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Tech Corner StringPing – Get Your Text to the Masses By Pat Whitworth – USPTA Master Professional
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tringPing is one of our newest endorsees, and they offer a very unique product. Rick Kerpsak, the former head of Wilson Tennis, and now the CEO for Tennis Warehouse, is the brains behind the product. Simply put, Stringping will allow you to send group texts from the app or computer. Of course, there is much more to Strinping. I used it at our recent conference for sending messages each day to attendees. Day 1 was a reminder of the time and place of the welcome party. Day 2 was a reminder for the awards and Hall of Fame. Day 3 was a reminder for the trade show. All of these messages were set up earlier in the week, and were set to distribute at a selected time. All of this just took minutes and is very easy to accomplish. This is the perfect tool for quick messages to your students. It is a fact that text messages have a much higher chance of being read
than an email. Whether the message is a current update, upcoming news, and basic info, this is the simple solution. Just started raining – no problem. Quickly send a group text to the list of students that would be attending on the current status of the courts. Changing courts for practice – no problem again. Collecting the information on your client list is a simple step. StringPing can create a QR code that only needs to be scanned, and the date entered. Now you have captured the information needed and that you setup. If birthdays are part of this set, then you can have StringPing send out a birthday note automatically. StringPing will do much more for those that are looking for a deep dive. Just a few additional features are auto responders, splash page builder, contests, polls, loyalty programs, and much more.
in my past life! I have seen Phish almost 40 times, and many other bands 10+ times. My love of live music has taken me to concerts and festivals all over the country, including Phish’s Y2K show on a Seminole Indian Reservation, 12 of the first 13 Bonnaroos, multiple SXSWs, and Hangout Fests!
at work, listening to Atomic Habits by James Clear on audible in my car, and keeping Emotional Agility by Susan David at my bedside.
What are your hobbies? I love the outdoors and spending time in the creek behind my house with my 2 sons. Also gardening and keeping my yard looking as good as I can. I still enjoy concerts and live music as much as possible, and I have grand aspirations of winning a BBQ contest someday! What is your favorite movie? WAY too many to choose from. Big Lebowski, Royal Tenenbaums, Back to the Future, Tombstone, are just a few. Are you reading anything right now? I do try to keep a few books in rotation, but I sometimes feel like I crawl through them. Right now, I’m reading Essential Tennis by Ian Westerman
What is your favorite sports team? Tennessee Titans Who is your favorite player of all time? Gotta be Agassi. You never forget the player(s) that helped you fall in love with the game, and in my early teens, he was the absolute coolest. The Agassi/Sampras rivalry was one of the main reasons that I fell in love with competitive tennis, so I’ve got to reach back to them. Of the big 3, I’ve always been a Djokovic fan. Yes, he’s cold and doesn’t get the personality points that the other guys get, but his technique is incredible, and he’s won just as much as Fed and Rafa without the crowds on his side, which makes him stronger in my eyes. What person would you most like to have lunch with? My dad, who passed away in 2018. What would you be doing if you were not in ten-
As a USPTA member, you receive a free 1-month trial. The cost is really minimal to use StringPing on a regular basis. $19.99 will let you book 1000 text messages (135 characters). Higher level programs exist at a reduced rate per text. StringPing really is a no-brainer. We have a tennis industry genius that is behind the system. It is very simple to use, and can save us so much time in communicating at a moments notice. Your students will appreciate receiving a text instead of an email, and there is no way that you would call everyone. I encourage everyone to at least give it a try with the free trial, and beware, you will be hooked.
nis? Probably struggling a lot more than I am now. My career in tennis has been the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life. It has helped define me as a person, and has opened the door for so many other parts of my life to flourish. If you had a “do over”, what one thing would you have done differently in your teaching career? I once left a job that I REALLY loved to chase a higher job-title and what I thought would be more money. It was a huge mistake, and I took it as a blow to both my career and my confidence. I have since come to understand a much better work/life balance, and have been committed to spreading myself across more facets of the tennis industry than before. I tried to expand my role outside of my own individual club-space, and get into other areas besides just on-court coaching. I aspire to do more mentoring of new coaches, and I have written articles, and gotten into the pipeline to present at industry conferences, all of which have led to much more personal satisfaction than the job-titles and money could ever have given me.
