Most likely you have purchased something in bulk sometime in your life. We live in a Costco and Sam's Club society and can't get away from the idea of buying in large quantitties. Although the idea of stepping foot inside of a large box retailer doesn't do much for me, taking advantage of online deals does. Take advantage of this form of reasoning and save yourself some money on tennis strings today.
The two advantages are rolled out here. Buying in larger quantities saves you money especially buying trial packs. Luxilon, Wilson and Genesis are among the tennis companies that offer trial packs. Not only do you get an assortment of several strings you also save on the per set price.
The following includes some deals worth checking out. - Go to my website to continue reading:
Today's racket stringing tip is about understanding how the tie off holes are positioned and how knowing this before you start stringing can be beneficial. The goal for this tip is to help you understand how this could save you not only headaches but make things cleaner and more efficient when stringing.
A few key facts you need to know before reading the stringing tip today. Tennis rackets will have 4 tie-off holes, two for the main strings and two for the cross strings. In a one-piece installation you will only use two of the tie-off holes. In a two-piece stringing you will use all 4 tie-off holes. I am also assuming you are not going to make custom tie off holes in different places, this is however something I want to discuss in another post because it is beneficial and a regular practice for many stringers. I am also assuming you know how to string using the 'around-the-world' stringing pattern. I am also assuming you understand the term 'short-side' and understand where the 'head' and 'throat' of the racket are located.
Lets get to it here:
1. I have found that during racket installation into the stringing machine sometimes the mounting system blocks the tie off hole that is located on the side of the frame. If this happens shift the frame in either direction and re-secure so that the tie-off hole is easier to access.
2. Some tie-off holes become worn and even start to break because the grommet gets more wear and the bulk of the tie-off knot sometimes can damage the grommet. Each frame will have 4 tie off holes, examine each and determine if any are worn. If you need to tube the whole because the grommet is worn than try to use the other side of the frame to tie-off your mains. (Only applies in one piece stringing). You will need to know this before installing any strings because you will have to adjust your short side so that you will be securing the knot on the opposite side of the damaged grommet. On a one-piece stringing using the 'around-the-world' stringing pattern you will be securing your tie-off at the head of the racket and on the same side as the short side (Except some Babolat frames).
3. You also want to be aware of where the hole is in relation to where the last string is because you really do not want to have a large amont of string on the outside of the frame. I have seen some examples on rackets where the stringer couldn't find the tie-off hole or it was blocked and they have a 2 or 3 inch piece of string on the outside of the frame before the tie-off hole. The reason this is not best practices is because it looks sloppy, can cause premature breakage and because of the potential of tension loss.
I hope these 3 brief tips help you in your racket stringing.
Here is another excert from my blog postings on beginning racket stringing Q & A.
Q: My customer wants a more durable string, where should start figuring out the type of string to use?
A; The first thing that i like to find out is if the customer likes the type of string they have, if so than perhaps a thicker version. Go from a 17g to a 16g. If the customer has no preference than perhaps the next more durable string. If they are playing with a natural gut or multifilament string than perhaps a synthetic would suffice. If they already use a synthetic than perhaps something like Wilson Red Alert which is designed to be more durable than synthetics. If the customer needs something even more durable than the Polyester string would be the next offering. Polyester strings also offer degree's of durability. I will be discussing some characterisitics of polyester strings in another post.
Back in February I wrote a post about the frequency of restringing. I was happy to see the editor of RSI -Racquet Sports Industry Magazine in the July issue make mention of restringing and the need for a new campaign to promote more frequent stringing, especially in light of the new string technology and the poly strings that dominate. Read the brief at RSI here. Please drop me a comment and let me know what your thoughts are on this subject.
2013 Wimbledon
Dreamhost