Why we rejected Genesis (abridged version public)

In May 2009, we received a message from a person calling themselves Norman Xiushvilli using a generic Russian email provider, rambler.ru . We were told we were among 3 US companies chosen to possibly serve as distributors for a new string which we later learned was to be called Genesis.  Samples were sent to us for playtesting.  Because I was injured and unable to playtest at the time, I asked a very experienced local playtester (USTA 5.0) to test the string for us.  This guy has played a wide array of poly-based strings and always plays a full poly-based setup.  After his first hit with the Genesis strings he asked to end the playtest because they were simply (in his words) uncontrollable and unplayable.  He also scoffed at the pink color.  They were called Bahama Red which is simply a euphemism for pink.

I reported the initial results to the Genesis rep./contact person.  At that time I went to the web site to see what else I could learn about the product.  The web site was under development and what struck me as most interesting was that the USA dealers section listed the exact same dealers in the exact same format as the Pro Supex USA website (and we all know who runs that site).

Our interpretation is that Genesis is owned by the same group and the contact was merely fishing for free reviews and had no intention of awarding distribution to anyone but themselves.  We project they will make a big distributor announcement soon.   In essence they will name themselves distributors. According to sources, they claim to have a big announcement coming  soon…hmm wonder what it is???

Setting identity issues aside, the bottom line is we were simply not interested in carrying or promoting a product with questionable playing properties available in an objectionable color from a thinly veiled mystery source.  It failed the playtest and when strings fail our playtests, we simply do not make them available to our customers.  In a nutshell that is the story of why we rejected Genesis.

NOTE:  We have a created a longer version of this post that goes into greater detail for those that are interested.  It is currently password protected, but may be opened for full public access in the future if there is enough interest.

Protected: Why we rejected Genesis (full version)…

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Spider Silk – The Future of Tennis Strings?

Here’s an interesting bit we ran across while surfing the web. Recent laboratory innovations have allowed scientists to clone spider silk. Bioengineered spider silk is said to be strong as steel, yet flexible at the same time. The article from a Tufts University journal (see link below) states that possible applications include use in sporting goods.

Hmmmm. This makes us wonder. Is it beyond the realm of imagination to believe that this silk could be utilized and integrated into the construction of a tennis string? Is there potential for a string with incredible durablity along with good elasticity and feel? Dare we suggest there is potential to surpass the playability of natural gut? No one really knows the hidden potential of this finding as it relates to our favorite sport. We encourage string manufacturers to explore the possibilities. Within the next couple of years we would not be surprised to see this new material find its way into the labs of the major string manufacturers. Cool stuff. Remember, you heard it here first!!!

http://tuftsjournal.tufts.edu/archive/2003/october/briefs/index.shtml

String Stiffness and Tension Loss

In what could very well become our most blasphemous and controversial blog entry to date, we finally respond in a public way to one of the most common questions we receive. “Why doesn’t the USRSA include the MSV and WeissCANNON strings in their annual String Selector Map?” The short and direct response is because we do not believe the data is representative of actual string performance and we choose not to provide samples for testing. Let’s use the remainder of this entry to explain our position.

First of all, we believe the USRSA does a commendable job in offering data, resources and information for all levels of stringers. We are a proud member of this organization and regularly use the tools and information provided because it adds value to our services. At the same time we do not agree with everything the USRSA does. There are three areas where we have significant differences of opinion. The first lies in the certification process used for Certified Stringers (CS) and Master Racquet Technicians (MRT’s). The second is the process used for collecting and measuring data for the String Selector Map. The third is the annual string survey. We will set aside the first and third issues for another day and focus on issue #2 in this blog entry.

The process the USRSA uses to collect the data involves testing a single swatch of string, less than 1′ in length. This single strand is tensioned and then allowed to sit for 200 seconds. (That is approximately 3.5 minutes), It is then impacted 5 times with a test hammer to approximate the impact of a 120mph serve. Deflection is measured to determine the stiffness of the string. Tension loss is measured using a process that in not clear to us, but it is clear that the string is not likely tensioned for 5 minutes before the measurement is taken.

While the data these tests produces is indeed interesting, we do not believe it clearly represents the performance of the string in the context of a full stringbed. In fact, there are many examples where the data indicates strings are stiffer or softer than they actually perform. For example, it would be difficult to find any player who will tell you that Prince Synthetic Gut plays stiffer than Prince Synthetic Gut with Duraflex, yet this is precisely what the test data published by the USRSA indicates. (There are numerous examples such as this.) In terms of tension loss, the data collected from a full stringbed over a 24 hour or longer period (such as those measurements used in the blind string tests) is clearly more representative of how the string actually performs in a real-world context as opposed to how a 1′ piece of string performs in a laboratory setting.

Again, we believe the lab data is interesting, but NOT truly representative of how strings actually perform in the context of a full stringbed. The trouble is many dualistic thinkers view, digest and take this data to heart. They believe that because a perceived authority, the USRSA, has published this data it must be 100% accurate. The CONTEXT of data is not understood or considered. The results are perceived as ABSOLUTE even when the lab data may not truly reflect how the string will perform in actual playing situations.

Rather than have players draw inaccurate perceptions based on data that may or may not reflect actual performance, we prefer to encourage players to playtest the strings for themselves so they can take their own measurements and draw their own conclusions about stiffness and tension loss. We playtest each of the strings we carry. We measure their tension maintenance. We try to make this information readily available to our customers. We make every effort to objectively provide comparisons to other strings when approached by our customers. We do not believe that accurate conclusions about how a string will perform can be drawn by solely using the USRSA lab data, yet this is precisely what too many do. The number of inquiries we get that say “X string has a stiffness of 202 in the USRSA data, what is the stiffness of Y string?” is staggering. When probing those who submit such inquiries we learn they are trying to draw hard and fast conclusions about strings using this data. We do not believe this is an effective or accurate use of the USRSA data.

The bottom line is we strongly believe many strings will perform differently in the context of a full stringbed than they will as a single tensioned strand in a laboratory setting. Because of this belief, we choose not to include the strings we represent in the current testing. If the USRSA changes their methods and uses a process by which a full stringbed becomes the baseline for testing, we will be happy to consider having the strings we represent included.

So there you have it. Please feel free to comment. I’ll start by adding a closing comment to myself…

John, you have just blown to bits any chance, however small it may have been, of being named as a USRSA retailer or stringer of the year, WTG goofy!

What a week! – We coined the term “Tennis Tweetspot”

It’s been a whirlwind. We have set up our Twitter account and are tweeting away, but apparently many of our customers are not yet into the whole Twitter scene. We believe the content of our tweets may be interesting to our serious customers and thus have added our TWEETS to this very blog!!! The 5 most recent will be included on the bottom of the sidebar, so if you do not wish to subscribe to Twitter, but still want to keep up with our tweeting excursions, you can do so using our blog.  We are calling our experience on Twitter the “Tennis TWEETspot!”  Please join us there.

The “Tennis Tweetspot” is another service brought to you by your innovative friends at Guts and Glory Tennis. We are the original innovators. Our competitors watch in amazement and then scratch their heads, mumbling “why didn’t we think of that?” as they rush to drink a big glass of copycat Kool-Aid. We just chuckle as we remember, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

(BTW, How’s that blog working for you FL boys? That email update was a fine addition. Nice thinking there. Looking forward to your upcoming tweets!)

For those awaiting the arrival of the WeissCANNON Silverstring 1.20mm reels, they are now in stock and available through our online store. We tweeted about this yesterday, but thought we’d give it a little ink on the blog as an act of reinforcement.

Just Bend Over.

I can’t even begin to describe how frequently I see this particular wear pattern on the headguard of racquets. Most frequently it is observed on the frames of junior players. I suspect if you are a racquet stringer you have seen it too.

In my shop I have several juniors who regularly wear through the headguards. The wear pattern is always the same, as pictured above. I attempt to explain the cause to the parents, but I am continually surprised at how many do not address the issue with the kids. In some instances the worn grommet is not caught in time and the racquet is compromised to the point where a new one is needed. Expensive propositions, especially in today’s economy.

The purpose of this blog is to clarify a common misperception. I will hear from players and parents alike that the head guard is worn from digging out low balls. 99.999% of the time this is simply NOT accurate. I have gone to the courts and watched the juniors practice. In so doing I have personally observed the act that I strongly suspected was causing this particular wear pattern. If I had a video of said act, I would post it. It is an act that simply is not necessary and can be avoided without impacting play in any manner.

Kids, (and some adults alike), use a technique to pick up lose balls that is the cause of head guard destruction. The best way to describe the act is the player approaches a lose ball on the court. Instead of bending down to pick the ball up (afterall we wouldn’t want too much exercise) they place the racquet head on the far side of the ball. They then scoot the ball to the heal of their foot and pop the racquet and foot up in order to get the ball to rise to a point where they can reach it without bending over. In the process of “scooting the ball to their foot” the racquet head is allowed to scrape the court. Over time and repeated transgressions;  abrasion, wear and head guard obliteration occurs.

To me this is an easy problem to avoid. Don’t use your racquet in this manner to pick up the ball.  Dr. Johnny suggests, “Just bend over, it won’t hurt.”

Guts and Glory Tennis – - Now on Facebook

We freely admit to being social networking newbies.  Last week we spent some time setting up our personal facebook site and an interesting phenomena occurred.  Several of our local stringing customers requested us to befriend them online.

As we became more familiar with the facebook community we learned that groups existed and we created a group for Friends and Customers of Guts and Glory Tennis.  So, if you are active on facebook we cordially invite you to join our group!  Just conduct a group search for “Guts and Glory Tennis” and our group will appear.  Membership is open to the public.  I look forward to meeting you at our new group site.  We will keep the site updated with images and hopefully some interesting discussion will occur.

Introducing a NEW tennis term…

At Guts and Glory Tennis, we are avid tennis players as well as racquet technicians.  Today we are extremely proud to unveil a new tennis term that will soon be sweeping the tennis world.  Remember, you heard it here first!

“Lobortunity” – (noun) meaning:
1.  An appropriate or favorable time or occasion to lob.
2.  A situation or occasion favorable for a lob.

The Lob is perhaps the most underappreciated and underused weapon in tennis.  Properly implemented the lob can be a deadly stroke taking opponents out of their game and creating offensive opportunities on weak replies.  I’d like to personally thank my pal Arthur who has tutored me well on the subject.  As Arthur frequently says, “High ball wins point!”

Recycling of topical posts for new readers

For readers who are new to our blog, we welcome you and wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day! Given the A-Rod story and steroids are back in the news we thought it might be fun to point our readers to a post we made last year in which we confessed to the use of performance enhancing drugs. Please see our entry titled “Full Disclosure” which was written approximately one year ago and covers the topic with a dose of lighthearted humor.

Also in the spirit of recycling we would like to point our readers to a humor post on a section of our web site that we had before this blog was created. It is called “Anna Be Mine” and it speculates on what Dr. Phil may be saying to Anna Kournikova in a celebrity pro-am tennis tournament. It is one of our favorite Valentine Day efforts, plus it gets Anna’s name in our blog which is sure to increase traffic!

Use Tennis to Defeat the Recession Blues

Let’s face it, without getting political, our country is facing severe financial challenges. Seemingly everywhere we turn the news is grim.

Before making a personal career change to the world of tennis entrepreneurship, I served for many years as a career services professional. Yes, my job was to help people in all aspects of a career search. All modesty aside, I believe my clients and colleagues would describe me as being at the top of my profession. Most importantly I believe the adjectives “innovative” and “highly effective” would be commonly used to describe my interactions with my clients.

I mention this not to pat myself on the back, but in an effort to generate a bit of credibility for this post. During tough economic times people feel pressure that seemingly gets heavier and heavier. For those seeking employment, the weight of this pressure can have a devastating impact on the ability to make a positive impression with potential employers and impact their ability to perform everyday activities. It is almost as if the weight paralyzes job seekers thus preventing them from operating at 100% efficiency. This must be recognized and addressed.

During tough economic times, one thing that everyone must do is continue taking care of themselves. This means getting proper amounts of nutrition, sleep and physical exercise. Toward this end tennis can be a great asset in defeating the recession blues.

Tennis is an inexpensive sport. It involves interacting with at least one other person or many if you play in league tennis. All of the people you meet in tennis offer potential networking opportunities for those in a job search. But most importantly a tennis match can offer an opportunity for you to escape the headlines for a few hours and treat yourself to fun exercise.

Unlike golf, costs associated with tennis are modest. A can of tennis balls will cost approximately $3.00 and can last a couple of matches IF you invest in quality tennis balls such as Dunlop Grand Prix or Pro Penn. These balls are of higher quality than those found in $2.00 cans and over the long haul are a better value and investment because they will last at least as long if not longer than two of the $2.00 cans, but I digress.

The message is that it is absolutely fine to continue playing tennis in difficult economic times. In fact, it is healthy and will ultimately help you if you find yourself in the midst of a seeking employment. Priority #1 is to take care of yourself and keep a POSITIVE and UPBEAT frame of mind. Do not allow yourself to wallow in negative energy as it will impact all those with whom you interact as well as yourself.

So this call is for tennis players to take to the courts! Give yourself permission to have fun, to exercise and most importantly to let go and just play.

Call upon those childhood instincts and let all the worries go and just have fun. You deserve it.

While playing, take note of how you feel. After you leave the court carry that same good feeling and positive energy with you back to your home, family and friends. A fresh and lively attitude will do wonders for you and those who surround you during these tough times.

Now, my friends, go forth and use tennis as your springboard to soundly defeat those recession blues. It is okay. Give yourself permission to have fun on the courts. It is both healthy and helpful.

True Confessions of a Tension Loss Snob

When we first began our stringing business we were desperate to separate our fledgling company from competitors. We sought out to educate ourselves about strings and string products and through this process determined that tension loss was bad, in fact it was down right evil. We quickly jumped on this concept and while fully believing it was 100% true went forward to spread to word on the evils of tension loss to customers far and wide.

We have now been in business 5 years and after extensive playtests with 100’s of strings and plenty of user feedback we now realize that viewing this topic as a black and white issue is not necessarily accurate. There are definite shades of grey that must be considered.

Learning from our experiences we now wish to amend our thinking and position on the issue of tension loss. While tension loss is certainly not ideal and clearly can have negative effects on the way a racquet performs, it is NOT a universal way to measure string performance or lack thereof. We have learned that PLAYABILITY trumps tension loss. Unfortunately there is no precise manner to measure playability. It can not be quantified because it is subjective and varies from person to person and product to product.

Measuring tension loss was used as a very neat and tidy way to determine the quality of a string as well as a time to restring. For years we operated under the assumption that if a string lost too much tension initially it simply could not be any good. For years we operated under the assumption that if a string lost 15% – 20% of tension it needed to be changed. While in some cases these statements are true, we no longer see them as universal truths. The lesson learned is that “tension loss does not always equate to an unacceptable loss of playability.”

We have learned that a majority of string products are going to lose 8 – 12% tension in the first 24 hours. In the case of some poly-based strings, this number can be even higher. The vast majority of recreational and league players do not play with their racquet the moment it comes off the machine. Rather, it will have been strung a day or more in advance and by the time it is taken to the court, the initial tension loss has already occurred. While it may have come off the machine with a Dynamic Tension (stringbed stiffness) of 42, they may very well be playing with a DT of 38 – 40.

Assuming the playability at this point is to the liking of the customer, the question now becomes, how long will the playability/playing characteristics of the stringbed last? Will they fade as tension fades and at what rate? Does the initial tension loss have any relevancy whatsoever?

What we have observed through the years is that some strings will hold playing properties longer than others. In many instances there is a seemingly direct correlation between tension loss and deterioration of performance. However, the pattern of tension loss to performance loss varies and is NOT universal.

By using our ERT to measure stringbed stiffness we have observed many instances where a customer will feel the performance of the racquet drops when the ERT reading hits a certain level. We have also observed instances where the stringbed stiffness remains constant and the playability deteriorates. If we were a physicist we may be able to explain this in greater detail, (perhaps it is a matter for Brody, Cross and Lindsey to explore?), but we can not explain why, we only know it happens.

When performance suffers customers will describe the feeling to us using terms such as “dead” or “boardy” or “mushy” or “springy” etc. Interestingly we have observed that strings that tend to hold tension better receive the “dead and boardy” comments where those that lose tension get the “mushy and springy” ones. We have also observed that players have different tolerances. We are fortunate to have several local stringing customers who use the same racquet. When they are using the same string, we see different rates of restringing due to performance. We have concluded from this that individual preference for feel definitely comes into play.

So where does this leave us? Well, in our situation we have shifted to a position where we tend to use and recommend products to our customers that have proven the ability to hold their PLAYABILITY over time. With the exception of string movement, (see final paragraph) tension loss does not always negatively affect playability and we are now using our direct experiences and feedback from our customers more and more in the process of recommending string products.

So my confession is this. I used to profess the evils of tension loss. I proclaimed the strings we used held tension better than any on the market. While this may have been true and was definitely believed to be an advantage, I now realize there are some great playing strings that do not hold tension as well. A string that has lost 18% tension may very well perform better than another than has lost only 13%. I have come to learn that I may have unintentionally misled some customers in the past and wish to be forgiven. My focus has shifted to the broader concept of Playability from my once narrow obsession with tension loss.

As a related side note. Many synthetic strings begin moving as tension is lost. String movement drives some players completely crazy and they can not cope with adjusting strings. (Another blog entry for another day!) In this case, we recommend using strings that hold tension well or do not move. (The Prince Recoil is a good, but pricey choice.)

Celebrity Customers???

This holiday shopping season has generated some interesting orders for Guts and Glory Tennis. We have filled orders for one known celebrity and suspected others. For grins and giggles we thought we would share a list of our suspected and confirmed celebrity clientele.

1. We received an order from an S. Graf using a Las Vegas PO Box for a unique custom made item for a young girl. Hmmm. Not confirmed, but suspected.

2. We filled an order that was going to the Dr. Phil studios in LosAngeles. It is well known that the good doctor is a huge tennis fanatic. Perhaps you will enjoy our Valentine’s 2005 satire piece as much as he did. See Dr. Phil: “Anna Be Mine.”

3. We completed a nice order the other day for Ashley Simpson. Was it the celebrity or not? We are not sure, but for fun we are going to assume it is.

4. We have received multiple orders from a customer who we believe to be Susan Lucci who is located in CA.

Guts and Glory Tennis:  Online shopping source for the Stars!

Congratulations A3 City Champions!

Did you know my wife is a tennis hero? It is absolutely true. Read on…

Congratulations to the A3 ALTA City Champions! What a thrilling City Finals event and unlikely playoff run for this group of terrific players from Montvale Swim and Racquet Club.

The unlikely journey began because depending on the number of divisions, ALTA will sometimes invite 3rd place teams into the playoffs. Well, the women of Montvale Swim and Racquet barely finished in 3rd place and did not have a better record than other 3rd place teams. However, because a couple of third place teams were not able to field teams for a playoff run, captain Roberson received a call late in the week inviting them into the dance. (A call many teams were about to regret!)

Thus the journey began. Weekend #1 found the Montvale team upsetting the first place team with the best record at the A3 level with a convincing 3 – 0 sweep, stunning the hosts. The next weekend found two more back-to-back 3-0 sweeps sending the underdogs directly into the city finals with a boatload of momentum.

The City Finals would not to be as easy. The opponents were a team based out of Carl Sanders YMCA and they were loaded with talent. Montavale’s sterling 1’s started the day on a positive note with a solid victory, but line #2 went to the talented YMCA pairing. Montvale dominated at line #3 to give them a 2-1 lead in the best of 5 match. Line #4 was keenly contested with YMCA drawing even with a 3 set victory. The stage was set. The match stood at 2-2 with the deciding match on the court.

Montvale had to feel good as they had Mary anchoring the lineup. A cool customer who simply doesn’t get rattled was added to the team this season as an alternate. She had played lines 1 -3 for years prior to this season where she filled in wherever needed. A high line player with an excellent partner would surely spell victory at line #5…or would it? After a convincing and swift first set victory, YMCA refused to buckle. They stepped up their game taking the second set and drawing even. It was now all on the line. One set. Sudden death. Winner take all.

The final set was underway with each team playing their best tennis of the match. Serving up a break at 3-2 Mary went down 0-30. The next point was one for the ages with Montvale digging hard and winning a point that looked as if YMCA would go up 0 – 40. Instead Montvale took the point and held on to serve to go up 4-2. YMCA refused to fold, holding serve and fighting back 4-3. Montvale was now serving and again on the service ropes. Too many ad-in and ad-out points to count. It was a dramatic game until Laney finally took over by rushing the net at deuce and ad-in to take command of the game. Down 3 – 5 and forced to hold serve to stay in the match, YMCA began to feel pressure. The Montvale duo took full advantage of the situation, broke the server and won the match…

The team flooded the court to celebrate a City Championship. CONGRATULATIONS!

Design Kudos

Guts and Glory Tennis recently had the pleasure of working with a local graphic artist on a project related to one of our products. The artist was Brandon of eyefly Design. Brandon was EXCELLENT to work with. Professional, prompt, attentive, creative, thorough and he delivered a terrific final product for us. His rates are reasonable and work is outstanding. We proudly give him a HUGE thumbs up and encourage anyone looking for design services to give Brandon an opportunity to make a bid on your project. His work is top-shelf.

Rear Ended!

My most sincere apologies go out to two of my favorite local stringing customers, David and Marcia, for they would have won our tennis division and the prestigious bag tag but for my butt.

In Atlanta we are fortunate to have massively large tennis leagues. The largest is an organization known as ALTA, the Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association, with over 85,000 participants. This past winter, I was participating in a MxD league where my team faced off against several of my local stringing customers. (It’s pretty cool to watch doubles matches and know that all four racquets being used were strung by our shop, but that’s another story for another day!)

On-court battles were waged for 7 weeks as 8 teams battled down to the wire for the division title. In the end the final standings found the division champions winning by a single point with David and Marcia’s team coming in second place, while my team was down near the rear. However, I may have unintentionally rumpled some feathers with my performance against the division winners.

It was a cold and blustery day, and one I won’t soon forget. During the second game of the first set I lunged hard for a forehand and ended up on the court in pain as my Gluteus Maximus was stretched to the maximus. Yep, I had literally pulled a butt muscle. The injury was a bum deal as my partner and I, who were undefeated, found ourselves at a severe disadvantage against a team we most likely could have taken down.

I had a haunch that I could continue, so we played on. My mobility was limited and I was unable to push-off on serves and ground strokes. Still, it was only one cheek, so you could say I was literally playing half-ass tennis that day.  (Which is only slightly different than normal, when I figuratively play half-ass tennis.)  Ultimately we would lose in straight sets, 5-7, 4-6. The scores were close enough that we derriere to believe we might have won had my fanny held itself together.

The sad result is that my backside not only gave our opponents the single point they needed to win the division, but it prevented my long-time customers from winning while spoiling my partner’s undefeated season. When the division winner receives their champion bag tags they really do need to give me thanks. In fact I would go so far as to say they should kiss my…gluteus maximus.