Monthly Archives: June 2014
Summer Heat!
Welcome everyone (in the northern hemisphere) to the first day of summer! You guys in the southern part of the globe will have to wait a while.
For some of you this will be the beginning of your tennis season so take a few minutes to get your equipment ready for the action. Here are a few suggestions that will make it easier and more fun for you.
Get your racquet strung! A fresh string will provide the right start to your season and will perform better than those old things. Fresh strings can cost between $25 and $68 and are certainly worth it!
Babolat VS Team 17 Natural
Babolat N.Vy Synthetic
Replace your grip, both of them! The synthetic grip that normally comes with a racquet needs to be replaced at least twice a year but more often in the heat. I know all of you use “over grips” and this should be replaced after every match, period. That is what they are made for…do it!
Do not leave your racquet in a very hot spot, like the trunk of your car, a hot table at the courts, or in direct sunlight. The elevated temperatures allow the string molecules to relax and therefore string tension is lost. This loss, unfortunately, can not be recovered. I have tried! Elevated temperatures will take a quick and dramatic toll on grips as well.
If you play on soft courts try to brush the grit off of the string before you put the racquet away. Simply use a soft towel for this but don’t rub the string just brush it.
Keep in mind that the “performance” life of string is about 25 hours of playing time for a recreational player, less for tournament players. Strings do not last forever, although some of you have tried. Just because your string is not broken does not mean it is as good as new.
Keeping your racquet in top notch condition is not expensive or inconvenient. If you have any questions about any of this send me a note or call.
Have a great tennis summer!
Octave String Natural Gut II
This is a quick follow-up to the original post about this natural gut string. The racquet was used by several players, all of whom are big hitters, so it took longer than I had expected. The total hitting time was around five (5) hours That seems low but it took a beating during those five (5) hours. I am sure the racquet spent a lot of time in the bag before it was returned to me.
Typical Wear Pattern
When the racquet was returned to me the string had broken.
In case you don’t remember this string is produced using sheep serosa not beef as is typical for high end natural gut string. The first observation is that the finished string is not as “clean” and following that is the string is not as strong as it’s beef counterpart.
The most common comment about this string was the “softness”, and gut like feel. Both if these are good, of course if you are looking for softness. Which leads me to believe this string would make a pretty good cross string for those using polyester based main string. I prefer natural gut for the main string but I am not sure this string is strong enough for that format.
A Winner!
Ted Smith, my good client from New York State sent me the following message of his 4.0 win in the Litchfield, CT tournament!
“Hi John,
Hope you’re doing well. Won a 4.0 event in Litchfield, CT this past weekend. Beat the first and second seeds en route (they’re also #2 and #3 in the 4.0 division in New England).
Couldn’t have done it without your grommet customization work and Supplemax!
Thanks!
Ted”
Thanks, Ted, and well done! I am happy to work on your racquets!
Ted has several really nice racquets that I have worked on over the past few months but he used a “modified” Babolat Pure Drive Roland Garros for this win.
Ted has very specific requirements for his racquets, as many do, but his are serious! Grommets must be “flared” and tie offs must be located in a very specific location so he can hold the racquet in a particular spot, and, of course, specific grips.
Working on racquets with very specific requirements is exciting and very rewarding, especially when the client wins!
Congratulations, Ted!
I have a lot of great clients and many “winners” so please send me any tournament information you want to share.
Racquet Quest, LLC
