First again!

Guts and Glory Tennis is thrilled to unveil a new string product that will absolutely revolutionize the entire industry.

For the past 5 years, Dr. Lars Lufferington, a Swedish chemist and engineer, has dedicated his life and family fortune to the pursuit and development of what he proudly calls “the greatest tennis string in the history of the world.” After nearly 3 years of rigorous playtesting and product development, his new company, LUF (pronounced LOOF), is officially launching this revolutionary product through Guts and Glory Tennis who will be the exclusive worldwide distributor for this and all future LUF tennis products.

The string, named APRILIA, is made with a revolutionary process where the finest natural gut fibers are essentially freeze-dried into a powder-like substance. This substance is then incorporated into a highly sophisticated polymer and extruded into ultra fine twisted threads. Over 1080 threads are then bound with a PATENTED thermal conductive molandoscope and coated with a new anthromacite coating which locks in playability allowing ZERO tension loss.

The APRILIA offers the feel, touch and power of natural gut along with the control and awesome spin production of the poly-based strings. In short, Dr. Lufferington, has created a string that offers all the properties of a natural gut/poly-based hybrid in a single string product. Best of all the string does not lose any tension or playability throughout the life of the string.

But wait…there’s more!!! The durability is off-the-charts excellent. In fact it is unconditionally guaranteed to last at least 40 hours of court time for even the biggest hitters. If it fails to perform for at least 40 hours or loses any playability for the life of the string, you can request a 2x your money back as part of the 200% satisfaction guarantee.

The new LUF APRILIA comes in three gauges, 1.29mm, 1.22mm and 1.13mm and will be imaged and available exclusively from the Guts and Glory website in the next 24 hours. We do have a limited supply on hand that we will sell to the first customers who contact us via email today. The product will feature introductory pricing of just $4.10 per 40′ set. Mini – reels will eventually be available and are projected to have an introductory cost of $41.09. We will be taking pre-orders for the mini reels starting today.

Join us in welcoming LUF to tennis and the USA! Be watching this blog and our twitter page for more information.

GOTCHA!!! We had a lot of fun with this posting.  Note it appeared on APRILIA FOOLS day.  Unfortunately the product described is imaginary, but it would indeed be wonderful if such a string did exist.  We hope you had as much fun with this as we did.  Sorry if you truly believed.  We were not sure many would buy the “freeze-dried natural gut powder” bit, but apparently they did.  Too funny.

The Quintessential Guide to Copoly Tennis Strings

This is the first part of a series of blog entries designed to share thoughts about the new equipment paradigm that is radically shaping the tennis landscape. There are many myths that need to be addressed and we will attempt to provide a through overview and address many issues, myths and questions concerning these strings.

Chapter 1: Copoly Strings: The New Tennis Equipment Frontier

Fasten your seatbelts tennis fans! Our beloved sport is in the midst of a significant paradigm shift. In the late 1970’s Howard Head’s oversize racquet, (The Prince Classic), revolutionized racquet design and set in motion a paradigm shift away from wooden, standard-sized head racquets. Along the way there were many detractors and those that scoffed at the notion of such a radical equipment change. However, racquet companies did not shy away from the change. Engineers from all racquet companies began designing mid, midplus and oversize frames. The resulting technology took these frames to dizzying new performance heights. Today standard-sized heads are a thing of yesteryear. Thirty years after the introduction of the Prince Oversize Classic, the racquet landscape has changed dramatically. The high-tech frame technology has been embraced by recreational and professional players alike. The reason is simple, easy to understand, and can be summarized in 2 words: “Superior Performance.”

Likewise, near the turn of the century we began to see innovations in string design and composition. Polyester strings had been around for many years. They never gained popularity because the performance characteristics were quite frankly god-awful. They were stiff and lost their playing properties rapidly. A company called Luxilon was among the first to begin revising the performance characteristics of polyester strings with powerful chemical and element additives. As a result of this extreme makeover, “copoly strings” were introduced to the world of tennis.

The additives provided the Luxilon strings, specifically Big Banger ALU, with better feel than traditional polyesters while simultaneously offering improved performance characteristics. The string was amply named. It was originally intended for heavy hitters (aka “big bangers”) because it allowed players to take massive swings and generate tons of power while offering phenomenal levels of control.

As racquet technology increased the inherent power of a frame, all players, professionals included, searched for ways to tame the power. The answer for many, (before copolymers), was to string these new wondersticks at high tensions to gain control. However, when Luxilon introduced new copoly strings, a handful of professionals discovered the string provided plenty of control for the powerful frames.

Copoly strings are a lower powered string that serves as a near perfect compliment to the newer high-powered frames. Professionals found they could generate a nearly insane amount of topspin that allowed for control, precision and angles that heretofore had not been available. The new copoly strings and the new frames were meant for one another as if they were soul-mates!

Credit goes to the dirt-ballers for introducing these strings to the ranks of the professionals. Clay court specialists are the ones who introduced the “Extreme Makeover Polys,” known as copolys, to the professional tour. The best claycourter of the day, Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten, was the first top 10 rated in the Luxilon stable of professionals to use and endorse the string.

Soon many of the top-tier players were experimenting with Guga’s copoly strings and discovering an entirely new level of control and performance. It really wasn’t until Andre Agassi began using and endorsing Luxilon strings that they were even on the radar screens of many recreational players in the USA. Today the top echelon of players, Federer, Nadal, Roddick etcetera all use copoly or copoly hybrids to produce some of the highest quality tennis the world has ever seen. As a result more recreational players, wanting to emulate their favorite professionals, are requesting Luxilon strings for their racquets.

But should league and recreational players be using these strings? What are the pros and the cons? Are any strings as good as Luxilon ALU? Is Luxilon ALU as good for league players as professionals? All of these questions and more will be addressed in “CHAPTER 2: Contextual Thinking: Copolymer, thy name is Luxilon…or is it?” Be watching this blog for further updates!

Prince Recoil: My Impressions

The masses have put out the call and Prince has been the first company to respond. Prince Recoil is the first synthetic string that promises to stay in alignment throughout the life of the string. In other words, “it snaps back into place giving the impression that it hasn’t moved.” There are literally hundreds of thousands of players who abhor string movement. Prince believes Recoil is the answer to this particular problem.

Prince asks a premium price for this string that features new “space-age chemicals” which allow the strings to slide neatly back into place after the shot. The cost per set is nearly as much as natural gut and the Guts and Glory installed price is $43.90. (One of our local competitor’s, Your Serve Tennis, charges $44.95 so you can see the cost is high at virtually all resellers.)

We installed our first set today. We honestly did not believe tennis customers would pay this price for the string. We were wrong. Our first customer literally jumped at the opportunity to finally get strings that would stay in place. “String movement drives me batty,” she exclaimed. When we told her the price, she didn’t blink. “I’ll pay anything to have strings that are playable and don’t move.” She went on to explain that she viewed it as a treat to herself. “I’d much rather treat myself to these strings than a manicure” was the rationalization we heard.

When stringing I noticed the Recoil strings possess a strong chemical odor. I found myself hoping that the chemicals used to treat the strings were not a carcinogen and wondering if a mask was in order? The strings are very odiferous. They are also slippery. If you are a stringer, make sure your clamps are properly adjusted (on the tight side) because otherwise you will run the risk of the little buggers slipping and getting damaged from the clamps. I had to tighten down much harder than normal and was hoping that the pressure was not bruising the strings. (Note: clamps were cleaned prior to stringing).

Another bit of fun was in regard to the residue left on my hands. My fingertips became slick and I found myself being extra careful not to drop any tools and made darn sure I did not munch on anything during stringing. God only knows if the chemicals are dangerous. I avoided picking my nose, as it would have only been a futile exercise with the Gortex-like substance on my hands. I did wash immediately afterward and seriously wondered if rubber gloves should be worn when installing.

We will see if the strings live up to their promise. At the price, they better.