February 2009 Volume 37 Number 2 $5.00
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February 2009 Volume 37 Number 2 $5.00 www.racquetsportsindustry.com ADVERTORIAL ContentsContents RSI FEBRUARY 2009 FEATURES INDUSTRY NEWS OUTLOOK 2009 7 Prince debuts EXO3 racquets 23 Manufacturers 7 USTA names Regional Gear Up Training Centers Despite economic worries, the makers of 8 PTR Symposium to racquets, shoes, apparel and strings offer h.s. coaches program are optimistic that their products will 8 Babolat names Tim McCool strike the right chord managing director with consumers. 8 USPTA announces 26 Style & 2009 Certification Exams Substance RSI and the ASBA 9 Bob Bigelow to speak at PTR Bring you the best in tennis court 9 Emilio Sanchez keynotes construction. USPTA conference 10 ATP unveils new “Feel It” ad campaign 10 USPTA adds new DVD titles 11 New multi-purpose indoor facility opens at NTC 12 Nominations sought for Tennis Industry Hall of Fame 14 Derek Ameel to direct Ferris State PTM program 15 Martin Blackman named Outdoor Tennis Facility-of-the-Year Award - Pine Canyon, Flagstaff, Ariz. to USTA post On the Cover: Pasternack Residence in 15 Prince names Dustin Perry Orange, Calif., is the RSI/ASBA Residential rep of the year Facility-of-the-Year winner. DEPARTMENTS 4 Our Serve 28 String Playtest: Head ETS 16 7 Industry News 30 Ask the Experts 17 TIA News & Updates 32 Your Serve, by Kevin Theos 20 Grassroots Tennis www.racquetsportsindustry.com 2 RACQUET SPORTS INDUSTRY February 2009 Our Serve (Incorporating Racquet Tech and Tennis Industry) Building On a Solid Foundation Publishers David Bone Jeff Williams n December, I made the annual trek to the Technical Meeting Editorial Director of the American Sports Builders Association, which was held in I Peter Francesconi New Orleans. I really love this group, and as I’ve said before in Associate Editor this column, these court builders are literally the foundation of Greg Raven our business. The fact that so many of them take time out from Design/Art Director their businesses to gather for educational seminars and presen- Kristine Thom tations, and participate in roundtables and problem-solving ses- Contributing Editors sions, really shows the depth of their commitment to this Robin Bateman industry. (Importantly, the ASBA also puts together construction Cynthia Cantrell guidelines that are the “bible” of this industry, along with testing Kristen Daley and designating Certified Tennis Court Builders.) Joe Dinoffer Liza Horan Part of the meeting included a presentation to a packed house by Virgil James Martin Christian of the USTA describing the QuickStart Tennis format for bringing kids Greg Moran into the game using, among other things, shorter, more kid-friendly courts. Chris Nicholson Already, many places have installed permanent QST courts. But if permanent Bob Patterson short courts are not an option, a regular court can be unobtrusively lined for Cynthia Sherman Mary Helen Sprecher QuickStart Tennis. (For more information, visit www.quickstarttennis.com.) Thousands of facilities and parks across the country are offering programs RACQUET SPORTS INDUSTRY for kids using the QST format, and many rely on the pros, parents and the kids Corporate Offices themselves to put down temporary lines on the courts. But permanent courts 330 Main St., Vista, CA 92084 and permanent lines mean that QST becomes ingrained in a community, and Phone: 760-536-1177 Fax: 760-536-1171 Email: [email protected] the QST format is what will bring more and more people into this game. Court Website: www.racquetTECH.com builders are an important touchstone to communities, schools, facilities, park Office Hours: Mon.-Fri.,8 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific Time and recs, and Community Tennis Associations, and builders can greatly influ- ence the adoption of QST in their communities. Advertising Director One of the things I’ve been honored to do at the ASBA meeting is present John Hanna the facility-of-the-year awards, which we cover in RSI in articles throughout the 770-650-1102, x.125 [email protected] year. Also, I presen t RSI’s Court Builder of the Year Award, which for 2008 went to Boston Tennis Court Construction Co. and its owners Dave Marsden and Apparel Advertising Bruce Mahler. Cynthia Sherman The ASBA (www.sportsbuilders.org) also recognized longtime executive v.p. 203-263-5243 Carol Hogan with its highest honor, the Industry Merit Award. Carol recently [email protected] retired, after leading the group for 20 years and presiding over its impressive Racquet Sports Industry is published 10 times per growth. Making a seamless transition into the management of the ASBA is a year: monthly January through August and com- bined issues in September/October and Novem- team led by association management professional Fred Stringfellow, with assis- ber/December by Tennis Industry and USRSA, 330 tance from longtime ASBA staffer Cynthia Jordan. Main St., Vista, CA 92084. Application to Mail at Thanks to Carol’s leadership, a committed board of directors and member- Periodicals Postage Prices is Pending at Vista, CA and ship, and an exciting transition to Fred’s management, the ASBA—which long additional mailing offices. February 2009, Volume had been under the radar in this industry—is helping to move the dial as far as 37, Number 2 © 2009 by USRSA and Tennis Industry. tennis growth in this country, and the group is getting the attention it richly All rights reserved. Racquet Sports Industry, RSI and logo are trademarks of USRSA. Printed in the U.S.A. deserves. If you’re not a member, you should consider joining t his very impor- Phone advertising: 770-650-1102 x 125. Phone circu- tantg group.p lation and editorial: 760-536-1177. Yearly subscrip- tions $25 in the U.S., $40 elsewhere. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Racquet Sports Industry, 330 Main St., Vista, CA 92084. Peter Francesconi Editorial Director RSI is the official magazine of the USRSA, TIA,and ASBA 4 RACQUET SPORTS INDUSTRY February 2009 www.racquetsportsindustry.com RSI FEBRUARY 2009 INDUSTRYINDUSTRY NEWS NEWS INFORMATIONTOHELPYOURUNYOURBUSINESS USTA Names Prince Launches New EXO3 Racquet Line Two Regional n early January, Prince Sports launched EXO3, its newest high-performance tennis racquet line. Training Centers The new line, which includes four models and six frames, is available now and features “Ener- Igy Bridge,” which suspends the string bed to provide a larger sweetspot and other playing ben- In its expanded efforts to develop efits, says Prince. future American tennis champions, John Embree, president of Prince Sports Americas, says the rev- the USTA has named the first two olutionary core technology “delivers benefits that will be appre ci- USTA Certified Regional Training ated by all levels of frequent players. We have carefully applied this Centers—The Junior Tennis Cham- technology to each model in the line in order to address all seg- pions Center in Washington, D.C., and The Racquet Club of the South ments of the market.” in Atlanta. The EXO3 Silver 118 and EXO3 Red 105, which both have the patented Energy Bridge and Energy Channel technologies, are for The Certified Regional Training players looking for comfort with power and feature a large sweetspot Centers will partner with acade- and up to 50 percent less frame vibration, says Prince. mies, clubs and tennis centers that The EXO3 Graphite (in 100 and 93) and EXO3 Rebel (in 95 and Team have a proven record of identify- ing and developing tennis players. 95) are designed for more advanced-level players (the EXO3 Rebel is The USTA plans to name approxi- used by pro Gael Monfils). Prince says the frames use Energy Channel mately a dozen regional training and provide increased spin and precision for players with faster swing centers during the next five years. speeds. At the heart of EXO3 is the Energy Bridge, which suspends In addition to continuing their almost the entire string bed from the frame, so that 77 percent of existing programs, regional train- the strings never come into contact with the frame, according to ing centers will now also host USTA training camps for players in Prince, so they move more freely. Energy Channel is a sculpted their region ages 10 to 14. These groove within the frame that enhances the benefits of Energy players will be selected in conjunc- Bridge to provide stability, boost ball control and increase spin, tion with the USTA national coach- says Prince. ing staff and their respective USTA “We conducted long and extensive research and development tri- Section Coaches Commission. The als and elaborate playtest initiatives,” says Tyler Herring, Prince’s centers also will help identify tal- global business director for performance racquets. “Players repeatedly ent in players as young as 6 years said how much they were ‘feeling’ their shots with EXO3, and how this old, run QuickStart Tennis pro- helped increase their confidence and raise their game.” grams and host QuickStart tourna- “When a racquet and ball collide, energy gets diffused, causing play- ments. ers to lose some of the important attributes that make a great shot: The camps will be staffed by top power, precision, comfort and feel,” says Roberto Gazzara, v.p. of tech- coaches at regional training cen- nology at Prince. “EXO3 changes all that by capturing more energy—at ters with assistance from the USTA impact—before it is wasted, and channeling it back into the ball on every national coaching staff. Coaches at shot. The result activates a blend of power, spin and comfort with exception- the USTA training centers also will al feel.” serve as an extension of the USTA Prince says EXO3 delivers up to 26 percent more energy back i nto the Coaching Education program by ball, adds up to 83 percent more to the sweetspot, and provides up to 25 From top to bottom, left to right: working with and training the top EXO3 Graphite 93 coaches in their region and respec- percent more control and 26 percent more spin.