Sports equipment, such as a game racket, golf club, billiard cue, hockey stick, ski stick, fishing rod, and even a bicycle frame, are generally made of a rodlike or tubular article of a thermoplastic or thermosetting plastic material. The rodlike or tubular article is generally reinforced by fiber braids, which are arranged spirally such that the fiber braids and the axis of the article form an angle so as to make the rodlike or tubular article more resistant to flexure and torsion. However, the rodlike or tubular article is often locally reinforced by a fiber-reinforced plastic composite material such that a specific area of the rodlike or tubular article has a greater resistance to flexure.
The process of reinforcing a specific area of the rodlike article is rather cumbersome and is not cost-effective. In addition, the local reinforcement of a rodlike article often results in an increase in the thickness and the weight of the rodlike article. Moreover, the interlacing fiber braids used for the reinforcement can undermine the external esthetic effect of the rodlike article. The rodlike article, which is reinforced by the fiber braids, is also vulnerable to severance caused by the concentration of stress. In order to remedy this drawback, the portion of the rodlike article, where the stress concentration is prone to take place, must be reinforced with a fiber fabric. The addition of the fiber fabric will undoubtedly result in an increase in the cost of making the rodlike article.