Can a stringer screw up with a Babolat Sensor Expert?

[Gabs011]

Ok so here goes.....when I was on an extended holiday abroad I found what seems to be a good enough tennis shop with a vast selection of rackets and strings.

In addition, they had a Babolat Sensor Expert machine which I believe is one of the best available. Being so impressed with the equipment, I asked for a VS gut/ Pro hurricane hybrid on my Ncode 6.1 95. I expected it to play like nothing I've ever tried. (By the way the tension was roughly mid range with the gut on the mains)....yet it played shockingly bad. I was not able to get any control and the whole stringbed just felt like a flimsy piece of crap. I later went back and got a second string job of Luxilon Alu Power on the same racket and it felt equally bad i.e. as if something was wrong but I couldn't pinpoint what.

So my question is as follows; can a stringer still screw up a string job even if they are using such an expensive machine? What could they have done wrong??

Thanks for all replies in advance

 

[Stan]

In short, yes it could be stringer error or indifference. If they are doing a heavy volume it is possible that they are double pulling in interest of cutting corners and saving time. Hard to tell without having someone watch them and analyze their technique.

A quality machine does not always equal a quality string job, whereas a quality stringer does always equal a quality string job.

In terms of your situation, take your concerns to the shop manager and explain that the two string jobs you received did not come close to meeting your expectations and explain exactly what was lacking. The manager, in interest of keeping your business, may decide to help you out or at the very least pay some additional attention to the quality of work coming out of the stringing section of the shop.

 

[bsandy]

Bad Calibration and Dirty Clamps, come to mind, too.

 

[Gabs011]

Stan, thank you for your informative reply....

"A quality machine does not always equal a quality string job, whereas a quality stringer does always equal a quality string job." - I like this quote, and I believe you have hit the nail on the head with it. I actually went to a different stringer a couple of weeks later whose equipment was measly in comparison yet the stringjob was one of the best I have had with a poly.

 

[Steve Huff]

Stan is correct, a stringer can still mess up on a top-notch machine. But, in this case, I'd guess you began using a string that's a lot stiffer than you're accustom to--the Pro Hurricane. Even in a hybrid with natural gut, it's still not going to feel like a synthetic gut. What did you NOT like about the way it played?

 

[migjam]

A good or great machine doesn't make a great stringer.