January 2007 Monthly Archive
January 1, 2007
USRSA Members' Choice Awards 2007
Our exclusive rankings, based on responses by USRSA members, will help you pick the right strings for your shop.
Lee's Facility Analysis Survey Offers 'Roadmap' for Court Owners
Confused about how to improve the performance of your clay courts? Looking for a long-range plan to upgrade your facility, but don't know where to begin? Is your facility seeing the effects of age, and you're not sure just...
Mark of Distinction
RSI and the ASBA bring you the best in tennis court construction.
USRSA Members' Choice Awards 2007 — Playability scores
Company String Gauge Score Babolat VS + natural gut 17 9.79 Babolat VS + natural gut 16 9.67 Babolat VS Team Thermogut 17 9.67 Wilson Natural 16 9.50 Babolat VS Touch Thermogut 16 9.48 Babolat Tonic+ Thermo Ball Feel...
Strings of Success
How do you know what to stock for your shop? We provide expert guidance that can help you — and your customers — find the right strings.
USRSA Members' Choice Awards 2007 — Durability scores
Company String Gauge Score Gamma Infinity 15L 9.53 Prince ProBlend w/Duraflex 16 9.18 Wilson Hyperlast 15 8.94 Luxilon Big Banger ALU Rough 16L 8.89 Luxilon Big Banger Original 16 8.75 Gamma Zo Life 16 8.70 Luxilon Big Banger ALU...
USRSA Members' Choice Awards 2007 — Average scores
Company String Gauge Score Babolat VS + natural gut 16 8.69 Babolat VS + natural gut 17 8.68 Babolat Tonic+ Thermo Ball Feel 15L 8.48 Gamma Professional 16 8.45 Babolat VS Touch Thermogut 16 8.34 Gamma Professional 17 8.33...
USRSA Members' Choice Awards 2007 — Comfort scores
Company String Gauge Score Babolat VS + natural gut 16 9.65 Babolat VS + natural gut 17 9.53 Babolat VS Team Thermogut 17 9.52 Babolat VS Touch Thermogut 16 9.45 Wilson Natural 16 9.32 Babolat Tonic+ Thermo Ball Feel...
Prince Synthetic Gut Multifilament 16
Synthetic Gut Multifilament is Prince's latest offering for the player looking for a playable multifilament string with a crisp feel and good durability, at a midrange price. Synthetic Gut Multifilament is available in 16 and 17 in natural only....
Spin Off the Court and Strings
I noticed something interesting at the Australian Open in January. That is, I could sometimes read the label on the ball as the ball travelled over the net, even though the players were hitting topspin groundstrokes. The ball was...
USRSA Members' Choice Awards 2007 — Alphabetical scores
Company String Gauge Playability Durability Comfort Average Respondents Babolat Attraction 16 7.56 6.29 7.38 7.08 48 Babolat Attraction Power 17 7.87 5.97 7.67 7.17 30 Babolat Ballistic Polymono 16 5.65 8.41 5.94 6.67 17 Babolat Conquest 16 6.61 5.82...
A Solid Foundation
There's been a lot of good news in tennis lately. Participation is rising, equipment sales are up, the number of "play occasions" has increased. And, of course, the big statistic that many people have quoted over the last six...
A Team Effort
Jimmy Pitkanen says both players and coaches have a lot to gain from the team experience.
Against the Wall
With Rapid Rally, beginning players have a fun way to get into tennis.
New Members: Your Key to Staying in Business
"Recruit or perish." Many organizations live by that saying. So, too, should your club or facility. Since some degree of annual attrition is unavoidable, if you don't bring in new members, your business will gradually whither away. The tennis...
Industry News
Information to help you run your business.
Busy Making a Living? College Courses Are Just a Mouse Click Away
Tennis teaching professionals must be self-motivated and goal-driven to be successful. The organization that the pro works for has the responsibility to provide them with the necessary environment in which to perform their tasks, but the professional must be...
A Growing Tennis Village
The TIA's executive director says collaborations within the industry are what lead to the growth of the sport.
PTR on Campus Program Trains and Certifies Full-Time Students
With a double major in marketing and business management, Ondrej Vana plans to get a job in business after he graduates in 2008 from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark. He'll always have a second career option, however, since...
A Tennis Wish List
As we begin the New Year, we asked people in the industry — including teaching pros, pro shop and facility managers, court builders, manufacturers, and more — to tell us what they'd like to see.
Marketing avenues
Q: I'm wondering how I can promote my stringing business beyond handing out fliers. Clubs have their pros doing stringing at local events so I always feel uncomfortable marketing myself around there. Should I ask the local pro shops if...
Racquets going soft
Q: Do racquets go soft with age, and if so, how do you measure it?...
Cleaner Stenciling
I use my workbench to stencil. It can be messy but, before starting, I spread out pages from my local newspaper. When I am done, I discard the top sheet of the newspaper, and have a clean work surface for...
Starting without Slippage
As others have pointed out, pulling tension on the first center main puts a lot of stress on the clamp holding the other center main. With no string tension behind it to help, that first clamp can and will move....
Finding facts fast
Finding the stringing pattern for common frames in the Stringer's Digest is a step that can be made a little quicker. Instead of just putting plain tape on the page I want to mark, I use my own string labels,...
Careful cleaning
When using rubbing alcohol to clean a stringing machine, keep the bottle away from the machine! Bottles can tip over and spill, damaging your machine. My advice is to apply the alcohol to the cloth and walk the cloth over...
Bumperguard Storage
I keep my bumper guards in a smallish box that forces them into the shape of a mild arc. This way when I need to install them, they are pre-formed to follow the form and shape of the racquet. It...
TLC for the RDC
I was getting varied swingweight readings on my Babolat Racquet Diagnostic Center (RDC). I took the cover off and found that there is a ball bearing system on top that is exposed to dust from outside the machine. I blew...
Better Clamp Cleaner
Instead of using an alcohol-soaked cloth or a regular pipe cleaner, I've found using decorative pipe cleaners packaged as Chenille Stems found in craft stores much better. They are longer and have a sturdy core wire with soft bristles. Bend...
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