It has been brought to our attention that the introduction of the L-TEC Premium tennis strings has raised some questions and possible confusion within a portion of the stringing community.  Our intent is not to be mysterious, overly-complex or  to cause stringers and potential L-TEC customers frustration.  Rather we are introducing a vastly different product that does not follow neatly with previous product launches.  The product is unique and the way it is being made available and marketed is distinctly different from existing products.  We will use this blog entry as a forum to lift the perceived veil of secrecy and allow our internet active stringing friends to know more about the marketing of this new line of string products.

The core vision for L-TEC Premium tennis strings is very simple…”To play better tennis.”

The use of L-TEC Premium strings allow players of virtually all levels to realize this vision.

The L-TEC line consists of multiple SKU’s that are designed to play in hybrid combinations with one another.  Different combinations will produce different results which essentially allow the player to customize his/her stringbed to play better tennis.   The L-TEC marketing strategy is to put these strings into the hands of tennis retailers, clubs and schools where serious stringers are employed.  Our vision is to train these stringers to be able to use the string combinations and method of installation to help their stringing customers produce the best possible results on the court.   We ultimately want to help them to play better tennis and the JET Method trains the stringer to maximize the use of a wide variety of tools, including the specifically designed L-TEC Premium strings, to accomplish this end result.

In the tennis industry, stringers have long been the low person on the totem pole.  The profession receives little respect in spite of the fact that a knowledgeable stringer has the potential to greatly assist the player with getting the best performance out of his/her equipment.  Seemingly every tennis professional gets far greater respect than the stringer.  Players regularly rely on coaches, players, parents and even random posts on internet message boards for stringing advice moreso than the advice of the average stringer.  Part of this scenario is the stringer’s fault.  We suspect that 90% or more of the stringers out there approach a customer with a conversation that goes something like this.

Stringer:  Hi.  Welcome to the stringing shop.  Are you here for a restring?  Okay, do you want the same thing?  (Or if a new customer) What type of string and tension would you like?

Could we be any more passive?  No wonder we are not respected.  With an approach such as this we are perpetuating the misguided perception that we are not tennis professionals but rather just anonymous friendly faces who put strings into tennis frames.  This has to stop!

With the L-TEC Premium strings and system the approach to interacting with customers is vastly different.  The customer is not asked to select strings and tensions.  Rather a series of questions about their game and how they hit the ball is the initial line of questioning.  Based on the responses, the stringer then determines the string combination and tension that can best get the player to a new level.  The player is not asked about string type or tension.  Rather he/she is told there is a new product that will help them play better tennis and that the results are guaranteed.

The process of interacting with the customer to achieve an on-court result that is better than he/she has ever experienced is extremely satisfying on multiple levels.  Suddenly the stringer has elevated him/herself from that of anonymous friendly face, to trusted adviser.  The stringer has become more indispensable than ever in the eyes of the player.  The L-TEC strings and JET Method of stringing provides stringers who choose to work with L-TEC the opportunity to raise their professional reputation and help their customers play better tennis by using the tools we are providing.

L-TEC Premium strings in the USA are targeting an official national launch this March around the time of the Indian Wells tournament.  We are partnering with a powerful and established marketing and sales team in order to get into retail tennis shops throughout the USA.  This will not be instant.  It will take time, but we are convinced it will not be too long before players throughout the USA who want to play better tennis with the L-TEC Premium strings and JET Method will be able to find a locally trained expert.

In the interim we understand there are a number of players and independent stringers who are curious about the L-TEC Premium strings.  They are frustrated because the concept is completely unique and different and there are not currently enough trained L-TEC technicians to help with guidance.  There are a number of questions around how to select the best combination of strings.  To address this concern we have revised the L-TEC web site to feature some of the more popular hybrid combinations.  ( http://www.gutsandglorytennis.com/home/gg2/cpage_279/selection_guide.html ) We hope that many players who are interested in exploring the L-TEC strings on their own without the benefit of a locally trained expert, will use this tool as a general guide to help select an appropriate string combination.  We also have put up a discussion forum on the Guts and Glory website, http://www.gutsandglorytennis.com/blog/forum/ .  We hope that players and stringers with questions will use this resource.  Both myself and John Elliot, the designer of the strings and JET Method, will be active on that site to address specific individual  questions.

The JET Method is another point of confusion.  It is perceived as a system for installing the strings.  In part, this is accurate.  There is a very precise methodology and tools that allow the stringer to string at lower tensions, preserving the elasticity of the string and ultimately allowing for the stringbed to hold the desirable playing properties for an extended period of time.  However, the JET Method is more about WORKING WITH THE PLAYER TO ACHIEVE THE BEST POSSIBLE END RESULTS ON THE COURT.  This encompasses selection of string, dialing in stringbed stiffness and installing the strings for the best possible on-court results.  The exact methodology of installing the strings will be offered as part of the training for our L-TEC partners.  While it is an important component, it only represents a portion of the entire JET Method.

Because it is not possible to teach the JET Method via a web posting or written document, we have stated that L-TEC strings play well when installed using a greatly abbreviated version of the JET installation method which should be easily reproduced by most stringers.  We have published these steps both in previous blog entries as well as on the L-TEC web site.   For those who would prefer a more involved and closer version, the JayCee Method has been published and discussed on many stringing web forums.  We will attempt to provide a detailed blog entry on this subject in the first month of 2012.

For those still fighting through this extended entry let’s take a moment to summarize.

1.  L-TEC Premium strings installed using traditional methods provide excellent results.  They are legitimate premium offerings delivering premium performance.

2.  When the optimal hybrid is selected, a combination to support and enhance the player’s game, the results are even better.

3.  When the strings are installed using a recommended method of installation, it gets even better.

4.  When L-TEC and the complete JET Method are installed by those specifically trained and certified in their usage, it reaches full potential.

There has been some recent debate about the technical portion of the installation of these strings.  Some speculate that the JayCee Method, (which has now evolved into the JET Method), is the reason for the stunning performance results and the type of string used is not really important.  There is no doubt that the results when using the technical installation steps of the method will result in better play for most all poly-based strings.  However, L-TEC Premium strings are the ONLY strings specifically designed to take full advantage of these techniques.  The best analogy we can think of is that of a Blu-Ray player.  If you take a regular DVD, (the equivalent of regular poly strings in this analogy), and play it in the player on a high definition device you are going to get a sharper image than you get with a non Blu-Ray player.  However, because the DVD is not specifically designed to take full advantage of HD, you will not get true HD results.  The same concept applies here.  The L-TEC Premium strings are the equivalent of Blu-Ray DVD’s in that they take full advantage of the technology of the player and produce the absolute most brilliant results.