A progress update for our treasured Deep Recovery (Formerly Massage Track) backers and supporters: we’ve been very busy during the ‘quiet period’ in between updates. Still chatting every evening via Skype with our Chinese suppliers. The good news is I’m pretty confident we’ve chosen good manufacturers and the bad news is of course that they’re moving slower than promised. Here’s an example of a typical chat:

dear eric,I’m sorry that it seems very difficult for us to send the prototype before the holiday now,the mold need another two days to complete,we will plan one day working on the weekend,and it will be ok on next monday.I’ll go to the factory and take a photo for you soon.

This week is a national  vacation week in China kicked off by their “National Day” commemorating the founding of the PRC. Not too convenient for us, but, without the help of our Chinese friends, so many products would be exclusively for the wealthy.

First, let’s look at the samples I received a couple days ago:

I was very happy with the workmanship and the hardness of the materials which is of utmost important for our products. However, the material used doesn’t grip quite as well as it should so the factory remade samples using a different formula and the new samples are currently in transit via DHL.

Same story with the balls – workmanship and hardness was good but I wasn’t happy with the weight and grip. New samples already in transit as well.

This is the mold that produced the neck track sample seen above.

A close-up of the same mold.

This is what the mold looks like when it’s closed up – the holes you see allow gases to escape.

A picture of our factory rep measuring the Shore C hardness of our massage ball.

This is a picture of the body track mold which is not yet complete. Interesting that the largest of the manufacturers I chose has been the slowest.

A picture from quality control checks on the mesh bags.

And finally, all the mesh bags have been completed and are waiting to be consolidated with other shipments.

While we wait for our Chinese manufacturers, we still have a mountainous to do-list here at Deep Recovery headquarters. This weekend I started clearing out space  in the garage for warehousing, packing and shipping. Next up, create a wall rack for the bikes to get them out of the way on the other side of the garage… funny how one thing always leads to another to another!

This wall is going to become our first warehouse and packing and shipping center.

To sum things up, we’re moving steadily closer, but without a doubt will miss our October goal. As to how much delay we are looking at, I don’t have a good idea yet. Thanks so much for your support and patience. I think about you every day!!!

Showing my invention scares me – will people think I’m crazy? Will they like it or hate it? Or, maybe worse, be completely indifferent? Will the retirement savings and countless hours I invested in this go down the drain? This is a little like getting naked in public — or, as close as I’ll ever get to doing that!

I’ve been inviting physical therapists, coaches, athletes and bodyworkers to try out the Deep Recovery tools over the last two weeks. A few experts have already received kits that look like the ones on the right.

You can imagine how wonderful the following replies have been for me. Thrilling.

I watched your videos and I am very interested in trying your products. I use lacrosse balls a lot for self massage (and suggest for patients/friends/family, as well). And I am also, in the clinical setting, a big fan of prolonged pressure for muscle release.

Honestly, I am excited to try it out. I was inspired from your videos to get on the lacrosse ball last night, and to spend a bit more time at key areas. Felt great during my morning workout today. So, the sooner the better in my opinion!

And:

Just got your message and checked out the videos.  This is some great stuff.  A very simple idea that works is exactly what would be effective not only selling this, but with the use of it.  I sell lacrosse balls at my clinic already because it is a cheap alternative to the expensive trigger point tools, but I have been looking for something just like this that allows patients to utilize those tools better.

Thanks so much for sharing this.  It’s a great and simple idea and looks like it does a great service for athletes!  I am usually very wary of products and . . .  extremely picky about the things I suggest to the runners or my patients.

Patents

Our tools are covered by the following patents:

• Canada – 167114, 158746
• European Union – 002559799
• Korea – 0888938
• USA – D758110, D758111, D761044, D801689

And we also have a utility patent pending.

Trademarks

• Deep Recovery is trademarked in the US and EU
• Massage Track is trademarked in the US and Korea.

Updated: 5/11/18