), but the racket was off the public market by 1981.
Good catch!
I wonder why certain games attract certain types of people. Tennis, Chess, Rock-Climbing, MMO's, League of Legends etc.
Less of who they attract and more so the kind of people they keep. Do also keep in mind a lot things have some form of barrier to entry that make it more appealing to different groups.
When the meta changes and the established top players cry because their mains were proven useless.
George Goven isn't an unknown player. He was world no. 13 and also a semifinalist of Roland Garros. He became a very famous coach as well for many top French players and the winning Fed cup teams. He is a legend in France!! I'd suggest you do a bit more research on the players you're talking about.
Nothing kills innovation faster than people whining about rules
Great video! But you talked a lot about the unpredictable spin that this new racquet produced but you never showed it!
Even after weeks of extensive research, it appears no available archival footage of the racket exists online. If anyone has any, please DM me!
"ranked 200 in the world" "little hope for future success" lmao
what was the france spain game at davis cup someone as the date or the players who are playing
Using a racket that provides randomness of the way the ball comes off the surface is like using dice to determine chess moves.
id say its more akin to using a knuckleball in baseball. its very hard on the batter but it can backfire on the pitcher
@@uuh4yj43 actually a really good analogy
I'm not even a tennis fan and this was really interesting.
I am seeing weird parallels between the spaghetti and the pickle. Both seem to be great equalizers.
Ironically I think the take that the game being played almost entirely from the back of the court would be boring kinda turned out to be true. I do think serve and volley play is overall less favored and the long ralleys can get a little stale. Just my opinion in terms of what i would like to watch tho