SOLIDWORKS Entrepreneur: BOLT Sports Changing the World of Tennis

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BOLT Sports is revolutionizing tennis rackets. Normal rackets are designed to flex as a way to absorb the ball’s impact energy and control the ball’s rebound speed. A stiff frame however is powerful, so the balance of control and power is always a compromise between the two. Now, BOLT has shifted the control of the ball’s rebound speed away from the frame and into a patented design called a Zipstrip – Power and control are achieved together, no compromise!

Bolt has transformed rackets from the standard flexible frame that is similar to olden day wooden frames to a dynamically responsive strung instrument. By adapting an automotive engineering concept to a racket, an integrated spring suspension system with the string-bed, the racket achieves substantially increased stability, power, control and more. Over the years, Bolt has been gaining traction through a network wide of tennis coaches and professionals that endorse Bolt.

I got a chance to speak with the founder of BOLT, Brett Bothwell, “I built BOLT from scratch with a budget of my own and initially, one angel and a brother. It’s my nature to stay tuned in to the latest advances and I was aware for a number of years that SOLIDWORKS is the premier parametric modeling software. When I learned that SOLIDWORKS afforded a seamless process from design file to the CNC machine, it became a no brainer from a production standpoint, and an obvious business requirement as a far as I was concerned.”

BOLT is looking towards building a marketing effort through TV media and pro tour endorsements. Along with developing a 3D printing capacity for prototyping purposes, BOLT is looking to expand their production capacity to accelerate their mastery of the software with the purpose of becoming fluent with the Simulator.

Thank you to Brett Bothwell and BOLT Sports for being SOLIDWORKS Entrepreneurs and sharing with our community.

Isabelle Smith

Education and Early Engagement Intern at SOLIDWORKS at Dassault Systems SOLIDWORKS
Isabelle Smith is the Education and Early Engagement Intern for SOLIDWORKS. Focused on helping Startups and Entrepreneurs reach their highest potential, Isabelle strives to continually increase her knowledge on the Startup world. She has worked with Entrepreneurs at numerous startup events, competitions, workshops and accelerators. Isabelle looks forward to continuing her career with startups world wide.