When I set up the camera, it literally was something I decided to do spur of the moment. I was trying to figure out what direction I wanted to go with RestrungMag. I still have strong opinions, but most of that energy gets directed into the work I put in with the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour. Then it dawned on me, it's about focus and how to keep focus on what I have in front of me.
The video took me about 2 hours in total to make on the spot. I think it's relevant to mention this because I had absolutely no shortage of B-Roll to choose from to accent what I was saying, making it easy to throw footage into Final Cut Pro in layers and pump out a video for YouTube. The original footage is a super spaced out ramble, that touched on everything from squash to paddleball, to pickleball to people.
This may have played out to be a pivotal exercise last Wednesday, because it may reshape or repurpose what RestrungMag will be moving forward. Originally, the name "Restrung" was a metaphor for how I viewed the sports I was personally participating in... imagining a racquet with broken strings, then restrung to form a racquet that is both the same but different, that let me keep playing my racquet sports... and looking to apply that to all racquet-sports. All in one place. Something for everyone. (I wrote about the very beginning months back, "Almost 9 Years Ago".)
No doubt, the blog did not turn out that way over the years. My formal "consultant/photography" type involvement with racquetball left me with the ability to form opinions on the sport, based on intimate knowledge of the players and people involved. I tended to pepper in my "objective" view and comparisons as I looked at and played other racquet sports.
All this has left me with one of the most comprehensive racquetball related content archives in the sport, no doubt in my mind. But what do I do with it? I thought of coffee table books or trying to monetize the photos somehow, but that never lit my fire. I like the idea of creating not selling. (That may have been my biggest problem working in racquetball over the years.) All this to say, the one thing I did learn to do was create.
With my "racquetball-sport' energies significantly focused on the LPRT, I believe the fruit will come with a combination of execution and player buy in, as the LPRT works next season for a "real" growth. If we can transcend this operating model somehow, then all the shit talking I've written in the past few years may seem appropriate. If not, it's more like a fade away scene, like many of the issues and people I've written about in racquetball these past years.
But what of RestrungMag? I'm still a niche photographer and I have instagram for that release. Yet, in today's media world with analytics and algorithms, it is said that your focus should be on what you consume the most media-wise, when it comes to marketing. If that is true, I'm a Youtube junkie. What would RestrungMag be if I just kept my camera rolling and pointed at all the racquetball, paddleball, poptennis, pickleball I play... or all the racquet sports I notice... or who plays what and where... or how I keep from getting hurt by stretching properly... or what best equipment to use... or giving my opinion... or...