Ivan Lendl 8 knot-string

howy

New User
Hi,

I saw a picture where Ivan Lendl uses a Bosworth racket with 8 knots and a black and a white string.

This is no classic hybrid string, but only the middle mains and crosses are black (Poly) and the rest are white ones (Natural Gut?)

Does anyone have a clue what kind of string Ivan is playing there and what are his expectations from that string?

Best regards,

Howy
 

jmverdugo

Hall of Fame
it looks kind of funny:

_57643749_122136396use.jpg
 
Good grief, that's weird looking. WTF, does he want natty gut for only off-center hits??

I think he wants to play with poly but doesn't want to feel it on off center hits. I wonder if the octagonal shape of the bosworth allows the structural integrity of the frame to be unaffected by this unusual string job.
 

ramos77

Semi-Pro
lendl also used to have saw dust in his pockets...

he's not a normal character!

out of all the racquets he could choose, he chooses teh ugliest one of the lot, with a weird string job..
 

ae695

Rookie
Optispot

Looks like the Optispot by Völkl in a square version...

Hope somebody can explain the benefits, if any.
 
I just saw Lendl play this setup on TV. It seems like you could do this with 2 pieces of string, but the middle strings (the black ones) would probably use a length of string well over the normal half-set of 20 feet. Has anyone tried it and measured what is needed? I envision doing the inside 10 mains, ending at the top, then start your white crosses up top before you go back to the black string to do the crosses starting with the 4th cross.with the white string you could run the top 3 crosses, followed by the left outside mains, then botoom crosses and finally the right side mains.
It is so weird that it makes me want to try it, though it probably sucks and shouldn't be tried more than once. Also, it makes me feel some degree of pain for my racquet to go through such a process. Probably low tension would be a good idea for a first run.
 

Boricua

Hall of Fame
I just saw Lendl play this setup on TV. It seems like you could do this with 2 pieces of string, but the middle strings (the black ones) would probably use a length of string well over the normal half-set of 20 feet. Has anyone tried it and measured what is needed? I envision doing the inside 10 mains, ending at the top, then start your white crosses up top before you go back to the black string to do the crosses starting with the 4th cross.with the white string you could run the top 3 crosses, followed by the left outside mains, then botoom crosses and finally the right side mains.
It is so weird that it makes me want to try it, though it probably sucks and shouldn't be tried more than once. Also, it makes me feel some degree of pain for my racquet to go through such a process. Probably low tension would be a good idea for a first run.

I would have nightmares just by having to look that weird string setup.
 

pabletion

Hall of Fame
looks cool and worth a try..... considering hes one of those "tennis nut jobs" in the sense that they think about every little detail there is, Im sure theres some logic for it, I specially lean to follow what Dropthebaseline says, about not wanting to feel poly on off center hits
 

Muppet

Legend
Could he be trying to make the poly last longer by suspending the outer poly strings in gut? The way he has it set up, his sweet spot is all poly. Poly performance w/ gut longevity?
 

paulorenzo

Hall of Fame
lendl also used to have saw dust in his pockets...

he's not a normal character!

out of all the racquets he could choose, he chooses teh ugliest one of the lot, with a weird string job..

i think he's very utilitarian. it's not a bad trait to have. it's good to see pros tinkering around with their set up.
 

corners

Legend
I think Lendl's setup is very clever. Using natural gut outside the center would both improve power in the center of the strings and really improve power outside the center. The central section of copoly would still be able to slide and snapback for extra spin and the whole thing would be more comfortable than a full bed of copoly. I wonder who's stringing those for him.
 

AR15

Professional
I'd like to see a better picture to see if there are eight knots, or if this is more of an "around the world" type pattern with fewer knots.
 

struggle

Legend
bosworth probably came up with that design and probably stringing his racquets too, hes been using bosworth equip/stringing/consulting for +/- 30yrs, hes their most notable client

this, but he was HIS most noteable client. hell, Lendl made Bosworth who he was and what THEY are today.
 

Fuji

Legend
Hey all, I actually got a frame strung up pretty darn close to the Lendl method! I'll be more then happy to post pictures tonight/tomorrow, man does it feel sweet though!

-Fuji
 

big ted

Legend
if there are 8 knots, i assume its
1 piece black string for middle mains
1 piece black string for middle crosses
1 piece white string for bottom crosses and one side of end mains
1 piece white string for top crosses and other side of end mains

and that 10 sided racquet is supposed to enlarge the sweet spot so with that string setup
the whole racquet is probably a sweet spot
 

Lefty78

Professional
this, but he was HIS most noteable client. hell, Lendl made Bosworth who he was and what THEY are today.

This is true, because guys like Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Arthur Ashe, John Newcombe etc, etc, etc were a bunch of useless hacks. Jeez.
 

julian

Hall of Fame
There was a rumor

I think Lendl's setup is very clever. Using natural gut outside the center would both improve power in the center of the strings and really improve power outside the center. The central section of copoly would still be able to slide and snapback for extra spin and the whole thing would be more comfortable than a full bed of copoly. I wonder who's stringing those for him.
There was a rumor that the same company that produces the racket
strings the racket(rackets) and sends by FedEx
I find it hard to believe
 

bigmatt

Semi-Pro
that was the way Bosworth originally dealt with his clients. There was an SI article back in the 80s about it.
 

corners

Legend
There was a rumor that the same company that produces the racket
strings the racket(rackets) and sends by FedEx
I find it hard to believe

This sounds plausible to me. FedEx is not expensive for millionaires. Did you hear what company it is?
 

julian

Hall of Fame
Please provide numbers for tension

I just saw Lendl play this setup on TV. It seems like you could do this with 2 pieces of string, but the middle strings (the black ones) would probably use a length of string well over the normal half-set of 20 feet. Has anyone tried it and measured what is needed? I envision doing the inside 10 mains, ending at the top, then start your white crosses up top before you go back to the black string to do the crosses starting with the 4th cross.with the white string you could run the top 3 crosses, followed by the left outside mains, then botoom crosses and finally the right side mains.
It is so weird that it makes me want to try it, though it probably sucks and shouldn't be tried more than once. Also, it makes me feel some degree of pain for my racquet to go through such a process. Probably low tension would be a good idea for a first run.
Please provide numbers for tension
Is any danger of breaking a racket?
 

Fuji

Legend
Hey all, Here is the "Franken" String Job!

9vgxs1.jpg


70c8k2.jpg


2mxn05k.jpg


Sorry all the pictures are crooked. Basically it was a huge pain in the butt to string for my MRT. We ended up doing 12 knots spread out across the frame. Tension was 45lbs across the board, with the outer mains pulled at around 50lbs. It's poly in the centre 8 mains and 8 crosses, then gut in the outer 10 mains, then Gosen OG Sheep in the outer 12 crosses. Took about an hour to do, and due to the extra string for the knots, it feels significantly heavier in the head then normal.

Have to admit though, just bouncing a ball on the string bed feels unreal. I hope to be able to take it out Monday for a test hit (and hope that my stick doesn't explode into a million pieces of graphite) to see how it plays. The feel is amazing though. Never have I felt a string bed like it!

Cheers,

-Fuji
 

monomer

Rookie
Hey all, Here is the "Franken" String Job!


Sorry all the pictures are crooked. Basically it was a huge pain in the butt to string for my MRT. We ended up doing 12 knots spread out across the frame. Tension was 45lbs across the board, with the outer mains pulled at around 50lbs. It's poly in the centre 8 mains and 8 crosses, then gut in the outer 10 mains, then Gosen OG Sheep in the outer 12 crosses. Took about an hour to do, and due to the extra string for the knots, it feels significantly heavier in the head then normal.

Have to admit though, just bouncing a ball on the string bed feels unreal. I hope to be able to take it out Monday for a test hit (and hope that my stick doesn't explode into a million pieces of graphite) to see how it plays. The feel is amazing though. Never have I felt a string bed like it!

Cheers,

-Fuji


Very cool. You will have to let us know how it plays.
 

Fuji

Legend
Why gut side mains and syn gut crosses? Why not just used gut crosses, or syn gut for the side mains?

Well we only had a half set of gut to work with and the mains contribute to the feel more then the crosses, so that's what we went with. If we had planned a bit better, we would have had more Gut to work with, but it was sort of a weird stringing process with the string available.

-Fuji
 

Fuji

Legend
I've never heard what his tension numbers are. I would be a little afraid of breaking the racquet using this stringjob, so I'd probably go low. I'm interested to hear how Fuji's racquet holds up.

We strung it up @ 45lbs, and I have to admit:

It plays amazing. I absolutely love how the ball is hit, tons of RPM's on the ball, but no discomfort whatsoever. The feel is a bit weird, as it plays with a firmness, with a ton of give outside the sweet spot. I purposely attempted to hit higher/lower/edge of the bed to see how it held up, and it played great. The outside edges hit with so much feel it was crazy.

The only thing that was odd, was the sound coming off the strings. It sounds like full poly crack on a solid hit, but it lacks the "ping." Definitely interesting.

I'll play with it until the strings break, or the frame breaks. Let me know if you guys have any questions!

-Fuji
 

julian

Hall of Fame
A match?

We strung it up @ 45lbs, and I have to admit:

It plays amazing. I absolutely love how the ball is hit, tons of RPM's on the ball, but no discomfort whatsoever. The feel is a bit weird, as it plays with a firmness, with a ton of give outside the sweet spot. I purposely attempted to hit higher/lower/edge of the bed to see how it held up, and it played great. The outside edges hit with so much feel it was crazy.

The only thing that was odd, was the sound coming off the strings. It sounds like full poly crack on a solid hit, but it lacks the "ping." Definitely interesting.

I'll play with it until the strings break, or the frame breaks. Let me know if you guys have any questions!

-Fuji
Would you consider playing a match with those strings?
 

darklore009

Hall of Fame
really nice fuji!!! just wonder how to do it. might give my client a daring challenge by doing this method that you just done.
 

dje31

Professional
OSHA* recommends the use of safety goggles when playing with this setup, until such time as it is deemed safe for usage by the general public.







* OSHA = Occupational Safety & Health Administration, for non-Yanks.
 
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Fuji

Legend
Thanks for letting me know. It should work now. Were you with the MRT when he did yours?

Haha yup! It's still down for me by the way.

The MRT is one of my best friends, so yeah we were hanging out when he did it. :)

-Fuji
 
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