Racket handle

A game racket with a gripping handle having an end with a forwardly extending radial enlargement disposed substantially on one side of a plane defined by strings or an equivalent striking surface of the racket. The upper surface and at least a portion of the rear surface of the handle end are substantially smooth and non-enlarged to avoid jamming into the palm or heel of the hand which would interfere with wrist-snap movement desirable in many racket strokes, and the enlarged front portion of the handle end prevents the handle from slipping out of the player's grasp.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to an improved handgrip for game rackets. The 
invention is useful with stringed rackets as used in tennis, racquetball, 
squash, badminton and the like, and is also suitable for paddle-type 
rackets as used in paddleball, paddle tennis and deck tennis. 
Conventional rackets are used in these sports are provided with handgrip 
handles (typically octagonal or oval in cross section) which are uniformly 
outwardly flared at the handle end. The resulting roughly annular bulge or 
rib extending around the entire periphery of the handle end provides a 
shoulder or stop to prevent the handle from slipping out of the user's 
grasp. 
We have found that a uniform outward flare of the handle end is 
disadvantageous in that the flared portion "jams" into or interferes with 
the lower part of the palm or the heel of the hand when the handle is 
normally gripped. This is especially true in racket strokes such as the 
overhead service where a high degree of wrist snap is desired. The 
interference of the handle end with the hand decreases the power and spin 
which can be imparted on forehand, service, and overhead strokes, and 
lessens control over the ball particularly in the execution of 
spin-imparting strokes. 
These problems are solved by our racket handle which is outwardly flared 
over only a portion of the periphery of the handle. This partial bulge or 
rib is adequate to provide the desired safety stop to keep the handle from 
slipping out of the player's hand, but the outward flare is eliminated on 
those faces of the handle which abut the palm or heel of the hand. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Briefly stated, this invention is directed to an improved handgrip handle 
for a game racket (such as a tennis racket) having a generally flat or 
planar striking surface for hitting a ball or other game projectile. In 
contrast to a conventional handle which has a rib or shoulder extending 
radially from the entire periphery of the handle end, the improved handle 
provides this radial extension in only the forwardly and downwardly facing 
surfaces of the handle when the racket is gripped for a level forehand 
stroke. Preferably, the handle is generally octagonal in cross section, 
and the radial extension of the partial shoulder is about one-fourth inch 
above the adjacent surface of the handle. In an alternative form, only the 
forwardly extending surfaces are radially extended at the handle end to 
provide a single racket which can be used by both right-and-left-handed 
players.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a tennis racket 10 constructed according to the 
invention includes a stringed head 11, an elongated butt or handle 12, and 
a shank or throat section 13 joining the head and handle. The improvement 
of this invention is confined to the structure at the terminal end of 
handle 12, and the other parts of the racket are conventional. It is to be 
understood that the invention can be applied to any type of game racket, 
and the concept is not restricted to any particular style of racket for 
tennis or the other sports previously mentioned. 
Handle 12 may be circular or oval in cross section, but most modern rackets 
are provided with a handle which has an elongated or irregular octagonal 
shape in cross section as shown in FIG. 3. The side surfaces of the main 
body of the handle are designated 1-8 in FIG. 3, and these numbers are 
arranged in counter-clockwise ascending order when viewing the handle in 
section toward its free or terminal end as shown in FIG. 3. The octagonal 
configuration is preferred for many styles of rackets because it enables 
rapid indexing of the handle within the player's grip to slightly 
different rotational positions for different types of strokes. 
Surfaces 1 and 5 are at the top and bottom respectively of the handle when 
the racket is held for a normal relatively level forehand stroke against a 
ball 16 (FIG. 1). That is, these surfaces are perpendicular to a plane 15 
defined by the stringed striking surface of the racket head. The front and 
rear faces of the racket handle are surfaces 7 and 3 respectively, and 
these surfaces are generally parallel to plane 15. 
Remaining surfaces 2, 4, 6 and 8 are oriented at approximately 45 degrees 
to surfaces 1, 3, 5 and 7 to complete the generally octagonal 
configuration of the handle when seen in cross section. As is conventional 
in rackets of this type, rear surface 3 and front surface 7 are shown as 
being slightly wider than the other faces of the handle to provide a 
slightly oval or elongated octagonal handle configuration which fits the 
hand comfortably. 
Beginning approximately one-half inch from a free end 18 of the handle, 
side surfaces 5, 6, 7 and 8 are outwardly flared to define an outwardly 
extending shoulder or bulge 20 which extends around about one-half of the 
periphery of the handle. As best seen in FIG. 3, bulge 20 is a smooth 
radial extension of surfaces 5-8, with the exception that the opposite 
ends of the bulge are formed to be in the same planes as defined by 
surfaces 1 and 4. 
In a typical configuration, the narrower side surfaces of the racket handle 
are conventionally about one-half inch in width, and wider surfaces 3 and 
7 are approximately 3/4 inch in width. The radial extension of bulge 20 
(taken with reference to the axial center line of the elongated handle) is 
preferably approximately 1/5 to 1/4 inch beyond surfaces 5, 6, 7 and 8. 
The material used for handle 12 is not critical, and may be wood, metal or 
a composition material configured to be conventionally joined with shank 
13 of the racket. Preferably, the exterior of the handle is usually 
covered with a leather wrapping (not shown), and a cap (not shown) may be 
provided at end 18 to enable a neat termination of the leather wrapping as 
is conventional in tennis rackets. The end portion of the handle may also 
be formed as a separate slip-on cap which is useful to modify a 
conventional racket. 
Incorporation of the modified handle give the racket head a definite front 
surface (facing in the same direction as handle surface 7) used in 
forehand strokes, and a rear surface (facing in the same direction as 
handle surface 3) used in backhand strokes. The modified racket is also 
allochiral in that slightly different configurations are needed for 
right-handed and left-handed players. A left-handed racket 10L is shown in 
FIGS. 4-5, and the foregoing description applies equally to the 
left-handed version of the racket. It should be noted, however, that the 
numbered surfaces (which carry an "L" suffix in the left-handed version) 
ascend numerically in the opposite direction (clockwise) from those shown 
in FIG. 3. 
Both the right-handed and left-handed versions of the tennis racket are 
characterized by a handle which terminates in outwardly flared faces on 
the bottom and forwardly facing surfaces of the handle. In both rackets, 
the bottom surface is surface 5, and the forwardly facing surfaces are 
surfaces 6, 7 and 8. The term "forwardly facing" is meant to designate the 
general direction of forehand stroke, and also those surfaces which face 
away from the palm of the hand when the racket is normally gripped. 
Top surface 1 and at least rearwardly facing surfaces 2 and 3 (which are 
against the palm and heel of the hand in a normal grip) lack the outward 
flare of surfaces 5-8, and the end of the handle is substantially a smooth 
continuationof the general planes defined by surfaces 1-3. Elimination of 
the outward flare for surfaces 1-3 is adequate for certain grips, but the 
additional elimination of the flare of surface 4 is preferred as it 
enables rotation of the handle into a position referred to as a "Western 
forehand" which is used by many players. 
The skewed terminal ends of the bulge or shoulder defined by extending the 
planes of surfaces 1 and 4 insure an adequate range of handle rotation 
within the player's grip to execute different types of strokes while still 
avoiding jamming of the shoulder into the hand. Substantially all of the 
shoulder (with the exception of a portion of the radial extension of 
surface 5) is forward of plane 15 defined by the racket striking surface, 
leaving the rear surfaces of the handle end free of a radial extension. 
DESCRIPTION OF ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENT 
A possible disadvantage of the handle configurations described above is 
that different handles are required for right- and left-handed players. We 
have found that this problem can be eliminated without significant 
impairment of the advantages of the invention by forming the bulge 20 only 
on forwardly facing handle surfaces 6, 7, and 8, and by eliminating the 
radial enlargement of surface 5 as illustrated in FIG. 7. 
In this modified "universal" configuration, bulge or shoulder 20 has 
opposite ends which are in the planes defined by surfaces 1 and 5. That 
is, side surface 5 as seen in FIG. 3 is flattened to have the same 
configuration as side surface 1. 
We have found that elimination of approximately one-half or more of the 
continuously outwardly flared shoulder at the end of a conventional racket 
handle is effective in achieving better racket control for both increased 
power and improved execution of shots which impart spin to the ball. Any 
shot requiring wrist snap is capable of far better execution with the 
improved racket because the end of the handle does not jam into the palm 
or heel of the player's hand to interfere with the grip and overall racket 
control. The invention accordingly permits production of more effective 
and satisfactory rackets with substantially no increase in manufacturing 
cost.