pbsmick

The Olympics are edging ever closer and are now just over 2 months away. It has been a long, hard slog for me to reach the goal of competing at my third Olympics and I am thrilled that it is so close now.

I have some great news – today marks the release of my new range of rackets that have been in the making for over a year now. I’m adding two new blades which I have developed personally. The process of selecting new blades is long and cumbersome – you ask the factory for specific dimensions, certain types of wood / carbon, the right weight and the right feel. There were 8 initial candidates for my top of the range blade and I whittled this down to 2. I asked for some changes to be made and eventually found exactly what I had been looking for. I’m a perfectionist on the table and will not stop until I am completely happy.

The William Henzell Platinum blade is 7-ply, with a layer of aramid carbon. The green and gold colouring is a great Aussie touch. I have used the Henzell Platinum (the prototype actually) myself for all my training and competitions over the past 6 months. I wanted something fast enough to take advantage of my good touch and ability to use the opponent’s speed against him but soft enough to still allow me to generate good power. The red/black carbon layer is hard and fast. The outer layer is limba which is soft to medium wood and gives me good dwell time and feel on the ball. I feel the power on my forehand topspin has improved since making the change. Click to view the William Henzell Platinum blade.

The William Henzell Silver is 5-ply and is thinner and slower than Platinum. The layers are Ayous, Koto and Fineline. This blade is best suited for players who are trying to improve their control and consistency and feel that faster carbon blades are difficult to play with. It’s an allround racket which will allow you to master all the shots of the game. Click to view the William Henzell Silver blade.

I’m very pleased with the new releases and am especially happy that I was given the opportunity to create a blade (the Platinum) to tick all my requirement boxes.

I’ve been extremely bust since getting back home to Australia a couple of weeks ago. There’s been a great deal of media interest in the lead-up to London and and I’ve done 19 radio interviews, 4 TV interviews and a few newspapers. I’ve been trying to get the message out that I’m looking for sponsorship to be able to head back over to Europe for another few weeks before the Games.