Racket (sports Equipment)
A racket or racquet (from Arabic rahah, meaning "palm of hand", via Italian) is a sports implement consisting of a handled frame with an open hoop across which a network of cord is stretched tightly. It is used for striking a ball in such games as squash, tennis, racquetball, and badminton. Collectively, these games are known as racquet sports.
The frame of rackets for all sports was traditionally made of laminated wood and the strings of animal intestine known as catgut. The traditional racket size was limited by the strength and weight of the wooden frame which had to be strong enough to hold the strings and stiff enough to hit the ball or shuttle. Manufacturers started adding non-wood laminates to wood rackets to improve stiffness. Non-wood rackets were made first of steel, then of aluminium, and then carbon fiber composites. Wood is still used for real tennis, rackets, and xare. Most rackets are now made of composite materials including carbon fibre, fiberglass, metals such as titanium alloys or ceramics.
Gut has partially been replaced by synthetic materials including nylon, polyamide, and other polymers. Rackets are restrung when necessary, which may be after every match for a professional or never for a social player.
Read more about Racket (sports Equipment): Spelling, Badminton, Rackets, Racquetball, Real Tennis, Squash, Tennis, Table Tennis
Famous quotes containing the word racket:
“The city is loveliest when the sweet death racket begins. Her own life lived in defiance of nature, her electricity, her frigidaires, her soundproof walls, the glint of lacquered nails, the plumes that wave across the corrugated sky. Here in the coffin depths grow the everlasting flowers sent by telegraph.”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)