Author: Racquet Network Staff

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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Court Shoes: Yonex vs. Adidas

YONEX SHT PRO ALL COURT GREY 2015 1Yesterday, we had a customer come into our southwest Calgary store to buy a pair of shoes. He wanted to use them for tennis, volleyball and dodgeball. He only wanted to buy one pair of shoes.

We started, of course, with questions so that we could determine his needs. Q: Where do you play tennis? A: Indoor at The Tennis Academy and outdoors on public courts. Q: What kind of floor do they have where you play volleyball? A: Hardwood. Q: What kind of floor do they have where you play dodgeball? A: Rubberized all-court surface.

So here we have a client who plays on three different surfaces: acrylic, hardwood and rubberized all-court. Normally, we would recommend carbon rubber for acrylic, natural organic rubber for hardwood and synthetic rubber for all-court. But in this case, the customer wants to buy one shoe that will work in all contexts. So what do we do?

ADIDAS BARRICADE COURT BLACK BLACK SILVERQuite simply, all we can so is offer information on the pros and cons. We cannot, in this case, make a recommendation. Carbon rubber will stand up well on acrylic, but it may be dangerously slippery on hardwood. Natural organic rubber provides excellent traction on hardwood, but will quickly be ground down by acrylic. Synthetic rubber offers the best all around compromise, but offers poor traction on hardwood and poor durability on acrylic.

In the end, the customer tried on more than a dozen pair of shoes in two sizes. Some were rejected on price. Some were rejected on colour. Some were rejected on comfort/fit. Eventually, it came down to two pair: Adidas ™ Barricade Court at $95.00 and Yonex ™ SHT PRO at $150.00. Our expectation was that he would opt for the cheaper shoes.

So what did he do? After 20 minutes of thoughtful consideration, after switching both pair back and forth, one on the left, one on the right. After much pacing and dancing around the store playing imaginary dodgeball, he chose the Yonex SHT PRO. His words: “They just feel better in every way. They just feel like a better shoe. Normally I wouldn’t bother paying the extra 50 bucks, but these just feel like they are worth more.”

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Yonex Glan Z – 3 Things We Like About It

YONEX NANORAY GLANZ 1
The Nanoray Glaz was designed for older players who need additional power from their racquet.
The “3 Things We Like About It” product review series was created to give customers a brief summary of the three most important features of new products in our southwest Calgary store. All products in this series are available in-store and online at the time of publication.

The Yonex ™ Nanorary Glan Z was released in Canada in April of 2015. It was created for doubles players who need a little help from the racquet in the power department. Specifically, it was created for older players who may not have the swing speed they once had. As a result, we expected this racquet to be a “little old ladies” doubles racquet.

Much to our surprise, however, it’s not. Instead the Glan Z turns out to be an excellent racquet for players of any age who want to improve the depth of their backhand clear shots.

Technically speaking, this racquet was created to offer power and consistency at lower swing speeds. Both the isometric shape of the head and the Vertical-A Concept grommets work to enlarge and maximize the power of the sweet spot. At the same time, the aerodynamic head shape combined with a thinner profile lower frame and a wider profile tip give the Glanz optimum repulsion, especially at lower string tensions.

VERTICAL-A CONCEPTSo when you think about it, it becomes obvious. It really doesn’t matter what level the player is at; their backhand swing speed is always slower than their forehand swing speed. That just a biomechanical reality. So when Yonex designs a racquet that offers more power at slower swing speeds, of course they end up with a racquet that improves power on the backhand.

This improvement is just one of the things that we like about the Glan Z. What we also like are the weight and the balance. Unlike many high performance racquets which are so light that they contribute to the development of tennis elbow in recreational badminton players, the Glan Z averages a sensible 83 grams. In the balance department, meanwhile, the Glan Z is head light, which makes it perfect for clearing and dropshots.

Overall, this racquet is best-suited to defensive players who need a little help on their backhand clears. Infused with the new REXIL FIBER material and built based on the Torque Power Theory, the GlanZ sends the shuttlecock even further than other racquets in the Nanoray series. It is available in Brilliant Black. Demos are available in-store right now.

Racquet Selector For a full list of racquets in this category, please check out our ONLINE RACQUET SELECTOR. You can sort by sport, gender, brand, size, weight, balance and more.
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VCORE TOUR F 93 “Best Performance Frame”

YONEX VCORE TOUR F 93 TENNIS RACQUETYONEX USA MEDIA RELEASE
3 MARCH 2015

The VCORE Tour F 93 has been selected as the racquet with the best high-performance frame in Tennis Magazine’s 2015 Racquet Guide, published in its March/April issue.

Testing was comprehensive, with many samples of each racquet sent to a panel of diverse playtesters, ranging from tennis coaches, former players, and racquet technicians. With racquets strung to the respective manufacturers’ standards, playtesters examined the racquets in areas such as power, control, comfort, manoeuvrability and playability. Playtesters also received evaluations from playing partners, students and customers to form a well-rounded opinion on the racquets.

“This frame is about precision and control,” praised the review, “Nowhere was that more evident than at net, where the small head size, easy handling and superb feel at contact made for great volleying.” The slightly larger VCORE Tour F 97 also received a mention in the category of high-performance frame.

Read the full review on Tennis Tuesday here: http://issues.tennistuesday.net/02-24-2015/p/8

Members of Team Yonex ™ are seeing remarkable results with the VCORE Tour F. In the recent Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, rising Croatian tennis talent Borna Coric (VCORE Tour F 97, POLYTOUR SPIN) played an outstanding match against Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray, which the teenager seized in straight sets.

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Racquet String Gauge Guide

Racquet string comes in a variety of gauges. Below is a brief summary that hits some of the high points.

GUIDE TO STRING GAUGES
15 GAUGE
Ultra thick string. Highly durable. Great for high school tennis programs and loaner racquets where durability matters more than playability.
16 GAUGE
Most common gauge for tennis. Most common gauge for pre-strung tennis racquets. Reasonably durable. Capable of generating sufficient spin to satisfy most tennis players. Is sometimes used by squash players seeking maximum durability.
17 GAUGE
Suitable for tennis, squash and racquetball. Preferred by tennis players who like to generate extra spin. Additional stretch offers additional power. Popular gauge for tennis players who use polyester strings. This is also the most common gauge for squash and racquetball.
18 GAUGE
Suitable for tennis or squash. Extreme touch and spin, but not very durable. Excellent ball pocketing for added power. Like natural gut, 18 gauge is a bit of a status symbol for tennis players.
19 GAUGE
Suitable for squash. Extreme touch and spin, but not very durable. Excellent ball pocketing for added power. Not recommended for frequent string breakers.
20 GAUGE
Thick badminton string. Typically used by schools and community centres in program racquets. Sometimes used by players looking for exceptional durability.
21 GAUGE
Most common gauge for badminton string. Not suitable for anything other than badminton.
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VCORE Si 100 “Best for Feel”

YONEX VCORE Si 100 TENNIS RACQUET 3
YONEX VCORE Si 100 TENNIS RACQUET 3
YONEX USA PRESS RELEASE
8 MAY 2015

Yonex ™ VCORE Si 100 Named “Best for Feel” in UK’s Tennishead

The VCORE Si 100 was named “Best for Feel” in the June issue of UK tennis magazine Tennishead’s 2015 Racket Reviews.

The review praised the racquet’s strong focus on spin, and its potent sweet spot due to the dense feel of the string pattern. It also praised the frame’s specific engineering towards both spin and power. “There’s no better feeling,” lauded the article.

With a unique grommet pattern that increases string movement, the VCORE Si puts that extra edge of spin needed to shock opponents on the court.

Angelique Kerber has sealed two recent victories at the Family Circle Cup and Porsche Tennis Grand Prix with the racquet.