Stringing Racquetball Racquets

[ambro]

I did a search on this and found a bit, but I was wondering how stringing racquets with a PowerRing works. The racquet in question is the Prince More Dominant. I just bought one of these because I've started getting more into racquetball, but I can't figure out how stringing it is going to work. The main problem I see is with mounting it. Do I mount on the inside of the Power Ring or between it and the throat? I would assume inside, because it wouldn't get any support otherwise. But the center mount seems as if it would get in the way of the center mains if I did this. I will be stringing on an Alpha Apex II if that makes any difference. Does anyone know anything about stringing this racquet?

 

[ambro]

No one's strung an Ektelon racquet with a Powerring?

 

[Deleted member 25923]

I've done an E-Force Judgement 175, but not any thing else.

 

[BigServer1]

Ektelon PowerRing racquets are not too bad to string in the grand scheme of racquetball, but compared to tennis they're a bear to work with.

You need to place your mount against the throat of the frame, essentially in between the throat and the power ring, allowing you to string your mains around the ring (I wish there was a more concise and clear way to explain this...apologies). When you start your mains, one main goes under the power ring and one goes over the power ring. As you continue stringing mains you always alternate stringing over/under/over/under, etc. on the power ring. This gives you mains that are properly spaced, setting you up for the hard weave on the crosses.

If you have access to a USRSA stringing guide, it has pretty specific instructions for racquetball stringing. 15-20% of my stringing business is racquetball and that book was (and still is, really) a complete lifesaver when you're dealing with racquets like this.

Best of luck man.

 

[ambro]

Thanks a lot, that's the info I needed. Another question popped into my head though, do I tension every main, or every other? I've heard with the Power Ring you only do every other, tensioning both from the top of the frame. Is this true, or do I tension all mains?

 

[stringwalla]

you can only pull tension from the top, so yeah, every other main gets pulled. Notice that there is a shared grommet or two up top. Make sure you figure out whether to go up or down based on where they will end up since your bottom X will be a "hard weave". I usually start my X's from the bottom on these kinds of setups. Good uck

 

[mpenders]

you can only pull tension from the top, so yeah, every other main gets pulled. Notice that there is a shared grommet or two up top. Make sure you figure out whether to go up or down based on where they will end up since your bottom X will be a "hard weave". I usually start my X's from the bottom on these kinds of setups. Good uck

"Hard-weave" = good

Bottom-up on an Ektelon racquet = bad.

It will distort the frame, making the throat side of the frame too narrow and stress the frame. It also voids the warranty. Instead, count the number of crosses - if even, the first (top) cross needs to be a soft-weave. If odd number of crosses, the first (top) cross needs to be a hard-weave.

 

[stringwalla]

"Hard-weave" = good

Bottom-up on an Ektelon racquet = bad.

Many string coatings out there will be ruined while trying to do that final X if done top to bottom. And just try to keep a multifilament like technifibre from twisting beyond belief under such resistance. You may be correct about the warranty, but all of those frames are so far out of warranty, it doesn't matter.
I've been using the bottoms up method on hundreds of those frames since the "ring" was developed and never run into a problem (distortion or otherwise) so I'll keep taking my chances with "the path of least resistance"

 

[mpenders]

Many string coatings out there will be ruined while trying to do that final X if done top to bottom. And just try to keep a multifilament like technifibre from twisting beyond belief under such resistance.

I've also been stringing for many years, predominantly rball frames, and have strung my share of "ring" frames - more than I can count. I've never had problems with coatings, or excessive twisting. Maybe it's because I take the time to weave those last couple crosses with care so as not to burn or otherwise damage the string.

You may be correct about the warranty, but all of those frames are so far out of warranty, it doesn't matter.

No, they're not -and yes, it might. Ektelon has several "ring" racquets in it's current lineup - a feature they've offered every year for well over a decade now.

I've been using the bottoms up method on hundreds of those frames since the "ring" was developed and never run into a problem (distortion or otherwise) so I'll keep taking my chances with "the path of least resistance"

Nice that it works for you. I choose to do what's right by the customer, instead of what's most convenient for me.

 

[stringwalla]

Maybe it's because I take the time to weave those last couple crosses with care so as not to burn or otherwise damage the string.

I also take my time on these. There's no choice but to go slow at that point. I was just translating the tennis ring racquets (Prince/Ektelon) technique that recommends starting at the bottom to preserve string integrity.

Ektelon has several "ring" racquets in it's current lineup - a feature they've offered every year for well over a decade now.

My apologies, you are correct about the current "ring series". It's just that our shop doesn't see anything but older rings and current high end rball racquets like the O3's, + Eforce and Heads. I'll leave the rball discussions to you experts-