Seminars

Each year the seminars and activities offered at the symposium are carefully considered. New seminars are added and existing presentations are modified based on leader input and feedback from previous attendees. The goal is to provide a unique experience for all involved and to insure that everyone has a great experience. Here’s a look at what to expect from the 2011 seminars.

Round Robin Tennis is something past attendees have been asking for since GSS started the symposium and in 2011 they’ll finally get their opportunity to square off on the court. The Saddlebrook staff will set up the event and attendees can opt in on the registration form by selecting their NTRP rating. We’ll pass your rating on to the staff pro and let them work their magic in putting the event together!

“Patterns & Techniques” will be conducted by Ron Rocchi of Wilson Racquet Sports and Grant Morgan. This course was the talk of the 2010 symposium and by popular demand we’re bringing it back in 2011. This is an in depth and highly interactive 4 hour seminar that will explore various stringing patterns and techniques used by many of the best stringers in the industry today. The low student to teacher ratio (3 to 1) ensures that each person will be challenged at their given skill level. All participants will be using their own Wilson BAIARDO stringing machine and will receive personal attention and instruction from Ron & Grant during the session.

Racquet Customization is a subject of interest to many racquet technicians but one that presents a variety of challenges. In 2011 we have completely changed the way racquet customization will be presented. Divided into two parts for 2011, the symposium will offer a specialty course on the Babolat RDC which will take you through the steps and processes this industry “Defacto” machine can perform by the numbers. We’ve also added two expanded and much more intense 4 hour Racquet Customization sessions to be held on Wednesday for those who want to expand their customizing skills further.  

“In Your Shop & On The Court” will be led by Grant Morgan and will zero in on analyzing the stroke production of a player on court and then, using the Babolat RDC, customizing that racquet to provide the player with maximum performance. You won’t want to miss this one. Grant Morgan has been in the racquet sports business for many years. He has a very diverse background that consists of countless years of traveling and working at the tour level. Grant has served as the official stringer for the U.S. Davis Cup Team and he spent two years traveling as a personal stringer for Andy Roddick. Grant brings some very unique skill sets and interesting insights to the GSS Symposium that have never been presented at the symposium before.

“Badminton Stringing” is a new presentation for 2011 conducted by Mark Gonzalez of Alpha Racquet Sports. This class will focus on learning all aspects of stringing these delicate frames from mounting requirements to special adapters and clamps. Learning to deal with shared holes and the very thin gauges of string used for this sport can be a real challenge. Gonzalez has plenty of experience with stringing badminton frames having strung most recently at the US Open Badminton Championships in Orange County California. This will be an interesting session where each participant will be given the opportunity to have some hands-on time to test their skills.

“Working with Natural Gut” will be presented by Tim Strawn and a special guest (we hope) that you will not want to miss. Handling and installing this string has proven to be a challenge for many technicians. When asked how many actually string natural gut in their shops at a previous symposium very few hands were raised. When asked why the answer was unanimous–the technicians were uncomfortable working with it. The goal of this class is to give stringers a whole new perspective and confidence in working with natural gut.

“Machine Repair & Maintenance” is very important for any technician looking to produce consistent results with their equipment. J.C. Carpentier of Tennis Machines, the premier service center in the United States for stringing equipment and official service center for Prince, will be conducting this presentation. Stringing machine calibration, clamp adjustments, general cleaning, adjusting manual spring type tension heads, linear gripper maintenance, warranty issues, self repair vs manufacturer repair and much more will be covered.

“String Technologies” with John Gugel takes you on a journey into the manufacturing world of racquet strings. Understanding your product is vital to knowing exactly what string will work best in any situation and this class will give you the knowledge to do that. Learn what strings to pick and why for a particular application. Understanding the composite make-up of strings can give you a decided advantage when dealing with various player types and styles.

“Customer Service” is the key to success for any business but it’s become a lost art in today’s fast paced consumer society.  This creates an opening that can be very beneficial to your business and GSS owner & symposium founder Tim Strawn will show you how you can improve your customer service in ways you never thought imaginable. If your competitors provide terrible customer service here’s your opportunity to learn how to take advantage of that while at the same time improving your own bottom line.

“Open Stringing” In 2010 the symposium added a new twist to the schedule and we’re bringing it back in 2011. Many past attendees had expressed to us that they learned a lot from the classroom sessions but they also wanted to have more time to string racquets while attending the symposium. That made sense to us so we added the open stringing room to the schedule. We invited many of the major machine manufacturers to provide us with as many stringing machines in their lines as they wanted as well as racquets and strings. Alpha, Babolat, Gamma, Prince, and Wilson provided machines and in many cases, company representatives were on hand to answer any questions stringers might have about their machines. John Elliot is our man in charge of the open stringing room. He’ll be there along with other seminar leaders (who are not presenting their own seminars) to assist you with questions and share tips and techniques on the machines. For anyone looking to buy a new stringing machine this is a “must attend” session that will help you make an educated decision based on “hands-on” use and insights from the manufacturer representative.

“Racquetball Stringing” is another new class for 2011 that many have asked about over the years. Mark Gonzalez will be leading this session and will be covering the complicated and sometimes frustrating job of stringing a racquetball racquet. Learn about color coded tubes, bearings, inner grommet systems, and various other complicated issues involved in working with racquetball racquets.

“Basics Stringing” will be led by Tim Strawn & John Gugel and is a must for anyone who is just learning to string and at the very beginning stages of learning the craft. Tim & John will cover a wide variety of topics designed to give you the confidence needed to produce a great string job from start to finish. Everything you need to know from inspecting the racquet and proper machine set-up to the finished product–this is a “must attend” class if you seek to improve your basic skills as a stringer.

Prince is the official sponsor of the “Speed Stringing Contest” at the GSS symposium. Stringers compete to see who’s can knock down a Prince frame with an 18×20 pattern strung will all polyester string. The 2010 winner was Jim Downes from Centreville, Maryland with a speed of  11 minutes 16 seconds. The speed stringing contest is without a doubt one of the most popular events at the symposium. Vasiliy Guryanov, 2009 winner was the runner up in a real race to the finish line.  This contest is always a real crowd pleaser.

“USRSA Certification” is offered at the GSS symposium for those who wish to certify as an MRT (Master Racquet Technician) or CS (Certified Stringer). Participants can also do upgrades of existing certifications. The certification sessions are held on Wednesday which allows attendees the opportunity to attend any and all symposium seminars Sunday through Tuesday in an effort to sharpen and learn new skills before testing. Dave Bone, Executive Director of the USRSA will conduct the testing.

“Round Table Discussions” are ongoing in the halls, in the classrooms, on the court, and at the bar late into the night. Networking never stops at the symposium and it’s the perfect venue to catch up on what’s going on in the stringing world.

Is it time to restring? “Racquet Record Software” is the most complete software program ever devised for the racquet technician. Developed by MRT John Gugel this program has email capabilities that can notify your customers when it’s time to restring or tell them when their racquet is done and ready for pickup-whatever your needs this program does it all. Keep accurate records on all the work you do for individual customers and recall previous string jobs with the click of a mouse. RT has fields to input data from many popular devices such as the Babolat RDC and the Beers ERT units that will provide you with important information at your fingertips.

“Racquets: Loads &Stresses” with Dr. Richard Zarda. Dr. Zarda is a new addition to the lineup of seminar speakers at the 2011 symposium. Dr. Zarda received his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Columbia University in 1974 in the area of bioengineering and biomechanics (he was Columbia’s School of Engineering 1971 class salutatorian).  He was an Assistant Professor in Engineering Science at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. from 1974 through 1976.  He was a research analyst at the David Taylor Naval Research and Development Center from 1976 through 1978 concentrating in the area of finite element modeling of acoustical fluid/structure interaction problems.  He joined Westinghouse in 1978 where was a Senior Engineer in the design and analysis of nuclear steam generators. Dr. Zarda will do some interesting modeling to show exactly what kinds of stresses and loads a racquet goes through during the stringing process, hitting a ball, and cutting our the strings. This one should be good!

“Training for the Touring Professional” will be conducted by Saddlebrook head tennis professional Howard Moore and guests. Join Howard as he takes you through the intricate world of the touring tennis professional and just exactly what they go through behind the scenes – long before they hit the courts to compete. This special session will give you a peek behind the curtain, so to speak, that most are not privvy to. We see the pros when they compete on television or when we attend tournaments and often think how glorious it must be to have that kind of talent to compete professionally. Seeing what these dedicated athletes have to go through to make it to the top will certainly open your eyes to another world we never have the opportunity to see.

What Do You Know Quiz is another new offering for 2011. This session is designed to help you find out exactly where you are as a racquet technician. A fun little 25 multiple choice question quiz will be given (no pressure here-just have fun with it!) followed by a Q & A session where you’ll go over the entire quiz with instructor John Gugel. This class is designed to help you locate a starting point from which to build your skills. Discover your weaknesses and strengths and plot your course to becoming a better racquet technician!