2008 Products in Review - Hop-a-razzi

A Chicago-based teaching pro with 25 years' experience retrieving balls and hoisting heavy baskets came up with Hop-a-razzi. The baskets are on wheels and have telescoping handles, which take the pain out of picking up balls. Plus they come in bright colors. The baskets start at $49 each, though tennis facilities participating in the demo deal can get a basket for $29. The baskets work on any surface and are guaranteed for one year.

Via HelloTennis

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2008 Products in Review - Grip Coach

Leave it to the Aussies to develop a simple, fun, and apparently effective way to teach tennis grips. Grip Coach is essentially a sticker that is placed on the racquet grip and lines coincide with a mark made on the webby part of the player's hand (between the thumb and forefinger). They have them for adults and juniors, and also lefties and righties.

Check out the Grip Coach website.

Via HelloTennis

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"QuickStart Tennis Balls Available"

USPTA and PTR Master Professional Joe Dinoffer has announced the launch of a new line of QuickStart Tennis balls from Oncourt Offcourt. Three types of balls are available for use with 36-foot and 60-foot courts.

All balls meet USTA specifications in size, weight, color, and rebound. The "Quick Start 36" and "Quick Start 60" low compression balls are available in buckets of different sizes. The purpose is to help teaching pros, coaches, and parents keep the balls organized and separate from other practice balls.

Oncourt Offcourt has also renamed its popular adjustable height 18-foot Maxi-Net to be called the "Quick Start Maxi-Net" and will also introduce a red-color foam ball named "Quick Start 36 Foam" that is designed for the 36-foot court play.

For information on these products visit their website.

From RSI.com

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Easter Baskets...Tennis Style

Happy Easter!

We can't talk about candy or any other Easter products on our blog, but we can talk about Easter baskets...tennis ball baskets that is. Here are some various types, sizes and prices of tennis ball baskets, depending on your needs. And they're all on sale!

HOAG 350 Ball Teaching Cart - $179
Holds 350 balls. A solid steel shank eliminates the easily breakable plastic inserts. Ball bearings on axles and casters are sealed to resist dust, dirt and clay. The chrome frame is welded together as one piece, requiring only the basket and handle to be bolted on. Solid one-piece welded frame. Black heavy-duty plastic coated basket and storage tray for holding racquets, lesson books and teaching accessories. Tray is recessed into bottom support arms, eliminating sharp corners and increasing storage capacity.
Racquets can be locked inside cart: handles fit through corner openings.

HOAG 100 Ball Basket with Lid - $44.99
Holds 100 balls. This basket includes a stand option that allows you to swing the handles down, raising the basket to waist level for ball access, and swing the handles up, lowering the basket for ball pick up. Hoag's patented design revolves around a "floating" center rod that moves as you pick up balls, eliminating bent wires and broken welds. The unbreakable basket bottom is constructed without welds, and bottom wires have plastic wear feet for added protection along the entire contact points (not just at corners like other ballhoppers).

TBR 85 ballhopper - $29.99
Holds up to 85 balls. Handle adjusts up to 5" to accommodate various heights of players. Ideal for use with teaching cart. Wear feet included for added protection.

TBR 45 ballhopper - $19.99
Holds up to 45 balls. Ideally sized to fit into a locker or car trunk. Detachable handle reduces storage space requirements. Attached lid prevents ball spillage.

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Wrist Assist - "The best 69 bucks you'll ever spend," says Brad Gilbert

This thingamajig claims to consistently place a player’s wrist and racket in the optimum position throughout the hitting zone. What Square Hit Tennis, the maker of Wrist Assist, aims to accomplish this this consistent placement is to enable a player to lock the correct stroke into their muscle memory.

I believe in muscle memory. And frankly I think Brad Gilbert's a great coach. So I might give this a shot if I were a beginner trying to get my initial stroke down. Then I'd drop it, seems to me it would only become a crutch.

Check out the Wrist Assist at Square Hit Tennis

Books by Brad Gilbert

Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis--Lessons from a Master




I've Got Your Back: Coaching Top Performers from Center Court to the Corner Office

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Bakko Freestanding Net helps you fight the Winter tennis blues

Have you made a New Year's resolution to get back into shape, or at least get your tennis game back into shape? I have, and luckily I live in Arizona. But if you live in a colder climate and you can't always get to or pay for indoor tennis, this is a great option.

The Bakko Indoor Free Standing Net is 12.5' wide and 7.9' high allowing it to fit in garages, basement, etc. with 8' ceilings, and the support feet project 4' forwards and backwards. This makes it perfect for winter practices for colder climates. Also preferred for driveways by those who do not like elevated nets.

I grew up in the middle of Pennsylvania and would have loved this thing - it sure beats getting frostbite on your hands hitting against your garage door...

Bakko Indoor Free Standing Net - $419

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