NEW

N EW PRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
- MANTIS
MANTIS TOUR
TOUR POLY
POLY
Y
- YONEX
YONEX VCORE
VCORE TOUR
TOUR G
- DUNLOP
DUNLOP NATURAL
NATURAL TENNIS
TENNIS
ASHAWAY
A SHAWAY CROSSFIRE
CROSSFIRE ZX
ZX
- PLAYTEST
PLAYTEST
IINDUSTRY
NDUSTRY NEWS
NEWS
ERSA
E RSA AROUND
AROUND THE
THE WORLD
WORLD

IISSUE
SSUE 4 - 2014
2014
EUROPEAN RACQUET STRINGERS ASSOCIATION
european
e uropean rracquet
acquet s
stringers
tringers a
association
ssociation

RACQUETTECH
XTRA CONTROL.
XTRA SPIN.
Add that little Xtra to your game

The ESP approved Prince Tour XC & XS strings help deliver that Xtra Control
and Spin to your game. Check them out at iam.princetennis.com
Warrior 100L ESP

Warrior 100 ESP

Tour 100T ESP

Tour 98 ESP
Features
04 My Serve
06 New Products
12 Industry News
22 Ashaway Playtest
25 Sell Yourself

Industry News
- Prince Paris Tour 2014
- Head Golden Ball
- Head Ultimate Match
- Babolat Connected at
Roland Garros
- Playsight Tracking
Technology
4

My Serve
RACQUETTECH EUROPE

European Racquet Stringers Association

Director
Mark Maslowski
Welcome to Issue 4 of our magazine for 2014!
ERSA Germany, Austria, Switzerland I would like to apologize for the late issue due to illness. I
Sanda Maslowski ended up spending three weeks in the hospital in the last five
ERSA Australia Manager
weeks after first planning to be four to five days there at first.
Anthony Aley I am back and healing well and will be in Wimbledon in 2
weeks.
ERSA UK Manager
Jamie Pethick
ERSA Latin America is off to a strong start. In the ERSA
Around the World this issue there are 2 pages of pictures from
ERSA UK Tester the first workshops and testing. Thanks to the great effort from
Roger Dalton
Richard Parnell, and our South American managers Andrea
ERSA Spain Manager and Ricardo. We will also be launching ERSA Ukraine this
Richard Parnell week as a new section of the ERSA. Workshop and testing
ERSA Italy Manager
dates will be announced in the next issue.
Marco Rossani We are looking for a new test team of 40 stringers for tennis
strings. We have 4 more strings to test and because of the
ERSA Benelux Managers
Timo van Driel
busy summer season many of our testers are busy stringing
Rob Maessen tournaments and with their shops. Please write to me as soon
as possible as we would like to have the strings tested in the
ERSA Greece Manager
George Pahiakos
summer season.
With the European summer pro tour season in full swing,
ERSA Greece Tester many of our members are stringing at many of the tourna-
Petros Biris
ments including Rome, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. We
ERSA Czech Republic & Slovakia now have 4 Pro Tour Stringers stringing in Rome, half of the
Vacalv Smat Babolat team in Roland Garros and the whole team in
ERSA Latin America Managers
Wimbledon. Many of our members are also stringing Ten-
Andrea Amaral - Ricardo Dipold nis Europe, Futures and Challengers in Europe this summer.
ERSA is proud to have helped raise the level of stringing
FOUNDING MEMBERS
Ashaway Babolat
around the world in the last 12 years since launching the Pro
Head Isospeed Tour Stringer Certification.
Kirschbaum Luxilon The Certified Stringer Badminton and Master of Racquet
Pacific Wilson
Sports will be offered along with workshops this Fall and Win-
CORPORATE MEMBERS ter in the UK and Western Europe. ERSA is hoping to raide
Ashaway Head the level of stringing with badminton and squash in Europe.
Prince Isospeed
GOSEN Tecnifibre
We will be offering an upgrade for our testers interested in tak-
ing part in the new certification programs.
STRING SUPPLIER MEMBERS The final dates and venue for the 2015
Apollo Leisure Bow Brand
Kirschbaum Signum Pro
Symposium will be announced along
Tyger / Tennis Planet with the preliminary program in July.
Due to my illness the contract for the
TECHNICAL CONSULTANT
Rod Cross
venue had to be postponed.
The next issue of RacquetTech
TENNIS CONSULTANT Europe will be out the second week of
Gabe Jaramillo
Wimbledon and will be an electronic
European Racquet Stringers Association and printed issue.
Lenaustr. 38 Mark Maslowski
40470 Düsseldorf
DE Germany
Phone / Fax +49(0)211-68814151
 New Certified Stringers, Master Racquet Technicians and Pro
Tour Stringers, CS Badminton and

Master of Racquet Sports.
ERSA now offers certification for different levels of stringers, from beginners to

the top professional stringers in the world. The first level is ERSA Stringer is for

new stringers to show they have completed a stringing course and learned to

string correctly. Certified Stringer is for stringing services, such as coaches,
club stringers, shop stringers, after passing a day of practical and written tests.
Master Racquet Technician is for shop stringers and owners who can tune rac-
quets, string at a high level and have a broad knowledge of products for their
customers. Pro Tour Stringer certification is for MRTs who are stringing at ATP
and WTA tournaments. There are 3 levels for this certification, Level 1, Level 2
and Master Pro Tour Stringer.

NEW - Certified Stringer Badminton and Master of Racquet Sports (Tennis,

Badminton and Squash.)

Certified Stringer - T. Rothengatter - Netherlands

Jose Manuel Arias Gonzalez -Spain
Master Racquet Technician - Richard Mutsaers- Netherlands
Eric Fabbrezzi -France

STRINGS
MADE IN GERMANY
SINCE 1985
6

New Products

MANTIS Sport , the British racket sports brand, has launched a new ultra-premium specification
polyester string into the market. According to Martin Aldridge, Founder & Managing Director of MANTIS
Sport, the MANTIS Tour Poly (1.22mm) consists of a perfectly balanced blend of modern materials &
technology and will be the flagship of the company’s polyester family of strings.

“The design and development of our product range is based on the collaboration of a team consisting of
elite custom stringers with extensive experience in Grand Slams, World ranked players and distinguished
professionals from key areas within the sport. This synergy of opinions and feedback ensures that when a
new product is launched it offers consumers unmatched performance but at a highly competitive price.”

In order to attain such a high quality product as the Tour Poly an extensive amount of rigorous analysis
needs to take place. A technical brief is submitted by the R&D team following on from significant expert
feedback in relation to the pros and cons of using a co-polymer string. As a result of this, several prototype
sample options are sent out to our various experts around the World for ‘blind testing’. Not only are these
strings reviewed against our existing range but also against the current market leaders as our benchmark.
The data from our team of experts is then collated and compared against our existing strings and the
market leaders. It is at this stage that a product is then developed for market launch if the feedback
confirms that we have found a winning string that enhances these positives and reduces the negatives
of using a co-polymer. In other words, a product will only be launched if there is a clear enhanced
performance benefit to the consumer.

The culmination of this highly analytical process is the MANTIS Tour Poly (1.22mm) - an exceptional string
that sets the bar at a new high. Our tests revealed an improved dynamic elasticity which helps to produce a
comfortable feel on impact. In addition, the Tour Poly provides exceptional playability across a wide range
of tensions – something which is often hard to achieve but is exactly what Tour pros are looking for from a
high performance string. At 1.22mm diameter the Tour Poly enables you to achieve extra ‘grip’ on the ball
thus enabling excellent levels of spin. In addition, the materials within the Tour Poly enable it to maintain its
durability to the levels of other 1.25mm gauge offerings. Even in the later stages of string life, as you start to
notice ‘notching’ within the string, it still maintains its excellent overall playability and consistency.

The final ‘test’ will be from players around the World when they try the MANTIS Tour Poly 1.22 for
themselves.

The high end Tour Poly string has been released today in the global market as a pre-production model and
you can find it with the code name “Prototype Red” through our distributors.
 7

New Products

YONEX VCORE Tour G

Designed for hard hitting, attacking players playing with a dynamic swing, who demand maximum control and spin.
The new racket of Stan Wawrinka
Head Size: 97 sq.in. Weight: G:310g/10.9oz, HG:330g/11oz.
Grip Size: G1, 2, 3, 4, 5/HG1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Length: 27 in.
Balance Point: 310mm
Material: H.M. Graphite
8

New Products

NATURAL TENNIS – WELTNEUHEIT VON DUNLOP

Die revolutionäre NATURAL TENNIS Kollektion von DUNLOP, ist seit
Februar 2014 in Kooperation mit INTERSPORT auf dem dt. Markt und
ab August 2014 im freien Fachhandel erhältlich. Die Kollektion besteht
aus einer ������������������������������������������������������������
übersichtlichen ��������������������������������������������
Serie von 4 Schlägern und einem Juniorschlä-
ger sowie einer neuen Saite und einem Griffband. Die revolutionäre
COPPER WIRE CONSTRUCTION bewirkt ein reines, natürliches Spiel-
gefühl für maximalen Touch.
Schläger R 6.0 NT: TESTSIEGER KOMFORT(Deutsche Tennis Zeitung)
COPPER WIRE CONSTRUCTION: Mit Hilfe eines auf der Oberfläche des Griffes verlaufenden
Kupferfadens werden beim Ballaufprall negative Vibrationen durch ein Silikonkissen an der Unter-
seite des Griffes eliminiert und positive Vibrationen in die Hand des Spielers geleitet. Übrig bleibt
das reine Spielgefühlt. Der R 6.0 NT, Testsieger der Deutschen Tennis Zeitung im Komfortbereich,
hat Freizeit- bis Clubspieler zur Zielgruppe. Mit seiner Kopfgröße von 105 sq. inch., seinem Ge-
wicht von 281gr. (unbesaitet) und einem Besaitungsbild 16x19, ist er der Top-Allroundschläger.
Des Weiteren werden angeboten: R 3.0 (Turnierspieler), R 5.0 (Clubspieler) und R Elite (Freizeit-
spieler).
Basisgriffband COPPER TAPE
Das COPPER TAPE Basisgriffband, welches mit einem Kupferband unterlegt ist, leitet das Spiel-
gefühl perfekt in die Hand des Spielers weiter. Für den Spieler wird somit der Touch maximiert.
Zudem hat das Kupferband antibakterielle Eigenschaften. Eine absolute Neuentwicklung, die es in
dieser Form noch nie gab.
Revolution NT HYBRID SAITEN
Die NT HYBRID SAITEN liefern eine absolute WELTNEUHEIT. Entwickelt wurden diese vom
Spezialisten Frank Messerer, der etliche ATP Profis betreut hat. Die Saiten zeichnen sich durch
eine spezielle Beschichtung aus, die das „Verrutschen“ der Saiten für eine Spielerdauer von 12
Stunden eliminiert. Das Zusammenspiel der heptagonalen Hybrid Saite Revolution NT black und
der Revolution NT yellow sorgt für maximalen Spin, maximalen Touch und maximale Haltbarkeit
zugleich.
Die NT Schläger erreichen ihre optimale Funktion, durch das Zusammenspiel dieser drei NT-
Technologien. Lieferung der Schläger erfolgt mit den NT Hybrid Saiten.
 9

New Products
 10

Sign-up 2014

Sign up Now for 2014 and receive 3 sets of Test String.

Become a member today and receive:
- STRINGERS DIGEST
- RACQUETTECH MAGAZINE - 10 ISSUES
- WEB ACCESS
- DISCOUNTS ON ADVERTISERS PRODUCTS
- FREE SAMPLES
- REDUCED PRICES ON WORKSHOPS AND CERTIFICATION
- ANNUAL MEETING / SYMPOSIUM - Value 350€ for 99€ -
Minimum 100€ in Free Samples so it is at no cost to you.

2014
1 Year Membership -99€
2 Year Membership – 170€
3 Year Membership - 220€

Name_____________________________________________________________

Address___________________________________________________________

Postcode___________________City____________________________________

Country___________________________________________________________

1.Year Membership 99Euro____________________________________________

2.Year Membership 170Euro___________________________________________

3.Year Membership 220Euro___________________________________________

Credit Card AMEX_____ VISA_____ Mastercard______

Card Number________________________________Exp. Date_______________

Signature_____________________________________________________

Please Fax or e-Mail this form to European Racquet Stringers Association.

Phone & Fax +49(0)211-68814151; email mmaslo3330@aol.com
 11
Industry News

Prince Paris Tour 2014. Prince players Mike and Bob Bryan, David Ferrer
and Jelena Jankovic were active promoting tennis in the Paris area during
Roland Garros this year.
12

Industry News

GO FOR GOLD WITH ANDY MURRAY AND NOVAK DJOKOVIC

Win great prizes in the 2014 HEAD golden ball promotion

Every athlete wants to win gold. And now tennis fans around the world can join the gold rush! From May 15
to July 31, the 2014 HEAD golden ball promotion offers the chance to win a trip to the 2014 Barclays ATP
World Tour Finals, one of 1.000 daily HEAD prizes, and even 10 pieces of real gold.

Finding the gold is comparably easy: all tennis fans have to do is find the code inside a HEAD ATP ball can,
check it online at www.head.com/tennis/goldenheadball and see how lucky they are in the Golden HEAD Ball
sweepstake. Fun side benefit of the can initiative: Pieces of real gold have been hidden in a total of ten HEAD
ATP tennis balls worldwide.

The gold rush is also joined by ATP’s top-ranked players: Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray use unique and
very entertaining methods to find the golden prize. Their quest for gold, which might even serve as inspiration
on how to find the gold, is documented in HEAD’s digital spot on head.com/tennis.

The HEAD ATP ball does not only offer pieces of gold. Featuring Encore™ technology and
SmartOptik™ felt for better visibility, the official tennis ball of the ATP World Tour and the
Barclays ATP World Tour Finals embodies three decisive advantages for pros and amateur
players: it picks up more spin, allows even better control and stands out with its improved
durability. “It is the best ball in tennis today,” Novak Djokovic confirms. “I like to play with
touch and with control, and in addition it allows me to produce a lot of spin - this ball gives
me everything I need!”

Besides daily prizes and pieces of real gold, the grand winner of the 2014 Golden HEAD
Ball promotion will win a trip to the 2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London and a
chance to see the eight best tennis players in the world.

For more information please visit:

head.com/tennis

facebook.com/headtennis

twitter.com/head_tennis

instagram.com/headtennis_official
 13

New Products
Industry News

ANDY MURRAY AND NOVAK DJOKOVIC ENGAGE IN ULTIMATE MATCH

HEAD gives Hollywood’s creative storytelling a run for their money. In a brand new social media driven
campaign, the HEAD Racquet Rebels Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic find themselves in a whirlwind of
events that might as well have been inspired by a Hollywood movie script.

The campaign kicks off when the two tennis superstars appear in a video that shows them in a rather
compromised position: blindfolded in the backseat of a SUV. The internet community is completely left in
the dark as to who took the players and why – until the current World’s No. 2 and No. 8 announce that they
have been released. Obviously this is not how the story ends.

The following campaign’s hero spot provides some more clues and needed background. After a long ride in
the SUV, Novak and Andy find themselves as special guests at a birthday party of a little girl and a strange
guy who have one very interesting request: The two tennis stars have to compete against each other in
what can only be called the “Ultimate Match”. The catch: only if they go above and beyond and play a
match to remember, will their dubious host let them go. What follows now is a battle of the wills with a sur-
prising sudden end involving a net-cord shot, a dog, and a sneaky get-away.

While battling it out during the Ultimate Match, the two tennis superstars are thankfully supported by their
respective racquets from the “HEAD Graphene Racquet Series” featuring the exclusive HEAD technology
Graphene. The world’s strongest and lightest material allows for the weight on the racquet’s shaft to be dis-
tributed where it is needed most for perfect control, playability and more power with every swing.

The hero spot will be published on May 22, 2014 on HEAD’s YouTube channel while a 30 second TV spot
will air on Eurosport during the second week of the French Open. The movie trailer like spot will direct view-
ers to the campaign website www.head.com/G which hosts additional information about the story, HEAD
products and the innovative technology Graphene. Fans around the world will have the opportunity to par-
ticipate in an online sweepstake and show their creativity to win special prizes.

Created by the Berlin-based agency Aimaq von Lobenstein, the films have been produced by Czar Berlin,
directed by Johannes Schroeder and produced by Birke Birkner.

For more information please visit:

Click here to see

head.com/tennis
facebook.com/headtennis
twitter.com/head_tennis
instagram.com/headtennis_official
the video!
14

New Products
Industry News

Connected rackets appear at Roland Garros

Babolat achieved a Grand Slam first as
members of Team Babolat played in the
French Open with the Babolat Play Pure
Drive connected tennis racket.
For the first time in the history of tennis,
players could turn on their racket before starting to play.
At the end of their match, players were able to collect data previously
inaccessible in tennis, thanks to sensors in the handle of the racket.
It was the debut of a new era in tennis where player analysis technolo-
gies are allowed in competition to benefit from their own personal data.
Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic, Germany’s Julia Görges and Ana Konjuh from Croatia
became the first players in tennis history to play with a ‘connected’ racket in a Grand Slam match,
with other players reportedly interested in joining the new technology.
“I believe that in the near future, all tennis rackets will be connected,” said Eric Babolat, President
and CEO of Babolat.
Julia Goerges is one of the first pro players to use the connected racket
so that as soon as she finishes a match, she can analyse how her
match stats in terms of forehands and backhands played via a gizmo in
the handle that stores all the performance data.
“It [the racket] feels exactly the same, it’s just it has the data inside and
you can do all these cool things with it,” Goerges told Reuters about
the App, which downloads the data to a mobile device or computer via
Bluetooth.
“It’s about putting the pieces of the puzzle together.”
The player presses a button on the handle to turn on the app and every shot played is then mea-
sured during the match, measured via a triangle of endurance, power and position in the search
for optimal performance.
Goerges says the data from matches is more useful than that from practice and she talks through
it all with her coach.
“You can see how aggressive you were, how many forehands you did and how many opportunities
you had also to play forehands or backhands,” she continued.
“You can see the sweet spot [and] you can see exactly where you hit it on the racket.
“It’s just the beginning right now, I’ve not got a lot of data yet but I will try to improve (it) obviously.
“If you have the records longer and more data you can compare it better, that’s a good thing to
have.”
Babolat has developed the technology over the past decade and the ITF adopted a rule covering
its use at the start of the year in which the only restriction covers the use of live information for
coaching during a match.

Extract from the ITF Rules of Tennis

31. PLAYER ANALYSIS TECHNOLOGY
Player analysis technology, that is approved for play under the Rules of Tennis, must comply with
the specifications in Appendix III.
16

Industry News

The International Tennis Federation shall rule on the question of whether any such equipment is
approved, or not approved. Such ruling may be taken on its own initiative, or upon application by
any party with a bona fide interest therein, including any player, equipment manufacturer or Na-
tional Association or members thereof. Such rulings and applications shall be made in accordance
with the applicable Review and Hearing Procedures of the International Tennis Federation.

APPENDIX III

PLAYER ANALYSIS TECHNOLOGY

Player Analysis Technology is equipment that may perform any of the following functions with re-
spect to player performance information:
• Recording
• Storing
• Transmission
• Analysis
• Communication to player of any kind and by any means
Player Analysis Technology may record and/or store information during a match. Such information
may only be accessed by a player in accordance with Rule 30.

For more visit http://www.babolat.com/ and http://www.itftennis.com/

ENTDECKE Die Int. Plattform für alle

DIE WELT
DER
Trainer und Coaches
die professionell
unterrichten

WE MAKE
A WORLD OF INFO: PTR European Headquarters

DIFFERENCE Leichtergasse 28 - 39012 MERAN

Fon: +39 0473 230097 - www.ptrtennis.de - info@ptrtennis.de
18

Industry News

2015 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Draw

The Draw for the 2015 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas was held at the Tenniseum at Roland Garros in
Paris on Wednesday, with the first round ties taking place on 7-8 February.

The 2014 finalists are automatically the top two seeds in the 2015 World Group, while the remain-
ing seeds were based on the latest ITF Fed Cup Nations Ranking of 21 April 2014.
A great group of nations will be represented in World Group play with Fed Cup powerhouses like
Czech Republic, Italy and Russia, but also newcomers like Canada and Poland.
No1 seeds Czech Republic will travel to Canada and play a Canadian team led by WTA Rising
Star Eugenie Bouchard, while the 2013 champions Italy will host France, whose team includes
Alizé Cornet and WTA Rising Stars Caroline Garcia andKristina Mladenovic.
Poland, anchored by Agnieszka Radwanska, plays Russia, the first time the country is playing the
World Group stage in Fed Cup history!

2014 finalist Germany will host Australia in a rematch of April's semi-final.

2015 World Group

First round (7-8 February)
• Canada [c] v Czech Republic [s]
• Italy [s] [c] v France
• Poland [c] [*] v Russia [s]
• Germany [s] [c] v Australia

2015 World Group II

First round (7-8 February)
• Netherlands [c] v Slovakia [s]
• Romania [c] [*] v Spain [s]
• Sweden [c] v Switzerland [s]
• Argentina [s] [c] v USA
Key: [s] = seeded nation / [c] = choice of ground / [*] = choice of ground decided by lot

2015 Fed Cup dates

• World Group/World Group II first round: 7-8 February
• World Group semi-finals, World Group/World Group II play-offs: 18-19 April
• World Group Final: 14-15 November

Final
The 2014 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final between Czech Republic and Germany will take place in
Czech Republic on 8-9 November at a venue to be confirmed in due course.
 Designed for Pro‘s. This monofile polyester string offers ultimate control
combined with high ball speed. Now released!

Diese Monofile Polyestersaite wurde speziell für die Anforderungen auf der Profitour entwickelt. Volle Kontrolle bei
hoher Beschleunigung. Jetzt released nach erfolgreichem Einsatz auf der Tour!

www.isospeed.com
20

Industry News

PlaySight tracking technology attracting celebrity investors

PlaySight Interactive, an innovative sports technology Company and

creators of an affordable, tennis analytic system (the ‘SmartCourt'),
have announced the completion of a $3.5 million investment round from high-profile private inves-
tors including Novak Djokovic, Billie Jean King, Bill Ackman, Mark Ein, Dr Jim Loehr and others.
The new capital will fund a global roll-out of PlaySight's SmartCourt technology for recreational
and elite tennis, as well as research and development on applications in other popular sports be-
yond tennis.
Approved by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for use in amateur tournaments, Play-
Sight's SmartCourt technology has already been installed at a number of prestige venues includ-
ing The Queens Club in London, Roland Garros in Paris (home of the French Tennis Federation),
CourtSense Tennis Training Center in New Jersey, USA, Stefan Edberg's academy in Sweden,
Holland's Laurense Tennis Academy (the training center for legendary coach Sven Groeneveld)
and the Ramat Hasharon tennis center in Israel amongst others.
A video explaining the technology can be seen here http://youtu.be/hrp9X3K82Ek
"We are very proud to have such a powerful group of investors who share our vision of bringing
elite player technology to the grassroots and club level," said Chen Shachar, PlaySight CEO.
"When we developed this technology we saw an opportunity to create an affordable, easy-to-in-
stall, cloud-based system for athletes of all levels to improve their game.
"In the same way that wearable tech devices and micro-cameras are transforming running and
extreme sports, we are certain that SmartCourts will make tennis more engaging and fun.
"PlaySight combines advanced player analytics technology (PAT) with video-replay and social me-
dia to deliver an exceptional experience to the world's 100 million tennis players. It will change the
way we play ball-sports forever."
Mark Ein, CEO of growth investment holding company
Venturehouse Group said: "PlaySight has the potential to
revolutionize the game of tennis as well as other sports
through bringing the same sophisticated analytics avail-
able at the highest levels sports at a price point that makes
it accessible to clubs and players of all levels around the
globe.
"Through this ‘video-gamification' of sports, PlaySight will
make the game more fun and appealing to new and casual players while providing an incredibly
valuable training tool for the more frequent player."
The investor group announced last week includes:
• Bill Ackman: Founder of Pershing Capital Management LLC
• Novak Djokovic: Six-time Grand Slam champion including US Open, Wimbledon, and Aus-
tralian Open four times. Held world #1 ranking for 101 weeks and is currently #2
• Billie Jean King: Presidential Medal of Freedom Winner, International Tennis Hall of Fame
Inductee and winner of 39 Grand Slam titles
 21

Industry News

• Mark Ein: Founder/early investor in five companies that have reached billion dollar valua-
tions; founder/owner of the four-time WTT defending champion Washington Kastles and Board
member the International Tennis Hall of Fame;
• Dr. James Loehr: Co-founder of the Human Performance Institute and performance coach to
Jim Courier and Monica Seles
• Ray Benton: Former PROSERV president and current CEO of the Tennis Center at College
Park (Md.)
• Gordon A. Uehling III: Former ATP ranked tennis player, coach and founder of CourtSense -
the first "SmartClub" in the world which all his courts are equipped with "SmartCourts"
• James Kern: Veteran Wall Street Executive with over 2 decades of Capital Markets exper-
tise. James will be joining PlaySight's Board of Directors
Based on concepts originally designed to train fighter pilots, PlaySight‘s
SmartCourt is an affordable, proprietary technology that is easily in-
stalled at tennis facilities and private courts.
The SmartCourt provides players with professional real time (and post
session) match statistics, analytics, line-calling and video, combining
capabilities to dramatically enhance the tennis-playing experience and
greatly improve training and coaching efficiency.
Using five HD cameras, PlaySight's SmartCourt automatically classifies and tags all the events that
take place during a session without the need for court-side operators or wearable sensors.
Players can watch selected events (e.g. every backhand down the line that went long), with no
need to watch the whole video or manually tag it.
PlaySight is also able to record 3D tactical game management information including the height of
balls over the net, speed of every shot and the depth of balls hit within the court.
The SmartCourt is easily operated by the players through a courtside kiosk and all video and data
can be shared within seconds with coaches, friends and family at remote locations.
Players can also track distance covered and calories burned during a match or practice session.
The Company plans to apply their affordable technology to basketball, soccer, hockey, baseball
and other fields of sports with the same SmartCourt concept and has already seen the installation
of 35 SmartCourts globally, including 19 in the United States including the first collegiate court at
The University of Georgia.
More than 100 facilities in Florida, California, New York and at other locations around the world are
scheduled for installation later this year.

For more visit www.playsight.com

22

Tips

Tighter Knots - Here is a great

tip Richard Parnell showed everyone at the
2014 Symposium. It was shown to him years
ago from the French Davis Cup stringer, never
used it and forgot about it.
Lucien Nogues showed him again at the 2013
Symposium. After trying it out at Wimbledon
last year, Richard decided is was worthwhile to
show in his workshops. You can use this on ty-
ing off mains on any racket where the strings go
in the wholes from the same direction. Basically,
you just wrap around the anchor string, tighten,
then pull up until it clicks into place.

KISS- Keep it Simple Stupid - The best advice for beginner stringers is to string everything with
4 knots to start out. You only have one thing to learn and every racquet can be strung this way.
You can string all the rackets without learning Around-the-World. You will not be stringing for pro-
fessionals and need a quick easy method to not make mistakes. We recommend this to shops to
do first with new employees, which cuts down on the number of mistakes that can be made. After
mastering the 4 knot methode, it is easy to learn new 2 knot methods, such as ATWs.

Build Up Sleeves - I found it is much

easier to shrink the sleeves from the grip cap
up to the top of the sleeve. I have seen many
shops doing it the other way around and shrink-
ing it over the grip cap, then trimming with a
razor knife. The problem we have seen when
trimming is that the sleeve sticks out away from
the butt cap making it difficult to cover with
the basic grip. We use Apollo Leisure Build
Up Sleeves which shrink in diameter but not
in length. We trim off the sleeve to the correct
length and shrink it turning the handle to pre-
vent overheating. The sleeve shrinks tightly
around the butt cap and is easy to cover up with
the grip.
 23

String Test

Ashaway Crossfire ZX 17
Ashaway has come up with some interesting Hybrid combinations for their Monogut ZX Pro. We
have tested the Crossfire ZX 17 in this issue and will publish the Crossfire ZX Tour in the next is-
sue. Ashaway Crossfire ZX 17 is a hybrid with Kevlar® *Plus mains and MonoGut ZX Pro crosses.
The mains are braided aramid fibers and PTFE fibers added to give a softer feel to the Kevlar
strings. The strings are much softer than the original aramid Crossfire strings. The cross strings
are Zyex® MonoGut ZX Pro 1,22mm giving a soft feel and a lot of power for a monofilament. We
tested the Monogut ZX earlier and on top of a total different sound from polyesters, it had a lot
more power also.
Ashaway said these strings were designed to offer a new mix of power, spin and durability. Their
target was to hard hitters looking for a new string with better playing characteristics than polys and
less tension loss.
The Crossfire ZX 17 comes in Gold/Black mains and Natural crosses. The strings are available in
Hybrid Sets or 110 meter and 220 meter reels for each string.
Kevlar® is a registered trademark of E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Co.
Zyex® is a registered trademark of Zyex Ltd.
Visit www.ashawayusa.com for
more information.
In the Lab
The coils measured meters for the
Crossfire +Plus mains and meters
for the MonoGut ZX crosses. The
main strings measured 7.3 meters
and the crosses 6.9 meters. The
diameter for the mains measured an
average of 1.20 mm before stringing
and 1.18 mm after stringing. The av-
erage diameter for the crosses mea-
sured 1.29 mm before stringing and
1.27 mm after stringing. The strings
added 14 grams to the weight of the
unstrung racquet. The tension right
after stringing measured 39 DT on a
Beers ERT 300 and 38 DT after 24
hours with no playing, which is less
than 3% tension loss. The testers
received unmarked packages of
24

String Test

strings and tested the strings from 3-5 weeks. 25 stringers tested the string with playing levels
from intermediate to nationally ranked players. No one broke the strings playing as most cut their
strings out after 3 weeks and averaged 12.8 hours of play.
Stringing
We instructed the testers to string the same as polyesters with the tension after our experience
testing the MonoGut ZX last year. After the test, we would recommend 1 kilo less than with polys
to get the same DT. Most of the polys we have tested at 25 kilos had a DT of 34-37 and 39 with
the Crossfire ZX 17. This should give you the same Dynamic Tension plus very little tension loss.
No one complained of any problems stringing the Hybrid. The mains are soft and a few testers
had a little difficulty getting the string into the knot hole. The mains had almost no coil memory and
were easy to install. The crosses had a little coil memory but no one had problems installing a half
set of string. None of the testers complained of problems tying knots and one broke the strings
while stringing (Cinching the knot with a starting clamp). Most of the testers found the stringing dif-
ficulty about average.
Playtest
The testers found the string from the same as their string to better than their string in control, dura-
bility and spin potential. Playability, power, touch, comfort and string movement were rated a little
less to a little better to their normal string. The playability ratings were higher for the players using
polys as their regular string and lower for the testers using multifilaments.
Conclusion
All the testers found the string more playable and comfortable than normal polys. This is new
hybrid and can be popular with many players. Some of the testers found they had more spin with
their thin polys but not the comfort and power. Most of the testers said they would consider adding
this string to their sortiment for players looking for a durable hybrid that is not hard on the arm.

Comments
“Really soft feel even though it strung up tight. I thought it would be too tight for me”
Senior Tournament Player & Coach, Head Extreme, ProLIne 2 / VS Hybrid
“It did not hurt my arm even though the DT was higher than my string at the same tension.”
Men’s 35 Player, Babolat Aero Pro Drive
“I did not notice any difference with my string with spin and power, but did not loosen up much
after 10 hours of play.”
Coach, Head Radical, Alu Power / TGV
“I thought it was Kevlar in the mains and poly in the crosses, but it played much softer and with
more power.”
Senior Men’s 40 Player. Prince EXO3 Tour
 25

ERSA ATW

ERSA Latin America

The first workshop and certifica-
tion testing took place in Sao
Paolo, Brazil with Richard Par-
nell assisting the two ERSA Latin
America Managers Andrea Amarel
and Ricardo Dipold.

Eric Ferrazzi came over from

France to demonstrate his
E-RE-CA tennis string testing
device.

Kimoto Kazumi, the owner of

Kimony Stringing Tools came over
from Japan for the launch of ERSA
Latin America.
26

ERSA ATW

ERSA Latin America

The second workshop and certi-
fication testing took place in Sao
Paolo, Brazil 2 days after the first
one due to the large number of
registrations.

ERSA Latin America logo shirts

-right top.

Eric Ferrazzi demonstrating his

E-RE-CA tennis string testing de-
vice right center.

Kimoto Kazumi, the owner of Ki-

mony Stringing Tools, with Richard
Parnell below left.
 27

Marketing

Sell Yourself!!!
I hear all the time from our members that the large internet shops are killing their business. The
most important thing to learn is not to compete directly with these companies. They have
up to millions of Euros for advertising, sponsoring and websites per year in their budget.

It does no good to complain, so start looking at what you can sell to your customers.

Start off by identifying your strengths and weaknesses. Write them out in two lists. Next, identify
your biggest online competitors strengths and weaknesses. Most of the big online shops have
every model and every size and color of most products on hand. This is where small shops cannot
compete. Compare the lists and identify where your place in the market can fit in.

The next question you have to ask yourself is “Why should someone buy from me?” What can you
offer customers that make you unique in this industry or in your area? Which things can you offer
in your area that no one else can and customers cannot get online?

1. Stringing and Repair Services - This is the basis for most small to medium sized specialty
shops. You can quickly string and return rackets to your customers which the online shops cannot
do. We string in our shop between 2,000 and 2,500 rackets per year for local customers. We also
know that 50% are regular customers who string a lot and purchase reels from us and the other
50% are from intermediate players who string 1-2 times and year and are not interested in pur-
chasing reels from us. The second group is more profitable than the first as they purchase a single
set of string each time plus pay for the stringing.
You can also correctly put on basic grips and overgrips for your customers which many cannot do
so they do not purchase online.
We also change grommet sets for our customers when the grommets crack or bumperguards
where out. For customers who purschase rackets from us, we do this free of charge, which has
built up our racket sales over the last 15 years.
Racket Tuning - Contact local top players and inform them of your service and the advantages of
it. Offer free racket checks for multiple rackets. Have the top juniors and tournament players bring
in their rackets and check them for weight, balance and swingweight. They are usually way off and
you can sell them on racket tuning very easily. We have had four to eight rackets come in with a
range of 15 grams, 16 points swingweight and balance over 1 cm. different.

2. Consulting - As experts in the racket sports industry, we can offer better advice on strings,
grips, rackets and accessories than an online internet shop. We can look at the players on court,
talk to them and ask questions before offering advice. We have had hundreds of customers who
bought rackets online, with and without telephone consulting, them came to us with tennis arm or
their game had gone downhill drastically after buying a racket. We are in a tennis hall in a tennis
club and have courts and a ball machine and video available to analyze the players before giving
advice. This area takes time to build up as most of the growth comes from word of mouth. We
now have people coming in everyday who were recommended by one of our happy customers.
28

Marketing

3. Become Certified - The ERSA now offers courses and certification in tennis, badminton and
squash. If there is some badminton and squash being played in your area, getting the new Certi-
fied Stringer Badminton and Master of Racquet Sports (Tennis, Badminton & Squash) makes a lot
of sense. Maybe you will only get a few more string jobs a month in the other areas but your busi-
ness will be known for it’s expertise. Advertise your certification in any press releases, ads, busi-
ness cards and stationary you use.

4. Websites - This is a necessary tool today even if you cannot compete with the large online
retailers. You still have to have a web presence. How much you invest in this depends on what
you can get out of it. A lot of young customers use their smart phone or pad to shop. To make your
online shop compatable for Apple and Android systems, you will have to spend a larger sum of
money to make it work on these systems.

5. Promote Tennis in your Area - You can work together with tennis clubs, tennis coaches and
tennis academies promoting your shop. Offer polos or t-shirts to teams with your logo on them.
Buy windscreens with your shop info on them. Some clubs are happy to get them for free and oth-
ers want you to pay a small space rental fee per year per windscreen.
Offer your stringing services to local tournaments. We strung for five years at the Wolrd Team Cup
near our shop and have over 250 regular customers from outside of our city who drive in to get
stringing, test rackets, gripping and advice.

6. Choose the Right Products - This breaks down into 2 areas. The first is knowing your cus-
tomers and what they are interested in. What type of rackets, strings, shoes are sellable to them. If
you are in a nobel club with wealthy clients you need a different mix of products than someone in a
small town or in a public court facility.
Second, the area sales reps can help a lot either by sponsoring programs for you, such as team
clothing, balls, shoes, offering player contracts to top players in the area using your shop or help-
ing you find the right products and amounts to order. Find out which reps and companies are inter-
ested in helping you grow your business. You will find some that will not help out at all and some
will come by every month and see if they can help in some way.

7. Quality Employees - Make sure you have the right people working in your shop. Write out
a complete job description before you start looking for a new employee. Go over everything with
the person. After interviewing invite the top two or three back for another interview and discussion.
Also, appearance is very important. The employees should be dressed appropriately for the job. If
your shop is in a tennis club, everyone can wear the same tennis clothes with your logo on it.
Friendliness is all important. Coming from the USA, I was in shock going into retail stores. I got
the impression of unfriendliness, not caring, to the point of sales people not waiting on you. All the
employees should know every article in your shop that you sell and how to sell it. This takes time
and effort from the manager and owner. This is what will make or break your shop. We can only
sell our good service, expertise and friendliness when someone comes in. Make your employees
feel like partners in the business. Try setting goals for the season or year offering incentives if the
goals are reached. If it is not your employees business and they have no advantage of selling
more, most of the time they will not give their best effort.