I have had the good fortune of taking up tennis again this
summer. I started playing with a
neighbor in June and though we do not have a regular game by any means, we plan
to play on Sunday mornings and make it better than 50% of the time.
As I have been playing with my Dad’s old graphite Pro Kennex
from the early 1990’s, I was finally in the market for a new racquet. I made the mistake of contacting my sister
who has been seriously playing now for several years. The last time we visited Austin, we had the
chance to play at her club, Grey Rock Tennis Club.
I was convinced that it was in my best interest to demo
racquets, rather than grab what felt reasonable at Dick’s Sporting Goods. A local search in the Denver area, led me to
Game, Set, Match that has four locations.
I worked with their newest location in Louisville. The staff is very friendly and very encouraging
for a novice. I cannot answer how much
spin and power I need or other aspects of my game. However they have a great demo program at
$5/racquet with up to $30 applied to the cost of a new racquet.
The first week, I tried the Blade 104 and the Pure Drive 107
and very much preferred the Blade 104, although my partner liked the Pure Drive
107. The next week, I compared the Steam105S and the Warrior 107T and the Warrior had a slight edge. Finally, on my last week of shopping I wanted
to compare the Blade 104 and the Warrior, but also tried the Extreme XT. I ended up really preferring the Warrior and
I thought that was that.
After making my decision, I then realized I needed to choose
strings. Rather than go with
monofilament or synthetic gut, both of which offer tremendous benefits, but
also trade-offs, I opted for multifilament strings. The sales associate also recommended a 4 and 1/2
inch grip rather than what I had been playing with which was a 4 and 3/8 inch
grip. As a compromise, I opted for a
build-up of a 3/8 inch grip as I could then go smaller if the larger grip
really threw me off.
I am always excited to try new sports and tennis fits my
lifestyle well. I can get a good workout
and enjoy myself in a 90 minute window.
2 comments:
HEY, I'll play with you Steve!! Once I'm done with my marathon in October, I'll restring my rackets and I'll be down to hit with you.
Looking forward to it. Different sports are always fun in the off season. Good luck with the marathon training.
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