inches. The racket subsequently initiated a manufacturing trend towards ever larger tennis rackets. Eventually, this trend forced the sport's rule making body, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), to limit tennis racket head size. In 1980, the ITF set maximums for strung area length and width of 15.5 inches and 11.5 inches, respectively. Thus, the maximum area (i.e., for a square racket) currently allowed is 178 square inches (2:127).
Today, head sizes tend to range from 85 to slightly over 115 square inches. In general, they come in four sizes: midsize, midplus, oversize, and oversize plus. Midsize is about 90 square inches and oversized is about 110 square inches. Longer heads impart more power to player's stroke. Moreover, the wider racket face gives players more stability on off center hits. Research conducted by Dunlop has shown that the "power zone" or the "part of the strung area where a dropped ball rebounds to at least 40% of its original height" is about twice as big in oversize rackets as in the conventional wood frame ones. Hence, many large racket manufacturers such as Wilson have phased out production of conventional rackets (3:96). One problem with the larger heads, however, is control. With incre
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