Hmm.  What can the Pierce children do as teenagers to make money to pay for college (if there is college)? Why, string tennis rackets, of course!  The Pierces moved one step closer to financial independence last week when fortune struck. A friend gave (loaned?) us a racket stringing machine.

For the uninitiated, the tennis racket string industry is your worst marketing nightmare. Imagine if the wine industry combined its insufferable marketing of the non-quantifiable (if not imagined) qualities of their products with an unrelenting drive to make the infinite and meaningless “technologies” and “innovations” matter. That’s what the tennis string companies do. It’s something like, “Moet champagne combines hints of oak and raspberry with X-487 technology to help you overcome your human physical weakness to finally be a winner and the envy of your friends.” All for only $75!” There are about 1000 string products on offer, each evaluated on about 100 different vectors (e.g., composition,  stiffness, durability, spin, gauge, price, color, etc.).  Totally silly.

That said, we’re taking orders . . .

May we interest you in the Babolat RPM Blast string? It has an octagonal structure with high-density co-polyester, adding phenomenal rotation to the ball that creates exceptional spin? Combine this with its very durable mono-filaments that make it ideal for heavy hitters who expect string performance over time. Not to mention its firm response, providing great control and accuracy, keeping your ball on the court. It’s the choice of Rafael Nadal. Need we say more?

Of course, RPM Blast is a good choice only for the main strings on your racket (the up and down ones). We’ll use a different multi-filament string or perhaps a natural gut string (that’s animal intestines) for the cross strings on your racket (the side-by-side ones).  We’ll set the tension of the mains at, lets say, 50 lbs, while using a higher tension on the crosses, perhaps 52 lbs.  Oh, and the gauge? We’ll use a thinner 17-gauge string (1.05 mm) for the mains, but use a more durable (and slightly less spin-friendly) 16-gauge  for the crosses, unless you choose to go with 15-gauge, which you may want to do depending on your style of play.

You decide.  We’re here to serve.

$50 please . . .