201407 Tennis Industry magazine
Transcript of 201407 Tennis Industry magazine
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Management
Make sure yourstaff has powerand INFLUENCE
Customizing
Use our STRINGCHECKLIST toserve players
Juniors
New event forHIGH SCHOOLtennis players
Incorp
oratin
gUSPTA
ULY 2014 / VOLUME 42/ NUMBER 7 / $5. 00
Lake Nona!The New Home for
American Tennis
UnderstandingTennis Shoes
Ball Machines Boosting Tennis IQ Our Annual Guide
The New Home for
American Tennis
UnderstandingTennis Shoes
Ball Machines Boosting Tennis IQ Our Annual Guide
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DEPARTMENTS
4 Our Serve
7 Industry News
9 Letters
13 Junior Tennis
14 TIA news
32 Ask the Experts
34 String Playtest: Ashaway
Crossfire ZX Tour
36 Your Serve, by Yza Shady
PLUS
40 CEOs Message
42 Vice
Presidents
Message
44 Tennis Teachers
Conference
56 USPTA Benefits
58 USPTA News
62 Career Development
64 Member News
INDUSTRY NEWS
7 Wilson names new GM
of Racquet Sports
7 PTR, USPTA to co-host
Midwest Symposium
7 HOF breaks ground
on improvements
8 USTA creates American
Collegiate Invitational
8 Ektelon, Viking join
IART Symposium
8 UC Berkeley wins ToC title
8 Tennis Resorts Online names
top camps, resorts
9 PlaySight raises $3.5 million
investment
10 Peoplewatch
11 Q1 equipment sales
performance data
12 Short Sets
12 Green solutions can
save money, too
ULY 2014
TennisIndustry
18The New Home forAmerican Tennis
The USTA says the tennis facility to be built at
Lake Nona in Florida will be a game-changer.
22 Impact Through InfluenceWith proper training, youll make sure your
staff has knowledge, power and influence.
24 Stress Relief?A podiatric surgeon and tennis pro says for
performance and protection, we need to
change our priorities with tennis shoes.
26 String ChecklistTo make sure your string selection covers all of
your customers needs, use our checklist.
44 2014 Tennis TeachersConference PlanningInformation
56 Grow Tennis by Growingthe USPTA Foundation
57 USPTA Offers Members Long-Term Care Insurance Options
58 USPTA, Emirates AirlineUS Open Series ContinueCollaboration in 2014
p.26
p.28
2 TennisIndustry July 2014
p.39
FEATURES
p.24
www.tennisindustrymag.com
Read more articles online at www.ADDvantageUSPTA.com
www.tennisindustrymag.com
2014 GUIDE TO BALL MACHINES
28 Smarten Up!Push your players to practice with a ballmachine to help boost their Tennis IQ.
30 Ball Machine SelectorOur annual guide lists all the specs and
features so you can pick the right unit.
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OurServe PublishersDavid Bone Jeff Williams
Editorial Director
Peter Francesconi
Associate Editor
Greg Raven
Design/Art Director
Kristine Thom
Special Projects Manager
Bob Patterson
Contributing Editors
Robin Bateman
Cynthia Cantrell
Kent Oswald
Cynthia Sherman
Mary Helen Sprecher
Tim Strawn
Contributing Photographers
Bob Kenas
David Kenas
TENNIS INDUSTRY
Corporate Offices
PO Box 3392, Duluth, GA 30096
Phone: 760-536-1177 Fax: 760-536-1171
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.TennisIndustryMag.com
Office Hours: Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Advertising Director
John Hanna770-650-1102, x.125
Apparel Advertising
Cynthia Sherman
203-263-5243
Tennis Industry is published 10 times per year:
monthly January through August and combined
issues in September/October and November/
December by Tennis Industry and USRSA, PO
Box 3392, Duluth, GA 30096. Periodcal postage
paid at Duluth, GA and at additional mailing
offices (USPS #004-354). July 2014, Volume 42,
Number 7 2014 by USRSA and Tennis Industry.
All rights reserved. Tennis Industry, TI and logo
are trademarks of USRSA. Printed in the U.S.A.
Phone advertising: 770-650-1102 x 125. Phone
circulation and editorial: 760-536-1177. Yearly
subscriptions $25 in the U.S., $40 elsewhere.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Tennis
Industry, PO Box 3392, Duluth, GA 30096. TI is the
official magazine of the USRSA, TIA,and ASBA.
Looking for back issues of Tennis Industry/
Racquet Sports Industry? Visit the archives at our
website at TennisIndustrymag.com for free digital
versions back to 2004.
Whether paid or volunteer,
if youre in the tennis busi-
ness in any capacity, you
also are, and must be, in the business
of advocating for the sport. Advocating
for tennis is possibly themost impor-tant thing we can do for this sport. It
crosses all lines, all departments, all
committees, all organizationsand
all businesses. And it builds for our
future.The definition of advocacy is
relatively simpleactive support,
especially of a cause. But when it
comes to tennis, advocacy seems to be
a somewhat slippery term to definein a way that can result in meaningful
action.
About a decade ago, the USTAramped up advocacy efforts, hiring
staff and pushing out messaging and
resources. But last fall, the USTA dis-banded its Public Affairs & Advocacy
department. There still is a volunteer
Advocacy/Public Affairs Committee,
and the USTA urges its committees
and departments to continue withadvocacy efforts. However, since the
specific staff department is gone, I
sense a diminished urgency and coor-
dination.
Whats tended to muddy the waterswithin the USTA is there are two advo-
cacy avenues: Theres the big, atten-
tion-grabbing efforts like lobbying
lawmakers in Washington, D.C., court-
ing celebrities, and promoting tennis
at the White House. Then theresadvocacy on the local level, decidedly
less glamorous, but truly the heart of
what it takes to grow this game.
Both avenues are important, but
Im advocating for better advocacy
focusing on the local level. We need amore coordinated effort. Advocating
locally means getting schools, govern-
ments, parks, and community groups
to realize the benefits of tennis. It
involves giving local groups and CTAsa comprehensive toolbox to state the
case for tennis in all situations.
Im hoping the loss of the USTA ad-
vocacy staff does not mean the Advo-
cacy & Public Affairs Committee will
also go away or lose focus. The USTAcommittee not only needs to continue,
it should be split to more effectively
address bothavenues. The side dealing
with grassroots tennis advocacy needs
to coordinate with other committees,
departments and even outside groups
so that effective, consistent tools and
resources reach providers, so they canpush for tennis locally and meet any
challenge or barrier the sport may face
in their communities. In many cases,
these tools and resources already exist(especially within some of the sec-tions). We need to pull this together
and make it clearly available and us-
able nationally.
As Ive said many times, we can have
the best national initiatives in the
world, but growing this game comesdown to being local. Advocating for
tennis in your community isbig. After
all, its our future.
Peter Francesconi, Editorial Director
Its About Advocacy
Advocating for tennisis possibly themostimportant thing we cando for this sport.
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IndustryNewsInformation to help you run your business
Wilson Sporting Goods in early May announced that Hans-Martin Reh will
replace Jon Muir as the general manager of Racquet Sports.
Reh is coming back to Wilson after 17 years. Most of that time, 14 years,
was spent at Nike, where he was most recently general manager of tennis, basket-ball, indoor, swim and Brand Jordan for Europe, Middle East and Africa. His most
recent position was as the chief commercial officer at Heinz Kettler GmbH & Co., a
leading European manufacturer of home fitness equipment, leisure furniture, out-
door toys and bikes, where he had global responsibility for managing and growing a
200-person sales and marketing organization.Hans-Martin is a unique operational and growth genius, and
his track record as a strategic and disruptive force in the sporting
goods industry couldnt be better suited to our plans to build on
our leadership in Racquet Sports, said Mike Dowse, president and
CEO of Wilson. We are at an exciting and critical inflection pointin Wilson's history, with our digital and smart product launches,
new investments in re-launching our brand, and our recommit-
ment to groundbreaking R&D.
Muir, who was Tennis Industry magazines Person of the Year in
2010, leaves Wilson Racquet Sports after nearly eight years as GM.During his tenure at Wilson, Muir also served as the president of
the Tennis Industry Association for four years and was a presiden-
tial appointee to the USTAs Board of Directors. Muir says he is considering leavingthe Chicago area to return to Southern California.
I want to personally thank Jon for his unwavering commitment to Wilson for
almost two decades, and for helping provide Wilson with a smooth transition,Dowse said.
Wilson Appoints NewGM of Racquet Sports
HOF Breaks Ground onImprovements
The International Tennis Hall of Fame &
Museum in Newport, R.I., broke ground
in mid-May on the first phase of a multi-
faceted $15.7 million capital campaign
and improvement project.
The four focus areas of the project,
which is funded by the Match Point Capi-
tal Campaign, are to add additional ten-
nis courts and facilities; to strategically
expand the Hall of Fame's footprint in a
manner that is in keeping with Newport's
historic aesthetic and enhances the com-
munity; to upgrade the museum with
new technology and enhanced exhibi-
tions; and to improve campus-wide ame-
nities including upgrades to the tennis
stadium.
Information and updates about the
project are at tennisfame.com/Match-
PointCampaign.
Facility Owner Buys TennisMachines Business
Tennis Machines, the ball and string-
ing machine sales and service repair shoplocated in St Louis, Mo., was purchased
recently by Terry Ward, a local tennis facility
owner and longtime USPTA tennis pro.
The business, which has operated since
1975 and serves as the authorized location
for all Prince products, carries ball machines
and stringing machines from all major
manufacturers. In addition, Tennis Machines
has expanded its offerings to include racquet
stringing and repair as well as sales and ser-
vice for all things tenniscourt accessories,
supplies and consulting services.
Longtime associate JC Carpentier contin-ues to lend his expertise to the business. Visit
tennismachines.com.
ITA Inducts 7 to Hall of Fame
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association
(ITA) Men's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame
inducted seven in May during NCAA Divi-
sion I Men's & Women's Tennis Champi-
onships held at the University of Georgia
in Athens, Ga. The Class of 2014 includes
coaches Billy Chadwick (Mississippi),
Timon Corwin (Kalamazoo), and James
Wadley (Oklahoma State U); players Matt
The PTR and USPTA will co-host the PTR/USPTAMidwest Symposium on Aug. 9 at the DeWitt Tennis
Center at Hope College in Holland, Mich. The event
is open to all tennis teachers and coaches, including high
school and college coaches, assistant coaches, and USTAteam captains. Registrants can be members of either orga-
nization. Non-members are also welcome to participate.
Speakers will include Jorge Capestany, Emma Doyle, Julio
Godreau, Dr. Neeru Jayanthi and Oliver Stephens. Registration is $47 and includes
lunch.
A PTR 11 to 17 Certification Workshop will be held Aug. 10 for those who wish toget certified to teach this age group, including high school coaches. For informa-
tion about the symposium and accommodations, or to register, visit Events at www.
ptrtennis.org or call PTR at 843-785-7244.
www.tennisindustrymag.com
PTR & USPTA to Co-HostMidwest Symposium
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IndustryNews
Anger (USC), Juan Farrow (Southern Ill
U - Edwardsville) and Alex Kim (Stanford);and contributor, Doug Conant (North-
western).
USTA Creates AmericanCollegiate Invitational
The 2014 US Open will feature a college
tennis competition for the first time ever in
2014, inviting top American college play-
ers to compete in the inaugural American
Collegiate Invitational Sept. 4-6 at the USTA
Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in
Flushing, N.Y.
Eight men and eight women will be invited
to play in a singles tournament during the
second week of the Open, with the winners
receiving a wild card into a future pro event.
The Invitational is open only to American
players, and each field will include six players
who are still in college and two who have
exhausted their college eligibility this year,
according to specific criteria.
College tennis plays such a significant
role in the vitality of American tennis, and its
important that we are able to highlight some
of Americas best college players on a world-
wide stage at the US Open, said USTA Chair-
man, CEO and President Dave Haggerty.
TGA Adds Franchise in Calif.
TGA Premier Youth Tennis has awarded
a new tennis franchise in California to
Mike Lipsey, a former Silicon Valley semi-
conductor executive. Lipseys franchise,
located in the San Jose and lower San
Francisco peninsula area, is the sixth in
the state and 25th nationwide.
TGAs program (playtga.com) intro-
duces tennis in schools and supports the
USTAs 10-and-Under Tennis initiative
before transitioning youngsters to USTAprograms, tennis facilities and USPTA
Professionals nationwide.
I am very excited to have this op-
portunity to bring tennis to schools and
impact local youth through the character
development themes that TGA emphasiz-
es, says Lipsey, who spent 25 years as an
executive in the semiconductor industry
overseeing global supply chains.
New YTex String Offered
The newest string from YTex is the
Square-X, a unique squared co-poly that the
company says combines power with control
and feel. The carbon co-poly + polyolefin
is available in 16L gauge/1.25 mm. USRSA
members automatically qualify to receive
wholesale pricing on all sets and reels.
YTex also is looking for U.S. sales reps
and an international distributor. For more
information, contact [email protected]
or 843-816-1440, or visit ytexstrings.com.
Ektelon, Viking Join IARTSymposium
Ektelon and Viking have this year joined
Babolat, Bolt, Dunlop, Gamma, Prince,Wilson and Yonex as sponsors of the 2014
IART Symposium, which will
be Sept. 20-24 at Saddle-
brook Resort in Tampa, Fla.
The eighth annual stringers
symposium includes a
diverse format of seminars
that cover all aspects of business man-
agement for shop owners and pro shop
personnel, plus hands-on training for
racquet technicians.
We continue to offer new classes and
new instructors each year in an effort tokeep it fresh, stimulating and certainly
worth the time for people to attend, says
IART founder Tim Strawn.
The conference will conclude with USR-
SA certification testing and an intense
six-hour racquet customization class.
Visit gssalliance.com.
UC Berkeley Wins TOC Title
The UC Berkeley team from USTA Northern
California earned its third Tennis On Campus
national title in five years, completing an
undefeated run at the Surprise Tennis & Rac-
quet Complex in Surprise, Ariz., by beating
the University of Florida, 27-13. The 15th an-
nual TOC championships saw 64 teams par-
ticipating. Next year, the tournament moves
back to the East Coast and will be start April
9 at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C.
Also, Cooper Anderson of Western Wash-
ington University has been named USTA
Tennis On Campus National Leader of the
Year for the 2013-2014 season, and Ferris
State Universitys (FSU) club tennis team is
the 2013-14 Tennis On Campus National
Club of the Year.
Pfaender Retires from Wilson
Bob Pfaender of Lake Mary,
Fla., who was Tennis Industry
magazines Sales Rep of the
Year in 2002, retired at the end
of May after more than 27 years
with Wilson Racquet Sports.
Pfaender, who also serves as
president of the USTA Florida
Section, told TI magazine he plans to
remain involved in the sport. His last
hours for Wilson on May 31 were spent at
the annual Florida USPTA state conven-tion and USTA Florida semi-annual board
meeting.
TRO Names Top 100Resorts, Camps
Tennis Resorts Online recently released
its annual rankings of the Top 100 Tennis
Resorts and Camps worldwide, as deter-
mined by evaluations submitted by tennis
vacationers.
The Top 5 Resorts are: 1. Omni Amelia
Island Plantation Resort, FL; 2. Kiawah Island
Golf Resort, SC; 3. Rancho Valencia, CA; 4.
8 TennisIndustry July 2014
Business Drive
STRING Tennis Shop in
Dana Point, Calif., has aunique rolling billboard
in the form of a Smart car ad-
vertising its tennis business.
Owner Lars Krogius says the
wrap on the car cost $1,500and the $99 a month lease
makes it a very affordable
way to market his business
and service his customers.
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IndustryNews
July 2014 TennisIndustry 9www.tennisindustrymag.com
Cardio Tennis MessageGreat message on Cardio Tennis
in the June issue (Your Serve,
How Cardio Tennis Contributes
to the Tennis Industry). Herein Texas we are doing our best to
promote the programs and finally
we are getting support from the
pros. More is needed. At our club,Grey Rock Tennis Club in Austin,
the sessions are popular, well
attended and appreciated by our
members and pros.
Fernando Velasco
General Manager andDirector of Tennis
Grey Rock Tennis Club
Letters
Reasons to PlayI saw your Our Serve column in the
June issue of Tennis Industry and its
great!
One of the things that I think is cru-cial for our sport is Jack Groppels 34
Reasons to Play Tennis. PTR has it
available on our website, and everyone
in our industry (pros, facilities, manu-facturers, etc.) needs to promote it to
the world! Check it out at http://www.
ptrtennis.org/benefits/34Reasons.
pdf. This could be the single most
important promotion for tennis!
Julie W. JillyPTR Vice President Marketing &
Events
PlaySight Completes $3.5M
Investment for 'SmartCourt'P
laySight Interactive, creators of the SmartCourt tennis analytic system,
has completed a $3.5 million investment round that includes high-profile
investors such as Novak Djokovic, Billie Jean King, Dr. Jim Loehr, Mark Ein,
Ray Benton, Gordon A. Uehling III and Bill Ackman. The money will fun a global
roll-out of the SmartCourt technology for recreational and elite tennis, as well asresearch and development on applications in other sports.
We are proud to have such a powerful group of investors who share our vision
of bringing elite player technology to the grassroots and club level, said Chen
Shachar, PlaySight CEO. When we developed this technology we saw an oppor-
tunity to create an affordable, easy-to-install, cloud-based system for athletes ofall levels to improve their game. We are certain that SmartCourts will make tennis
more engaging and fun.
Based on concepts originally designed to train fighter pilots, PlaySight combinesadvanced player analytics technology (PAT) with video-replay and social media. It
is approved by the ITF for use in amateur tournaments and has so far been installedin 35 courts, including 19 in the U.S.
Wild Dunes, SC; 5. La Quinta Resort & Club,
CA.The Top 5 Camps are: 1. Roy Emerson
Tennis Weeks at Gstaad Palace, Switzerland;
2. Cliff Drysdale Tennis at Omni Amelia Island
Plantation, FL; 3. New England Tennis Holi-
days at Sugarbush, VT; 4. Saddlebrook Tennis
(Hopman), FL; 5. John Newcombe Tennis
Ranch, TX.
The complete list is at TennisResortsOnline.
com.
Oncourt OffcourtCelebrates20 Years
PTR and USPTA
Master Pro Joe Dinoffer
announced the 20th
Anniversary of Oncourt
Offcourt. Based in Dal-
las, Oncourt Offcourt
was founded by Dinoffer
in 1994 with just one tennis training aid.
The company has now created over 200
proprietary tennis devices, ranging from
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PeopleWatch
Legendary Austra-
lian doubles pair Todd
Woodbridge and MarkWoodforde received the
ITFs highest accolade, the
Philippe Chatrier Award,
at the 2014 ITF World
Champions Dinner on June
3 in Paris. They are the first
doubles team to receive the
honor, which is awarded each
year for outstanding contri-butions to the game.
For the third consecutive
season, Head Penns Paola
Longoria finished the Ladies
Professional Racquetball Tour
(LPRT) at No. 1 and with an
undefeated record. In the
season-ending Pro Nation-als event in Virginia in May,
Longoria defeated Head Penn
teammate Maria Jose Vargas
in the final.
The Antigua Group has
hired Brian Barth as territory manager
for Northern California and Northern
Nevada, including the San Franciscoand San Jose markets. Based in Mill
Valley, Calif., Barth has more than 20
years of sales experience spanning the
tennis, skiing and biking categories.
The USPTA has hired George Parnell
as the organizations legal counsel.
Parnell has nearly 30 years of legal
experience and has been an advisor
to private equity and venture capital
funds, public and private corporations.
and not-for profit organizations.
Dunlop Squash Tour Team member
and world No. 1 Gregory Gaultier
claimed his second British Open title on
May 18, beating fellow Dunlop player
Nick Matthew. Gaultier plays with the
Dunlop Biomimetic Elite racquet.
Doug Matuska and Bryan Biever of
Saint Paul, Minn., won the mens 35
and 45 singles titles, respectively, at
the $5,000 USPTA Indoor Champion-
ships at Lifetime Fitness in
Lakeville, Minn.
Head Penns Maria
Jose Vargas became
the first female
player from Bolivia to
win the Pan American
Racquetball Champion-
ships.
Pro player Elena Baltacha passed
away on May 4, after battling liver can-
cer. She was 30 years old and a former
world No. 49 who had led Great Britain
in Fed Cup for many years. She wasdiagnosed with the disease in January,
shortly after retiring from tennis and
a few weeks after her marriage to her
coach and partner, Nino Severino.
Stig Ericson, the 2014 Brad Parks
Award recipient, passed away 8 May
after a long illness. Ericson was heav-
ily involved in the development of
wheelchair tennis and was a member
of the International Wheelchair Tennis
Federation and International Wheel-
chair Tennis Association.
10 TennisIndustry July 2014
IndustryNews
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IndustryNews
July 2014 TennisIndustry 11www.tennisindustrymag.com
innovative training aids to user-friendly
ways to pick up and store tennis balls.
Visit OncourtOffcourt.com or contact
the company for a free 96-page 20th An-
niversary catalog at 888-366-4711.
Tennis Racquet Performance
Specialty Stores
January-March, 2014 vs. 2013
Units 2014 118,022
2013 119,590
% change vs. 13 -1%
Dollars 2014 $17,504,000
2013 $17,702,000
% change vs. 13 -1%
Price 2014 $148.31
2013 $148.02
% change vs. 13 0%
Top-Selling Racquets at Specialty
Stores
By year-to-date dollars, Jan.-Mar. 2014
Best Sellers
1. Babolat Aero Pro Drive 2013 (MP)
2. Babolat Pure Drive GT 2012 (MP)
3. Wilson BLX Juice (MP)
4. Head Graphene Radical MP (MP)
5. Babolat Pure Drive Lite 2012 (MP)
Hot New Racquets
(introduced in the past 12 months)
1 . Head Graphene Radical MP (MP)
2. Babolat Pure Drive Play (MP)3. Babolat Pure Strike 100 (MP)
4. Wilson Juice 100 S (MP)
5. Head Graphene Radical Pro (MP)
Top-Selling Tennis Shoes at Specialty
Stores
By year-to-date dollars, Jan.-Mar. 2014
1. Prince T22
2. Asics Gel Resolution 5
3. Nike Air Max Cage 2013
4. Nike Zoom Vapor 9 Tour
5. Adidas Barricade 8
Top-Selling Tennis Strings at Specialty
StoresBy year-to-date units, Jan.-Mar. 2014
1. Babolat RPM Blast
2. Wilson NXT
3. Prince Synthetic Gut Duraflex
4. Wilson Sensation
5. Luxilon Alu Power
(Source: TIA/Sports Marketing Surveys)
USRSA Announces New MRTs
Master Racquet Technicians
William Brown - Bucyrus, MO
Michael Jones - Williamsburg, VA
Samantha Munze - Fayetteville, NC
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ShortSets
Tennis Channel has
unveiled an annualdigital subscription ser-
viceTennis Channel
Pluswhich is available
to all U.S.-based digital
users. The network says
Tennis Channel Plus
expands the amount of
content Tennis Channel
can offer its viewers.
The service, for $59.99
for the season, can be
accessed through the
networks Tennis Chan-
nel Everywhere app or
through www.tennis-
channeleverywhere.
com.
Fromuth Tennis is the
fourth company to par-
ticipate in the USPTAs
Retirement Gold+
program. For USPTA Pro-
fessionals who purchase
more than $750 per year
of Nike footwear and ap-
parel for their pro shops,Fromuth will contribute
5 percent into those
participating profession-
als Retirement Gold+
accounts.
Ashaway Racket
Strings has renewed its
partnership program
with the Women's
Squash Association,becoming once again
"The Official String of
WSA." Ashaway VP
Steve Crandall says,
Many women players,
both amateur and pro-
fessional, find Ashaway
strings ideally suited
for their unique style of
play and we want to do
all we can to support
WSA.
In a new agreement,
Paloma Financial and
John Hancock will offer
a discounted, long-
term care insurance
program to USPTA
members.
TennisBiz has joined
the PTR as a Corporate
Member. TennisBiz is
an online tool built by
coaches for coaches
and enables users toautomate every aspect
of their coaching
administration. PTR
members get their
first month free. Visit
tennisbiz.net or call
800-231-1390.
The International
Tennis Hall of Fames
annual Hall of Fame Ten-nis Championships and
Enshrinement Weekend
will feature an exhibi-
tion doubles match with
Monica Seles, Tracy
Austin, Gigi Fernandez,
and Rhode Island native
and recently retired WTA
Tour player Jill Craybas.
The match will be on
Sunday, July 13, before
the mens final in
Newport, R.I.
Wimbledon has in-
creased total prize mon-
ey for the 2014 event to
$40 million, an increase
of 10.8 percent from last
year. The winning singles
players will receive $2.9
million, an increase from
$2.5 million last year. In
the last four years, prize
money for the singles
winners has increased
60 percent. First-roundlosers also will see a rise
in their pay of about 12
percent, to $45,000.
The Art of Coaching
High School Tennis, by
Bill Patton, published in
March, is now available
from Amazon. Patton, a
longtime tennis pro
and high school coach,provides an intimate
look at the techniques
and relationship of
high school coaches
with their school, play-
ers and parents, offer-
ing practical advice,
informative anecdotes
and more.
The WTA is renaming
its year-end cham-
pionships the WTA
Finals. In addition, the
finals will have the new
theme On Top of the
World. The finals will
be held in Singapore
for the next five years,
in an expanded 10-day
format that will also
include a Rising Stars
Exhibition, Legends
Invitational, Future
Stars junior event, and
fan festival.
New Balance Japan
announced the NB
Raonic Robot, featur-
ing pro tennis player
Milos Raonic, was
certified as the fastest
tennis ball serving
machine at 170 mph
by the Guinness World
Records, at Chuo Uni-
versity in Tokyo.
Mueller Sports
Medicine has signed a
three-year agreement
with tennis star Rafael
Nadal to endorse Muel-
ler ProStrips abrasion
control products.
A fire at a house
owned by James Blake
near Tampa, Fla.
which the tennis star
had rented outwas
determined to be a
murder-suicide. Blake
and his family were at
his Connecticut home
at the time on May
7. Law enforcement
officials say Darrin
Campbell shot his
wife and two teenage
kids before setting the
house on fire.
Cliff Drysdale Tenniswill manage the tennis
program and pro shop
at Arrowhead at Vail,
Colo. The program will
be directed by Steven
Etchells, formerly of
the Drysdale-managed
tennis program at
Omni Amelia Island.
12 TennisIndustry July 2014
IndustryNews
www.tennisindustrymag.com
Green Solutions Can Save You Money The Tennis Legacy Fund is a non-profit committed to increasing theawareness of sustainability within the tennis industry and community. To
help tennis providers operate a more profitable and sustainable business,
TI magazine will run occasional tips by the Tennis Legacy Fund in partner-
ship with Greenlight Solutions and a sustainability initiative by students at
Arizona State University.
Minimize Your Water Use:A low-flow aerator is an inexpensive and
easy way to lower your bills and reduce water use. This simple technol-
ogy attaches to almost every faucet and only costs $1-$5 each. Aerators
can reduce water flow from 2.5 gallons to 0.5 gallons per minutea 75
percent water savings. According to the Federal Energy Management
Program, this installation can save an average of $130 annually with a
payback period of less than a month.Kathleen Bauer
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- Custom stainless steel diablo, Custom tower knob covers,
Tilt mechanism, 2 sets of clamps5-tine and 3-tine
BABOLAT RDC (blue case) with ($3000)
- New motherboard, New display, Stand (usually an optional
extra)
FLEX-FOUR mechanical analysis device ($300)
PACIFIC grommet shaper ($200)
GROMMET KITS (about 600 + extra pieces), catalogued &
sorted into bins ($1500)
Contact information is: Vince Chiarelli, 727-656-6587, email:
[email protected]. All prices are PLUS shipping via FedEx
Ground.
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July 2014 TennisIndustry 13www.tennisindustrymag.com
Eligibility requires high school
team affiliation and, unlike othertournaments, does not have an age
component. A committee will deter-
mine the final field based on UTR
ratings, geographic distribution and
success in state play.The expectation is that this
tournament will grow in stature
and become a staple on the national
calendar, says Bill Mountford, USTA
director of junior tournaments. Theexperiences that the players will en-
joy in 2014 will put this tournament
in a great place for future years.
Currently there will be no national
or sectional USTA (or ITF) pointsawarded, although an ITF event wild-
card will be offered both the boys and
girls champs. In addition to the guar-anteed four matches, participants can
also look forward to mixing with play-
ers they wouldnt see at their local andstate competitions, the opportunities
to be observed by college recruiters,
social events in the evening, and New
Balance swag, including a gear bag
with apparel and shoes.Plans for next year are to build on
the event and push for more state
and local connections to a national
event. In conjunction with other
New Balance efforts to support highschool tennis, there is consideration
of coupling this event to additional
local outreach, including potential
sponsorship of seminars for coaches
on technique and nutrition.
The result should be an increasedpresence for New Balance in the
amateur tennis arena, an expan-
sion of the USTA Community Tennis
portfolio, and opportunities for high
school players and coaches previouslyreserved for those involved on the
junior circuit.
New Balance, USTACreate H.S. EventBy Kent Oswald
JuniorTennis
With a goal to explore the
possibilities for a frequent-ly overlooked audience,
New Balance and USTA Community
Tennis teamed for the initial year of
the New Balance High School Tennis
Championships. The hard-courttournament, which will take place at
Harvard Universitys Beren Tennis
Center, a short walk from the Ameri-
can manufacturers headquarters,
will be July 21-25, and will feature64-player compass draws and some
of the countrys premier boy and girl
singles players.
According to Bruce Schilling, New
Balance general manager for tennis,the tournament came about, in some
sense as a celebration of the people
who play and what the game meansto them. In other words, what makes
this tourney different from other
junior tournaments is its emphasison drawing in high school players, not
necessarily the same demographic as
regulars on the junior tennis circuit.
Schilling, who champions his own
high school tennis coach and con-stantly makes connections with peo-
ple through their shared high school
tennis experiences, believes, High
school tennis is an unacknowledged
sector of the sport. In some sense thetournament will be a celebration of
the players and coaches and what the
game means to them.
The tournament has been gaining
attention with an aggressive market-
ing campaign to high school tennisassociations, players and coaches.
As time draws closer to the event,
more applications to the tourna-
ment (singles only this year, although
doubles competition is expected to bepart of the future) are being accepted
via the USTAs TennisLink.
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The 7th Annual TIA Tennis Forum on Aug. 24 willstart at 5:15 p.m. on the Ballroom Level of the GrandHyatt New York in Salon E. The Forum, which is freeto attend, will present the latest news about thestate of the tennis industry, including participation,equipment sales data, grassroots initiatives, YouthTennis, and more. It also will outline pathways toincreasing the number of frequent players, ways tobetter define and boost the economic growth andimpact of the tennis industry, and effective waysto distribute clear, consistent messaging of health,fitness and the reasons to play tennis.
The TIA Tennis Forum will conclude with aninduction ceremony for the Tennis IndustryHall of Fame. This year, tennis industry pioneerJim Baugh will become the ninth inductee,joining Howard Head and Dennis Van der Meer(2008), Alan Schwartz (2009), Billie Jean King(2010), Nick Bollettieri (2011) and Howard GillJr., Walter Montenegro and Sheldon Westervelt(2013). Plaques of Tennis Industry Hall of Fameinductees are on permanent display at theInternational Tennis Hallof Fame in Newport, R.I.
4Acelon Tennis Strings4Adidas4Aer-Flo4Antigua4ASICS America4Babolat4California Products Corporation4Century Sports4Coach Youth Tennis / USTA Coaches Education4Dartfish4Diadora4Dunlop Sports Group America4Fast-Dry Courts/10-S Tennis Supply4Ferris State University4Fromuth Tennis4Gamma Sports
4Har-Tru4Head PENN4Hoparazzi4Inphorm4Intercollegiate Tennis Association4Junior Tennis4Kinesio Holding Company4Metaltek/Playmate Ball Machines4Methodist University PTM4MyTennisLessons4National Family Championships4NetKnacks4Oncourt Offcourt, Ltd.4Paloma-Financial Southwest Securities4Play Your Court4Prestwick Limited
4Prince Global Sports4Professional Tennis Registry4SportsTutor4StringAdvantage4Tennis Channel4Tennis Industry Association4Tennis Machines Sales & Service4TennisSource.net4TGA Premier Youth Tennis4USPTA Player4USTA College Tennis4Voice Activated Score Boards, LLC4Volkl & Lotto4Wilson Sporting Goods4WTT4Zepp Labs
Celebrate the Business of TennisAt The Tennis Show 2014 in NYC
Join the TIA . . . Increase Your Profits . . . Grow the Game . . . www.TennisIndustry.org14 TennisIndustry July 2014
Attend the TIA Tennis Forum and Tennis Industry Hall of Fame
Join these companies and organizations that will be exhibiting at The Tennis Show 2014:
Make sure youre in New York on Sunday, Aug. 24, to attend The Tennis Show 2014 atthe Grand Hyatt. Held in conjunction with the Tennis Teachers Conference and the USOpen, The Tennis Show will be a celebration of the business of tennis and include theTIA Tennis Forum and Tennis Industry Hall of Fame induction starting at 5:15 p.m.,and an exhibitor show from 6 to 10 p.m.
The exhibitor show will be in the Grand Hyatts Manhattan Ballroom andManhattan Ballroom Foyer areas. Nearly 50 tennis industry manufacturers andorganizations will be on hand, displaying their latest products and services.In addition, participating companies will be offering prizes valued at more than
$20,000 to show attendees.Even though exhibitor space has been sold
out, industry businesses and organizations that wish to bea part of The Tennis Show 2014 still can get their message in front ofattendees through The Tennis Show Virtual Bag. The TIA has partnered withVirtualEventBags.com to provide this unique opportunity, which allows showattendees and others to view, save and redeem offers from both exhibitors andcompanies/organizations unable to exhibit on site. For more information onThe Tennis Shows Virtual Bag program, visit TennisShow.com.
Tennis Industry
HALL OF FAME
Innova
tor Fou
nder Invento
rC
on
trib
uto
r
Register now to attend the Tennis Show and TIA Tennis Forum.Registration is free. Visit TennisShow.com.
Jim Baugh
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The TIA Board of Directors will meet on Monday, Aug. 25, in New York City toreview efforts to grow the sport and industry, and to identify areas for enhancedcollaboration. The next day, the TIA will meet with retailers and manufacturers tohear about industry research that takes an in-depth look at the marketplace. TheUSTA also will be on hand to discuss upcoming promotions and efforts together withthe TIA and industry partners to drive tennis participation and the tennis economy.
TIA to HostMeetings During
US Open
The 2014 edition of the State of the Industry, now availableto TIA Industry Level members and above, highlights thelatest data and research from nearly 80 TIA surveys andstudies. Among the key datathat industry companiesand providers can use to
help grow their businessesare current participationfigures, equipment salesand trends, and teachingpro and court contractoroutlooks.
Starting this year, the TIAchanged the source of the data for determining tennisparticipation and will include reporting from the annual
Physical Activity Council (PAC)Participation Study, the largestsingle-source independentsports participation project inthe nation supported by sixsports and recreation trade
associations. The previousUSTA/TIA participation reportproduced by Taylor Groupchanged methodology froma phone survey to online,and the change doesntallow for overall historicalparticipation trending priorto 2012.
The change in determining overall participation bringsthe tennis industry in line with methodology used for 120other sports and activities measured by PAC, says TIA
Executive Director Jolynde Boer. We have beenusing the PAC study since
2008 in a comparison oftennis to traditional sports,which continually showstennis among the toptraditional sports. Industryobservers will note that thenew methodology yields
a lower overall participation figure from studies we usedin previous years. However, frequent tennis participationusing the new methodology does compare accurately withprevious years.
In the 2013 PAC study, overall tennis participation was17.68 million players, a 4% increase from PAC data from2012. Total frequent players (who play 21 or more timesa year), who account for over 70% of consumer spending
on tennis, increased 5% to 5.48 million. Meanwhile, totalplay occasions increased 4%, to 461 million. Additionallythe PAC study reports another 13.2 million intermittentplayers (those who consider themselves players) anda latent demand (non-players who are interested intennis) for tennis of over 15 million.
For more information on how to obtain a copy ofthe State of the Industry report, contact the TIA [email protected] or 866-686-3036.
Join the TIA . . . Increase Your Profits . . . Grow the Game . . . www.TennisIndustry.org July 2014 TennisIndustry 15
Overall Tennis ParticipationGrows 4%; TIA Transitions toPAC Research Methodology
2011 2012 2013
17,772,000 17,020,000 17,678,000
10,183,278 12,020,251 13,275,746
12,116,493 13,162,985
15,283,788
Tennis Players and Latent Demand PAC Study
Total Active Tennis Players
Intermittent (consider themselves players)
Latent Demand (Number of non-players who are interested in tennis)15.75
17.75
18.55 18.72
17.77 17.02 17.68
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
MillionsofPlayers
U.S. Tennis Participation Physical Activity Council (PAC) Study (2007-2013)
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In May, hundreds of tennis facilities and teaching pros joinedthe Try Tennis for Free campaign that was driven throughPlayTennis.com and designed to get more consumers intothe game. Now, that successful campaign will be offeredagain in September.
Try Tennis for Free is designed to bring new playersto the game and returning players back to tennis. Thepromotion, for players of all ages, is supported by boththe PTR and USPTA. The free sessions offered can varydepending on the location, as each individual facility orcertified professional can choose the best introductorysession or programs they feel will encourage new andreturning players to step onto the court. Free offers caninclude lessons, clinics, Cardio Tennis, USTA Play Daysfor kids, and more.
For Try Tennis for Free in September, the TIA will again
offer a hundred prizes that will include tennis gear,apparel and more. There will also be a sweepstakes thatwill include three- and five-day camps and clinics fromtop resorts and tennis academies.
Tennis providers can easily sign-up for free onPlayTennis.com. The TIA also offers free, customizablepromotional material on PlayTennis.com that providerscan use to promote Try Tennis for Free.
Join the TIA . . . Increase Your Profits . . . Grow the Game . . . www.TennisIndustry.org16 TennisIndustry July 2014
Boost Your Business WithTry Tennis Freein September
Go to PlayTennis.comor more information
Go to PlayTennis.com to get started!
Introduce a
Friend to Tennis
Save the Dates!
JOIN YOUR INDUSTRY, MARCH 17-20, 2015,IN INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIATIA TENNIS SUMMIT AND THE2ND ANNUAL TENNIS OWNERS &MANAGERS CONFERENCESTAY TUNEDFOR MORE DETAILS.
SM
TW
TF
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12
34
56
7
89
10
1819
2021
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2324
2530
31
2015
March
22 14
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Future of Tennis
18 TennisIndustry July 2014 www.tennisindustrymag.com
The New Homefor AmericanTennisThe USTA says the tennis facilityto be built at Lake Nona in Florida
will be a game-changer for thesport at every level.
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In mid-May, the USTA officially acknowledged what many in the industryhad already known: A state-of-the-art tennis facility will be constructed
at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla., which will have more than 100 courts and
house the USTAs Community Tennis and Player Development divi-
sions. The site is targeted for completion toward the end of 2016.
This new home for American tennis will truly be a game-changer for our
sport, said USTA Chairman of the Board and President Dave Haggerty at a press
conference in Orlando on May 14. This world-class facility will be an inclusive
gathering place for American tennis and will allow us to impact our sport at
every level, from the grassroots to the professional ranks.
Haggerty was one of a number of people who spoke at the gathering, which
included Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and University of
Central Florida President John C. Hitt.
The facility, on 63 acres in the innovative Lake Nona community with easy
access to the Orlando airport, will cost about $60 million, according to the USTA.
Construction will start in the fall.
The land is being leased long-term for a nominal payment, essentially free,
said USTA Executive Director Gordon Smith. One of the important things to
note is this is based significantly on some very good incentives to us by the Tavis-
tock Group in Lake Nona and local governments.
In addition to tax incentives, the USTA also is receiving grants from the state
for transportation construction purposes. Tavistock Group is an international
private investment organization behind the master-planned development at
Lake Nona.
Tennis Gathering Place?Our vision is that this would be a fantastic place for other tennis-related com-
panies or sports companies to relocate to because of what is here in Lake Nona,Haggerty said.
There already has been speculation that some tennis organizations, including
possibly the USTA Florida Section, may move to or maintain a presence at Lake
Nona. There also has been talk of helping to start a Professional Tennis Manage-
ment program at nearby University of Central Florida, which will have use of
hard courts for its mens and womens teams.
USTA Player Development, currently based at the Evert Academy in Boca Ra-
ton, Fla., will move to Lake Nona after the current lease is up in a couple of years,
said USTA General Manager of Player Development Patrick McEnroe. I think
its safe to say we will have a presence still in New York at the National Tennis
Center, and we will have some presence in Southern Cal. We'll have the next year
or so to really look into that and evaluate what is going to work best.
We really see a great advantage for not just Player Development, but for de-veloping players, American players, which is why we've given it a working name
of the Home of American Tennis, Haggerty said. The USTA is hoping more
than 100,000 people will be using the facility throughout the year.
This will address American tennis broadly from community tennis, Smith
added. Our entire Community Tennis department will move here. We'll be
doing events here, league championships, we'll have a collegiate facility, we'll be
doing all kinds of training here.
About 150 USTA staff positions will be relocated to Lake Nona from the US-
TAs headquarters in White Plains, N.Y., and from Boca Raton. Smith said there
will still be a substantial continuing presence in New York, not just for the
US Open and the National Tennis Center, but for many USTA shared services,
sponsorship and marketing. The USTA corporate headquarters will remain in
New York.
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20 TennisIndustry July 2014
Future of Tennis
www.tennisindustrymag.com
Going Beyond Player DevelopmentVirgil Christian, the USTAs senior director of market/facil-
ity development and collegiate tennis, said the process that
led to this new complex started about three years ago, dis-
cussing ways to find more courts for Player Development,since the Evert facility had limited space with no expansion
possibilities. Then it started to grow, he added. As we
started talking to cities and communities, it became appar-
ent there was more to it than just Player Development.
The USTA did consider other areas for locating the new
facility, but were pulled to Lake Nona, said Smith, by the
combination of government support, University of Central
Florida, the type of development that the Tavistock Group
has hereall those things really set Lake Nona and Orlando
apart from any of the other competitors. In the end, it was a
very easy decision for us.
One attraction is the innovative and collaborative com-
munity being created at Lake Nona by the Tavistock Group.
Lake Nona started as a residential project, but in the last
decade focus has shifted to the pioneering Lake Nona
Medical City, a carefully planned, 650-acre health and life
sciences park. Medical facilities include the UCF Health
Sciences Campus, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research In-
stitute, VA Medical Center, Nemours Childrens Hospital,
and University of Florida Academic & Research Center.
No Limits Tech InfrastructureCurrently, there are about 3,000 occupied homes at Lake
Nona, which covers more than 7,000 acres. Thad Seymour,
senior vice president of Lake Nona/Tavistock Group, said
they expect to have 11,000 homes of all sizes in the next
decade. There will also be a new commercial district, alongwith hotels that will ultimately provide about 2,000 rooms.
Seymour says Tavistock is creating a technology infra-
structure with no limits, including a fiber and wireless
network into every home that will be unmatched in terms
of speed.
It is hoped that the USTA presence in Lake Nona will
serve as an anchor for a world-class sports performance
district, added Seymour, which could expand to more than
100 acres.
Christian said the facility will include not only courts
with blended lines, but standalone 36- and 60-foot courts.
"We do want to see some Pro Circuit events find a home
here, especially some clay events," he said. "We hope toplay national tournaments here, and hope to start some
new events. And we'd love to see folks from other countries
come in and play. I think you'll see a wide variety of events
and players using this facility.
This will be unlike any facility, he added. The stuff
thats going to happen here has never been done before in
terms of technology.
Basically, said Smith, we've been delivering on our
missionwhich is to promote and develop the growth of
tennisfrom a glass office building in Westchester County.
Now we're going to be delivering the mission from Orlando,
Florida, with the finest facility in the country. It will be a
real game-changer.
Breaking Down the Tennis Facility at Lake NonaThe USTA is collaborating with Lake Nona and Tavistock
Group, along with a consortium of regional and state part-
ners. The complex will be located on 63 acres of land and will
include: Tournament and League Area: 24 clay courts and 16 hard
courts, two player pavilions, a tournament administration
office with trainer rooms, a stringer area, player lounge,
public restrooms, and a check-in area.
Collegiate Tennis Area: 12 hard courts and a future tourna-
ment show court. Will serve as the home of the University of
Central Floridas mens and womens varsity tennis program.
The courts will have high-mast lighting for televised events
and elevated seating for 1,200, with room on the ends
for additional seating. The area will allow two collegiate
matches to be played simultaneously. A two-story pavilion
will house concessions, restrooms, locker rooms, and areas
for trainers and officials.
Team USA Area: Eight hard and eight clay courts, to be uti-
lized by the 17 USTA Sections along with coaches and their
players to work collaboratively with USTA Player Develop-
ment.
High Performance and Player Development Area: Eight
hard courts, eight red clay courts and six covered courts for
USTA Player Development. Dormitories can house 32 boys
and girls. The strength and conditioning area will include a
sand and workout area.
36/60-Foot Tennis: Eight 36-foot and eight 60-foot courts
for youth and adults.
USTA Office Building: Ground floor will include a pro shop,
fitness area, locker rooms, player lounge and cafeteria.
USTA offices will be on the second and third floors.
Technology: The USTA says the facility will be an epicenter
for tennis innovation and education, incorporating the lat-
est technology for players, coaches and spectators.
At the announcement of the "new home for American tennis" were (from left)Jim Zboril, Tavistock Development Group, president; Rasesh Thakkar, TavistockGroup, senior managing director; Mayor Buddy Dyer, City of Orlando; GordonSmith, USTA executive director; Florida Gov. Rick Scott; Patrick McEnroe, USTAPlayer Development, general manager; Dave Haggerty, USTA chairman of theboard; John C. Hitt, University of Central Florida president; Mayor Teresa Jacobs,Orange County; and Thad Seymour, Lake Nona, senior vice president.
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Facility Managers Manual
22 TennisIndustry July 2014
There our countless manuals and books on how
to properly train employees. In general, most
are helpful, but in the club industry there are afew twists that are often not brought into the
equation in these manuals.
First, and most important, unlike a shopper at a store or a
person attending a restaurant or, for that matter, most of the
service industry, a club member frequents the facility repeat-
edly over a long period of time. In fact, the goal of most clubs
is to encourage this to help create high membership reten-
tion. But as a result of this, members frequently know either
as much as or more about how their club operates than many
of its employees. This creates a dynamic that needs to be
taken into consideration when training your facilitys staff.
Imagine how a restaurant would operate if a diner was
more knowledgeable about the menu than the waiter, or howa sales clerk would react if the customer knew more about the
product, its cost, its supply and how it functioned.
So, lets look at this dynamic and try to understand the im-
pact. If knowledge is power, then in many cases the member,
not the employee, may have the power and, in turn, the influ-
ence. Your training program needs to reverse this dynamic.
Training for InfluenceYou need a training system that creates a method for your em-
ployee to have the knowledge, then the power, and finally an
equal or superior amount of influence. It is with this influence
that your staff can guide the members through their use of the
club. To best understand this, here are few common examples.
A club member has been a long-time client of one of your
teaching pros and has children who are interested in learn-
ing to play tennis. The member asks the front desk person,Who would be best to work with my 5-year-old? The club
has in place a teaching pro who works specifically with kids,
and the staffer begins to make that recommendation, but
then another member overhears this and recommends
another instructor. If you have trained your employee
properly, he or she will not contradict or try to override that
recommendation, but rather say, Yes, theres a lot of great
programs. You should look into several of our programs
and dont forget to ask your teaching pro that you currently
work with. The follow-up would be to leave a message with
the clubs pro who specializes in juniors with a note stating,
Contact within 24 hours. This example illustrates how
properly training your front desk staff about programs al-lows them to better direct the customer, instead of challeng-
ing or misdirecting.
Heres another common occurrence. A member asks about
a rule concerning the court reservation system. For years
they have followed the rules correctly, but noticed that a few
others have been working the system to their advantage.
First, you need to assure that member you will immediately
address this issue and the last thing that should happen
is that the member ends up policing this themselves. It is
important that you present to that member your apprecia-
tion of this information, but at the same time take them
out of the process of resolving the problem. If a staff person
displays a lack of confidence or direction, the member will
ImpactThroughInfluenceWith proper training,youll make sure your staffhas knowledge, powerand influence.By Rod Heckelman
www.tennisindustrymag.com
The complete Facility Managers Manual is available for download at the TIA Associate Member level and above.
Visit TennisIndustry.org for more information.
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likely go to a higher authority or try to take care of the
issue themselves. Again, you need to train staff to act withconfidence that comes from their experience. This action
will continue to grow and help them develop their influ-
ence on the members.
A final example: A member is a captain of one of your
teams, and has a problem with one of the participants, so
he comes to your staff for a solution. The best response
will be for your employee to listen and document, but in
this case not to provide solutions. They then assure this
member the issue will be addressed immediately by the
appropriate person. The worst response would be for
your staff to comment on the issue when they do not have
the skills or the insight. If staff tries to provide informa-
tion and it turns out to be incorrect, you may have lost
that members support and, in turn, their positive
influence.
So why the importance of influence, and how is it dif-
ferent from information? Influence, not information, will
coach a member into using the club. Influence guides the
member to spend more money at the club. Finally, it will be
influence, not the re-addressing of the rules, that will help
employees create that quality club that will have a reputa-
tion of being well-run and inviting.
Developing Intuitive SkillsHow do we create this new paradigm in our training
programs? First, you will need to help develop employeesintuitive skills. This is accomplished through four steps.
1. When training, provide the history behind the infor-
mation and why a rule or policy is in place. Most rules
came about for a reason; let that employee know what
those reasons were. Also, explain why the rule is in place,
the practicality of the rule and its fairness. This type of
understanding creates a new learning pattern that will
include the process of deduction and reasoning.
2. Coach staff in understanding the consequence of their
actions. It is from this study and evaluation that they
will also become more skilled at anticipating events. Forexample, if one of your staff is asked to address a conflict
between two members, they should try to think through
what the results of their attempted resolution might en-
tail. Are the two members going to get along? Will both
be satisfied with this resolution? These questions will
help develop the thought that this could happen again,
and actions taken sooner might help in avoiding this
conflict. The hope is that employee will be more preven-
tive and less reactive to issues.
3. All well-run facilities develop a system where the em-
ployee has a sense of responsibility and autonomy in
their decisions. You want both the member and the staff
July 2014 TennisIndustry 23
to realize there is no going over their heads to a higher au-
thority. This policy allows the manager to delegate authorityand responsibility so they have more freedom.
But there is more to this than just setting up a chain of
command. The employee needs to feel their actions have
both direct and indirect influence. If they should have to
provide a response to a member concerning a membership
policy, they would hope such a response would first impact
that person, but would, secondly, send a message to any oth-
er member or staff person that this action had been taken.
This is best accomplished through efficient communication.
How often do you overhear one of your employees address
a member with instructions about a rule or policy and notice
that the member was uncomfortable with that answer? Not
so much with how that information was delivered, but rather
because that answer does not work well for their agenda.
They want to play back-to-back, or want to play only with
better players, or basically, they want their needs met and
are not concerned about what works for everyone. Too often
these interactions are not recorded or reviewed. By keeping
an ongoing journal, or some method of communicating with
the entire staff, the employee can document this event and
be able to influence the entire staff. This constant back and
forth interaction, which would include management, helps
everyone get on the same page.
4. Lastly, good training means giving up control. Training is
ongoing, but not if you are saying the same things over and
over. Continue to broadcast and highlight the successfulevents of your staff, but take it one step further; explain why
they were successful. It is important to review the whys
and what happened when something goes wrong, but it
is equally, if not more important, to review the success of
your staff. For example, one of your employees picks up on
a non-member who is consistently coming into the club as
a guest and violating your guest policy. Its great that they
caught this person, but why did they catch him and what are
the consequences? Have staff learned to be more observant
about usage? Are they better at interacting with those com-
ing into the club? Maybe most important, were they able to
transform that person from a non-member to a member and
receive some financial reward?
This expanded form of training may seem challenging, but
just as you are able to elevate the performance of your employ-
ees, you will find that you also elevate your managerial skills.
This will not only better the quality of how your facility is run
but also increase the value of your management.
Rod Heckelman has been the longtime general manager of Mt.
Tam Racquet Club in Larkspur, Calif. His Facility Managers
Manual is available digitally through the TIA at TennisIndustry.
org. He recently added another manual, The Tennis Pros Busi-
ness Handbook.
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Footwear
24 TennisIndustry July 2014
While pretty much everyone knowsnot to judge a book by its cover, too
few apply that knowledge when theypurchase tennis shoes. Its as if they
live in a fantasy land where the shoes
they slip on in the store will feel and respond the same after
hoursnot to mention monthsof having ounces of foam andrubber stood on, jumped on and slid on by pounds of player.
Among those with a mission to change minds and improve
the situation for feet is Dr. Allan Grossman, a board-certified
podiatric surgeon in Pennsylvania whose residency was at
Harvard Medical Center. Grossman has solid on-court cre-dentials: Hes a former ranked junior player, a current USPTA
pro, and a tennis coach at Franklin & Marshall.
Overgeneralized, Grossmans reasoning is that feet need
bolstering in their role as the foundation for the body in termsof the stresses during play on ankles, knees, back, etc., as wellas for the footwork necessary to hit effective groundstrokes.
The physicality of the game has totally changed over last
10 years and shoes, interestingly, have
not really changed, he says. Having
tested playing tennis in running shoesand found them much more stable
for tennis than he had expectedbut
not nearly durable enoughGross-
man centers much of his critique on
how running-shoe manufacturers
addressed that sports concerns (andadmittedly much larger market) to a
greater degree than is done for tennis.
He also calls out the design and construction for the inter-
nal cushioning and support in shoes, which is mostly based
on findings from force-plate testing and impressionisticreporting by testers. (Force-plate testing measures pressure
exerted on the sole when someone walks or runs over a flat,
metal surface.)
Both force-plate testing and impressionistic reporting can
offer insights, but, as Grossman sees it, should not take theplace of analysis of the foot biomechanics taking place inside
the shoe during actual play. The mantra for his practice and
teachingat his base at the Harrisburg (Pa.) Foot and Ankle
Center, on USTA committees, as an industry consultant, and
university professoris always, evidence-based medicine iswhat really needs to happen.
Of particular interest was research he did that involved
applying a sheet of sensors to a foot and pressure-mapping(tracking the changes in how a foot stresses) during simu-
lated play. Not surprisingly, there was a great disparitybetween computer-based testing and what testers say
they experience. [Video of a rep-
resentative sample of the testing
can be seen at www.youtube.com/
watch?v=ro1zup6pRTQ]
While everyone is aware tennisrequires the foot to move in a greater
variety of ways in generalstresses
multiplied when considering the
challenges of different surfaces and
innovations such as the increase ofsliding on hard courtsmost shoes
StressRelief?A podiatric surgeon andtennis professional says for
performance and protection,players and manufacturers needto change priorities when itcomes to tennis shoes.By Kent Oswald
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seem to be created with priorities of,
first fashion, then outsole durabil-ity and weight, and, finally, internal
comfort.
Issues that are not being addressed,
according to Grossman, include
feedback from players without hear-ing from any who spend months in
the shoes, as do most wearers. He also
questions how often people receive
proper fittings or are offered shoes
with flex points that adequately fittheir play.
Most of all, because there is not
enough testing with in-shoe sensors,
Grossman fears the internal work-
ings are designed and developed
without regard to how players willput unexpected stress first on their
shoes, and then injurious stresses on
their feet. Even more, they might not
have the opportunity to even try on
the shoe that is right for their body
July 2014 TennisIndustry 25
and playing style given the smallish
selection at most retailers. That shoesizes are not true across brands and
there are no industry-wide accepted
measurements for shock absorption
and support adds to the complexity of
making sure the shoe fits.He insists there are good shoes
available and adamant that he is not
anti-manufacturer. But, Were
focused on the racquet and string,
Grossman says, and not on address-ing footwork, the most important part
of game.
People need to know that there is
more to [their health and game] than
walking into a store, trying some-
thing on and saying, This looks like agood shoe. Forces and stresses lead
to injuries and manufacturers need
to understand the mechanics of the
game. Right now, all I want to do is
raise questions.
Selling the Right ShoesDr. Allan Grossman says tennis retail sales
staff needs to be trained properly. While
for decades, fashion has been a priority
among tennis shoe buyers, there are other
considerations. A few issues retail staff
should know about when dealing with
customers:
Feet have slightly different shapes whensitting and standing.
If a customers second toe is longer thanthe big toe, check fit using the second
toe.
Most people have one foot thats largerthan the other; make sure you fit the
larger foot.Encourage a customer to try on the
shoes and move in a way similar to how
theyd react on a tennis court.
Try to make sure flex points in the shoeadequately fit with a persons style of
play.
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Racquet Stringing
26 TennisIndustry July 2014
With more than a thousand stringsavailable, it can be a daunting task tochoose a good selection to stock foryour business. You want to have theright product to be able to help yourcustomers choose the string that will maximize their perfor-
mance on the court. To make sure you provide your custom-
ers with a great selection, our checklist can help.
As a minimum, offer at least two choices from each ofthese categories: Natural Gut, Multifilament Synthetics,
Basic Synthetics and Co-Poly.
Tailor your inventory to meet the needs of you clients.
If the majority of your clients are hard-hitting juniors,
skew your inventory to offer more strings to meet their
needs.
Assess the diversity of your inventory. If you have three
strings that are basically the same, consider getting rid
of two and adding two new ones that will increase your
variety.
Stock enough of each string to ensure that you are never
out of stock.
For USRSA members, use the String Selector Map Tool
on racquettech.com to ensure you have a wide variety of
strings. The map will help you choose a good variety of
power and control, as well as stiffness and tension loss.
Offer a wide variety of string gauges. While a 16-gauge
may cover the majority, there are those who prefer a
thinner string. With the prevalence of open string pat-
terns in spin racquets, youll also want to include some
thicker strings as well.
Offer a wide variety of price points. You never want price
to be the determining factor in making a sale, but you
also dont want to miss sales by not having a range of
prices to choose from.
Offer your entire inventory for
hybrid set-ups instead of just
packaged hybrids. Offering to
sell any string in your inven-
tory in half-sets increases yourstring selection exponentially.
Just save the remaining half
set for the next customer. Keep
small zip ties handy to recoil
the remaining half and store it
away.
Listen to your customers and
try to stock what they want.
If colors are a frequent re-
quest, then choose some basic
synthetics to stock in multiple
colors.
If a customer requests a string
you dont have in stock, use the
String Selector Tool on rac-
quettech.com to see if you have
a string in your inventory with
very similar specs. If not, then
special order. Take note of such requests and consider
adding to your inventory if there is sufficient demand.
StringChecklistTo make sure your stringselection covers all of yourcustomers needs, use ourchecklist, and tools at
racquettech.com.By Bob Patterson
Not a USRSA member? Then youre missing out on important
tools and resources that can help your business. Join now at
racquettech.com.
How to IncreaseYour Stringing BizWant to increase a
customers stringing
frequency? Institute a
string-bed monitoring
system.
Checking string bed
deflection or dynamic
tension and recording it
after each string job will
allow you to show the
customer the tension
loss and resulting energy
loss from the strings
over time and use. When
you show them the
numbers, it is easy
to convince them to re-
string when it is needed,
rather than waiting for a
predetermined restring
dateor for the string to
break.
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2014 Guide to Ball Machines
28 TennisIndustry July 2014
Tennis experts are always offering opinionsabout whats wrong with American tennis. But
its simple: The Tennis IQ of the American
player is much less than what it could and
should be.
Tennis IQ includes a players ability to understand andarticulate technical and tactical solutions given a shot or
situation during a match, mental solutions, and equipment
knowledge.
Lets look at a typical tennis lesson in the U.S. Whether a
player is a beginner or advanced, most of the lesson is taught
with the pro standing at the net feeding balls. This eliminates
the players ability to have solid decision-making capabilitiesor to have different shots in his arsenal. Players continue to
perfect that one groundstroke, which is just one of many dif-
ferent shots a player will get during just one point of a game.
Over the years, Ive asked coaches and teaching pros, Whydo you feed from the net? I have never received an answer
with any merit. They typically say, Habit, or, Its easier, or,
Its how I was taught, etc. This has led to a culture where
tennis is now taught in a closed skill (non-decision-making)
mode. But in a match, a player needs to play in an open skill(decision-making) mode.
This culture has also caused teaching pros to focus their
lessons on one ball, micromanaging the low-to-high ground-
stroke, which has limited teaching pros knowledge of andability to teach and demonstrate the rest of the shots required.
As I travel around the country, I ask tennis players whoare also golfers: As a golfer, what would you do if your ball
were 150 yards from the hole? The golfers response usually
begins based on his skill and power as he first names his club
of choice for that distance. But then he says, Ultimately my
club would depend on if I am in the rough or fairway, windconditions, if the pin placement on the green was up or back,
if there were hazards nearby, if the ball was above or below my
feet, etc.
Then, on the court, I feed a high approach shot out of a ball
machine and ask what he would do with this ball, and whathis shot would look like technically. The player almost always
responds with something generic regarding where he would
hit the ball, i.e. to the opponents backhand, and in most cases
he has no idea how a high approach is played technically asopposed to his groundstroke.
Note that practice habits for golf and tennis are quite
different. The golfer spends hours on the range, whether it is
warming up or improving a weak area of his game. That same
player in tennis rarely if ever just goes out and hits or uses aball machine (the tennis players range) to improve weak
areas. With tennis, the practice habit is almost always some
sort of match play or a lesson. Golfers practice what they
dont do well; tennis players rarely practice at all.
Next, it is said that players just need to play more and drillless. Players play for 20-plus years and still do not know how
to play a high approach as opposed to a low approach or a
moonball. Is playing more going to help that? To be com-
petitive, players have to learn the shots, and then game play
would help them to hit different shots
and construct points.But today, there is a lot of technol-
ogy available to assist us in improving a
players Tennis IQ. The problem is, tools
such as ball machines, video, apps, and
racquet diagnostic equipment (to helpplayers understand their equipment)
are rarely used. The state of U.S. tennisdepends on our ability to change the culture of simply feeding
from the net. Lets use more technology to do that feeding.
Changing this culture will give players a better understand-ing of different shots, allow us to demonstrate shots and strat-
egies more effectively, and ultimately improve the Tennis IQ
of American players.
Smarten Up!Push your players to practice witha ball machine to help boost theirTennis IQ.By Stan Oley
Stan Oley, a member of the USPTA, PTR and Cardio Tennis Global
Speakers Team, has been working with and teaching with ball
machines for 23 years. He is a product marketing specialist for
Playmate Ball Machines and founder of FBT60 (Fit By Tennis in 60
Days), a tennis/fitness program combining nutrition and a series
of ball machine drills. He is sponsored by Adidas and Babolat.
For all the latest ball
machines and all their
specifications and fea-
tures, see our exclusive
Guide to Ball Machines
starting on page 30.
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www.tennisindustrymag.com30 TennisIndustry July 2014
Lobster Sports 800-526-4041 www.lobstersports.com
Elite Freedom $799 2 21 x 14 x 20 150 36 X 2-12 70 X X X
Elite Liberty $899 2 21 x 14 x 20 150 38 X 2-12 80 X X X X
Elite Model 1 $1,089 2 21 x 14 x 20 150 40 X 2-12 80 X X X X
Elite Model 2 $1,349 2 21 x 14 x 20 150 44 X 2-12 80 X X X X
Elite Model 3 $1,599 2 21 x 14 x 20 150 44 X 2-12 80 X X X X
Elite Grand IV $1,899 2 21 x 14 x 20 150 44 X 2-9 80 X X X X
Elite Grand V $2,199 2 21 x 14 x 20 150 44 X 2-9 80 X X X X X 6 6
Elite Grand V Limited Edition $2,499 2 21 x 14 x 20 150 44 X 2-9 80 X X X X X 6 6
Phenom $2,999 2 32 x 25 x 50 250 99 X 2-9 90 X X X X
Phenom 2 $3,499 2 32 x 25 x 50 250 99 X 2-9 90 X X X X X 6 6
Match Mate 800-837-1002 www.matchmatetennis.com
Rookie $449 2a 11 x 11 x 22 70 22 X 2-10 35 X Topspin X
Quickstart $558 2a 12.5 x 12.5 x 28 80 29 X 2-10 30 X X
iSAM Value $759 2a 19 x 17.5 x 18 250 34 X 2-8 65 X X X
iSam Extend $799 2a 19 x 17.5 x 18 250 39 X 2-8 65 X X X
iSam Ultimate $999 2a 19 x 17.5 x 18 250 39 X 2-8 65 X X X
SAM P1 Value $1,099 2a 19.5 x 16 x 21.5 300 48 X 2-8 85 X X X X X
Sam P1 Pro $1,199 2a 19.5 x 16 x 21.5 300 48 X 2-8 85 X X X X X
Sam P1 Ultimate $1,299 2a 19.5 x 16 x 21.5 300 48 X 2-8 85 X X X X X
Sam P 4 Trainer $1,599 2a 19.5 x 16 x 21.5 300 48 X 2-8 85 X X X X X X
Sam P 4 Pro Trainer $1,799 2a 19.5 x 16 x 21.5 300 48 X 2-8 85 X X X X X X
Sam P 4 Ultimate $1,899 2a 19.5 x 16 x 21.5 300 48 X 85 X X X X X X
Sam Coach $3,999 3 35 x 25 x 50 250 87 X 1.5-8 95 X X X X X X 7 7
Playmate 800-766-6770 www.playmatetennis.com
Half Volley $1,430 2 Ltd 19 x 21 x 25 200 42 X 1-10 70 X X X X
Volley $1,990 2 Ltd 19 x 21 x 25 200 46 X 1-10 70 X X X X X 2
Ace $3,850 3 Ltd 35 x 21 x 38 200 85 X 1-10 90 X X X X 3
Smash $4,845 3 Ltd 35 x 21 x 38 300 85 X 1-10 90 X X X X X 7
Deuce $5,730 3 Ltd 35 x 21 x 38 300 85 X 1-10 90 X X X X X 7
Genie $6,610 3 Ltd 35 x 21 x 38 300 85 X 1-10 90 X X X X X 7
Smash w/ iPlaymate Tennis $5,840 3 Ltd 35 x 21 x 38 300 85 X 1-10 90 X X X X X 8 INFINITE
The Slam $8,260 3 Ltd 35 x 21 x 38 300 110 X 1-10 120 X X X X X X 7
Robot Optimizer 888-8BOOMER www.playmatetennis.com
Boomer (with Camera) $14,4504 2 38.5 x 31 x 21.5 300 124 X 0.8-10 100 X X X X X 30 1000
Boomer (without Camera) $12,450e 2 38.5 x 31 x 21.5 300 124 X 0.8-10 100 X X X X X 30 1000
Silent Partner 800-662-1809 www.sptennis.com
Lite (Edge Series) $799 2 24 x 22 x 16 200 35 X 1.5-10 95 X X X X
Lite-R (Edge Series) $949 2 24 x 22 x 16 200 35 X 1.5-11 95 X X X X
Sport (Edge Series) $949 2 24 x 22 x 16 200 46 X 1.5-10 95 X X X X
Star (Edge Series) $1,099 2 24 x 22 x 16 200 46 X 1.5-10 95 X X X X
Rival (Scoop Series) $1,399 2 28 x 22 x 18 300 48 X 1.5-10 95 X X X X 3
Quest (Scoop Series) $1,799 2 28 x 22 x 18 300 48 X 1.5-10 95 X X X X X 2 3
Smart (Scoop Series) $2,299 2 28 x 22 x 18 300 48 X 1.5-10 95 X X X X X 20 3
Spinfire 888-976-6532 www.mambatennis.com
Pro 1 $1,599 2 26 x 20 x 20 200 48 X 2-15 80 X X X X
Pro 2 $1,899 2 26 x 20 x 20 200 48 X 2-15 80 X X X X
Sports Attack 800-717-4251 www.sportsattack.comAce Attack $5,999 1 34 x 53 220 150 X 1.5-12 110 X X X X X 4
Ball Machines on the Market
Model Price Warranty Dimensions
(MSRP) (years) (Storage Inches)
2014 Guide to Ball Machines
a1 year battery
b2-4 Hours of Court Time
c4-8 Hours of Court Time
dor $600/month
eor $300/month
BallC
apacity
Wei
ght(
Lbs.)
Propulsion
Spin
ning
Whe
el
AirP
ress
ure
Fee
ding
Inte
rval
s
(se
cond
s)
TopSp
eed(M
PH)
Ele
vatio
nCo
ntrol
(Ele
ctric)
Ele
vatio
nCo
ntrol
(M
anua
l)
Ab
leto
Feed
Lobs
Abl
eto
Feed
Tops
pin&
Und
erspin
A
bleto
Feed
Side
spin
Oscillatio
n
No
Oscill
atio
n
Os
cilla
tion
-Ran
dom
Os
cilla
tion
-Pro
gram
able
#o
fsho
tsin
prog
ram
#
ofpr
ogra
mstha
tcan
be
stor
ed
1 - Fast Charger $99
2 - Horizontal Oscillation
3 - Horizontal Oscillation + Spin Control
4 - Triple-Oscillation (Horizontal + Vertical Oscillation)
5 - Triple-Oscillation + 2-Line Narrow, Wide
6 - 6 Pre-Programmed Court Drills (6 ball sequence per drill)
7 - 3 Position Settings of 2-Line (Narrow, Medium, Wide).
8 - 12 Pre-Programmed Court Drills + 6 Custom Programmable Court
Drills + 2-Line Narrow, Medium, Wide
9 - 12 Pre-Programmed Court Drills + 6 Custom Programmable Court Drills +
18 locations to choose from + 2-Line Narrow, Medium, Wide
10 - iPhone/Android Remote Control compatible
11 - Great for youth and beginners to work on dealing with topspin
12 - Especially designed for 10 and Under tennis
13 - Extra Heavy Duty Battery $35, 110/220 Volt AC converter $135, Wireless Remote
$100. Water Resistant Cloth Storage Cover $68
14 - Comes standard with 2 8-amp 12-volt batteries
15 - Lob Enhancer $30,110/220 Volt AC Converter $135, Water-Resistant Storage
Cover $68, adjustable oscillation width
16 - Ships via LTL Freight, Feeds Balls from 30" above ground
17 - Oscillation Upgrade $225, Remote Control Upgrade $310
18 - Additional Non-Memory Battery Upgrade $166.95
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www.tennisindustrymag.com July 2014 TennisIndustry 31
$119 X 8.5b X X $49 X 1, 2
$119 X 8.5b X X $169 X X $49 X 1, 3
$119 X 18c X X $169 X X $49 X 1, 3
X X $119 X 18c X X $169 X