201301 racquet sports industry

January 2013Volume 41 Number 1 $5.00www.racquetsportsindustry.com

CHAMPIONS OF TENNIS 2011

CHAMPIONS OF TENNIS 2012Our annual awardshonor those who continue to makethis sport a winnerSusan DiBiase • Life Time Fitness •John Gugel • Baseline SportsConstruction • Joe Habenschuss •Tennis Town • Nancy McGinley •Todd Dissly • Danice Brown •Southlake Tennis Center • RestonAssociation • Curt & Lynn Bender •Top-A-Court Tennis • Kiest Park •Tri-County CTA • Roy Barth •David Porter • Terry Valdez •USTA Northern California

Our annual awardshonor those who continue to makethis sport a winnerSusan DiBiase • Life Time Fitness •John Gugel • Baseline SportsConstruction • Joe Habenschuss •Tennis Town • Nancy McGinley •Todd Dissly • Danice Brown •Southlake Tennis Center • RestonAssociation • Curt & Lynn Bender •Top-A-Court Tennis • Kiest Park •Tri-County CTA • Roy Barth •David Porter • Terry Valdez •USTA Northern California

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DEPARTMENTS

R S I J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 3

INDUSTRY NEWS

7 Participation grows by 4% in 2012

7 2013 PTR Symposium slated for May

8 Nova Sports tailors surfacefor Fed, Davis Cups

8 Todd Martin acquires TGAyouth tennis franchise

8 Ashaway introducesMonoGut ZX Pro

9 ASBA elects new officersand directors

9 GSS Stringers Symposium‘sharpens skills’

9 Gamma offers new FTX string

11 Tecnifibre restructuresbusiness model

12 Two gain Certified Builder designation

13 2013 Cardio Tennis training schedule

14 Greg Mason named TIA president

4 Our Serve7 Industry News17 TIA News21 Apparel23 Retailing Tip

25 Social Media26 Facility Management40 Ask the Experts42 Tips and Techniques44 Your Serve, by Chris Nicholson

2 RACQUET SPORTS INDUSTRY January 2013 www.racquetsportsindustry.com

28 Person of the Year Susan DiBiase

30 Private Facility of the YearLife Time Fitness

30 Stringer of the YearJohn Gugel

31 Builder/Contractor of the Year Baseline Sports Construction

31 Sales Rep of the YearJoe Habenschuss

32 Pro/Specialty Retailer of the YearTennis Town

32 Tennis Advocate of the YearNancy McGinley

33 Junior Tennis Champion of the YearTodd Dissly

33 Grassroots Champion of the Year Danice Brown

34 Municipal Facility of the YearSouthlake Tennis Center

ContentsContents

34 Park & Rec Agency of the Year Reston Association

35 Wheelchair Tennis Champions of the YearCurt & Lynn Bender

35 10 & Under Tennis FacilityDeveloper of the YearTop-A-Court Tennis

36 Public Park of the Year Kiest Park

36 Community Tennis Associationof the YearTri-County CTA

37 PTR Member of the YearRoy Barth

37 USPTA Member of the YearDavid Porter

38 High School Coach of the YearTerry Valdez

38 USTA Section of the YearUSTA Northern California

Our annual awards honorthe people, businessesand organizations thatare making a differencein the tennis industry.

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Our Serve(Incorporating Racquet Tech and Tennis Industry)

PublishersDavid Bone Jeff Williams

Editorial DirectorPeter Francesconi

[email protected]

Associate EditorGreg Raven

Design/Art DirectorKristine Thom

Contributing EditorsRobin BatemanCynthia CantrellJoe DinofferKent OswaldBob Patterson

Cynthia ShermanMary Helen Sprecher

Tim Strawn

RACQUET SPORTS INDUSTRYCorporate Offices

PO Box 3392, Duluth, GA 30096Phone: 760-536-1177 Fax: 760-536-1171

Email: [email protected]: www.racquetTECH.com

Office Hours: Mon.-Fri.,8 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific Time

Advertising DirectorJohn Hanna

770-650-1102, [email protected]

Apparel AdvertisingCynthia Sherman203-263-5243

[email protected]

Racquet Sports Industry is published 10 times peryear: monthly January through August and combinedissues in September/October and November/December by Tennis Industry and USRSA, PO Box 3392,Duluth, GA 30096. Periodcal postage paid atDuluth, GA and at additional mailing offices (USPS#004-354). January 2013, Volume 41, Number 1 ©2013 by USRSA and Tennis Industry. All rightsreserved. Racquet Sports Industry, RSI and logo aretrademarks of USRSA. Printed in the U.S.A. Phoneadvertising: 770-650-1102 x 125. Phone circulationand editorial: 760-536-1177. Yearly subscriptions$25 in the U.S., $40 elsewhere. POSTMASTER: Sendaddress changes to Racquet Sports Industry, PO Box3392, Duluth, GA 3009.

RSI is the official magazine of the USRSA, TIA,and ASBA

www.racquetsportsindustry.com

Defying the Odds

4 RACQUET SPORTS INDUSTRY January 2013

This issue again highlights our annual “Champions ofTennis” award winners, honoring the often unsungheroes of the sport. These are incredible people

doing some incredible things in tennis. Yet in many ways,these are stories of what hundreds, even thousands of peo-ple do every day in this industry.

We started these awards in 2000, and it’s fair to say we’ve honored atleast a couple of hundred people over the years. The fact is, though, we’llnever get to all of those who deserve to be recognized for their great workin promoting and growing this sport—those who continue to defy theodds, defy the economy, defy the naysayers, by driving forward withtheir dreams and their passion.

As I write this, though—now that all the other pages of this issue arefinished, and I’m left trying to fill this final space—I can’t help but thinkof my parents, and especially my 96-year-old father, “Red.” He lived a lifedefying the odds. Yet through all of the hardships, the incredible changehe faced in the world, he always managed to push his dream forward. Forhim, it was the dream of family, of providing a stable life for us, of mak-ing our lives better than his.

My parents have had nothing to do with the tennis industry, exceptthat they did provide us with some old wood racquets when we weregrowing up, and encouraged us to go hit on the school courts up thestreet, probably to keep us from annoying them more than anything else.But they also encouraged us to play sports and be active, something mysisters and I continue to do in our lives. And they encouraged a sense ofresponsibility, respect, dedication and always putting forward your besteffort—again, lifelong lessons that their kids learned well.

Very shortly, probably by the time you read this, my father will havetaken his last breath in the house, and home, he and my mother builttogether 65 years ago. His story, like that of so many others, may seemordinary. But I assure you, he is a true champion, and the lessons he andmy mother taught us will always be with me.

We come across “champions” every day—we work with them, livewith them, play tennis with them, teach them and are taught by them.And while we may publish our “Champions of Tennis” only once a year,every time is the right time to recognize, appreciate and honor thesechampions in our lives.

Peter FrancesconiEditorial Director

INDUSTRY NEWSINDUSTRY NEWSI N F O R M A T I O N T O H E L P Y O U R U N Y O U R B U S I N E S S

New Date For 2013PTR Symposium In 2013, the Professional TennisRegistry will hold its annualInternational Tennis Symposiumfrom May 2 to 5 at the newlyrenovated Sonesta ResortHilton Head Island in SouthCarolina.

The Symposium attracts tennisteachers and coaches frommore than 50 countries. Manyof the industry’s notable speak-ers, including Dr. Jim Loehr, PatEtcheberry, Butch Staples, LeoAlonso, Lorenzo Beltrame,Oivind Sorvald, Doug Cash andDr. Mark Kovacs, will be amongthe more than 50 presenterswho will conduct classroomand on-court presentations.Subjects range from 10 andUnder Tennis to tennis businessto teaching tactics and tech-niques. There is also a specialhigh school coaches’ tracksponsored by the USTA that willbe held over the weekend toaccommodate scholastic schedules.

Teaching pros can show offtheir playing skills at the PTRInternational Championships,held in conjunction with theSymposium. The tournamentstarts April 30. The Symposiumalso offers a Tennis Trade Show.Professional DevelopmentCourses will be held May 1, 6and 7.

Visit ptrtennis.org for informa-tion or to register.

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Study: Participation Takes Upward Turn in 2012

Tennis participation in the U.S. grew 4% in 2012, topping 28 million players for the first timesince 2009, according to the annual survey by the USTA and TIA. It's the second highesttotal number of players recorded since the survey began in 1988.

Importantly, the number of “frequent” tennis players, those who play at least 21 times a year,grew from 4.8 million in 2011 to 5.3 million in 2012. “Frequent players represent more than 70percent of all consumer spending across the tennis industry,” said TIA President Jon Muir. “It'sheartening to see the total number of frequent players increase by 10 percent after all of our col-lective efforts the past few years to drive this most immediate and impactful consumer segment.”

The age demographic that saw the greatest percentage increase in 2012 was young playersaged 6 to 11, which increased 13% from 2011. "We are very gratified that our efforts geared toyoung players are paying off," said Jon Vegosen, USTA Chairman of the Board and President. Forthe past two years, the USTA has invested significantly in 10 and Under Tennis, along with long-term commitments from the tennis industry.

Several other key segments saw significant increases in 2012. The number of "rejoining" play-ers, those who left the game then came back, increased 6 percent over the previous year to 7.3million—the largest number in the last 10 years. Over the last six years, the number of rejoinershas increased by nearly 50 percent. "Continuing" players showed an 11 percent increase in 2012,to 14.7 million, halting two years of decline in this player segment.

“It’s encouraging that our collective efforts to drive awareness and advocacy for our sport arebeginning to show more positive signs to strengthen the position of the tennis industry overall,”said Muir.

The USTA/TIA tennis participation survey, conducted by Taylor Research and Consulting, is oneof the largest annual surveys in sports. It was conducted via telephone (both landline and cellphones) and includes observations from more than 7,500 individuals.

January 2013 RACQUET SPORTS INDUSTRY 7www.racquetsportsindustry.com

‘PHIT America’ Campaign to Launch in January

The new, year-round educational and advocacy campaign “PHIT America,” dedicated to creat-ing “a movement for a fit and healthy America,” will launch to consumers in mid-January.The PHIT America alliance focuses on prevention as a way to reduce health issues and costs,

and getting Americans active, fit and healthy.Jim Baugh, a founder and key organizer for PHIT America, says that as of early December,

there were 105 alliance sponsors, including the TIA, USTA and many tennis manufacturers. According to the website phitamerica.org, “Our country needs to

reduce health issues and costs before they happen. Prevention is agreat way to control these costs and also the U.S. budget deficit. Get-ting active, fit and healthy is a real solution. PHIT America will helpeducate you on the issues and promote sport and fitness activities inlocal communities and schools. We will also ask for your help to sup-port critical U.S. legislation that will create incentives for a more active,fit and healthy America.”

The heart of the PHIT America campaign is a social media strategy that involves raising aware-ness by pushing out “news flashes” to contacts regarding health issues. PHIT America is askingcompanies and individuals to get involved in one (or more) of three ways: donate, advocate, partic-ipate. Visit phitamerica.org for more information.

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Nova Sports Gives Home Court Advantage for Fed, Davis Cups

The 100th Davis Cup final in November marked a special occasion in tennis history as theCzech Republic defeated Spain, 3-2, to capture its first title as an independent nation. The

win came just two weeks after the Czech women defeated Serbia to claim the 2012 Fed CupChampionship. The same nation had not won both ITF championship matches since the U.S.defeated Australia and the U.S.S.R. in 1990.

But the matches marked an interesting situation for Nova Sports USA, based in Milford,MA, which manufactured the acrylic surface put down in Prague’s O2 Arena, where both theFed Cup and Davis Cup finals were held.

“A five-coat cushion system was installed on 3- by 3-foot panels with the color coating tobe applied at the venue once the panels were set into place,” says Nova’s Jake Righter. “As

the Fed Cup final approached, the CzechTennis Federation decided on a category 3color system (medium) looking to slow Ser-bian ‘power’ players such as Jelena Jankovicand Anna Ivanovic.”

Lucie Safarova and Petra Kvitova domi-nated on the court, defeating both Serbianplayers and helping the Czechs captureback-to-back Fed Cup titles. Shortly aftertheir victory, the Czech men were drawninto play against defending championSpain.

“As Spain’s David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal are almost unbeatable on clay, the Czech Fed-eration was looking to make their home court’s pace as fast as possible,” Righter says. “So,with just two weeks between finals, Nova Sports’ non-textured Novacoat system was installedonto the panels.” The Spanish had difficulty using their finesse to slow the game and theCzech men became the nation’s first Davis Cup champion.

For more information on surfacing, contact [email protected].

Vitalsox LaunchesTennis Line, SeeksSales Reps

Vitalsox, the Italian technicalsock manufacturer,

announced that it is launchinga tennis specialty line and ten-nis-only sales team.

The sales force, headed byindustry veteran Don Crusius,will be made up of independentmulti-line reps who will call onpro shops and tennis specialtystores with their made-for-ten-nis socks that feature the com-pany’s patented SilverDryStatfiber. For more information,contact Crusius at 214-460-7681 or [email protected].

Ashaway Introduces17-Gauge MonoGut ZX Pro

Ashaway Racket Strings hasintroduced MonoGut ZX Pro,

a companion string to its popu-lar Zyex monofilament tennisstring. The 17-gauge (1.22 mm)MonoGut ZX Pro is a thinner,lighter string, designed to pro-vide better elongation, snap-back and playability for playerswho do not require the addeddurability of its 16 gauge (1.27mm) counterpart, says Ashaway.

MonoGut ZX comes in red ora natural gut-like tan color and isavailable in 40-foot sets, and inboth 360- and 720-foot reels.Recommended stringing ten-sion is up to 60 pounds. Visitashawayusa.com.

Todd Martin Acquires TGA Youth Tennis Franchise

Former ATP World Tour pro Todd Martin has acquired a TGA Premier Youth Tennis fran-chise. TGA and Todd Martin Tennis will develop school-based tennis programs for

youngsters in the Jacksonville, FL area.TGA Premier Youth Tennis is a new initiative to grow the sport of tennis in partnership

with the USTA. The organizations have developed the infrastructure and specialized cur-riculum to bring the sport to the masses in schools nationwide. It is the only national after-school tennis program in the country.

"TGA really appealed to me because in order for tennis to be a viable competitor in U.S.sports, it needs to be in the schools with other sports," Martin says. "The comprehensivecurriculum, developed with the USTA, is also very exciting and proven to be effective."

TGA began awarding franchises for its new tennis business in partnership with theUSTA earlier in 2012. "The innovative TGA model stands to help 10 and Under Tennis

establish itself as the best pathway for children to get through theearly stages of tennis development," he adds.

"TGA has an outstanding national reputation for delivering tennisand enrichment to young children. The youth of Jacksonville arevery fortunate to have this after-school opportunity available tothem," said Scott Schultz, USTA's Managing Director, Youth Tennis.

Joshua Jacobs, founder and CEO of TGA Premier Youth Tennis,appreciates the prestige that Martin brings to the program. "To have someone of Todd'sstature and disposition within the tennis community recognize our unique school-basedmodel as a way to grow youth tennis is very gratifying for us," Jacobs says. For more infor-mation on TGA, visit www.playtga.com.


I N D U S T R Y N E W S

Gamma Offers New FTX String

Gamma Sports offers the new Gamma FTX, a performanceprocessed string for players wanting a balance of playability

and durability, says the company.FTX construction features a Dynalon monofilament inner

core surrounded by Nylon 6 outer wraps and Gamma’s newcross-woven Foil Wrap that increases resiliency and durabil-ity, the company says. Gamma processes FTX with itspatented Gamma Irradiation Process to increase the num-ber of intermolecular bonds in the materials, making FTX moreresilient than similar construction strings for faster string return on impact result-ing in more court-penetrating shots and faster serves.

Gamma FTX comes in black and silver, in 16 and 17 gauge. It’s available in 40-footsets ($6.25) and 660-foot reels ($103). Visit gammasports.com.

ASBA Elects New Officersand Directors

The American Sports Builders Associa-tion, the national organization for

builders and suppliers of materials forathletic facilities, has announced theelection and installation of its officersand directors for 2013. The new slatetook its place at the conclusion of theASBA's Technical Meeting, held inDecember in Florida.w Professional Division President: ChrisSullivan (Verde Design, Inc., SantaClara, CA)

w Track Division President: Don Smith,CTB (Don Smith, CTB, LLC, Denver,CO)

w Indoor Division President: RandyNiese (Robbins Sports Surfaces,Cincinnati, OH)

w Board of Directors members, BuilderDivision: Kristoff Eldridge, CTB (Cape& Island Tennis & Track, Pocasset,MA) and Linn Lower, CTCB (LowerBros. Co. Inc., Birmingham, AL)Officers continuing on the Board of

Directors will be Chairman Mark Bro-gan (Pro-Sport Construction Inc.,Devon, PA), Fields Division PresidentDan Wright, CFB (Sports Turf Company,Whitesburg, GA), Tennis Division Presi-dent Pete Smith, CTCB (CourtSMITHs,Inc., Toledo, OH), Supplier Division

President Robert Righter (NovaSports USA, Milford,MA), and Secretary-Treasurer Jim Catella,

CFB, CTB (Clark Companies,Delhi, NY). Randy Futty (SportCourt,

Charlottesville, VA) will be the Secre-tary-Treasurer-Elect.

Individuals continuing on the boardin their current director positionsinclude Ben Brooks (Patriot Court Sys-tems, Inc., Houston, TX), Mike Edger-ton, CTCB (Copeland Coatings, Nassau,NY), Bruce Haroldson (Connor SportsFlooring, Arlington Heights, IL), Ed Nor-ton, RLA, ASLA (Holcombe Norton Part-ners Inc., Birmingham, AL), Chris Rossi(Premier Concepts Inc., Baltimore, MD),and John Schedler, CTB, CFB (FieldTurfTarkett, Tualatin, OR).

ASBA will hold its next TechnicalMeeting Dec. 6-10, 2013, at the GrandHyatt in San Antonio, TX.

Annual GSS Stringers Symposium ‘Sharpens Skills’

The sixth annual GSS Symposium took place at the end of Septemberat Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa, FL, providing presentations and

hands-on workshops for racquet technicians. Plus, the courts at theresort came in handy for both fun and education.

"Everyone came to learn and sharpen their skills as racquet technicians,” saysTim Strawn, organizer and owner of the five-day event. “But they also want to playtennis, and being at Saddlebrook opened up several opportunities to use the courts."

An interactive on-court racquet customization class gave participants a chance tohit with several racquets of the same model, but all customized differently so theycould see the effect customizing has on a racquet. There was also a Q & A sessionon court with Craig Boynton, John Isner's current coach and Academy Director atSaddlebrook Resort.

Ron Rocchi, leader of the Wilson Tour ServicesStringing Team, brought back the popular protour simulation stringing room seminar. Partici-pants had their own Wilson Baiardo stringingmachine and Rocchi, who leads Wilson’s string-ing teams at the US Open and Australian Open,tested their skills to see if they had what it takesto service racquets at the very highest level of thegame.

Steve Crandall of Ashaway, the only companythat actually manufactures strings in the U.S., led a discussion on polyester strings."Having Steve there was quite a treat for us this year," says Strawn. "I have theutmost respect for his tremendous knowledge. He really opened up some eyes withhis presentation."

USRSA certification testing, with USRSA Executive Director Dave Bone, was alsooffered at this year's event and for the first time. Also, the ERSA Pro Tour Stringerexam was provided by MRT Richard Parnell of Spain.

Symposium sponsors were Adidas, Alpha, Ashaway, Babolat, Dunlop, Gamma,Prince, TIA, USRSA, Wilson, Yonex, Gosen and Xuron. Once again Adidas providedlogoed shirts. Babolat, Dunlop, Gamma, Prince, Wilson and Yonex participated in apromotion that saw everyone in attendance walk away with a triple racquet thermalbag, 12 sets of premium string, and one premium racquet. Plus, there was an addi-tional gift bag with items from a variety of sponsors. Alpha, Babolat, Gamma, Princeand Wilson provided stringing machines for the event.

For more information about the annual, international event, held the last week ofSeptember, visit gssalliance.com or contact Strawn at 540-632-1148.


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• Industry veteran Randy Futty has joined ConnorSport Court International as its new director of tennis.Futty, the former general manager of Har-Tru Sports,will be based in Crozet, VA. He also is the chairman ofthe USTA’s Technical Committee and the secretary-trea-surer of the American Sports Builders Association.

• Novak Djokovic, who plays with a YouTek IG SpeedMP, achieved year-end world No. 1 status in theSouth African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings forthe second year in a row.

• Roger Federer is the new brand ambassador for Moët &Chandon champagne and will be featured in an advertising campaign start-ing in March.

• PTR Director of Communications Peggy Edwards is the winner of theUSTA South Carolina Media Award, presented to those who make "an out-standing contribution to reporting or promoting tennis in South Carolina.”

• Bob and Mike Bryan have been named The Tennis News Persons of theYear in recognition of both their service to worthy tennis causes throughoutthe year and for their career-setting record of tennis performance, says DailyTennis News Publisher Bob Larson. They will receive the award at the IndianWells tournament in March by Steve Bellamy, founder of The Tennis Channeland the first winner of the award.

• Serena Williams has been named the WTA's Player of the Year after win-ning major titles at Wimbledon and the US Open, and claiming gold at theLondon Olympics. It is the fourth time Williams has won the award.

• Ivan Lendl recently was honored with the 2012 DavisCup Award of Excellence, presented by the Interna-tional Tennis Hall of Fame and the International TennisFederation.

• Prince Global Sports has renewed a partnership withSpanish player David Ferrer, who will continue to usePrince’s EXO3 Tour 100 racquet.

• Head Penn’s Paola Longoria, the world’s No. 1ranked female racquetball player, continued her domi-nance on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour(LPRT) in winning her third United Healthcare US OpenRacquetball Championship in October.

• Dunlop squash player Ramy Ashour won the Delaware Investments U.S.Open title in Philadelphia. He uses a Biomimetic Max squash racquet.

• Four Americans—Serena Williams, Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan and TaylorTownsend—have been named 2012 ITF World Champions. For Williams, it isthe third time she’s been named Women’s World Champion; the Bryans werenamed Men’s Doubles World Champions for the ninth time in 10 years; andTownsend is the first American girl since Gretchen Rush in 1982 to benamed Junior World Champion. Current world No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Ser-

bia was named the 2012 ITF Men’s World Champion.

• The Executive Committee of the International Tennis Hall of Fame hasvoted in November to indefinitely suspend South African tennis player BobHewitt from the Hall of Fame. Hewitt was inducted into the Hall of Fame in1992. The suspension follows a comprehensive investigation into multipleallegations concerning sexual misconduct involving minor students that hecoached.

• Adam Ford is the new head coach for the women’s tennis team at HopeCollege in Holland, Mich., succeeding Nate Price. Ford has served as thehead pro of the college’s DeWitt Tennis Center since 2010, is certified byboth the PTR and USPTA and is a USTA high performance coach.

• John Austin has joined Bolt racquets as its first Executive Board Member.He’ll also serve as the company’s professional-industry liaison, technicaladvisor/playtester and Bolt brand ambassador.

• Former top 12 player Patrick DuPré of Savannah, Ga., and USTA SouthernSection Executive Director John Callen of Johns Creek, Ga., have been select-ed for the USTA Southern Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony is scheduledfor Jan. 12.

• Robin Anderson of UCLA and Sebastian Fanselow of Pepperdine werenamed the 2012 USTA/ITA Sportsmanship Award winners in November.

• Peter Wright, head coach at the University of California, Berkeley is thewinner of the 2012 USTA/ITA National Campus & Community OutreachAward, while Johns Hopkins University head coach Chuck Willenborg is the2012 USTA/ITA National Campus QuickStart Provider of the Year.

• Hans Hach of Abilene Christian and Chloe Murphy from the State Collegeof Florida were named the 2012 James O'Hara Sargent SportsmanshipAward winners, presented by Rolex Watch, USA, at the USTA/ITA NationalSmall College Championships in October.

• Three players took titles at the 2012 USTA/ITA National Collegiate Wheel-chair Championships, held at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center in Mobile, AL,in October. Mackenzie Soldan of the University of Alabama took home theTier I singles title and Kate Stuteville of the University of Arizona won theTier II singles crown. Stuteville then teamed with Tier I singles runner-upPedro Rocha to claim the doubles title.

• Six-time Grand Slam champion Margaret Osborne DuPont died on Oct. 24in El Paso, Texas, at age 94. DuPont won the singles title at Wimbledon in1947, the U.S. National Championship (now the US Open) singles title from1948 to 1950 and the French singles title in 1946 and 1948. The tennis Hall-of-Famer also won 31 doubles and mixed doubles titles between 1941 and1962.

• International insurer Nationale Suisse and Roger Federer have extendedtheir six-year-long collaboration for a further four years.��

• Adrians Zguns of Orlando, FL, and Ristine Olson of Austin, TX, won theopen titles at the USPTA’s Hard Court Championships.

PEOPLEWATCH

January 2013 RACQUET SPORTS INDUSTRY 11



Tecnifibre Restructures Business Model for 2013

Tecnifibre is restructuring its business model for Tecnifibre USA for 2013, the companyannounced recently.Since 2003, Fromuth Tennis has been the U.S. importer of Tecnifibre products, but

beginning Jan. 1, 2013, both companies agreed to change the existing business relation-ship, says Tecnifibre President Thierry Maissant.

“Tecnifibre has been very appreciative of Fromuth Tennis as our partner in the U.S. forthe past nine years,” Maissant says. “While both parties agreed to discontinue our prioragreement, we look forward to having Fromuth Tennis as a distributor of Tecnifibre USA

with our new organization.”Maissant says Tecnifibre is “modifying” its current busi-

ness model. “Our ambition is to rapidly accelerate the progression of the brand in theU.S. market, so the next logical step for our development of Tecnifibre USA is to establisha wholly owned corporation that will distribute Tecnifibre products exclusively,” he adds.For inquiries, contact (888) 838-3664 or [email protected].

USRSA Names Strawn as New Certification Tester

Tim Strawn, a 22-year veteran of the racquet sports industry, has beennamed a Certification Tester for the U.S. Racquet Stringers Association.

Strawn started his career as a USPTA and PTR teaching pro, which led to theopening of his tennis business in Roanoke, Va.

From 2000 to 2010 he worked as a racquet technician at variousATP/WTA events including Wimbledon, the US Open, the Sony EricssonOpen in Key Biscayne, and the Memphis Regions Morgan Keegan. In 2002he introduced the website at www.grandslamstringers.com, which eventual-ly led to the development and introduction of the GSS Alliance website. He

is the owner and founder of the GSS Racquet Stringers Symposium.Strawn is a USRSA Master Racquet Technician and an original member of the Wilson

Tour Services stringing team. He was voted RSI’s Stringer of the Year in 2007.

Top-Selling Tennis Stringsat Specialty StoresBy year-to-date units, Jan.-Sept. 20121. Prince Synthetic Gut Duraflex2. Babolat RPM Blast3. Wilson NXT4. Wilson Sensation5. Luxilon Alu Power

Top-Selling Racquets at Specialty StoresBy year-to-date dollars, Jan.-Sept. 2012Best Sellers1. Babolat Aero Pro Drive GT (MP)2. Babolat Pure Drive GT 2012 (MP)3. Wilson BLX Juice (MP)4. Babolat Pure Drive GT (MP)5. Babolat Pure Drive Lite 2012 (MP)

“Hot New Racquets” (introduced in the past 12 months)1. Babolat Pure Drive GT 2012 (MP)2. Wilson BLX Juice (MP)3. Babolat Pure Drive Lite 2012 (MP)4. Babolat Pure Drive 107 2012 (OS)5. Wilson BLX Juice (OS)

Tennis Racquet PerformanceSpecialty StoresJanuary - September, 2012 vs. 2011UNITS 2012 574,650 2011 558,662 % change vs. ‘11 3%DOLLARS 2012 80,221,000 2011 79,563,000 % change vs. ’11 1%PRICE 2012 $139.60 2011 $142.42 % change vs. ’11 -2%

Top-Selling Tennis Shoes at Specialty StoresBy year-to-date dollars, Jan.-Sept. 20121. Prince T222. Adidas AdiPower Barricade 73. Asics Gel Resolution 44. Babolat Propulse 35. Nike Zoom Breathe 2K11

(Source: TIA/Sports Marketing Surveys)

FLY Headties Offer Stylish Headband Alternative

Tired of selling the same old bandanas and headbands? Try FLY Headties, a functional,stylish and customizable accessory designed to wick away moisture with its 92%

poly/8% spandex fabric blend. “Flyties” were developed by two recreational players in Denver, Barbara Askenazi and

Vikki Goldberg, and manufactured locally. They come in four colors—black, white, blue and red—and can easily be customized withembroidered club logos, team names or other messages. Eachdry-wicking, unisex tie is 36 inches long and 3 inches wide andfits anyone.

For more information, visit flyheadties.com or contact 303-875-7735 or [email protected].

Farmers Classic Tourney at UCLA Is No More

The Farmers Classic men's tennis tournament at UCLA, a part of the Emirates AirlineUS Open Series, is gone. The ATP sanction for the event, whose roots go back to 1927,

has been sold to a group in Bogota, Colombia. The Southern California Tennis Associa-tion announced the decision Nov. 20 after extensive attempts to find new sponsors.

The tournament, which began at the Los Angeles Tennis Club, struggled economicallyin recent years as sponsors came and went, and as the U.S. struggled to find men tennisstars, according to tournament director Bob Kramer. Most recently, its two principalsponsors, Farmers Insurance and Mercedes-Benz, both failed to renew their sponsor-ships. Former champions of the event included Rod Laver, Arthur Ashe, Pancho Gonza-les, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. American SamQuerrey has won three of the past four tournaments.

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> Chris Evert, Lindsay Davenport and JustinGimelstob will guest star as themselves on anepisode of the CBS drama “CSI: Crime SceneInvestigation” in January. The episode, about thedeath of a professional female tennis player,also stars actress Elizabeth Shue, who herself isan avid tennis player.

> The ATP and Head Penn announced a five-year extension of their partnership. Under theagreement, Head Penn will continue to be theofficial tennis ball of the ATP World Tour, as wellas the official ball of the Barclays ATP World TourFinals, through 2017. The agreement marks anextension to a partnership that started in 1994.

> The USTA donated goods and money to Hur-ricane Sandy relief efforts totaling more than$400,000. Clothing, bottled water and otherbeverages, and needed supplies such as sham-poos and soap, were collected from the USTABillie Jean King National Tennis Center and theUSTA’s White Plains corporate headquarters andloaded on 16 pallets for delivery to the hardesthit areas in Queens, NY.

> The U.S. Davis Cup team will meet Brazil inthe World Group First Round on Feb. 1-3 at theJacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena in Jack-sonville, FL.

> Prince Global Sports has signed a multi-yeardeal to become the official racquet of the Pow-erShares Series. Formerly known as the Champi-ons Series, the PowerShares Series will visit 12U.S. cities during its seven-week 2012 season.

> Adidas recently honored its top sales reps.Bethany Atkinson, who covers Georgia, NorthCarolina and South Carolina, was named 2012Tennis Specialty Rep of the Year. She alsoreceived the All In Adizero Award. The GoldenBarricade Award was presented to Paul Shlien

SHORT SETS(New England) and Todd Granius (California, Ari-zona, Nevada). In addition, Bradley Glen hasbeen promoted to tennis specialty sales manager.

> Nick Matthew has been named the squashtouring professional and ambassador for SeaIsland resort on the coast of Georgia. The resortwill host its inaugural Sea Island Fantasy SquashCamp, currently scheduled for March 28-31.

> More than 100 high school student-athletesfrom across USTA Eastern showed off their talentand learned about a wide range of opportunitiesto play collegiate tennis on November 11 at USTAEastern’s 26th Annual College Showcase Day. Theevent, which was held at Saw Mill Club in MountKisco, NY, featured more than 60 college tenniscoaches.

> Asics America Group announced that first half2012 net income was up 17.9 percent over thesame half in 2011. The first half saw double-digitgrowth in all categories, which includes footwear,apparel and accessories, said the company.

> ATP player and Connecticut resident JamesBlake helped raise money to benefit those affect-ed by Hurricane Sandy by auctioning off three ofhis match jerseys featuring his autograph alongwith those of top American tennis stars AndyRoddick, Mardy Fish and Sam Querrey. All pro-ceeds went to the Red Cross.

> Tennis Australia has a new partnership to pro-mote tennis with the Australian Minister for Mul-ticultural Affairs and Sport. Minister Kate Lundy islaunching a five-year, $250,000 pilot programfunded jointly by the government and Tennis Aus-tralia that will begin on Australia Day (Jan. 26),which falls during the 2013 Australian Open. Theprogram has the theme, “Do Something Aus-tralian on Australia Day—Play Tennis.”

ASBA Announces New Certified Tennis Court Builders

The American Sports Builders Association has recognized two builders as Certified Tennis Court Builders: Todd Rudolph of Sun-land Sports of Phoenix, and George Stahlin of Evergreen Tennis Courts Inc. of Loveland, CO. There are more than 60 CTCBs

in the U.S.The ASBA’s certification program was developed to help raise professional standards and improve the practice of sports facility

construction. Certification is offered in three different disciplines; an individual may choose to pursue the Certified Tennis CourtBuilder (CTCB) designation, Certified Track Builder (CTB), or Certified Field Builder (CFB) designation.

To become a certified builder, an individual must meet specific criteria set forth by ASBA; he or she must complete an appli-cation that shows proof of a set amount of experience in the chosen type of sports facility, and then pass a comprehensive examon construction and maintenance. In order to maintain the designation, an individual must recertify every three years. A full listof currently certified builders is at the ASBA website, www.sportsbuilders.org.

> French sportswear company Lacoste hasbeen purchased by Swiss firm Maus Frères. Themove comes following a family feud that willend an 80-year French history of the brand,according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.Lacoste family shareholders agreed recently tosell their 30.3 percent stake in the firm toMaus, which already owned 35 percent of theapparel company through its licensing busi-ness.

> Björn Borg AB, based in Stockholm, Swe-den, reported sales increased 4 percent in thethird quarter ended Sept 30. Excluding curren-cy effects, sales increased by 2 percent.

> The 20th anniversary edition of Mylan WTTSmash Hits raised a record $1 million for theElton John AIDS Foundation, with a portion ofthose proceeds benefitting the Pittsburgh AIDSTask Force. The event is hosted annually by SirElton John and Billie Jean King.

> Maui Jim again provided eyewear for useby line judges at November’s Valencia 500Open 2012 tennis tournament in Spain.

> Under Armour will open a new specialtyretail store in a prominent Baltimore, MD loca-tion. The Under Armour Specialty Store at Har-bor East is expected to open in February andwill occupy about 8,000 total square feet.

> SRO Sports has released two WimbledonDVDs—“2012 Wimbledon: The Men's andWomen's Finals” and “2012 Wimbledon Offi-cial Film”—and a US Open DVD—“2012 USOpen Men's Final: Murray vs. Djokovic.” Eachcosts $24.99. Visit kultur.com.

> A new $500,000 WTA International Seriestournament will take place in the southern Chi-nese city of Shenzhen in January 2013.



Congratulations To the Following For Achieving MRT Status

New MRTsNaoufal Houmairy Westwood, MAPaul Boslet Akron, OHDanny Tran Houston, TXJohn Woo Ra Colorado Springs, COJason Wood San Diego, CAMichael Lau Scarborough, ON CANADA

New CSsJVyron (Byron) Sacharidis Washington, DCWill Carter Lewisham , NSW AUSTRALIA

PTR to Host New 10 & UnderTennis Conference in Feb.

The Professional Tennis Registry will hold itsinaugural 10 & Under Tennis Conference

Feb. 15-17 on Hilton Head Island, SC. Theevent will provide skills and knowledge fortennis professionals and coaches who workwith children, as well as offer strategies toincrease lesson income and overall business.

Participants will learn from and interactwith experts in the field, including Mike Bar-rell, Simon Gale, Rita Gladstone, LaramieGavin, Anne Pankhurst and Butch Staples. Inaddition to teaching the physical skills, emo-tional and psychological issues pertaining toyoung children will be addressed. Workingwith parents, programming, competition andincreasing bottom-line income opportunitiesare among the topics that will be covered.The conference will also feature vendor displays.

“PTR has been at the forefront of the 10and Under Tennis movement,” said Dan San-torum, CEO of PTR. “We put a tremendousamount of resources into the development ofour Junior Development pathways to certifi-cation, and PTR is uniquely qualified to offeran event that focuses on working with chil-dren 10 and under.” To register, call 843-785-7244.

PTR Holds Inaugural Directors of Tennis Conference

Professional Tennis Registry hosted its inaugural Directors of Tennis Confer-ence in October on Hilton Head Island, SC. The three-day event brought

together 50 attendees and 14 presenters and addressed the needs of tennisdirectors, including such topics as pricing, budgeting, hiring and compensa-tion, software solutions, programming and management. Participantsenjoyed morning Cardio Tennis and the new Cardio TRX workouts.

Yonkers Kids Play 10U in Madison Square Garden

The Yonkers Tennis Center outside of New York City showcased its 10 andUnder Tennis program in Madison Square Garden during the Nov. 5 Pow-

erShares Series event, which featured Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, PatrickRafter and Peter Sampras. Fifteen YTC players and their coaches put on a 45-minute on-court demonstration while fans poured into the arena and cheeredthem on.

2013 Cardio Tennis Training Schedule

TIA Cardio Tennis Manager Michele Krause has announced a robust schedulefor Cardio Tennis and TRX Cardio Tennis Training Courses. The following are

confirmed training courses (more are in the process of being firmed up for2013). Most courses are offered from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit cardiotennis.com/courses for more information and for the most updated schedule.

w Jan. 9, Intensity Club, Norwalk, CTw Jan. 12, The Club at Carlton Woods, Houston, TX

w Jan. 25, Dorado Beach Resort, San Juan, PRw Jan. 26, Dorado Beach Resort, San Juan, PR(TRX Cardio Tennis)

w Jan. 27, Life Time Fitness–Fridley, Fridley, MN

w Feb. 18, Brookhaven Country Club, Dallas, TX

w Feb. 24, Wyndike CC, Memphis, TNw April 13, Orlando Tennis Center, Orlando, FL

w April 18, Wee Burn CC, Darien, CTw May 11, Forest Crest Athletic Club, Mill Creek WA

w May 17, Valley CC, Aurora, COw June 15, Tennis Center at College Park, College Park, MD

w June 16, Tennis Center at College Park, College Park, MD (TRX Cardio Tennis)

w Sept. 29, Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress,Orlando, FL

w Sept. 30, Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress,Orlando, FL (TRX Cardio Tennis)


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TIA Board Set for 2013-2014

Greg Mason, the vice president of sales and mar-keting for Head Penn, will be the president of the

TIA for 2013-2014. He succeeds Wilson RacquetSports’ Jon Muir, who was pres-ident for the last four years.

“I’m excited to assume thisrole and continue to build onthe momentum this industryand the TIA has built over thepast few years," says Mason."Our focus will remain on grow-ing the base of frequent playersand improving the economic

vitality of this industry.”Mason has spent over 25 years in the sporting

goods industry in a variety of senior managementroles, including the last 12 years at Head Penn Rac-quet Sports, where he is responsible for all marketingand promotions for the Head and Penn brands in theU.S. and directs the U.S. sales force and sales man-agement team. His prior experience includes man-agement roles in the outdoor industry while a vicepresident at Eastpak backpacks. He has also heldsales management roles at both Reebok USA andPuma North America.

“We've had a great TIA President in Jon Muir overthe past four years," says TIA Executive DirectorJolyn de Boer, "and I'm looking forward to workingalongside Greg as we continue to focus our efforts asthe trade association for the sport to grow the eco-nomic vitality of the industry and the game of tennis.”

In addition to Mason, the following have beennamed to the 2013-2014 TIA Board of Directors:David Malinowski - AdidasFred Stringfellow - ASBALinda Clark - ATP World TourEric Babolat - BabolatKai Nitsche - DunlopMeredith Poppler - IHRSAKevin Callanan - IMGDave Miley - ITFMark Stenning - Int'l. Tennis Hall of FameChris Circo - Prince AmericasDan Santorum - PTRTom Cove - SFIA (formerly SGMA)David Egdes - Tennis ChannelJeff Williams - Tennis MagazineJohn Embree - USPTADave Bone - USRSAKurt Kamperman - USTAJon Muir - Wilson Sporting GoodsIlana Kloss - World TeamTennisStacey Allaster - WTA Tour

TIA Launches New and Improved Website

TennisIndustry.org, the central information source for the ten-nis trade, has recently been redeveloped and relaunched by

the Tennis Industry Association. The new website not only focus-es on providing specified content for the various segments of theindustry, but it also consolidates much of the information thatpreviously resided on ancillary sites hosted by the TIA—makingTennisIndustry.org a true "one-stop shop" for industry informa-tion.

In addition to a complete overhaul in website design, func-tionality, and user interface, the TIA also has integrated logins forboth TIA members and for the GrowingTennis System directlyinto the new TennisIndustry.org.

“By integrating logins into one central location, we've elimi-nated the need to go to multiple sites and reduced the amountof clicks it takes to update tennis provider information in theindustry's largest database of facilities, retailers, courts, and pro-grams,” says the TIA's IT Manager, Matt Allen.

“Streamlining the process of obtaining and updating informa-tion played an important role in this redesign,” says TIA Execu-tive Director Jolyn de Boer. “We focused on how to make it moreintuitive for tennis providers to find the information, resources,and research pertinent to their segment of the industry.”

For instance, facility owners/managers/directors, retailers,manufacturers, and media can visit TennisIndustry.org and clickon the appropriate link to get instant access to resources, tools,services, member benefits, and research available to help theirbusinesses.

The new site also makes it easier for visitors to keep currenton the latest developments in the industry, get involved with ini-tiatives, and stay up-to-date on some of the key research trendsthe TIA monitors on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basisthrough the “Industry Dashboard.” In addition to the Dashboard,there are a variety of top-line research reports available for freedownload in the research section.

“The TIA continues to work to grow the game and the eco-nomic vitality of the tennis industry, and the new TennisIndus-try.org furthers that mission by ensuring important andpertinent information is easily accessible to help tennis busi-nesses grow,” de Boer adds. Visit TennisIndustry.org to see thenew website. For comments and feedback, email the TIA [email protected].

Babolat Launches New Aeropro Frame, Propulse 4 Shoes

Ten years ago Babolat launched the Aeropro Drive racquet and now introduces the fifthgeneration of the frame. The latest Aeropro Drive uses Coretex Active Technology,

which Babolat says give players more feel.The racquet also features “Aero Modular Technology,” which the company says is an

aerodynamic shape and modular frame to help the racquet move through the air;“Woofer,” a system that allows the frame and strings to interact for better feel and accu-racy; and “GT Technology,” a graphite and tungsten composition that reduces torque onimpact, according to Babolat.

Each racquet in the line is 100 square inches and includes:w Aeropro Drive/Aeropro Drive + (suggested retail $199), designed for baseliners look-ing for power and spin.

w Aeropro Team ($195) for baseliners who like power and want more maneuverability.w Aeropro Lite ($189), for women and high-leveljuniors looking for a lightweight racquet withspin. The new Propulse 4 All Court shoe was devel-

oped in collaboration with Andy Roddick and fea-tures “Side 2 Side,” to improve lateral movements.It also has a new Michelin OCS2 outsole for allcourt surfaces and abrasion resistance. The newLateral Stability System (LSS) combines supportand stability, says Babolat. Available in men’s andwomen’s (suggested retail $119) and junior ($64)versions.

January 2013 RACQUET SPORTS INDUSTRY 15



ITF, StarGames Announce‘World Tennis Day’

The International Tennis Federationhas entered into an agreement with

StarGames to launch World Tennis Dayto help promote tennis participationaround the world. The inaugural WorldTennis Day will be on Monday, March 4,as part of the ITF's Centenary activities.

World Tennis Day will be centeredaround a series of high profile exhibi-tion events around the world, includingthe BNP Paribas Showdown in NewYork’s Madison Square Garden. Each ofthe events, organized by the promoterStarGames, will feature current and for-mer professionals together withdemonstrations of the ITF’s Tennis10sprogram (called “10 and Under Tennis”in the U.S.) aimed at increasing partici-pation among young players around theworld.

“We look forward to World TennisDay as a way to put a spotlight on ten-nis participation,” says ITF PresidentFrancesco Ricci Bitti. “The very success-ful Tennis Night in America, staged bythe USTA in association withStarGames, is an example of how spe-cial events and participation activitiescan be combined successfully.” The ITFwill be encouraging its 210 nationalassociations to support World TennisDay with their own grassroots and clubactivities to attract new participants.

The USTA has already establishedTennis Night in America in conjunctionwith the BNP Paribas Showdown inwhich clubs are asked to open theirdoors as part of a month-long drive toget children playing the sport. Over2,200 clubs in the U.S. took part in2012. “To be able to expand this toWorld Tennis Day in partnership withthe ITF and its 210 member nations is aunique opportunity,” says JerrySolomon, president and CEO ofStarGames.

Several other National Associationshave already pledged their support tojoin the USTA in World Tennis Day activ-ities in 2013, including Davis Cup final-ists Czech Republic and Spain, plusArgentina, Brazil, Hong Kong, India,Mexico, Norway, Portugal and SouthAfrica.

• MAKING TENNIS MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Until December 31, 2013, kids 10 and under, new to the United States Tennis Association, can receive a FREE 1-Year Junior Membership- a $20 value!

NOW IT'S EASIER THAN EVER FOR KIDS IN YOUR ORGANIZATION TO GET IN THE GAME. Tennis has new rules. Kid-sized racquets. Slower, lower-bouncing balls. No courts necessary. Kids can play tennis anywhere, anytime, at any level.

And now, for a limited-time, kids can join the USTA for FREE!

USTA Junior Membership Benefits Include: • An annual subscription to Bounce* newsletter • Access to play USTA Jr. Team Tenn is·* * • Access to play USTA Junior Tournaments¥·*

JOIN NOW Go to www.tryusta.com/juniorfree

Or call1-800-990-8782 and mention source code FYFRSI13

Offer Expires: December 31,2013

FOR NEW tOANO UNDER MEMBERS ONLY. No pur~ necessary. Ofte<openonly to U.S. r9Sldentsandappliesonly to new 10 lind Under 1-'lear .AJnlof ~(regular pnce: S201. 1ndMciJal must be aged 10or tndef • t time ol en<oftment to~- Ottw quoltications apply. Terms ol11\1!11'lbershop om benef~s subJect to dlaf'9" on th8 UST/>:5 sole dlsc!etion. USTA Merrtlershp is Mt translo!rlli.lle. orr... eocpores 11:59 p.m. ET on 12/Jt/13. Visit www.usta.~rshlp or cal 1-aoo-ooos782 for C<Jrf1Jiate terms ard condi00<1S and enrollment JlSIIUC00<1s. lf'ldlllll1wls (and tt-p!lrentls~ ~JWdwmls» mJSt agree to """"e to the Coost~ution, Bylow& and fUes erd Rego.jatims of the USTA (awilalle on www.usta.oornl. 0 2012 Uniled States Ternis Association in::JJt!:aated. AI rig>ts resenll!d.

' For AUul~ Family, Seniot, l.Ae. lind Orgerizeoon Merrtle<shps, $10 of l'lU< IMJIII membefshop d- os llllocaled to e 1;eb< &ub.lo~ to TENNIS tnllgf!>line and Temi.s tlh:lO cigotal magazlt'lll. For Junior Molmbershipe. $10olyour amual me~<bls Is alloanedtoe ..,_-..acripoontoent-.r Bour>c:8a ta'l181ed newskmor forbds 10 or .....:19< or Tsnnrs !~dlgotol ~.The amount aliocmedanrutlyos noo:dedllcttllefrom l'nlll'liJef!hip ~-Terms ol n'll!n"berslrrp ard benef~s sub,ect to d1aroge on the UST.t>:s sole discretioo. USTA Mentler"'-> is no\ translo!rallle. Please oantact merrborservices0us1a.com wrlh [JJeStlOOS. Visit USUI.oonVIeuns lor l:efms and oondii>Ons.

••fees rrvff opplv lor \Qurnamenc om league ll"fttCiP!It~<n

Over the last 12 months, the TIA has made meaningful strides in aligning our key initiatives, creating a stronger

toolbox of resources, and strengthening several areas

in order to provide sustainable growth platforms for our

industry and to further unite all of us under one brand-

Year in Review

TENNIS. Meanwhile, we have seen important increases in

participation, and positive signs in tennis equipment shipments/sales, facility programming and on-court revenues-

y et we realize we still have many challenges in this industry, and we continue to work toward building long-term growth for all industry stakeholders.

JANUARY

Free Retail Business Assessments are offered to specialty tennis retai lers through the TIA's retail consulting partner, Gluskin-Townley Group.

TIA's 2012 Webinar learning series kicks off with "Annual Business Planning."

CardioTennis.com was redesigned and re-launched, giving providers and players access to new technology tools to fill Cardio Tennis classes and sign up easily.

TRX and Cardio Tennis begin a pilot partnership program to incorporate the TAX Suspension Training System into Cardio Tennis classes.

TIA launches a playtennis. com "partners" website for the download of free marketing material and collateral to support the industry-w ide init iative.

The 2011 tennis participation study is released, showing a total number of 27.8 million tennis players. -- ~ .-. - · ·

Tennis Australia announces at the Australian Open that t he TIA/USTA- developed Cardio Tennis program will be a key component of the country's efforts to increase participation, showcasing the program on Margaret Court Arena.

Year-end shipment data shows that shipments of red, orange, and green tennis balls in 2011 were up 53% versus 2010.

Year-end numbers show t hat t he TIA's job board, Careers In Tennis, received more than 30,000 job views in 2011 .

lim Heckler, longtime CEO of US PTA, announces his retirement at the end of 2012.

FEBRUARY

TIA travels to Orlando, FL. to exhibit at the 2012 PTR International Tennis Symposium where the new playtennis.com kiosk is unveiled, allowing tennis pros and coaches to immediately post t heir information on the site.

Cardio Tennis Interactive- a new program to help Cardio Tennis participants track their fitness and participate in health challenges-is announced for a spring 2012 launch.

TIA travels to New Orleans, LA, to present at the 2012 CMAA World Conference.

Michele Krause, Cardio Tennis Manager, receives the 2012 PTR/TIA Commitment to the Industry Award.

TIA holds its "Grow Globally Webinar," w ith esteemed author and international business consultant Mona Pearl.

TRX Cardio Tennis is a part of morning workouts at the 2012 PTR International Tennis Symposium.

TIA introduces GrowTennis.com to growtennis., ·nm handle t he sign-up process for teaching professionals to get listed on playtennis.com.

TIA announces a new Authorized Provider program for Cardio Tennis, ensuring consistency and quality delivery of the program at tennis sites across the country.

MARCH

TIA travels to NYC for the BNP Pari bas Showdown and Tennis Night in America event, and for meetings to discuss the playtennis.com launch, industry efforts at retail, and plans for a national retail promot ion.

TIA attends the SGMA's National Health Through Fitness Day in Washington, D.C., to lobby Co ngress to support physical activity legislation.

TIA travels to the USTA Annual Meeting in Carlsbad, CA.

TIA holds its semiannual board meeting at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, CA.

TRX Cardio Tennis begins its rollout w ith the release of its 2012 training course schedule.

Playtennis.com is soft-launched to consumers for beta testing.

TIA holds the retail-centric webinar "Men vs. Women: Different Shopping Habits."

Join the TIA ..• Increase Your Profits .•. Grow t he Game . .• www.Tennislndustry.org Janu<Jry 2013 RACQUET SPORTS INDUSTRY 17

APRIL

The 2012 Physical Activity Council releases its annual Sports, Fitness and Recreation Participation Report, show ing tennis as the fastest growing traditional sport, up 37% since 2000.

0 1 TIA Census data shows positive growth in racquet, ball, and t ransition ball shi pments.

TIA announces that it w ill hold its f i rst Tennis Show in NYC just before the start of the US Open (the 2011 Tennis Show was canceled due to Hurricane Irene).

Cardia Tennis is featured as a morning workout opportunity at the American Association of Neurologists Conference in New Orleans, LA.

The 2011 TIA Tennis Consumer reports are released, highlighting frequent player buying habits, brand preferences, and other key tennis consumer trends.

Former TIA President J im Baugh is honored by RSI M agazine as a HPioneer in Tennis."

The first TAX Cardio Tennis pilot training courses are held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY.

01 2012 T IA research indicates that racquet sales in the tennis specialty market were up 14% over 2011.

A new "Industry Dashboard" is developed and placed on the TIA's homepage (Tennislndustry.org) to provide visitors with quick access to key top-line industry performance indicators.

TIA research shows that Cardio Tennis participation is up 56% since 2008, to 1.3 million.

r TIA releases its annual State of the Industry report, which shows the value of the U.S. tennis industry to be $5.4 billion and highlights key figures from the TIA's more than 70 annual research reports.

The US Open National Playoffs begin and are presented by playtennis.com, a website initially developed by t he TIA in 2009.

A retail webinar, uusing Direct Response Marketing," is held by the TIA.

An updated version of t he NParent's Guide to 10 and Under Tennis" is published and available for tennis retailers through free 10 and Under Tennis Retail Kits from the TIA.

JUNE

TIA begins plans to launch a National Youth Tennis Retail Initiative at retail chain stores that educates consumers on t he new equipment developments in youth tennis.

A new website for providers to easily access youth tennis marketing collateral and resources from the TIA is added to Tennislndustry.org/Partners.

KeepTennisReal.com is re-launched to create awareness about counterfeit tennis racquets and provide a platform for retailers to sign up as " Verified Dealers."

PEP Funding, a part of t he National Health Through Fitness Day Platform, passes the Senate Appropriations Committee.

r Mid-year wholesale shipment data from the TIA shows positive dollar growth in the tennis ball and racquet categories, both up 7% versus mid-year 2011.

~ Cardia Tennis Interactive, a new web-based health t racking system to complement Cardia Tennis programming, is launched by the TIA in partnership with Total Health Interactive.

Cardia Tennis is featured as part of early morning workouts at the annual meeting of the American

• College of Sports Medicine in San Francisco, CA.

JULY

TIA releases an update to its "Strategic Overview," highlighting the association's four key strategic platforms: frequent player growth, industry research, advocacy and awareness for the sport, and uniting t he industry under one brand - TENNIS.

Playtennis.com, the new consumer portal for all things tennis, officially launches to the public.

TIA's 2012 Cost of Doing Business Facilities Report is released; highlights include that introductory programs for beginners have a 64% retention rate.

The GrowingTennis System, managed by the TIA. is revamped and re-released to make the data input process for tennis providers easier and more intuitive to get listed on the all-new playtennis.com website. A new partners' page to download playtennis.com marketing collateral is also set up at Tennislndustry.org/playtennis.

IMG Tennis Academy in Bradenton, FL, hosts Cardia Tennis and TAX Cardia Tennis Training workshops, where legendary coach Nick Bollettieri spoke to those in attendance.

TIA data shows there are over 2,700 Tennis Welcome Centers; 1,800 Cardia Tennis sites, and more than 300,000 registered tennis players in TIA databases.

Former WTA players Gigi Fernandez, Lesl ie Allen, Kyle Copeland Muse, and Roberta McCallum Russo participate in Cardia Tennis Training courses.

The TIA develops the website and coordinates with tennis manufacturers to deliver the USTA External Discount Tennis Equipment Program for USTA Organization members that are a schooVcollege, parks and rec, CTA, NJTL, or Community Service Organization.

TIA holds its first Tennis Show at the Grand Hyatt in NYC with nearly 40 exhibitors and over 400 attendees and gives away more than $20,000 worth of prizes.

The 5th Annual TIA Tennis Forum is held at New York City's Grand Hyatt.

Coaching legend Nick Bollettieri becomes the fifth inductee into the Tennis Industry Hall of Fame in a ceremony held during the TIA Tennis Forum.

TIA holds its annual board meeting on opening day of play at the US Open, outlining industry plans for future growth and sustainability.

TIA President Jon Muir announces that the TIA is working with the USPTA and PTR to form a Task Force to assess how to develop a more aligned pathway to strengthen the position, economic growth, and industry impact overall for coaches and tennis professionals.

TIA coordinates meetings with tennis industry manufacturers and t he ITF to discuss developments impacting their businesses with respect to ITF rule changes.

A meeting is held with tennis retailers to discuss development of the TIA Retail Division.

SEPTEMBER

Final plans for the National Youth Tennis Retail Initiative are made, w1th more than 1 million youth tennis equipment racquet hangcards set to hit retail channels later in the year.

TIA representatives travel to Monterey, CA. for the annual USPTA World Conference, where the playtennis.com kiosk is on display to register teaching pros for the playtennis.com website.

Former TIA Board Member John Embree is named new CEO/Executive Director of the USPTA.

TIA develops and distributes a new Youth Tennis Resources flier for retailers and other t ennis providers to quickly review the tools and resources available from the TIA.

The 10 and Under Tennis dashboard, provided by the USTA, is added to the TIA's tennis industry dashboard that is accessible at Tennislndustry.org.

Morning Cardia Tennis workouts are featured daily at the USPTA World Conference in Monterey, CA.

A new website, YouthTennis.com, is launched by the USTA, w ith support and messaging delivered to providers by the TIA, to drive tennis participation in youth programs across the country.

OCTOBER

TIA holds its first Tennis Faci lity Owners and Managers Workshop at the Sonesta Resort on Hilton Head Island, SC.

TIA presents a State of t he Industry Update at the PTA's inaugural Directors of Tennis Workshop on Hilton Head Island, SC.

RSI Magazine features Cardia Tennis as the cover story for its November/December issue.

CareerslnTennis.com surpasses 30,000 job v iews for the second consecutive year.

A new brochure to better inform the industry about TIA efforts and how industry constituents can get involved in t he various efforts is developed and d istributed.

A new report on Tennis Consumer Retail Buying habits of tennis racquets is developed and released by the TIA.

TIA travels to Washington, D.C., to m eet with members of the Physical Activity Council to discuss measuring physical activity in America through the annual Sports, Fitness, and Recreation Participation Study.

The annual Tennis Consumer and Dealer Trends studies are released.

Former TIA Board Member Dave Haggerty is nominated to be the USTA Chairman of the Board and President for 2013-2014.

NOVEMBER

Tennislndustry.org is redesigned, providing the industry w ith a central resource for all trade-based information, research, initiatives, and programs.

Messaging continues to industry providers to get their information

-·-

and programs listed in the Growing Tennis System, which supplies data to playtennis.com searches.

TIA travels to London for the ITF Play + Stay meeting and Global Research meeting.

TIA travels to the annual ASBA Technical Meeting in Orlando, FL. to meet w ith court contractors and other sports industry builders.

TIA messages to tennis retailers to take part in AMEX's Small Business Saturday promotion.

TIA introduces Business Assessments benefit to associate members to help facility ownerS/managers and retailers improve their bottom line.

03 wholesale shipment data results show growth in all categories measured.

DECEMBER

The 2012 USTNTIA Participation study shows an increase in the total number of tennis players for the first time since 2008- to over 28 million.

Jon Muir ends his tenure as two-term TIA President.

Representatives from the TIA travel to Naples, FL for the annual ITA Coaches Convention.

TIA publishes its annual Consumer Research Reports on racquets, balls, footwear, strings, and apparel.

The Late Season Court Activity Monitor indicates positive net increases in all catego ries measured.

TIA ratifies its board of directors for 2013-2014 with Greg Mason {right) of HEAD Penn assuming the role of TIA President in January 2013.

The 2013 industry event and promotional calendar is published and distributed by the TIA.

The TIA continues to evolve and is more focused than ever on our key initiat ives and platforms to support industry

growth. While we have begun to turn a corner in 2012, we know we still have much work to do as we enter 2013.

We look forward to your continued support, which will help put the TIA in an even stronger position to support your efforts as we move forward together.

To help YOUR industry, visit Tennislndustry.org and become a member of the TIA.

•

Apparel

clothing’s debut that, "The tennisline will closely resemble the lookand feel of the actual perfor-mance wear that Mr. Djokovicwill wear.”

Echoing Djokovic’s relation-ship to the clothing’s style, NaokiTakizawa, Uniqlo’s creative direc-tor, said inspiration for thedesigns, the colors and even thepiping that runs down the sideson both shirt and shorts, comesfrom the Serbian flag. The shirts,shorts, warm-ups, cap, sweat-bands and socks, with itemspriced from $9.90 to $89.90, willbe created with fabrics producedby Uniqlo partner Toray Indus-tries. The clothing is cut in amore tapered, less baggy stylethan is standard. The shirt fea-tures the proprietary “Dry-Ex,”which wicks away sweat anddoesn’t cling and has ultra-thinmeshing under the arms. Theshorts pockets have a pile fabricto hold tennis balls and give play-ers a quick way to wipe awayperspiration.

Uniqlo currently sponsors twoother male tennis players, currentNo. 19 Kei Nishikori and Japan’spremier singles wheelchair play-er, Shingo Kunieda. There are nocurrent plans to sign an endorserfrom the women’s tour, a deci-sion echoing that Uniqlo is notactually a sportswear manufactur-er as well as what anyone canobserve with a walk down theaisles of any of their stores: Theyhave no problem attracting fash-ionista females, but can alwaysuse a few more men aspiring tohit like, or at least look like,“Nole.” w

ast May, the world’s fourthlargest retailer, Uniqlo,took over from Sergio Tac-

chini as clothing sponsor of theworld’s then No. 1 player, Ser-bia’s Novak Djokovic. In August,in conjunction with the 2012 USOpen, the Japanese chainunveiled the Djokovic Perfor-mance Wear Collection at its90,000-square-foot New YorkCity Herald Square flagshipstore.

Credit the megabrand withoutside-the-box thinking. Thecompany was interested inexpanding the idea of its “Uniq-lo Innovation Project” (UIP)begun in 2011 to offer the com-pany’s “Made for All” motto in amore tangible form. A companyspokesperson explained howDjokovic arrived at this junctionin brand building: “We believethat tennis is a sport where theindividual’s performance iscombined with a personal senseof style and fashion, both onand off the court.”

They hired the winner of the2012 Australian Open and run-ner-up at Roland Garros and USOpen, not even midwaythrough his Tacchini deal, as aglobal brand ambassador.Rather than enter the perfor-mance-wear market against theestablished heavyweights, Uniq-lo is limiting distribution to aselect number of its own 1,100-plus stores. And in something ofa hat tip to the halcyon days inthe 1970s and ’80s, the compa-ny markets the 10-piece collec-tion as fashion, explaining in apress release announcing the

L

With Djokovic, UniqloGains Tennis Inspiration


B Y K E N T O S W A L D

Retailing 116

The Confidential Assessment Report youreceive will provide your score and the per-formance level of your retail store. But themost important feature of the report youreceive will be the Strengths, Neutral Areasand Weaknesses of your retail store.After you read through the complete

report, go back and take a harder look at theweaknesses. Those are the immediatethreats to your specialty tennis retail busi-ness, and you should address them as soonpossible. However—and this is extremely impor-

tant—we don’t advocate attacking the weak-nesses of your retail business without a plan.You need to leverage the power of planningby focusing on what you are going to do tocorrect and turn around the weaknessesuncovered by your assessment.So, develop your business plan with an

immediate focus on your store’s weakness-es, and when they are literally neutralized,or better yet turned completely around intostrengths, you can turn your attention to theneutral areas of your business and turn theminto strengths as well.When you feel you’ve turned around or

greatly improved the identified weaknesses,go back to the TIA and arrange to takeanother TIA Retail Business Assessment soyou can track improvement and re-do andrenew your business plan.You need to prepare your tennis retail

operation for what’s ahead. Make the TIARetail Business Assessment the first step inplanning your future. w

For upcoming TIA retail webinars, and to view previous webinars, visit tennisindustry.org/webinars.

ness to start the New Year off right.”The entire TIA Retail Business Assess-

ment will take only 20 minutes or less tocomplete online. The assessment is com-pletely confidential; it is evaluated andscored by independent retail consultantGluskin Townley Group, which does notshare the results with anyone, including theTIA itself. (The Gluskin Townley Group willonly communicate with the person whofilled out and submitted the Retail BusinessAssessment.) The assessment focuses on eight areas

important to your specialty retail tennis business:1. Business Technology and Reporting2. Financial Benchmarks3. Store Operations4. Staff Recruiting & Hiring5. Ownership & Management6. Store Environment7. Marketing & Promotions8. Customer ServiceYou don’t have to prepare or review your

books or financials before you take youronline Retail Business Assessment becausewe are interested in what you know aboutyour business right now. Once the onlineassessment is scored, a Confidential Assess-ment Report is prepared and emailed to theperson who filled out and submitted theassessment.

n today’s highly competitive retailenvironment, with consumers con-trolling who stays in business and

who doesn’t, it’s crucial that you havea firm understanding of the strengthsand weaknesses of your specialty ten-nis retail business. The authors of Nine Shift–Work,

Life and Education in the 21st Centurywarn in their “Second Decade Predic-tions for the 21st Century” that the“number of retail stores declines by50% (half) by 2020.” We clearly seethis already happening across manydifferent retail segments; just look atthe empty retail spaces you probablyhave in your own communities. (Youcan learn more about “Nine Shift” atwww.nineshift.com.)This is why it’s important—now—

that you take a close look at your busi-ness. And the TIA can help with its TIARetail Business Assessment, whichprovides specialty tennis store ownerswith a 360-degree view of their busi-nesses. After taking the Retail BusinessAssessment, you’ll:w Understand what you’re doing rightand where you need to improve.

w Build sustainable growth in profitsand not just revenue.

w Build sustainable value in your business.And now through the month of

January, the TIA Retail BusinessAssessment, normally $200, is FREEfor any TIA Retail Member (see box).“With today’s challenging and con-

tinuously changing marketplace, it'simportant for tennis retailers to under-stand what they are doing right andwhat areas of their business haveroom for improvement,” says TIAExecutive Director Jolyn de Boer. “Andnow is the time for you and your busi-

I

First Step in Planning Your Future The TIA Retail Business Assessment—offered free in January—can build sustainable growth for your store.


This is part of a series ofretail tips presented by theTennis Industry Associationand written by the Gluskin

Townley Group (www.gluskintownleygroup.com).

FREE Offer For TIA Retail MembersNow is the time to change up yourgame and start off the new year head-ing in the right direction. Through themonth of January, the TIA, in conjunc-tion with retail consultant GluskinTownley Group, is offering the TIARetail Business Assessment (normally$200) for FREE to any TIA Retail Mem-ber. Contact Marty Mohar [email protected] or 866-686-3036 ext. 704.

Social Media

are using Facebook, make sure you havea great cover photo and profile image.Also, include your phone number andhours of operation if applicable. Youwould be amazed how many businessesforget that and don’t realize the businessthey are losing.

TestJust like players test different strokesand strings, the same goes for socialmedia. If you’re not seeing the resultsyou want, make some changes. Everyaudience is different in relation to whattypes of content they want socially andyou must meet them there.

Do not be afraid to change it up. OnFacebook, try pictures. And try videos.And try text updates. Try different timesof the day and days of the week. Thekey thing is to use moderation. Eachtime you push out a message, no matterif it is Facebook, Twitter or some otherplatform, you are, in effect, interruptingsomeone.

That said, own it. Be who you are.That’s the ultimate beauty and simplicityof social media for people and business-es. If you are authentic, you can and willbe successful. w

e all know that for manyplayers, tennis is a socialexperience, as well as an

athletic one. That’s where socialmedia comes in. Yes, as a tennisprovider, you still need to have awebsite. But being on Facebook,Twitter and other sites can be theboom your business needs to take aleap forward. But how do you getstarted?

Define Your GoalsBeing on any social network takes acommitment, but it doesn’t have tobecome a hassle. What are yourgoals? Some of the goals of being ona social network for a business canbe brand recognition, experienceexpansion, product launches andsales. Of course there are many oth-ers, but those are the main reasons.

No matter your motivation, youhave to know the reasons and goalsas that will dictate where you spendthe most time.

BuildOnce you decide which social plat-forms are best for your goals, then itis just a matter of doing it and notquitting. Before launching any com-munity publicly, make it look 100percent complete and active. Thatmeans all your images should bequality and representative of yourbrand.

Don’t launch a newsletter as justtext and full of misspellings. Now isthe time to build the templates sothat it is easy moving forward. If you

W

How to Launch YourSocial Business Being on Facebook, Twitter and othersites can be the boom your businessis looking for.


Richard Dedor, a former Tennis ServiceRepresentative for the USTA Missouri Val-ley Section, is a social media consultant,speaker and personal coach. His work hasappeared in Sports ‘n Spokes Magazine,The Community Manager and SocialFresh.You can find him online at RichardDe-dor.com and on Twitter @RichardDedor.He has written one book, “Anything isPossible.”

Which Social Networkis Right for You?w Facebook: You don’t have to be

on Facebook. But if your targetaudience is 13- to 35-year-olds,you need to be. Once you knowthat, set your goals and get cre-ative. The more creative, thebetter on the penultimate socialnetwork.

w Twitter: People still think Twitterasks, “What are you doing?”That is simply not the truth.Twitter is much more aboutsharing great content and engag-ing around that content. Head toTwitter.com and search “Ten-nis.”

w Google+: Even a year after itslaunch, Google+ is slow to grow.But if you have a website, aphysical location or a store, youshould at least be on Google+and engaging in related conver-sations. Why? It helps withsearch.

w Instagram: Tennis, and sport ingeneral, is visual. Use Instagramto take photos of your events,your space and the community.It can start slowly, but it’s a funway to stay in front of your cus-tomers.

w Pinterest: If you goal is primarilyto sell, begin to use Pinterest. Besure to pin things from youronline store, but provide a cre-ative context. You can’t just say,“Buy me!” And be sure to spreadthe love to others, too!

R I C H A R D D E D O R

F A C I L I T Y M A N A G E M E N T

Now, we can reach a vastly larger audience than ever before, but that also means a lack of control overwhat they ultimately decide to do.B Y R O D H E C K E L M A N

Today, we have more influence over our customers thanwe have ever had before. Facebook, Twitter, Groupon, e-mail—the list is growing and becoming more diversified

by the minute, allowing us to pass on information to the gener-al audience in the blink of an eye. You “Like” one person andanother 200 people become your new friends.

These are phenomenal tools that the modern tennis pro,especially those involved in management and the organizationof events, can use to promote, inform and organize. But thesegreat new tools come with a new understanding.

Twenty years ago you would call someone on the phone topromote an event or a program. You might hope they wouldtell their friends, helping you to spread this information. As aconsequence of that call, you have influenced a few people. Youexpect to have a degree of control over that information andalso over how many people will be impacted. Through thecourse of the day you make a number of calls and interact withpeople on a personal level. Little by little, your plans are beingput in motion and your influence remains mostly in your con-trol. It takes a herculean effort, but your efforts pay off and theprogram or event runs its course properly.

Today’s new technology has changed all that. Now yousend one e-mail blast, Tweet once and then post on Facebookand you have reached an unknown number of people. Youronce controlled process is now lost, but you’ve been able toreach hundreds of people in a few short steps. The question is,

can you deal with this loss of control, and maybe even moreimportant, do you understand how to take advantage of thisnew world of instant communication?

Goals, Process, ResultsThe best way to understand this new world of communicationis to break it down into several steps—the goals, the processand the expected results. The goal of any organizer, especiallya tennis director, head pro or manager, is to get the word outand create interest, enthusiasm and attendance. From thatstandpoint, having these new communication tools are fantas-tic as long as there is also an understanding of the target audi-ence and the limits you may have with the event.

It’s a tennis pro’s nightmare to have too many peopleshow up for an event and not have enough facility to hostthem. It’s even a bigger nightmare to have people show upthat do not fit into the program.

As an example, you’re looking to host a 4.0 women’sround robin that will include food and some competitive activ-ities. You know that you have enough court time to take on 24players. Before you know it, the sign-up sheet that you postedto control the attendance is halfway filled with 3.5 playerslooking for competition. Sure you can explain during therecruiting that you were only going to allow 4.0 players, butsome wanted to bring their friends, others already play on aUSTA 4.0 team and feel it would be okay to join in, the reasons


MOREINFLUENCE,BUT LESSCONTROL

MOREINFLUENCE,BUT LESSCONTROL


are many. The bottom line is that you have influenced more peo-ple than ever, created great enthusiasm and interest and now as aresult have lost some control. Telling a few people that they can’tattend is manageable; telling half that have already planned toattend and have signed up for the event is another story.

League play has really been impacted by this new technology,and the task to inform and communicate has been greatly

enhanced, but the task to manage has become more compli-cated. At the end of the day, the pro has to realize that

when they provide one person with information, theyare also providing another 500. Privacy is no longerpart of the equation—never forget that and take afew seconds before pushing “Send.”

The Personal TouchAs for the process, many organizers make two fundamental

mistakes with this new technology. First, they put too muchtrust in this new technology. There is an assumption that e-mailsare delivered and internet messages are received. Once again,here we have all this ability to influence the public with our mes-sages, but are never quite sure if these messages are gettingthrough. Net result? Less control. It’s an experienced organizerthat engineers into the messaging system a method to confirmthat any message is received. “Didn’t you get my e-mail?” is notthe best way to greet a lesson that has come at the wrong time ora member who has appeared to attend a class that has been can-celled.

Second, overly depending on technical communication canresult in a loss in personal contact. It is very easy to lose controlover your clientele if you begin to rely only on high-tech commu-nication. Many facilities are learning this lesson the hard way,watching their attrition rate increase and their retention ratedecrease. There is no substitute for personal contact, and therenever will be. It is only through direct communication that yourmessage is clear and understood.

A good example of watching communication spin outof control is when your message is filtered through anumber of people. What starts off as being a sug-gestion for Tom to play on a 2.5 team so thathe can participate and contribute becomes,after weaving through several people,“Tom is not good enough to play at the3.0 level.”

Public PerformanceLastly, new technological waysof communicating are impactingthe results of your work in waysyou never saw before. If youran a tournament, a party, orany event, the success or fail-ure would be reviewed by thoseattending and maybe a few of theirfriends the attendees might interactwith. Not anymore. Your performancebecomes public in numbers that are amaz-

ing. Remember the old adage, make one person happy and prob-ably another person will hear about it, but make one personunhappy and 10 will hear about it. These days, take those num-bers and magnify them by the hundreds.

While that sounds threatening, it can also be promising,because now if you run a successful event, you no longer have tobrag about it; your local tech world will announce it to everyone.This is a perfect example of using your loss of control to youradvantage. No longer will you need to be the major push behindyour P.R. Now you can unleash the social media system on thepublic and get far more mileage out of your positive results. If youcan master this process, you have successfully learned how to takeadvantage of this loss of control.

Remember, this new world of communication also creates anew world of rapid change and progress. Tradition, a mainstaymindset of the tennis world for years, has taken a back seat. Thepublic seeks, maybe even demands, new events that are evolvingat all times. Tournaments, parties, events and activities must takeon this process of evolving with a passion.

Because we live in a more informed world, keeping up withthe “Joneses,” or the “Grass is always greener,” is no longer anoccasional desire, but has become the common thinking of mostpeople; part of how they perceive a normal lifestyle. If anotherclub is running a new program or event that is successful, you canbet your clients will know about it and want it to happen at theirclub right away. You cannot afford to watch any event die and loseparticipation and interest. The tennis world provides too manyalternative choices and players will migrate to those choices asrapidly as they receive Twitter or Facebook updates.

Simply put, with all this new technology, we currently havemore influence than ever over our customers—but along withthat, we have less control than ever. The question is, How will youembrace the result of having less control? Will you stay with yourtraditional methods, or opt to move into the new technology?

Maybe even more important, do you really have achoice? w

January 2013 RACQUET SPORTS INDUSTRY 27 www.racquetsportsindustry.com


It’s tough trying to find out information on Susan DiBiase.The director of marketing for Babolat in the U.S. justdoesn’t like talking about herself or her accomplishments.

In fact, she’s very adept at deflecting the conversation awayfrom her and peppering an interview with words like “team,”“partners” and “family” when talking about business.But it’s that sense of shared purpose that DiBiase projects—

and which permeates the team at Babolat—that may well havebeen the driving factor in putting the French brand on top inthe U.S. tennis market. “At Babolat, all we do is tennis, and we’ve grown really

quickly the last few years,” DiBiase says. “We want to stay rel-evant to players and give them products to improve theirgames, and we want to grow the game of tennis, too.”Babolat has definitely stayed relevant to players; so much

so, in fact, that in the U.S., it’s seen a remarkable increase inmarket share in the last six years. While DiBiase downplays herhand in this, the fact is she has had a major leadership role inorchestrating Babolat’s surge. And for 2012, she is RSI’s Personof the Year.“Susan knows our brand perfectly—its strategy, its roots, its

values,” says Jerome Pin, managing director for Babolat NorthAmerica. “She is the ‘guardian of the temple’ for our brand in

the U.S., always looking for the right balance between actionsthat favor sales and other activities. She aims to maintain andimprove the premium image of the brand.”According to the most recent data available from Sports

Marketing Surveys USA (Q3 2012 Pro/Specialty Audit), Babolatis the dollar leader for racquets at pro and specialty shops, in-creasing its share from 9% in 2003 to 35% in 2012. It’s hadthe No. 1-selling racquet at specialty stores every quarter sinceQ2 of 2007. Babolat entered the tennis shoe market in 2005, and since

then, its dollar share has increased to 14% in 2012 (Q3 2012Pro/Specialty Audit). For racquets, the company saw a sharp in-crease in dollar share starting in 2008; shoes took a nice jumpstarting at the end of 2010. In increasing its dollar share in both categories, Babolat ben-

efitted from many factors, including key introductions of newBabolat products, other manufacturers’ product reaching theend of their cycles, holding the line as far as the number ofSKUs Babolat offered to retailers, and strong support amongjunior and college players. Of course, it didn’t hurt to also havesome of the most popular players on the pro tour, either, suchas Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters.DiBiase, who lives in Golden, Colo., joined Babolat in 2007,

Person of the YearSUSAN DIBIASEPerson of the YearSUSAN DIBIASE

Susan DiBiase surrounded by the team at Babolat’s French Open party held inMalibu, Calif., in May (from left): Jérôme Pin, Dave Dwelle, Rich Francey, proplayer Ryan Harrison, DiBiase, Eric Babolat, Mickey Maule and Steve Strecker.

www.racquetsportsindustry.com RACQUET SPORTS INDUSTRY January 2013 29

after working for the Schwinn bicycle company and Nautilusfitness. She grew up in western Pennsylvania playing tennis inthe summer and skiing in the winter. Dibiase taught tennis for many years in Pittsburgh and

played two years on the team at Penn State. After she gradu-ated with a degree in marketing, she moved to Colorado, whereshe made the U.S. Ski Team as a mogul skier. She also was atop mountain biker. “I was top 10 in the world in both freestyleskiing and mountain bike racing,” she says.DiBiase was on the professional mountain biking circuit for

10 years. In both skiing and biking, “I was never a worldchamp; I never won the big races,” she says. “My value to theteams was that I did all the festivals, clin-ics, rides—I’d go anywhere where I couldbe a brand ambassador. I knew that wouldhelp me get a job when I was done.”As it turned out, DiBiase was right on

target in her strategy to boost her experi-ence dealing with the public and gettingto know consumer markets.“I think a lot of people think of Babolat

as a high-performance premium brand,only for super-competitive athletes,” DiB-iase says. “But that’s changing. We havemore exposure now, with all the differentprograms we’re doing now in the U.S.” Five years ago, she says, Babolat’s

marketing efforts were mainly focusedon grassroots sponsorships, junior play-ers and college players. “We have sincethen really spread our roots out,” DiBiasesays. “We didn’t have a teaching pro pro-gram before, certainly not to the level itis now. Our communications efforts haveexpanded broadly, including our socialmedia. We’re doing field marketing witha team of marketing reps, and we’regoing to retailers and training the salesforce staff.”“Susan has been doing great things at

Babolat,” says Brad Blume of retailer Ten-nis Express. “She’s behind Babolat’sstrong MAP policy that helps retailersmaintain margin and profitability.”Mark Mason, of New York City retailer

Mason’s Tennis Mart, agrees. “Susan un-derstands what I’m trying to do as a re-tailer to promote what’s new and exciting to my clientele,” hesays. “She truly understands the commonality of goals that abrand like Babolat has with its key retailers. She’s very consis-tent in making sure that we retailers have the tools to do ourjob.”“With our National Sales Manager Mickey Maule,” adds Pin,

“Susan’s been the architect of our selective distribution strat-

egy, building a consistent set of policies in order to protect ourbrand and our dealers.”“For me,” says retailer Steve Vorhaus of Rocky Mountain

Racquet Specialists in Boulder, Colo., “Babolat has become anincreasingly important partner, not just the No. 1 selling rac-quet in our store. Since Susan joined, Babolat has really grownas a company. I know a number of people who work there [theU.S. headquarters is in Boulder], and they love the job. Susandoes a nice job of infusing energy and passion into the corpo-rate subculture.“The U.S. market is different,” Vorhaus continues. “What I

sense is the U.S. distributorship has a better voice, that’s heardmore in France. Many other foreign compa-nies have struggled here, but when the parentcompany understands how the U.S. works, itmakes it better for the company.”And that ends up being a key job that DiB-

iase fulfills. “One of the biggest parts of myjob is being the liaison between the wholeteam in France and what the U.S. marketneeds in terms of product, marketing, etc.,”says DiBiase, who makes about a dozen tripsa year to Babolat’s headquarters in Lyon,France. “I think the time I spent competing inthose other sports in Europe really providedme with a healthy respect for the culture.But I know that often we need to change themessage to be more appropriate to the U.S.market.” The U.S. market is about 25 per-cent of Babolat’s global volume, she adds.But it all goes back to that team feeling.

“It’s a culture that comes down from thetop, right from company President EricBabolat,” DiBiase says. “It’s such a refresh-ing change being part of a family-run busi-ness.” DiBiase praises the Babolat team in the

U.S.—National Sales Manager MickeyMaule, National Key Accounts Manager RichFrancey, Regional Sales Manager DaveDwelle and Marketing Manager SteveStrecker. “Those guys are like my brothers,”she says. “Everyone has a mutual respectfor everyone else.”“In a lot of companies, sales and market-

ing tend to be in different silos,” says Maule.“Susan and I are basically on the same page

with everything we do—her for marketing, me for sales. Rightnow, we’re excited about the new Play and Connect, and we’reworking together on strategies to maximize this new product.”“We always want to maintain that challenger spirit,” DiBiase

says. “That’s something Eric always says to us. And to have anextremely healthy respect for all of our competitors.”

—Peter Francesconi

Tips for Successw Strive for collaboration withcoworkers. “Always work togetherand work as a team,” DiBiase says.“That’s the path to success.”

w Care about your teammates.“Susan wants everyone to succeedand will help out anyone if theyneed it,” says Regional Sales Man-ager Dave Dwelle.

w DiBiase believes that “sales andmarketing go hand in hand,” saysMarketing Manager Steve Strecker.

w Never accept the status quo—there are always areas to improveor things that can be done differ-ently, and better.


Bigger isn’t always better. But Life Time Fitness, this year’sPrivate Facility of the Year, proves that better can be con-tained within bigger. America’s largest manager of in-

door tennis facilitiescounts among its currentroster 105 fitness clubs—16 of which showcasetennis across seven states(the highest end operatingas Life Time AthleticClubs).The company, focusing

on upscale properties andservice, opened its first health and exercise facility in Minnesotain 1992. Since then it has grown into a publicly traded companywith $1 billion-plus in revenues and more than 20,000 employ-ees. Earlier this year it acquired a tennis flagship and is currentlyputting the USTA regional training center Racquet Club of theSouth (to be rebranded as Life Time Tennis Atlanta) through amonths-long renovation, turning it into the company’s Southeasthub for junior tennis champion training, coaching and develop-

ment, tournaments and recre-ational play, and instruction.According to Layne McCleary,

general manager of the new fa-cility and the company’s seniormanager–national tennis opera-tions, tennis has been part of adeveloping vision the last five years and serves as a key to thecompany’s future, “Because it’s a major differentiator for ourbrand,” a statement to a particular demographic that Life Timeis “not just a gym.”Having found that tennis is a key to attracting their target de-

mographic, clubs run programs for all ages and levels and focuson helping new players, to providing social and competitive op-portunities, to serving as a training academy for current and fu-ture pros. Tightening the bond between the brand and tennis,plans are to incorporate tennis into all new properties wheneverpossible, with a minimum 10 indoor and outdoor courts.Virgil Christain, USTA director–Community Development and

Facilities, notes, “Life Time is putting an emphasis on tennis, [en-visioning] that tennis can drive their business.” —Kent Oswald

Tips for Successw Intertwine a full comple-ment of tennis programsand services with yourbrand.

w Spend the money to makethe money.

w Look to build a communityin person and online (Life Time uses Tencaptennis.com).

About 40 years ago, John Gugel designed a one-piecemolded tennis racquet with a foam core. “I wasn’t a ten-nis player at the time,” he says. “I was working in the

plastics molding business. A friend was associated with Head skicompany in Colorado, so I designed a water ski and a racquet.The ski ultimately failed; the racquet, we did make and sell some.

It wasn’t a piece of art, but it did win an awardfrom an industrial design magazine because itwas so unique.”After designing that racquet “it dawned on

me that stringing is pretty doggone impor-tant,” says Gugel, of Orlando, Fla. “So I’ve beentrying to communicate with racquet techni-cians and generate a better understanding ofwhat takes place.” He became a Master Rac-quet Technician and now strings or customizes

about 1,300 racquets a year. He’s strung for pros and at tourna-ments, and he gives seminars and training sessions."John is the consummate professional,” says Tim Strawn,

who often collaborates with Gugel for Grand Slam Stringers.

“There's never any doubtabout his commitment to theart of racquet service becauseit's clearly his passion.” Andit’s this unyielding passion thatmakes Gugel RSI’s 2012Stringer of the Year.“John is an amazing cross

between a world-class stringer,a mad-scientist genius, a cut-ting-edge racquet designer, aprofitable shop owner, and aphilanthropist who gives histime freely to help improve theracquet service industry,” addsDavid Bone, executive directorof the USRSA.“The fun of stringing to me, and what makes it important,”

Gugel says, “is having someone enjoy what I’ve done.” —Peter Francesconi

Tips for Successw Make sure you have goodequipment.

w Know what your clients want,keep them up to speed withwhat you’re doing, and pro-duce a consistent product.

w Understand the structure of atennis racquet the best youcan, and continue to learn allthe time.

w Take advantage of the peoplewho are willing to teach you.As a new stringer, find some-one or some place that’s will-ing to help you and don’thesitate to ask. For seasonedstringers, if you think you’redoing something no one elsehas, you’re kidding yourselves.Share so everyone can have agood result.


In 1982, Empire Recreational Surfaces, a small constructioncompany in Knoxville, Tenn., started resurfacing tenniscourts. Company personnel quickly recognized the need for

quality court construction from the ground up, and began per-fecting the art of building and maintaining courts. They in-

creased their reach intothe industry, eventuallyrenaming themselvesBaseline Sports Con-struction and becominga full-service recre-ational contracting com-pany whose high-qualityfinished products in-cluded not just tennis

courts, but tracks, indoor facilities and synthetic fields.As the company grew, its leadership became increasingly in-

volved with the American Sports Builders Association. Com-pany President Will Ferguson served on the board of directorsand as the ASBA’s chairman. Its vice president, David Clapp,

meanwhile, became both a Cer-tified Tennis Court Builder anda Certified Track Builder, andmost recently chaired the com-mittee to rewrite the publica-tion, Tennis Courts: A Construc-tion and Maintenance Manual.Baseline primarily serves the

private market, but is also in-volved in municipal facilities. Thecompany, whose motto is "Bringing excellence to the surface," hasbeen honored in the ASBA's awards program many times. Now, itjoins a distinguished list of honorees as RSI’s 2012 Builder/Con-tractor of the Year.These days, the company serves the Southeastern region

and is a licensed contractor in eight states. And yet, to borrowa cliché, the more things change, the more they stay the same.The company's philosophy remains unchanged, according toClapp: "Build quality projects, make customers happy, and betruthful in representing ourselves." —Mary Helen Sprecher

Tips for Successw “The growth of my businessis really on my shoulders,”Clapp says. “I work at it everyday.”

w Get involved with your tradeassociation. The ASBA helpsgive Baseline the tools tokeep its business healthy andgrowing.

w “Our goal as a corporation isto provide excellent servicesand products to the construc-tion industry. Reliability andintegrity are important in ourwork,” Clapp says.

Over the 30 years that Joe Habenschuss has been insales (13 of those with Head), he’s seen trends comeand go. But when it comes to finding what’s most ef-

fective for moving product from manufacturer, to retailer, tocustomer, he says there’s one constant that’s always at the topof the list: providing great customer service.

“Making appointments, showing up ontime, responding to calls and emailspromptly, responding to and handlingcomplaints right away—it all separatesgood reps from bad reps, and customersappreciate that,” says Habenschuss, whois the Head Penn rep in South Florida.“Things like listening carefully and re-spectfully to customer issues are funda-mentals that go a long way. The sellingpart is easy; it’s all the follow-up and

everything after that’s more difficult.”“Joe is a great blend of professionalism and hard work, com-

bined with a personality that people gravitate to,” says Greg

Mason, VP of sales and market-ing for Head Penn. “Besides thegreat results, he’s just a pleasureto work with and a rep I’mproud to have on the team.” Andfor 2012, Habenschuss is RSI’sSales Rep of the Year.Habenschuss always keeps

his accounts top of mind. “Re-tailers don’t like surprises,” hesays. For instance, when itemsare discontinued, or new prod-ucts come out, or there are pricechanges, he gets that information to retailers quickly. He alsoreminds accounts ahead of time when new product will ship,because sometimes they forget what they ordered.While online sales have changed the retail playing field,

Habenschuss believes specialty shops will survive. “They cannot only compete on price, but also with in-person customerservice that online vendors can’t provide.” —Cynthia Sherman

Tips for Successw Retailers appreciate it if youcan help them move olderinventory to make room fornew product. Habenschussdoes what he can to help hisaccounts, often trading oldermerchandise with other ac-counts that can use it.

w Top pros, like Head playersNovak Djokovic and MariaSharapova, help sell rac-quets. Use all the tools.

w Take the time to listen towhat your accounts aretelling you—about theirshoppers, about your prod-ucts, about marketing, etc.


Having grown up and played tennis in the Pittsburgarea, Kent Johnson was aware that there had neverbeen much of a tennis retail presence. As a teaching

pro, during lessons, people would ask him where they couldbuy tennis equipment locally. So Johnson decided to open Ten-nis Town, which occupies a 1,300-square-foot space in the Pitts-

burg suburbs.Now, just three years

later, Tennis Town boasts ahuge wall of racquets andcarries all the majorbrands of racquets, shoesand clothing. He has three

staff members, who are also stringers (a requirement to workthere), and two stringing machines, which see a steady flow oftennis, squash and racquetball racquets. Johnson says his staffknows tennis and his inventory thoroughly and can help cus-tomers navigate the barrage of brands and hype, which, headds, is something that online retailers can’t do.His prices are competitive with online vendors and he has

an aggressive demo program where customers pay $20 a

month and demo as many rac-quets as they like and at the endof the month, the $20 gets ap-plied to the purchase of the rac-quet of their choice.Johnson has noticed in-

creased sales each year and canprobably attribute some of thatsuccess to the fact that he’s beenvery involved in the tennis com-munity, sponsoring and donat-ing supplies to localtournaments, including severaljunior events throughout theyear. That, coupled with excel-lent customer service, brand va-riety, maintaining current inventory that’s fresh andever-changing and servicing team needs with uniform andequipment sales, has helped put Tennis Town at the top of thegame, and made it RSI’s Pro/Specialty Retailer of the Year.

—Cynthia Sherman

Tips for Successw Hire customer-service-ori-ented people who have asolid knowledge of the in-ventory and good communi-cations skills.

w Continue to expand thebrands and selection youcarry to provide more op-tions for consumers.

w Keep a fresh face. Routinelyrearranging the store so dis-plays look new and invitingfor shoppers.

Recently, Charleston County (S.C.) Public Schools Super-intendent Nancy McGinley was visiting one of the dis-trict’s schools and the principal proudly showed her

the big, new trophy case. “It had one trophy in it,” McGinleysays. “The whole school was so excited because their kids had

excelled in tennis. That’s what’s exciting tome—to see the joy that playing tennis isbringing to kids.”A former player for Temple University,

McGinley is an avid league player and is thedriving force behind why so many kids of allages are now playing, and loving, tennis inCharleston. And for 2012, she is RSI’s TennisAdvocate of the Year.“Dr. McGinley has been an amazing part-

ner,” says Barry Ford, the USTA’s director of Public Affairs andAdvocacy. “Her passion for the sport and her leadership hasgalvanized the community around the goal of providing accessand opportunity so every kid in Charleston County PublicSchools can learn and grow through tennis.”

The district has 45,000students and 80 schools.Under McGinley’s leader-ship, CCPS and the USTAbegan a collaboration in2010 that has led to the cre-ation of after-school tennisopportunities at 25 of theneediest public schools inthe county; the developmentof a play pathway from after-school Kids’ Clubs to school-and community-supported team tennis opportunities; and thecreation of 32 kid-sized courts.“For me, it’s not just about tennis being physical fitness and

a game that teaches rules and sportsmanship and discipline,”McGinley says. “It’s also about social access and opportunity.My goal is to introduce tennis to all students at a young age sothey can grow up feeling very comfortable playing and net-working and getting to know people.” —Peter Francesconi

Tips for Successw Don’t hide your passion. McGin-ley loves tennis, and she isn’tshy about using that passion topropel wellness initiatives.

w Get teachers involved. Fouryears ago, McGinley started theannual “Superintendent’s Cup”tournament for teachers andlast spring nearly 400 partici-pated in the fun day of tennis.

w Communicate the vision, and in-vite others to help make it a re-ality. “I didn’t do this alone. Iintroduced an idea that I saw asan opportunity,” McGinley says.


Todd Dissly, who supervises 14 park and recreation ten-nis programs for three Northern California cities forthousands of kids and adults, has moved from a self-de-

scribed status as one of “the outcasts with funny tennis ballsdoing stuff people didn’tunderstand” to RSI’s 2012Junior Tennis Championof the Year. As USTA direc-tor of coach educationand development Kirk An-derson notes, “Todd is oneof our best recreationalcoaches, involved in 10and Under Tennis and ourtraining workshops. [He

was] kind of a ringleader in getting things started in NorthernCalifornia.”Dissly’s philosophy as a teaching pro is “to reinvent yourself

as a student of the game and take a step in a new direction.”The former No. 1 Norcal junior is a PTR trainer, USPTA Pro 1and former professional of the year, certified USTA clinician,

and QuickStart and RCWtrainer, among other profes-sional certifications and honors. He started incorporating the

ideas of QuickStart Tennis intohis lessons about 10 years agoand says early on he saw thatthe shorter courts and foamballs were bringing his youngerstudents greater engagementwith the game much earlier. “Most sports have a scaled-downversion … it just made sense,” he says.He brings the game to students at schools with no courts,

setting up on four-square courts or wherever there is flatground. “I saw early on that having new players hit with foamballs worked,” says Dissly. “It opened up my mind to a differentway of how lessons should be delivered. Tennis shouldn’t justbe for the most athletic kids. With this format, we’re seeing 80percent return, and they’re bringing their friends.”

—Kent Oswald

Tips for Successw Don’t wing it. Work on lessonplans to make sure coachingtime is organized.

w Create and promote a learningpathway.

w If you focus on student in-volvement, the achievementwill follow.

w Keep exploring new ideas.

Portland After School Tennis & Education is more thana non-profit youth program. PAST&E is a year-round,tuition-free program for at-risk and low-income stu-

dents in grades K through 12 that, in the words of its executivedirector, Danice Brown, strives to be “life changing.”

Brown joined PAST&E in 2007, before the“education” component was in full swing. Atthe time, she was alarmed to discover thatonly 54 percent of Portland, Ore., publicschool students earn a diploma in four years.As the new executive director, she went tothe board and had education added to theprogram’s list of can-do’s. "Our goal is to cre-ate ‘student-athletes’ who will develop a pas-

sion for being healthy, playing tennis, and excelling at school,”she says.Now, 60 percent of a PAST&E youngster’s time focuses on

education, and Brown sets high standards for both kids andparents. “Danice is the heart and soul of the program,” saysDevelopment Director Maureen “Moe” Dugan. “Her structure

and expectations make the pro-gram a success.” And her dedi-cation to improving lives has ledher to be named RSI’s GrassrootsChampion of the Year.Prior to accepting the posi-

tion at PAST&E, Brown was thegeneral manager for West HillsRacquet & Fitness Club. “Tennisdemands things (of you), like eti-quette,” she says, “The biggesthook for me is that tennis is non-violent. You aren’t roughingsomeone up to win a point.”Every year, PAST&E touches

the lives of about 1,000 young-sters and their families, and it currently serves 62 year-roundparticipants. “We believe our program will be the catalyst forstudents staying in school until they graduate from highschool,” Brown says. —Robin Bateman

Tips for Successw Get parents involved. Offerdiscounted lessons to in-crease interest and advocacy.Require monthly meetings tokeep everyone informed.“Family involvement is a keyto the program’s success,”says Ruth Turner, director ofCommunity Tennis for USTAPacific Northwest.

w Empower the community.Strengthen alliances throughoff-court opportunities.Brown rents land so the par-ents of players can growfood to feed 62 families allsummer long.

w Cultivate partnerships withinthe community and USTAsection.


If there is one word to describe the Southlake Tennis Centerin Southlake, Texas, it would be “active.” Between leaguematches, 10 and Under Tennis, lessons, clinics and tourna-

ments, the joint is always jumping. In 2011, STC won a USTAOutstanding Facility Award, andthis year, it is RSI’s MunicipalFacility of the Year.“Since its opening in 1999,

STC has been a hub for localand USTA tennis activity,” saysVirgil Christian, USTA director ofCommunity Development & Fa-

cilities. Importantly, “STC was one of the first in the area to lineits courts for Youth Tennis, contributing to the tremendous suc-cess of the center’s youth program.”“We’re really into Youth Tennis,” adds Director of Tennis

Stephen Poorman, who together with his wife and STC generalmanager, Mia Gordon-Poorman, keep the activity going. “Wehave a lot of kids and families in our community.”STC has 19 lighted hard courts, with blended lines for six

60-foot and eight 36-foot courts. There are nine pros on staff,

including a Master RacquetTechnician, and the full-servicepro shop carries 10 clothinglines, four shoe brands, four rac-quet brands, and more than 30strings. “Three years ago, residents

said there weren’t enoughcourts,” says Gordon-Poorman.“We proposed adding six courtsto our original 13, got somegrants from the USTA and raised$40,000 ourselves.” Now, be-cause of increased usage, thecity is looking into remodelingthe building to add more space.“Working with the city has been tremendous,” says Gordon-

Poorman. “Twenty years ago they added a half-cent sales taxthat goes toward parks and rec, which has enabled us to dosome really great things, including this tennis center.”

—Cynthia Sherman

It’s hard to pick just one word to describe tennis in Reston,Va. “Unique” comes to mind. So does “impressive” and“active.” Tennis in this Washington, D.C., suburb of 62,000 is through

the nonprofit Reston Association. “We are an NJTL, a CTA anda Tennis in the Park, and my job is to grow tennis, providing itas an amenity for the community and sharing our passion,”says Tennis Manager Mary Conaway, who started teaching forRA Parks, Recreation & Events in 1997.There are 52 community courts in more than a dozen loca-

tions, including eight sub-irri-gated clay courts, 26 lightedcourts and six Youth Tenniscourts. Programming reachesabout 2,500 adults and kids.“We also have a large after-school program where we teachtennis in gyms,” says Conaway.

The Reston Association also offers scholarships, and there is “ahuge group of volunteers” to do fundraising.

Recently, the Reston Associ-ation was named USTA Mid-At-lantic Section Organization ofthe Year, and now, it receiveshonors from RSI as the 2012Park & Rec Agency of the Year.The hard courts stay open

year-round, but most of themore than a dozen staff is sea-sonal. “A lot of our pros are re-ally community-oriented andlove to give back,” says Conaway, who herself is active at theUSTA section and national levels and currently chairs the USTA’sLearning and Leadership Development Committee.“Reston Association is a model agency that highlights tennis

as a great opportunity to increase physical activity for all resi-dents,” says David Slade, USTA national manager for Commu-nity Tennis. “The USTA couldn’t ask for a better partner.”Maybe there is a word that best describes Reston tennis:

“outstanding.” —Peter Francesconi

Tips for Successw If you love something, shareyour passion, because it’s con-tagious.

w “We’ve always done the‘games’ approach to teachingtennis,” says Conaway, “be-cause we want to make itfun.”

w Position tennis as a lifestyle,not just a sport. “It’s a greatsocial connector.”

w “We really try to market tothe community and get theword out there because weare so unique,” she adds.

Tips for Successw With the pro shop, “We tryto make it as much like aprivate club pro shop as wecan,” says Gordon-Poorman.“We try to be a full-comple-ment pro shop.”

w Have a resurfacing andmaintenance plan. “The cityunderstands the need tokeep a tennis facility in greatcondition,” she says.

w Get great people. “Our prosdo a wonderful job. Ouroverriding principle is to en-hance the self-esteem ofplayers, so they stay positiveand feel better about them-selves.”


Tennis is what brought together Lynn and Curt Bender ofGrand Rapids, Mich. “About 12 years ago, Curt [who wasinjured in an auto accident in 1989] was playing in a

local tournament and I was a therapist at the rehab hospital,and was helping out at the event,” Lynn says.A teaching pro and former collegiate player, Lynn says she

knew nothing about wheelchair tennis at the time, but wasasked to coach. “Once Curt andI started hitting we becamefriends, and our passion fortennis grew together. It’s a ten-nis love story.”

The Benders have been in-volved with the Grand RapidsWheelchair Sports Association

for many years, and recently the GRWSA merged with a localrehab hospital to form the Mary Free Bed Wheelchair andAdaptive Sports program, of which Lynn is the wheelchair ten-nis program director. Lynn also has been honored by the Inter-national Tennis Hall of Fame with the 2011 Tennis EducationalMerit Award. Curt, still very active in playing the sport, chairs

Wheelchair Tennis committeesfor both USTA National and USTAMidwest and is on the ITF Wheel-chair Committee. And now bothare RSI’s Wheelchair TennisChampions of the Year.“Curt and Lynn have been

dedicated to wheelchair tennis atevery level,” says Dan James, theUSTA’s national manager forWheelchair Tennis. “They runone of the best local programs inthe country and still have time tovolunteer at the national leveland help our programming.”“We do it through the joy and

passion that we have together,”Curt says. “It’s a testament to theteamwork that says one plus oneis always more than two.”

—Peter Francesconi

Providing opportunities for children to learn tennis canbe a game-changer for a contractor, says John Coll,president and owner of Top-A-Court Tennis of Hatfield,

Pa. The company, which has been in business since 1988, isone of the most active proponents of youth tennis. And for its

support of the initiative and involvement inthe process, Top-A-Court is the 2012 winnerof RSI’s 10 and Under Tennis Facility Devel-oper of the Year award. According to Coll, it has been a great ride.

After setting up a meeting with the USTA,Top-A-Court learned the techniques and thenew rules, and went to work. "To be able toprovide new courts for kids by working withthe USTA was just a terrific experience," he

says. But being a part of growing the next generation of tennisplayers isn't the only reward. It has had the ancillary benefit ofhelping Top-A-Court grow financially as well."It absolutely is a business opportunity," notes Coll. "If

someone is getting their courts lined, we are able to introduce

ourselves at the same time." Heestimates that approximately halfhis new business is gainedthrough contacts made during10U line installations.Top-A-Court is a member of the

American Sports Builders Associ-ation, and Coll is a Certified Ten-nis Court Builder. He and hiscompany build tennis, basketball,bocce and multi-use courts ineastern Pennsylvania, Delawareand southern New Jersey. Not surprisingly, Coll is a strong

advocate for 10 and Under Tennis.“If you asked me if I thought thiswas a good thing for tennis, I'mgoing to say yes, absolutely. It'sgreat for the kids—they enjoy itnow because it's so much easier." —Mary Helen Sprecher

Tips for Successw “Take advantage of theearly opportunity. We did,and it has been terrific,”Coll says.

w 10 and Under Tennis issomething that works. It'sno different from baseballor any other sport that hasbeen modified for kids.

w “Our mission statement hasalways been: Build it rightwith integrity and do busi-ness honestly, and makeyour work last as long aspossible, for the customeras well as for our ownpride.”

Tips for Successw “We do a lot of things to-gether, but also a lot ofthings apart,” Curt says. Un-derstand your similaritiesand your differences, aseach others’ gifts.

w “One of the biggest rewardsis when a newly injuredplayer comes out to practicefor the first time,” Lynn says.“It’s amazing to watch themgrow and find out, ‘Wow, Ican do this!’”

w “Integrating a wheelchairsport into an able-bodiedsport is cool,” says Curt.“But the important thing is, everyone just calls it ‘tennis.’”


In the spring of 2010, the Dallas Tennis Association teamedup with Dallas Parks and Recreation, USTA National andUSTA Texas to convert the city’s eight courts in the 70-year-

old Kiest Park into a 10 and Under Tennis facility featuring 12stand-alone 36-foot courts alongside four 78-foot courts with60-foot blended lines.

The courts, which were indisarray three years ago, arenow booming with activity. “Wehave 350 to 425 juniors enrolledin fall and spring programs,”says Bert Cole, DTA’s JuniorRecreation Director.

Clint Laukhuf, DTA’s Junior Team Tennis coordinator, seesfirsthand the excitement kids feel. “Kids are in a rush to playon [the blended-line] courts, but when you see their faces thefirst time they set eyes on the stand-alone courts, it’s real tennis[for] them.”Laukhuf utilizes the courts for season-end tournaments,

where about 150 kids grab racquets and play matches. “It’ssuch a great experience,” says Laukhuf, who feels the stand-

alone 36-foot courts generate re-newed excitement while culti-vating a stronger commitment,which leads to continued play. "We’re very fortunate,” says

Amanda Shaw, USTA Texas fieldofficer for 10 and Under Tennis,“Kiest Park is the only area inour state where we have 10 andUnder Tennis stand-alonecourts."“The USTA is proud to have

played a part in the develop-ment in Kiest Park,” says KurtKamperman, the USTA’s chiefexecutive of Community Tennis.“Our design and technical ad-vice are part of our longstanding effort to support the growthof tennis programming across the country, and the DTA’s visionto implement Youth Tennis at Kiest Park should be com-mended.” —Robin Bateman

Tips for Successw Free, free, free! “Every Sun-day afternoon for four hours,we have a tennis pro teach-ing beginning lessons to anyresident who shows up,”Cole says. “Once we builtthe new courts, suddenlyeveryone wanted to play!”

w Partner with other organiza-tions. When you offer tennisto other groups, they bringtheir own ideas to the table.

w Go for the stand-alonecourts. When budgets allowit, stand-alone 36- and 60-foot courts underscore theexcitement kids feel abouttennis.

If you’re into tennis in the Jackson, Miss., area, you want toget involved with the Tri-County CTA, which serves Hinds,Madison and Rankin counties. Founded in 2006, Tri-County

is dedicated to promoting, developing, growing and supportingtennis, and they’ve been—as USTA Community Tennis Devel-opment Coordinator Jon Thompson says—“a model CTA.” And

for 2012, Tri-County is RSI’sCommunity Tennis Associationof the Year.“Tri-County offers quality

programming while growingthe game at all levels,” Thomp-son says. “Providing everything

from 10 and Under Tennis to senior tennis, Tri-County has cre-ated an outstanding tennis community where everyone is welcome.”Tri-County manages leagues for all types of players, says

Elizabeth Lyle, the CTA’s marketing coordinator. One key togrowing tennis, she says, is making sure league captains feel“extra special. Sometimes we’ll have a wine and cheese gath-ering for them. When the captains are happy and on board,

tennis grows.” The CTA alsoworks with community groupssuch as Big Brothers, Big Sisters,and with area schools. Plus, “We try to do a lot with

area teaching pros,” says Lyle,who herself is a USPTA pro.“There are a lot of private clubsand public facilities here, andwe want to make sure our pro-grams and events jibe withthem. We even host a freeluncheon twice a year to tellteaching pros what we havecoming up, and to get theirfeedback.”CTA President Gary Nowell

also praises the tennis volun-teers in the Jackson area. “A lot of our activity and growthcomes from people giving back to the community and support-ing tennis.” —Peter Francesconi

Tips for Successw Maintain a positive partner-ship with area teaching pros;everyone stands to benefit.

w “For every event we help tosponsor, we try to put ourlogo on T-shirts, etc., so peo-ple can get to know us,” Lylesays.

w League captains are a key tolocal tennis participation.Make sure captains alwaysfeel special.

w When programming, involveas many people or other or-ganizations and companiesas you can. Get companies todonate for goodie bags, too.


Roy Barth’s tennis resume features extensive experienceand accomplishments as a player, teacher and admin-istrator. A former top 50 pro and founding member of

the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), Barth is in his37th year as tennis director at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in

South Carolina.Barth attended his first PTR International

Symposium on Hilton Head Island, S.C. in1984, when he and partner Jorge Andrewbegan a 13-year undefeated run in themen’s 35s and 45s doubles. “Playing got meto the Symposium,” says Barth, who wasnamed PTR Pro of the Year in 1990 and aPTR Master Pro in 2007, “but networkinggot me involved.”

Networking opportunities led to his roles as president ofUSTA South Carolina and the Southern Tennis Patrons Founda-tion, and as current chairman of the USTA Davis Cup Commit-tee. In fact, Barth has dedicated his distinguished career toimproving the sport for all of its constituents. For his tirelessefforts, he is RSI’s 2012 PTR Member of the Year.

Barth says he learns some-thing new each year from thetennis teachers and coaches atthe PTR Symposium from morethan 50 countries. He has servedas treasurer of the PTR board andhelped to develop the inauguralPTR Directors of Tennis Confer-ence, which took place this pastOctober.PTR Executive Director Dan

Santorum credits Barth’slongevity with his dual strengthsadministratively and on court,where Barth advocates for resortpros to enhance stroke funda-mentals rather than a particularstyle that contradicts a player’sregular pro back home. “Roy isan asset to the PTR board and our industry,” Santorum says.“He’s the best in the business.” —Cindy Cantrell

Tips for Successw Take the first step. Barth wasdrawn to the PTR Sympo-sium for the tournamentcompetition, then becameincreasingly immersed in itseducation and certificationopportunities.

w Keep an open mind. Thegame is always changing,and pros must change withit to stay relevant.

w Give back. Barth was astandout junior, collegeplayer and pro whose lead-ership as a tennis directorresulted in a tennis center atKiawah being named forhim. Barth continues his vol-unteer efforts with the PTRand USTA to improve thesport for all.

“Dave Porter is one of the best educators—if notthe best—I’ve ever known,” says USPTA CEOTim Heckler. “He not only implements his own

methods of teaching, but has also spent many hours studyingthose of other great teachers in the world. He is a person of im-peccable ethics and is dedicated to the improvement of the ten-nis-teaching profession.”

Porter of Laie,Hawaii, has taughttennis for more than35 years and been aUSPTA member formore than 25 years.In September, Porterwas honored withthe association’s topannual memberaward, the Alex Gor-don Award for the

USPTA Professional of the Year. And now, he adds RSI’s USPTAMember of the Year honors to his resume.

A USPTA Master Professional,Porter has been a USPTA HeadTester since 1988 and has servedon the National Board from 1994to 2007, including serving as thenational president from 2003 to2005. In addition, he has servedas chairman of the educationcommittee and the chairman ofthe testing and certification com-mittee. He has also been a speaker at numerous USPTA divi-sional conventions and national conferences.Currently the head tennis coach at Brigham Young Univer-

sity–Hawaii, where he also teaches courses in the Exercise andSports Science Department, Porter has a record of 1,193 winsand 145 losses over his college coaching career, and he hasnever lost a conference match in women’s tennis during his ca-reer. His BYU–Hawaii women’s team is the three-time PacificWest Conference champions (2010, 2011, 2012). He has alsotaught or worked with several nationally ranked tour players,including Zheng Jie and Li Na. —Peter Francesconi

Tips for Successw There are no menial tasks,there are only menial attitudes.

w Do It! Do It Right! Do ItRight Now!

w Remember that when play-ing tennis, "Hard is good,but in is better."


“With sports,” says Terry Valdez of Wenatchee,Wash., “it’s about the memories. You re-member the fun times.”

Valdez has been helping create fun memories for his tennisplayers for 30 years. The coach of the Eastmont High Schoolboys’ and girls’ teams, he has always had a “no-cut” policy, al-lowing any student who wanted to play to be a part of the

team. Last year, Valdez had a total of about 85students on his teams. In his biggest year, he hadabout 120 students.“My mentor was my Little League baseball

coach,” Valdez says. “He was a real believer thateveryone should play an equal amount of time in

the game, whether we win or lose. Itwas a great way of building us up.”For his long-term commitment

and implementation of a no-cut pol-icy, and for enriching the lives of hisplayers, Valdez was honored with the

2012 USTA Starfish Award for high school coaches. And he also

is RSI’s 2012 High School Coachof the Year.“Ensuring that all players re-

ceive real match playing timeand treating all of them asequals is a sign of Terry’s devo-tion to emphasize the one-teamconcept,” says Kurt Kamerp-man, USTA chief executive ofCommunity Tennis.Valdez, who also was a recip-

ient of the Elliston President’sAward for North Central Athleticsfor positively impacting youth and high school tennis, recentlyretired from teaching (he was an art teacher) and coaching thehigh school team. However, he remains active with his localcommunity tennis association and still supports the high schoolprogram.“For some coaches, it’s all about winning,” he says. “For me,

it’s about giving kids great memories.” —Peter Francesconi

The USTA Northern California Section boasts a strongcommitment to getting the tennis message to young-sters. The section has about 7,500 players in 10 and

Under Tennis programming, and it continues to grow. Executive Director Steve Leube praises both the Youth Ten-

nis initiative and the NorCal staff for moving the dial. “You takean 8-year-old and puthim on a 36-foot courtwith the right-sized rac-quet and ball, andthey’re successful—andthey have fun,” he says.

Of course, Nor-Cal, with about 37,500 adult, 12,500 junior and 400 organiza-tional members, does much more than promote Youth Tennis.But this initiative is so important to the industry—and it’s adriving force behind RSI’s USTA Section of the Year winner.Alison Vidal, NorCal’s Tennis Service Rep account manager,

and the section’s nine TSRs bring tennis to communities, in-cluding to the Girls Scouts in Northern California, reaching

more than 100,000 scouts.“Every time a scout participatesin one of the section’s events,they earn a patch, which is ahuge deal,” Vidal notes. NorCal also works with about

20 PAL organizations, trainingand equipping police volunteersand staff in Youth Tennis pro-gramming. “Police welcome aprogram like this that’s excitingfor kids and keeps them engaged,” Vidal says. Many of thethousands of kids would never be exposed to tennis otherwise,and are now maintaining regular physical activity. NorCal’s ul-timate goal is to develop Play Days, then establish leagues.Fred McCasland, the area director at the Boys & Girls Clubs

of Silicon Valley, couldn’t be happier. “If it weren’t for USTA Nor-Cal, the kids would never have been exposed to tennis. It in-creases their fitness and gives them lessons in teamwork.”

—Cynthia Sherman

Tips for Successw Focus on collaboration andgreat teamwork within thestaff.

w Be open-minded, creativeand think outside the box topromote the idea that tenniscan be played anywhere.

w Stay focused on the missionof promoting and develop-ing the growth of tennis asan inclusive and lifelong activity.

Tips for Successw Kids will remember the funtimes they have in sports.“With our kids, we noticedthey really enjoyed the ca-maraderie—and the bustrips,” says Valdez.

w Get all the students on theteam; you’ll figure out a wayto handle it.

w Fun plus discipline meansthe kids will improve theirtennis.

? Ask the Experts

PRE-STRETCHING GUTI JUST READ ONLINE(http://goo.gl/GzqPw) that pre-stretching natural gut is no longer

required. Is this true? Is pre-stretchingnatural gut still required on the MRTexam?

PRE-STRETCHING GUT HAS neverreally been a requirement in the

real world. It has always been a personalpreference issue, so there are still a fewplayers who ask for it to be done. There-fore, it is still a requirement on the certifi-cation tests. Just like stapling thereplacement grip, we know these are notuniversal practices any longer, but we stillwant Master Racquet Technicians and Cer-tified Stringers to demonstrate they areable to do them.

TYPE VS. TENSIONIN THE ARTICLE “STRING Selec-tor 2012” (Racquet Sports Indus-try magazine, January 2012, page

35), you wrote, “All strings on the samevertical line should feel about the same,no matter what the tension.” How didyou arrive at this assumption? We havebeen stringing racquets since 1929 andadvising customers that the feel of rac-quet stiffness is primarily controlled bythe type of string and the string tension,more so than the type of materials andthe frame.

THE “VERTICAL LINE” REFERS TOthe above graph, in which the X-

axis represents dynamic string stiffness.According to Technical Tennis by RodCross and Crawford Lindsey, “Dynamicstring stiffness refers to how much thestringbed will deflect perpendicular to thestrings when it is impacted with an objectof given energy.”

The way the USRSA determinesdynamic stiffness is to tension a singlestrand of each string sample to 62 poundsand then allow it to sit for 200 seconds.After that, the string is hit five times with aforce equivalent to hitting a 120 mphserve.

The explanation attached to the graphreads, in part:

“Test Procedure. […] The stiffnessvalue is a calculation derived from theamount of force created at impact tostretch the string. Lower values representsofter strings and lower impact forces.Higher values represent stiffer strings andhigher impact forces.”

Stiffer strings contribute to a stifferstring bed, and softer strings contribute toa softer string bed. In tests performed bythe USRSA, string bed stiffness was themost important determining factor influ-encing power and spin.

This is not to say that string stiffnessand string bed stiffness are one in thesame, but the purpose of the String Selec-tor is to divorce inherent string stiffnessfrom the rest of the system. Once we dothis, we can state that if our lab test resultsfor two different strings are similar, thenthe all-important string bed stiffness will besimilar for those two strings, regardless ofgauge, composition, cross-section, etc. Byextension, if you replace one string withanother string with similar lab test results,at the same tension, then the feel of thetwo strings should be similar.

You have to keep in mind, though, ourstandard disclaimer, which is that althoughthis test is as comprehensive and scientificas we can make it, it is still a lab test, onethat looks only at a small portion of theracquet/string system. It is meant to helpguide you in your string selection, not tomake your string selection for you. Asalways, we do not recommend you select

a string (or racquet, forthat matter) based on anumerical value from alab test, but rather onthe basis of playtest-ing.

Including the typeof string and stringtension in a discussion ofracquet stiffness can be helpful. Aspointed out in Technical Tennis, “everystring and racquet technology that affectsthe stringbed does so by affecting its stiff-ness.” Here, the phrase “the stringbed”refers not only to the stiffness of one string(the basis of the test results shown in theString Selector), or the way multiple stringsinteract with others on the face of the rac-quet, but also the stringbed density, theracquet head shape, racquet head size, rac-quet stiffness, string tension, and other factors.

However, racquet stiffness is a separatefactor from string stiffness. Usually, rac-quet stiffness is also considered separatelyfrom string bed stiffness as well, and evenrecreational players can detect differencesin frame stiffness between two differentframes strung with the same string at thesame tension.

Furthermore, racquet stiffness can haveramifications in terms of shock and vibra-tion, both in the lab and on the court.

ISOLATING FRAME DIFFERENCES

I AM USING A 100-SQUARE-INCHHead racquet with a 16 x 19 pat-


Q

A

Q

A

Q

Your Equipment Hotline


Although there are some similarities,such as the overall weight and flex, thereare many more differences between them(chart above), such as head size, string beddensity, and swing weight, as well as headshape and construction.

Your best bet will be to maintain thesame string and tension with the new rac-quet that you have been using with yourold racquet, and go from there.

LOWER TENSIONSYOU MENTIONED AN ARTICLE INThe Wall Street Journal (“Tenniswithout all the Tension”) in the

“Ask the Experts” section of RacquetSports Industry magazine (June 2012,page 41). In this article, it is stated thatsome players are getting down to 30 and40 pounds of tension. I presume that ismachine tension! In our shop we havebeen collecting data from frames broughtin for re-stringing (with no broken strings).

The last 100 frames had an average ten-sion of 37.75 pounds (the mains aver-aged 44 pounds and the crossesaveraged 31 pounds).

YES, THOSE FIGURES ARE FORthe reference tension. Also keep

in mind that while recreational playersoften leave strings in their racquets longafter they should have been replaced, aprofessional player typically has his rac-quet re-strung every day. Thus, not onlyare these “low tension” professionalsstarting with a much lower reference ten-sion than most recreational players, theyare also getting the most “tension depre-ciation,” as tension losses are highestimmediately after re-stringing.

—Greg Raven w

We welcome your questions. Please send them to Rac-quet Sports Industry, PO Box 3392, Duluth, GA 30096;fax: 760-536-1171; email: [email protected].

A

Q

tern. I normally use multifilamentstrung at 55 pounds. The recommend-ed tension is 52-62. I am buying a 95-square-inch Dunlop racquet with an 18x 20 string pattern. The recommendedtension is 55-65. It is a lower poweredframe and that's what I'm after.

I want the frame to lower thepower without accidentally stringingtoo low and compensating for thelower powered frame and vice versawith stringing too high. That is, I wantto see the difference the frame makeswithout the string tension having aneffect either way.

I was wondering if you could rec-ommend a string tension given thesedesires? Any assistance would bemuch appreciated.

IT’S NOT GOING TO BE possi-ble to compare these two rac-

quets head-to-head as you propose.

A

Racquet Len. Wt. Bal. SW Head Flex

16 x 19 27.2 331 32.1 310 100 63

18 x 20 27 339 32.5 330 95 62


skipped string just remove your markerstring.10 3-Packs of Head Xtremesoft Overgripto: James Mosley, Rio Rancho, NM

YET ANOTHER STAPLERRECOMMENDATIONI recentlypur-chasedan ArrowEasyshotStapler atHomeDepot for$9.97. Itis perfectfor gripsand butt caps. It is lightweight and verylittle muscle to use. Additionally, it has anattachment that allows you to staple up to25 sheets of paper. At this price, I pur-chased several and keep them at home,

TALE OF THE TAPEI’d like to share a tip I share with ”new”stringers. When preparing to string, espe-cially several racquets consecutively, Itake a minute to apply a thin layer of ath-letic tape to my forefingers and pinky fin-gers. I find these fingers often suffer“string burn,” chafing, and callouses. Thisseems to be especially true when work-ing with stiffer, shaped, or textured co-polys. Tape on these fingers absorbs thedamage and still allows me to “feel” thestring.10 3-Packs of Wilson X-tra Tack Overgripto: Ed Ramirez, North Haledon, NJ

MARKING YOUR SKIPSOne day while stringing a racquet andconstantly checking my Stringers Digestfor the locations of the skipped strings, Ihad an idea. I found some bright scrapstring and placed 1-inch pieces into theholes to be skipped. When you get to the

Tips & Techniques

the club, and my bag for "emergencies."5 sets of Dunlop Explosive 16 to:Ed Ramirez, North Haledon, NJ

MAKING ROOM IN TIGHT TIE-OFF HOLESRacquet manufacturers usually try to placetie-off holes where the anchor string’s paththrough the hole is such that it doesn’tblock the passage of the tie-off string.Sometimes, though, you run across a tie-off hole where the anchor string anglesacross the grommet, making it difficult toget the free end of the string throughunless you are using a stiff poly.

On tie-off holes such as this, I make alittle extra room for the tie-off string bybracing the palm of my hand against theframe, and using my index and middle fin-ger to pull the anchor string up and awayfrom the centerline of the racquet. Havethe free end of the string already to go inyour needlenose pliers before you do this.


Readers’ Know-How in Action

The anchor string doesn’t deflectthat much inside the grommet barrel,but you should be able to create justenough of a gap to admit the end of thetie-off string.5 sets of Babolat Revenge 16 to:L. Hodges, Lucerne Valley, CA

TOURNAMENT SHEETSI realize that the trend in documentationfor tournament stringing at big events istoward computerizing everything, butthere are still plenty of small eventswhere paper and a pencil do just fine.

I used to try to cram as many lineson each sheet as possible, but the sav-ings in paper weren’t worth the messand confusion. Now, I print up formsfor each stringer for each day of thetournament. Twenty-five lines is usuallyenough to hold all the entries for anygiven stringer, and the taller rows offerlots of room to enter the player name,racquet name, string used, etc. Reduc-

ing the total number of linesalso allows me to

set a larg-er top mar-gin, whichmakes it eas-ier to usethese sheets in

a clip-board.At thebottom, Ileave aspace toenter thetotal numberof racquetsdone that day.Although thelines are num-bered, if anyonehas to line out an

entry, the line numbers won’t reflectthe actual number of racquets done, butthe bottom total will.

I also print up a Totals sheet foreach stringer. Each day, every stringertransfers the total number of racquetsdone on the previous day to the Totalssheet, where there is also room to enterthe amount earned that day (number ofracquets multiplied by the amountearned per racquet). There are alsoblank lines below the one-a-day linesfor entering unusual items such as

bumperguard replacements and otherchargeable services rendered to the player.

One small but important column on theDaily form has a check mark at the top.This is for reconciling the stringers’ recordsagainst the records at the check-in desk,which we do for every day of the tourna-ment. At some slow point of the day (usu-ally after the morning rush), the personrunning the check-in desk will go throughthe book alphabetically, count up the num-ber of racquets shown for each player theday before, and call out that number forthat player’s stringer to verify. When the

check-in desk and the stringer’s recordsagree, the stringer places a check markin this column for each racquet re-strungfor that player the previous day. Keepingon top of the daily reconciliation makestournament-end calculations and pay-outs a snap.5 sets of Tourna Big Hitter Blue 17 to:Doug Denton, San Diego, CA

—Greg Raven ◗

Tips and Techniques submitted since 1992 by USRSA membersand appearing in this column, have all been gathered into asearchable database on www.racquettech.com, the official mem-ber-only website of the USRSA. Submit tips to: Greg Raven,USRSA, 330 Main St., Vista, CA 92084; or email [email protected].


AUGUST 25, 2001, TWO DAYSBEFORE THE START OF US OPEN:Andy Roddick, 18, stands on the

court of Arthur Ashe Stadium, not yet ayear removed from winning the tourna-ment’s junior championship. In the 11months since, he accomplished a few eye-catching results, but nothing that shouldhave predicated this moment: standingcenter-stage at Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day, fac-ing Andre Agassi in the event’s ultimateexpo match.

Roddick wears a body microphone, butdoesn’t talk much. He is playing at playingin front of thousands of young fans, but hedoesn’t entertain much. If not for the pres-ence of John McEnroe in the umpire’schair, one might wonder if the momentwould include any banter at all. Roddickwas put on this stage to match Agassi, oneof the most entertaining players in thesport’s history, not just shot for shot, butwit for wit and gag for gag. As Agassi quipsand jests, and as McEnroe jokingly bellowsthat Roddick’s strong serves are “clearlywide” and “clearly long,” the young pre-star is clearly uncomfortable and unsure ofhimself.

My intent is not to criticize Roddick’sperformance that day, but rather to ques-tion the marketing machine that createdthe spectacle in the first place. You can’tfault the sentiment. The U.S.’s golden ageof men’s open tennis was waning; JimCourier and MaliVai Washington wereretired, and Pete Sampras, Michael Changand Todd Martin were no longer pre-dictable forces on tour. American tenniswas in an anxious state. No one knew whocould possibly replace these players in themarketing playbook.

Then this kid Roddick wins the USOpen junior title and a few impressive tourmatches, and suddenly the sport manufac-

tures a limelight that he never asked tostep into. To even the most casualbystander, the impetus is obvious: U.S.tennis wants to create a superstar to takethe reins from the horses of the 1990s. Sothey put a kid front-and-center and askedhim to wear Andre Agassi’s shoes.

For a long time after, it seemed therewas a part of Roddick that felt obligated tolive up to that charge. He also seemed notsure how to, because his personality wasnot Agassi’s personality, his game was notSampras’ game, and he didn’t muchresemble his other predecessors, either.He represented a new era, but was askedto sustain the old.

The effects of this were clear for years.Roddick was great at winning matches,especially long ones, and at wowingcrowds with increasingly hard serves. Heearned a US Open title, won Davis Cupmatches, and represented the only credi-ble threat to Roger Federer in his prime.But he appeared uncomfortable as anentertainer, and uneasy prolonging aretired generation’s legacy.

Fortunately for Roddick, at some pointmid-career he decided to just be himself oncourt—loud with the racquet, quiet with hiswords (albeit not when barking atumpires). And this was much more pleas-ant to watch. He was just Andy. It’s some-thing tennis should have let him be whenhe was perhaps too young to know tochoose that on his own.


‘Too many times we seea brand molded to fit asuccessful marketingstrategy, rather thanthe other way around.’

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012, DAY 10 OF THEUS OPEN: Roddick has just lost to JuanMartin del Potro and is now retired fromtennis. At his final post-match press con-ference as a pro player, a reporter askswho the next big American player willbe—out of all the young talent on tour,out of all the promising juniors risingthrough the rankings, “Who can fill yourshoes?”

Roddick pauses, as if reflecting onpeople relaying that responsibility onhim 11 years earlier, and the unneces-sary pressure that created on his youngcareer.

“Let’s not do ‘the next,’” Roddickreplies. “Let’s let them have their ownpersonality, and let’s let them do theirown thing and let them grow…. There isno filling shoes. I think we’ve got to belooking for individuals, not clones.”

He’s right. It's an important thing, let-ting young players grow into their ownimage, rather than someone else's. Toomany times we see a brand molded to fita successful marketing strategy, ratherthan the other way around—and tenniscan be just as guilty of that as B-levelmarketing agencies.

Just develop the kids as tennis play-ers who can compete on a global court,and let the other stuff ferment on itsown. Then we'll have genuine personali-ties to market, which will be far morebeneficial for everyone involved. w

Your Serve


Rage Against the (Marketing) MachineA longtime tennis journalist says let’s not ‘create’ the next American star,but let young pros develop their own personalities. B Y C H R I S N I C H O L S O N

Chris Nicholson is a freelancetennis writer and photographerbased in New York City. He is aformer editor for Tennis maga-zine and author of the bookPhotographing Tennis: A Guide

for Photographers, Parents, Coaches & Fans.

We welcome your opinions. Please email comments to [email protected].

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