Power of Tennis

Today LK and Mrs LK decided to take trip up to Lewes which is a nice little town 10 miles of Brighton where we live. If any of you travel down to the south, I recommend it as a place to go. Full of character. A very nice place.

Whilst I was up there I decided to visist my friend of mine who works in Intersport which is like a sports company that supplies independent sport retailers. They act like a contacts service for them. We were chatting about the tennis and why it had been so long that we hadn't played on court. I asked him what effect that Wimbledon had on racquet sales. He had literally sold out of Pro-staff racquets and the Head Radical racquets had also sold out. A mum and her son came in and she wanted to buy him the 'Andy Murray' racquet. My friend the greedy git tried to flog him the 310g version!! I told him not to be so sneaky and pointed them in the direction of the Babolat Aero Pro-Drive to which they had countless of them left. That was a surprise. I recommended to them the Babolat the 25 inch version and 240g version. They were both happy with it and bought it. I of course didn't get a single bean in the way of commission

I was asking him about business and he was telling me how the Babolats have recently struggled to shift. Also next year the Nadal Aero Pro-Drive will no longer be yellow and black He was telling also that Serena's success saw the Wilson Blade sell out. He also said that Yonnex racquets were starting to sell really well. An 89in headsize and also greater density around the 10am to 2pm sections and also the shaft had a greater flexibility which offers less resistance on the more powerful hitting strokes. He was also surprised by the fact I had swapped Babolat for Wilson, though these new Yonnex racquets are catching my eye. He said since Friday, racquet sales were up by 250%!!!

It is good to see the knock on effect of Murray reaching a Wimbledon final, kids buying racquets and even adults plucking up the courage to hit the courts. I have seen it in my time when playing football and everyone wanted the David Beckham boots. Good to see tennis is generating a higher profile.

Nice piece LK. I'll put Lewes on my list of South Cost places to visit, when I bring Mrs Banbrotam down to visit the only branch of the Irregular Choice, outside of London, in Brighton

Good to see that you've calmed down after yesterday, so Mrs LK is getting your best side

Nice article. To be honest, the junior market is already saturated with Babolat racquets...Babolat are everywhere, so its harder for them to move more share. Personally I dont think Murray's or Djoko;s HEAD racquets are particularly nice looking for kids. They're quite heavy too. Juniors tend to like the lighter Bab's. The ProStaff K-Six which Federer plays with has a 90sqin head so I'd be surprised if that proved popular with club players, or pros. Presume you meant the 98in (not 89) Yonnex? Think Nalby and Wawrinka are the main players with those - the way you describe the racquet sounds like its head-heavy though...could be a problem for those with arm injury issues. The Blades and BLX are very nice Wilson racquets...but a bit powerful, Wilson's always are...no wonder the power the Williams get with them. The Prince EX03 Tours are nice raquets too.

So looks like Nadal is going to have to change the colour of his racquet then...it'll still be the old batch of 2003ish racquets he uses but with the modern paintjobs. But the juniors will feel they are using the same racquet he does. Crazy isnt it...but thats the power of marketing on kids! And HEAD will be happy Murray got to the final for sure - indeed my younger son has the Murray racquet already! Eldest has a Babolat. I play with Volkl racquets...C10 Pros...alot of pros still use them. Infact most of the pros use racquets from 5-10 years ago...I think Murray's is a basic rehash of the old HEAD Prestige from the 90s (like Goran used). But its good to see Murray haviong an effect on tennis sales...its one of the reasons I wanted him to win yesterday, for its effect on British tennis. Maybe that effect will happen anyway...

Oh, and thanks for the tip on Lewes!

It is a lovely place Banbro. Full of character. If you like you beer/ale, there is Harveys there and the shop has loads of nice Ale/Beer/Wine/Spirits

Me friend there did agree with my assessment of the match and he felt that Murray overall had a decent tournament. He still wouldn't part with his Olympic Wimbledon tickets

Mrs LK enjoyed watching LK helping a youngster select his first racquet. Even though they won't produce world beaters, it is good interest is generating fast and it can help the parks level increase numbers too

Interesting analysis legendkillarv2. My deductions are that Lewes has an ageing population (all kids want a babolat), that you should never go shopping with your mum (what do they know!) and that the Wimbledon fortnight is a good time for raquet sales.

[quote="legendkillarV2"]It is a lovely place Banbro. Full of character. If you like you beer/ale, there is Harveys there and the shop has loads of nice Ale/Beer/Wine/Spirits

Hmmm... Not to far from me, may have to pay it a visit.

Good to see the profile of tennis is getting higher.

lydian wrote:Nice article. To be honest, the junior market is already saturated with Babolat racquets...Babolat are everywhere, so its harder for them to move more share. Personally I dont think Murray's or Djoko;s HEAD racquets are particularly nice looking for kids. They're quite heavy too. Juniors tend to like the lighter Bab's. The ProStaff K-Six which Federer plays with has a 90sqin head so I'd be surprised if that proved popular with club players, or pros. Presume you meant the 98in (not 89) Yonnex? Think Nalby and Wawrinka are the main players with those - the way you describe the racquet sounds like its head-heavy though...could be a problem for those with arm injury issues. The Blades and BLX are very nice Wilson racquets...but a bit powerful, Wilson's always are...no wonder the power the Williams get with them. The Prince EX03 Tours are nice raquets too.

So looks like Nadal is going to have to change the colour of his racquet then...it'll still be the old batch of 2003ish racquets he uses but with the modern paintjobs. But the junior will feel they are using the same racquet he does. Crazy isnt...the power of marketing on kids! And HEAD will be happy Murray got to the final for sure - indeed my younger son has the Murray racquet already! Eldest has a Babolat. I play with Volkl racquets...C10 Pros...alot of pros still use them. Infact most of the pros use racquets from 5-10 years ago...I think Murray's is a basic rehash of the old HEAD Prestige from the 90s (like Goran used). But its good to see Murray haviong an effect on tennis sales...its one of the reasons I wanted him to win yesterday, for its effect on British tennis. Maybe that effect will happen anyway...

Oh, and thanks for the tip on Lewes!

Yonnex have produced an 89in head racquet. A thing of beauty. I didn't have the £160 to part for it it is a unique racquet. I think the the design is to take the impact off the elbow, though I think you might have a forearm ache for days. It was a lovely feel. Very light feeling when you hold it though when you swing you can feel the weight of the head. I am still trying to find the 2009 Babolat Aero Pro. By far the best of the series.

I agree the Head racquets aren't good for juniors. I recommend Babolats and Princes for juniors. They get the weight right for juniors which is so critical. Andy's racquet weight is something like 330G. I was going to buy Rafter's Prince racquet, but the weight was a stonking 345G!!! Volkl are lovely racquets. Always a pleasure trialling them. I never warmed to them which was a shame.

Lewes is a lovely little place. Wish I could afford the property there

hawkeye wrote:Interesting analysis legendkillarv2. My deductions are that Lewes has an ageing population (all kids want a babolat), that you should never go shopping with your mum (what do they know!) and that the Wimbledon fortnight is a good time for raquet sales.

Babolats are great for juniors. The classes I take with my nephew and other juniors have them by the barrel fuls. Yes it is an ageing population there, though it is lovely to get away from the city life

[quote="carrieg4"]

legendkillarV2 wrote:It is a lovely place Banbro. Full of character. If you like you beer/ale, there is Harveys there and the shop has loads of nice Ale/Beer/Wine/Spirits

Hmmm... Not to far from me, may have to pay it a visit.

Good to see the profile of tennis is getting higher.

Aye go there carrie. Have some lovely local shops. The Harveys tour is a nice little side trip.