03/01/2025
Well its 2025, and nearly 10 years from the start of the Racket Sport Services story online. In those years I’ve seen many a product come and go from my inventory, from major brands like Dunlop to smaller brands such as StringLab, YTEX to name but two. I’ve always tried to offer alternatives to the major brands as in most cases they provide the same quality at often a lower price. This is certainly the case in late 2024 when I was approached by Grapplesnake strings to become one of their stockists in the UK. They produce a small range of poly and co-poly strings all of high quality and manufactured in Germany, seen by many as the home of polyester string production.
This weeks product of the week again comes from this brand and is one of the most unusual strings I have ever seen. Its the ‘Irukandji’, look up the word and you will be surprised to see that its the name of one of the 8 most dangerous jellyfish in the world. Not sure how this relates to string, but an interesting fact!
This string has some interesting characteristics, as it’s rectangular in shape measuring 0.90mm x 1.45mm, in a 12m set. With this shape and size its ideal for use as a cross string giving great touch and feel, but not ideal as a main string, due to its thickness and need to constantly adjust your string clamps.
However, its the product of the week due to its thin profile and provides crosses for two rackets within the same packet. Go on give it a try I think like me you’ll find it gives a nice feel and comfort to your racket.
5/12/2024
My next product is Grapplesnake Tour M8 its there most sophisticated string to date. After successfully releasing Alpha and Tour Sniper and receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback, they decided to utilize attributes from both of them and add an octagonal shape.
Tour M8 is now also one of there most durable strings, with exceptional tension maintenance, stability and control, whilst also relatively soft but also crisp for increased feel. In addition, they have given it a unique, non-standard olive green colour. This string has it all.
With Tour M8, players do not have to sacrifice comfort to achieve stability and control. Also, players do not have to sacrifice tension maintenance to achieve comfort.
It has also been designed for Pro Tour use, with Daniel Gimeno Traver (Highest ATP 48 and currently instructing at his Academy) already using Tour M8.
12/11/2024
My next product of the week is Grapplesnake strings Alpha. A 5 sided co-polyester string the softest in Grapplesnake’s range, colour yellow and 1.25mm gauge. Click here for further details on the product page. Developed alongside Tour Sniper as its “sister” string. We wanted to engineer a second Tour level string, but with our unique characteristics. We were interested in achieving an even softer feel, add some power, while maintaining ultimate directional control. The results are impressive.
My first product of the week has to be the RSS Starting Blocks. Click on the link HERE to go directly to the product. These block are 3D printed, the short one is for use when starting the main strings, if you use the Yusuki method. Especially at the throat where the limited space would not allow the longer block to be used. The longer block is used when starting the cross strings at the head of the frame. For further details see the ‘Latest from YouTube’ video adjacent to this blog.
