Crafting the components of your tennis game into cohesive control may seem as easy as recreating the images of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling on a clay-court armed with a tooth brush instead of a paint brush. Building the perfect tennis game may be an unattainable goal, but now you can can create the perfect racquet for your style of play.
Established pros ranging from Marat Safin to Goran Ivanisevic have taken racquet destruction to new levels with head shattering consequences, but now racquet construction is as easy as clicking your mouse.
New British racquet manufacturer Vantage Sports International puts tennis racquet design into the hands of players of all levels by launching its new and unique tennis racquet brand allowing anyone to define and receive custom built racquets.
Whether you're seeking a string bed as big as a butterfly net or a handle made in the shape of chopsticks, Vantage tailors tennis racquets to players' specifications. You select the specs for your racquet — choosing head size, string pattern, stiffness, length, weight, balance, grip size and grip shape — and Vantage custom builds the racquet to your meet your measurements. The result is a racquet that suits your style — assuming you've made the correct choices, of course — as well as finely-tailored suit at a cost that's competitive with many of the current top racquet manufacturers.
It's racquet-customization at a competitive cost with mass manufactured brands.
"Previously, if you wanted a racquet made to your specific requirements, you either had to be a top-ranked professional player or you had to be willing to pay hundreds of dollars to a specialized technician," said Paul Angell, founder and president of Vantage Sports International. "There is no other brand offering a racquet service like we do."
Formed in September of 2004, Windsor-based Vantage launched its web site Vantage Tennis.com on February 7th, 2005 and is currently offering free shipping to players purchasing a racquet this month. The web site takes you a through a step-by-step process of racquet construction (you can can stop, go back and alter any spec you select). Once you've configured the racquet, it's assembled in Vantage's Windsor workshop from "components made in various countries". It takes about a week from the time you construct your personalized frame online to the day it arrives at your door.
The attention to detail is impressive. The grommets in a Vantage racquet we viewed were flawless, frame balanced and the racquet came complete with a leather grip. All Vantage racquets come with a one-year warrantee. the company also offers a return policy ranging from a full refund (if the racquet is returned in its original condition within 30 days) to a 60 percent refund (if the racquet sustains frame damage, but is returned in 30 days). The policy enables customers to play test the frame.
"Vantage is the most consumer aware brand in the market place," Angell says. "By buying online, we are able to forge a relationship with our customers that none of the other brands can obtain. Personal service with personal products, with a distinct lack of gimmicks and invented technology."
Angell has extensive experience in racquet manufacturing. He formerly worked as the racquet design manager at Dunlop Slazenger, and was instrumental in bringing advanced computer-aided manufacturing and design techniques to the Dunlop racquet brand. While working for Dunlop, Angell designed and customized personalized racquets for many top pros including John McEnroe, Tommy Haas, Tim Henman, Amelie Mauresmo, Mark Philippoussis, Marat Safin, Alicia Molik, James Blake, Tommy Robredo, Ivan Ljubicic, Brad Gilbert and Wayne Ferreira.
Vantage is a joint collaboration between Angell and leading UK Design Company DesignWorksWindsor, and supported by many of the industry's leading component suppliers, according to Angell.
While Angell does not disclose sales figures to date he says "sales have exceeded our expectation."
Since its February web launch, Vantage has built racquets for players spanning all skill levels requesting frames ranging from duplicates of old favorites no longer mass-produced to specs as unique as your fingerprints. According to Angell, the company's consumer base is as wide ranging as the racquets it produces. A primary challenge to expansion is educating players on what racquet best suits their style. To that end, Vantage plans to work with teaching pros in the UK and U.S. who can recommend racquet specs to players.
"The only similarity is a good understanding of racquet specification," Angell says. "Many consumers — at all levels — don't yet have the information they require to specify a custom racquet, that is why we are recruiting teaching pros worldwide to help people define the racquet most suited to their game style."
The company takes tennis to a new interactive level.
Vantage allows players to select from many options to define a racquet that best suits their playing style and physical ability. The company also offers three prebuilt racquets. In response to customer demands, Vantage plans to broaden its color schemes and offer a wider range of head size and stiffness selections.
"Many people have asked for different colors, aside from the black and white we currently offer," Angell says. "The most unusual was for a 'Mediterranean blue racquet with red highlights'. Look out for increased cosmetic, head size and stiffness choices (in the future)."
Future plans also include the launch of an American assembly service. For more information, please visit Vantage Tennis.com.
~Someone should write a review of what they think if they do decide to order a racquet from Vantage.
Established pros ranging from Marat Safin to Goran Ivanisevic have taken racquet destruction to new levels with head shattering consequences, but now racquet construction is as easy as clicking your mouse.
New British racquet manufacturer Vantage Sports International puts tennis racquet design into the hands of players of all levels by launching its new and unique tennis racquet brand allowing anyone to define and receive custom built racquets.
Whether you're seeking a string bed as big as a butterfly net or a handle made in the shape of chopsticks, Vantage tailors tennis racquets to players' specifications. You select the specs for your racquet — choosing head size, string pattern, stiffness, length, weight, balance, grip size and grip shape — and Vantage custom builds the racquet to your meet your measurements. The result is a racquet that suits your style — assuming you've made the correct choices, of course — as well as finely-tailored suit at a cost that's competitive with many of the current top racquet manufacturers.
It's racquet-customization at a competitive cost with mass manufactured brands.
"Previously, if you wanted a racquet made to your specific requirements, you either had to be a top-ranked professional player or you had to be willing to pay hundreds of dollars to a specialized technician," said Paul Angell, founder and president of Vantage Sports International. "There is no other brand offering a racquet service like we do."
Formed in September of 2004, Windsor-based Vantage launched its web site Vantage Tennis.com on February 7th, 2005 and is currently offering free shipping to players purchasing a racquet this month. The web site takes you a through a step-by-step process of racquet construction (you can can stop, go back and alter any spec you select). Once you've configured the racquet, it's assembled in Vantage's Windsor workshop from "components made in various countries". It takes about a week from the time you construct your personalized frame online to the day it arrives at your door.
The attention to detail is impressive. The grommets in a Vantage racquet we viewed were flawless, frame balanced and the racquet came complete with a leather grip. All Vantage racquets come with a one-year warrantee. the company also offers a return policy ranging from a full refund (if the racquet is returned in its original condition within 30 days) to a 60 percent refund (if the racquet sustains frame damage, but is returned in 30 days). The policy enables customers to play test the frame.
"Vantage is the most consumer aware brand in the market place," Angell says. "By buying online, we are able to forge a relationship with our customers that none of the other brands can obtain. Personal service with personal products, with a distinct lack of gimmicks and invented technology."
Angell has extensive experience in racquet manufacturing. He formerly worked as the racquet design manager at Dunlop Slazenger, and was instrumental in bringing advanced computer-aided manufacturing and design techniques to the Dunlop racquet brand. While working for Dunlop, Angell designed and customized personalized racquets for many top pros including John McEnroe, Tommy Haas, Tim Henman, Amelie Mauresmo, Mark Philippoussis, Marat Safin, Alicia Molik, James Blake, Tommy Robredo, Ivan Ljubicic, Brad Gilbert and Wayne Ferreira.
Vantage is a joint collaboration between Angell and leading UK Design Company DesignWorksWindsor, and supported by many of the industry's leading component suppliers, according to Angell.
While Angell does not disclose sales figures to date he says "sales have exceeded our expectation."
Since its February web launch, Vantage has built racquets for players spanning all skill levels requesting frames ranging from duplicates of old favorites no longer mass-produced to specs as unique as your fingerprints. According to Angell, the company's consumer base is as wide ranging as the racquets it produces. A primary challenge to expansion is educating players on what racquet best suits their style. To that end, Vantage plans to work with teaching pros in the UK and U.S. who can recommend racquet specs to players.
"The only similarity is a good understanding of racquet specification," Angell says. "Many consumers — at all levels — don't yet have the information they require to specify a custom racquet, that is why we are recruiting teaching pros worldwide to help people define the racquet most suited to their game style."
The company takes tennis to a new interactive level.
Vantage allows players to select from many options to define a racquet that best suits their playing style and physical ability. The company also offers three prebuilt racquets. In response to customer demands, Vantage plans to broaden its color schemes and offer a wider range of head size and stiffness selections.
"Many people have asked for different colors, aside from the black and white we currently offer," Angell says. "The most unusual was for a 'Mediterranean blue racquet with red highlights'. Look out for increased cosmetic, head size and stiffness choices (in the future)."
Future plans also include the launch of an American assembly service. For more information, please visit Vantage Tennis.com.
~Someone should write a review of what they think if they do decide to order a racquet from Vantage.
