I love Rocky's game (especially his z-serves, which are my favorite serves also), but why is he constantly allowed a LOT of extra time between serves. The IRT rules allow only 10 seconds after the score is called, yet he's allowed an average of 12-15 seconds after the score is called before he serves the ball. After watching his 2 hr + match against Croft, it was rather obvious. I timed it consistently in the 12-15 second range (with a watch and not just relying on my counting). He did have a few that were in the 10-11 second range and even a few that were in the 15 second + range, yet he was never given a warning (even after Croft basically begged for it at the beginning of the match). Not once was it under 10 seconds. This has been a consistent NON call in his favor all season long. He was also allowed to hit the ball between rallys several times after given a warning in the first game and never received a technical for them either.
The rules should be the same for everyone.
Just wanted to give a big public appreciation to Coach Manny (Lawler Sports). About 2 weeks ago I asked on the 'wanted' section if anyone had an energy bridge for an Ektelon racquet. He responded that same day and said he would send one out right away. 10 days later I hadn't received it yet. I pm'd him and he said he'd send another one. 2 days later I got it. I offered to pay and he said I didn't owe anything. Awesome person.
Thanks again Manny.
Has anyone heard anything about the times for broadcasting the Nationals? On the IRT network site it just says Wed TBD.
Does anyone have any extra Ektelon energy bridges for the EX03 Attack that they are not needing any more? Specifically, I'm looking for the top 'silver' bridge (I'm using the silver top and blue sides). A small piece of the silver bridge broke when scraping the side wall on a shot. I already have extra bumpers/grommets and I could always put on the 'blue' top bridge, but love the way it plays with my current set-up.
Does anyone have any extra Ektelon energy bridges for the EX03 Attack that they are not needing any more? Specifically, I'm looking for the top 'silver' bridge (I'm using the silver top and blue sides). A small piece of the silver bridge broke when scraping the side wall on a shot. I already have extra bumpers/grommets and I could always put on the 'blue' top bridge, but love the way it plays with my current set-up.
There's 3 young up and coming players that have been making a little noise this past year -
Jose Rojas, Charlie Pratt, and Tony Carson. They've all had some success against the top 4-10 and they're all ranked between 8 and 17 (even though it's really between 8 and 15 considering Alvaro and Mitch aren't playing). Who do you think will be the first one to break into the top 5 rankings? I think the way they've been playing the past 1-2 months I would say Tony Carson.
FINAL LOWERED PRICE:
Selling a brand new Gearbox 250 (black/yellow) that's been autographed by Alvaro Beltran.
I won it on the IRT network during the US Open (they were offering 5 new racquets for the first 5 to sign up for a 1 year subscription, I was hoping to be the 4th entry to win an Ektelon Skinz racquet of my choice ), but I was the 5th entry and won this racquet. Nothing bad to say about Gearbox, just prefer to stay with Ektelon. I'm selling the Gearbox so I can buy a new Ektelon Attack. Anyways, the Gearbox racquet is brand new, 3 5/8" grip, still in the wrapper, signed by Alvaro, and also has a Gearbox black carrying bag. It has never been played with, knew when I won it that I wasn't going to keep it and didn't want to devalue it by selling a previously played racquet. PRICE dropped to $125 (FINAL price) and shipping included. Will be hard to find a better deal.
Is anyone else having problems viewing all posts with this new forum/format? As an example, in the Pro men's section, there are 6 pages available on the "watch LIVE Florida" posting and the last post says it was by JScott @ 1:05 on 18 March, but when I click page 6 it takes me to page 5 with the last posting by JMan 3 days ago (it also says viewing 81 of 100). Once it takes me to page 5 (even though there are 6 pages) the 6th page tab is gone. Also get the same thing with other postings (unable to view them all).
Wanted to see what others think about moving back a division. A little background:
When playing 'B' division - was winning about 65-70% of my matches. Had one 2nd place finish (in an average sized draw in a 'sanctioned tournament') and one 1st place finish (in a small 'non-sanctioned' tournament). Moved right up to the 'A' division after that win. Felt pretty competitive at that level.
When playing 'A' division - presently winning about 35% of my matches. Most of my winning matches have been against B players playing both divisions in those tournaments. Had two 2nd place finishes and one consolation bracket 1st place. First 2nd place finish had a very favorable draw (1st round against a B player, 2nd round against an average A player) and lost badly to a good A player in the finals. Second 2nd place finish, had only 4 players entered in the draw (2 B players, myself, and an A player), I beat the 2 B players but lost badly to the A player. The consolation bracket 1st place was against all B players. Those 3 placings were out of about 12 tournaments over the past 1 1/2 years. The other tournaments were lose first round in the draw, then lose first round in the consolation bracket. I have pushed a couple matches to tie breakers, but by far have not felt competitive against the solid or good A players.
I don't mind the losing, but not even feeling like I have a chance is taking it's toll.
I'm looking at getting another racquet, but to not upset my wife I'm selling some off my other stuff to pay for it.
EForce Lethal 175 - $80 (good condition, strung with Prince Softflex 17G string)
ProKennex Core Shadow 180 (I have 2 of them) - $40 each (or both for $75)(good condition, both freshly restrung with 17G Gamma Live Wire)
EForce medium bag - $25 (will sell Eforce racquet + bag for $100 total)
ProKennex medium bag (last years blue bag) - $25
Thanks
Seems like there's been a lot of talk recently about people "pimping" whatever brand they're playing with. To me, there is nothing wrong with pushing your favorite equipment if done in the right way. That's the American way and that's what helps promote that brand and racquetball in general. But there's a good way of doing it and a bad way. This isn't directed at any one brand, because we've seen it with many different brands/posts in the past (whether its E-Force, Ektelon, Gearbox, Head, ProKennex, or Wilson - just listed in alphabetical order makers of current racquets but same is true for other brands of racquetball accessories).
The right way would be if someone asks about brand "A' and people with that brand give their input, or maybe a poster asks "which brand". The key word is they are asking for a comparison or enquiring about what others think about different brands. If they say what brand is the best, etc...
What is wrong though, is that everytime (ok maybe not 'every' time, but definitely is the majority of the time), someone asks about a certain brand, others will jump right in and either bash it or promote their own agenda. I know we've ALL seen it. Poster asks about racquet brand 'A', then the entire posts ends up with others pimping their brand. Things like: brand 'A' is "ok", but brand 'B' is much better/the best/greatest, etc... (since that's what they either use or are sponsored by). It would create a lot more harmony on this forum if people would not "hi-jack" others threads if it's not asked or "pimping" their own brands if not asked.
I started playing ProKennex last year, but seem to have problems with the grommets/bumper guard. I'm playing the Core Shadow 180.
The grommets start breaking off at the top of the racquet after just a couple games and the entire bumper seems like it starts shattering several weeks later. The grommets are the same for the entire Shadow series, including the new Krowning Moment racquet (which is based off the Core Shadow series). I know this because the replacement grommets said so on the package. I've thought about boiling a set before mounting it to see if that will make it more flexible and less brittle. Any suggestions/ideas? In previous racquets I usually had the grommets replaced every other restringing (as long as they were in good shape), but these grommets absolutely have to be replaced with every restringing (just trying to save a couple dollars). Is anyone else using ProKennex having the same problems?
OK, not much time till the big game and I didn't see any other threads on this, but let's hear some predictions.
I'm going with the upset, Arizona over Pittsburg 34-21.
My wife got me a Klipper stringer for Christmas :d . I restrung one of my friends racquet this past weekend and it seemed to turn out pretty good. I got the knots ok, but think they'll get better (I did the knots that came with their directions, but found the sites on youtube that seem much better and easier to understand http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUFjDax7xK4). Got some good advise from reading previous posts on this forum. My 1st question for now (I'm sure I'll have more as I start restringing other friends racquets)
has to do with 2 piece -vs- 1 piece stringing. I restrung his racquet using the 2 piece method because that's the stringing pattern they had listed in the instruction books. His racquet is a PK Platinum 175, which has the exact same pattern as my own PK Core Shadow 180.
I'd like to string mine with the 1 piece method but the instruction book doesn't have both ways listed. I know they can be done with the 1 piece because that's the way they're strung from the factory. Just wanted to see if I'm tracking right before I do my own racquets.
The instructions for the 2 piece call for 20' mains and 18' crosses. My thinking for doing the 1 piece is 38' total and 10' short side (taking 1/2 the length for the 2 piece measurements for the mains for the short side). Do both sides of the mains same as the 2 piece first (do the 4 middle right, then 4 middle left mains, then alternating one at a time back and forth between the right and left mains until they're complete), but tie off the short side once I get to that point, then the remainder of the other side would be used for the crosses also. Does this sound right?
2nd question, what are the advantages/disadvantages of 1 piece -vs - 2 piece stringing?
I'm selling an EForce Lethal 175, recently restrung with 17g Prince Premier string and new grommet set. It's in good condition (been used, but not abused). Will also include an EForce Sport medium sized bag. Will include BOTH for $120 SHIPPED.
Thanks for looking.
I'm sure there's people out there who have tried/played on both and wanted to see how the 2 compare to each other. In looking at the stats, they look pretty similar except for the swing weight:
Weight Strung wt balance swing wt
HC2 Quad 165 190 4+ hh 152
Kinetic Quad 170 192 4+ hh 143
I have both coming soon to demo. Been playing on EForce the past few years, but recently broke one and have been considering changing.
Jason, an interesting question. Now that everyone knows that Kane will be with ProKennex also, do you see a true 'team' concept for racquetball in the future? It seems that in the past, even though players were signed with the same manufacturer they were still completely independent. I would envision something along the lines with NASCAR. Those 'teams' help each other by sharing information, training, etc... until it's time to compete against each other, then it's each person for themselves. Do you think that same type of 'team' concept could/would work for racquetball? Possibly exchanging/plotting strategies (maybe even a little 'coaching' during matches - it's always easier for others to see whats going on from an outside view) and training together to knock off the competition then each man for themselves when it's time for those head-to-head matchups?
OK all, the big game is this weekend and haven't seen any discussions about it.
I would LOVE to see the Giants upset the Pats, but unfortunately don't see it happening.
The Pats have had everything go their way this year (cheating scandal, contraversial calls against their opponents [especially their game against the Ravens], and even fumbles seem to bounce their way).
As I mentioned, would really like to see the Giants pull it off (if they do it'll take a near perfect game on their part, they'll have to put tons of pressure on Brady, stop the big plays, and will probably go down to the last minute).
However, I'm predicting a close 1st half but then the Pats pull ahead for a 45-24 win.
A couple months ago I had a thread about the E-Force 'flypaper' grip. A quick review, I tried the Python grip on a couple different racquets over the years and always liked the feel/grip but had problems with the grip once my glove got a little wet from sweat. I was lucky to get a full 1 game in before needing to change gloves (and I usually play 5-7 games 3-4 times per week). With the stock 'wrap' type of grips I was able to get 2 full games and sometimes 3 if not sweating too much (usually during doubles) before needing to change out gloves. My conclusion was that the Python grips were retaining a little moisture in-between the small grooves, whereas the stock wrap grip didn't have the little grooves to trap that same moisture in.
My first thoughts were the E-Force 'flypaper' grip because it's smooth and I play E-Force Lethal racquets. However, after doing some research most people thought the Flypaper grip was thicker than some others on the market. I read that the Ektelon Clear Vision II was a little thinner and since grips don't cost much decided to try this grip (I know, an Ektelon grip on an E-Force racquet :-$ ). Well, after 6 weeks of testing the Clear Vision grip it's worked better than my expectations. There is just a little wear on the grip, probably from sliding the racquet back and forth between a forehand and backhand grip, but will still last quite awhile. I have my racquets restrung every 3 months and change the grips at the same time (with the stock wrap grip, they wore so quickly I had to change then every month or two). The Clear Vision grip is great, I can actually get 2-3 full games before needing to change my glove and the grip itself is comfortable and no slippage at all. I've tried wearing the same glove longer (3-4 games in-a-row) and can still get by, all I have to do is dry the grip itself with my shirt and it grips fine for a couple points. When I tried that using the Python grips, drying off the grip with my shirt didn't help much even for only 1 point.
