Racquetball Racquet Repair – A First Hand Account

Broken Racquetball Racquet?

I broke my long-time favorite racquetball racquet a few weeks ago and had to start the process to find another. Along that path, I came across a company that repairs any carbon fiber racquet. This could be a tennis racquet, a squash racquet, a pickleball racquet, or a racquetball racquet.

I was skeptical but interested in what they can do. I mean, what can I lose? I broke the racquet I was most used to and found I really was not all that fond of my backup racquet any longer. I filled out the form and mailed off my broken racquet with hesitant hopefulness.

Here are a few pics of my broken racquet:

As you can see, this is a major break. Not just a crack or simple fracture. You don’t have to go looking closely at this racquet to see that in the past, it would go straight to the circular file….. or the trash can.

The weird thing is that this racquet broke during a practice session. I was alone on the court, hitting balls from center court when I struck a ball and felt something weird happen. What you see above is the outcome.

I suppose something funky was going on for a while because at some point the racquet picked up a vibration.  I had been over this racquet with a fine toothcomb and flashlight looking for any imperfections and could not find a crack or anything that looked out of place. Maybe something really was going on that was not apparent to the eye.

What is the Racquet Repair Process?

Basically, I printed out and filled in a form that asked about the racquet, where the break is, and for an additional charge, to change the grommet and or restring the racquet before they returned it.

I sent it off and knew the process would take about 17 days according to the information I received. And so the wait began.

In the meantime, I did purchase another Gearbox racquet. It is not the same one or the same shape. My blue racquet pictured above is a 170g teardrop racquetball racquet and the one I purchased after trial and testing and more trial is a Gearbox 165g quad 2022 racquetball racquet.

Was the Racquetball Racquet Repair Worth it?

I saw the delivery guy pull up to the house and I met him at the door. I was eager to see what the finished product looked like. I pulled it out of the packaging and spun it a few times in my hand to get a feel for it and to see if I could tell if the balance was “off”. It felt good!

I looked the racquet over to see what the repair would look like because I was unsure of what to expect. The repaired area is a bit noticeable on the exterior of the racquet, but the racquet lines and transitions are done well. You can see for yourself that there is a slight hump around the outside of the racquet where the repair is. They do not paint the repaired area to match the original color but with the color combinations on most racquets now, the black repaired area fits in pretty well.

I have had it back for a couple of weeks now and I am very impressed with the outcome. Yes, I bought another racquet, but now I have 2 racquets that I like to use. The repair cost me about $65 and the racquet feels and hits as well as it ever has. It actually has NO Vibration now! I am really happy about that. It seems to have the same feel and power as it did before it broke. Below are a couple of pics of the repaired Racquet.

I like the repair and the process. I am interested to see how long the repair will hold up. The determining factor will be the dependability of the racquet with the repair. As of right now, I am impressed but if it turns out the racquet is not dependable, I will post an update.

Update: 

I have been playing with this repaired racquet for about 9 months now since the repair. It is not my everyday racquet but I do use it often and it is holding up nicely. I would say the repair was a great success!

If you want to have a racquet repaired and use the same great people I used, click here to visit their website. Make sure you tell them that their friends at racquetball-florida.com sent you their way.