7 posts categorized "October 2011"
 The unmistakable new shoe smell—like polyurethane perfume mixed with mistletoe—and an aggressive black-and-green color scheme greeted us as we opened a nondescript grey box containing the new Asics Gel-Resolution 4 shoes.
The Gel-Resolution 4 (MSRP: $120) will hit retail stores on February 1, 2012. We took the new shoes out for a few play-test previews on hard courts last week and found the Gel-Resolution 4 a foot-pleasing partner. (We'll post a complete, formal review in the coming weeks after our wear testers and TENNIS shoe adviser Dr. David Sharnoff put the shoes through its paces).
Recently, I've been pained by plantar fasciitis in my right foot. Consequently, I haven't been hitting as much as I did during the summer—in recent weeks I've been limited to playing doubles and play-testing racquets indoors on Har-Tru—so I was anxious to see how my foot would hold up to hard-court hitting and the new shoes. Since the U.S. Open ended, I've played wearing either the Prince T-22 or the New Balance 851, which is an extremely light, low-to-the ground shoe. Putting on the Gel-Resolution 4, my feet immediately felt higher off the ground than they did wearing the 851s. The initial sensation was a bit like stepping off a beach barefoot into a pair of shoes: instant elevation. Feeling a bit higher off the court did not create any stability issues. These shoes are very stable, I learned almost immediately.
Playing doubles against Dev, an opponent who hits drop shots as often as a young Novak Djokovic used to ball bounce between serves (this guy will actually drop shot you during warm-ups) forced frequent and sudden changes of direction. Moving forward to retrieve the droppers and running laterally for wide shots is where the shoe's support system and performance qualities were most evident.
The midsole and outsole are well balanced; the Gel-Resolution 4 is so comfortably cushioned I felt the shoes cradled—rather than constricted—my feet. I felt no pain during or after a couple of two-hour sessions on court. The mesh tongue and perforations on the upper enhance ventilation; I wore it on a couple of cool autumn nights outdoors, so I'm interested to assess the breathability inside.
The Gel-Resolution 3 was the highest-rated shoe we tested in 2011 and Asics says it has made only minimal changes to the upper (the forefoot shape is more streamlined, the brand says) in an effort to continue its appeal to its core audience.
Asics bills the men's Gel-Resolution 4 as weighing 13.3 oz., and though the 11 1/2 size I wore weighs 15.4 oz., the shoe does not feel bulky at all, which may be due to both the comfortable fit and the light-weight, breathable upper. Some wear testers told us they felt the toe box was a bit snug on the Gel-Resolution 3, but that wasn't an issue for me with the Gel-Resolution 4, which fit like a slipper and didn't feel stiff out of the box.
 Overall, I was pleased with the shoe's performance, comfort and the stability from all areas of the court and plan to wear it indoors on Har-Tru this weekend to see how it performs on clay. Most importantly, I played and walked away pain free.
Asics will offer the men's version in black and green with silver accents (the black shoelaces even have a green tip), as well as a more traditional white with blue trim. The women's Gel-Resolution 4 will be available in all white as well as the blue-and-pink cosmetic pictured at right.
 When Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer come face to face on court, the swoosh squares off on opposing foreheads. The two iconic champions play dramatically different styles but share an affinity for wearing the tourniquet-tight Nike headband on court.
It's such an identifiable style that when I watch Federer or Nadal wearing the American contribution to tennis fashion—the backward baseball cap—during practice, it can look as unfamiliar as imagining Mozart forgoing the powdered wig in favor of a stove pipe hat. Several of my favorite players—John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Guillermo Vilas, Gustavo Kuerten, Martina Hingis (in her younger years), Gabriela Sabatini and Patrick Rafter (at times)—wore headbands of various sizes and styles.
The headband offers more face time with players: headbands reveal and caps conceal. The baseball cap that Jim Courier popularized during his playing days (wearing it forward), Lleyton Hewitt wore during his days as No. 1 (wearing it backward) and Donald Young wears slightly askew ("I feel like I'm putting it on straight, but it just moves a little to the left," Young said with a smile during the U.S. Open) and its modified counterpart, the visor, as prevalent as nail polish in women's tennis, obscure the wearer's face, sometimes creating a shadow that shrouds the eyes like a veil. It's not surprising Brad Gilbert's first move when he took over as Andy Roddick's coach was to ban the visor the young American wore.
Caps and visors are the "Do Not Disturb" signs of the sports world, which may be why so many professional poker players wear them in an effort to disguise their tells.
Headbands frame the face and provide the emotional entrance to a player's state of mind, but if you have no desire to turn your forehead into a branding billboard for tennis' top apparel companies, now you have some options.
Two American companies—Fly Head Ties and BondiBand—are putting your head in your hands by enabling you to personalize your headband with your name, team name, slogan or graphic of your choice.
 Fly Head Ties founders Barbara Askenazi and Vikki Goldberg created the Denver, CO-based company after unsuccessfully searching for customized headbands for their USTA league team.
"We always try to create a uniform for our USTA team and I love the adidas and Nike head ties, but you could only get them in black or white and they all had the company logo on them, which didn't reflect our team name." Askenazi says. "So I ordered some fabric and made them on my own with our own team monogram and then people started asking me about them and where they could get them."
As the name suggests, the Fly Head Ties tie in the back and are available in four colors: black, white, blue and red. The dry-wick head ties, which are about 3" wide and 36" long, sell for $12 apiece and can be customized with your initials, slogan, team name or graphic for an additional $3 per Fly Tie.
"The tennis ball graphic is popular with tennis teams and it's a quality monogram so the stitching does not show through on the reverse side," Askenazi says. "So if you wear it playing tennis or beneath your ski helmet then you need to go out to a store, you can flip it over and the monogram does not show through."
Bondiband is a headband bonded with a seam in the back. The Maine-based brand, which also manufactures moisture-wicking caps and towels, initially launched its head bands for runners, but the style has caught on with everyone from tennis players to triathletes.
"Our headbands are made of moisture-wicking, no slip, no drip fabric that keeps the headband from sliding down into your eyes," says Bondiband's Tiffany Pittman. "A lot of our customers wear the headbands under their caps to keep the hair and sweat out of their eyes and also to keep the sweat from discoloring their caps. The fabric is stretchy so one size fits all—my five-year-old niece can wear the same headband as an adult with a much larger head. They're machine washable and they don't shrink or fade; we advise people not to use fabric softener as it can hurt the moisture-wicking properties of the fabric."
 Bondibands sell for $8 with customized bands—"Tennis Rocks" is a popular-selling slogan along with the graphic of crossed tennis racquets—costing more depending on quantity of bands ordered.
"We charge a one-time set-up fee of $25 and will print any logo someone sends us in a .jpg,"Pittman says. "We do custom orders with a minimum of 12 Bondibands per order so if you ordered 12 it would cost $6 apiece after the one-time set-up charge."
 Behind a glass case in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a few feet from the racquets Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg wielded in winning Wimbledon, sits an endurance expert exposed.
In August 2008, identical twin brothers and USPTA certified tennis teaching pros Angelo and Ettore Rossetti broke the Guinness World Record for the longest tennis rally, striking 25,944 shots without missing in an epic exchange at North Haven Health & Racquet in Connecticut. The Rossetti brothers hit their way into history and hit the hair off the ball in the process, leaving a bald ball that sometimes spun wildly during the final stages of their historic rally.
Even if you never engage in a here-to-eternity point, Penn is aiming to extend the felt spheres' lifespan by bouncing a marathon ball into the marketplace. Its Pro Penn Marathon ball will debut in January, and the brand says the new ball will provide "great longevity, durability and visibility."
While that doesn't necessarily mean the ball will withstand a 25,000-shot exchange without wear and tear, Penn says its Encore Technology creates a ball that lasts "22% longer" than standard balls. The new technology, which features a core compound of natural and man-made polymers, is designed to maximize long-lasting play and minimize ball softening without altering the weight or size of the ball.
"Encore Technology does not affect the weight of the ball at all. There are at least 15 different ingredients that are precisely measured and mixed to create our tennis ball core compound, and this proprietary process is part of our Encore Technology," says Jeff Ratkovich, Senior Business Manager for Penn Tennis Balls. "The result is a consistent and durable rubber core that maintains its internal air pressure for a longer period of time, which allows players to extend their enjoyable playing experience."
In addition, Penn says its Smart Optik treatment in the felt decreases the amount of dirt particles the ball picks up, making it more highly visible for a longer period of time.
"During the felt manufacturing process, a specially-formulated coloring agent is added during the dyeing stage, giving our Pro Penn Marathon balls a high-visibility high reflectance sheen," Ratkovich says. "A proprietary additive is also included during the process, which helps the felt resist dust and dirt particles on the courts, maintaining the high-visibility properties in sunlight, under the lights, or during dusk. The key to our Smart Optik felt is that the treatment is applied during the dyeing process, and is not a coating applied after the balls are produced, so the high-visibility dirt-repellent properties are embedded in the felt fibers and last much longer during play."
Does it work as advertised? We'll let you know once we've play-tested the new ball.
The Pro Penn Marathon ball will be offered in Extra-Duty for hard court play, Regular-Duty for soft court play and Extra-Duty High Altitude, which weighs the same as the other two versions of the ball but features a slightly different core.
"The Pro Penn Marathon Extra-Duty High Altitude version is produced to the same size and weight specifications as the other Pro Penn Marathon models. The felt is the same LongPlay Extra-Duty covering with Smart Optik technology, and the difference is in the Encore Technology rubber core," Ratkovich says. "When playing in high altitude regions of the country—above 4000 feet—a standard ball tends to be very lively and rebound a little higher, due to the thinner air. Therefore, the core of a high altitude ball is produced with slightly different properties to counteract the effects caused by higher elevations so that the ball plays similarly to a standard ball played at lower altitudes."
 Rain was a recurring theme of the 2011 U.S. Open, as dreary drizzle forced the men's final to be staged on a Monday for the fourth consecutive year. But despite the sometimes sun-starved conditions, sunglasses were a glaring gear presence during the Flushing Meadows major.
U.S. Open women's champion Samantha Stosur sported tinted Oakleys, Janko Tipsarevic reached his first career Grand Slam quarterfinal wearing prescription sunglasses, 15-year-old American Victoria Duval wore white sunglasses en route to the junior quarterfinals—and celebrity fans ranging from Ben Stiller to Jay-Z to Catherine Zeta-Jones sported shades.
Watching one coach quickly—and repeatedly—swap his sunglasses for reading glasses when writing notes during a match gave us new appreciation for major multi-tasking. If you're a coach, chair umpire, journalist or fan faced with the challenge of fighting the sun's glare and then switching to reading glasses to peruse the tiny type on your notepad or cell phone, you can find an ally to aid your double-tasking vision.
Dual Power eyewear is a new line of sports sunglasses that incorporates sight magnification for reading fine print into the lower portion of the lens. The sunglasses (MSRP: $49.95) come in three different styles, two different lens colors (smoke or brown) and three powers of magnification: +1.5, +2.0 and +2.5. The wraparound style hugs the head without constricting and provides ample face protection.
Founded by Louis Viggio, a cycling industry veteran, the sunglasses were initially designed for cyclists. The brand bills itself as "the first ever line of enhanced vision sports eyewear for outdoor sports enthusiasts." The lightweight frames feature shatterproof and scratch-resistant plastic lenses and 100 percent UVA, UVB, UVC protection, which experts say is a key quality when buying sunglasses.
"If sunglasses offer—and deliver—100 percent UVA and UVB protection, that's the main thing you want; we ask for 99 to 100 percent UVA/UVB protection, because 100 percent may be too big a promise," says The Skin Cancer Foundation executive editor Mark Teich. "As for UVC protection, that's pretty much just a sales pitch, since UVC is almost entirely blocked out by the ozone layer—it really doesn't affect us on earth. Wraparound styles with a comfortable, close fit and UV-protective side shields are ideal. Polarized lenses are preferred to eliminate glare, especially when driving. Above all else, fashion and cost do not guarantee better protection; some cheap glasses can offer better protection than fancy-shmancy designer glasses."
I tested the glasses out and the magnification works well, though it may take a bit of time adjusting to shifting your eyes downward when using the glasses for reading. Unlike some bifocals, the magnified portion of the lens is unobtrusive, and once you become accustomed to magnification zone location, the slight division line is not a major distraction. While the glasses may not evoke stylistic comparisons to high-end lines like Revo, they will fulfill the sports enthusiast's dual vision focus.
 Sometimes, playtesting a racquet can feel like the tennis equivalent of a blind date: Favorable first impressions can often alleviate an awkward feeling of unfamiliarity. Last night, we took the new Dunlop Biomimetic 700 out for a first date playtest, and while the oversized stick's specs didn't spark a love-at-first-sight bond, the pure power and comfort level the black, grey and white racquet supplied was satisfying.
Recently, I've been playing with the Dunlop Biomimetic 400 Tour, which we reviewed last week, the Volkl Organix 10 and the Donnay X-Dual Gold 99, which offers an ultra sleek beam (15 mm/18mm/17 mm) and looks almost popsicle-stick thin compared to some shovel-size oversized sticks. Play-testing the Biomimetic 700 (MSRP: $210) with its bulkier beam (26 mm/28 mm/26 mm) and 110-square inch head felt a little like piloting an SUV immediately after stepping out of a sports car: You're instantly aware of the width and mass in your hands.
Prior to playing a couple sets of doubles, I hit one against two for about 20 minutes. Transitioning from a thinner-beam, heavier racquet (the Biomimetic 400 Tour weighs 11.46 oz. strung, which is nearly two ounces more than the 9.6 oz. Biomimetic 700), I felt I had to shorten my strokes a bit to find the range and keep the ball in the court. The TruOval shape of the head does help generate topspin, and when forced well wide, the 700's power potential did help me indulge the urge to occasionally try rip the running forehand cross court, or attempt to strong-arm the net man with a body shot.
I felt most challenged in two areas, one being when trying to defend deep drives hit directly at me. I shanked a few of those shots trying to half-volley replies from the baseline—because this is a lighter, wider stick than I typically use, I sometimes felt I was too far out in front of the ball. There was also my serve. It strayed beyond the service box initially, though that may have been due more to adjusting to outdoor lighting and the somewhat schizophrenic nature of my serve than harnessing the power and the extra lengh (27.25") of the frame.
A pleasant surprise was that the power the 700 provides was palpable, but not the ostentatious "Hummer hogging up the bicycle lane", unbridled volatility that forces you to tap at the ball for fear of sending it splattering off the back fence. You can certainly crack the ball—it was especially effective hammering hip-high shots inside the baseline—but it's a more comfortable, controllable power than anticipated.
Comfortable power is the most marked asset and perhaps best selling point of the 700. The racquet represents a bit of a departure for Dunlop, which is known more for the precision of its player frames than pure power. The company has added a new "3DOM" technology to the Anti-Friction grommet system it applied to the 400 Series. The green bands surrounding each grommet pod are designed to act as cartilage and absorb shock while also allowing strings to move more freely on impact (in an unstrung model, you can pop the grommet pods out and feel the softer surrounding material). That design should help the stick appeal to players who have battled elbow and shoulder injuries, or senior players who will appreciate the power potential, larger face space, slightly extra reach and softer ride the racquet provides.
We plan to put the racquet in play-testers hands this week (if you live in the New York area and want to hit drop me an email) and post a formal review soon.
 Shrill squeals of squeaking sneakers marked the sudden stops and starts of Andy Murray and David Ferrer during Sunday’s Shanghai final and served as a sonic reminder of Stefan Edberg’s adage that “tennis is a game of legs.”
Movement is so essential to upward mobility in the ATP rankings it’s hardly surprising the world’s top five players—Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Murray, Roger Federer and Ferrer—are all known for quick court coverage and finely-tuned footwork.
Coaches and racquet customizers’ commonly video tape players’ swings to provide stroke analysis and remodel racquets to suit players’ swing paths, but can technology aid foot health and footwork?
One coach is using sensor technology embedded inside tennis shoes and corresponding video analysis of a player's movements on court to gain a better understanding of how the feet perform during play. Dr. Allan Grossman, a USPTA coach and podiatrist specializing in treating tennis players at the Harrisburg Foot and Ankle Center in Harrisburg, PA, embeds a sheet fitted with thousands of sensors that pinpoint pressure points inside tennis shoes. The battery-powered device connects to a cuff wrapped around the athlete's ankle to measure pressures on the feet during activity and transmit the data, using Wi-Fi, to a laptop computer, where both doctor and athlete can see exactly where pressure points arise during on-court movement.
His findings have been surprising.
"Conventional thinking is that when tennis players load on the back leg to hit a forehand or plant the foot to change direction that their weight puts pressure on the outside of the foot," Grossman says. "What we learned through thousands of scans of players of all different levels is that in virtually every case the most pressure is applied on the inside of the foot. That's quite surprising—it's the opposite of conventional thinking."
This video illustrates the point. Notice when the player plants his right foot to push off—the pressure points (represented by red and orange colors on the shoe images) are most intense on the inside rather than the outside of the foot:
Grossman is applying the data he’s gleaned to help players improve their gait, refine their footwork, prevent injury recurrence and customize orthotics.
“When it comes to your feet, a lot of sports medicine was speculative in that we didn’t know definitively how the feet were behaving inside the shoes during competition,” Grossman says. “With this technology, we can scan the foot in competition, watch the pressure points and show athletes exactly how their foot is reacting as they play tennis. Using this technology, we now have evidence-based medicine to both know how to treat foot, ankle and joint problems and know how to construct the right orthotics that will help each individual the most."
As surfaces have slowed, gear technology has advanced and the game has become more physical, open stances are much more prevalent, and Grossman believes tennis sneakers haven't always stayed in step with other equipment advancements.
"Think about the changes we've seen in racquets and strings and the slower surfaces and then ask yourself: What changes have we seen in tennis sneaker technology during the same period?" Grossman says. "Tennis is more physically demanding now than ever and we've upgraded our training techniques as coaches, but we're not addressing how our feet are functioning in the shoes, and we need do do a better job of building shoes and othortics. Through scans we've found advanced players spend much more time on their toes than club players, and some of those players we've scanned have played in running shoes because running shoes are designed to help you push off your toes."
Dr. Grossman isn’t advising trashing your tennis shoes in favor of running shoes, but he does advocate that more manufacturers apply running shoe technology to their tennis shoes.
“I’m not saying everyone should go out and play in running shoes; I am saying that wearing quality running shoes to play tennis does not lose stability or risk injury versus a tennis shoe, and the advantage of the running shoe is they help you push off and move forward better than most tennis shoes,” says Grossman, who believes scanning technology has both performance and health benefits.
“As a coach, I use the scans as a performance indicator in that you show the player where the pressure and stress applies while they’re on court and help improve their footwork, because players must maximize their footwork to maximize their potential,” Grossman says. “As a doctor it helps me devise the right treatment. Patients’ issues run the gamut from plantar fasciitis to chronic ankle sprains. The key to treatment is not just addressing the symptom; it’s identifying the cause. So when I can see how your feet behave inside the shoe, I can identify the cause and then often help the player without surgery, whether it's correcting a gait issue or creating or testing orthotics. The technology is vital because success in tennis starts from the ground up."
 String fills a racquet face and now forms a fashion statement.
Longtime stringer and avid recreational player Malcom Shieh has created the Stringlet, a friendship bracelet made of braided nylon tennis strings connected by a silver magnetic clasp. The multi-colored bracelet measures slightly less than 8 inches around and comes in two styles: a three-strand version that weighs 2.5 grams and costs $4.95, and a four-strand version that weighs 3 grams and costs $5.50.
As a junior, Shieh started stringing racquets to pay for court time and soon found himself staring at an ever-expanding pool of string scraps swelling near his feet. The Stringlet sprang from Shieh's desire to turn trash into treasure and creatively combat commercial monotony he found visiting souvenir stands at tournaments.
"It was my own effort to make something fun out of found materials from the sport, but even more so the product rose from a basic boredom with the souvenir offerings at tournaments—jumbo balls, tennis ball key chains and t-shirts—that I can remember from thirty years of watching pro tennis," Shieh says. "From years of stringing, I know how durable string can be, so I started twisting the the string together and found they make pretty cool bracelets."
The Stringlet's primary audience is junior players, who wear and trade the bracelets, but Shieh says the Stringlet has also found a home on the wrists of high school, college and USTA league players.
"It's definitely skewed toward a younger crowd, but we've received orders from senior league team members too," Shieh says. "When I initially made it, I was thinking more of fans who attend tournaments as the primary audience, so we made some red and yellow to represent Spain, for instance. We're finding people choose the colors more to represent their team colors or just because they like a particular color."
The Stringlet is currently available in 12 different color combinations. A new set of colors will debut next month, including red, white and blue and metallic versions, bringing the total to 20 different varieties, with team names and simple slogans planned for the future. Its creator envisions the Stringlet someday serving the same role as martial arts belts, with different colors corresponding to advancing skill levels.
"We are also trying to align the sales of the Stringlet with a charitable or developmental program that would benefit the game," Shieh says.
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