Wilson Tennis Racquet Technology

Chicago-based Wilson Sporting Goods Co., a subsidiary of Amer Sports, is one of the world’s leading manufacturer of tennis racquets. Wilson is the global leader in performance tennis and uses player insights to develop products that push tennis equipment innovation into new territories. Through its dedication to creating products that enable athletes at every level to perform at their best, Wilson has earned its place as a leader in sporting goods for over a century.

“Tennis has gotten blisteringly fast. Our athletes need equipment with technology that not only meets, but exceeds, the new speed and power requirements of the modern game,” said Hans-Martin Reh, General Manager of Wilson Racquet Sports. “By working hand-in-hand with thousands of tennis players and tomorrow’s big stars, our Wilson Labs innovation team set out to design equipment that supports an accelerated style of play. The results are a new tennis racquet that offers faster racquet head speed, and aggressive power that can help players increase their speed and support their agility.”

Data Analysis

Smart Tennis Sensor Technology
The Sony Smart Tennis Sensor gives you data from your play session like never before! The Sony Sensor easily connects to the butt cap of your racket sending real-time data through an app that is compatible with your smartphone or tablet. The data is automatically stored giving you access to ball impact spot, ball spin, ball speed, and swing speed. You can also play back video recorded during play and simultaneously view your swing and shot analysis data. Attach the sensor to gather data about your shots and strokes, and then analyze and visualize your play in real time. Plus, share data and videos of your play.

Frame Composition

FST (Fast Speed Technology)
Octagon frame geometry allows air to flow around the frame and provides increased stiffness for explosive power, this combined with a headlight balance allows the racket to move fast through the air for fast racket head speed at any angle of attack.

High Performance Carbon Fiber
Developed for aggressive swings, this premium modulus carbon graphite provides increased frame stiffness for explosive power.

Braided Graphite
Braided Graphite and BLX Fiber is an improvement to the original BLX technology to better combine the strength of the carbon fiber and the flexibility of Basalt. Wilson could have called this technology BLX 2.

BLX Technology
BLX for the Perfect Feel, increased contact between the ball and strings, larger sweetspot and increase control and spin. B stands for basalt, X stands for 9 extraordinary, proprietary technologies. Basalt is a natural volcanic rock. It can be used in manufacturing where it is made into fine gold fibers with incredible vibration resistance. Wilson’s new technology, BLX, has used these basalt fibers and woven them longitudinally with [K]arophite Black to create one of the most advanced composites in the industry. Basalt fiber is a material made from extremely fine fibers of basalt volcanic rock. It is similar to carbon fiber and fiberglass but has better physicomechanical properties than fiberglass, it is more flexible, and is significantly cheaper than carbon fiber. The initial development of Basalt Fiber was in France with the first patent issued in the US in 1923. The technology languished until the Soviet Union did significant development with Basalt Fibers for military applications. Now in the 21st century, interest in Basalt Fiber has increased because it is slightly stronger that Carbon Fiber and significantly cheaper. For tennis racquet technology, this means a lighter material with a more controlled flex. This permits design of a more stable, comfortable playing head with no change in weight or balance.

[K]arophite Black
The older nCode technology at the molecular level filled silicon dioxide between the carbon fibers of the racquet frame to stiffen and strengthen the fibers. Karophite Black is a proprietary technology that goes beyond nCode. It is a lattice of tiny fibers that mixed with the silicone dioxide which actually connects and binds the carbon fibers. This makes the racquet frame about 40% stronger and stiffer than an nCode frame. The result is a stiffer head for less distortion on hits and better control. This strength and stability also gives many unique design options for the yoke, handle and other parts of the racquet, this permits some of the other technologies described below. [K]Arophite Black technology is used in all [K] Factor racquets.

Linear Geometry
New racquet frame technology providing up to 35% more overall stability compared to a classic beam construction.

Hyper Carbon Technology
Hyper Carbon is the lightest, stiffest, and strongest material ever used in tennis racquets. Compared to Titanium, Hyper Carbon is 4 times stiffer, 65% lighter, and 4 times stronger. 2 layers of Hyper Carbon and 5 layers of Graphite are used in the application of Hyper Carbon. Hyper Carbon is used in the Horizontal Axis cross section, increasing stiffness which creates more power. It is also used in the Vertical Axis cross section, increasing torsion stability which creates more control.

Tennis Racquet String Bed

Spin Effect Technology
Spin Effect is a patented Wilson racquet technology that greatly increases spin for the player with normal flat strokes. For the modern aggressive game. Effectively lengthens the court by a foot and lowers the net by 2 inches; your hard shots will stay in and with spin will be harder to return.

Parallel Drilling
Parallel Drilling provides a consistent more forgiving sweet spot response while increasing the sweet spot. Because the main strings don’t have bends, they are less prone to breaking on mis-hits.

[K]ompact Center
The Wilson engineers also created a new shape for the yoke area. They used a more compact design to give more feel, improved handling, and maneuverability. Kompact Center and Kontour Yoke go hand in hand; all the racquets with Kontour Yoke also have Kontour Center. The K6.1 90 (Federer racquet) also uses it

[K]onnector
2 external wings are molded into each side of the hoop and flex when the ball is hit. This provides increased dwell time for the ball on the string. This provides greater control, comfort, and a larger sweet spot. Sort of like the Babolat Woofer system. Used in the K4 Oversize and K1 only

Double Holes
By increasing the diameter of the grommet holes, the string bed is allowed to flex more when impacted by the ball, resulting in a smoother feel and added power. The bigger holes allow 26 degrees of string movement for a bigger sweet spot.

AGT
Articulated Grommet Technology allows an extraordinary 76 degrees of string movement.

Shaft and Grip

X2 Ergo
Patent-pending X2 Ergo Handle provides for an optimal, personalized feel on two-handed backhands. Nearly 80 percent of modern tennis players play a two-handed backhand, and for competitive juniors that number climbs to nearly 90 percent, yet modern rackets haven’t evolved to accommodate this change. Wilson Labs developed a player-directed handle insert system that allows every player to customize an ergonomic handle shape to optimize their grip. The X2 Ergo Handle provides the ideal form for the top hand to dominate the modern two-handed backhand. This gives players more power, versatility, leverage, and feel.

X2 Shaft
X2 Shaft technology involves the use of a longer handle for increased leverage on two-handed backhands and a better feel for extreme grip changes.

[K]ontour Yoke
The new [K]Arophite Black technology allowed the Wilson engineers to develop a unique yoke design. “This new frame engineering technology enhances stiffness at key stress points on the racquet for improved torsional stability.” In plain English: when you hit the ball, the shaft and yoke don’t twist and flex in weird ways. Kontour Yoke is used in the K1, K3, K4, and K-Zen.

Amplifeel handle system
AmpliFeel is a proprietary Wilson handle technology that provides a clean and enhanced racquet feel. It works, AmpliFeel racquets feel more comfortable and have a noticeably nicer ball fee. Amplifeel handle technology is fine-tuned to each racquet to provide a lean, enhanced feel due to basalt inserts, customized foam, and a softer buttcap.

Cushion Foam
This handle technology softens impact for optimal dampening and shock absorption to provide smooth comfort.

Hammer Technology
Weight is reduced in the shaft and handle. With today‘s getting lighter and lighter, maintaining mass (weight) in the head becomes more important than ever. With Hammer Technology, weight is maintained throughout the head of the racquet, resulting in increased stability and more power. This also results in a higher and larger sweet spot.

See the full line of Wilson Performance Tennis Racquets available at Do It Tennis.

If you’d like to find out more about specific Wilson tennis rackets, check out our expert tennis racquet reviews on our blog or even reviews from other players, which you can find on each product page.

We also suggest seeing our tennis racquet frequently asked questions and our guide to evaluating tennis racquets in general. If you’re looking for a young boy’s or girl’s tennis racquet, take a look at our junior racquet buying guide for some more helpful information.