Let's learn about Swing Speed, modern tennis and the New Tecnifibre T-Fight which has just launched.

The next-gen forehand has evolved and requires faster swing speed and more manoeuvrability. Tecnifibre has been tracking this with their tecnilab programme and today the head customizer Dieter Calle joins me alongside the Tecnifibre Chief Marketing Office Matthieu Bauduin to discuss why and how it has changed and how the. new T-Fight is aligned to these changes.

If you're interested in tennis and equipment there is plenty to learn in this episode and a new racket to consider for your game that pros such as Medvedev and Iga Swiatek are using

Takeaways:

• The evolution of tennis rackets has led to a significant decrease in weight and swing weight, making them more manoeuvrable for modern players.
• Customization of rackets is crucial for players, as it allows them to achieve optimal performance tailored to their specific playing style.
• The new Technifibre T-Fight racket is designed for the fast-paced nature of contemporary tennis.
• Players today often prefer lighter rackets that still provide power and stability, shifting away from heavier models.
• The input from top players during the development of the T-Fight was invaluable, guiding its specifications and design.
• Technifibre's focus on player feedback ensures that its products align with the needs of both amateur and professional players.

Welcome to the Functional Tennis Podcast.

I'm your host, Fabio Molle and I bring you insights and lessons from players, coaches, parents and experts who are ingrained in the world of high level tennis.

Today we've two experts.

We've racket customizer Dieter Kale and chief marketing officer at Technifiber, Mathieu Budwan.

The evolution of rackets, the importance of customization for players, and importantly, the launch of the new Technifiber T Fight.

Dieter and Mathieu tell me the key characteristics of a new T fight and how it's made for modern players with its fast swing speed and great maneuverability.

Before we get started, a shout out to our podcast partners, Asics.

I've just arrived in Melbourne with Asics to test and showcase their latest shoe which will be released in a few days.

Keep your eye out on our social accounts for plenty of stories and posts about it in the next few days and also for some great clips from today's chat.

Okay, here's Dieter and Mathieu.

Hi, Dieter and Mathieu, welcome to the Functional Tennis Podcast.

How are you?

Good, good, very good.

Thanks for invitation.

Super excited to be with you and have this hour together to talk about the brand and the new T fight.

Yeah, I'm really excited.

I did have early access to the tee fight.

A friend of mine here looks after a little bit of marketing side for Technifiber in Ireland.

He just helps, he's one of the coaches, does work with Technifiber and he showed me a few months ago.

So I have used it before.

Not a lot though, not enough.

But I've heard some good things.

He's happy with it and I'm interested to find out what's changed it.

And first I want to know exactly what you two guys do.

So as you said earlier, my name is Mathieu, so as you can hear, I'm French, obviously.

So I've been with Technifiber for 4 years now and I'm the global head of marketing.

So to put it simple, I manage four, three teams.

There's the product team, the brand team and the top players team.

So to put things simple, we develop products, we make sure that we talk about them, that's what we're doing right now and we make sure that we have top players playing with them on TV for maximum awareness among the tennis community.

Okay.

And Dieter for me, completely different.

I'm from Belgium, as you can not hear.

And no, for me it's more the technical part.

We go on court with players because, I mean, it's not a secret that players, they play today with the same rackets as the commercial rackets.

The only small difference is that they, we put the weight, balance, swing weight to their needs, but basically it's still the same racket because everybody thinks pro stock is better.

This is a special graphite.

No, forget about it.

It's not better.

So what I do the technical side, I customize all the rackets for Technic Fiber and we go sometimes on court really to see what is the best option for each player.

So I'm more the technical, scientifical guy.

Yeah.

And I think the, the main, the main skill that, that Dider has, in my, in my opinion, which makes him so, so valuable that he's able to be on court to watch you play.

And he's done that with me, actually, because I, I play tennis.

Of course he watches you play, and based on the way that you play and that you are, he will then find the right specs that match your game.

So it's always a great process to watch when you're on court with top players and to see how all things are put together and that at the end of the day, you end up with the perfect racket and the perfect specs for each player.

It's always like a miracle to watch.

Dieter, do you find that some players don't care about specs and some are really annoying you all the time?

We need to change this.

We need to change this.

Is there that extreme?

It's tough to, to say names because I have two top players also one from Belgium, and is really easy, you know, let's say you take 100 rackets, you take the eight closest on the shelf, and he's pleased.

And on the other hand, you have players, they call me each six months to go on.

So it depends, to be honest, it depends.

And you have players who will never change rackets, even if, if we say the specs are not good.

And you have players who really think, okay, the brands, they don't develop new rackets for nothing.

It must be better.

And they switch.

For example, Bublek, he made the switch to the last version, the commercial version.

But some players don't, some players do.

It's crazy.

And so how long have you two guys been with Technifiber?

Matthew?

Four years.

With me, it's different.

And he did, you know, he did also the table tennis of Jean Michel 7, number one in the world.

Belgium guy.

He did, you know, you know, the French Bulle de Petanc Aubut.

So he was importer of many, many sports products.

And major, the brand before Technifiber, but it's the same.

And Technifiber Bols roll on Garros.

At the time, you know, it was all there.

So that's how I started.

So major was Technifiber?

Basically?

Yes.

Yeah.

Okay.

Who used it?

Did any players use it back then?

Matunos, but yeah, we had some players.

Verdasco, Fernando.

Yeah, I think on the T fight it's also a great, great thing for us to witness now as we, as we're part of the brand today to see like the amount of players that use our products today versus what we had in the past.

I think that the main player then like the first real breach for the, for the brand was, was Valdesco.

I think he lost like 6, 4 in the fifth, but probably like one of the like best quality 10 years over the past like 20 years.

Like this is something that he says sometimes like when I, when I get bored, sometimes like I watch the highlights because it's probably the best, best tennis that you ever see.

Even today.

Then we've had Janko TSIPSIPSAREVIC playing with T5 as well along with other players.

He played I think the Masters finals with the frame.

And then we really saw for Technifiber the growth of the brand and our product and of T Fight specifically over the past five years.

And today we have like a yeah, range of different players playing with this racket that, that's really, that's really good that we try to grow still.

But we have Daniel Medvedev, of course IGA, Swiatek, Alexander Bublik, Thalon Ri.

And it's always risky to give names because then the ones that you forget, they get angry at you, you know.

But that's like as of now the main.

We have Daniel Collins that made a great, great season and ended the year number 11 in the world.

So there's a.

Yeah, we have a lot of players that, that have joined us since, since then.

And Matt, your question for you.

How hard is it to, you know, you know, there's Wilson, there's Head, there's Yonek, and they've such an established name.

How hard is your job to try and penetrate them?

Like you've had world number one players.

You have, like, you're up there, you have these great players, great juniors.

Not sure if you remember Dieter, a guy used to play with N.

He was, he's coaching here now, but he was a Top Junior under 14.

Think he was finals as Petia from Georgia, Lazer Kushvili.

Not sure if it rings any bell.

He probably had thousands of players, but he was a Technic Fiber player.

He would have been one of the early Technic Fiber players.

And he still uses Techni Fiber to this day.

But so you know, you've been in the game a while, you've gone through like a couple of generations.

So mature.

How hard is your job?

Nobody put it this way before.

I think, yeah, it's pretty tough.

It's a very competitive market, as you said.

Like the other brands that you mentioned, they also do a very, very good product.

I think the key and the main thing that we try to implement each time and that's I think, a recipe of success also to sign these top players.

It's the level of servicing and the personalization that we try to achieve.

And that's where Dieter gets in.

To actually be on court with the players, listen to their feedback and live during a practice session, have that ability to fine tune the racket, live, fine tune the strings, change the tensions.

It's really this level, in my opinion, of servicing of proximity, being with them on court that we use the most we can and that makes a difference.

These brands, as you mentioned, they're bigger than us, they have more players.

So for us, it's really like we really try to use this as this distinctive approach, like to be on court with them because that's where you connect with the players.

That's where you can hear what they're really looking for in terms of products, what they want on their forehand, on their backhand.

And that's where the magic of detail happens to fine tune the rackets.

You are the players company.

Exactly.

Yeah.

It's really part of the, of the DNA and who we are and the players is at the center of everything we do.

That's true when we develop new products.

So each time we want to develop a new program, we collect some feedback in clubs.

We have a lot of clubs that we partner with in Europe.

We have a lot of connection with coaches, so we get a lot of feedback from the field.

At every level of the game.

And of course the feedback that we get from the top players is very helpful and that's transition maybe for later on in a conversation.

But the starting point of the new T fight is based from top players feedback and what we see happening on tour with players playing with lighter and lighter rackets with more powerful frames.

And it's really what we try to implement with this newty fight.

And you said that your friends like it, so I think it's part of the reasons why.

Also let's talk about just the evolution of rackets, Dieter, like in your many years being hands on every day with rackets, customizing them in the past 20 years, let's say since the first T fight landed, which was all about precision, stability, it was probably really heavy.

I'm just guessing this now.

But what's changed from there to today.

In rackets the main thing for me is the customization.

Because I'm 54, I go a while is before the customization was based on the player itself, how does he play, how does he swing.

And they had time.

So the racket needs to be quite heavy because the tennis was slower.

And today's tennis, the customization is not only about the player itself because it's who is on the opposite side.

If you see the top three players in the world, they don't give you time.

So you need to customize a racket in two ways.

You need the player to be happy, but you need also that the player is happy that he has enough time.

And with heavy rackets today, it's impossible.

So we have specs of many players, you talk to many players and when you take all the top 100 players, you just see the evolution that the weight is going down drastically.

The balance is a little bit discussion balance of the rackets.

Some play high, some play low.

Okay, there I can a little bit discuss because they don't want to lose the history of a low balance.

But it's different now.

But one thing is sure that the swing weights are going down.

Biggest problem today is when you put young guys on new rackets.

They agree directly, they like it, they swing fast and they tend to swing really fast.

The biggest problem today is when you want to sign a player who plays with a heavy racket, who plays, let's say old and you try to set them up with a new evolution racket.

And this is the biggest problem because they are not used to it.

So they need to swing faster.

So in the beginning it's sometimes tough, you know, to say Listen, this is the evolution, this is how you should play.

Okay, but in the beginning, the racket feels too light, the impact is different and that stuff.

But okay, it's up to us to try to convince the player.

So rackets have got lighter, you can swing them faster.

Does that mean the swing weight is less?

Is it?

Yeah, it's more easy swing weight, let's say.

Before I always talk on strong, there were swing weights of 320.

It's called kilogram centimeter square is the energy you need to put in the racket to start swinging.

Today the racket is so easy, but the disadvantage if you play with a low swing weight that the impact of the ball becomes a little bit bigger.

What do you mean by the.

It is more shaky, the shock is bigger, you know, so you need to swing.

But okay, the top players today, if you see the top five, they swing.

So how do you stop?

How do you control the, like the stability aspect where a fastball comes into you really fast, obviously you've no time.

You can swing and get there quicker with this new fast swing and racket.

But how do you make sure with a lighter racket now that there's actually stability control when somebody's hammering down?

I can tell you a lot, but I can tell you not everything.

We work a lot with different balances, but how we manage the balance, we try to keep a little bit for us, but okay, but okay, then second number, you have the weight, you have the swing weight and the balance.

Okay, we play around with the balance a lot.

But, but I think to, to, to try and help, help Dieter here.

I think the, the, the, the key thing is really to, to go like step by step with the players and, and usually like you try to, to go at first with some specs that are quite different from what they have to see how they react, what.

And then training session after training session talking with the player on court, depending on their feedback, what they feel, if they feel that they can hit the ball clean or not the stability, then you can maybe re.

Increase the specs a little bit to find the right fine tuning.

But we like often end up on discussions where we're talking about at a gram or two, with one more gram, I think it's going to help you that much.

And then you add the gram and the player is like, no, no, no way, that's too much.

So then you have to come back and that's, it's, it's really a fine tuning.

And what often like what we see.

Sometimes the players they don't always very much know what they play with.

They don't always know the specs.

I'm surprised sometimes, like some of them, they don't know the stringing patterns of their racket.

And I'm talking like tough players in the world and they don't really care.

But the minute you changed like even a fraction on the racket, they can feel it right away.

So they don't really know why, but they can feel it.

And then that's where we also come in with the Technilab and then to try and bring some data in to transform their sensations, like on call with data and try to measure the speed of their ball.

So it's very hard.

Also the key point here is to transform their sensations into something that's actionable for us.

And that's where detour, of course, plays a big role.

But maybe just one thing is we know also scientifically, because I learned the scientifical part of a Belgium guy.

He deceased, but okay, he was a scientist.

We know also scientifically, a heavy racket is not bad because the impact is more stable.

You know, you can guide the ball a little bit better.

But the problem is today you don't have time.

There's no time to play heavy rackets.

Nobody wants to buy it anymore.

Too heavy.

And what racket does IGA use?

Iga, she uses.

Basically, it's a fight.

Yeah, it's a fight.

Let's say almost 300 grams, but it's produced a little lighter to get all the rackets identical.

But basically, let's say it's the fight 285.

So it's a new one.

Yeah, it's a new model and it's a fight 285 which made heavier.

Because everybody knows the factories from all brands, they have margins, they say, okay, 300 grams, a little bit more or a little bit less.

So imagine IGA wants to play 300 grams and the racket comes in 2 grams heavy.

We have a problem.

So basically with IGA, it's the fight 285 and with a little bit more weight.

Okay, so IGA rings Matthew and say, Matthew, I want to.

I need something more for my racket here.

Book me with Dieter.

How does that process work?

How long does it take?

Like, obviously she might fly to you in Belgium.

Dieter, how much time does she need on court Earth's every plane Player different.

Or let's say maybe a better way of asking this.

How long does your process take with a player?

It depends.

If they're switching rackets, it's longer.

If they're switching brands, it's even longer.

But basically on one full day, two full days, it's okay.

The first day we settle a little bit and the second day we do the fine tuning on grams.

So in two days we do a lot.

And players come to me or we go to the player.

That depends on the pair.

And do players use the same racket all year round, as in spec wise, apart from the strings?

Spec wise, they use the same racket.

They just change the tension for temperature, you know, grass or clay.

But basically the timing of the swing is important.

You cannot change the weight for the weather or something because the timing is different.

They play with the same specs sometimes for many years.

Yeah, it's funny, you know, sometimes you rarely see it, but you see a player whip out the other racket for serve and one for return and.

But I'm not too keen of it, you know, imagine you play a powerful racket.

Imagine on grass and not.

And on clay, you play a different racket.

I'm not too keen.

I think the best is to stay with the same specs.

But it's a good question, you know, should you play with the same specs on grass or on clay?

It's a good question.

What I've seen players, pro players who probably the big server guys who'd have one racket for serving and one for return and within the one match.

Like that's pretty crazy.

Yeah, we know some guys, but not many.

Yeah, but let's say 3, 4% are quite crazy.

And some do it.

Yeah, but it's, it's a small, very small percentage.

Yeah.

Great.

And okay, well, let's jump onto this new racket here that's been launched now in a few days.

So there's a lot of history there with the racket, but with the, with the current.

When was the last model released?

So it's been around for two years and a half.

And basically the starting point of this new version, it's exactly in line with what Dieter says.

So what we did is, as Dieter said, because we work with a lot of players, we also are the official stre stringer, you know, for for a lot of ATP events.

You see a lot of rackets of top players, and you can, and you can see all the specs.

And what we did with the Technilab, which is a scientific team that we have here, is that we conducted a study on the specs of the rackets of top players over the past 20 years.

And the results, like when I saw them the first time, it was hard for me to believe how lean and obvious the trend was.

And basically between 20 years ago and today, you have a very clear trend.

It's like, it's a linear trend.

And basically what it shows is that all the players on average, they play with lighter frames.

Okay, so the average frame of a top player like 20 years ago was 330, 340 grams.

Today it's more in the likes of 300 or 310 grams.

So you have like more than 20 grams decrease, number one.

Number two, the swing weight, as Dieter said, like, went down dramatically.

So here you have a first obvious trend, which is players need more and more, like, easy to swing rackets.

Maneuverability becomes so important because tennis is getting faster and faster.

That's one thing.

And the second thing that happened is the challenge.

When you have more maneuverability on your racket.

So more like less weight and less swing weight, you lose power and stability.

All right, so what happened is you have more and more players using 16 mains rather than 18 for more power.

And you can see also that the players, they use more and more powerful frames, which means that the sections of the racket got slightly bigger as well.

So two trends in the meantime, more maneuverability for easy with racket that are easier to swing and to compensate.

More power with more and more 16 mains and rackets that are a bit thicker.

So that was the starting point.

So our objective with the new T fight was to stick exactly to this, to this market trend.

So basically what we've done is we've made a racket that's much easier to swing.

Less swing weights, a bit less balance on some products, but with a bit more pop and power, and especially with a section that is 4% bigger than the one before.

Okay, there's a lot going on there.

What models are available first of all, in the new T5, so in the.

Range you have seven models, you have so T5, 255, 270.

So for the junior players, the kids that are getting bigger, you have 285, then you have the T5,300.

All of these rackets are in 100 square inch.

So it's also something that you see like the head sizes are getting bigger and bigger on tour.

So that's the first four rackets.

And then you have three hundreds, 305s, 315s, and it's the rackets with a slightly smaller head size, which is a 98 square inch.

Okay, and who are your main players who endorse this racket?

The main players playing with T5.

So we have them a bit on every skew, but on the T fight program in general.

So you have Dani Medvedev, former one, number one Grand Slam winner.

You have Iga Swiatek, former one former.

I hope very soon back to world number one Grand Slam winner, Alexander Bublek.

He's been top 20 this year.

Rispour, who was top 25.

We have Daniel Collins playing with the racket, we have Christopher Eubanks and a lot of other players.

And I think that the variety of the players who play with this racket very much, they give a very good example of the positioning of this racket, which is like an all around racket.

Perfect mix of power and control.

And basically almost every player on the market can play with this.

And you can see when you look at Danil and IGA play, you definitely see some different playstyles, yet they play with the same racket because that's the signature of its frame, the ability to adapt to all the playstyles.

That's a big call though, isn't it?

Like the rackets for.

It's like the racket for everybody, which I always thought is nearly impossible to do.

No, it is.

But I think in tennis it's always a question of balance.

And what you want sometimes on your forehand is a bit different than what you want on your backhand.

And what you want on your serve is a bit different than what you want on your return.

So it's very important, of course, you need to type certain rackets with a bit more precision for some, a bit more power for some.

But we think also it's very important to have a very strong all around segment that basically anyone can play with and be happy with, whether they return from 5 meters behind the baseline and flat, or if they play on, on the baseline, on clay, with a lot of, with a lot of spin.

So that's.

Yeah, we think it's very important to be able to, to match both, both these profiles.

I'll ask either here, who's the ideal player for this racket for the, let's say the tree, the T fight.

300.

305.

305.

To me, like the, the main, the, the, the racket that would match like the most players is the new T5,300.

So it's a new model that we have in the range.

So 300 grams, 100 square inch head, size 16 by 19 stringing pattern.

Like this is the racket that probably like anybody could play with.

So that's, that would be the main racket.

And it, as I said, it's good for all the players that we've mentioned before.

Do you agree with that either?

Yes, for the biggest, let's say commercial wise for, let's say all the players in the world.

Yes, indeed.

Is.

You get it just a bit more control.

They just want a little bit more and what.

And they probably hit a little bit flatter.

Yeah.

Okay.

Because he plays a little bit flatter.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But then it's also a question of.

It's not always correlated to flat or, or, or pin.

But yeah, it's always, it's also based on their, on their habits, what they used to play before.

And also like the, the fine tuning with the specs and sometimes with 16 you get a bit too much and they get a bit afraid.

So the 18 also, it also helps to bring that extra percentage of control.

Specifically, the biggest problem is today we can make rackets even much more powerful, but they don't want it anymore.

We have produced a racket which is called X1.

And I mean the engineers of Technifiber, we are reworking the rackets and they were asking for power, power, power.

But to be honest, today it's about mental control also.

So it's not easy to make new rackets for the future because many brands they had rackets which were too powerful.

And then, okay, then mentally it's going to be tough for the player.

So it's not easy.

And I got to ask you, Dieter, why is swing Speed.

I know we've discussed it, but maybe dial it down into 60 seconds.

Why is swing speed so important?

Swing speed?

When you have an easy racket, it creates time.

You have more time, you have a better return because you have more time.

Today the serves come at 210 an hour, kilometers an hour.

So.

Okay, but I agree with you, you have to swing.

If you don't swing, you have a problem.

But okay.

In today's tennis, you know, most of the young talented guys, if you look at orange ball at the her tournaments, all those young guys, they don't play guidance anymore.

No, they don't guide the ball.

They just hit the ball with fast swings.

That's the way tennis is played in the future.

You know, if you look at, okay, let's name a guy like Djokovic, he has such control, but he has not the fastest swing, you know, and today all those top kids, you know, the young kids, if you see they swing so fast with lighter rackets, it has changed.

That's all we can say.

Yeah, they rip every ball, basically.

They rip every ball.

But I agree, I mean, if I see at your wooden racket saber today, if you don't hit the ball in the middle of the racket and you don't swing fast, then it's tough to play with a light racket because the impact gets big.

Yeah, it's, it's.

Everybody thinks that light rackets, they have advantages.

Yes, I agree, but they also have a small disadvantage.

You need to rip the ball fast.

But the current game, as you say, you see all these juniors, that's the way they play.

That is the game style.

So you guys have built the T fight is built for the modern game style and the upcoming game style as well.

It's like you're hedging your bets for the future as well.

For me, the biggest challenge in tuning is to get a very easy racket in the forend.

But many players, they have shorter backends and they guide the backends.

And I think the fight is incredible.

I mean, I don't know why, but the material also the setup of the racket is the players are able to play a more guiding backend because when you guide, you need more mass, but you cannot in the forend.

They don't want too much mass.

And there they find, I think one of the most perfect solutions.

Yep.

Yeah.

I think what is exactly what Dieter said.

I think one of the.

What a key thing that this newty fight achieves in our opinion.

And that's the feedback that we have from players is.

Is that.

It's.

That's the case.

I think that's what 99% of players are looking for.

It helps you to kill the ball on your forehand, like to swing it very fast.

You have that.

It's easy to swing, and you have that speed, and you can feel it, and it's easy to maneuver, and you can, like, play with your wrist a lot.

So you have that.

And yet it's very reassuring.

You get a lot of confidence, and you feel like you can't miss on the backhand.

So, basically, if your playstyle is to say, okay, I want to make winners with my forehand and not miss a shot with my backhand, then the T fight is the perfect record for your game.

And it's also with this mindset that we've tried to create this new version.

I think I need to pay Dieter a visit, because I've historically used a friend of mine, James McGee, form pro.

I've mentioned this loads of times on the podcast.

Was a head radical player.

He had some sort of pro stock head, as in they were customized to him.

And I have the same rackets now, and for me, I find forehand's good, backhand's great, but I find they work best for me on the return.

On the stretch, no matter how much I'm stretched, I still have the stability and control, and I find with a lot of rackets, I can't get that.

So I struggle sometimes with new rackets.

We get them sent all the time, and for me, that's the test on the backhand and especially on the return, both sides on the stretch.

So I want Dieter to set me up a tee fight with that setup.

Can it be done?

I'll put the name in the butt cap.

Yeah.

That's all you need?

That's all you need.

No, but, you know, when you see the new shape of the T fight, you know, if you look at the inside of the frame, it's more square.

You know, there's a reason.

And the outside is more round.

They're all.

I mean, it's not for nothing.

You know, we try to work together, and it's not for nothing, you know, the light rackets, it's a hard impact.

You know, it's a very tough impact.

So the inside of the frame is a little bit more square to.

To.

To solve that problem, you know, I mean, the frame is really.

I.

We worked a long time on it, but it's detailed.

I can tell you it's detailed.

Yeah.

And.

Okay, so the, the T5, you have the swing speed, but also it allows you to have great maneuverability in the racket.

And why is important to have great maneuverability in the racket?

I think as, as, as detail said, like this is the.

I mean, I would say there's two things to that.

I'm not sure which is the chicken and which is the egg.

But as Dieter said, the game is getting faster and faster, so you need more time to react.

Like the best example is on the return.

For example, like you have a serve coming your way at 220km.

Like the ability to prepare quick and to put your racket and return.

That's why it's so important.

Number one.

And number two, when you like, you can see like the.

The technique has changed a little bit on the, on the forehands specifically.

And that's what Dieter describes as guiding versus striking.

So guiding you would have players that use, that don't very much use their wrist.

They really play like it's the whole arm that plays the forehand.

And you see like the next gen players that they all have these forehands where they rip the ball.

And when you rip the ball, if you have a heavy racket with a heavy swing weight, the ball might just go over the fence, you see.

So you need to have lighter rackets, lighter swing weight, so that when you swing that fast, you still keep some control.

Otherwise if you swing too fast with a heavy swing weight, you just send the ball on the moon.

So this is.

It's the combination of these two factors.

Tennis is getting faster.

And is it because tennis is getting faster that the technique changed or did the techniques change and so tennis is getting faster?

That we don't know.

But the combination of these two makes it natural that you need to get with more maneuverability.

Otherwise it's tough to play.

And I think also the backend still didn't change so much to the older players.

But if you see the forend, the techniques of the forend, you know, today if you see Rune, he opens the racket first, you don't see many players, it's a little bit less today.

They have like inside wrist, very long preparation or they prepare with the tip first.

You see all those things.

We have to make sure that the rackets are very easy to handle.

Because if you prepare with the tip first, or for example, a guy like Katyanov, he needs time.

It's normal because the preparation is a little bit bigger to kill dead balls.

And that's the way the technique.

I think the forehand Changed a lot in 10 years.

Look, I'm going to be watching some practice sessions in Australia and I'm going to look out for some technifiber players and I'm going to be interested to see what they're, especially T5 players, how their swing speed is.

Can a person measure a swing speed at home or do you need special machines and it's way too expensive.

How do you actually measure swing speed?

Well, there are machines and there's a formula.

I mean it's difficult to explain here.

I don't even know the formula out of my head anymore because I use my machine machine.

But their formulas look on the Internet.

Calculating swing weight.

And you can calculate to 5% correctly by hand just by writing down combination weight, swing weight length.

But okay, the machines are much easier to handle but the machine is quite expensive.

Yes and no.

So if I put the T fight into a swing weight machine, it's going to break some records.

Is it break records?

The new fight 305.

I can tell you the swing weight is like 15 lower than before.

Yeah, that's really good.

And how much of input of this new racket was the players you work with was like 80% of it.

Input from players or I know you do your research in Technilab was just a combination of both of them.

In the Technilab, which is the methodology that we use to develop our products, there's a lot of inputs that we get sources of information.

That's what we see on court with amateur players.

There's the feedback from some stores and of course the feedback of the players is one of these inputs.

And on this specific development and I think the top players feedback was probably the most important one because from a commercial standpoint the T fight was appreciated, people liked it and it was, it was okay.

But also with Dieter's help and how much time he spends with top players and at this level of fine details, that was a consistent feedback.

And I see he's smiling.

Consistent feedback that he was giving us.

So we've had a lot of long conversation on this and eventually we decided to follow this input and to change quite a bit the frame.

So for T5 players of today you just know that we've changed the frame quite a bit.

So it still has the same signature.

It's the perfect mix of power and control, but with more maneuverability and a bit more pop effect.

The studies that we've made, almost 100% of the current T5 players were happier with the new one than with the old one.

So we super like.

In my opinion, of course, I'm very biased when I say this.

That's going to be the commercial side of the podcast.

This is the best racket that we've ever made.

The feedback that we have from our players is very good.

For example, having a player like Alexander Bublek to switch, like top players, they never switch, very rarely.

It's frightening for them.

It's tough, it's risky.

And when he played with it, I remember on a photo shoot in Miami, that was like six months ago.

So we had a photo shoot to make the promotion of the new racket.

So we gave him the new version.

He played two minutes with it, but he was almost in his jeans just for a picture.

And he looked at me and he said, wow, this is money.

I want to test it in December.

And we did that with Dieter, I think, three weeks ago, and he changed overnight.

I think the proof, we have four or five players in the top 200 which are switching to the new ones.

And the funny thing is with Bublik, I mean, we cannot go in detail the exact numbers, but the proof is this guy is even going to lower his swing weight, which proves that the racket is more powerful and can be played lighter because he decided, I want to play more easy.

So this is the proof.

Otherwise those guys don't do that.

If they lose power, you have a big problem.

So, yeah, that's the proof.

He is now able to play with a lower swing weight for the same power.

Scientifically, it's a proof that he has more time now.

And let's hope the returns still are getting even better.

We will let the results decide that.

I think I agree.

But the problem also the player is Today's tennis top 200 is tough, you know, I mean, we cannot say anything about tuning racket, because I think the mental side of the player is very important.

And one thing is sure, mentally, the player needs to swing fast, and he must be able to close the racket fast after impact, because otherwise the racket are so powerful that the ball goes too far.

So the player, after impact, they need to close the racket as fast as possible.

And this is the new generation.

Up and down, up and down.

And Mathieu, what's the boss's name of Technifiber?

Who's the main man?

He's French as well.

His name is Nicolas.

And when he sees Bublek smashing the rackets.

What does he think?

That's a good question.

What I think personally, is that to assert, like, as much as possible, you want to avoid these things.

You don't want them happening.

I don't think it's a.

It's a great image for.

For kids or for the.

For the brand or anything, but also, like, I'm.

I've been playing tennis my whole life.

I know how insane this.

This sport can drive you.

I know how frustrating it can be, and that's at my very, very small level.

So I assume at their level, with the commitment that they bring, how tough sometimes their life can be because you only see them on tv.

But I've been on a few tournaments.

It's hotel rooms by yourself, a lot of taxi drives in the planes.

It's very tough.

And so sometimes you boil over, then you just smash a racket.

Of course, it's not great when it happens too much, but I think, to me, it's okay when it's not too often, and when it helps them to refocus, evacuate their frustration and come back stronger.

And usually with Bublek, I've seen a lot of his matches when I was in the stadium, he breaks the rackets.

You look at your shoes and you just wait for the moment to stand by.

The phone is ringing, so you make sure that you don't pick up.

But I've seen a lot of times this has happened, but it has also helped him refocus, like, evacuate his frustration.

And when that happens, in my opinion, it's okay.

And my parents could tell you that I've broken a few rackets when I was a kid, so I'm not going to be the one to blame them.

But I think we have a new deal with Alexander.

I said you can break some, but during the months, November, December, January, we have so many rackets to customize.

Please don't break them.

Dieter gets the cut.

I need 12 more rackets.

Yeah, yeah.

But I'm going to be very honest with you, and this is not a joke.

I mean, sometimes.

I mean, we are a smaller company.

I have one guy helping me out, and that's it.

And sometimes, you know, I mean, the more rackets I do, many, many people think the more I win money, it's yes and no.

But it's stressful, you know, the last three months of the year.

I mean, it's tough for me because I work.

We only work with two guys on the rackets.

That's it.

And I build every racket myself.

So when he smashes a racket, it's tough.

And I think he knows now because.

There'S a full supply chain that has to follow behind that to make sure that he's still able to compete.

I think I read somewhere before that Andy Ruddock used to number his rackets and he was on.

By the time he finished, he was on racket number 450.

It's crazy now, I don't know how true that is, but it was just story I heard.

But yeah, you know, I'm not sure if even his were customized or not, but I'm sure he keep.

They all keep you busy, Dieter.

Every time you see a player smash rackets, you're like, oh, Talon, why did you do that?

But, Dieter, what have you learned?

So you've had access to all these players over the years.

You know, you spend a lot of time on court with them, which is a really privileged position, is what characteristics stand out with some of these players you've worked with poor characteristics.

That's a good question.

They're all ali.

It might look like a joke, but they all have something in the head.

Positive, you know, But I think maybe it's the wrong word, but you need to be a little bit 5% selfish to get to the top.

You know, it's only you.

Because you cannot have pity with other players.

You cannot.

It's a tough world.

This is one thing I learned.

You know, those players, and I know many players, after their career, they regret how they thought in life.

I mean, we have good examples like Justine and Ek and Kleist.

There's all top players.

And.

And yeah, I mean, it's normal.

They are in their period of top tennis, sometimes they think.

They just think about themselves, which is good.

I mean, otherwise you don't get to the top.

This is one thing you learn.

You know, they are very exaggerating.

Many players, if they give a racket the week after, they have to be ready.

Yeah.

And maybe after their career, they say, oh, I was difficult, but okay, you have to live with it.

That's the way it is.

But the nice thing about tennis is some players, they explain nice.

Hi, Dieter.

They ask very polite, and some of the players, they don't ask polite.

And there's the big difference, I think, the way they ask and the way they, you know, some players, when you make rackets, they give you a small message.

Thank you, Dieter, again, for the rackets, even if you're a little bit late or whatever.

It depends.

Every player is so different.

But there's A time and a place where you can be selfish.

You don't have to be selfish all the time.

Nope.

But okay.

I think today it's so tough in tennis.

What I want to learn to some players, you have to look to the higher players.

If you're ranked number 25, you have to look at the top 10.

I agree, but sometimes when I try to learn the players, if I would have two sons, top 25 in the world, I would be the happiest one in the world.

So sometimes you have to look back.

Sometimes I think a player, mentally, he needs to think, listen, I'm 20 in the world.

I did something what not many people did.

But that's tough to say to players.

Because they want to look.

They get to 20, they want 15, they get 15, they want 10.

It's like you win one.

I heard a good one do today.

It's like some people who climb mountains are happy to climb Everest once, you know, let's say.

But some players want to climb Everest, then they want to climb again.

They don't want to climb another big mountain.

They want to just keep going.

So people are different.

And some people are happy getting to a certain part, certain point.

They're just happy with that.

And others just want to keep on going.

But I have many players because I work for many, many players.

There are 60 in the world, and they are pleased with what they did.

You know, I mean, some players, they are.

They.

I mean, especially with the top three.

We had Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, even Murray.

I mean, more players accept that they will never be, let's say they will never win a Grand Slam.

Some players don't accept it.

I think the players were very close to win a Grand Slam, and because of the top three, they didn't.

It must be frustrating, you know, but that is so.

So tell me for, like, I think this new T fight is sort of, you know, you're planning for the future with the next generation of juniors coming up.

They want these fast, maneuverable rackets.

Anything else you're working on, you can tell us.

Do you see the game going anywhere else, or is it just fast arm?

Don't.

I think, don't underestimate strings, you know, because basically Technifiber is a string company, and I think in customizing, many people forget the strings.

Today it was from multifilament to polyester and polyester, it held on quite good with the heavy rackets.

But today, a light racket combined with hard polyester is tough on the wrist.

Because you see many Many wrist injuries.

And where Technifiber comes in is that there are today the soft polyester.

We have two, three type of strings which are so soft in polyester that, you know, the evolution of strings, don't forget.

So what Technifiber string is the perfect combo with the new T Fight.

My strength is personal.

I think we have three types.

I mean, we have the razor coat soft, it's a new version to lower the impact with the light racket.

I think it's one of the biggest new evolutions.

Razor soft.

Yeah.

I think the main string that I would recommend with the T Fight, as Dieter said, is razor software.

So we launched it like 24 months ago.

I think it's been one of the best polyester introduction in the industry for a while.

I've had the feedback from Tennis Warehouse.

They told me it was the best polyester introduction they've had in 10 years.

Especially the product is very good.

It's very much at the heart of Technifiber's DNA.

So it's a polyester.

That's what a lot of regular players use.

But you have this comfort aspect to it that's very important because as a brand, you know, we come from the multifilament, which is a different segment in strings that gives you a lot of power and comfort.

So basically we took the secret sauce of the multifilament, the comfort piece, and we injected it in the.

In the razor, which is our best, best string.

So we ended up with the razor soft.

We've been super successful.

Like, as I was saying, just, just before this, this conversation started, the best example that we have is Dani Medvedev.

So he was talking to us a lot, like asking a lot of questions, hey, what can I do with my equipment, my rackets and everything?

And I came to him, like, I had a session on court with him and I told him, hey, we have this new string that's coming up in January.

I really think you should try it.

It's basically, it's very close from yours.

So he was playing with the razor code, which is a bit stiffer, but it's same version, same thing, but a bit softer, a bit easier on the arm.

It's going to be a bit easier, you know, because you're sometimes a bit far away from the baseline when you return.

Like having a bit of extra power could, could, could help you.

Then he won on clay, which is, I wouldn't say it's all on the strings, of course, like part of.

Of course.

He, he, he made some very big changes to his game, but the strings definitely helped him a lot.

And now we have a lot of our players, a lot of our players like playing with this string.

So Daniel, we have Daniel Collins, Christopher Eubanks, Alex Buble is playing with that, Corentin Moute is playing with this.

And basically like a lot of players have switched because that's, that's how good they, they feel with the product.

So.

The dream combo.

Exactly.

That's what I play with at least.

Nice.

That's got to start if you're playing with it.

But Dieter, what racket do you use?

You're going to laugh.

I use an old racket from.

The same from Medvedev and now I'm waiting on the new one.

But the launch is January, so I'm going to play me with the new fight 3 on 5.

Many players play 16, 19, but I'm mentally, I'm a little bit tough with myself.

So if it's a tie break on the third set, I just want to be able mentally to swing fast and I don't want my ball flying too much.

So I made an option for the 18, 19, which is not good for my slice because I mean when I'm nervous I slice too much.

So my slice would be better with 16, 19.

But the foreign is the game of.

I have a.

My foreign is quite aggressive.

So yeah, maybe I should play 16.

I don't know who, who wins a match.

Dider, Matthew?

I don't know.

We've never tried actually.

I don't know.

I don't know.

We've played Padel like last week, but, but my partner was better than yours, maybe that's why.

But let's say if we would play Tybrick, I win because I'm much older, you know.

No, no, I don't know.

He plays good.

I would play high on your backhand, man.

I mean if you slice, you have no chance.

Break down the backhand.

Break down the back today.

If you see like the proof of winning time.

If you see many players, they are returning so far behind the baseline there.

There was a solution needed with the rackets, I mean, you know, some courts are too small for some players.

You know, they go so far back to return.

It's the proof that they don't have time.

I think they should play a tournament with a small court and see who can adjust the best.

Daniel will go mad, but there' more cracked rackets for you.

Actually, that's not a good idea for Duder.

We'll have them.

But guys, thank you very much.

That was great.

Great to learn a bit about technifiber, more about technifiber and the new racket.

I'm excited.

As I said, I've tried it before, haven't given it so much attention, but once Jerome sends me one, I'll get some more use out of it, so.

And I will come to Belgium one day.

Yeah, or you come or you send me.

The best thing to do is on short term, you send me a video of your game, some foreign, some backends, we talk and then, okay, we make you one racket with the functional tennis in the butt gap and then we.

Can do a video.

If you go to theatptour.com, there's a few videos there.

Okay, we'll do that.

I'm joking, I'm joking.

But you can.

Do you play a lot?

You still play a lot?

Yeah.

No, not.

Look, three kids now, no functional.

10 is really busy.

I'm trying to play more, but I'm really bad at planning and last minute tennis sessions are hard to get sometimes.

So, yeah, I'm lucky to have twins and twins are 19 years old and they play the same level as me, maybe.

And now they're starting to beat me, so I'm happy.

I'm not happy.

You did well.

Getting to 19.

My kid will probably be 10 when he beats me, so.

But no, thanks a lot, guys.

Really enjoyed that.

Perfect.

Thank you so much for you.

Bye bye.

And good luck.

Good luck.