What string to keep onsite at a tournament??

[star 5 15]

I plan on stringing for a 5 day with about 500 kids in it ranging from 12s-18s. I am wondering what strings I should take with me. I am plannind on setting up my star 5 and doing all the stringing. I normally would be playing the tournament but I have a hurt back that I can't play with.

[jamauss]

I've done plenty of Jr. Tourneys - here is what I would recommend having on hand:

Lux ALU Power (for the older kids)
Generic Syn Gut (Prince/Head/Wison, whatever)
Cheap Poly (Head Sonic Pro/Prince Tournament Poly, etc)
A soft multi, any brand

That should have you covered for the most part. It's pretty rare for any player in that age group to string with gut.

[star 5 15]

Originally Posted by jamauss

I've done plenty of Jr. Tourneys - here is what I would recommend having on hand:

Lux ALU Power (for the older kids)
Generic Syn Gut (Prince/Head/Wison, whatever)
Cheap Poly (Head Sonic Pro/Prince Tournament Poly, etc)
A soft multi, any brand

That should have you covered for the most part. It's pretty rare for any player in that age group to string with gut.

Ok Thanks thats exactly a reply I was hoping for. I already have Alu Power because that's what I use. I have Babolat Synthetic gut but should I get a reel of duraflex or something? I also have Tecnifibre Polyspin but its pretty horrible stuff. Should I get something a little better or do they care really? I have Babolat Addiction and TF x-one already for multis and I have some TNT too.

One thing I'm worried about though is I only have about maybe 6 sets of alu left(guessing becuase its a reel) and overall I'm just wondering how much you think I will use and what kind of work load it will be. I have done tournys like this but only the 12s and 14s because 16s and 18s was in another city. I only did about 30 sticks that entire tournament. I'm kinda predicting about 80-120 sticks maybe for this one? I'm thinking I will charge $15 labor?

[jamauss]

Yeah $15 labor is about right.

Among juniors it seems like the older kids (16s and 18s) know how to prepare enough that they don't need that many racquets strung during a tourney. The age group I usually end up stringing the most for is 14s and 16s that weren't ready for a string breaking.

6 sets of ALU is probably a little low if you think you're going to be doing 80-120 sticks. I'm guessing at least 15-20% are going to want ALU Power. For SynGut I think pretty much anything will do but most kids seem to like a soft syn gut - which I wouldn't put PSGD into the category of. Usually something like Wilson Extreme SynGut or KGut is popular. As far as Babolat strings - most often I end up stringing Pro Hurricane Tour and Attraction/Addiction. I have not come across many juniors that play with Tecnifibre strings even though I think they're great and play with them myself. Most juniors at the higher levels get sponsored by an "American" tennis company so they're playing and stringing with their sponsors stuff (Head/Wilson/Prince) - I seen very few kids hitting or stringing Yonex/Tecnifibre/Gosen/Fischer/etc

[star 5 15]

Originally Posted by jamauss

Yeah $15 labor is about right.

Among juniors it seems like the older kids (16s and 18s) know how to prepare enough that they don't need that many racquets strung during a tourney. The age group I usually end up stringing the most for is 14s and 16s that weren't ready for a string breaking.

6 sets of ALU is probably a little low if you think you're going to be doing 80-120 sticks. I'm guessing at least 15-20% are going to want ALU Power. For SynGut I think pretty much anything will do but most kids seem to like a soft syn gut - which I wouldn't put PSGD into the category of. Usually something like Wilson Extreme SynGut or KGut is popular. As far as Babolat strings - most often I end up stringing Pro Hurricane Tour and Attraction/Addiction. I have not come across many juniors that play with Tecnifibre strings even though I think they're great and play with them myself. Most juniors at the higher levels get sponsored by an "American" tennis company so they're playing and stringing with their sponsors stuff (Head/Wilson/Prince) - I seen very few kids hitting or stringing Yonex/Tecnifibre/Gosen/Fischer/etc

Ok thanks. I may have to pic up a little extra Alu. I have 2 reels that both are beginning to look low so the 6 sets was a bit of a guess. What section od you string in? I'm planning on doing the Fall Southern Closed Indoor Chmps in Louisville. I think there are 512 kids accepted(64 size draws with FIC). The 80-120 racquets was a total guess. how many would you probably expect for an event like that?

[star 5 15]

This is the price list I have made up for the Tourny...
Labor: $15
Synthetic Gut 16g (Babolat): $20
Polyester 16L (Tecnifibre): $20
Babolat Addiction 16g: $27
Tecnifibre Pro Red Code 17g: $27
Gamma TNT 16g: $29
Babolat Revenge 17g: $30
Tecnifibre X-One 16g: $32
Luxilon Alu Power 16L: $32

Also I am thinking about offering rush jobs for an additional $5. I wonder though if I will even need it, if I will even have that big of a stack of racquets that it will matter.

[jamauss]

I string for Southwest Region tourneys held at the tennis complex in town (Suprise, AZ).

For 512 kids total, 80-120 is probably a little on the high side. That would mean you're doing 1 out of every 5 kids racquets. Maybe 1 out of 5 in the 18s might need stringing (and possibly some kids in the 16s) but I don't think the numbers would be that high in the lower age groups. You never know though, so being prepared is a good thing.

[schap02]

Originally Posted by jamauss

I string for Southwest Region tourneys held at the tennis complex in town (Suprise, AZ).

For 512 kids total, 80-120 is probably a little on the high side. That would mean you're doing 1 out of every 5 kids racquets. Maybe 1 out of 5 in the 18s might need stringing (and possibly some kids in the 16s) but I don't think the numbers would be that high in the lower age groups. You never know though, so being prepared is a good thing.

Home stringer here - JAMAUSS - I like your quick thinking here but I just had an inkling - 512 kids - x 2 racquets per kid (miniimum two racquets for these people, more like 3-5 for most)
That's between 1000 and 2000 racquets at this tourney total - I would think about 100 frames seems like an ok guess?

But then again you're probably right about certain kids getting it done beforehand ect ect ect...

How do you get invited to string at tournaments?

[jamauss]

hey schap02

I don't really get "invited" to string at tournaments - I string for tourneys that are hosted at the tennis complex I string for. It's just a responsibility I have since I am the complex's only stringer.

Here is why I am telling star5 that 80-120 racquets is probably overshooting by a bit.

512 kids x 2 racquets.
Take the 10s and 12s out of the equation, as I never hear about them breaking strings. So that eliminates 2 of the 5 junior age groups playing.

So now we're down to about 300 x 2 racquets.

14s/16s/18s. Of those 3 age groups, the 14s are unlikely to break strings - I'd be surprised if he gets more than 5 racquets from the 14s players.

so 200 x 2 + 5 racquets. (that are really eligible candidates for possibly needing to be strung)

The 16s and 18s, these are the age groups that are the string breakers.

For those that are "sponsored" (get 2 free sticks each January from whichever company) - they've usually just got those 2 sticks with them year long. I don't understand it, but for some reason the parents aren't usually likely to spring for anymore racquets in addition to those 2 free ones their kids get. Also, players in the 16s and 18s (in my experience) seem to be pretty on top of their own string jobs and either string their own before the tourney or bring them in right away (most stringing I do is in the first day before and after the tourney starts).So, of those 200 or so kids in the 16s and 18s, I would estimate that between 40-50 would need a racquet strung, but probably only one.

For example, I just did a sweet 16 jr. tourney a weekend ago (16 kids per age group - top 16 ranked/entered per age group)
So that's 80 total kids 16 x 5 age groups. Guess how many racquets I ended up stringing?

Only 4. That's only 5% of the players needing a racquet strung.

If 512 kids enter, 5% of that is only about 25 kids needing a racquet strung. So if you shoot on the high end, say double that (50 kids needing a racquet strung). So, 50 still comes in well below 80-120.

[schap02]

Originally Posted by jamauss

hey schap02

I don't really get "invited" to string at tournaments - I string for tourneys that are hosted at the tennis complex I string for. It's just a responsibility I have since I am the complex's only stringer.

Here is why I am telling star5 that 80-120 racquets is probably overshooting by a bit.

512 kids x 2 racquets.
Take the 10s and 12s out of the equation, as I never hear about them breaking strings. So that eliminates 2 of the 5 junior age groups playing.

So now we're down to about 300 x 2 racquets.

14s/16s/18s. Of those 3 age groups, the 14s are unlikely to break strings - I'd be surprised if he gets more than 5 racquets from the 14s players.

so 200 x 2 + 5 racquets. (that are really eligible candidates for possibly needing to be strung)

The 16s and 18s, these are the age groups that are the string breakers.

For those that are "sponsored" (get 2 free sticks each January from whichever company) - they've usually just got those 2 sticks with them year long. I don't understand it, but for some reason the parents aren't usually likely to spring for anymore racquets in addition to those 2 free ones their kids get. Also, players in the 16s and 18s (in my experience) seem to be pretty on top of their own string jobs and either string their own before the tourney or bring them in right away (most stringing I do is in the first day before and after the tourney starts).So, of those 200 or so kids in the 16s and 18s, I would estimate that between 40-50 would need a racquet strung, but probably only one.

For example, I just did a sweet 16 jr. tourney a weekend ago (16 kids per age group - top 16 ranked/entered per age group)
So that's 80 total kids 16 x 5 age groups. Guess how many racquets I ended up stringing?

Only 4. That's only 5% of the players needing a racquet strung.

If 512 kids enter, 5% of that is only about 25 kids needing a racquet strung. So if you shoot on the high end, say double that (50 kids needing a racquet strung). So, 50 still comes in well below 80-120.

And that is why I said you're probably right...

Sweet fr-i-g-g-i-n post...

Most of the complexes around me have kids who do the stringing and they're ok I guess but you know, they all think they're federer/nadal etc.....

Thanks for the info I like you're thoughfulnesss - one last quick question, what do most of the kids string with at these tourneys?

Maybe top 4 strings?

[oldtimer]

>>>""Star 5 15 >>>>>> I'm planning on doing the Fall Southern Closed Indoor Chmps in Louisville. I think there are 512 kids accepted(64 size draws with FIC). The 80-120 racquets was a total guess. how many would you probably expect for an event like that""<<<<<<<<

Where are you setting up? I'm told the tournament is using at least 4 different tennis facilities in Louisville. Will there not be any stringing service at these other sites?

[davidahenry]

Originally Posted by jamauss

I string for Southwest Region tourneys held at the tennis complex in town (Suprise, AZ).

That complex is SWEET. I've seen pics in RSi Magazine and online. Enjoy it.

DH

[davidahenry]

Originally Posted by star 5 15

I plan on stringing for a 5 day with about 500 kids in it ranging from 12s-18s. I am wondering what strings I should take with me. I am plannind on setting up my star 5 and doing all the stringing. I normally would be playing the tournament but I have a hurt back that I can't play with.

Hey Star 5 15 - After the tourney, please post a follow-up to let us know how it went for you, how many sticks you ended up stringing, most frequently requested string, etc.

Good luck and have fun.

DH

[jamauss]

Originally Posted by schap02

And that is why I said you're probably right...

Sweet fr-i-g-g-i-n post...

Most of the complexes around me have kids who do the stringing and they're ok I guess but you know, they all think they're federer/nadal etc.....

Thanks for the info I like you're thoughfulnesss - one last quick question, what do most of the kids string with at these tourneys?

Maybe top 4 strings?

Top 4 strings are probably
Lux ALU Power
PSGD (or Head or Wilson, depends on what's available on site sometimes)
Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour
Wilson Sensation-type string