Free Tennis String

I find that when I am feeling extremely happy with life, great things flow into my life.  Yesterday was one of those feeling great days that started with attending my son’s group and private tennis lessons and ended with a relaxing night out with my wife and kids.  When we got home from dinner and hanging out, I checked the mailbox and was mildly yet pleasantly surprised to find two sets of free string – Gamma TNT2 Tour and Tecnifibre Black Code.

This wasn’t an isolated incident.  On a fairly regular basis, I get free sets of string delivered to my mailbox.  No kidding.  I am a member of the United States Racquet Stringers Association (USRSA), and through my membership I’ve received approximately nine sets of free string over the past year. 

The USRSA produces Racquet Sports Industry (RSi) magazine ten times a year, and in almost every issue, there is an offer for free string from manufacturers.  It’s a win/win situation.  Stringers, like me, get free samples of the latest and greatest strings to playtest or to sell/give to customers.  (For the sets I don’t playtest, I offer to my customers for free.  I appreciate all of my customers, and if I can cut them a deal from time to time, I’ll do it.)  Manufacturers get their latest and greatest strings into the hands of a fairly influential group of stringers with the hope these influencers will drive sales of the new string in the future. 

I am going from memory here and am certain I am forgetting a set or two, but over the past year, I’ve received free samples of the following:

  • Gamma Zo Tour
  • Wilson K-Gut Pro
  • Prince Premier LT
  • Wilson Hollow Core (two sets – one through RSi and one through a special online offer from Wilson)
  • Luxilon M2
  • Head Sonic Pro (half set) / Head Natural Gut (half set)
  • Babolat N.vy (not from an RSi offer – just a pleasant surprise that came with my Fall/Winter update of the USRSA Stringer’s Digest)
  • Gamma TNT2 Tour
  • Tecnifibre Black Code

And just last week, I sent away for a free set of Prince Hybrid Power EXP – which is a half set of Prince Poly EXP and a half set of Prince Premier LT.

I only pay around $110 a year for my USRSA membership, and as you can see from the list of high-quality strings above, their value probably comes close to the price of my membership.  Not a bad deal, in my opinion.

Additionally, when the free samples arrive, they are usually accompanied by an offer for even more string.  For example…  “For USRSA members, buy 3 sets of strings within the next 30 days and get one set free.”

 If you’re a stringer – or a non-stringing player who likes to test different strings – you may want to consider joining the USRSA.  Ask a loved one to buy you a membership for your birthday, and with the free string samples, it will become the gift that keeps on giving.

Thanks for checking in. – DH

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  1. […] Free String I previously wrote a post about this.  Here is the link.  Basically, the USRSA produces RSi (Racquet Sports Industry)  Magazine ten times a year.  In […]