Posted on by

Help! My Toenails are Turning Black

Are one or more of your toenails turning black? Yes. Then your shoes are too small. Specifically, your shoes are too short for court sports.

Here at Racquet Network, our expert staff are constantly astonished at the number of stubborn people who come into our store to buy new shoes because the shoes they are wearing are damaging their feet and who end up buying exactly the same size, expecting a different result.

Here is how a typical conversation with one of these customer’s goes …

Staff: “Hi there. How can I help you?”

Customer: “I need some new shoes. The shoes I have are too small. They are making my toenails turn black.”

Staff: “Oh no. That’s not good. What size are they?”

Customer: “They are size 9.”

Staff: “OK. So would you like to try on something in a size 10?”

Customer: “No. Size 10 is too big. I wear a size 9.”

Staff: “I’m sorry. I must have misunderstood. I thought you said your size 9 shoes were causing your toenails to turn black.”

Customer: “Well these ones are. But I just need a different size 9. I am always a size 9.”

It is never good when a fitting starts this way, but this is exactly the way many fittings start. The customer has a number in their head and no amount of expert advice or actual evidence will sway them. So, they end up leaving with the wrong size in spite of our best efforts to convince them otherwise.

Fathers of teen-aged daughters can be especially frustrating for our shoe experts. Some of them seem to think that their daughters are less attractive if they wear shoes that actually fit, so they buy shoes that are too small and that end up causing injuries.

This not a joke. It’s not just a story we tell. This actually happens. We have seen teenaged girls leave our store in tears because they know that the shoes their fathers are buying for them are too small and will make their toenails fall off. We have had angry fathers storm out of the store because we demonstrated to them that their daughter’s feet are a size and half bigger than they used to be.

We’re not sure why but men in general rarely seem to know their shoe size. “What size are you?” we will often ask. “Size 10,” guys will say. “What size are those?” we ask, pointing at the shoes on their feet. When we check, we usually find out they are not even close to what they thought they were wearing.

Racquet Network staff are trained to fit people for court shoes. Our staff know that court shoes have to be longer than walking-around-shoes because players have to stop suddenly and change direction. When shoes are too short for this, toes bang against the end of the shoe causing toenails to blacken and fall off.

Our staff also understand that width is important. When a player’s feet are wider than the platform of the shoes they are wearing, they are prone to specific types of injuries that can lead to arthritis later in life.

Our experts want to see all customers leave our store with shoes that fit. They don’t have any preconceived ideas about that size the customer should wear or what size the customer (or their father) might want to wear. They only thing they are concerned about is what actually fits. For that to happen, the shoe must be long enough and it must be wide enough.

At the end of the day, though, they can’t force anybody to buy the right size. So they will always have to deal with the disappointment of customers who stubbornly resist their best advice and insist on buying shoes that are too short or too narrow just because that is the size they always buy.

Posted on by

Why Thicker and Heavier is Better for Beginners

WILSON PROFILE PICKLEBALL PADDLE BLUE
Wilson Profile
Racquet Network is one of Canada’s oldest pickleball retailers. As one of the country’s original pickleball dealers, we have been selling pickleball equipment on racquetnetwork.com and okpickleball.com for longer than most Canadians have been playing it.

Some of the staff on our coaching team have been certified by Pickleball Canada since they first started certifying instructors back in 2010. In the years since then, our team of instructors has taught hundreds of hours of pickleball lessons on top of thousands of hours of tennis and squash lessons.

The vast majority of people who take lessons from our instructors are beginners. In the years since we first started teaching racquet sports (2004), our team has taught more than 10,000 beginners how to play tennis, squash and pickleball. So it is safe to say that when it comes to beginners, we know our stuff.

As a group, our coaching team can confidently assure you that beginners in all racquet sports have a number of things in common. First, they have slower swings than intermediates or experts. They hit balls off center more often. They are slower to react, they tend to hang back rather than move forward and they generally grip their racquets too firmly.

Indeed, regardless of the sport, coaches in all racquet sports can watch new players move progressively through small stages from beginner to intermediate to advanced. Some players progress quickly; some slowly. But as they progress, their coach will see certain things happen. Their swing speed, foot speed and reaction speed will all accelerate. Their ability to receive the ball and middle it on their racquet/paddles will increase. Their grips will relax and they will recognize opportunities to move forward and attack.

This is true of all three sports — tennis, squash and pickleball — and any coach who teaches all three will tell you the same thing. There are fundamental differences that separate beginners from intermediates from advanced players. When you understand these differences you will understand why beginners struggle with equipment made for intermediates and experts.

Consider this one concrete example: racquet/paddle weight. In all three sports, beginners benefit from heavier racquets and paddles in a number of ways. First, beginners rarely hit the ball in exact center of their paddle or racquet. Intermediates, by contrast, do it much more often while advanced players do it consistently.

Hitting off center reduces both power and accuracy. So to help offset these common beginner level errors, a good coach will recommend a heavier racquet or paddle. Eventually, these beginners will learn to middle the ball more consistently and will not need a heavier racquet/paddle to cover up their mishits, but in the meantime, they will enjoy more success.

Hitting off center is not the only common beginner issue addressed by heavier racquets/paddles though. As mentioned above, beginners have slower swing speeds. They also hesitate to move forward, primarily because they lack experience and therefore the ability to anticipate what is about to happen. This combination often means that beginners are forced to hit the ball over longer distances than intermediate or expert players. Once again, heavier — and in the case of pickleball, thicker — equals more power. More power, in this case, helps to overcome some deficiencies in beginner level strokes and movement.

As any credible coach will tell you, there is no question that heavier, thicker paddles are better for beginners than lighter, thinner paddles. The same is true for grip size. Thicker grips are better for beginners than thinner grips.

Thicker grips provide more traction than thinner grips. Traction lock the paddle in place and prevents it from turning in the player’s hand when the ball is hit off center. Traction also allows the player to relax their grip. And finally, thicker grips reduce the occurrence of tennis elbow — the most common injury found in new pickleball players.

So as coaches, there is no doubt about the paddles that we recommend to beginners in our store. Our goal is to put a paddle in their hands that will maximize their enjoyment and minimize their chances of suffering injury. So in all three sports — tennis, squash and pickleball — this means a heavier racquet or paddle than we would recommend to an expert.

Posted on by

We Sell Wide Court Shoes

YONEX SHB 65 ALPHA WIDE RED
Yonex Power Cushion 65 Alpa Wide

If you do a quick internet search, you will see that there are a lot of brands offering “wide” court shoes. However, if you have wide feet and if you have ever ordered any of these “wide” shoes, you will already know that very few of these “wide” shoes are actually wide.

So what should you do if you either know or suspect that you have wide feet?

The very best thing you can do is to come into our store and allow our experts to fit you properly. In our experience, most players — especially guys — are wearing the wrong shoe size. They think that court shoes should fit either like their walking-around-shoes or, worse yet, like their hockey skates.

Court shoes are neither. If you are a normal person, you don’t suddenly stop and change direction at high speed in your walking-around-shoes. You also don’t turn your feet sideways to stop in your court shoes like you do when you are stopping on skates.

Many of the customers we fit on a daily basis suffer from blackened toe nails. This is a sure sign their court shoes are too short. Many more deal with chronic foot pain, which is often a sign of shoes that are too narrow or long past worn out.

How can you tell which of these two is causing your pain? Start with some simple math.

Competition grade shoes today are designed to last about 500 kilometers. On average, racquet sports players cover approximately four kilometers per hour. So a competition grade court shoe will last a maximum of 125 hours of court time — less for recreational grade shoes and much less for budget grade shoes.

If you play once a week for two hours, competition grade shoes may last a year. If you play twice a week, they will last about half a year. But if you are buying recreation grade or budget grade shoes and playing frequently, you are looking at replacing your shoes every two to four months.

The grade of the shoe makes a difference, too, of course. Competition grade shoes are designed to take maximum abuse. Recreational grade shoes don’t last as long as competition grade shoes, but are generally more comfortable. Budget shoes are neither. They are not designed for comfort or durability. Budget shoes are intended for teenagers who will outgrown their shoes before they wear them out.

So in determining what might be causing your foot pain, you must consider both the grade of shoes you are wearing and the amount of game time you have been wearing them. But if you have good shoes that are reasonably new and you are still experiencing foot pain (without blackened toenails), there is a good chance that your shoes are too narrow for your feet.

How wide is wide and what is actually available?

Athletic shoes for men come in a variety of standard widths. B is for narrow feet. D is a standard fit. 2E is wide. 4E is extra wide. Not all athletic shoes are suitable for court sports, though. So while it is possible to find running shoes in all four of these widths, options in court shoes are severely limited and none of the major sporting goods stores even offer them.

Forget about B in men’s court shoes. There is no such animal. If you are genuinely a B width male, you will have to look into women’s court shoes. We have never seen a men’s court shoe available in a B width.

Unlike B width, 2E is not impossible to find. Some brands, like Victor, offer unisex shoes in 2E width. In women’s shoes, 2E is extra wide while for men 2E is just wide. However, in our experience there just aren’t very men who fit comfortably into 2E shoes. More than 90% of the men we help with wide feet are actually 4E.

The good news? Of all the non-standard width court shoes, 4E are the most widely available. That being said, nobody should imagine that 4E shoes are commonly available. They are not. In fact, they are very far from common and you will almost certainly have to go to a specialty store to find some.

Yonex Canada typically offers one model in 4E per season. Other court shoe brands are less committed but may offer a 4E every once in awhile. Asics, for example, offers running shoes and a couple of lines of cross trainers in that width but nothing specifically 4E in a court shoe. Victor offers some unisex shoes in 2E, but rarely stocks an actual 4E. Everybody else offers either standard D width or D in a relaxed fit, which can be forced onto a 2E foot, if nothing else is available.

Here in Calgary, every racquet sports player knows that Racquet Network is the best place to go for court shoes. We carry the most models in the most sizes. We carry more colours and more wide shoes than anybody else. So if we don’t have it, you can assume that it probably isn’t available. For players with genuinely wide feet, this statement is even truer than for people with standard feet.

Posted on by

How to Choose a Backyard Badminton Set

Yonex Backard Badminton Set
Yonex Badminton Set
Racquet Network offers a variety of options for families looking for backyard badminton sets. They range in price from about $60.00 to over $400.00, each of which is best for use in a particular context.

Our best general advice to customers who are thinking about getting one is to think first about how it will be used, not about how much it costs. If you think about price first, you may end up buying something you won’t use very often — which is a sure way to blow your money.

The most important component is the net. The net must fit your usage context or it will be a complete waste of your money. For example, if you have small children setting it up and taking it down, you must have a net that they can handle. If you don’t, then they won’t be using it.

Invariably, the least expensive net systems are the hardest to use. They are also the most fragile. With most of these discount systems, if you break one piece you render the whole thing useless. Once again, a total waste of money.

Least Expensive

Our most popular set is the Yonex ™ Backyard Badminton Set. It comes with two nylon poles, two tethers, a net, four racquets and a couple of shuttles for under $100.00. It is best value, but not easiest to use and isn’t easy for kids to set up on their own. This set requires adult set up.

This is a great system as long as adults will be putting it up and as long as it does not have to be moved very often. If you are putting it in the backyard on grass that needs to be mowed, this may not be your best option. If you are setting it up at the cabin on a space that does not need to be mowed, it may be suitable.

The racquets in this set are not full adult length. They are shorter racquets designed for children, perfect for 9-11 year olds. The shuttles in this set are not very good either. If you buy this set, we recommend adding a tube of higher quality shuttles. We also recommend that this set be left to the kids. Nothing is in this set is designed to handle adult power.

Great for Two Kids

Our next most popular options are the Yonex Portable Badminton Net and the Wilson 10′ EZ Net. Both cost more than the set above, but both are fully portable, easy to move and do not require adult participation during setup. Unlike the nylon poles in the set above, these sets feature painted aluminum poles. It is also impossible to put them together wrong.

One downside to these options is that everything has to be purchase separately. The net is one item; the racquets and shuttles are purchased separately. Another downside is that they are only 10 feet wide. They are the perfect size for two kids, but are too small for doubles. If more than two kids will be playing at once, you may want to choose one of the sets below instead.

The plus side for these systems is that they are durable and portable. They are not tied to the ground, so they are easy to move when you need to mow and they store in their own travel bags.

Great for Four Kids

Like the two sets above, this is a highly portable badminton set that is very easy to set up, tear down, move and store. Kids can handle it themselves; adult participation is not required.

Unlike the previous set, this Babolat net is 19 feet wide. So it is wide enough for doubles (four kids or adults). Plus, it can also be used for kids tennis and pickleball. The net poles are adjustable; you can raise the net to maximum height for badminton or lower it for tennis or pickleball.

Great for Schools/Programs

Another popular option is the Qwiknet system. This one is more complicated to put together and probably requires adult participation, but it is fully configurable. You can choose to set it up as either 10 feet wide or 20 feet wide. You can also adjust the height from badminton down to tennis and pickleball.

This system is very durable and is designed for institutional use. It is intended for indoor use, but it can be used outdoors as long as it is not being left outside. If left outside, rain or dew will eventually cause it to rust. So we don’t recommend it for outdoor use.

Final Points

In this category, price can serve as a useful guideline. Any set priced under $100 is probably a toy intended for minimal usage. It’s the kind of thing you might set up for a single event or a single summer and then probably throw away. Anything priced over $100 is probably designed for multiple uses over longer periods of time.

Posted on by

Why Aren’t New Facilities Opening?

Every racquet sports club in the world can be arranged on a business spectrum. On the right side of the spectrum are clubs that are businesslike. The more businesslike the club, the further right on the spectrum they fall. On the left side of the spectrum are, for lack of a better word, unbusinesslike clubs. The more unbusinesslike they are the further to the left on the spectrum they fall.

Clubs on the right side of spectrum are business-like in their approach. Their facility is managed so as to turn a profit and generate a return for the club’s owners. Clubs on the left side of the spectrum are just the opposite. Their approach is not businesslike in the least. On the far left side of the spectrum, generating a return on investment for the owners is not even a consideration.

Most clubs fall somewhere in the middle. The vast majority of non-profit clubs skew heavily to the left side of the spectrum as do the most of the privately owned clubs. Only a tiny sliver of privately owned clubs, in my experience, actually fall on the right side of the spectrum and almost none are found on the far right.

Non-profit clubs generally don’t have to turn a profit. In most cases, they are part of a larger non-profit facility that can go to one level of government or another for more money when they need it. If you examine their income statements, you will see that without government subsidies they operate at a loss every year. If you look at their personnel files, you will see that nobody is accountable for these losses and nobody ever loses their job when income fails to exceed expenses. As long as the members are happy, managers in these facilities tend to keep their jobs.

One would expect for-profit clubs to be the opposite. Since they are businesses, one would expect that losing money would lead to immediate consequences for management. However, this is not always the case. Many racquet sports clubs are divisions within larger businesses and are not expected to be profitable. Some health clubs with squash courts in downtown Calgary, for example, are provided as a service to tenants. These clubs are not expected to turn a profit. Their job is to stay open and minimize losses in order to support higher rents in the office towers above.

If you look at the income statements for these clubs, you will see something very similar to the income statements of the non-profit clubs. They lose money every year but they continue to operate because somebody — in this case the landlord — makes up the shortfall. And again, as with non-profit clubs, nobody loses their job when a loss is incurred because the people in control do not expect the facility to turn a profit. While these clubs are generally considered to be for-profit clubs, they really fall into an in between category I call not-for-profit and they tend to fall in the middle of the spectrum.

Pure for-profit business models in racquet sports are exceedingly rare. Rarely do you find a club that is run with the specific goal of turning a profit for shareholders. Most of the clubs in this group come into being when a racquet sport is peaking, when there are more players than the non-profit and not-for-profit facilities can serve. Think of tennis in the 70s, squash in the 80s, racquetball in the 90s or pickleball right now. At their peaks, each of these sports was able to support genuine for-profit racquet sports facilities. Outside of the boom years, they were not.

Outside of these peaks, there just aren’t enough customers to support clubs that need to turn a profit. As a result, owners with money to invest tend to take their money elsewhere. And who can blame them? If you need/want to make a return on your investment, it makes no sense to compete for customers against non-profits and not-for-profits who will always be able to operate at a loss and therefore will always be able to charge lower prices or offer higher levels of service than for-profits.

From time to time, a group of players from the non-profit and/or not-for-profit world will get together and try to open a new for-profit facility. Usually, this group of men (and they are almost exclusively men) will find an investor (often a landlord) and generate a great deal of excitement as they work toward the goal of opening a new facility. More than half of the time, this group will fall short of their goal immediately after the would-be investor does his due diligence and realizes that there aren’t enough players in the non- and not-for- communities willing to pay enough to make his proposed new facility profitable.

Sometimes, though, the investor fails to understand this or fails to believe the numbers and the new facility opens anyways. In most cases, these facilities limp along for a few short years before failure. In a few, they limp along for a few more years as somebody pours money into them. But eventually, the vast majority close forever and somebody learns an expensive lesson about the business of racquet sports.

What is this lesson? It is this … When every competitor in your category falls to the left of you on the businesslike spectrum and when those business are not required to be profitable, invest your money elsewhere. No matter what you do, you will not be able to overcome their competitive advantage. Therefore you will not be able to make a profit that justifies the risk of the investment, which is precisely why more racquet sports facilities are closing than are opening.