Return to tennis… and to wood

A personal story by our sponsored coach, Pierre Planson, of SpinLab Tennis.

Posted Tuesday, July 8, 2025

by Pierre Planson

After teaching tennis for 20 years, I reached a point where I had simply had enough. I quit everything, walked away from the courts, and didn’t touch a racket for the next decade. Tennis, for me, became a closed chapter.

But then, I remembered something special: when my former coach and boss moved away, he had given me a few of his old belongings. Among them was his vintage wooden racket – an Overcom by Gauthier. The memory of that gift lingered in my mind, and after some encouragement from friends and a bit of soul-searching, I decided to make a comeback. But this time, I wanted to do it differently – I would return to the court with something extra: his classic wooden racket.

I carefully cleaned the leather grip, had the racket restrung with quality strings, and stepped back onto the court. At first it took several hours to adapt, but soon I found my rhythm. Now, I play exclusively with wooden rackets and honestly it would be very difficult for me to go back to contemporary rackets!

My Grays ‘Slam’ is super. No stress, play your best.