Author: Racquet Network

Racquet Network staff are certified experts. Many are also certified coaches. Racquet Network Experts undergo extensive training and product knowledge testing in order to ensure that we have the most knowledgeable staff in the racquet sports industry.
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Great Gift Ideas for for High School Volleyball Players

When a young athlete finds a sport they like, it is important to support them with the right shoes and training tools. It is equally important to let them express themselves through colour, styles and equipment choices. Racquet Network carries Calgary’s largest selection of indoor court shoes. We also offer a growing collection of volleyball gear for the high school volleyball player on your gift giving list.

Volleyball Shoes

Running shoes are great for running, but they are lousy shoes to play volleyball in. Volleyball requires movement in all directions but running shoes are only designed for movement in one direct — forward. Try running backward in running shoes and you are liable to catch your heel and go down hard

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL SHOES

LADIES VOLLEYBALL SHOES

High school volleyball players want shoes specifically designed for indoor court sports. They want shoes that stick to the hardwood and support athletic movement in all directions. Racquet Network offers more than 100 models of court shoes, many of which are perfect for high school volleyball.

Training Balls

Athletes who are serious about winning take time to train outside of coached practices. In fact, this is where most of their learning takes place.

Racquet Network supports high school athletes by offering a variety of training balls to help them in skills development.

Training Tools

Over the past five years, the use of training tools such as step counters and heart rate monitors by athletes of all ages has exploded.

Training tools help athletes manage their training loads and make smart decisions about nutrition and fitness.

Proper Athletic Clothing

In addition to proper court shoes, it is essential that volleyball players wear non-restrictive athletic clothing. Freedom of movement is essential for all athletes.

LADIES TOPS

Racquet Network carries athletic clothing for volleyball players of all ages.

MEN’S TOPS

Good quality athletic clothing helps young athletes manage perspiration and hygiene by wicking away moisture and inhibiting the growth of odor-causing bacteria.

Gift Certificates

If you are still not sure what to get the high school volleyball player on your Christmas list, don’t worry. We sell gift certificates in $25.00 increments and our expert staff can help the recipient get exactly what he/she needs.

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3 Great Gift Ideas for Your Squash Dad

Looking for gift ideas for your squash-playing Dad? Look no further. We see squash dads in our store every day of the week. We know what they are looking at. We know what they want but are afraid to buy for themselves.


SQUASH BAGS

Most of the racquet bags made today are multi-sport bags. They are designed to work for tennis, squash, badminton and/or any other racquet sport you can name.

Squash dads, though, spend a lot of time looking at squash-specific bags that have features that are highly specific to squash, including lined eyewear compartments, vented shoe compartments and external ball pouches for squash balls. These are features that you will not find in general purpose racquet bags.


SQUASH EYEWEAR

Most of the racquet bags made today are multi-sport bags. They are designed to work for tennis, squash, badminton and/or any other racquet sport you can name.

Squash dads, though, spend a lot of time looking at squash-specific bags that have features that are highly specific to squash, including lined eyewear compartments, vented shoe compartments and external ball pouches for squash balls. These are features that you will not find in general purpose racquet bags.


BABOLAT SQUASH SHOES

Few squash players realize that squash shoes wear out on the inside first. Long before shoes show signs of wear on the outside, they are completely shot on the inside. Shoes should be replaced every 500 kilometres or so. Since a squash match typically sees players moving three to five kilometers per hour of game time, guys who play twice a week should be replacing their shoes at least once a year.

Babolat ™ now makes the best overall quality indoor court shoe for squash.


GIFT CERTIFICATES

Still not sure what you get your squash dad for Christmas? Think about a gift certificate

We sell gift certificates in $25.00 denominations. They never expire.

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Customer Advisory – Yonex BG66

Yonex BG66 Badminton String
Yonex BG66 Badminton String
CUSTOMER ADVISORY – YONEX BG66

[Calgary] Racquet Network has issued a Customer Advisory regarding Yonex ™ BG66 badminton string following a series of complaints from customers regarding durability.

There are three strings in the series — BG66, BG66 ULTIMAX and BG66 POWER — all of which were created by Yonex to serve customers who want more power. All three strings are exceptionally thin. BG66, the original, is just 0.66 mm thick while the others are even thinner at 0.65 mm.

“Over the past six months, more than a dozen customers using BG66 have returned re-strung racquets to our Calgary store complaining about premature breakage,” says Racquet’s Network’s owner Brent Johner. “Several of these customers claimed that the strings broke the first time they used them.”

A recent inquiry to Yonex Canada resulted in this response by email: “BG66U [BG66 ULTIMAX] is definitely not for everyone. Its a very thin gauge for high response. It will break sooner than other strings.”

“In this particular case,” says Johner, “the issue appears to be one of customer education. Therefore we will be taking steps to ensure that customers purchasing BG66 are aware of the string’s design and intended use.”

Strings in the BG66 series appear to be designed for use with feather shuttlecocks. Because they are exceptionally thin, these strings should not be used with nylon shuttles. Contact with the skirts of nylon shuttles during smashes may nick the string causing it to break at that moment or during a later stroke.

The BG66 series also does not appear to be suitable for strong players who smash a lot. Rather, it is a thin string intended to help juniors, women and smaller players who need additional help from their string bed.

“Every single complaint we have had about this string over the past six months has come from an adult male,” notes Johner. “At this point it appears to us to be a classic case of ‘power greed’.”

Men tend to be attracted to anything that promises more power, notes Johner, even though they don’t actually need it. In this case, strong male players appear to be overpowering the structural integrity of this string causing it to fail.

Effective immediately, Racquet Network is advising adult male badminton players using nylon shuttles to stay away from the BG66 series. However, staff will still be recommending the string to juniors and women who genuinely need more powerful string beds.

About Customer Advisories

Racquet Network is committed to maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction. Products that do not meet high standards of customer satisfaction are removed from store shelves and company websites.

Customer Advisories are issued following a series of customer complaints. Sometimes the source of these complaints is improper usage of products by customers. Sometimes it is a genuine decline in the quality of the product.

Products for which Racquet Network has issued Customer Advisories are monitored closely for 12 months. Those that continue to fail to maintain high levels of customer satisfaction are discontinued.

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Racquet Network Adds Tachikara

volleyballRacquet Network is proud to announce the addition of Tachikara ™ to our brand family.

In addition to offering Calgary’s largest selection of volleyball and court shoes, Racquet Network is now offering Tachikara volleyballs, kneepads and other accessories.

“We expanded our shoe selection going into the fall season, this year,” says owner Brent Johner. “We added 50 new models of court shoes for men, women and juniors, many of which were in the volleyball category. At the same time we added volleyball knee pads. So it made sense for us to go one extra step and support those product lines with Tachikara volleyball balls.”

Tachikara is a Japanese company, founded in 1915, that makes balls and other sports equipment. They are best known for their volleyballs. They make the official ball of NAIA women’s volleyball, and of Volleyball Canada, China, Europe, Oceania, and Africa.

Racquet Network is Calgary’s largest racquet sports specialty store. In addition to carrying racquets and accessories, the company offers the largest selection of court shoes in the city. For that reason, they already have a large and loyal volleyball clientele.

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Sabine Sets Serve Record

SABINE LISICKI18 JUNE 2015

Sabine Lisicki (Yonex ™ VCORE Tour F 97, Yonex POLYTOUR SPIN) has a new record to her name. The fastest-serving woman on Earth made history once again on June 17th, 2015 at the Aegon Classic Birmingham by hitting off an astounding 27 service aces in the tournament’s second round. Along with breaking this new record, Sabine also advanced into the next round.

“Yeess…with my 27 aces I’ve got another record. Too bad I missed the 131 mph serve by a few inches,” commented the 25-year-old German on her Twitter account. Sabine broke this record with the new Yonex VCORE Tour F 97. Featuring aerodynamic fins carved into the inner edge of the frame head, the VCORE Tour F grants a 6% increase in serve speed, allowing you to serve like the record-breaking German. The previous WTA record for most service aces was 24 from Serena Williams.

On July 29th 2014, Sabine made history by hitting a serve that clocked in at 131 mph (210.8 kmh) at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, becoming the fastest-serving female player in the world.

A video of Sabine’s 27 aces can be found on the official WTA website here: http://bit.ly/1JZrvkt