Broomstick putter and oversized racquet: a common history

With the purists calling for a ban on the broomstick putter, perhaps everyone should cast their minds back to the late 1970s when it was discovered in the rules of tennis that there was nothing written governing the size or length of a racquet, or the material it could be made from.

Enter the oversized racquet. While all the traditionalists tut-tutted at its existence, it did begin a revolution in the game.

In 1978, a young Pam Shriver, was the first to make a grand slam final using an oversized racquet, losing to Chris Evert in the US Open final at Flushing Meadow. While the new racquet did bring a whole new dimension of power to the game it also brought its share of problems.

The style of game at the time had not followed suit and thus biomechanics of the ground strokes still favoured flat if not under-spun shots. It took the new generation teenage of wonder kid players, predominantly from Nick Bollettieri’s stable, to show the older brigade that phenomenal power could be generated with shots if topspin was used for control.

Also it took some people a long while to realise that a whole stringing regime was needed for the bigger headed racquets, as, unless they were strung tightly, they performed like a trampoline giving a load of power, but little control.

Tweaking and developing continued until the mid-size, wide frame, millennium-era material weapon of mass destruction evolved that we have today. And along with it, a whole new player and style of game. Some purists still argue that the power has ruined the game due to rallies and points being so short, but it is certainly a full on, athletic contest now.

So to the broomstick putter. It too, has its quirks and drawbacks for the user and is not everyone’s panacea.

There in lies the entertainment and intrigue of the game. Golf, also, has come a long way with its power with many players hitting drives and second shots distances only dreamed of fifteen years ago.

Swimming banned their version of the oversized racquet with their space age material body suits no loner permitted in competition.

It will interesting to see how golf goes with this putter debate and what comes out of the review over the next few months.

No matter what the equipment, it is still the arms, legs and more importantly, the minds that drive them, that creates the phenomenon of human contest.