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May 2024 by Pedro Alonso c
They have all kind of things tennis related and 28$ for stringing raquets
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April 2024 by P “digiti” P’dat
This is THE Bay Area one stop shop for all things tennis. You’ll be hard pressed to find many brick n mortar stores that continue to thrive for well over FIVE DECADES. How? By providing customers with exceptional service. They employ a knowledgeable and courteous staff who, by and large, have worked for the Swetka family for many years. Some as long as 20+! Not only are the staff well versed, by all accounts they all play/have played at high levels so one feels confident in the knowledge they provide. You feel assured that you’re being tended to by an enthusiast of the game. You’re made to feel welcomed, as they offer to assist you within minutes of entering and that they are ready to assist you when called upon.
At the helm still is John Swetka, son of famed Bay Area tennis legend Alex Swetka, who founded the store alongside his wife Sally. In addition, longstanding business partner Ken Arnold as well as Master Racket Technician Jim Miller continue to serve as the foundation of the shop. Even with the recent merger with online giant Tennis Warehouse, the longstanding sales team has, by and large remained intact.
Not only do they have an exceptional selection of products including equipment, apparel, and footwear, they also provide a full array of tennis services including stringing, racket customization, as well as their time tested demo program. Looking to purchase the right racket but are unsure of what’s out there? Which would best suite my tastes & needs? Their demo program allows you to playtest a whole host of top brand frames within a 3 month window, 1 demo per week. If within that 3 month period you’ve come to select the racket and strings to purchase, the initial demo payment is applied towards the purchase! Amazing to this day. Swetka’s is, in short, the very definition of a tennis sport specialty store.
That all being said, I was genuinely perplexed to read the negative review posted just prior to mine. To the person who posted it, I do have some questions. Based on your review, it would appear that you participated in their demo program. I’ll assume whomever signed you up explained how their program works, how many demos you could take out and for how long you could keep them per checkout. This as well as other pertinent conditions and/or restrictions correct? If yes, did you understand the scope of their program and if not, did you ask for clarification? In addition, I’m curious as to how exactly did they “bully you” into trying sale priced rackets? You also made mention of your long commute to/from the shop. If this was such a hardship for you, knowing you had to return weekly in order to participate and exchange their demos, how is the shop in any way being somehow held accountable for this? Did you have a reasonable expectation that they would somehow agree to alter their demo policies just for you? As for the racket in question, was it available in your grip size at the time of your inquiry? Did you check to see how many remained? Did you ask a salesperson to place one on hold for you? I’m unclear as to why you hadn’t done so if you were leaning towards it as your final selection. Did any sales staff or manager discuss this with you? Did anyone offer any alternate solutions? It would seem that there was a bit of miscommunication or general lack thereof. From my perspective, you agreed upon the conditions of their program. Im having a hard time believing someone bullied or coerced you into opening your wallet and paying their demo fee & signing up. Some clarification would be helpful.
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November 2023 by J S
Note that you mostly likely can find a racket much cheaper elsewhere on the internet or on Ebay. You most likely can find a cheaper decent stringing service else where too.The demoing program is good. Towards the end, the demoing fee becomes credit for a racket + stringing purchase. I would demo two rackets at the same time to tell the difference between them more easily.As another reviewer mentioned, you do sometimes receive a bit of bully from the owner if you are not doing what he expected.Overall, if you don't need to demo rackets, shop for a cheaper deal elsewhere.
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November 2023 by Shashi L
Demo program is awesome for beginners to explore a few rackets before purchasing. Staff were extremely helpful with helpful hints. Wonderful experience!
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October 2023 by Yiming Zhang
Great service. Knowledgeable.
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October 2023 by Zongheng Wang
Had my demo program here. More convenient to pick up your rackets locally than waiting for shipment.
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October 2023 by Andrew Wong
Tennis racquet rental for $5, great selection of racquets and demos. The staff are very knowledgeable and informative.
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October 2023 by Mohammad
The staff here are very nice and friendly except for John who seems to be the owner or manager! I was demo'ing rackets for 2 months and every time he saw me kept commenting and bullying me like: For how long are you going to come here and use our rackets!? Are you having fun trying aaalllll our rackets! Very disrespectful and unprofessional.At the end I found that the racket I wanted is $30 cheaper in Sports Basement and asked them to price match, where John refused and took my $40. I gave up my $40 and walked away.I would stay away from this guy (John) and this store altogether!
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October 2023 by Feras A. Alhussain
Super friendly & helpful staff, they’ve got wide collection of Tennis gadget and apparel.
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August 2023 by Yash Kshirsagar
Knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly staff when choosing demo rackets ?I come here sometimes for stringing too - their labor is on the higher side, but you do get 1 free one after 10 string jobs with their stamp cards.
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August 2023 by Ashley L
They will mess up your string tension and won’t apologize for their mistake.I expressed my concern that it might hurt my wrist, and the staff said ‘how much of a difference can it make?? … How can it hurt your wrist?’Even if they offer to restring it it’s time wasted to drive 40-60 min back and forth in traffic. I’ve visited them a few times and now I’m really disappointed at how unhelpful they are and won’t return again.
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July 2023 by Tyger C.
Most Knowledgeable, Passionate, and Professional Team & Staff at any Tennis Store I have ever experienced.
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July 2023 by Kimo S.
I won't recommend this store after my unpleasant experience here. A rude short guy simply criticized customers for not purchasing any racket after the demo program.I paid $40 for the well-known demo program, and found the best fit racket after the program. As this store doesn't provide customized racket, I ended up getting the customized racket from Wilson.com. However, the experience here became totally upside-down since a short guy knew that I got my customized racket from Wilson.com. He became out of control on face and criticized me in front of everyone for 'benefiting' from their demo program but not ordering racket from them as they wanted.I believe most staff in this store were friendly, and that's why I drove 30min to this store to get the strings done for my new racket, although there were tons of tennis store nearby my place. Somehow, this short angry rude guy make me feel so regret and ashamed of coming back to this store, and I ensure this is the last time I'm visiting Swetka's Tennis Shop. Yes, I paid $40 for the demo program, and that's just for the 'so-called' demo of rackets -- I didn't give any commitment for buying the racket, no matter it's before, during, or after the program, and they (or just this angry man) should make their expectation super clear before people starting the demo program.Funny thing -- if you read others' reviews here or from Google, you will find people got similar problem with a 'rude short guy', who has his consistent way to upset everyone's experience at this store! I won't risk my day coming to this store anymore.
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July 2023 by Ashley
They will mess up your string tension and won’t apologize for their mistake.
I expressed my concern that it might hurt my wrist, and the staff said ‘how much of a difference can it make?? … How can it hurt your wrist?’
Even if they offer to restring it it’s time wasted to drive 40-60 min back and forth in traffic. I’ve visited them a few times and now I’m really disappointed at how unhelpful they are and won’t return again.
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July 2023 by Ron M.
Do not waste your money their demo program is a scam. If you bring the racket late because you were in the hospital dealing with cancer, they still charge you a late fee.
