Mid East Racquetball Conference - MERC

The Mid-East Racquetball Conference (MERC) is a new Intercollegiate racquetball conference that includes Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and West Virginia, however, any school is welcome to join. The conference was just started this year and has so far had extreme success. College racquetball is still in it's infancy in many of the states in the region, so the conference has come along at the right time to help these individual schools grow their own program, and expose people to racquetball as a college sport.

The conference currently has 11 teams in the region. The tournaments loaded with a great mix of top open players (such as Andrew Price-Central Michigan University and Danny Lavely-University of Akron, just to name a few) all the way down to beginners. The tournaments are run on a tiered Olympic format which allows all players, no matter their skill level, to not only have fun playing players of a similar skill level, but also contribute to total team points.

Racquetball Factory is a very proud sponsor of MERC. Their website is built and maintained by Racquetball Factory and can be found over on http://www.mercracquetball.org. Not only are we supporting MERC's communications with the website, we are offering prizes for tournaments, as well as offering teams discounted merchandise. If your college club has a limited budget, but you need to buy some equipment such as eyeguards for your members (extremely important!) please contact us and let us know.

For more information on the MERC conference visit their website or contact Tim Miller.

ProKennex Kinetic KM750 and Quad 500 Racquet Reviews

If you were the best racquetball player in the world, and possibly the most dominant player ever, what racquet would you play with? Well it turns out the answer to that question is the ProKennex Kinetic KM750. Kane Waselenchuk came back to racquetball last year after a 2 year suspension and only lost one match all season to Alvaro Beltran. Since his reemergence he has been sponsored by ProKennex and has had his own signature raquet. Last year's KM-175 was his first signature racquet.

This year they took Kane's personal preferences and applied their Kinetic technology and created a 175g frame based on last years Kinetic Quad 170. The racquet has a nice teardrop shape with Kinetic Quad technology applied at the four corners of the frame, giving a very stable yet powerful hitting area. Another aspect of the racquet that leads to a nice stable hitting area is the string pattern. In the middle of the racquet in the sweet spot, mains and cross strings are pretty dense and cross at 90 degree angles to allow supreme control. Outside of the center hitting area the strings fan out to give more power than the traditional "straight" string pattern of the KM-175.

When swinging the Kinetic KM750 racquet you definitely feel the stability of the frame coming through the ball. Off center shots are forgiving because of the big stable hitting area. It feels like the hitting area on this racquet (and all PK racquets) is enormous. The head heaviness of the racquet helps bring the racquet around nicely as well. Overall this racquet has one of the best balances of power and control available in a racquetball racquet.

The racquet also sports some fancy new cosmetics inspired by Kane himself. The throat of the frame sports a yellow tribal pattern on a black background with some yellow tribal accents throughout the frame.

The 165g Kinetic Quad 500 is very similar but 10g less and not as head heavy. This racquet lends itself more to a finesse player's game than the KM750. It is one of the easiest swinging racquets we have come across. However, unlike a lot of light racquets, it still feels very stable is pretty forgiving on off-center shots, and can bring the heat when swung hard.

Ektelon EXO3 Black Racquet Review

The Ektelon EXO³ Black is finally available to demo! Sellable racquets are still a week or 2 off, but after playing with the demo racquets we received, we can tell you it is definitely worth the wait! This racquet is everything you have loved about the entire O³ series but just pushed to the next level. More power and more control. The cosmetics are also top-notch. The new Super Small Round grip is a godsend for people who love Ektelon, but could never get used to the rectangular grip.

The EXO³ Black comes balanced 1pt head heavy, while the EXO³ Copper is 1pt head light. Power Plugs return once again, but this time, there are only 2 plugs, and they are only used near the throat of the racquet. With power plugs in the balance moves toward head light, and weight goes up 10g. Adding the plugs improved racquet stability, but 10g is a pretty big weight gain if you're used to a 170g racquet.

What is different about the EXO³ is the patented energy channel and energy bridge system. This suspends the stringbed on grommets (yes actual grommets instead of resting against the frame) that have special techno-magic that returns more of the force of the ball impact, back into the ball. The result is more power out of all of your shots, not just full swings.

Another improvement this year is the higher string tension. The EXO³ come strung @ 34 lbs (vs. 30 lbs on the O³ and Speedport). This gives a more consistent string response and more control. We definitely felt that shots were ending up right where they were meant to. A side effect of increased tension can be a slight increase in shock to the arm, but the 17g Premier Power Softflex string is so soft, that shock to the arm is minimal.

Speaking of the strings, Ektelon went a little skinnier this year with 17g vs. 16g. For most players this can lead to an improvement of their game. Skinnier strings deflect more (creating more power) and grab the ball more (creating more spin/control). Chronic string breakers may want to replace the strings with a 16g string after trying the 17g. Overall we continue to be impressed with Ektelon's Premier Power Softflex strings, and highly recommend them as a replacement string.

In Review

Overall the stick played like a Speedport or other O³ racquet, just better in every way. The sweetspot feels really large and forgiving. The racquet cuts through the air due to it's aerodynamically placed holes around the entire frame. The new SSR grip felt comfortable to fans of HEAD style grips, while the SS is as it always has been for Ektelon. There is tons of power in this frame, we're not sure if it's the new Energy Bridge, or the new 17g string, or maybe just the new frame design, all we know is that this racquet loves to beat the snot out of racquetballs!

Picking the Right Racquetball Ball

How to Choose a Racquetball

So you're confused by all the different color racquetballs out there. Well who isn't. We're here to try to explain some of the basic differences between the different types of racquetballs that are being produced.

Red Racquetballs - Fastest Speed

Red racquetballs come in two flavors: Penn Ballistic 2.0 and the Ektelon Fireball (ProKennex makes an Orange Ball that is similar). These balls are the fastest and heaviest balls out there. Their speed and color make them especially excellent for outdoor play. The Ektelon Fireball Racquetball is the official ball of World Outdoor Racquetball (WOR).

Purple and Green Racquetballs - Fast Speed

The purple and green balls are Penn's Pro Penn line of racquetballs. These balls play faster than blue, but not as fast as the red. These balls are quite lively in the court and are standard equipment at most sanctioned tournaments. Many people prefer the purple ball because of it's enhanced visibility on the court. The Pro Penn HD Racquetball is the official ball of the International Racquetball Tour (IRT).

Blue Racquetballs - Average Speed

Blue is the standard racquetball color. This indicates an average speed and bounce. Ektelon, ProKennex and Penn make a blue racquetball. These balls have similar speeds, although the Ektelon Premium Select and ProKennex balls seems to have more bounce. The Penn Ultra-Blue Racquetball is the most popular racquetball amongst recreational players.

Black Racquetballs - Slower Speed

Ektelon has a line of classic black racquetballs. These balls emulate the older style of racquetball that was slower, lighter and softer. The play of this ball can often lead to longer rallies and is popular amongst senior players. The Ektelon Classic Black Racquetball is the official ball of the Classic Pro Racquetball Tour (CPRT).

Click here to ask us any questions!

New Racquetball Gear Day!

Tons of new Racquetball Equipment dropped on Racquetball Factory today! So much so that we're just going to give you a list

• ProKennex Kinetic KM-750 Kane Waselenchuk Racquet
• ProKennex Kinetic 500 165g Racquet
• Gearbox GB-250T 170g Racquet
• Gearbox GB-75 190g Racquet
• Gearbox Club Bag
• Gearbox Backpack
• Ektelon O3 RG *Back in stock
• New Ektelon Gloves

It's like Christmas in July around here. We love new Racquetball Gear so much. Don't you?

One thing we thought was really cool was the new GB-250T comes with a new sling style bag. We didn't know about it until it showed up on our doorstep. We will try to get some pictures on the site to show you, but it is by far the most useful stock racquet case we have ever seen. We're going to see if we can sell them separately. They are that cool!

Andy Hawthorne 50 foot behind the back winner

We were out at Belle Isle this weekend playing some outdoor racquetball and were lucky enough to be able to watch some fantastic outdoor racquetball as well. Here is a great shot we caught on tape. Andy Hawthorne (IRT world rank #10) is about 50 feet back from the front wall and nails an amazing behind the back shot that lands about 2 inches up the front wall. Unfortunately it was against Racquetball Factory's own Andrew Price!

New Custom Racquets, Waiting for New Season

If you haven't been over to Racquetball Factory's Flickr Page in a while you should take a look. We have some pictures of some of the great custom racquets we've been turning out lately. If you see something you like, or get inspired to make your own custom racquet. Head on over to our store and make your dream racquet!

We're expecting the new Ektelon EXO3, the new E-Force Powerflex Commands, and the new Gearbox GB-250T all within the next couple weeks. We will have demos of all the new racquets when they become available.

We're also on Twitter, so follow us to get up to date news on the latest Racquetball Equipment, and feel free to message us anytime with any of your questions or comments.