Ryan Burbary, Velociti Tennis

Rick talks with a young entrepreneur in Ryan Burbary of Velociti Tennis. The future of tennis and tennis products. From Ryan: When it comes to the environment, every piece of waste counts. That’s why I started with small steps as we worked up to industry-changing evolutions. Single-use packaging: We started eliminating product packaging wherever possible. Sure, product packaging can help with marketing, but we don’t feel it’s always worth the environmental cost. So, we’re testing removing packaging to eliminate single-use waste on some of our products. That’s why our TurboPoly string and NEH string are sold without traditional packaging that is thrown away. Greenhouse gases: We’re selling some of our products in bulk in hopes of reducing emissions. For example, our NEH string can be purchased in sets of 5 and Velociti Catalyst can be purchased as a reel so that players who know and love these products can reduce pollution from additional shipments. Product duration: Making products last longer is another great way to reduce waste. Our Grip-Enhancing Towel can help prolong the life of tennis grips so they don’t need to be replaced as often. Durability is also a top priority in our tennis string manufacturing. Biodegradable products: The first three steps are all great small steps to an eco-friendlier world of tennis, but the real game-changer came in late 2022. In 2022, we invented the first-ever fully biodegradable polyester string, Velociti Catalyst. Catalyst biodegrades in just 3 to 5 years compared with the 400 to 600 years it takes other synthetic tennis strings to decompose. Velociti is continuing to research other uses for our biodegradable additive, and we hope to launch new biodegradable products in the near future. Velociti Tennis is the worldwide leader in environmentally sustainable tennis string. The products feature biodegradable materials and minimal single-use packaging to reduce tennis waste. Give Velociti tennis string a try and you’ll find it plays just as well as the top brands.