PGA Tour Superstore, Greenwood Village - Review

Following some good recommendations from our members Duane and Chai we decided to check out the newly opened PGA Tour Superstore in Greenwood Village at 9451 East Arapahoe Road,Greenwood Village,CO 80112.

It is by far the largest Tennis store in Denver offering a variety of Tennis racquets, shoes, apparel and accessories. They even have a full size Tennis court right in the store where they offer Tennis lessons and you can even pick up one of their several demo racquets and try it out for yourselves. In the few minutes I spent there, I was approached by at least two salesman (who I though were quite knowledgeable about Tennis) offering to help - which I thought was good. You'll be lucky to find some to talk to in the other big box stores, let alone finding someone who knows what they are talking about.

I did think the prices were on the higher side. I was looking for Babolat RPM Blast strings and they were selling them for almost $25. I decided to get mine from Golfsmith where I ended up paying $17. A difference of $8 for strings is a little too high. GameSetMatch charges $36 for both string and labor. Golfsmith also sells a 4 pack of Wilson high altitude balls for under $6, I couldn't find a similar deal in the PGA store. I did not try to find prices for other items, so the strings might have been an exception.

They also have other cool things like the Dartfish technology which can measure your swing and recommend tennis racquets based on that. Check out this page for more details - http://new.pgatss.com/Inside_Stores_Tennis.aspx

Here are some other details:

• They do restringing for $12 ($15 at Golfsmith). You can also bring your own string and they'll hook you up. Typical turnaround time of 24 hours.
• They also offer Tennis lessons at $35 for a 45 minute class - quite reasonable.
• You can demo Tennis racquets for free for 2 days and there is a $2/day charge after that.
• They also offer memberships for $45, which includes 3 free restringing jobs and other discounts.

We highly recommend paying them a visit and appreciate the fact that we have more choices when it comes to purchasing Tennis gear.

Head YouTek Pro Racquet

This weeks Object of Desire is the Head YouTek Pro Tennis Racquet.

Couple of months ago I was looking to change my Head Ti-S6 and get a head light racquet as I play from the baseline a lot. I also wanted more control and top spin. I love head racquets so I decided to give the Head YouTek Radical Pro a try. I instantly fell in love with the look of the racquet and I did some more research about the racquet. Head uses a material called D30 which supposedly gives this racquet unique charecteristics - it can adjust the frame stiffness according to the swing. So if you are playing a drop shot the frame gets soft and when you ripping the ball from the baseline the frame gets stiffer. I loved this concept because as a 3.5 I can't swing hard all the time. At about 11.6 ounces strung (about 3.5 ounces heavier than my previous racquet) and 2/3 inch headlight this racquet felt like a perfect balance of control and power (my old racquet was 8 pts. head heavy).

I paid about $190 for the racquet and included were head strings at mid tension. At first it was having a torrid time getting used to the racquet, because it offers no mercy unlike head heavy racquets - you have to time your shots and hit through the ball. It forced me to make some changes in my game, the best way I got used to it was try and hit the top spin (up and across) as much as you can. Once I started doing this I could see my game improve. Now I absolutely love this racquet and it is totally worth the money I paid. With my old racquet, my arm was taking a lot of shock while playing against big servers and hard hitters. YouTek Pro's also have the MicroGel technology which distributes the schock evenly across the frame and it definetely works - my arm started feeling a lot better after using my YouTek Pro. I also love the thin beam, which offers additional control and stability.

Head also makes YouTek Speed Pro, which is heavier than YouTek Radical Pro at 12.5 ounces and is about 8 points head light. If you are looking to switch to a racquet with lot of control and if you are serious about adding top spin to your game I would highly recommend the Head YouTek Radical Pro.

Weight: 11.1 Ounces (unstrung) / 11.6 Ounces (strung)

Length: 27 Inches

Tension: 52-62 Lbs.

String Pattern: 16M x 19C

Headsize: 100 in.²

Beam Width: 21.5mm, Straight Beam

Balance Point: 32.5cm. / 12.8in.

Balance: Head Light

Flex (RDC): 61

Composition: d3o™

Swing Weight: 338

Power Level: Low

Swing Type: Fast & Long

Grip: Leather

Technology: d3o™, YouTek™, Teflon®

Pro's using this Racquet: Andy Murray

Adidas Barricade

This week's object of desire is the Adidas Barricade Tennis shoe. The current version is 5, which comes in several color combinations including Black/White or White/Red. Barricade's have been made since quite a few years now and they have gone through a lot of changes. Barricade is one among the premium line of shoes from Adidas and does carry a hefty price tag of $120. This shoe weighs 17.1 ounces for size 10 and contains mesh from heel to toe offering additional ventilation. The patented Adidas Torsion system and claw supports on both sides of the shoe offer excellant lateral support and stability - which is so important when you have to run around the court and make those volleys. Version 5 of this shoe is supposed to be lighter than the previous versions. My personal favorite is still the adidas Barricade 2 (white/Nemesis), which is a slightly older model but looks awesome. It's hard to find it in a store, but its still available online for around $90.


Adidas also lets you customize the colors, fit and other design specs of the shoe at http://www.miadidas.com/ . Tour Pro's currently using Barricade V include Fernando Gonzalez, Marat Safin, Fernando Verdasco, Mikhail Youzhny, Bryan brothers, Sam Querrey and others. Most of the tour pro's use the customized version.

The current model Adidas Barricade V and my personal favorite Barricade II

The "Beleive" shoe sported by US Teen sensation Melanie Oudin at US Open. Tsonga with his own version of Barricades.