Racquet tester and Swedish Davis Cup stringer Henrik Wallensten is back on the podcast. In this episode, we break down 2023 regarding gear and discuss all the racquets, strings, and balls we tested during the year. We also look forward to 2024 and reflect on the reluctance of several racquet brands to send demos for review.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro04:06 From wooden racquets to…09:00 Racquet releases in 2024, but no demos?14:44 The beauty of the Blade 10018:21 Wilson Shift - a new line23:13 The Aero Rafa racquets28:12 HEAD Radical32:30 Yonex VCORE35:30 Yonex PERCEPT39:57 HEAD Prestige Auxetic 2 and Gravity47:54 Wilson Pro Staff V1452:33 Babolat Pure Drive 9856:53 STIGA Supreme1:02:00 Diadem Elevate V31:05:13 Strings1:10:44 Shoes1:21:44 Balls1:28:09 Upcoming racquet experiments

Gear of the Year 2023 with Henrik Wallensten

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Eric Lee is the co-founder of the hyped-up string brand Toroline. He used to play D1 college tennis and started the company alongside other strong tennis players to challenge the string market with softer, more colorful string options. They have been on a strong path in 2023/2024 with the success of pro player/content creator Karue Sell and their custom poly hybrid venture called Omakase. In this episode, we talk about their journey, racquet nerding, the string market, and the jungle of options for the consumer.

Eric Lee, co-founder of Toroline Strings

I have been a fan of the AI-driven software Swingvision since I first tried it in 2021. Apple has featured it in its famous Keynote speeches, named it "App of the Day," and given it an Apple design award. Ex-pros Andy Roddick and James Blake have been early investors, and there are also backers like Jason Liu from Strava and Albert Lee from MyFitnessPal.
I was excited to sit down with Swupnil Sahai, the CEO and co-founder, to discuss Swingvision's journey so far and its future.

Podcast with Swingvision CEO, Swupnil Sahai

Luca Berg from the YouTube channel Rackets&Runners joined me on the podcast to talk about gear. His detailed and organized racquet reviews for tennis and pickleball are rapidly growing his fanbase. We had a great conversation about gear and the world beyond.

Rackets and runners with Luca Berg

Nikola Aracic from Intuitive Tennis returns to the podcast to talk about the remaining GOATs (Rafa and Novak), why heavy racquets can be bad for you, why underarm serves are disrespectful and much more.
Time stamps
00:00 Intro00:35 Rafa’s last rumble, Novak’s superpower and the player’s right to  emotions34:05 Bublik and disrespectful and pointless shots like the underarm serve. Highlights culture on TennisTV.58:16 The viewability of tennis, bad angles, shadows, lack of options1:14:00 What is the white racquet? Nikola’s hunt for strings from the 90s and how his racquet preferences affect his game1:32:19 Heavy racquets are not for everyone, but for some. Strings and more…

Nikola Aracic on the GOATs, heavy racquets and underarm serves

My friend and doubles partner, Daniel Rutkowski, who has been on the channel many times, joined me to discuss competitive tennis and the things many players struggle with, such as match tightness, negative self-talk, changing patterns, and dealing with pushers, etc. Daniel was a strong junior player who left tennis for years and now has been back to competitive tennis with success in German league play and several titles on the ITF Masters Tour.
This is a shorter podcast, but we will be back with the longer format next week.

Gear of the Year 2023 with Henrik Wallensten

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