Yonex

Ads

Yonex

is a Japanese manufacturer of sporting equipment for badminton, golf and tennis, producing racquets, clubs, shoes, shuttlecocks, and other equipment for those sports.

History

The company was founded in 1946 by Minoru Yoneyama as a producer of wooden floats for fishing nets. The company was later forced out of this market because of the invention of plastic floats. This led to a commitment by Yoneyama to never again be left behind by technological advancements. In 1957, Yoneyama began to make badminton racquets for other brands. By 1961, the first Yoneyama branded racquet was introduced, and within another two years an export company was created for the worldwide distribution. After the company began to make aluminum badminton racquets in 1969, it found that the same technology could be applied to the tennis racquet which the company introduced in 1971. The company began to experiment with graphite shafts for both types of racquets and found that these would also be useful for golf clubs. Finding a growing market, the Yonex Corporation (a wholly owned subsidiary) was established in Torrance, California in July, 1983. In 1992 Yonex introduced the widebody racquet the "Isometric 500", a racquet that was much less "tear drop" shaped than previous racquets. The more "square" head of the racquet gave it a much larger striking surface, which provides a larger "sweet spot" to hit the shuttle. It led other manufacturers to follow suit in "square-head" or isometric designs. The parent company was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1994.

Yonex in professional tennis

The list of current players includes:

Male Players:

Female Players:

1980s Era Yonex Tennis Racquets

R-2, R-5, R-7 (used by Martina Navratilova), R-10,(used by Vince Van Patten) R-18 , R-20, R-22 (used by Martina Navratilova and Andrés Gómez), R-23, R-24 (used by Pam Shriver), R-27 (Used by Aaron Krickstein), R-30, R-50, R-60, R-70, R-271, RX-32, RX-37

Yonex today

Yonex has managed to become the dominant corporate player in badminton. Yonex sponsors the All England Open Badminton Championships and is a partner of the Badminton World Federation which organizes the World Championships. Upwards of 80% of competitive players use their racquets, as it is the preferred choice amongst professionals. Yonex is significant in both the tennis and golf industry and is a major sponsor of professional athletes in all three sports.

Yonex racquets range from as little as 10 US dollars to 230 US dollars. Some of the company's most popular product lines include the Nano Speeds, Muscle Powers, Armortecs, and Arcsabers.