Do you remember the old Snauwaert Hi-Ten racquets with the crazy 12×13 string pattern? Well, they’re back. In a way.

12×13 string pattern

What is the idea behind 12×13? According to the marketing, more spin, more power and more wins. I owned a Hi-Ten a while back, and it was fun to use, but the cost of the crazy string pattern is a loss of control, but it of course depends on the player. Tennis racquets are so personal.

One of my patrons (thanks Ryan!) sent me this link and wondered if I had seen it. I had not! This racquet was made as a test racquet for Kokkinakis, according to the eBay ad. Kokkinakis coach at the time was a student of Barry’s in Adelaide. There are only a few of these racquets made. It is based on the YONEX VCORE and extended by a half inch for better serving.

The string pattern was invented by Barry Phillips-Moore, “a tennis legend who reached 5 in the world during Australia’s Golden Era with Laver, Rosewall, and Emerson. He was also famous for inventing different string systems, some performing so well they had to be banned.”

You are going to need thicker strings

With the 12 mains and 13 crosses, strings will go fast unless you go for REALLY thick gauges. According to the post, you need 1.65 to 1.75 mm custom gauges. I tried a 1.50 in the Snauwaert Hi-Ten back in the day and the thickness of the string offered a little more confidence than I imagined.

So who is selling this racquet?

The seller is Jean-Robin Levent. He is a former professional tennis player. This is what he writes:

I was lucky enough to train under Barry’s mentorship for many years in Adelaide. I can tell you that I hit many more winners with this setup and also fewer unforced errors. The kick and spin cause the ball to dip into the court, jumping up at opponents, causing them great difficulty and forcing them to make mistakes.

“The more open stringbed keeps the ball on the racquet longer allowing for more control and less unforced errors. The more powerful string bed also allows players to slow down their swing speeds for greater control. Not having to swing wildly for spin and power generation.

Once you’ve tried it, I don’t think anyone could go back to the old-fashioned string pattern.”

Then he adds the story about Mark Woodford trying to go back to regular string patterns with Wilson, but he lost all confidence, dropped loads of ranking spots and Wilson then had to pay a licensing fee to set up his Pro Staff in 12×13.

Fascinating! If you get a hold of one of these, I would love to know how it plays.