Slazenger

[Beowulf]

Is Slazenger out of the tennis racquet business now? I think there is some sort of corporate common ownership between Dunlop and Slazenger, so has Slazenger simply been shunted aside in favor of big brother Dunlop as far as tennis racquets go? Or will Slazenger come out with a new line sooner or later (hopefully sooner)? Does anyone have any inside info?

 

[Backhanded Compliment]

Is Slazenger out of the tennis racquet business now? I think there is some sort of corporate common ownership between Dunlop and Slazenger, so has Slazenger simply been shunted aside in favor of big brother Dunlop as far as tennis racquets go? Or will Slazenger come out with a new line sooner or later (hopefully sooner)? Does anyone have any inside info?

Im not so sure Dunlop is even in it anymore... sad

I have a Slazenger Demon stick:

 

[Racketdesign]

I maybe the only person in the world that has an unused Slazenger Quadro!

 

[Spirtnoye]

I had a slazenger pro braided Henman in high school and loved it. I've seen a few on the bay and considered picking one up, but I don't know how much playtime it would get these days. Maybe though...it would be nice to have one again just for gimmicks.


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[Backhanded Compliment]

I had a slazenger pro braided Henman in high school and loved it. I've seen a few on the bay and considered picking one up, but I don't know how much playtime it would get these days. Maybe though...it would be nice to have one again just for gimmicks.


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^^ psst the guy that designed the Henman posted just before you.

 

[Spirtnoye]

^^ psst the guy that designed the Henman posted just before you.

Oh. Well he did a great job. Wilson came back around to a black racket because it's timeless, so he had the right idea!

I liked the feel of the Henman then, but I've been stuck on Pro Staff 90's lately. Maybe I should snag one and see if it still is magic. Might be a good in-between for me, as I've been sticking to the 90 regularly and sneaking in moments with the RF97.


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[CopolyX]

in my world, dead and sad...
maybe a few last breaths occurring in the uk...
there customer service / support has been crap for years..

 

[A_Instead]

Id be more that happy with a TW reissue of the black and white Pro Braided..

 

[Automatix]

Id be more that happy with a TW reissue of the black and white Pro Braided..

Agreed. IMHO TW made a mistake when they reissued the Trinity under the Black and White paintjob. They should have gone with the original B&W.

 

[Crocodile]

Is Slazenger out of the tennis racquet business now? I think there is some sort of corporate common ownership between Dunlop and Slazenger, so has Slazenger simply been shunted aside in favor of big brother Dunlop as far as tennis racquets go? Or will Slazenger come out with a new line sooner or later (hopefully sooner)? Does anyone have any inside info?[/QUOTE
They did have a range about 3 years ago but not many retailors opted to stock them, so it's been mainly Dunlop and Srixon in Japan. This is not to say they won't be coming back but it depends on the owners and how well they can manage their operations.

 

[Antónis]

and I would love to get a new set of grommets/bumper for my Pro Braided

 

[ollinger]

The question one needs to ask about Slazenger is "what exactly is Slazenger, anyway?" if they bring out new racquets. Is it a viable concern with designers and engineers actually developing a product, or is it just a word somebody purchased the rights to and would slap on any crap they can get manufactured?

 

[A_Instead]

Dunlop/Slazenger/Srixon...Ho Hum compared to the big 3..

 

[penguin]

and I would love to get a new set of grommets/bumper for my Pro Braided

I thought that Wilson 6.1 16x18 grommets fitted?

 

[Antónis]

I have a thread on the wanted forum, but I really never got my hands on those grommets, and the current 6.1's have parallel drilling grommets, those don't work on Pro Braided's

I have a set for old 6.1 PS's, but it's for the 18x20 string pattern

 

[NickJ]

I still have my two Pro Braided's and they're lovely racquets. Although no longer my main stick they were for a good few years and its always good to get them back out for some fun hitting!

 

[Deki]

Is Slazenger out of the tennis racquet business now? I think there is some sort of corporate common ownership between Dunlop and Slazenger, so has Slazenger simply been shunted aside in favor of big brother Dunlop as far as tennis racquets go? Or will Slazenger come out with a new line sooner or later (hopefully sooner)? Does anyone have any inside info?

Slazenger... RIP

 

[Antónis]

Slazenger... RIP

Mine didn't...

 

[Crocodile]

Dunlop/Slazenger need the right people with a lot of motivation and cash to get something going again.
It's a tough industry and gaining traction is hard against the likes of Babolat, Head and Wilson. From the others Yonex is now on the rise and they are cashed up. At around 2013 I thought Tecnifibre would challenge but their last 2 series have been less successful.
Head is an interesting one for me as a brand which looks after its pros really well with excellent sticks but the retail side of things are very different and as people start to realise this, things may change. While the MXG is something new for the market I'm sure many would rather see them give the public just one of there classics instead.
Dunlop/Slazenger on the other hand could go premium niche market like Volkl for instance and offer high quality frames that offer superb feel and quality or go the arm safe route like PK and Judging by the number of people in tennis with arm injuries this could be a goer.

 

[mnttlrg]

My best year of tennis relative to other people my age with in sixth grade. I had a Slazenger Phantom Tour that I hit with a nasty Goran-imitation serve motion.

It's been nothing but downhill since then.

I still own the racket and can still go play nearly as well with that frame as I could with any other racket.

 

[mnttlrg]

I will say this..... for how good the technology was in those old Slazenger frames, I bet they would have something equal or better in quality to what we see now from the best companies. It sucks that people didn't catch on to their products soon enough to keep them alive.

 

[Beowulf]

Mine didn't...

Wilson grommets fit a Slazenger frame?

 

[Beowulf]

Dunlop/Slazenger need the right people with a lot of motivation and cash to get something going again.
It's a tough industry and gaining traction is hard against the likes of Babolat, Head and Wilson. From the others Yonex is now on the rise and they are cashed up. At around 2013 I thought Tecnifibre would challenge but their last 2 series have been less successful.
Head is an interesting one for me as a brand which looks after its pros really well with excellent sticks but the retail side of things are very different and as people start to realise this, things may change. While the MXG is something new for the market I'm sure many would rather see them give the public just one of there classics instead.
Dunlop/Slazenger on the other hand could go premium niche market like Volkl for instance and offer high quality frames that offer superb feel and quality or go the arm safe route like PK and Judging by the number of people in tennis with arm injuries this could be a goer.

Can a company be successful with quality alone or is it mostly a marketing issue? Volkl, Pro Kennex, Gamma, even Technifibre have few professionals endorsing their racquets, and they are surviving, I guess, but I would suspect that they aren't selling nearly as many racquets as Head, Babolat, and Wilson, which seem to put enormous sums into advertising and player contracts. Yonex is probably a good case study. But with two great historical names - Slazenger and Dunlop - I just can't fathom why the owners have not done a better job pushing those brands. What about Donnay? Is the new iteration of that company still around? And I think someone is trying to revive Snaewaert. But, yeah, as you say, it will probably take a lot of motivation and cash to put Slazenger back on its feet. I hope they do it because that name has such great tradition behind it.

 

[Crocodile]

Can a company be successful with quality alone or is it mostly a marketing issue? Volkl, Pro Kennex, Gamma, even Technifibre have few professionals endorsing their racquets, and they are surviving, I guess, but I would suspect that they aren't selling nearly as many racquets as Head, Babolat, and Wilson, which seem to put enormous sums into advertising and player contracts. Yonex is probably a good case study. But with two great historical names - Slazenger and Dunlop - I just can't fathom why the owners have not done a better job pushing those brands. What about Donnay? Is the new iteration of that company still around? And I think someone is trying to revive Snaewaert. But, yeah, as you say, it will probably take a lot of motivation and cash to put Slazenger back on its feet. I hope they do it because that name has such great tradition behind it.

Yes I agree, the racquet industry needs diversity in brands and also offer products that meet different tastes. I like it when there are different frames out there with unique feel, it makes the game interesting. Imagine if we only played on one surface everywhere, it would get stale I think.

 

[Antónis]

Wilson grommets fit a Slazenger frame?

The Pro Braided his a clone of the 6.1 16x18, the non parallel drilling series g/b fit there.

 

[robbo1970]

I doubt very much there will be anything of note from Slazenger or Dunlop coming through, which saddens me.

Since being bought by SD, they have declined in terms of product output and player sponsorship. That I believe is a result of the SD theory of profit over quality.

All Dunlop have done in the past few years is turn out a few previously unsuccessful racquets with new paintjobs, with the odd exception of the R and NT lines. But with limited global availability, they are never going to be a success.

These days, I just think for most manufacturers, the pro endorsements that Wilson, Head and Babolat provide are too widespread that other manufacturers cannot cope from a marketing point of view.

You only have to look at the mens top 20 and there is 1 Prince, 2 Yonex and the rest are Head, Wilson and Babolat. That is what everyone sees when they watch tennis and if the top players use them, perception naturally is that they are the best racquets.

Sadly, the likes of Slazenger or Dunlop cannot compete with that. Other brands outside of the big 3, such as Yonex, Tecnifibre, Volkl, Pro Kennex, seems to have the commitment to continue to put out quality racquets, but Slazenger clearly do not have that financial commitment and for any company that goes that way, the decline seems to be rapid.

It's toughest for us types who want to play with the best racquet we can, but with the market shrinking, it only results in the top brands putting their prices up. A simple strategy really.....if you want a top racquet, you pay the top dollar.