Category: Tennis Racquets

Expert advice about tennis racquets from Racquet Network in Calgary.

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Tennis Racquets for Smart Beginners

Beginners, especially men, often assume that paying more for a racquet will automatically make them better tennis players. Unfortunately, this is not true. In fact, spending too much may do more harm to a beginner’s game than spending less.

Smart beginners start with racquets that are designed specifically for beginners. Then, when they are ready, they replace their beginner racquet with a new racquet designed for intermediate players.

Length

Look for a 27″ racquet, which is the standard length for adults. The best total weight for beginners is 10-12 ounces.

Avoid shorter racquets (under 27″) designed for juniors. Avoid heavier racquets (over 12 ounces) designed for experts and lighter racquets (under 10 ounces) designed for seniors and exceptionally small adults.

Size

Look for a large racquet head (over 105 square inches) for more power and a larger, more forgiving sweet spot. Many recreational players will stick with a larger head all their lives.

Avoid small racquet heads which give greater control at the expense of power and which also tend to magnify mistakes. Small headed racquets are designed for expert players who are able to hit the ball within inches of their target more than 90 per cent of the time.

Balance

Look for a head-heavy racquet for more stability and less stress on your wrist and elbow. This will add more power to your strokes and help cover up your mishits.

Avoid head light racquets until you are good enough to hit the ball exactly in the sweet spot on every stroke.

Composition

Look for an aluminum frame. These frames are stiff enough for beginners.

Avoid graphite frames unless you are prepared to spend more than beginners need to spend.

Price

Prices for beginner racquets are typically under $30.00. Graphite racquets begin at about $70 and run to nearly $300.00. You can occasionally find graphite racquets in the clearance bin for half price.

If you find one that is the right length, weight, head size and balance for about $30,00, then it is a smart buy for a beginner. Otherwise, don’t bother.

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Wrong Product – Right Price

It doesn’t matter what you are buying — racquets, shoes, string, accessories — price should not be your most important consideration. If it is, you will almost certainly make a poor decision.

In the past 24 hours, for example, we have had two customers make poor decisions because they had price-focused tunnel vision. One spent twice as much as she should have because she refused to consider a less expensive pickleball paddle that was perfectly suited to her needs. Another saved $40.00 but walked away with shoes that will actually detract from his on court performance and may actually lead to injury.

We understand that price has to be a consideration at some point in the purchasing process. That is completely reasonable. But it should never be a starting point.

Sports are about performance. The products that you purchase for sporting activities must not hinder or detract from your performance.

All too often, customers come into our store with the preconceived notion that expensive is good and cheap is bad. While this may be generally true (most products are priced according to their input costs), it is not always the case. Sometimes, the better option is the cheaper one.

How can you know? Come into our store and ask our experts.

Staff at Racquet Network are trained to ask questions. They want to know what level you will be playing at and the context you will be playing in. They will also want to know what problem you are trying to solve. Once they have this information, they will be able to help you select some products that fit your needs.

Often, our staff will come up with a category of products that will support your performance goals. And within that category, there will be items at different price points. At that point, price considerations become appropriate. But not before. Otherwise, you run the risk of buying the wrong product just because it is offered at the right price.

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Custom Tennis Racquets

Most people hear the words “custom tennis racquets” and they immediately think “expensive”. That’s unfortunate. What they should think is “awesome”, as in “something created specifically for me”.

Contrary to popular belief, custom tennis racquets do not cost a lot more than off-the-shelf racquets. In fact, they come in a variety of configurations at a variety of the price points from the simple and inexpensive to the elaborate and moderately expensive.

Let’s be clear. We do not gold plate our custom tennis racquets. All we do is string them, grip them and — sometimes — rebalance them. In our world, all customization really means is filling the frame with the right string for the customer. Beyond that, we are talking about a few inexpensive tweaks that improve performance without breaking the bank.

Below is a collection of custom builds we have done for our clients in recent months. If you browse through them you will see a range in prices from under $70.00 to under $300.00. Whatever your needs are, chances are good that we can custom build something for you, too.

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Smart Racquet Demo Program

Smart racquets are the hottest thing in tennis right now. Nearly everybody has one, is getting one or is thinking about getting one.

And why not? They’re fun. They connect to your phone. The give you valuable feedback and help you improve. So what’s not to like?

Granted, the price is a little steep. At $400-500 CDN, it may not be an easy purchase for a guy to explain to his wife. Before going way out on a limb like this, he probably wants to have a good idea of how he’s going to benefit from such a high end racquet purchase.

No worries, bro. That’s what Racquet Network is for. We are the experts who help you figure all of this stuff out. We’ve got your back.

Most importantly, though, we’ve also got a demo program that allows our customers to test drive smart racquets before buying them. That’s right, we let you try them before you buy them.

All you have to do is call us to set up a Smart Demo appointment with one of our technicians. They will hook you up with a demo, set you up with the app, help you pair it with your phone and give you a week to gather some data for your Babolat Play account.

Once you have some data, you will be able to decide whether or not a smart racquet make sense for you.

If you are like most people, though, you will immediately recognize the value of having “a pro in your pocket” who tracks every shot and immediately shows you what you are doing right and what, if anything, needs to improve.

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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