Category: Tennis

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Become a Racquet Network Playtester

Become a Racquet Network Playtester

Racquet Network invites frequent intermediate racquet sports players to become Product Playtesters.

Product Playtesters are brand ambassadors who test racquets, strings, shoes and other products during their regular activities and then write product reviews which are published on our website.

Even though they do not work for us, we consider Product Playtesters to be part of the family and we allow them to purchase everything we sell at staff price.

In many cases, Product Playtesters are allowed to keep what they test. In some cases, they have the option of purchasing tested products at staff price once testing is complete.

In order to become a Product Playtesters, an applicant must be a frequent player at the intermediate level who has been a Racquet Network customer for at least one full year. They must be active in their sport at least nine months per year, must be active on social media channels and must demonstrate enthusiasm for Racquet Network on their social media accounts.

Racquet Network supports a maximum of five product testers in each of the following sports:

  • tennis
  • squash
  • badminton
  • pickleball
  • racquetball

To apply to become a product tester, please send an email to orders@racquetnetwork.com.

Before you do that, however, consider the following points carefully.

  • We only consider applicants who live in Calgary.
  • We only consider customers who have been with us for a year or more.
  • We only consider frequent intermediate players — not beginners, not experts.
  • We only consider people who are active in their sport nine months a year or more.
  • We only consider people who have already shown us love on their social media accounts.

All new Product Playtesters start on a waiting list and remain there for a minimum of three months while they wait for a position to come open. When/if they are accepted as Product Playtesters, they get a maximum term of one year.

Sorry. There are no exceptions. After one year, it is time to step aside and allow somebody else to have this opportunity.

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Tennis Balls for Calgary & Area Tennis Clubs

Babolat Championship Tennis Balls
Babolat ™ Championship tennis balls are available at wholesale price.
Great news for instructors and small outdoor tennis clubs in the Calgary area.

Racquet Network has just negotiated a deal with Babolat Canada that allows tennis instructors and small outdoor tennis clubs in southern Alberta and eastern British Columbia to get their tennis balls at wholesale cost with no additional shipping costs.

Racquet Network warehouses bulk quantities of Babolat balls for children and adults in our southwest Calgary store. Established clubs and certified instructors are able to buy cases at wholesale cost and pick them up in-store.

Balls included in this program are as follows:

MODEL SIZE TYPE AGE
Babolat Championship Case of 24 tubes Hard court Adults
Babolat Academy Bag of 72 Hard court Adults
Babolat Green Bag of 72 Hard court 11-13 years
Babolat Orange Bag of 36 Hard court 10-11 years

All prices are wholesale for duly registered tennis clubs and certified tennis instructors. Instructors must be current members of the Tennis Professionals Association or the Professional Tennis registry. Schools and non-profit community associations are also eligible for this program.

This program applies only to orders that are picked up in-store. Racquet Network reserves the right to impose reasonable limits during peak season.

Place orders by email through orders@racquetnetwork.com. You will be notified when orders are ready for pickup. No walk-ins, please.

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Save Money with Pressureless Tennis Balls

BABOLAT ACADEMY PRESSURELESS TENNIS BALLS
Save money. Use pressureless tennis balls.
As you can imagine, we spend a LOT of time hanging around tennis courts. Therefore, we spend a lot of time watching recreational tennis players. And as a result of this, we can tell you that most recreational players are playing with the wrong tennis balls.

We are not talking about color coding here. That’s a different issue. We are talking about regular players playing with regular tennis balls. Most of them are wasting their money and wasting their time playing with regular, pressurized tennis balls.

Regular tennis balls come in a can. That can is pressurized to 15 lbs per square inch over ambient air pressure. This is why it sounds like a soda when you pop the seal and open a new can of balls.

Just as a soda starts going flat the from the moment you open the can, tennis balls start going flat, too. From the moment you open the can, the balls inside start losing pressure. If you drop a new ball when you first open the can, it will bounce up to your belly button. Wait just two weeks and the same ball — even if it sits unused in your bag — will only bounce up to your knee.

This is because as soon as you open the can, the balls start losing air pressure and begin returning to balance with their new environment. Here in Calgary, this means that new tennis balls lose about 50 per cent of their bounce in about a week — even if you don’t use them.

Unless you are playing several times per week, pressureless tennis balls are not a wise way to spend your money. As we said above, even if you don’t use them, they will quickly go flat in your bag. A much better way to go is to purchase pressureless balls. Pressureless balls never lose their bounce. You can leave them in your bag all winter and they will bounce the same in the spring.

Pressureless balls use new materials technology to maintain their bounce. And contrary to popular belief, pressureless balls do not weigh any more or less than standard pressurized tennis balls. Today in our store, for example, we weighed six different models of pressurized and pressureless balls and all weighed exactly the same — 58 grams.

So unless you are tournament player who has to be accustomed to a very specific ball, there are almost no good reasons to be using old fashioned and expensive pressurized tennis balls.

Babolat ™ Academy balls are available in our southwest Calgary store. They can be purchased individually or in money-saving multiples. They are designed for use in teaching programs and ball machines, so they are extremely durable and long lasting. For most infrequent players, this is the best way to go.

We also offer a range of pressureless tennis balls for children, teens and adult beginners.

Pressureless Tennis Balls for All Ages