Mantis Custom 98 - The Power of Customization September 14, 2016 18:43

Talking about "custom" in the world of tennis brings us into a technical, professional, but also sometimes esoteric, mysterious, and distant realm, linked by definition to the rackets of pros—those impossible, difficult, and unattainable, hard-to-find and very expensive, and often completely unplayable!

In reality, from experience, what often distinguishes the rackets of players who frequent ITF and ATP tournaments from those of "mere mortals" (with the due distinction of pro-room rackets reserved only for the top 20) are the details, the attention to particularity, and above all a fundamental element: customization based on needs, tastes, and "desires," which, starting from commercially available or previously available models, allow the equipment used by the athlete to be transformed, made unique, personal, and tailor-made.

What often characterizes both the average and high-level tennis player, in most cases, is the scarce or complete lack of knowledge about their equipment and its characteristics—that is, what specifications make any racket "THE" suitable racket that perfectly fits their physical, morphological, technical, and performance characteristics.

Let's think of cyclists and how every athlete, even a simple amateur "granfondo" enthusiast, knows the measurements of their seat tube, saddle height, top tube length, crank arm length, stem length, and handlebar width, and sometimes more. Let's make a quick comparison with the average technical knowledge of a tennis player in a "situational" sport where the equipment can influence physical, technical, and mental components to a variable extent, estimable within a range of 5-10-15%.

As true tennis players, not improvised or Sunday players, we must become aware of the equipment that allows us to play at our best, and this simply means knowing the values that interest us in terms of weight, balance, swingweight, length, and stiffness, and trying, or even better, creating a racket that reflects these characteristics.

The MANTIS CUSTOM project is based precisely on this premise: that of forging equipment with all the characteristics of a pro-stock, tailored to the player's peculiarities and specifications; with the possibility of intervening in a unique, personalized, and completely particular way in terms of weight, balance, swingweight, and length of the equipment by playing on the basis of a frame built with very high-quality high-modulus graphite and endowed with truly unique pliability.

On this technical basis, following the specifications provided by the customer, it is possible to "calibrate" the weight, balance, swingweight, polarization, length, grip size, and its finish in order to obtain a power or control racket, a medium-light, "tweener" or heavy racket thanks to the manual "tuning" action that allows to obtain with a precision of 0.2g of weight, 1mm of balance and 1kgcm of SWW "your own" unique and unrepeatable equipment.

It is fundamental to emphasize that starting from an absolutely neutral base like that of the basic frame, it is possible to operate to obtain very different frames, which tend to favor power rather than control, or spin generation or stability at the net, as well as other characteristics that can be modulated according to the desired custom build. Rackets can be built with variable lengths from 68.5cm upwards with an upper limit of 70cm, coupled with weights that can range from 295g to 330g and more for an unstrung frame. The swingweight can be expertly dosed according to the weight, length, and balance.

The Mantis Italia Custom Project and HMA Sport staff will be at your disposal to help you choose and personalize your racket and to assist you in creating YOUR weapon of choice.

After manual preparation, each racket is checked and finished with a personalized adhesive tag bearing the "customer's" name and the racket's specifications, a truly unique piece conceived, handmade, and finished around the player, because after all, a racket cannot turn a hack into a champion, but a good racket can allow the player to express themselves to their full potential, because ultimately, it's always good to know and experience firsthand the "power of custom"!

mantis italia & pro-t-one.it in collaboration with HMA Sport

For more information, visit the product page Mantis Custom 98.

Mantis Custom 98 - The customizable tennis racket July 17, 2016 02:44

It is with pride that we announce the launch of the project "Mantis Custom 98".

Mantis Sport International, and in particular its founder Martin Aldridge, supported the Mantis Sport Italia team in the creation of a very limited edition racket of 65 pieces.

We at HMA Sport are aligned with the vision of Mantis Sport Italia and believe that the future of the tennis racket will develop along two divergent paths. The first will be dominated by major brands, capable of making enormous advertising investments to secure top players with tens of millions of dollars, and will target a retail audience. The second path will be that of niche brands, which will have to focus on the absolute quality of materials and the possibility for consumers to find exactly "their" racket.

This market is made up of the most demanding tennis players, competitive players, or simply those who are truly able to perceive the quality beneath an attractive paint job.

The project Mantis Custom 98 consists of manufacturing a very small number of frames, with pro stock quality characteristics, deeply customizable, available to Italian enthusiasts.

After six weeks of waiting, the 65 pieces (15 of which are destined for Japan) produced with this logic have finally arrived in Italy.

Mantis Custom 98 frames meet the highest possible quality standards, have unique graphics, and a length that can be up to 71 cm.

The frame, built with the best high-modulus graphite, combines with handle shells similar in shape to Wilson or Head, with Mantis range or natural leather grips, and can be balanced according to the individual tennis player's specifications.

The frame has a 98-inch string bed and a 16/19 string pattern, a constant 21 mm profile, hybrid boxed and elliptical, light and particularly stable, already successfully tested for several years in the company's Pro 295 model.

The possibility of customizing it at will will allow for a fantastic and, above all, unique tool for each individual tennis player.

If this idea proves successful (the investment for the production of such a limited and particular stock was considerable) it will have a follow-up and will represent the direction in which Mantis will decisively move.

If it is not understood, it will remain a precious item that 65 lucky people in the world will be able to display on the court.

Hans Beerbohm

 Visit the product page Mantis Custom 98