Yesterday was an exciting day for me. I had the opportunity to meet Bob Patterson of RacquetMaxx. Bob is a professional tour stringer and was the RSI stringer of the Year in 2005. This was my first opportunity to meet a tour stringer in person and I was impressed and grateful that Bob was kind enough to share part of his story with me.
The first thing you notice about Bob is he is his stature. I am 6’1″ and he stands taller than me. A large man with a gentle smile and passion for his profession. He began his journey as a tennis player looking for someone to string his racquet. He could not find a qualified professional so he purchased a stringing machine and decided to string for himself. His goal was to get the machine to pay for itself. Within a couple of months it not only paid for itself, but it made money. He began stringing out of his house and his base grew rapidly. Eventually his wife grew weary of all the foot traffic and encouraged Bob to rent a professional space outside of the house. Little did they know, but Bob was well on his way to developing his retail prowess. What started as a 600 square foot single person operation grew into a large (several thousand square foot) tennis retail establishment with many employees that was named retailer of the year in the USA by RSI Magazine.
Late last year, Bob sold his retail business so he could pursue his true passion. Professional tour stringing and racquet customization. Bob performs custom racquet work for several professional players, including James Blake. He travels the world stringing at professional events. He runs the racquet stringing operation for some US tour events and he also serves as a consultant for new retailers such as Your Tennis Bag, here in Georgia. Bob was attending their grand opening, which is the occasion in which I had the opportunity to meet him.
A cool guy, full of knowledge and energy. His story is an inspiration. He took a passion, grew a successful business and has evolved to follow his passion of traveling the world as one of the premiere racquet technicians of our day. It was a pleasure meeting you Bob, thank you for the time you shared with me!
