Vintage classics, and today’s Grays

Sharpening fundamentals and tactics with wood

Posted Saturday, October 18, 2025

by Daniel Kaufman

I started playing tennis in 1973. 

I played with wood racquets until 1983. First a Jack Kramer, then a Borg Pro, then a Wilson Pro Staff 85.

Today, I play with the Pro Staff and with the Grays woods.

About 10 years ago, I started playing with a coach at our local tennis center, John Xu, and we picked up the woods as a way of bolstering the fundamentals and focusing on tactical play. 

He played with a Kramer, and I played with a Chris Evert edition. 

We would play with nothing but woods for months at a time, and then switch to the graphite racquets. 

He's the one that discovered Grays and got me the three Grays racquets I own now.

Dan at left on the court with one of his Grays ‘Wingfield’ rackets.