In addition to using them as a profile of the user in question, social networks are also often a source of distraction and entertainment connected across the world. In them, a video of small tennis players performing spectacular strokes with a “wooden ladle” recently went viral.
The images traveled around the world quickly and hundreds of fans surrendered to the skills of Japanese children Yunosuke (age nine) and Koujirou (age 7), who at the end of March published a film showing them practicing.
In that post, one of them could be seen connecting shots with what appeared to be a wooden spoon, while the other was throwing the ball from one side to the other.
“With a wooden spoon? is even better than David Goffin,” commented one user. However, this wooden tool has a name and an origin. This is the Tennis Pointer, created by Czech coach Jiri Bartos in 2011 and which began to use great promises of the sport today.
The main characteristic of this object is that it has a super-reduced head, which makes the owner of this racket perfect the accuracy of his shots on time. However, the official Czech website that markets them (functionaltennis) says that it also serves to improve other aspects of the player.
This device is a mix between a wooden spoon and a tennis racket, and was made of red oak wood. Its head measurement is 21 inches (138 square centimeters), while its weight and height vary depending on which version is chosen.
There are three models for sale: the Junior, designed for players between 6 and 10 years old (285 grams and 55 centimeters), the Mid, aged ten and older (310 grams and 59 centimeters) and the Pro, for expert players (346 grams and the same length as the Mid).
In addition to improving accuracy at the time of hitting, thanks to the head of the racket, which is almost five times lower than that of a standard one, the use of this tool also allows the player to improve other aspects, such as placement (with footwork), timing when hitting the ball (the margin of error is reduced to a minimum), service and speed of auction (not having ropes to help).
It is worth mentioning that one of Bartos's students, who used Tennis Pointer, was dedicated to the Australian Open and the US Open Junior in 2019. The tennis player in question is Jonas Forejtek, whose video training with the tool in question went viral through social networks at that time.
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