After playing a round of golf with a young Jack Nicklaus, golf immortal Bobby Jones reportedly quipped, “he plays a game with which I am not familiar.” Nicklaus had taken the game to another level. I am reminded of Jones’ remark as I watch this year’s US Open Tennis Championships in New York City. They play a game I barely comprehend.

I was a tennis pro in the Bronx during the last big American tennis boom of the early 1970s. Thousands of new players started tennis each week. You couldn’t find an empty court. American tennis went into inevitable decline when people found out how damned hard the game is to play recreationally. Racketball, for instance, was easier to learn and a better workout.

Now we’re in another American tennis boom. Since 2000, tennis in this country has grown by over 40 percent to what the United States Tennis Association says is now 30 million players. This time the fad may stick, because of the racquets.

A visionary named Howard Head – the man who invented laminate skis - introduced the Prince large-head tennis racket in the early ’70s. The big face meant the average hacker could keep the ball going. Tennis really could be exercise! Everyone could play!

That’s why today’s pro tennis largely stinks. Anyone can play. The larger racket heads make for greater velocity and more violent spins.

Bigger usually leads to harder, and that’s the case in modern tennis. In the early ’70s, more than half the top 10 in men’s tennis were under 6 feet tall. Names like Laver, Connors, Rosewall, and Solomon might ring bells. Now, the average height on the tour is more than 6-foot-2. Our best young American prospects, Sam Querrey and John Isner, are 6-6 and 6-9 respectively. One-hundred and fifteen mph used to be a giant men’s serve. Now it’s average in the women’s game.

The sport has been hijacked by bashers. It’s a grunting and screeching and whistling pace I couldn’t even imagine with my old wooden Dunlop. Guys like McEnroe, who served and volleyed and used touch? Well, guys like McEnroe simply would never have made it in today’s game. Touch need not apply.

Howard Head’s contribution makes tennis easier and more fun at the recreational level. Tennis is booming in popularity. I am delighted but not surprised. However, pro tennis TV ratings are continuing to slide. I am sad, but again, not surprised.

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