Manufacturing and Quality Control blog

Before 1965 tennis rackets were constructed strictly from wood materials. In 1968, the Spalding company was the first company to market aluminum tennis rackets. The change in design allowed for a broader head. In 1981, The International Tennis Federation adopted rules defining acceptable tennis rackets for the use in the sport tennis. Tennis rackets sold in the United States are mass produced at one of several large factories in Japan or elsewhere in Asia.

The process for manufacturing a tennis ball has not changed in over 100 years, but the tennis ball inspection process continues to advance with modern technology. Tennis balls were historically manufactured in Europe and USA until recently when the need to have lower labor costs, and cheaper raw materials shifted manufacturing to the Far East.