TENNIS GEAR AUSTRALIA

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 17

2012-01-26T01:35:00.001-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 24 Jan Tue

Day 17 – The Break-In

I wake up early and head over to the stringing room at 7.30 with Todd. When we get there the room is locked. Joel is not there to open up yet and we don’t have a key. I have 3 racquets due at 9 and I want to get started on them. At 7.50am I decide to break in. One of our windows has a dodgy latch so I climb up onto the ledge and push it open. I climb through the window without injuring myself.

A woman who is walking past comes over and asks me if I am a stringer. When I reply in the affirmative she to me “Well it’s not a good look”. I resist the urge to say something smart. Surprisingly she doesn’t call security. Joel turns up to unlock the doors soon after I break in.

I get through my morning racquets quickly. Todd has been speaking to the stringer who was doing Tsonga’s racquets. He was spraying the ball in his match with Nishikori. Apparently he changed strings for this tournament. He was using a full poly setup prior to this and changed to gut mains to soften the stringbed up. It looks like he has sacrificed a bit of control by doing this.

Radek Stepanek drops in a Donnay racquet for us to string. He has been playing with a Bosworth racquet for years but might be looking to change.

I find out some interesting information from the Wilson guys about Del Potro. He is still using an old Wilson K Factor racquet. He only has a few of them left. When a racquet has had a lot of use and a lot of restrings the graphite starts to break down and take on a different character. I am told that they have tried to make new frames for him with the same specs as his current frames but because the graphite is not worn he does not like the feel. James Blake had similar problems with his racquets as well I am told.

We have a camera crews through the room looking for action a number of times. Each time they turn up there are no racquets being strung. Bad timing.

I do an on-court racquet for Sania Mirza.

There is a mix up with an on-court racquet for Rafa during his match with Berdych. We see him hand off a racquet for an on-court and we get the call from the tournament desk. 20 minutes later we still have not received the racquet. The racquet had been left on Rafa’s chair behind his bag. We finally receive the racquet and it is back in the runner’s hand in 12 minutes.

I head to Cookie after I finish to have some drinks with Jim. He is leaving the next day. Alcoholic Japanese bubble drinks again. They are far too easy to drink. I am in no hurry to get home. I have the next day off. It is my first day off for 2 and a half weeks. We work around 90 hours a week so I am really looking forward to it.

Shane Mikic is the pro-shop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 17 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2012 US Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 16

2012-01-26T01:34:00.001-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 23 Jan Mon

Day 16

After a few racquets early in the morning we are quiet for most of the day. With most of the main draw players now out of the tournament we are really slowing down. The juniors and wheel chair players are the only ones dropping in racquets.

I am doing one racquet every 2 hours or so. There is no need for Red Bull. I did not buy it this morning. There are still a few cans in the fridge and I am sure that they will get me through the remainder of the tournament. I may need to stock up again if I start getting withdrawal headaches but that is unlikely.

I have my last racquet on the machine and am set for a 7.30 finish when we have a bunch of junior racquets dropped in. I am the only available stringer so the early night I had planned goes out the window. I leave at 9.45 and I have left 3 racquets for the morning. They were only dropped in at 8.30pm to be ready for 9am the next day. At Wimbledon they close the stringing room so any racquets not dropped in by a certain time are not accepted and the player must come back the next day to drop them off. We are a bit more flexible.

I get an early night. I’m not feeling as tired as I was last week.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 14

2012-01-22T00:42:00.001-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 21 Jan

Day 14 – Juniors and Kukushkin

We are kept busy this morning. In addition to the morning batch of racquets from Kukushkin we have a lot of junior players dropping off racquets for the start of the junior tournament tomorrow. The junior racquets are fun to string. There are a lot of Babolats with open patterns and hybrid string. They are a breeze to string. I could string these all day.

Medina Garrigues cannot find the racquet we sent out to her during the match last night. The issue takes hours to resolve and involves multiple calls from player reps and the tournament desk. We are being told that we have lost the racquet. Eventually they contact the runner who collected the racquet from us to take onto court. She had left the racquet in the player’s bag while she was being treated for the injury. A quick count of the racquets in her bag confirms that this is the case.

There are people everywhere. It is so busy outside. Apparently the ground passes have sold out. There is massive queue for beers at the bar opposite us for much of the afternoon. Many people are unable to get into the showcourts and they resort to watching the bigscreen instead.

I receive a round of applause from a guy who watches me string a racquet from start to finish. I didn’t know I was that good. Perhaps I should be selling tickets.

Kukushkin plays a marathon match against Monfils. He sends in two on-courts. One in the fourth set and one at the start of the fifth. I get both of them done in 15 minutes. The pattern we use produces a very hard weave on his particular racquets. I injure my hand while doing his second racquet. The ligament controlling the middle finger on my left hand is very sore. I am having trouble closing my hand and gripping string. I might have to call the trainer.

After the Kukushkin match I only have two racquets for Lisa Raymond to do. Then I am free to eat pizza and have a couple of drinks while watching the Hewitt match.

Shane Mikic is the pro-shop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 17 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2012 US Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 13

2012-01-22T00:41:00.001-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 20 Jan

Day 13 – Cameras and On-courts

It starts out as a busy morning. I have racquets to string for Li Na and Kukushkin first thing but after that the room slows down. Everyone is quiet. We have quite a few camera crews and photographers coming through the room today. One camera crew decides that they are going to do a live cross from the stringing room during the Federer match. But they set the camera up looking across the room so it looks like there are only about 3 machines and at the time they come in nobody has any racquets to do. So they start setting the room up and asking us to look busy. They get three guys on machines pretending to string. They put me in the background on a computer pretending to do work. So lame. We wait about 10 minutes until they do the cross and it lasts for 30 seconds. Worthwhile.

I have a photographer taking photos of my badly manicured hands while I string a racquet. I have some strapping on a couple of fingers which is half falling off. Great look. Later on in the day channel 7 attach a camera to the handle of a racquet and get me to string and stencil it. It will be on TV in the next couple of days I am told.

It gets busier heading in to the afternoon. I will be staying late tonight as Li Na is the last match on.

Dologopolov sends in two racquets during his match with Tomic. Jarrad and I do them at the same time. Jarrad flies through it and has the racquet heading back to the court in 12 minutes. That is the fastest time of the tournament so far.

There are no more racquets from Dolgopolov that night. As the womens match between Li Na and Medina Garrigues begins I am just about ready for bed. I am the last stringer left and am just waiting for the match to finish before I go back to the hotel. Then Garrigues send in an on-court racquet after the warmup. Time to wake up. Just as I am tensioning the last string she goes over on her ankle. I bag the racquet and send it out anyway. She retires soon after and I get an early night. In bed by 12.30.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 12

2012-01-19T17:09:00.003-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 19 Jan

Day 12 – Serena and Cricket

I have trouble getting out of bed this morning. I have been using the Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock App on my iPhone. It is great because even with little sleep it will wake at the correct stage in your sleep cycle so that you do not feel tired. I forgot to set it the night before. I feel asleep for most of the morning. My eyes are blurry and I am having trouble focussing.

After I get through the morning rush we are offered some tickets to see Serena’s match on Rod laver. The tickets are in Strycova’s player box. Joe and Len have tickets as well. The difference in standard between the 2 players is astonishing. Strycova struggles to keep the ball in play. There are few rallies. She makes a lot of second and third ball errors. She seems close to tears after just a few games. Her coach is not happy and smashes a water bottle into the ground when the match is finally over.

After the match we head over to the noodle place to get some lunch. The food is good apparently. They are so busy. They are taking orders faster than they can make food. The organisation is poor. There is no number system. All of the people who have ordered food cram wait at the end of the counter and as food is brought out the closest person just grabs it.

The dim sims are good. The pad thai is very salty. It is like gargling with sea water. No more noodles for me.

Within minutes of getting back to the room I get slammed. My players are sending in urgent racquets at regular intervals. I have another on-court for Kukushkin which is done in 16 minutes again. I also go head to head with Tadashi over some Nishikori on-court racquets. He beats me by one string.

Tennis Australia has organised some tickets to the cricket for some of us tonight. I head over to the MCG with Joe, Jim and Matthieu. It takes us 20 minutes to track down the tickets. None of the staff at the MCG seem to have a clue about their basic procedures. We are there in time to see the final 15 overs of the match. The Jim Beam tastes good.

We head back to the room to collect our bags after the cricket and head home. Vasilly is staying to cover the night matches. He is asleep on the floor when we walk in.

It seems more like a holiday than work today. That should change tomorrow. We expect to be busier as the junior players start to check in. We also lose one of our stringers tomorrow. Today was Dickie’s last day so one of us will have to cover his players.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 11

2012-01-19T17:09:00.001-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 18 Jan

Day 11

I have an early start today. There are 7 racquets for Sam Querrey waiting for me as well as racquets for Li Na. I need to get through the Querrey racquets as quickly as I can to free up my machine.

My fingers are still a bit sore so I really need an easy day to give them a chance to recover.

After I clear the morning racquets it is a slow day for me. My fingers are starting to feel better.

The café sells yoghurt with berries and muesli. I decide to try it out. It looks really good but tastes sour with the texture of soggy bread. Not a great choice.

The fridge in the stringing room is broken again. This is the 3^rd day in a row. The freezer works great the fridge compartment is really just a box. Works like cardboard but chews more electricity. We have to make do with room temperature Tim Tams. Some of the guys are upset.

I leave the room just after 9pm. I try to get an early night. The long days are starting to take a toll on my body.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 10

2012-01-19T17:08:00.003-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 16 Jan

Day 10

It starts out as a busy day for me. I have racquets for Li Na and Kukushkin. Kukushkin is still playing without a stencil. He has a Wilson contract but is using Head racquets. After I get through those the racquets do not stop for me. It is not a really busy day overall. We only do 250 racquets in total for the day but I do not leave the machine. I finally get a break at 10 to 4.

I quickly grab some food and then there are racquets waiting for me when I get back to the room. I do an on-court racquet for Kukushkin. It is one piece Big Banger Original in an 18 x 20 pattern. This is not the easiest racquet to string quickly. I have it back to the runner in 16 minutes. It’s not a world record but it is well within time.

I have had to tape my fingers today. It is the first time I have had to do so. My left index finger and the middle finger on my right hand have been doing too much work. They are tender. I am avoiding using them as much as possible. I am using tools to handle the strings as much as I can to save my fingers.

By the end of today we have done 2128 racquets in total.

I leave the room just before 10pm. I am exhausted. A few of the guys are having drinks. I don’t go. I need to sit down and put my feet up. I really need a massage now.

Australian Open Stringing Room - Day 9

2012-01-19T17:08:00.001-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 16 Jan

Day 9 – Main Draw

A few of us start early today. I am stringing from a quarter past seven. Li Na’s racquets prove to be slower than expected. She uses Pro Hurricane for the mains and Babolat Excel for the crosses. Both strings have a very sticky coating which makes straightening them a slow process. The crosses have 10% machine pre-stretch on them which means I am always working ahead of the tension head. The tension head pulls, releases and then pulls again for each cross string. Waiting for the tension head to pull twice slows me down. I am wanting to move quickly but it just won’t happen.

Racquets continue to come in during the morning. Everyone in the room is working flat out. On-court racquets come in thick and fast. We are having multiple on-court racquets come in from the same player at one time. This has the added novelty of 2 stringers racing against each other to get their racquet done. Jeff remains undefeated for the day.

We are busier than we were yesterday. By lunch time we have done over 200 racquets. My racquets start to slow down in the afternoon. I head over to do a radio interview with 3AW. It goes pretty well. They want to know if I would want to travel year round and string on tour. I think they are surprised when I tell them no. A few tournaments a year is fun but to spend most of the year stringing would mean giving up all sport and exercise in general. That’s not a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

I get through 3 Red Bulls today and am distressed when I realize my supply has been exhausted. We get through 354 racquets by the end of the day. I leave the room after 11pm. I need sleep and a massage.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 8

2012-01-17T19:51:00.001-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 15 Jan

Day 8 – Ridiculously Large Pizza Day

We are expecting a massive day today. The day before main draw starts is always big. We are quiet until about 11am then the racquets start coming in. While most qualifiers are happy bringing in one or two frames the majority of main draw players bring three, four or five racquets at a time.

Lunch today is pizza. Not just any pizza but Costco pizza. Each pizza is 6 slices. One half of a Dominos pizza has fewer calories than a single slice of Costco pizza. This is the most cheese I have seen on a single slice of pizza ever. No wonder Americans are overweight. I struggle to finish one slice. The base of the pizza is so thick that I feel as though I have eaten half a loaf of bread. No donuts for lunch today. This is a good thing.

After the pizza the racquets continue to pour in the door. I am making good time and staying on top of things until Sam Querrey’s racquets turn up. He wants 7 racquets done. My box is now very full. I get through the Querrey racquets in just under 2 hours.

Geometric polyester strings are popular at the moment. There are octagonal, hexagonal, pentagonal, square and triagonal cross sections. Some of them have very sharp edges designed to grip the ball. As a general rule I don’t like working with strings that have edges sharp enough to remove your finger prints when you handle them. My next two racquets need just such a string. It is getting late now and I am careful not to slice my fingers. I still have racquets to do after I am done with these.

Everyone works flat out throughout the afternoon and into the night. The last stringers are done before 10pm. I only need 2 Red Bulls for the day. A few of us have racquets to be done first thing in the morning and will be heading in early. I have 4 racquets for Li Na and one for Kukushkin. I get to bed around 11.30.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 7

2012-01-17T19:49:00.003-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 14 Jan

Day 7 – Kids Day

Today is kids day at Melbourne Park. All kids get in for free. It is the final day of qualifying matches and there are exhibition matches on other courts. There are activities everywhere to keep the kids interested. We have a stringing display again this year and I am the man for the job. I am on a small stage outside the stringing room stringing racquets beneath a couple of umbrellas. I did the same thing last year but I had a microphone so I could speak to the crowd. There is no microphone this year so I fail to draw the huge crowds that I had last year. Fortunately I have no on-court racquets while I am on stage. It is difficult to string outside with the stringbed partly in shade. I end up doing 4 hours on stage. Last year it was only 2 hours. The longer performance surely warrants extra pay. I make a mental note to speak with Ron about this.

Jim does a live interview today for Australian Open TV. It screens on the big screen here during a break in one of the exhibition matches. He is not happy being on camera although it doesn’t show.

Even though we are 2 days out from the start of the first Slam of the year the room is still pretty quiet. We have some racquets coming in during the afternoon but no one is pushed.

I don’t need any Red Bull today.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 6

2012-01-17T19:49:00.001-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 13 Jan

Day 6 – Twisties

I do a ham and cheese croissant again for breakfast. Melbourne is going to make me fat if I’m not careful. I have a couple of racquets to string first thing in the morning and then I am free until matches start.

I do my first on-court racquet of the tournament today. It is a Wilson Juice with a 16 x 19 pattern strung in one piece with Alu Power. I string the racquet in just over 10 minutes and it is back in the runner’s hands 15 minutes after he steps in the room. That’s a good time to start with.

Lunch today is Twisties and wraps. The Twisties don’t go down so well. Not sure why these guys have a problem with Twisties. I lose some sleep thinking about this.

It is not too busy today. I only need one Red Bull.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 5

2012-01-17T19:47:00.001-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 12 Jan

Day 5 – Party Pies and Donuts

I decided to go with raisin toast for breakfast. Solid choice. We received our jumpers today. The official Wilson jumpers did not make the shipment so we have been supplied with bright, bright orange Lacoste jumpers. This could happen soon enough. It was cold and rainy again this morning. Not great tennis weather.

Tadashi does an interview about stringing Nishikori’s racquets. He is playing with a new Luxilon string called 4G. Apparenty this is not information that was meant to be released. The interview is now all over Youtube. We have no information on the string other than the name. The Luxilon guy will not give us any details. Nishikori used to play with Alu power Fluoro so we are speculating that it is a soft poly but this is only a guess. Without playing with it there is no way of knowing.

I did racquets for Sam Querrey today. He is now using Aero Pro Drives but requests no stencils. Which means that he is stencilling the racquets himself or that he does not have a deal with Babolat. He used to use Prince racquets.

The stringers room lunch today is party pies, sausage rolls, mini hotdogs and donuts. There is so much food. After lunch I do not eat for the rest of the day.

I still have not had to do an on-court racquet. It is a steady afternoon. I only need one red Bull for the day and head back to the hotel at 9.30.

New NIKE Zoom Vapor Tour 9

2012-01-15T20:50:00.001-08:00

Tennis Gear have just received the latest Nike Zoom Vapor Tour 9 shoes in store.

These shoes look amazing and are the shoe of choice for Roger Federer in this years Australian Open. Priced at only $179, the Nike Zoom Vapor Tour 9 shoes will not last long. The following is a great video displaying the features of the shoe. Further information can be found on our website.

$50 off HEAD IG Racquets

2012-01-15T20:20:00.001-08:00

With the recent release of the new IG Radical and IG Prestige racquets, HEAD have announced they will be offering a $50 manufacturers rebate on the YouTek IG racquets listed below. There are some terms and conditions you need to be aware of, and they are also listed below.

Tennis has reduced the list prices of those racquets to account for the rebate, prices can be found on the HEAD Racquets page on our website.

- YouTek IG Prestige MP
- YouTek IG Prestige S
- YouTek IG Prestige Mid

- YouTek IG Speed Pro

- YouTek IG Speed MP 16x19
- YouTek IG Speed MP 18x20

- YouTek IG Speed MP 300

- YouTek IG Speed Lite

- YouTek IG Radical Pro

- YouTek IG Radical MP

- YouTek IG Radical S

- YouTek IG Extreme Pro

- YouTek IG Extreme

- YouTek IG Extreme Elite

- YouTek IG Instinct

The $50 has already been taken off the price of the racquets. Our website list price reflects the $50 rebate.

By purchasing one of the racquets within the Manufacturers rebate program you agree that we can pass your details onto Leisure Link the Australian distributor of Head tennis products.

The information we will pass on will be limited to your name, address, suburb, state, postcode, email address, date of purchase, racquet model and serial number. The data will become the property of Leisure Link Pty Ltd.

The manufacturers rebate is available for full priced racquets only and soes not apply with any other special or offer. The rebate is for Australian residents only.

The promotion will run from the 8th January 2012 to the 29th February 2012.

This is a great time to get yourself the latest racquets from HEAD.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 4

2012-01-11T17:12:00.001-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 – 11 Jan

Day 4 – Hail, Trophies and Exploding String

I start the day with a ham and cheese croissant a coffee again. Apparently we are having ham and cheese croissants brought in to the stringing room for lunch today. Croissants are a good thing.

Once again Melbourne has turned on the weather for us. Short bouts of vicious sunshine are punctuated by rain and hail. Even in the sun the temperature never gets above 18 degrees. It feels like I can get skin cancer and hypothermia at the same time. The wind is crazy . Cyclonic conditions. The temporary building we are in rattles and groans each time it is rocked by a huge gust. This is perfect tennis weather.

The first round of matches is scheduled for 10am but does not get underway until after 1pm. It rains intermittently throughout the afternoon and evening forcing the tournament organisers to cancel some of the matches.

On the first day of qualifying we would expect to be busy from early morning through to about lunch time as players get racquets strung just before their matches. The expected rush does not happen. The stringing room is quiet. It must be the rain. Or the hail. Hail is never a good thing.

With the start of matches today we have our first on-court racquet. It is one of Joe’s players. The racquet is back in the runner’s hand 14 minutes after it hits the front counter. He has strung it in around 10 minutes. I might have to drink more Red Bull to compete.

At the US Open last year we did 490 racquets in a day which is the most racquets that have been strung in a single day at a tournament. Wilson has had some commemorative plaques made up for all of the stringers involved at that tournament. We are presented with them today. It is a nice touch.

Towards the end of the day Goran drops a spool of string onto the floor. The spool breaks open and the string is everywhere. Two hundred metres of string sitting there in a great big mess of knots and tangles. Five minutes later the same thing happens to me. Fortunately I am able to find the centre of the string coil quickly so that it doesn’t become an unworkable mess. I should be getting paid extra for this.

I head back to the room around 9.30pm. Prince has erected a big sign in the foyer advertising their room number for players to collect their free gear. I toy with the idea of heading up there to score some free racquets but I am hungry. Nandos beckons.

Today was only a one Red Bull day. I won’t have to buy more on my way to the room tomorrow.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 3

2012-01-11T17:11:00.001-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 10 Jan

Day 3

Coffee and a croissant for breakfast. This is becoming a pattern.

The radio in the room is not working so my computer and playlist get a work out all day. I find myself apologizing for a lot of songs.

One of my players puts in 4 different racquets to be strung. One week out from the first major of the year and he is messing around with different racquets. He played off his head in Brisbane. Maybe he does this every time he loses. I’ll let you know if he gets through the first round.

The morning is pretty slow but after lunch we get hit by an avalanche of racquets which does not stop. We all string flat out until around 930pm. We are still about 100 racquets down from the same time last year.

I go out for a beer after we get back to the hotel and get to bed around midnight. My fingers feel good. No need to strap them up yet. I went through 3 Red Bulls today. I think that’s a pretty good way of measuring how busy we are. I’m hoping for a 1 Red Bull day tomorrow.

Australian Open String Room Day 2

2012-01-11T17:10:00.001-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 9 Jan

Day 2

Woke at 7am this morning. Had a quick shower and headed over to the courts around 8am. I had one racquet to do before 9. It was a slow morning so I went to the café for breakfast. We have access to the media café which is handy as it is close to the stringing room. The alternative is the staff café at HiSense arena. The food is cheaper here but it is a long walk from the stringing room. The ham and cheese croissants here are outstanding. Best thing ever. The coffee in the staff café is excellent too. Great start to the day.

Things pick up after lunch and by early afternoon we have a steady stream of racquets coming in which keeps everyone busy until about 7.30pm.

I am given my first Pacific restring of the tournament. No premature breakage. Must have been from a lucky batch. I have done enough racquets now to be in the groove but not enough to make my fingers sore. The perfect balance.

Most of the stringers have arrived now. There are 12 stringers with 3 more to come. One of the stringers is doing training with us and he will finish up tomorrow which will leave us with 14 stringers for the tournament.

I am on a brand new machine just as I was in New York. The clamps feel great. I clean them a couple of times each day but there is no chance of slippage.

We also calibrate and clean our machines every morning. All machines are calibrated with the same calibrator so that they are pulling at the same tension. I should be able to string on any machine in the room and pull up the same tension. The machines are not turned off at night. These machines self-calibrate each time they are turned on so we keep them turned on for the duration of the tournament to simplify the calibration process.

We finish early tonight. I have Nandos for dinner and kick back on the couch to watch some cricket. Tomorrow will be very busy. The day before qualifying starts is traditionally one of the biggest days for the tournament. I will have to stock up on Red Bull tomorrow morning.

Australian Open Stringing Room Day 1

2012-01-11T17:09:00.001-08:00

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Australian Open 2012 - 8 Jan

Day 1

I flew into Melbourne late yesterday afternoon. A few of the guys were coming back from the stringing room just as I got to the hotel. The guys have been stringing for a couple of days already but have not done many racquets.

I finally sorted out which room I would be staying in. Subway for dinner, caught up with the guys over a couple of drinks then off to bed. My bed doesn't like me this time. Or maybe it's my pillow. I think my pillow was designed by someone with a massive head. And my bed is softer on the edges so I find myself sleeping right over on the edge. Falling out of my bed at night is a risk I am willing to take.

I left for the stringing room at 8.30 this morning. Sorted out my accreditation, cleaned and calibrated the machine and was ready for action by 9. It was a quiet day. I only did a handful of racquets.

Our uniforms have changed this year. White shirts instead of grey. The hoodies have not arrived in time so it looks like we will all be wearing bright orange Lacoste jumpers when it gets cold as it inevitably does in Melbourne.

We had Djokovic’s racquets in the room today. He is using gut mains and Luxilon Alu Power crosses at 27kg. His frame is painted up as a Head IG Speed 315 but it has an 18 x 20 string pattern and a different beam from a standard Speed 315.

We finished early and left the room around 6.30. We had a BBQ at Phil’s place. We do it each year and it is a good way to start the tournament. Phil has 2 courts at his place so it gives everyone a chance to hit some balls and demo the new Wilson racquets.

The BBQ wound up pretty early so I was back in the room by 10.30 and ready for bed by 11. Tomorrow will be a busier today.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 15

2011-09-05T19:31:00.001-07:00

US Open Fri 2^nd September

This is my last day stringing. I am looking forward to having a couple of days off afterwards. There is lots of shopping to be done.

The morning is fairly busy. We have a steady stream of racquets leading up to the 11am start time. Zvonareva has decided to go back to the Gamma string she was using previously. This spells trouble. Once her match starts we are hit with a stream of on-court racquets from her. She sends in 4 for the match. All have broken at the grommets inside the tubing. There is nothing we can do about this.

The day slows down after lunch. There are still racquets for me to string but the urgency of the last few days is not there. I don’t have to string 4 racquets an hour. We are losing another 2 stringers today. It is Vasiliy’s last day as well.

Ron has started organising the team for the Australian Open. Everyone on the team here has been invited back for Australia. One or 2 of the Americans are undecided but the team will be essentially the same.

We saw the new Wilson range today. The new BLX’s have all undergone a cosmetic change. There are a couple of new models. The Wilson has also introduced a new handle system to the range to increase feel.

Before today the team had strung 2666 racquets for the tournament. I had strung just under 200 racquets. My fingers feel fine. The new taping has worked wonders. After the Australian Open in January my fingers were shedding skin for a month. Looking at my hands now it is like I have been on holidays for the last couple of weeks. They show no adverse signs.

I finish my last racquet just after 9pm and jump on the 9.30 shuttle with a few of the guys. We are off to get noodles. The restaurant closes at 10pm and we get there right on closing time. Tadashi manages to talk our way in. The noodles are great. One of the best meals I have had in New York.

I have 2 days to shop now. It hardly seems like enough time but I only have 8kg of baggage allowance to play with so it’s probably a good thing. I am looking forward to coming home.

Shane Mikic is the pro-shop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 US Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 14

2011-09-02T17:52:00.001-07:00

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US Open Thursday 1^st September 2011

It started out as a busy morning today. Even though we are into the second round and the number of players has halved all stringers were working flat out leading up to the 11am matches. Players have a habit of dropping in racquets at very short notice. It’s not a problem to string a racquet quickly but scheduling the stringers can become tricky. If one of my players drops in a racquet and needs it back in 30 minutes but I am already stringing for another of my players my day gets really interesting. I have to work as quickly as I can on the current racquet so that I can get to the next one in time. During the morning session you really have to work as fast as possible even if you don’t have any racquets to follow because you never know when one of your players is going to walk through the door with a racquet for you. The quicker you have your machine clear the better.

I have had a few strings pop on me this week. This morning a set of 17 gauge gut broke as I was pulling tension. I have done a lot of Babolat and Wilson gut over the last 2 weeks with no problems. The gut this morning was Prince gut. It was perfectly clean and just snapped under tension about 2 mm in from the grommet. At the Australian open this year I had no issues with breakage at all. But this week it has been carnage. There were the Zvonoreva racquets yesterday. The day before that I had a set of unmarked poly break on the long side turnaround as I was halfway through the crosses. Some of the cheaper strings cannot handle the pattern we use. We never have breakage issues with Luxilon strings. They stand up to the pattern very well.

We had a lot of tour groups coming through the room today. We don’t have many groups coming through the room during the Australian Open because the setup there is much different. It is open to the public for viewing.

I told my life story to a TV crew from the Tennis Channel. They interviewed Ron (who runs the team) about how the team works and then they interviewed me for about 10 minutes or so. The interview airs Friday on the Tennis Channel over here.

Today was supposed to be my last day but I have been asked to stay one more day. That only leaves me 2 full days of shopping here. I’m not sure that will be enough.

US Open Stringing Room - Day 12

2011-09-02T17:01:00.001-07:00

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US Open Wed 30^th August 2011

Slow morning so far. Just a steady stream of racquets, then Zvonoreva sends in 3 on-courts at once. I get one of them. She uses a Prince Exo Black and Gamma Zo string. The string has been breaking at the grommets all tournament so we have tubing on all of the mains. Tubing an Exo is not the easiest thing to do. There are no traditional grommets to hold the tubing in place so keeping the tubing there while you tension the string is a fiddly exercise. As I am tensioning the 2^nd last main the string pops at the tension head. Happy days. She has not given us any spare sets. Well at least she will get 2 of her racquets on time. We spend a few minutes hunting around for some string and find a spare set so I start again. The racquet is bagged 25 minutes after it came in the door.

Ten minutes later she sends back another which I get straight into. And then 5 minutes later she sends another. They have both broken at the top inside the tubing at the head. Ten minutes or so after sending those 2 out she sends back another. The break is in the same spot. There is nothing more we can do to stop the breakage. The string she is using just does not work with the racquet she is using. She has not sent any string in with the racquet. The runner has to go back to the court and get some more from her. As soon as I have the string I start again. As I pull the 4^th right main string it snaps inside the tubing. This is funny. We have no more string for her. Even if we did have string it wouldn’t do any good. By this stage she is serving for the match. We all sit and watch hoping that she closes it out. She always has issues with her string breaking at the grommets in her racquet. It is the string not the racquet that is the problem. After the match we do some racquets for her with different string. That should fix the problem.

It is a quiet day. Only about 200 racquets. I spend most of the afternoon sitting around doing the occasional racquet. Ron goes around the room filming all of us stringing. In particular he is looking at our weaving techniques. There are a few different types of weaving. The technique I use is unusual so he has me go in slow motion and then super slow motion so he can see exactly what my hands are doing. Luis is the other guy on the team with a different weave. His hands move up and down like pistons. I could never learn that technique. Ron will be presenting a seminar on weaving techniques at the Grand Slam Stringers Symposium. So our techniques will all be analysed and critiqued.

I have to wait til last of the outside courts are finished before I can go home. They are done by 9.40 so I catch the 10pm shuttle and get home around 10.30. Pizza for dinner then I’m in bed catching up on some sleep. Tomorrow will be my last day stringing. I am looking forward to having a few days off before I fly home.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 12

2011-08-31T14:30:00.001-07:00

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US Open Monday 28^th Aug 2011

490 racquets in one day!!! That is the most racquets strung in a single day at a Grand Slam event. It was fun and painful all at the same time. We knew it was going to be a busy day with the previous day cancelled due to the hurricane. We were all on the 7am shuttle bus out to the centre. We get there by 7.30 and then the fun starts. At 7.45 I am given 5 Head Prestiges due by 11.30. Easy. An hour later I am handed 4 racquets due for 10.30. The Prestiges are done quickly and I get started on the next 4 racquets. The player’s coach wants to check after the first one is done. This guy is notorious for never being happy with his restrings. He was happy with 31kg the on Saturday so I am doing it at the same tension. I hand it to him and he taps the strings. Far too loose.Far too loose. His player will not be happy. I reassure him that it is exactly the same as the racquet I did for him on Saturday that he was happy with. I know it is exactly the same because I have not missed a beat all week. I have been stringing multiple frames for players and they have all been done perfectly. Every multiple set of racquets pings exactly the same. We have a guy here checking every set to make sure they are all exactly the same. There has not been a problem with my restrings once. The machine has been checked and calibrated, the clamps have been cleaned and are not slipping and to cap it off I am the most pedantic person I know. I know this racquet is exactly the same as the other. This guy is mental. Nevertheless he wants it tighter. Without hitting a ball he decides it has to be tighter. The strings are cut and I now still have 4 racquets to string by 10.30. We up the tension to 32kg.

Another 2 racquets come in for me as I am doing these. I quickly get through the 4 Diablos and start on the next set. Just as I am finishing them we get an on-court call. Guess who wants his strings looser? Too funny.We drop the tension to 30kg for the on-court. He loses in straight sets.

By 1pm I have done 17 racquets and I have another 5 lined up all due at 30 minute intervals. We have 16 machines in the room and every one of them has been going flat out since we started this morning. I am really enjoying this.

I finally get a chance for a quick break around 4pm. 10 minutes for food then straight back to the machine. The racquets don’t stop all day. It is just frantic. I have lost count of how many racquets I have done. It doesn’t matter. The matches are finishing up early tonight so most of us get on the 11.30pm shuttle. The end of the day can’t come soon enough. By this stage I am ready for bed. The head cold is still messing with me.

In Melbourne this year we did 378 racquets in a day which was our record up to that point. We have just blown that out of the water. If only we were getting paid by the racquet.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 11

2011-08-30T18:38:00.003-07:00

Day 11 - US Open Sun 28^th Aug 2011

I wake up around 9am. I have slept for 17 hours. I feel average. I need fruit. There is none. I have no energy. I stay in bed for another 5 hours. I look bad and sound worse. I go out in search of food. A few of the cafes close to our hotel are open. I order an omelette. Jelena Jankovic is there with her coach. Brad Gilbert is also there. I would recommend the omelette but suspect they would recoil in fear if I came close.

I go back to the room and stay in bed the rest of the day. Everyone is going out for sushi for dinner. I skip it. I need rest.

Shane Mikic is the pro-shop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 US Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 10

2011-08-30T18:38:00.001-07:00

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Day 10 - US Open Sat 27^th August 2011

No one really knows what is going on with the hurricane coming. All public transport stops operating from midday. This means that the shuttle buses are our only way to and from the centre. If we miss the last shuttle bus then we will be stranded at the centre. The morning shuttle bus driver has told us that all bridges and tunnels are closing at 3pm. Everything will be closed on Sunday. New York is shutting down. This is not ideal. Sunday is our biggest day. In Melbourne this year we did 378 racquets on the Sunday. We would expect a similar number here. To make things worse we are only going to be operating for half a day today.

I arrive in the morning to find that the 5 racquets I have due has become 7. I really need to motor. With the main draw players arriving we are starting to see a lot of multiple frames dropped off. Players are dropping off 3 to 6 frames at time. This is not great. When we string multiple frames they have to all be done at the same time to ensure that they are all the same. So when a player drops off 6 frames it puts the stringer out of action for an extended period of time.

In half a day of work we do 200 frames. The racquets just keep coming. Some of the players are asking for Sunday morning collection. They haven’t heard that there is no tennis on Sunday.

The last shuttle leaves at 3pm. We are on it. We have covered all of the machines in plastic in case we have water in the stringing room. We get back to the room around 3.30. I go to bed straight away and don’t wake up until 9am the next day.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 10

2011-08-30T18:35:00.003-07:00

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Day 9 - US Open Fri 26^th Aug 2011

Busy day. A lot of the main draw players are starting to arrive. We did around 250 racquets. It is more than we did the same time last year. All up we have done 1050 for the tournament so far. I have been given Xavier Malisse to string for. This is going to keep me busy. He gets a lot of racquets strung. He strings at a very tension with Babolat Fibre tour which is a very stretchy nylon multifilament. He also likes his racquets to be strung in the morning. As a stringer this makes your life hard. Each morning before you even get hit with players wanting their racquets just before their match, you still have the backlog to clear from the night before. When I go in tomorrow morning I will have 5 racquets to get through before 10am. Busy morning.

I had my first on-court racquet today. It was a Prince Exo3 Tour with Big Banger Original. I had it strung in 11 minutes and it was out the door 16 minutes after it came in. Not world record speed but fast enough.

Everything is shutting down with the hurricane coming. We have been told that the tennis centre will close before 5pm tomorrow. The last shuttle bus will be at 5pm. We will not be finished by then. Peak hour for us is usually 4pm – 8pm. Everything will be closed on Sunday. This means we will have a huge backlog waiting for us on Monday morning. The shuttle buses start at 8am so we will have to catch the train in. A 6am train might not be out of the question.

I feel ordinary. The nights of no sleep have caught up with me. I am battling a head cold. Not fun. I will have to stock up on food from the café tomorrow before we head home.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 8

2011-08-30T18:35:00.001-07:00

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Day 8 - US Open Thurs 25^th Aug

In my dream last night I only had one leg. My left leg was a prosthetic but it was an inch shorter than my right leg. The fact that I wore Skins compression pants over the prosthetic leg meant that I didn’t get any pain in my hip from the difference in length.

We’ve just been told that we will probably have the day off on Saturday. Hurricane Irene will be hitting us, 10 inches of rain. Awe some.

I have only done 2 racquets this morning and it has started raining. This is not a good thing. When it rains we have to stay later. The longer it rains the later we have to stay. There are only a few machines in use at the moment. All play has stopped outside and it looks gloomy. We had a leak in our ceiling a couple of days ago. If it rains heavily I’m sure that leak will reappear. Water and electronic machines do not go well together.

It looks like I have the finger taping down pat now. My fingers feel 100%. I am using blister pads on the tops of my thumbs, index and fourth fingers. They stick well and do not get in the way. I tried using strapping tape in Melbourne but it was no good at all. It is sticky and catches the string. The best solution would probably be a player of superglue across the tops of my fingers. That way I wouldn’t have to reapply it each day. It would also be cheaper. These blister pads are expensive and don’t stick as well as super glue.

It is still raining. It has been raining most of the day. I have done about 10 racquets. They are now evacuating New York. It is a voluntary evacuation only. The media here are beating this thing up like it is going to be the biggest natural disaster ever. I have heard the phrase “could be a one in a 100 year event”. What ever. In the end it is going to be wet and a bit windy.

Wow there really is nothing happening today at all. I am on the 8pm shuttle back to the hotel. Half of the matches today have been cancelled because of the rain. We have done just over a hundred racquets for the day. On the same day last year we did 230. If it doesn’t rain tomorrow it means we are going to get smashed.

US Open Stringingoom - Day 7

2011-08-26T00:23:00.001-07:00

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Day 7 - Wed 24^th August 2011

My new cutters have tasted blood. I returned from breakfast to find a racquet waiting for me and due to be picked up in 10 minutes. I cut the string a little too hastily and went through my finger. One of the downsides of cutters with razor sharp tips is that they go through skin with ease. My old cutters have blunt tips but they don’t give the sort of finish on the string tip that I like. So there I am stringing away bleeding all over the place but I didn’t have time to stop. One of the guys patched me up while I was stringing. Great start to the day.

We have been busy in patches today. We work hard for a bit then get to chill out. At 11.55am 2 racquets came in for me which were due in an hour. Easy. Ten minutes later another racquet came in for me also due at 1. So now I have to start working fast. After completing the first 2 another one comes in also due ASAP. At 5 minutes past one I am bagging up the last of the four racquets. Four racquets in just over an hour but I really cruised on the last one.

We have a quality control supervisor here. Yat has trained many of the stringers in this room. If he doesn’t like something or the racquets are not good enough he will let you know and you will have to redo them. The tiniest thing like an imperfect knot or the strings not laying perfectly along the frame is enough to warrant another restring. He checks all series racquets. A series of racquets is 2 or more racquets for the same player. If they are to be at the same tension then they have to ping exactly. If they are at different tensions then have to ping differently. If they are not perfect then they get done again. If the strings are not straight you will know about it. Thus far I have escaped his wrath. As well as being the quality controller he is also there to answer any technical questions we have. I have had to ask a lot of questions. Knot placement is critical. Although we have a specific pattern to follow, there a lot of exceptions with respect to knot placement. The type of racquet we are stringing and also the type of string we are using affects where the knot will go. We will use different knot placement on the same racquet depending on the string that is going into it.

For the first 4 days of the tournament we have strung 754 racquets. This is 68 more racquets than were done by the same stage last year. Our biggest day so far was Monday. We did 295 racquets that day. I did 26 racquets that day. The most racquets I have done in a day is 46. That was in Sydney a couple of years ago. 20 – 30 racquets a day is comfortable. 15 racquets a day is like a holiday.

I have been stringing a lot of K Blades. There are quite a few of the pink blades being used, even by guys. I have not done a Head Prestige yet. This is a good thing. There a few of them coming in for stringing but none have been allocated to me. The Prestige is my least favourite racquet to string.

It was an early finish for me tonight. I caught the 9pm shuttle back to the hotel and was showered and relaxing by 10.

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US Open Stringing Room - Day 6

2011-08-26T00:20:00.001-07:00

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Day 6 - Tuesday 23 August

I had a dream last night that my unit was flooding. I had friends over and the carpet was all wet. I used a vacuum cleaner to suck the water up. I expected to be dreaming about stringing.

My index fingers are sore today – on the very tips and along the edges of the nails. I really was pretty rough with them yesterday. I will have to not use those fingers at all and they will be fine by tomorrow.

I have some new bandaids to try out. I am trying blister bandaids today. The adhesive is a bit stronger so it might prevent them from coming off so easily. I am waiting in the hotel lobby now for the bus. I have just had a $3 ham and cheese croissant and have a drink called Neurogasm. It improves circulation apparently. We’ll see.

No racquets for me from 10am to 11am. I am killing time on Facebook. Feel sleepy. I have some bottles of 5 hour energy in the fridge. I might have to get into that.

Matches are going on now. There are a lot of players outside the stringing room doing their warm-ups. It is a cool day outside. Definitely jumper weather and here I am without a jumper. The walk home tonight is going to be fun.

Slow, slow day. I had a lot of downtime today. This means that my players must be losing. Sitting here doing nothing is hard work. I have no energy. This is not normal. The long days might be catching up with me.

I am stringing for Fernando Gonzales. I strung 2 racquets for him. He does not have string with him so is buying it from us for each racquet he has strung. I did one racquet at 45lbs with Alu Power and the other at 46lbs. He is using a Pure Storm + but his racquet has no specs printed on it. It looks like he has a custom frame.

The new bandaids are working well. They have managed to stay attached for the whole day and my fingers are feeling fresh again. It looks like my thumb, index finger and fourth fingers are the ones that get all of the action so I will continue taping them.

We survived an earthquake today. It happened just before 2pm. I was at the machine and the ground started moving. At first I thought I was passing out. Then I saw the lights moving in the room. It lasted for about 10 seconds or so. Everyone was leaving the building so eventually I joined them.

We left the courts early tonight. A few stringers stayed for the last matches to finish while the rest of us left at 8pm. I was so tired that I could have gone straight to bed . Instead I went for beers with Joe and Marni. They own Racquet Corner in Omaha. They are fun. Joe is one of the funniest guys I know. After a couple of beers I am back in my room and get to bed just after midnight.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 5

2011-08-23T23:12:00.001-07:00

Day 5 Monday 22nd August 2011

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Slept like a baby last night. I think I am on New York time finally. Had a ham and cheese croissant for breakfast. It was good but the cheese is different. So yellow. I have never seen cheese that yellow. Maybe I need to get out more. Whenever I order food over here they always look at me like “That’s it? You sure you don’t want more?”

It has been a slow morning. 11.15 am and I have only done one racquet so far. We are expecting 300 racquets today. Which means we are going to get totally smashed this afternoon.Could be a very late night. I have Powerbars and Red Bull to get me through.

I have taped my fingers today. They were ok after yesterday but I only did about 15 racquets. They will get a much harder workout today. I have found these round bandaids which are perfect to protect the tops of my fingers. I brought a supply with me but I cannot find them anywhere here. When I run out I might be in trouble. We’ll see how that goes.

We left the courts at just after 10pm tonight. Half hour ride home so ready for bed around midnight.

We did 290 racquets for the day. It did not stop from about 1pm onwards. There were a lot of racquets coming in. The bandaids are doing ok. My fingers feel like they have seen some action but are not painful at all. I have done a lot of racquets today. I am in the groove now. It always feels a bit slow the first day, but now I’m just in the groove. The machine is working great. We all have brand new machines. The clamps are working very well. No slippage at all and no crushed string. My machine was out of calibration this morning. It was out by a kilo. I recalibrated and then calibrated it 3 times after that. It was fine and has not needed further calibration.

I have 2 racquets to do first thing tomorrow morning. First round of qualifying starts tomorrow morning at 10 so we expect a morning rush plus there will be some on-court racquets as well.

I need to buy red bull on h way to the courts tomorrow. After 2 days stringing I have exhausted my supply. There is this supplement over here called “5 hour energy”. I might try that out tomorrow instead of the red bull. We’ll see how that goes.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 US Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 4

2011-08-23T23:11:00.001-07:00

Day 4 Sunday 21 August

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Woke up at 1.30am this morning. Could not go back to sleep. At 5.30 am decided to get dressed and go to the gym. Today was my first day stringing. We met downstairs in the lobby at 8am and caught the shuttle bus in.

The stringing room is in the player services area. Unlike Melbourne there is no public viewing area of the stringers room. The stringers room here looks out over the player’s courtyard so the players and officials are the only ones who can see us string. It is a bit more relaxed in that respect.

I received my uniform today. They look great. Shirts, shorts, tracksuit, bag and the most comfortable tennis shoes I have ever worn.

We expected today to be pretty slow. We did 170 racquets all up. There were 10 stringers on today. We have another 2 stringers joining us tomorrow. I started stringing at 10am and went through until 6.30.

I strung one of Verdasco’s practice racquets today. If he is given to me as one of my players it could be interesting. He often needs racquets in a hurry and does send in on- court racquets when he plays. When a player send in a racquet during a match we have 18 minutes from the time it hits the front desk to have it back in the hands of the runner. So we must have the strings cut out, string the racquet, straighten strings, stencil and bag it all inside 18 minutes. To complete an on-court racquet on time you really need to be stringing it in around 10 – 12 minutes.

We left the room at 7.30 and went out for dinner to a Mexican restaurant. It was a long, long dinner with the best nachos ever. Each nacho was a single corn chip with cheese, a dollop of guacamole and a cube of the most perfectly cooked beef. Amazing.

We are expecting tomorrow to be very busy. It rained late this afternoon which means we will be hit by a lot of players who did not get to the courts to practice today.

US Open Stringing Room 2011 - Day 3

2011-08-23T23:10:00.001-07:00

Day 3 Sat 20th August

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Sleep patterns are an issue. Had 8 hours sleep the previous night and felt great. Last night I went to bed at midnight. Slept through my alarm and woke up at 2.15pm. I think that was my body catching up on the last few days.

Walked around for a few hours today.Lots of big shops here.Went to the gym for a bit. Really just took it easy. I have an early start tomorrow. It will be my first day stringing. It should be an easy day. We don’t get really busy with the qualifiers until Mon/Tues. Qualifying starts Wednesday so we expect Tuesday to be one of the busiest days we will have for the tournament.

US Open String Room 2011 - Day 2

2011-08-23T23:09:00.001-07:00

Day 2 Friday 19 August

Things I learned today

1. Lack of sleep leads to headaches.

2. Nurofen Zavance does not act THAT fast.

3. Reese’s peanut Butter Cups are addictive.

4. Reese's Peatut Butter Cups contain 10grams of protein per 100grams which justifies my decision to eat them as a post workout meal.

5. Hotel gyms are really small.

6. Bums over here are really large.

7. Chemists over here are actually grocery stores but without the fruit and veges.

8. Food is really cheap.

9. Pizza from New York Slice in Brisbane is $7.50 a slice. Pizza actually from New York is 99 cents per slice.

10. There are more banks in Manhattan than there are 7 Eleven stores in Melbourne. There is even an Apple Bank - for apples?????

11. Wireless internet with a prepaid stick is lightning fast compared to Australian wireless.

12. The setup instructions provided by T Mobile with their prepaid internet stick are woefully inadequate.

13. When the T Mobile automated helpline cannot help you it just hangs up on you.

14. Wireless internet here is expensive.

15. Pre- paid phone plans are cheap.

16. The guys at Footlocker are really well drilled. Brought out 2 styles of shoes for me when i selected the one i wanted and tried to sell me innersoles as i was trying them on.

17. Times Square is underwhelming.

18. There is an undersupply of wheelie bins in New York.

19. It is ok to leave trash on the ground.

20. It is cheaper to buy new clothes than have them washed with the hotel's laundry service.

21. Homeless people here have mobile phones.

22. The police swat team gears up on Times Square just to impress tourists. Show-offs.

US Open Stringing 2011

2011-08-23T23:05:00.001-07:00

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Day 1 18th August

My first day in the States and I'm spending it sitting in the American Airlines terminal. I can think of much better ways to waste 7 hours. So far as airport terminals go this one is pretty average. No good shops, A few food outlets. All of the food outlets have massive queues - US Customs size queues. I have never seen this in an Australian airport. The staffing sucks or these guys can eat. Either way it's not good. I shall have to start queuing at 1030am if I want to eat lunch at a reasonable hour.

The flight over was 13 hours. It's just on 9am now which means I have been awake for 19 hours now. Feeling tired. Although still managing to type with few errors. Note to self - get sleeping pills for the return trip. I cannot sleep in an upright position. No way, no how. I really feel like just lying down on the carpet and going to sleep. Floor space, however, seems to be at a premium. And I'm not confident that I won't catch something. The warning signs all through customs scream danger at every turn. The customs voice over guy likes to use the phrase "law abiding citizen". He uses it a lot. "Law abiding citizens are free to go about your business". "Law abiding citizens have nothing to hide. They are true travellers. True travellers are welcome in the United States." The undertone of course being if you mess up we will shoot you -dead. Note to self don't mess around with these guys.

Managed to clear customs in an hour. Pretty good considering I was at the very end of the queue. They bumped me to the front. My passport has had a workout. Had to present to the check in desk in Brisbane, then to customs in Australia, then to again to board the flight, then to customs in the US. before I collected my bag, then again to customs after collecting my bag (sidestepped the body cavity search) then again to drop my bag off for the connecting flight. In the space of 100m I present 3 times to 3 different people. Then it's over to the American Airlines terminal where I join a massive security screening queue and present my passport again.

I have to take my shoes off at this checkpoint and also undergo a full body scan. There is someone in a booth looking at me totally naked as I stand there with my hands behind my head. I saw that pose last night on the plane. I was watching Snowtown. In that movie a pedophile takes photos of a young boy standing in that position wearing only underwear. I feel violated.

I'm watching passengers board a plane right now. The staff here seem very unhappy. They are warning passengers that there will be random ID and baggage checks once they are on board the flight. If they ask me to unpack my bag I will not be thrilled.

The one saving grace so far are the peanut butter cups. Best thing ever. Bought a Nestea thinking it would be the same as in Australia. It sort of is. You can try it out at home. Buy a Nestea from the shop then each time you take a mouthful mix in about 8 teaspoons of sugar and there you have it. American Nestea.

It is just on 930am now. Time to find a spot to snooze.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 US Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

Shane Mikic Stringing Blog

2011-06-02T00:58:00.001-07:00

Shane Mikic has been invited to attend this years US Open as part of the official Wilson Global Stringing Team. Again Shane will be sharing his experiences inside the room with insights into what is happening on the pro tour when it comes to tension, customisation and new strings. Stay tuned for more information.

Staying in the Tennis Business

2011-06-02T00:56:00.001-07:00

Tennis Gear recently celebrated 40 years in the tennis business, originally the business was owned and operated by Geoff Olsson and then by Mark Bloomfield. A lot has changed over that time with the introduction of our online store www.tennisgear.com.au and also our latest Tennis Centre at Shaw Park. The one thing that hasn't changed however is our commitment to remain a tennis specialist and offer the best range, quality and advice in the industry.

The following article by Richard Neher http://www.examiner.com/tennis-in-los-angeles/how-to-survive-34-years-the-ten...

Cardio Tennis at Shaw Park Tennis

2011-02-20T23:56:00.001-08:00

On January the ninth Adrian O’Sullivan was invited to participate in the inaugural Cardio Tennis Australia workshop in Melbourne presented by U.S. Cardio Tennis guru Michelle Krause. As a part of a highly motivated group of individuals from all over Australia the workshop covered all aspects of Cardio Tennis classes and involved participating in and designing lessons that covered all aspects of what Cardio Tennis is renowned for. “It was an unreal experience” Adrian states. “I really understood how I could improve the lessons I’d been doing and am looking forward to growing this aspect of tennis within Tennis Gear”. “It really is the most fun way to play tennis for any individual and standard, very social and not dependant on standard at all”.

At the end of the two days Adrian was actually glad to get on the plane back to Brisbane. “I was buggered after two days of constant cardio exercise, and I’m pretty fit!” Secretly though, I can’t wait to get into it again.

Cardio Tennis is available at Shaw Park Tennis Centre every Wednesday night at 6.30pm. Details are available on our website at www.tennisgear.com.au

Yonex VCore Racquets now available!!!

2011-02-20T23:52:00.001-08:00

www.tennisgear.com.au have just released the new Yonex VCore racquets for sale. Caroline Wozniacki has just started using the VCore 100S, Naldandian will be using the VCore 98D and Hewitt will be using the VCore 95D.

The VCore frames are very competitively priced at $239 and demos are available at both the Everton Tennis & Gear and the Shaw Park Tennis & Gear Store. Be first to demo this racquet and write a reveiw on our site.

Pictured below is photo of Wasniacki and her new VCore 100S.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 16

2011-01-25T02:28:00.001-08:00

Day 16 Sat 22nd January

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Today is my last day stringing. I was originally rostered to finish yesterday but I still had a couple of players in the tournament so decided to come in. It is Pin's last day as well which leaves 6 stringers from Sunday onwards.

Arrived at 8.15am. Had one Raonic rkt due at 9am and then another 2 due right before his match. Went to breakfast at 8.50am and came back to find more rkts waiting for me. From 9.10 to 10.30 I did 5 rkts. 2 for Raonic which had been dropped off Fri night plus another he dropped in while I was at breakfast and 2 for Morita which were due at 11am. Busy morning. Then from 10.40am i had 2 RDis 100's to do which were due at 2pm, but I had to do them before Raonic got into his 11am match so that I would be free for his on courts. He sent in 3 on-courts during the first 2 sets of his match with Youzhny. I did each one in 15 minutes. Cut, strung, stencilled, bagged and out the door in 15 minutes. Pretty fast for that rkt. It is a K Blade 98, 18 x 20 pattern with Luxilon M2 Pro at 42/44lbs. I then sat down to watch some of his match. He sent another on-court at the start of the 4th set but we didn't receive it. I sat there waiting with my cutters at the ready and the string measured out but it never came. He won in 4 sets.

Mid afternoon was pretty quiet then it picked up again later on. I was done by 8pm. I went around the room saying my goodbyes. I felt sad leaving. It has been a good tournament. Lots of laughs.

The other day a guy at the window asked "how much do you hate stringing?" I replied that I loved it. Speaking to the other stringers here I know they all feel the same. It sounds crazy but this was a holiday for me. Working 14-15 hour days in an environment where the smallest mistake is a very big deal. Last year I remember thinking that it was the hardest thing I had ever done. This year it all seems so easy. Hard work, but easy. Maybe it was all of the red bull I was drinking. I know that I can't wait for the next tournament. Whether it's the US Open later this year or Melbourne again next year. Either way I look forward to catching up with the stringing team again.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 15

2011-01-25T02:17:00.001-08:00

Day 15 - Friday 21st January

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Steady day today. Juniors all checking in with rkts. Some of them are giving us 5 and 6 rkts at a time. This is more than most of the senior players will give in at a time. So we are getting busy again. Had one on court rkt today. I was halfway through another rkt when it came in. No phone call. Just a ball kid turning up at the counter with it. I left the rkt I was doing and did it on a free machine. The clamps on the machine I used were much better than the clamps on the machine I have been using since the start. I just figured the clamp design was bad. Turns out the machine I had been on was one of the originals and the clamps have changed since then. The new clamps are fantastic. Our machines at work still have the original clamps so that is the feel I was used to. I have swapped the newer clamps onto my machine. They make a massive difference.

I made my first and only mistake today. Although it wasn't my fault (I always need a scapegoat).

A rkts came in during the morning and it was needed in 20 minutes. I was still on another rkt. I was given the rkt with no print out listing string or tension. The counter told me Alu Power at 25kg and handed me an alu power spool. I was given the print out after I had measured the rkt and started stringing but didn'y look at it because it was needed in a hurry. As I was bagging the rkt I looked at the print ou on the bag and it said Alu power mains and Sensation crosses!!!!!!!! The rkt was being picked up in about 5 minutes. Quickest string job I have ever done. Mains and half the crosses done in around 7 minutes. The player was late so the rkt was done stencilled straightened and bagged as they walked in the door. Close call. There were a few mistakes today. Misweaving, forgotten power pads, incorrect stencilling, gut breaking at the tie off. Most of the guys have been here since early January and are getting tired. Limited sleep and long hours over a period of time take a toll. Fortunately no rkts have gone out to players with mistakes in them. They all get caught ahead of time.

I was asked to close. It means that I was the on-duty stringer for the last match of the night. Everyone was done around 10pm. Fortunately matches were quick so I got out of there around midnight. Tomorrow is my last day. Raonic is playing first up. I am expecting a few on court rkts from him. I have 3 to string in the morning immediately before his match.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 14

2011-01-25T02:14:00.001-08:00

Day 14 - Thursday 20th Jan

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151 rkts. Slow, slow day. I spent most of the day trying to get my internet connection to work. No dice. Vodafone mobile broadband is without a doubt the single biggest frustration in my life. I suspect that my stress induced heart attack will no doubt result from dealing with these idiots.

Did 2 on courts for Raonic. I string 3 rkts immediately before he goes on court and then he sends in a rkt at the end of each set. He cruised in his match today so only the 2 on courts from him. If his nxt match goes to 5 then he is going to keep me busy.

Early night. Back to the room at 9pm. Went next door to buy timtams and grain waves. Ate the tim tams for dinner. Food of champions. Watched some tennis on TV. In bed by midnight. Tomorrow will be busier. The juniors will start checking in.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 13

2011-01-25T02:13:00.001-08:00

Day 13 - Wed 19th Jan

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240 rkts today. Things will start getting quieter now. Stringers are starting to leave. It was Joe's last day today. Dickie finishes up tomorrow.

We had tears at the counter early today. A player came in needing a rkt done in a hurry. But with english not everyone's first language the stringer cut the strings out straight away. It was the rkt the player wanted to keep and not the one she wanted strung. She broke down crying at the counter. Mental toughness? Both rkts were strung in time for her match and she was very happy with the result.

Early finish. Home around 10ish

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 12

2011-01-18T05:12:00.001-08:00

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Day 12 - Tues 18th Jan

Fingers a bit sensitive today. Not even close to the pain I was in last year. I had 5 on court racquets today so they took a bit of a battering. Got all 5 done in under 18 minutes. The fastest was 14 minutes. That is 14 minutes to cut out the string, measure the string, mount the racquet, string the racquet, straighten the strings, stencil the racquet, bag the racquet and hand it to the runner. The record for any on court racquet by the Wilson team is 13 minutes.

I had 2 on courts in a row, one after the other. Had just finished one then within 30 seconds had another. Later in the day I had one of my players sending in a racquet for every set he played. I was glad he won in 3. Each time a racquet came in from him there was no phone call letting us know a racquet was coming in. Just a ball kid showing up with a racquet.

Finished early tonight. Had a quiet day. Still strung all day but they were mostly for other players. Had another stringer ask for help at 5.30. He had 2 rkts due at 6pm but as he finished the first one he misweaved the bottom cross so needed to have 2 done in 30 minutes.

Left the stringing room at 9.30 and went for beers with Joe.

Home at midnight. Put on a load of washing. I have no clean clothes for tomorrow. Plus all of these hours in my shoes has left them very sweaty. Gross. They smell.

Back and neck feel fine. Not having issues standing at a machine all day. The compression socks make a huge difference. My legs feel fatigued when I don't have them pulled up.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 11

2011-01-17T17:27:00.001-08:00

Day 11 - Mon 17th Jan

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Have lost track of time. Had no idea what day it was until I checked my phone a minute ago. I wake up, quickly shower, and walk 10 minutes to the courts. Start stringing at 8am and stop around 10.30 or 11 each night. My feet are showing signs of wear. Not looking healthy. The knot of pain that was my neck a few days ago has gone now. Stretching during the day whenever possible seems to have worked. Cannot remember if I wrote an entry about yesterday. Spent hours on a stage, miked up and stringing for everyone to see and take pictures. Under 2 umbrellas but still got burned. Was sweating bullets. We did 378 rkts yesterday. That is the most the Wilson team has done in a single day. The room is a good mix of guys. Have laughed a lot over the last few days.

First day of main draw today. Apart from a few rkts in the morning I did not have many rkts of my own. A lot of my players lost early. Still spent the whole day stringing. 8am to 10.30pm. Was stringing everyone else's rkts all day. Weaving felt good today. Very fast. Have a good rhythm going. Don't think I have been this fast ever. Fingers still feel good.

There has been a crowd watching us the whole day. Like living in a fish bowl. We keep the windows closed for the most part. People taking photos all day with the flash on. Not sure how those pics are going to turn out. We have done well in excess of 300 rkts today. Early start tomorrow.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

OZ Open Stringing room - Day 9

2011-01-17T17:24:00.001-08:00

Day 9 - Sat 15th Jan

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As of the end of last night we had done 1094 rkts since last Sat. 6 of the 15 stringers had done 100 rkts or more. I was in 3rd place with 102. Vasilly had done 109 and Ben had 124. Ben knows all of the french players so has more players on his roster than anyone else. He works for Technifibre. Last year they paid him to go to Spain for 8 mths and string at various sports stores and centres promoting their products.

Today was kids day. We had a stage set up outside the booth. I was on stage with a microphone stringing rkts and talking to people about rkts strings and equipment I had 2 on courts during this time. Stringing in the blazing sun under a couple of umbrellas is not ideal when speed and accuracy are required.

On stage from 9.30 til 1.30. Lots of pictures.

The afternoon was slow until about 4pm. We got smashed. 238 rkts for the day. Solid day.

Early finish tonight. Back at the hotel by 8.40. Everyone has rkts waiting for them to be done tomorrow morning. Tomorrow is going to be a huge day. We are expecting around 350 rkts. Normally we wouldn't have on court rkts to contend with but qualies are still being played which makes life more complicated. Will be an early night. Maybe 11.30pm.

Fingers still feeling good. Have done plenty of rkts but it is the new technique which is helping me.

Web interview was posted on facebook today.

Spirits in the stringing room are good. Funny guys.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 8

2011-01-17T17:20:00.001-08:00

Day 8 - Friday 14th January

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Did a web interview today. Or was that the day before. I don't remember. It was posted on the wilson facebook page. Also did 2 live TV interviews. Seems I have become the face of the stringing team here. Wilson are doing interviews with all of the stringers here and posting them on facebook.

Easy day today. Fingers are feeling great. Not strapping them anymore.

Did my forst on court rkt today. Had it cut out, strung starightened and stencilled in 16 minutes. Bab Pure Drive one piece box pattern. 2 piece stringing would save me a couple of minutes on the time but we do 1 piece by default.

Early finish. Back to the room around 11. In bed at 12.30. 8.30 start for Sat.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 7

2011-01-17T17:07:00.001-08:00

Day 7 - Thursday 13th January

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Arrived at 8.30. 7 hours sleep. Feeling better than yesterday. Croissant and coffee for bfast. Love the staff cafe.

Rain all day. Slow day. Fingers feeling good. Have a full supply of red bull. Also bought washing powder on the way to work. Have a weeks worth of washing to do but have not had time to do it.

Pin spoke to me about my finger. He said why don't you just use it. Good suggestion.

Fingers are feeling good. Have been making a concerted effort to be kind to my fingers today. Looks like being an early finish tonight. Might have time to hit the gym tonight. Saw a pic of the UQ Athletics centre today. Under water. Looks like the courts and pro shop will be flooded too. Feel bad for the guys who work there.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

OZ Open String Room - Day 6

2011-01-17T17:05:00.001-08:00

Day 6 - Wed 12th Jan

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First day of qualies.

TIRED!!!!! Up at 6.30. Body is telling me it needs more sleep. Throat is sore and sinus playing up. My body's reaction to lack of sleep. It's trying to slow me down. On the machine at 7.15. One rkt due at 8am and 3 more due soon after. More rkts came in for me while I was doing those. Had a racquet due every 30min for the rest of the morning. Flat out. At one stage I was handed 2 racquets both due in 20min. Had to palm one off. Forgot to bring my red bull - Mistake #1. Struggle street. Tried out a new taping method for my fingers - Mistake #2. I need the pads of my fingers free of tape. tape here slows me right down and catches the string too. Slowed me down.

Seems that all of the rkts I got this morning were 18 x 20 patterns. With the 1 piece pattern we are using these are not easy to do in a hurry.

Hit the wall at 3pm. Lack of sleep and food hit me hard. Couldn't concentrate and see straight. Off to the cafe for a quick coffee. If I sat still for long enough I would have passed out.

Had an issue with a player re tension. I did 2 at 53.5lbs for him mon which he played with stright away. Then Tues he went up to 54 and did not use the rkt until wed afternoon. Said the 53.5lbs felt tighter than the 54. The counter staff did not ask the right questions and did not inform him of the tension drop which occurs overnight. So he asks for 54lbs for his wed match in an hour. He likes it. So then drops the rkt in again wed night for a thurs match. Asking for 54lbs. By the time Thurs rolls around it will be too loose. Frustrating. He has not been told. I bumped the tension up half a pound. When dealing with any players. Whether they are social or pros you need to ask questions and educate them. These guys are no different from shop customers.

Rained late in the day which slowed things down. Not too many to do that night.

Flood is all over the TV. What a mess. I picked a good time to leave Brisbane. All of the suburbs around my place are flooded. I live very close to the river and city. All smashed. Home at 10ish.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 5

2011-01-17T17:02:00.001-08:00

Day 5 - Tues 11th Jan

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Day before qualies.

Started at 8.30. Slow morning. Rain on and off. From 2pm it was flat out. Did not stop until just after 11. We did 291 rkts. Fingers are sore. Not as bad as last year. 4th finger on my right hand is suffering trauma. Very painful. Rest are fine. Have been taping the tops of my fingers. Good idea. It has saved me considerable grief. Have 4 rkts due tomorrow morning that must be done in the morning. Means I will be in early. There goes my sleep. In bed around midnight. Did not sleep well at all. Got maybe 3 or 4 hrs sleep. Text message around midnight asking if i was ok. Brisbane is flooding. I have not seen a TV or newspaper for a couple of days.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 4

2011-01-17T17:00:00.001-08:00

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Day 4 - Mon 10th Jan

Racquets started coming in the afternoon. Getting busier. Guys still trying to fix roof. TV's came. We have 4 plasmas. 2 for the match schedules and court allocations and 2 for TV. Jarrad arrived to start. Ordered more tools. Only one of my Babolat clamps is working. Team BBQ at Essendon. Late night. In bed around quarter to one. Need sleep.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

OZ Open Stringing Room - Day 3

2011-01-17T16:51:00.001-08:00

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DAY 3 - Sun 9th JANUARY

Getting busier. Twice as many rkts today. tried out some new clamp bases for the bairdo. They are dual action rather than single action clamps. Not a fan. I switched back to the orig bases after a few rkts on the new ones. There are also some new clamps as well. much lighter with what seems like a better locking action. Will try some tomorrow I hope.

Finally got credit for the cafe . Free lunches are a reality again. Had the best cheesecake this afternoon. OMG. This food is so bad for me. But oh so good.

Joe arrived today. He was on the team last year and is stringing next to me. He is pretty talkative so should keep me entertained. He was looking at my bab tools and said he had some bab clamps at home the same as mine which he didn't use because they slip all the time. So he offered to send them to me . I have had these clamps for a year and never ever had any slippage at all. None. Zero.

So the very next string job - bang!! clamp slips. FAAAAAAAAARK!!!!!!!!!!! Cut out the strings. First and hopefully the only botched string job for the tment. It was M2 and was working off a spool so luckily we had string there. You do not want a mistake when working with a single set of string that the player has supplied. Then you have to chase them up to ask for more string .

Clamps continued to slip after cleaning. Pulled them apart to scrub the face with a brush. It seems to have worked. Will see how they go tomorrow.

Len ans Vasilly were having an argument about how fast you could string the mains. I told them 4 minutes. Len says he has seen it done in 2 minutes. That is crazy fast.

We are still without an adequate roof. We have covered all of the machines with plastic just in case it rains tonight.

Had the pre tournament meeting tonight. Covered what was expected. Spoke about patterns, knots and tie offs. Also spoke about problem strings and frames and what patterns we would use for them.

Went out to Shanghai Dumpling House for dinner. Met friends there. Dickie, Vasilly, Tadashi, Joe and Ben all came along. I told them how good the dumplings were so they had to see for themselves. Had this amazing swedish cider. Smelled like ripe strawberries. Looks like I have a new favourite drink. Crazy Swedes.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

Oz Open Stringing Room - Day 2

2011-01-17T16:47:00.001-08:00

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DAY 2 - Sat 8th JAN

Left the hotel at 8am.

Accreditation all good, at least for now. First day on deck stringing. Very quiet day. Only did 7 rkts. We are expecting a quiet day tomorrow as well. So i have made dinner plans with friends. Short days will be few and far between over the next couple of weeks.

Still setting the room up. Fridge arrived today. Still no internet.

Fridge is fully stocked with powerade. Water to come but there is now no room for it. Snacks arrived today too. Looks like 10kg of lollies along with the biggest container of animal crackers ever. I called dibbs on the gorillas.

Uniforms were given out today. T shirts plus a hoodie. We got a polar fleece last year. They must not be expecting it to get as cold as last year. I asked for small shirts this year. They only had mediums for me last year and i was swimming in them. The smalls looked ok out of the box. Correct length. Tried one on when i got back to the room. I would need to have the shoulders of a 10 yro girl to fit this shirt correctly. Skin tight from the chest up. Fits like OJ's glove. Have to swap them for a larger size.

We have no roof at the moment. There is a floor above us and we have a false ceiling that is full of gaps. As a result sawdust is constantly filtering down into the room during the day. We have to cover our machines at night so that they don't get covered in dust.

The other downside of the false ceiling is that it doesn't do a great job keeping rain or water from the garden on the roof as we discovered today. Water came streaming through the ceiling when the guys up top decided to take to the rooftop plants with a hose. Water and electrics are not a good match. They came and patched us up with duct tape. We have a ceiling held together by duct tape. Classy.

My cafeteria pass is not working. $32 of food per day that i am not getting. Need to go to accreditation to get this rectified. But it's ok. I have tim tams and red bull. Athlete food.

Back to the room at around 6.30. Feeling energetic so went to the gym. Good session. Sushi for dinner. Eating tim tams watching the tennis, talking about rkts. Vassily's lost bag turned up today. Got lost somewhere between Chicago and Australia. Clothes, tools and all. When he showed up yesterday with just a backpack we all thought he was packing a bit light.

Meeting in the lobby at 8.30 tomorrow morning. Sunday sleep in. Might go to the gym beforehand.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

Oz Open Stringing Room - Day 1

2011-01-17T16:42:00.001-08:00

DAY 1- 7th JANUARY

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Left for Melbourne today. No sign of my police check in the mail. Still. It has been 21 days. Accreditation might be a problem in Melbourne. We have been told no accreditation will be issued without a police check. Was only told about this in December. Have been told by the police that it takes up to 6 weeks. Have been in touch with the guys doing the Sydney tournament. If I don't get a guernsey in Melbourne then they want me in Sydney stringing. Have been checking flights and accom in Sydney. Everything is up in the air at the moment.

Checked into the hotel. Staying at the Medina on Flinders St. 2 bedroom apartment. Lots of space. Caught up with some of the guys for dinner. Todd, Dickie and Tadashi. All 3 did the tournament last year. It is the 4th time Dickie has done the Aus Open. Both Dickie and Tadashi are coaches. Dickie in Hong Kong and Tadashi in Japan. Todd has a restring / customization business in the States.

Went to Stalyctites for dinner. It is the greek restaurant Baghdatis made famous during his run to the final a few years ago. It was busy. We had to queue outside. The staff were rude. The food was average. I had what was essentially an overpriced kebab. Won't be going back.

Heading to the accreditation office tomorrow morning to try and get this mess sorted out. Have refrained from buying any groceries in case i am off to the airport tomorrow. Have a 4 pack of sugar free red bull ofc. Might not be much cause for it tomorrow even if I do get accreditation. There were only about 30 rkts total today. Tomorrow should be a bit busier but not crazy. Apparently it gets busy from the Sunday, with qualifying starting on Wednesday. Last year on the day before qualifying the team did 295 rkts.

Watching some TV and facebooking before bed. Fri night here but no stringers are out. Big days are not easy to do hungover.

Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.

Shane Mikic Interview

2011-01-17T16:37:00.001-08:00

Click here to see an interview with Shane at the Australian Open Stringing Room.

Ljubicic speaks about his IG Extreme Racquet

2011-01-15T22:08:00.001-08:00

The new Head YouTek IG Extreme racquets are now available at Tennis Gear. This racquet will be used by Ivan Ljubicic at the 2011 Australian Open. Checkout the following video of Ljubicic explaining the benefits of his new IG Extreme racquet.

Federer loves his Wilson BLX Racquet

2011-01-14T22:21:00.001-08:00

Tennis Gear have the full range of Wilson BLX racquets in store and online right now. If you would like to demo a racquet plase visit our store at Everton Tennis & Gear or Shaw Park Tennis & Gear and you can a demo a Wilson BLX racquet at no charge.

HEAD Youtek IG Extreme Racquets available

2011-01-14T22:14:00.001-08:00

The new range of Head IG Extreme racquets are available at Tennis Gear.

This racquet provides all of the extra touch, power and spin you want for an aggressive game. HEAD’s YouTek™ concept aims to provide tennis players with the perfect racquet for their individual game. The new YouTek™ IG Extreme is specially designed for the needs of players like Ivan Ljubicic. It offers touch, power and spin for baseline hitters with a long swing style. In addition, Innegra™ promises to bring racquet head innovation to another level. Extremely tough and light, Innegra™ boasts the lowest density of any existing fibre and, combined with carbon fibre, forms an ultra-tough hybrid-composite structure. The result: improved stability and increased shock absorption. Racquet vibration from ball impact is reduced by up to 17 percent, yielding unique control and precision.

The four models of the YouTek IG Extreme line have their technology integrated into the layup of the racquets. It is highlighted by a new shaft which, due to its comfortable ergonomic shape, is also optimized for the double-handed backhand player. The racquet provides a more solid feel and sound on court and better touch on the ball. The secret: a special cross section which provides more torsional stiffness in the shaft.
The distinctive black-and-yellow Extreme also sets trends in racquet design, with modern and aggressive design elements.

HEAD racquet rebel Ivan Ljubicic is convinced by the benefits of the Extreme racquet: “It is a very powerful racquet, if not the most powerful on the Tour. It helps me a lot with my serve, but also to give the ball rotation with topspin and slice.”

The new Extreme range including Pro, MP and Elite models includes the right option for every playing style, backed up by the technological pedigree which has become a HEAD trademark on the ATP and WTA circuits – and anywhere tennis is played.

Djokovic speaks about his IG Speed Racquet

2011-01-14T22:03:00.001-08:00

The new HEAD YOUTEK IG Speed racquets are available at Tennis Gear now. The following is a great video of Djokovic explaining the benefits of the new Innegra Graphite (IG) in his IG Speed Pro.

http://www.youtube.com/headtennis#p/u/9/kbvXURa_M1w

HEAD Youtek IG Speed

2011-01-14T21:58:00.001-08:00

The new range of HEAD IG Speed racquets are now available at Tennis Gear. This racquet will be used by Novac Djokovic at the 2011 Australian Open.

The Speed Pro offers a slightly heavier frame (335g) with a thinner beam (18mm), providing excellent touch for exceptional feel. It comes with a synthetic leather grip and cap for ultimate tour performance.

The second generation of YouTek™ Speed racquets, which again has been developed with and for world No. 3 player Novak Djokovic. The new YouTek™ Speed IG series combines the best features of the well-accepted YouTek™ umbrella concept and adds innovation by marrying the high performance materials d3o™ with HEAD's new Innegra™ fibre technology.

HEAD’s YouTek™ concept aims to provide tennis players with the perfect racquets for their individual game. The new YouTek™ IG Speed is specially designed for the needs of players like Novak Djokovic. Innegra™ promises to bring racquet innovation to another level. Extremely tough and light, Innegra™ boasts the lowest density of any existing fibre and, combined with carbon fibre, forms an ultra-tough hybrid-composite structure. The result: improved stability and increased shock absorption. Racquet vibration from ball impact is reduced by up to 17 percent, yielding unique control and precision.

Similar to Formula 1 racing where Innegra™ fibre technology is used to extend the performance and durability on a very high level, HEAD’s new frame structure considerably extends the performance of all HEAD YouTek™ IG Speed racquets.

HEAD racquet rebel Novak Djokovic is excited to serve at the upcoming Australian Open with his new weapon of choice: “The name is Speed, and the racquet gives me a lot of speed in this aggressive game. We have been working hard on the racquet in order to improve it as much as possible.”

What is Multifiliament Tennis String?

2010-12-08T02:39:00.001-08:00

The following video provides and excellent insight into the construction and make-up of Babolat Multifilament String.

Speak to the team at Tennis Gear for more information about the right strings for your racquet.

Get your Tennis Gear Right

2010-12-08T02:36:00.001-08:00

Getting your tennis racquets is very important for the success of your game. In fact the rule applies to the rest of the tennis equipment too. You need to have the right tennis clothing, tennis shoes and gear to ensure that you are very comfortable and focused on your game both in practice and on the court.
Tennis raquets should suit the players’ style. Some racquets are light giving the player ease of manoeuvrability. This is for players who like placements and elegance. For power packed shots and greater of force, players prefer the big tennis racquets with heavier frame and high string tension.
However, these tennis racquets do not provide great accuracy or control. Therefore it depends on the individual’s game to pick the right size of racquet, the right tension on the strings, the right shape and weight of the frame and even the right grip.

The tennis shoes and tennis clothing too should complement the player’s style. For example players who are athletes and believe in physical domination of the court, need more breathable clothing and shoes. The tennis shoes should be able to take the high impact on the heels and thereby cushion the feet.
In the absence of proper cushioning, the feet are bound to get tired very soon, reducing the agility of the player on court. Similarly the apparel should be made of a comfortable fabric that soaks the sweat, dissipates the heat and keeps the player cool and comfortable at all times.

Visit the team at Everton Tennis & Gear and Shaw Park Tennis & Gear for all your Tennis Gear needs.

Shane Mikic to String at 2011 Oz Open

2010-11-02T03:17:00.001-07:00

Shane Mikic the pro-shop manager at Shaw Park Tennis Centre and Everton Tennis Centre, has again been invited to join the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. Shane has confirmed that he will be stringing during the qualifying rounds right through until the second week of the tournament.

"It is a privilage to have someone has highly regarded in the stringing industry working in our pro-shops" Mark Bloomfield owner of Tennis Gear said.

K Kactor Sellout

2010-10-28T21:24:00.001-07:00

For a limited only Tennis Gear has their entire range of Wilson K Factor racquets on sale at unbelievable prices. Click here to see their Wilson Racquet calalogue.

Free Adrenaline String

2010-10-28T21:20:00.001-07:00

Tennis Gear have done it again with an amazing special on BLX Racquets. For every Wilson BLX Racquet sold between now and the end of December, you will receive three sets of Luxilon Adrenaline string for free.

Andy Murray Tennis Tricks

2010-10-25T03:08:00.001-07:00

Check out these great tennis tricks from Andy Murray.

Tennis Gear.

Rafter to be Davis Cup Captain

2010-10-25T03:05:00.001-07:00

Congratulations Pat you'll do a great job. From the team at Tennis Gear.

Former world number one Pat Rafter has been elevated to one of the highest positions in Australian sport, captain of the Davis Cup team.

Rafter, a two-time US Open champion and former Australian of the Year, will form a dream pairing with Tony Roche, who has been re-appointed coach of the team.

Rafter replaces John Fitzgerald and becomes only the fifth man in the past 60 years to captain Australia's Cup team.

The hugely popular 37-year-old follows on from Fitzgerald (2001-2010), John Newcombe (1995-2000), Neale Fraser (1970-1994) and the legendary Harry Hopman (1950-69).

Hopman also captain-coached the team in 1938-39.

Rafter, who in addition to his back-to-back triumphs in New York in 1997-98 also lost successive Wimbledon finals in 2000-01, now has the onerous task of guiding Australia back into the elite 16-nation World Group for the first time since 2007.

"We've got a lot of young players that have a great opportunity to play for Australia," Rafter said.

"My standards and expectations are extremely high. This is a great opportunity to be part of something that means a lot to me."

With Cup warrior Lleyton Hewitt sidelined from the reverse singles, Australia narrowly missed promotion to the World Group last month when they lost a play-off 3-2 to Belgium in Cairns.

Hewitt's Davis Cup future had been up in the air following Australia's latest disappointment, but it is now hoped the recruitment of Rafter and Roche will extend his career in the century-old teams' event.

"I'm happy with the appointment of Pat and Rochey. Pat and I get along great and have shared some special moments at the highest level of Davis Cup, and I look forward to working with him," Hewitt said.

"And Rochey, I have always said his experience is second to none and he will be a fantastic addition again to the team."

During his 10-year reign as captain, Fitzgerald led Australia to two finals, including 2003 glory over Spain in Melbourne, and also to the World Group semi-finals in 2006.

He said he has been in discussions with Rafter since January about assuming the role.

"Tennis in this country needs him, we want him," he said.

"He's the best role model you could hope for to step into this position.

"I'm delighted he's been able to fit it into his busy life, and with his family commitments to step into this role.

"There couldn't be a better person that you'd hope to take over this role. In my position to have someone take it over from me I couldn't have wished for anyone better than Pat Rafter."

Australia have won 28 Davis Cup trophies, second only to the USA's 32, but a failure to get his hands on the trophy remains one of Rafter's greatest disappointments.

The Queenslander frustratingly had to sit out Australia's 1999 final triumph over France in Nice with a shoulder injury, having helped the team reach the decider.

He then featured in Australia's losing finals against Spain in Barcelona in 2000 and against France in Melbourne in 2001.

Sadly, Rafter's last professional match - before he formalised his retirement a year later - was his controversial involvement in the infamous 2001 Cup final loss to France.

After beating Sebastien Grosjean on day one to level the tie at 1-1, first-year captain Fitzgerald opted to pit Rafter and Hewitt into battle against Cedric Pioline and Fabrice Santoro - rather than play doubles specialists Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs.

But, again hampered by injury, Rafter and Hewitt lost in four sets - before a tearful Arthurs succumbed to Nicolas Escude in the deciding singles rubber the following day in front of his home-city crowd.

Australia will begin the long journey back to the World Group with a first-round Asia-Oceania Group I tie against Taiwan in Melbourne from March 5-7.

How often should I string my Racquet

2010-10-25T02:46:00.001-07:00

At Tennis Gear we do a lot of restrings. Almost everyday I am asked by someone "how often should I restring my racquet?" . We the answer is sometimes a difficult one to answer and depends on a variety of factors.

However the common rule of thumb is to restring as often per year as you play per week, but at least twice per year. This is just a rough guideline. Some types of string lose tension faster than others, heavy spin hitters wear strings out much faster than flat hitters, and some players seem quite happy to let the strings decide when to be replaced -- by breaking.

For all you tennis string questions, speak to the tennis specialists at Tennis Gear.

Great Tips to Improve your Backhand

2010-10-25T02:40:00.001-07:00

Check our these great tips I found to improving your backhand. Taken from www.tennismindgame.com.

An effective and smart tennis backhand tip can make a big difference to your backhand shot. Backhand shot is very commonly regarded as a more difficult shot than forehand and many people have a lot of trouble with it.

There are a couple of main reasons for that. We will talk about right-handers but the same point stands for left-handers too. When a right-hander does something like pick up keys, open the door, clean up the table with a cloth or something like that, he usually does that on his right side of the body.

We unconsciously move our body in such a position that it's comfortable for our right hand. And that is usually slightly on the right side. And since we have been doing that for years we develop very good eye-hand coordination on the right side. We can judge distances much better slightly on the right side than on the left where we rarely do any actions with our right arm.

Backhand shot is on the left side and we don't have such a good feeling for that side. Not only with our arm and hand but also judging distances and coordinating our arm. That's why we need to take some time and get used to doing things on our left side with the right arm.

Tennis backhand tip 1
Understanding this principle will hopefully take some pressure of your poor backhand shot that you have been putting down. Here's what you can do:

Take time on the short court with 5 minutes of mini tennis every time you play. Play many backhands and be aware whether you hit the ball in the middle of the racquet or not. Be aware whether you set your self up for the shot in the correct distance from the ball or not. Just awareness of that will improve your judgment and coordination on your left side of the body.

Another common issue regardless whether one-handed or two-handed tennis backhand shot is that the body turn that we make before the shot turns our head too. And we often end up watching the ball with mostly one eye. And as you probably know we need to see with both eyes to correctly determine speed and distance (3D vision) of and objects.

The head and eyes need to be pointed straight to the incoming ball. As soon as we look at the ball a little sideways we cannot judge the speed and flight path of the ball. That quickly results in errors in a sport like tennis. And we usually think that something is wrong with our backhand shot.

Tennis Backhand tip 2
Become aware of your head position and how your eyes are aligned to the ball. If you tilt your head or watch the ball with one eye more than the other it's very likely that you'll mishit that backhand shot.

Observe the pro's how they look at the ball, how their head is level and pointed straight at the ball. Even though they make extreme body turns in preparation for the hit they still manage to keep their head pointed straight to the ball. It takes great flexibility to do that.

Ask yourself before the hit – am I seeing the ball as clearly as I am on the forehand side? In my experience when I ask players that have some difficulty with one-handed backhands, about 80% say that they don't see the ball as clearly as on the forehand side.

When you become aware that you don't see the ball well you'll soon find a way of keeping your head and eyes where you can do that very well.

Nr.1 reason why tennis backhand shot is usually weaker than the forehand – we hit it less times! As soon as you started to play tennis you might have felt that your backhand shot is a little weaker than your forehand and you tried to play as many shot as possible with your forehand. You might have hit 3 times more forehands in your tennis career than backhand shots.

Repetition is the mother of skill. It's not the backhand shot that is weak, it just hasn't received the same amount of training as the forehand shot.

I remember watching a father playing with his 8 year old son and the boy hit maybe 15 forehands and one backhand. The father of course didn't want to see his son feel uncomfortable playing that weaker backhand so he played 15:1 shots to his forehand.

Good intentions for a short term good feelings, but unfortunately not the correct approach for a long term satisfaction.

Tennis backhand tip 3
Play backhands! This was simple. Do not avoid your backhand because it's weaker at the moment. Start with mini tennis and keep hitting backhands. Just give your backhand enough repetitions and wait until it improves.

Do not run around your backhand. Keep playing it and don't look for too much in the beginning. Just keep developing feel for the shot and wait for improvement. It will come.

Welcome those opportunities with players who keep playing to your backhand shot because it's weaker. They are providing you with excellent opportunity to practice in real situation. Keep hitting your backhands and imagine what your tennis backhand technique will look like in 6 months!

Another reason why your backhand shot isn't working is because you have developed a certain attitude towards it. May we say that it is negative? Yes, I think you'll agree. This will probably happen with the boy in the upper example.

When you play that fewer backhand shots you quickly fall behind your forehand feel and control. You start losing trust in your backhand and eventually you treat it like some bad part of your tennis game.

This affects your backhand shot even before you hit the ball. Even when the ball is approaching you already feel uncomfortable and think that you'll probably miss or hit a poor shot. And how does that affect your backhand shot when you actually hit the ball? Very negatively.

Tennis backhand tip 4
You need to start becoming a good friend with your backhand and be supportive with it. Talk to it like a good coach would to a young player who hasn't mastered a certain stroke.

Your backhand is not bad it just hasn’t developed yet. Are babies bad walkers? No, they just need to practice. Adopt this attitude towards your backhands and treat it like some part of you that hasn't developed yet.

Start seeing the good shots of your backhand too. We become so negative of our shots and abilities that even we hit good ones we tend to dismiss them as lucky.

Well that's how we always start in something new. At first we don't get it, then we get lucky a couple of times and later these lucky shots become so common that we change our perspective and decide that now we know this stuff.

The same will happen with your backhand shot too. Take a minute after each practice or match and remember and visualize your good backhand shots. Forget the misses, you don't need them.

Fill your head with solid consistent backhands and you'll be amazed how quickly your backhand will become your best friend!

If you are looking to improvement your backhand, speak to the coaches from Everton Tennis & Gear and also Shaw Park Tennis & Gear.

Tennis Pros Strings

2010-10-19T02:22:00.001-07:00

The following is a list of popular and well known pro tennis players string setup specs from Wimbledon and the French Open. The list has been taken from Colin the Stringer and does not specify if the specs were from the French or Wimbledon. In any case it gives us a good indication of what the pros are usisng in their racquet.

The interesting thing to note is the extensive use of Luxilon and also the trend towards lower tensions. Tenions in racquets have been decreasing over time due to the wide use of co-polyester strings. The team from Tennis Gear can give you more information about finding the right string for your racquet.

Here are the strings the world’s top tennis players, (and a few recently retired players), are using in their rackets, together with the rackets they’re using, and the tensions, (in lbs), they most commonly string at. These tensions are known as ‘Reference Tensions’, and are the tensions the pros will hit with when they arrive at a tournament. Having seen how the racket feels at the Reference Tension, they’ll then, if necessary, take the tension up or down a couple of pounds at a time until the get the feel they’re looking for. Things such as court surface, temperature, altitude, as well as their next opponent, will all contribute to any change required, but everything will start from the Reference Tension.

Where two tensions are shown the first is the tension of the main strings, and the second is the tension of the cross strings.

Where hybrid stringing is shown, the first named string is used for the main strings, and the second named is used for the cross strings. For example, Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt uses Babolat VS Team for his main strings, and Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power for his cross strings, whereas Sweden’s Joachim Johansson uses Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power for his main strings, and Babolat VS Touch for his cross strings.

Latest Update: French Open/Wimbledon 2010

Mario Ancic Yonex RDS 002 Tour
Luxilon Big Banger Original 62lbs

Marcos Baghdatis Tecnifibre T-Flash 315 Speedflex
Tecnifibre X-One BiPhase 46/51lbs

Tomas Berdych Head YouTek Radical MP
Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power 55lbs

James Blake Wilson Six.One Tour BLX
Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power 68lbs

Bob Bryan Prince EXO3 Ignite Team
Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power Rough 49/53lbs

Mike Bryan Prince EXO3 Ignite Team
Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power Rough 50/53lbs

Guillermo Canas Wilson nPro nCode
Wilson Enduro Tour 55lbs

Jennifer Capriati Prince Tour Diablo
Babolat VS Touch/Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power 51/48lbs

Juan-Ignacio Chela Babolat Pure Storm Team
Tecnifibre Spinfire Maxi Power 58lbs

Marin Cilic Head YouTek Radical MP
Babolat VS Touch 58lbs

The team from Tennis Gear can give you more information about finding the right string for your racquet.

Tennis Racquet Grip Size

2010-10-19T01:13:00.001-07:00

Manufactured tennis racquet grip sizes range from less than 4" for juniors to 4 7/8" for the largest adult hands. This might not seem like much of a range, but the difference even 1/8" makes is surprising. Prolonged use of too large or especially too small a grip can injure your hand, wrist, and elbow.Many consider that using a grip size that is too large can contribute to tennis elbow. In Australia, you can generally only purchase racquets to 4 1/2", however some manufacturers have been offering larger grip sizes up to 4 5/8th on some models (Babolat).

The most commonly used method for finding your exact grip size is as follows: On your dominant hand, note that your palm has three main creases. Hold your hand flat, with the fingers alongside one another. Measure from the middle crease of your palm, up the line between your middle and ring fingers, to a point equal to the height of the tip of your ring finger. For most women, this measurement will fall between 4 1/8" and 4 3/8", for most men between 4 3/8" and 4 5/8". Juniors will usually measure less than 4".

Generally, if you're between eighths when you measure and you're not growing, you'll be better off going with the smaller grip, as a slightly small grip can be fattened up by 1/16" easily with an overwrap, whereas a too-large grip would have to be shaved down at a pro shop, and some racquets can't be shaved down. Overwraps can't fatten a grip effectively more than 1/8" though, because each layer of overwrap adds to the rounding off of the bevel edges on your handle. At Tennis Gear we recommend using a grip buildup kit to increase the grip size as this will keep the bevel edges on your racquet.

Grip sizes between 4 1/8" and 4 5/8" are easy to find in adult racquets. Larger and smaller grips are made for some racquets, but not all. Players with unusually small or large hands often have their racquet handles custom-sized at a pro shop, which should cost between $5 and $15. You can also get a do-it-yourself grip enlargement kit.

For junior racquets, exact size matching can be difficult. Most junior racquets are quite inexpensive, and the manufacturers don't find it economical to produce a wide range of grip sizes. Often, the best you can do is to get a racquet that's fairly close. For juniors, grips slightly large are preferable to slightly small, because they will grow into them.

At Tennis Gear we offer a grip size selection fitting service absolutely free. We also offer a service that can build up your grip size by up to two grip sizes. For more information please call us on 617 3353 2018.

Tennis Split Step

2010-10-19T01:06:00.001-07:00

At Everton Tennis Centre we have four synthetic grass courts. I think it essential that we teach players the proper use of the split step to ensure they are correctly balanced particularly when moving forward to volley.

The following video gives some great information about the split step.

Tennis Gear Online

Federer Kick Serve Practice

2010-10-13T04:34:00.001-07:00

Watch this cool video on Federer practicing his Kick Serve. See he does practice!!!!

Tennis Gear Online

How to Buy a Tennis Racquet

2010-10-07T02:31:00.001-07:00

Great tips on what to consider when buying a tennis racket. I feel the most important factor is to "try before you buy". At Tennis Gear we have a demo racquet for every racquet we sell and with two huge store at Shaw Park Tennis Centre and Everton Tennis Centre we have courts available for you to use. Come in and see us for all your equipment needs.

Alu Power Review

2010-10-06T05:00:00.001-07:00

Luxilon is the most widely used string on tour. Why? I hear you ask.

Luxilon Big Banger ALU Power comes in four different versions. ALU Power 1.25 mm is the original version and still one of the most popular. The composition is a copolymer with fluocarbon resin and aluminum fibers. ALU Power Rough 1.25 mm has the same composition, but is textured to generate more spin. One of the final processes is the string being crimped to give it the texture. ALU Power Spin 1.27 mm also has the same composition, but is in a pentagonal shape for added spin. The string is a little thicker than the others because of its shape, but still has about the same durability. The last version is ALU Power Fluoro 1.23- mm is enhanced with fluorofibre carbon during the extrusion process.

Why is Luxilon ALU Power the most popular string on the tour? The answer is control, power, and spin. Polyesters and co-polymers give players the ability to hit out on the ball and keep it in the court. What separates ALU Power from all of the other polys is the feel and comfort.

In conclusion, you can’t go wrong with any of the four versions. Just make sure you start of low and work your way up in tension. It may take some time to find the right setup, but when you do, I think you will stick with it. I can’t tell much difference between the different versions, but I use the ALU Power Rough. I feel like I get a little more spin on the ball than I do with the fluoro and the smooth. I also love the spin version. If you’re looking for more control, power, and spin try one of the Luxilon ALU Power strings. There is a reason over 60% of the ATP Top 100 players and approximately 30% of the WTA Top 100 players use Luxilon strings. The majority of them are playing with one of the ALU Power strings.

Tennis Gear have the full range o Luxilon strings including Alu Power. If you would like advice before your next restring, then give them a call on 3353 2018.

Box Pattern Stringing

2010-10-05T20:48:00.001-07:00

Check out this great video that clealy shows how to string your racquet using the Box Pattern.

Tennis Gear use Wilson Baiardo Stringing Machines and han help you with all your tennis needs.

Tennis Pain

2010-10-05T20:44:00.001-07:00

Nadal is the master when it comes to pushing his body. Look at this great YouTube Video showing Nadals feet at the end of a tournament. Ouch

Tennis Gear Brisbane

Is Racquet Swingweight Important?

2010-10-05T20:18:00.001-07:00

Checkout the racquet swingweight customisation tools at the following link. RacquetTech.

"Swingweight is the most important parameter to customize because it has the most influence on how the racquet feels and plays most of the time -- i.e., when you are swinging and hitting the ball. But good players want all their racquets to feel the same at all times -- holding it still vertically, holding it still horizontally, swinging in a straight line, or swinging it in a circle about some axis. Holding the racquet by the handle with the head pointing to the ground, all you feel is the weight. If you hold the racquet horizontal to the ground, you feel the "pickup weight," which is defined as the weight times the balance point. If you swing in a short straight line as in a punch volley, you are primarily pushing a weight, not rotating it around in a swing, so you feel its weight and balance. When you swing in a full stroke, you are rotating the racquet around an axis (at your wrist, elbow, or shoulder) and what you feel is swingweight.

Using this calculator, you can determine where and how much weight to add in order to match two or more racquets in weight, balance, and swingweight. This is the ultimate equipment service that a coach or racquet technician can provide for a player."

Tennis Gear offer a service that measures swingweight and allows players to customise their racquet weight.

Hewitt may be Right!!!.

2010-10-01T05:25:00.001-07:00

Hewitt may have got it right on Commonwealth chaos

9/22/10 2:51 PM | Johan Lindahl
Lleyton Hewitt may have had a premonition that all would not be well when he withdrew from consideration months ago for the Australian team at the Commonwealth Games.

Now, the former world No. 1 is looking like a mind-reader with organization of the event starting in little more than a week in New Delhi sinking in chaos.

Besides huge security concerns, there are also pressing logistical issues - not to mention a pedestrian bridge which collapsed and injured more than 20 at the ill-starred Games site. Officials are even voicing concern that the event may have to be canceled or delayed.

Among other problems - not only unique to tennis players - athletes are due to arrive within days and only half of the tower blocks which will serve as their temporary homes are completed.

The signs could point to an aborted debut for tennis at the event, where noted British Commonwealth players like Hewitt and Andy Murray are giving the competition a wide berth and sticking to their original ATP schedules for 2010. Hewitt would not have been able to play in any case after injuring his hand in weekend Davis Cup play and now set to miss the next three weeks.

Games bosses have made a plea to the Indian government to step in and remedy the situation with hours passing quickly until the October 3 start. The tennis event runs from October 4-10.

Tennis Gear has Hewitts racquet on sale for only $199

Wimbledon Wrap up

2010-09-29T05:06:00.001-07:00

Found this great Wimbledon Tennis Gear wrapup from Colin the Stringer.

"A title retained for Serena Williams and a title regained for Rafael Nadal is probably the simplest way to sum up Wimbledon 2010. The best weather for years saw Serena retain the Ladies’ Singles title, defeating first-time Grand Slam finalist Vera Zvonereva in straight sets, whilst Rafa regained the Men’s Singles he won for the first time in 2008 with a convincing three set win over another first-time Grand Slam finalist, Tomas Berdych.

Serena used her usual Wilson [K] Factor Team strung with Wilson Natural Gut, whilst Rafa had the same combination with which he’d taken the French Open, the Babolat AeroPro Drive strung with Babolat’s new RPM Blast string. Ladies’ runner up Zvonereva played with the Prince EXO3 Black racket with Gamma Live Wire Professional strings. Zvonereva Is Gamma’s primary endorsee, and her racket strings bear the Gamma red dot logo.

As was the case at Roland Garros, men’s runner up Berdych carried his rackets in a Dunlop bag, but there was no logo on the strings and the rackets weren’t Dunlops, they were Head YouTek Radicals. There was no attempt to disguise the frame, the Head name being clearly visible both to live spectators , and the millions watching on TV. He strung with his usual Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power.

Earlier in the season Fernando Verdasco was another carrying a Dunlop bag but not using Dunlop rackets. This time out, however, he was wielding a genuine Dunlop frame – and lost in the first round to Fabio Fognini. Maria Sharapova was playing with the same all black frame she played with at Roland Garros. Definitely not a Prince, (with whom she has a lifetime contract), and the lack of logo suggests it’s a current model from a rival manufacturer’s range."

Tennis Gear Online for all your tennis equipment needs.

Head Racquet Grip Size Change

2010-09-24T04:44:00.001-07:00

One of the most overlooked benefits of HEAD Tennis Racquets is that you can change the grip size of the racquet you own. As a tennis pro shop owner, I see many customers agonise over slecting the right grip size. It is so difficult when you are in store and the racquet handle has a plastic sleeve over it. Customers don't really know what the grip will feel like when the plastic comes off and they add an overgrip.

With Head racquets, you can actually change the grip size of the racquet. All Head racquets are made the same and the the grip size is determined by attaching what is known as a "pallet". The pallets are different thicknesses and they determine the grip size ie L2 (4 1/4) or L3 (4 3/8) etc. If you are unhappy with the grip size of your Head racquet, you can take it back to your racquet specialist and ask them to change the pallet to a size you prefer.

Please note that the pallet changing process has become a little harder now that Head racquets are made in China rather than Austria as the glue they use makes it much harder to remove the old pallet. Also your racquet specialist may charge a fee for this service.

At Tennis Gear we regularly change pallets to make sure our customers get the racquet grip size they need. Remember Tennis Gear Online have a fantastic bag giveaway with the purchase of every Head YouTek Racquet.

The following video gives you some information on how to change a Head Racquet pallet.

Great Tips to Improving your Forehand Topspin

2010-09-24T04:30:00.001-07:00

Check out this great video that shows clearly how to generate extra spin with your forehand.

For all your tennis coaching and equipment needs visit Tennis Gear

Wilson Baiardo Machine Review

2010-09-18T02:55:00.001-07:00

Tennis Gear Online now have two Wilson Baiardo Stringing machines that they use at their Shaw Park Tennis & Gear store.

Mark Bloomfield said " we thought long and hard about which machine to use at Shaw Park Tennis Centre. We wanted a machine that set the industry standard for stringing machines and we felt the Wilson Baiardo was the one. Shane Mikic and I were invited by Wilson to the launch of the Baiardo in January 2009 at the Australian Open. The best racquet stringers in Australia were at the launch and both Shane and I together with the other invitees were very impressed with the machine."

"We spoke to many stringers in the States about the machine and also read the review by Dave Bone from the RSI (Racquet Stringers Association) and then decided to purchase two machines for Shaw Park Tennis Centre. It was the best decision we have made, the machine is fantastic and our customers are extremely happy with the quality of restrings the machine produces."

We have many requests from customers in relation to purchasing a Wilson Baiardo machine for themselves or their proshop. As a result we will be stocking the machine at Shaw Park for sale to our customers.

Stringing Knots

2010-09-17T05:30:00.001-07:00

Check out this fantastic site I found that has some great visuals of stringing knots.

Tennis Stringing Knots

Tennis Gear Online

Novac moves to No2

2010-09-16T21:48:00.001-07:00

Novak Djokovic moves past Federer to be world No2 in the ATP Rankings released yesterday.

Novak at No 2

Tennis Gear Online

Your Strings Must Be Straight

2010-09-16T05:23:00.001-07:00

Strings must be straight when you do a restring. When you string a racquet the cross strings have a natural tendency to bow as you move down the frame. It is vital to straighten these strings when you are doing the crosses and also at the completion of the restring. This will ensure you are producing the most professional restring with the least amount of tension loss. It does not matter if you use your fingers or an awl to straighten the strings. Babolat make a special straightning tool, however it is not essential to have one. I have seen many stringers using a blunt awl or an old screwdriver.

If you racquet strings are not staright when you receive an pay for your restring. Then give it back.

For all your restringing needs, call Tennis Gear Online.

What do your Shoes Weigh?

2010-09-16T02:33:00.001-07:00

Movement on court is so important, so getting a pair of tennis shoes at the orrect weight is vital. Nike's Air Zoom Vapor range are some of the lightest shoes we sell at Tennis Gear Online, perhaps this is why Federer moves so well. The price has dropped from $220 to $179, so now is the time to get your feeting moving into Tennis Gear Online.

$1 Head Tour Team MonsterCombi

2010-09-16T02:26:00.001-07:00

Tennis Gear Online have done it again with an absolutely crazy offer. For every Head YouTek Racquet sold - pay $1 and receive a Head Tour Team Monster Combi. These bags are worth over $150!!! To get one for $1 is ludicrous.

The offer is for a limited time only and only while stocks last. So visit Tennis Gear Online to get yours now.

Aim your Service Return

2010-09-16T02:20:00.001-07:00

Think about your return of serve before you make it. You must have a plan on where you are going to return the ball before you actually hit it. This video gives you some great tips on Return of Serve.

For more information about return of serve, speak to one of our professionals at Shaw Park Tennis Centre or Everton Tennis Centre.

Things to Consider when Selecting a Tennis String

2010-09-16T00:54:00.001-07:00

I love this post by Athan Whisner about the most important considerations when selecting a tennis string.

"Your tennis racket strings are just as important as your racquet. But all too often we spend way too little time researching tennis strings. Many tennis players spend hours upon hours researching rackets to find the best tennis racket. They may even spend hours playing with a demo racket before purchasing it. Once they find the best tennis racket, many players go for the cheaper string or the string that they had in their old racket.

This can be a big mistake. If you used a demo tennis racket, it most likely had the best all around string put in it for that racket. For example, if it was a very stiff racket, chances are it had softer string in it or it might even have had natural gut in it, which is one of the top playing strings. It has been said that the strings are the "heart of the racket" or "the soul of the racket". This is so true. Your tennis racket string is what gives you the "feel of the racket" or playability. If you put the wrong string in your racket, you will wonder why you ever bought the racket to begin with. Put in the right string, and it will be hard to get you off the court! Of course, the "right" string is different for everyone. It all depends on what the tennis player likes and needs. Some tennis players like the firm crisp string, while other players prefer the softer tennis string. You need to find the string that you like and works for your type of game and tennis racket.

Playability is subjective and depends on the tennis player. There are several factors that give a string playability and should be considered when deciding on tennis racket string. The next time you replace your string, please take time to considering the following factors:

String Gauge - Gauge refers to the thickness of the tennis string. The most common gauges are 15-18 gauge. Each gauge has a half size which is referred to by an "L", which means light. Lower numbers are thick string while higher numbers indicate a thinner string. So a 16L gauge string is thicker than a 17 gauge but thinner than a 16 gauge tennis string. A thicker string generally provides durability so it lasts longer. A thinner string gives you better playability but sacrifices some durability.

String Tension - Tension refers to how tight you string your racket. Tennis rackets typically come with a recommended stringing range. The rule of thumb is that tighter strings give you more control, while a lower tension provides more power. If you have no preference, it is generally best to use the mid-range.

String Materials - Tennis racket strings are made up of many different types of materials. The materials include natural gut, synthetic gut or nylon, polyester, Kevlar, and there are even hybrid string sets which come with two different types of material. The choice really is a personal preference. It is said that natural gut offers the optimum in playability and feel. It has been and continues to be the number 1 pick on the pro circuit. Kevlar is known for its durability while synthetic gut offers a good combination of durability and playability".

String Construction - There are several different types of string construction that play a part in the string's make-up and playability. I will not go into detail but there are solid core strings with one outer wrap, solid core strings with multi-outer wraps and then there are those strings with no solid core, they are just multi-filaments. There are also multi-filament strings with outer-wraps, textured strings, and composite strings made up of a combination of materials. All of these different types of construction provide the string with a different feel and performance benefits.

As you can see, there is a lot more to tennis racket string than meets the eye. The intention of this article was to hopefully encourage you as a tennis player to pay more attention to the string that goes into your tennis racket and to do a little bit of research next time your racket needs stringing. Get the most out of your racket and your tennis racket strings."

Speak to us at Tennis Gear for more information about tennis strings for your racquet.

US Open Stringing Room

2010-09-13T16:01:00.001-07:00

Check out this great US Open Stringing Room insight.

Shaw Park Tennis & Gear use Wilson Biairdo Stringing Machines for all string jobs and our restrings are done under the supervision of Shane Mikic who was selected to string as part of the WIlson Global Stringing Team at this years Australian Open.

Strings to Improve Your Game

2010-09-09T15:26:00.001-07:00

Tennis Strings have been a hot topic in tennis circles recently, with string being widely regarded are most significant factor in the change to the game over the past decade. Most recently we have seen the rise of the Polyester Strings in pro tennis circles that have allowed players to consistently hit hard with greater amounts of control and spin.

The good news is that the strings available to the Pro's are also available to social players.

Natural Gut – For decades Natural Gut string was the preferred string for top professionals. Babolat VS Natural Gut had achieved legendry status as the choice of legends such as Pete Sampras. Natural Gut delivered great “feel” and comfort for the best players. It did however have drawbacks; it wasn’t very durable and would deteriorate when wet. For social tennis players it was out of reach due to high prices so it was only the privileged few who were able to use it.

Luxilon – More recently players have however turned to the Luxilon tennis strings in great numbers. Luxilon is a “coated poly”; it is durable, maintains its tension and delivers incredible spin and control to its users. Most of the top players from Federer to Nadal to Henin use Luxilon in their string bed. Other companies have attempted to create string with similar qualities to Luxilon, not quite reaching the magic formula but providing cheaper alternatives as a result. Other alternatives are Head Sonic Pro, Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour and Prince Poly EXP.

Hybrid String Patterns – A popular practice with top players is to “blend” their string pattern, using a different string on the mains and the crosses. Federer and Hewitt, for example, uses a blend of Luxilon and Natural Gut. The aim is to get the best of both world’s, the feel of Gut and the durability and spin of Luxilon. This method is highly recommended for players looking to improve their game. It allows them to generate spin with the poly in the mains while giving the stringbed a degree of softness with the gut in the crosses.

A major hurdle for the developing and social player is the cost of both Luxilon and Natural Gut string. Fortunately cheaper alternatives are available which offer similar characteristics; if not quite the same performance.

All companies will have their own version of Synthetic Gut, which is designed to have similar characteristics of Natural Gut thus providing power and a “soft feel.” By spending a little extra you may experience even better performance by stringing with a “multi filament” string. “Head FXP 17”, “Prince Syn Gut Multifilament”, “Wilson NXT” and “Wilson Sensation” are examples of multifilament strings which deliver Natural Gut like characteristics without the cost.

Customising your racquet and string – When considering your string specifications it is also important to consider the type of racquet you use. Although technology is always improving, generally speaking racquets, like strings, are usually designed for power; or control. Using an entirely “poly” string bed in a racquet with a tight string pattern (18 mains, 95 sq inch frame) may result in a dead feeling. Conversely using a soft synthetic gut string in a wide string pattern (16 mains, 110 sq inch frame) may adversely affect your control.

Conclusion – Using a Luxilon type “poly” string in the mains and a softer “Gut” string in the crosses is a great way to get the best stringing results. Stringing entirely with a softer “gut” type string can result in broken strings and losing tension quickly. Only stringing with a “poly” can make the racquet feel stiff and uncomfortable.

If you have the budget, string your mains with Luxilon and cross with Natural Gut in a blend. You can still get great results using the cheaper options recommended in this article. This will work in all types of racquet frames and deliver the all round improvement everyone is seeking.

You may however decide you need particular upgrading in certain aspects of your game – more spin, or durability, or comfort or power. In this case you may use exclusively “poly” (more spin and durability) or “gut” (power and comfort). The most important thing is taking advantage of this revolution in tennis strings; they can and will improve your tennis game!

For more information about stringing and string types visit Tennis Gear Online or call Everton Tennis Centre or Shaw Park Tennis Centre to speak with our friendly staff.

Great Tips on Improving your Serve

2010-09-09T15:13:00.001-07:00

The tennis serve is the most complicated stroke in the game. But that doesn’t mean that you’ll never get it. It means that there are many ways and traps of not doing the right thing.

The most common problems with tennis serve are:
– forehand grip – trying too hard – using too many muscles – hitting a lot into the net – looking down to the court before hitting the ball

Let’s see how you can address these problems from the technical and mental aspect.

1. Hitting a serve with a forehand grip

The question is why you play with a forehand grip when you probably know that it’s the continental grip that works best for a good versatile serve?

You started with that grip, kept it and still enjoyed your game (or won matches). Unless you become really really motivated – especially with matches lost to good players – you probably won’t change it.

It feels safe and you don’t make mistakes, even though you’re always on defense when your opponent returns the shot. You may be missing the big picture here. If you play for points – competitively – it doesn’t matter who makes less mistakes. It matters only who wins.

Tennis serve tip #1

Start practicing with a continental grip. Since your wrist and your arm are not used to this change you need to start slowly. Hit your serves with 25% speed at first. Gently grip the racquet and focus on your feel. It will improve. Gradually increase speed.

Later serve your first serves with this grip and medium paced speed and use your safe serve for the second serve. The next step is learning a top spin serve and gradually implementing it in the game.

Then gather all your courage and decide that from a certain day on you will never play your old serve again. Now you’re really on your way to good serving!

2. Trying too hard

If you watch really good servers, you’ll see that it looks quite effortless to hit a powerful serve. If you try hard to hit a fast serve you contract too many contradictory muscles which work against each other. You will not get a fast and effortless serve by trying hard! You are going in the wrong direction.

Tennis serve tip #2

Serve a couple of your serves as normal. Notice the speed of the ball and how much you exert yourself. How much effort it takes to hit a ball with this speed.

Now stop and imagine that you want to hit with same speed but less effort. Just decide and hit a few. You may be surprised that you can still do it.

Now go further with this and decide that you want to hit faster with even less effort. Let your body figure this out. Just imagine the end result – fast ball, easy effortless serving and see what happens.

Do not judge your results after 3 serves. Serve 20 or 30 balls and know the end result – fast serve with no effort. When you let go of your conscious control your serves will start flying!

3. Hitting a lot into the net

The reason for this lies in your imagination. When you imagine your tennis serve in a straight line, you connect your point of contact and the place where you want to hit your serve with a straight line. Unfortunately, if you’re not 6′5”, the net is in between. Many serves end up at the net.

Tennis serve tip #3

Hit above the net! Imagine your serve going above the net and into the court. More thorough explanation and tips on this common mistake are available only for my subscribers.

This is one of the best tips for improving your serve and I offer this tennis serve tip only to those who really want to improve their game – subscribers to the TennisMindGame Newsletter.

4. Looking down into the court before hitting

When you look down at your target you obviously lose sight of the ball. This means that you probably can’t hit it in the middle of the racquet and that you are not focusing on the ball anymore. When your head moves during the stroke it pulls your arm too. This results in many mishits and mistakes.

The reason why you look down is that your mind goes into the future. When that happens you disrupt your mind-body connection. This is especially evident on the tennis serve since there is only a small window above the net where you must hit in order to keep the ball in the service box.

When you play from the baseline you have a much bigger target. You can make these mind-body disconnects and still keep the ball in play.

The tennis serve is very sensitive to your mental activity. Every thought, fear, indecision or mind in the future (or past) affects your serve. And since the window above the net is so small you often miss it – either below in the net or above and over the service box.

Tennis serve tip #4

Stay with the ball until it disappears. The only part of the tennis serve that you can control is the point of impact. Focus on that and practice keeping your mind in the present moment- hitting the ball. That way your head will stay there too and you won’t disrupt your serve.

Decide beforehand where you want to serve and then focus only on the ball and the clean contact with it. When that happens move on – with you mind and body.

And one more tip – work on these serving tips until they work, don’t just try these ideas for a couple of minutes. Practice them for a couple of weeks and you’ll see a noticable improvement of your serve.

Tomaz Mencinger shows the players how to make their mind their best ally by teaching them expert tennis tips which you can get through his free newsletter. Find out how to play a winning tennis by visiting http://www.tennisgear.com.au

Nadal's Skinny Handle

2010-09-09T15:10:00.001-07:00

By KRISTINA DELL

Getty Images

Rafael Nadal is shown during his third round U.S. Open match on Sunday.

As a gangly 8-year-old, Rafael Nadal picked up a new racket at the suggestion of Uncle Toni, his coach, and began to swat around a ball. Toni liked what he saw. The Babolat Soft Drive was exactly what he had been searching for: light and easy to maneuver with a tiny grip.

It was originally designed for a woman, which was fine by Toni, because he wanted a racket his young nephew would be able to control easily. A former table-tennis champion turned tennis pro, Toni Nadal liked the feeling of waving his ping-pong paddle back and forth quickly through the air like a magic wand.

This year’s Spanish Armada at the U.S. Open had everyone talking about the level of talent the country brought to the tournament. But all the talk about Spanish players wasn’t just about their game. WSJ’s Beckey Bright reports.

Why, he wondered, couldn’t a tennis player replicate this motion on the court? “It seemed to me that this [new] racket was easier to whip around,” said Toni. “For that same reason I like a small grip.”

As Mr. Nadal continues to cruise through the U.S. Open field this year—he plays countryman Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals on Thursday—the impact of his uncle’s small epiphany on professional tennis is hard to underestimate. In fact, it has helped to fundamentally change the way many top pros approach rackets.

When he started using the whippier racket, the young Rafa, who is naturally right-handed, was using two hands on both sides. It wasn’t until he was 10 that he started playing about 20 minutes at a time with a one-handed forehand. “I thought he should be left-handed because he was using his legs like a left-hander,” Toni said. “We started hitting serves with his left arm and then with his other arm and the reality is he wasn’t very good with either,” he added, laughing. “We had to choose and we chose left.”

When he played his first tournament—also at 10—the light racket and small grip helped Rafa make the transition to a one-handed forehand on his nondominant side. But the flimsy frame made it harder for him to get speed on his serve.

Fourteen years later, Mr. Nadal plays with a different Babolat racket—the top-selling black and yellow Aeropro Drive—but the specifications he uses haven’t changed much.

As the topspin-heavy, clay-court style of play that Mr. Nadal has perfected takes over tennis, there has been a shift in how many of the top pros approach rackets. Players like Mr. Nadal and fellow Spaniard Carlos Moya, who stay glued to the baseline with big forehands and double-fisted backhands, have abandoned the heavy, thick-gripped weapons of the past that players such as Pete Sampras and John McEnroe favored.

U.S. Open Photos: Day 10

View Slideshow

EPA

Novak Djokovic of Serbia serves to Gael Monfils of France during their quarterfinal round match.

Today, thin is in. Skinny grips and lighter frames that carry more weight in the head rather than the shaft help baseliners generate more racket-head speed so they can use their wrists and forearms to roll through their shots. Updated polyester strings only add to the effect, as players finish their swings with their rackets up around their ears to get crazy amounts of spin.

“If you give Nadal a heavy racket with a big grip, it’s impossible to do what he does,” said Roman Prokes, part of the team of U.S. Open stringers handling Mr. Nadal’s sticks.

The world No. 1 is also not a racket diva. Mr. Nadal doesn’t travel with a personal stringer unlike many other top tour players. Nor does he take his frustrations out on his equipment. The only time Toni Nadal saw his nephew break a racket is when he was playing at Roland Garros—he hit his shoe on a serve and cracked the frame. The serve was good.

Aside from treating his rackets kindly, what Mr. Nadal does is put a lot of action on the ball. A maneuverable frame lets him execute his signature lefty forehand: instead of following through over his right shoulder, Mr. Nadal snaps his racket back after hitting the ball. (Kind of like a ping-pong player.) The result is a hyper-rotating spin with the ball jumping high off the court.

Rafa’s racket weighs a flimsy 10.6 ounces unstrung, plus an extra 0.4 ounce he adds to the head, for a total of 11.5 ounces with strings, practically pixie dust in the hands of a 6-foot-1 hulking guy. By contrast, the 5-foot-10, 128-pound Caroline Wozniacki, the U.S. Open’s top seeded woman, plays with the same Babolat Aeropro Drive as Mr. Nadal; her frame is just two ounces lighter than Mr. Nadal’s.

If Mr. Nadal picked up Mr. Sampras’s old racket today, his shots would probably hit the fence. The hefty, unforgiving Pro Staff Original Mr. Sampras used en route to 14 Grand Slam titles is 12.6 ounces unstrung. It was already cumbersome, but Mr. Sampras added lead tape to get more power and control, for a total mass of almost 14 ounces with strings. To manage it, he used a grip with a circumference of 4 5/8 inches.

In a tournament full of close matches, big upsets and total meltdowns, the field is narrowed down to the final four contenders for the WSJ Food Open crown. WSJ’s Jim Chairusmi reports from the food village at Arthur Ashe and tells you what the number one dish was at this year’s U.S. Open.

Mr. Nadal’s svelte handle is but a toothpick in comparison: 4¼ inches around, a size smaller than the grip Ms. Wozniacki and many women use. “A 4 3/8 grip was considered a ladies racket,” said Mr. Prokes, “but now across the board players have gone to small grip sizes, at least one size smaller or more.”

Still, Rafa’s grip size is extreme. “That’s unusual to create that much head speed and the racket not twist in your hand with that grip,” said Nick Bollettieri, coach of 10 No. 1 players. “None of my students use that.”

Before Mr. Nadal came of age, Mr. Moya, his countryman and mentor, was one of the first guys to use a minuscule 4¼ grip. “With heavy topspin, the grips are smaller so the guys can pronate their wrists fast on their forehands,” said Stan Smith, U.S. Open winner in 1971 and former No. 1 player in the world. Mr. Moya uses an even lighter Babolat racket—with most of the weight in the head—than Mr. Nadal does today.

Still, the trend isn’t for everyone. Don’t expect a player like Roger Federer to go all tiny and light. With more of a classic style game, Mr. Federer’s strokes benefit from the old-fashioned heavier frame. “Federer is not that far around on his forehand, so he uses a heavier racket,” said Mr. Smith. “The heavier racket gives you more mass around the ball for power, but you can’t maneuver it around quite as much.”

Mr. Nadal might have the most punishing topspin on tour, but Team Rafa is always looking for equipment tweaks that will help him get more rotation and power. Each November, Babolat CEO Eric Babolat visits Mallorca to talk to the Nadals and test new ideas.

Two years ago Toni and Rafa gave suggestions for developing a string that would give him more topspin with less effort—he had been using the same yellow Babolat Pro Hurricane strings for more than 10 years. The transition wasn’t easy. “Rafael is difficult to change,” said Toni. But a hesitant Rafa liked the feeling: “The ball stays more time on the racket, so is easier to have the control,” he said.

He made the switch at the Australian Open and went on to win the French and Wimbledon with the black strings. Other players took note: three out of the four French Open finalists used them. Four months after the launch, Babolat said it accounts for 10% of its annual string sales.

The question going forward is whether Mr. Nadal can continue to generate enough power. “Each year he is playing he is getting a little less powerful,” Toni Nadal said. “That is normal. The older he gets the more difficult to have the same energy.”

His solution: a heavier racket. “We are thinking at the end of the year we are going to add a little more weight at the head of the racket to get more power on the serve,” said Toni, smiling. “But don’t tell him that.”

Tennis Gear Online

Federer between the legs winner

2010-08-31T17:01:00.001-07:00

Roger is amazing. How can anyone say he is past his best. Look at this.

Tennis Gear Online for all your tennis needs.

Robin Soderling Talks about his YouTek Radical

2010-08-29T15:53:00.001-07:00

Robin Soderling talks about his Head YouTek Radical racquet.

Hewitt Stosur Absent from Commonwealth Games Team

2010-08-29T15:45:00.001-07:00

Hewitt and Stosur have elected not to play for Australia in the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

Read the full article about Australia's Commonwealth Games Tennis Team here.

Hewitts racquet onsale now at Tennis Gear Online for only $199 strung.

This Guy has way too much time!!!

2010-08-26T17:32:00.001-07:00

Check out Federers forehand grip. 3000 photos - you have to be joking.

Tennis Gear Online

Cool RPM Blast Video - Anyone Speak French?

2010-08-25T04:03:00.001-07:00

The much anticipated Babolat RPM Blast has finally been released in Australia. Tennis Gear Online has stock now for purchase and is also restringing racquets in RPM Blast. Check out the following video for more info or visit our store to reserve your reel.

Djokovic vs The Machine

2010-08-25T03:52:00.001-07:00

Buy any Head YouTek racquet from Everton Tennis & Gear or Shaw Park Tennis & Gear and you will receive a Head Tour Team MonsterCombi or a Head Djokovic MonsterCombi for only $1. Then you also may able to do the following crazy stunts.

Federer trick shot

2010-08-18T03:31:00.001-07:00

The Wilson BLX racquets you buy at Everton Tennis can make you do this.

Federer Trick Shot Video

Should Federer Wear a Pink Skirt?

2010-08-17T05:16:00.001-07:00

I not sure about the pink shirt that Federer was wearing in the Toronto Masters. Some suggest Federer needs a pink skirt to go with his pink shirt. Well I guess if Nadal can wear pink then so can Federer.

Checkout this post about his pink attire.

I can also say that the Tennis Gear Online store is on the lookout for male players looking for a pink tennis shirt. Do you know any?