Sports equipment that any sports
enthusiast would love.
PHOTO BY CRAIG TERKOWI TZ
to get the effect you want.
For beginners or those who
play infrequently, two of the
more popular wide bodies are the
Prince Graphite II for about $130
and the Prince Synergy DB 26,
also $130.
However, for those who play
regularly, it's worth spending the
extra money and getting two oth-
er popular racquets. They are the
Wilson Sledge Hammer, costing
$250, or the Hammer 2.7 for
$200.
Other pieces of necessary
equipment are tennis balls, shoes
and, yes, even clothes. For ten-
nis balls, Wilson and Penn sell
sets of three for $2. For shoes,
best sellers are Head's Sonic 325
($50) and most Nike, Wilson,
Tretorn and Reebok products.
As for clothes, white has al-
ways been right on the tennis
court, but that is changing. Ten-
nis rebel Andre Agassi has
emerged as a star (he won the
U.S. Open in September) and his
predilection for wearing black
clothes has made it "the" color of
the moment.
Cliff Migdal, owner of Tennis
Plus in Applegate in Southfield,
notes that for men the combina-
tion of black/taupe and red/navy
are popular. For women the pas-
tels are strong sellers. Popular
brands this year are Ixspa, Fila
and Ellesse.
Black is showing up not only
in tennis outfits but in other un-
expected ways, from socks and
shirts to hats and just about
everything else. Still, if your ten-
nis player isn't ready to don black
for the courts, you can't go wrong
with the always-popular white.
In-line Skating
Good Sport
What's the
newest and
best equipment
- in six popular
sports?
LU
C-1)
UJ
JEFF SEIDEL
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
GO
At Chanukah, think
sports. Well, at
least for the sports
enthusiasts on
your gift list It's a
real advantage to have the
right equipment for the games
they already play or the new
ones they want to learn. Here's
a look at some popular sports
— and the latest equipment
and recommended brands.
Tennis
Over the years, tennis players'
taste in racquets has changed.
Smaller used to be in but now big
is beautiful. Power is the thing
nowadays and that means a
wide-bodied racquet, which gives
the player an extra boost of pow-
er.
According to many retailers,
"wide bodies" are the best-selling
racquets right now. A wide-
body is a bigger racquet with
a larger "sweet spot." The
"sweet spot" is considered the best
place on the racquet to hit the ball
In-line skating, known to most
people as rollerblading, started
almost by accident seven years
ago, as hockey players in Min-
nesota came up with the idea as
a way to stay in shape. Gradu-
ally, the sport spread to the east
coast and now, it has really
caught on.
As in-line skating becomes in-
creasingly popular, the equip-
ment that accompanies it has
become increasingly sophisticat-
ed.
"Rollerbladers can do what
skateboarders can do. They do
things human beings couldn't do,"
said one aficionado.
The main piece of equipment
is the sleek-looking skates. Skates
are available in a wide price
range, from about $100 to $300.
All will do a good job, and the de-
cision really comes down to how
much you want to spend on the
sport. Three of the more popular
ones are the Coolblades ($250),
the Bravoblade GLX ($240) and
the Oxygen Krypton 05 ($200).
A huge number of accessories
is available for the in-line enthu-
siast. Protective gear, like the hel-
met, is important. Actually, any
bicycle helmet will do but
Rollerblade, the best-known
brand in the sport, also makes
one for $40.
Other accessories are wheels,
which average $7 to $9 and run
70 to 80 millimeters in diameter;
elbow pads and other protective
guards. Sometimes, pads are
packaged together; for example,
a package of Rollerblade elbow,
knee and wrist guards can cost
$56.
In-line skating seems to be
evolving from an individual sport
into a type of street hockey, some-
times even with teams. For those
interested, a good basic stick is
the Bauer stick ($21); a nice ba-
sic puck is the "Hot Puck" ($10).
Some skaters believe that you
can increase the value of in-line
skates by buying different types
of replacement parts. For exam-
ple, you can buy a pair of skates
that cost around $100, then for
$18 add two sets of bearings to
increase your speed. Also, you can
buy different sets of replacement
wheels for different skating pur-
poses — for example, to skate in
the street or to play hockey.
Racquetball
Like tennis, racquetball doesn't
require much equipment. Still,
there is an ever-growing list of
racquetball-related items avail-
able for purchase.
The biggest name in racquet-
ball is Ektelon. This company
makes over 40 different types of
racquets as well as many other
supplies. In the past few years,
Ektelon has introduced several
new racquets, which has enabled
it to drop the price on some old
stand-bys. Still, other companies
like Head and Spalding make
good racquetball equipment, too.
The one racquet that's consid-
ered top of the line is the Ektelon
Eminence, which sells for about
$175 to $250 depending on where
you shop. This is for the truly se-
rious player who works hard at
the game, said one professional.
Another good racquet for ad-
vanced players is Ektelon Cyr-
cocco, which goes for about $140.
A beginning player would not
need to spend so much money
and would do quite nicely with
the Ektelon Lexis, which sells for
$30 to $60.
Oversized racquets are also
available. For example, an over-
sized Head racquet for an ad-
vanced player costs around $149.
However, unlike tennis where the
big racquet is king, most people
buy regular-sized racquets for
racquetball.