This program is the best way to ensure that the racquet you purchase is the right racquet for you.
Pro shop customers demo more than 2000 racquets every year. The satisfaction rate for customers who participate in this program is nearly 100% six months after their purchase.
This program is offered only in-store. It is not available to online customers.
Customers who wish to enter the demo program or talk to staff about this program, must do so in person. The pro shop does not conduct demo program business over the phone, by email, or by text.
Test driving costs nothing, but customers who enter the program are committing to buying a racquet from us at the end of the one-month trial period.
How does it work?
Test drivers put down a security deposit. This allows them to test drive any racquet we have in our demo program. They can then test each racquet for up to one week. At the end of the one-month trial period, they choose the racquet they want to purchase and their deposit is refunded against the purchase price.
How much is the deposit?
The size of the deposit depends on the number of racquets the customer wants to take out each each week. If they are testing one racquet at a time, the deposit is $50.00. If they are testing two at a time, the deposit is $100.00.
What if I change my mind and do not want to buy a racquet?
Our demo program is only offered to customers who are committed to purchasing a new racquet from us within 30 days. If you do not intend to buy a racquet from us, please do not enter our demo program.
Can I apply my demo deposit to an online racquet purchase?
Our racquet demo program is offered to in-store customers only. Demo deposits can only be applied to in-store purchases. They cannot be applied to online purchases.
How do I start?
Simply make an appointment to come into the store. Bring a valid credit card. One of our experts will set up a demo account and help you choose your first racquet to test drive. This process usually requires about 30 minutes on the first visit. Subsequent visits to drop off and pick up only required a couple of minutes each.
Racquet Network customers test drive more than 1000 badminton, tennis, squash and pickleball racquets every year.
Tecnifibre ™ squash racquets are amongst our most popular for in-store customers who want to try before they buy. As a result, we offer more Tecnifibre racquets demos than anybody else. We even have doubles of the most popular Tecnifibre racquets.
Our Try Before You Buy program allows customers to spend up to month test driving a variety of racquets.
For more information, please come into the store and talk to an expert at 310 2525 Woodview Dr SW. We are open 7 days a week.
Tecnifibre Squash Racquets
Many — but not all — of the Tecnifibre racquets that we sell are included in our Try Before You Buy program. Please visit us in-store for details.
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.
So you just cleaned your garage out and found some old tennis, squash, badminton or racquetball racquets. They seem like they are still in good shape — in fact, they are practically new.
So what to do with them?
You could give them away … if you knew somebody who wanted them.
You could sell them … but that’s a lot of work for the $5.00 price you might get on Kijiji.
Or you could recycle them … or can you?
Can old racquets even be recycled?
If you read the City of Calgary’s website regarding advice for recycling used sporting goods, you will note that they advise putting these things in your black bin.
In other words, they tell you put them in the garbage. This is because, Calgary’s recycling system cannot recycle things like tennis, squash or badminton racquets.
The only way to recycle them is to sell them or give them away so that they can be used again. In doing so, at least you might prevent somebody down the road from buying something new which will also end up in the garbage.
If you are faced with this problem, Racquet Network can help you. We recycle some old tennis, squash, badminton and or racquetball racquets by refurbishing them and selling them to families and recreational players who prefer not to buy something new.
We don’t pay for the old racquets people bring in to be recycled, but neither do we charge people for them. All we do is recover the cost of refurbishment. So if we take an old racquet and refurbish the grips and strings, we sell it for the cost of the grips and the strings. We don’t charge for the racquet itself because we didn’t pay for it.
Now … there are some limits to this program.
First, we don’t refurbish old wooden racquets unless they are in pristine condition and could be used for decorations or props. But if you bring them in, we will look at them and determine what if anything might be done with them.
Second, we don’t repair broken racquets. If the frame is broken, the racquet cannot be recycled. So please put it in your black bin.
Finally, we will not offer you so much as a penny for your old frame. So please do not imagine you are going to come in and haggle with us, because that’s not going to happen.
If, however, you have an old racquet and you want us to help you get it into the hands of somebody who will use it, bring it into the store and leave it with us. If it can be salvaged, we will salvage it. If not, we will dispose of it for you. Either way, your conscience is clear.
Squash strings break for a variety of reasons. The purpose of this article is to help players understand the symptoms of different kinds of breaks so that they can make the appropriate changes.
Sheer Breaks
Sheer breaks occur along the frame line. Most commonly these are the result of players hitting so hard that they overpower the materials. (Yes, guys, it is possible to hit a ball so hard that you break perfectly good string.)
Image 1 – Top sheer breaks are usually caused by overhand serves.
Players who serve overhand often break strings in the way seen in Image 1. Counting out from the top center of the racquet, sheer breaks caused by serves will often affect two of the first eight vertical strings. Whereas sheer breaks that occur on the side of the frame (Image 2 below) are usually the result of drives.
Image 2 – Side sheer breaks are usually caused by hitting drives off center.
Grommet Breaks
Grommet breaks look like sheer breaks because they also occur along the frame line. The difference is this: if the grommets where the break occurred are broken or split, then the cause of the break is assumed to be the defective grommet.
Image 3 – Broken or missing grommets cause the frame to cut the strings.
In determining whether or not the grommet is the cause of the break, it is important to look closely at the grommet, because grommets can be split and still appear to be intact. If one or more grommets are missing, as in Image 3, the diagnosis is easy. But if they are split, it may not be so easy because they may not appear to be broken at first glance.
Wear Breaks
Wear breaks occur in the center for the string bed nowhere near the frame. They are called wear breaks because they are usually the result of long term wear and tear. Over time, the strings cut into each other at the crosses. Eventually, one cuts through the other and it breaks.
Image 4 – Wear breaks occur in the middle of the string bed.
We treat wear breaks that occur in less than two weeks as a warranty issue. This is based on the assumption that some strings are defective and will break prematurely. The dividing line of two weeks is arbitrary because string that is defective should break the first time you use it. If you play two weeks or more without breakage, then it is likely not defective string. After two weeks, we consider it a wear break.
Pounders
Sheer breaks at the top of the frame are easy to diagnose. If you serve overhand and are breaking strings and/or racquets regularly, you are hitting everything — balls and walls — much harder than you need to and you may want to make some adjustments to your game. While you are welcome to play anyway you want to play, you must understand that playing this way is a choice. Most importantly, it is an expensive choice.
If you choose to play a power game in which you are pounding serves and smashing walls, then you are choosing to bear the financial burdens of replacing the strings and racquets you will be breaking. Do not — DO NOT — blame the string, the stringer or the racquet manufacturer. If you choose to play this way, man up and accept the fact that you are breaking strings and racquets that other players would not be breaking under normal usage.
Not-Pounders
If you are not serving overhand and are not breaking racquets regularly but are still suffering frequent sheer breaks, then it’s a different issue. If you are 100% certain that broken grommets are not to blame, then it is almost certainly a string durability issue. Like the pounder in the last example, you are overpowering the materials in your string bed. The question is why?
Are your strings too thin? Frequent string breakers should not be using anything thinner than 17 gauge.
Are your strings too soft? Frequent string breakers should not be using Tecnifibre squash strings.
Is your string bed density too low? Frequent string breakers should not be using a racquet with less than 14 mains and/or 19 crosses.
Whatever the issue, we will be able to help you figure it out. Whenever you bring a squash racquet into our store for stringing, we add a note to your account. We record the racquet, the string, the type of break and the location of the break. This allows us to diagnose patterns over time for our customers.
Tracking Wear Breaks
Logging details in customer accounts in this way even helps us diagnose and avoid wear breaks. For example, we have been able to save some customers lots of money by encouraging them to change to more durable strings even before they became aware of issues. As players increase in levels, for example, we sometimes notice that they are wearing strings out faster than they realize. In other words, the data helps us help our customers.
The Trouble with Grommet Breaks
The one area where data does not help anyone, unfortunately, is the notorious grommet break. Grommet breaks are completely unpredictable. They seem to happen at random and, once broken or split, lead directly to broken strings.
The best we can do is to advise players to maintain their racquets and replace grommets as soon as they break.
Great news for Tecnifibre fans in Calgary. Our Tecnifibre squash racquet program just got even better.
There is no point in buying your Tecnifibre racquets anywhere else because nobody can beat this deal.
Starting today, every Tecnifibre ™ Carboflex squash racquet purchased in-store now comes with $200 in free stringing upgrades.
But wait! There’s more …
Customers who purchase these racquets from us will save time as well as money because they will be able to automatically upgrade from basic labour (one week turnaround) to guaranteed one-hour stringing at no extra charge.
Racquet Network’s new squash program saves you $20 every time you string your racquet. It also cuts down on the number of trips you have to make to our store.
Here is how things normally work.
Break a string.
Bring racquet to the store.
Go home and wait for email notification.
Come back to the store a few days later to pick your racquet up.
In other words, you make two trips to the store.
Here is how things work now.
Break a string.
Book an appointment.
Bring your racquet to the store.
Wait 30 minutes and then take your racquet home with you.
In order words, you only come to the store once.
The new system also saves you money. Guaranteed one-hour racquet service normally costs $40.00 plus the cost of string. Under the new program, it costs the same as one-week service: $20 plus the cost of string.
So players who are participating in our new program save $200 and 10 trips to the store, which more than pays for the cost of a new racquet.
This is because when you purchase a new Yonex badminton racquet from us, we automatically include $200 worth of stringing upgrades.
While this is awesome deal for anybody who lives in southwest Calgary, this is an even better deal for squash players who live far from our store because it saves them even more time and more money on racquet stringing services.
Our new squash program, therefore, continues to be the best overall program in Calgary for squash players who want to save time, save money and play with the best squash racquets in the world. In addition to those three things, our program is also best for the environment because it reduces car trips and keeps racquets out of the landfills for longer.
Our Pro Shop has moved to Canyon Meadows Shopping Center. It is on the 2ND FLOOR of the NORTH WING. The unmarked glass doors leading to the second floor are immediately to the right of the Rexall Drug Store. Please note the new address: 2ND FLOOR - NORTH WING, UNIT 201, 11625 ELBOW DR SW. Dismiss
