Slinger Bag: The Rise of a Revolutionary Training Tool

Mike Ballardie has guided some of the sport’s biggest brands such as Wilson and Prince. He’s worked with legends of the game like Stefan Edberg, Steffi Graff, Richard Krajicek and more.

Now, he’s CEO of Slinger Bag, the revolutionary training tool that’s disrupting the market, growing the game, and improving players’ skills around the world.

Ballardie talked about his tennis journey, why Slinger is the real deal, and the future of the industry.

When were you introduced to tennis/racquet sports? Who got you started?

I started playing tennis at 4 years of age in a local public facility in the UK. My Dad was an avid club player and he was always taking me to the club with him.

How did you get into the industry?

At the age of 26 I was coaching tennis 12 hours a day in Germany — having a great time, earning good money, and living life to the fullest. I decided to try my luck at getting a “proper job” and contacted all tennis companies offering my services. At that time, Wilson in Europe was better known as a golf company and was embarking on a plan to aggressively enter the European tennis market. They met me, liked what they heard, and offered me my very first job as a Promotions Manager at Wilson Europe.

Over the next 5 years, Hans-Martin Reh and I built an incredible team that was the foundation of Wilson becoming the #1 brand across Europe — signing incredible players such as Krajicek at 15, The Woodies (Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde), and Steffi Graf and working closely with Stefan Edberg.

Why did you join Slinger? What about the product/brand makes it so special?

Having essentially left the tennis industry after Prince was sold to Authentic Brands (current owner), I wasn’t looking for a new tennis role. Then in Feb. 2019, I got a call out of the blue from a private equity guy that I knew asking for advice about investing in a Slinger Bag tennis ball machine being offered on a Kickstarter campaign.

I had never heard of Slinger, but from what I saw, my tennis ‘gut’ told me that if it was as good as it looked on their promo video, then it could literally revolutionize the tennis ball machine market like nothing before it. That same day I somehow managed to get the founder of Slinger (Joe Kalfa) on the phone and he agreed to meet me a few days later to test it out. On meeting him, feeling his belief in the product and testing it myself, I agreed there and then to take on this product, and to build out the Slinger Bag brand as its CEO. There was nothing but a very basic prototype and a good idea!

I then proceeded to spend the next 12 months in China, sourcing the product parts and building a production and QC infrastructure based on all of my tennis vendor contacts. We fulfilled the 3,500 Kickstarter orders in March of 2020 and then went on to sell the first Slinger Bag production model in July 2020. Today we have sold around 70,000 units — not bad for a one-product company!

Slinger has distributors around the globe. In your view, what areas of the world are poised for the most growth?

Yes, we have exclusive distributors in almost every market worldwide. After many years of decline, tennis saw a much-needed growth spurt across the globe during the pandemic period and still today is benefitting from that impact. Outside the core tennis markets of North America, Europe and Japan, tennis continues to show strong growth across Asia (China, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, etc.). In my opinion, I think that the recent significant growth of Padel related racquet sports — Pickleball (USA), POP Tennis (USA), Padel Tennis (EU and South America) and Beach Tennis (South America) — are all related to tennis and should be embraced as a great way to get into tennis or simply to have fun with a ball and a racquet. These are all now significant revenue drivers for the traditional tennis industry.

How much of an impact can the Slinger Bag make on someone's game?

As a former coach myself, and with great advocates such as Nick Bollettieri (sadly departed) and Patrick Mouratoglou, telling us that Slinger Bag greatly enhances the teaching of tennis by allowing the coach to be next to their pupil, I have to believe that it is a great advantage in improving players of all ages and abilities. In tennis, repetition is the route to success and the Slinger Bag offers transportability and versatility all at an affordable price, allowing players to easily access a ball machine.

As a ball machine (we call it a launcher), Slinger Bag offers the basic functions (Lithium battery, oscillation, remote control, feed speed and frequency) all for an affordable price. I even think that Slinger Bag has helped grow tennis. If you want to get into tennis, it can be quite daunting — going to a club, playing for the first time, taking lessons, etc. Tennis is not an easy game to learn. You also need somebody to play against. It’s no fun to play when abilities are mismatched. Slinger Bag allows you to play anytime and anyplace, resulting in more players playing more tennis, more often!

Why is the explosion of pickleball only a good thing for the racquet industry as a whole?

For me, any version of tennis that incudes a racquet and ball is a positive move for the industry. In general, the now 5 million or more USA Pickleball players have added to the tennis player cohort (yes, there is some crossover) and that results in more products being purchased, more people being active and enjoying the social experience of tennis. The industry as a whole is stronger and relevant to more consumers.

How long have you known Mike Lynne and what kind of relationship do you have with him?

I met Mike back in 2016 when I was CEO of Prince. As I had analyzed the Prince USA customer base I found that for some reason Mike Lynne’s Tennis Shop was not working with us, so I set a meeting to find out why. I was very impressed with Mike and his industry knowledge and experience and most importantly the way he and his team connected with the players in his community.

Mike Lynne’s Tennis Shop was clearly a focal point for a vast base of tennis consumers. I asked him why he could exist without Prince. He said he didn’t want to, but in the preceding years, the service he had received was below par and he felt disconnected with the Prince brand. I did all I could to fix that and to ensure that Prince had its place on his wall. I think that has now extended to his support of Slinger. It’s a new source of revenue for the business, but for Mike, it is more importantly a new service he can offer to his clients to ensure they enjoy their chosen sport even more.

Why is Mike Lynne's Tennis Shop so successful despite all of the changes and challenges in the industry?

Tennis is a close-knit industry and relies heavily on a core band of dealers in the ilk of Mike Lynne’s Tennis. A “friend” to the tennis player — a place you visit for great advice on a new racquet or to restring your racquets. To find the best tennis footwear for your game and of course to buy a Slinger Bag! This level of consumer interaction can only be provided in-store and Mike and his team are kings of that. As long as that continues, Mike Lynne’s Tennis will thrive.