Wilson Innovations Center

The Wilson Team room is certainly a unique aspect of the companies commitment to tennis and to the best of my knowledge, I know of no other company that has created and implemented something to the scale that Wilson has done with this project. Yes, there are a handful of individual companies who cater to the professional player but certainly none with the resources that Wilson brings to the table.

Ron Rocchi

The Team Room concept came about in 1983 and was introduced by Bill Severa as part of Wilson's player services group which, at the time, was headed up by Michael Wallace, Wilson's global director for the tour. This particular "project" from Wilson is basically on call for players 365 days a year and at the time of its introduction, Wilson had a team of technicians that would travel to major tennis tournaments to service their sponsored players. When the pro room, now referred to as part of Wilson's Innovation Center, was introduced, the hands-on work was done by Ron Rocchi, a name that many here will be familiar with from his long standing involvement with the IART symposium. At the time, Ron was the Global Tour Equipment Manager and a Principal Racquet Designer for Wilson.

So just what can a top pro expect when they're a Wilson sponsored player and use the team room's services? For starters, racquets will be matched in weight, balance or swing weight and for the record, this is up to the player. Players can even have string patterns altered so for instance, racquet patterns can be increased to an 18x20 from a more common stock pattern that is much more "open".  The services have changed and evolved over time but you get the general idea. If you're a Wilson player you have the very best in the business at your beck and call and the sky is the limit when it comes to your racquet. As mentioned above, there are other smaller companies that offer customization services to top players but even with those companies there are limitations. For instance, Wilson can even change the frame's geometry and that's something that the smaller companies just cannot do.

In 2016 Wilson was gracious enough to host the 10th annual IART training symposium in Chicago where their headquarters are located. Our specific location was the the Donald E. Stephens convention Center which just happened to be located a mere 3 blocks from the Wilson Innovation Center. As an additional offering to our attendees, Rocchi set up and hosted tours of the facility to give people a first hand look at the operation. When it comes to tours I doubt seriously that we'll be able to top that at any future events and it was clear from the feedback that I received that our group was highly appreciative of the opportunity to tour the Wilson Innovation Center.