Stringing a racket too much??

[Jack2010]

I have heard that if you string a racket too many times, it eventually "wears out" and loses some pop....anyone with opinions on this? Thanks!

Jack

[Satch]

stringing is the part where racket wears out most... not too much in a gameplay as in this part.. that's why you should give it to professional stringers.

[dgdawg]

Originally Posted by Jack2010

I have heard that if you string a racket too many times, it eventually "wears out" and loses some pop....anyone with opinions on this? Thanks!

Jack

Hmmm...interesting question.
I've never heard anything about stringing a frame too much being "bad" for it, or "wearing it out".
I've replaces loads of bumpers guard/grommet strips, but only because they wear out.
I'm sure some engineer or physicist on this site could give you all the stress calculations. How stringing affects the molecular structure of the frame....y+x=z/xyz calculated to the 5th power......that's an age old formula!!

[bcart1991]

A frame can experience plastic deformation (aka internal/external cracks) if you string it well above the recommended tension range for too long.

Aside from that, they will not "wear out" unless from abuse/hitting the ground/leaving in your car on a summer day/etc.

I still use the POG I used in high school. I string it at the top of its 75lbs tension range, and it's still like buttah. I also have a few other decade-plus-old frames that still play like the day they were new.

[Jack2010]

Interesting. I restring a lot because I break strings a lot and have one racket that definitely seems to have lost some "pop" to it. There was a significant difference when I switched to a newer one...the local pro says that it can happen after about 25-30 re-stringings.

I need a racket with a tighter string pattern so that the string last longer...

[SW Stringer]

Originally Posted by Jack2010

Interesting. I restring a lot because I break strings a lot and have one racket that definitely seems to have lost some "pop" to it. There was a significant difference when I switched to a newer one...the local pro says that it can happen after about 25-30 re-stringings.

I need a racket with a tighter string pattern so that the string last longer...

" . . . the local pro says that it can happen after about 25-30 re-stringings . . . "

Interesting, Andre Agassi used to say he didn't like the feel of a racquet until it had been strung seventy (70) times. To each his own.

[esgee48]

I have old racquets that I have restrung multiple times (>75) and they still felt fresh. Of course I keep my racquets' tension near the low end of the recommended range. If the hoop is beginning to flex a lot, I attribute it more to high tension and the ball being smashed hard against the string bed. If the shaft is beginning to flex, that is due to the hitter hitting the ball hard.

[Rabbit]

Just as an FYI. I string for a Satellite tournament that is held here in town each year. It is a tier 2 or 3 WTA event.

One of the girls turned in at least two racquets a day. They were Babolat AeroPureDrives, just like Nadal plays with. She asked that they be strung with Pro Hurricane Tour 17 in the mains at 68 and Babolat Excel 17 in the crosses also at 65. (Her tension request varied +/- three pounds during the tournament.)

The week I strung for her, she broke two a day. I noticed on her frames that they had been strung so many times that there was a line where the paint was worn off by the string crossing the frame at the 4 and 7 o'clock positions. I took care of her frames, but I can guarantee you that they had been treated as well by other stringers and were still holding up.

In other words, I don't think any of us have to worry about wearing a frame out by stringing it too much.

[Steve Huff]

Seems like I read (probably in Racquettech some time ago) that stringing puts more stress on the frame than playing, and that stringing does indeed eventually wear out the frame more than playing with it.

[airman88]

Each time you string, small fibers tear in the graphite and eventually it loses its strength.

[coyfish]

Originally Posted by Satch

stringing is the part where racket wears out most... not too much in a gameplay as in this part.. that's why you should give it to professional stringers.

doesn't matter who strings it or what machine you use. The common denominator is that you mount it with 2 or 6 point . . . and pull tension. Obviously if the stringer doesn't do anything stupid.

That being said didn't blake use his same dunlops for years and years? He used them until they physically cracked.

[Irvin]

Originally Posted by Rabbit

...
The week I strung for her, she broke two a day. I noticed on her frames that they had been strung so many times that there was a line where the paint was worn off by the string crossing the frame at the 4 and 7 o'clock positions...

Just curious 'Rabbit' why does the string cross the frame at 4 and 7 o'clock?

As to the original quesiton I do not think stringing puts as much stress on a frame as playing does depending on the stringer. When you pull a string at let's say 60 pounds and clamp it off that means it is still pulling at that tension (let's assume.) When you run the next string and pull tension and move the clamp the point where the string turn 180 degrees now has 120 pounds of tension (60 from each string.) If you add up all those turns there is a lot of stress on the racket but it is all pulling in so the racket has equal pressure all around so it does not collapse on itself. When you hit the ball (depending on the ball speed, where the ball hits the stringbed, and you) there is a trememdious amount of pressure on some strings and not so much on others. Therefore I think playing puts more stress on the frame. Let's also assume that your frame does not do anything wrong and you do not have to punish it also. LOL

But I think stringing puts a lot of stress on the grommet system. If you are a playing that strings a lot or you hit the court a lot with the frame and wear out the grommet you may need to get a sufficient supply of grommets to last as long as the frame will.

If you take care of the racket, and its components, (like the strings grommets, and grips) it should last a very long time.

Irvin

[Rabbit]

Originally Posted by Irvin

Just curious 'Rabbit' why does the string cross the
frame at 4 and 7 o'clock?
Irvin

Sorry, the mains outside of the throat. There is a main outside the throat that the string must be pulled across. Maybe 5 and 7 would have been better.

[tball]

What may be happening is this. When a raquet is new, the graphite fibers are in their unstressed, natural condition. The spacing between the fibers is natural / unstressed. Then during restringings and play, graphite gets compressed onto itself. The strings pull inward. There may be a "compaction" effect. Graphite fibers may be becoming "denser" with age. I would think that this compaction may lead to the the loss of flexibility and side-way resilience in a frame, compared to the time when the fibers were newer and farther apart from each other.

Also, plastics (== grommets) become stiffer with age, not softer.
Same will happen with silicon or foam (if any was used inside the frame).
Same with leather on the handle.

The effect is probably more pronounced the more "soft" infusions a frame has. Fiberglass, twaron -- all those "softeners" probably compress more than graphite itself, and probably lose their softness faster.

[Rabbit]

^^^^^
I think what's more the case is the resins bonding the graphite break down, not the graphite. This causes the frame to become more flexible. I have seen this with my older C10s.

[Limpinhitter]

Originally Posted by Rabbit

^^^^^
I think what's more the case is the resins bonding the graphite break down, not the graphite. This causes the frame to become more flexible. I have seen this with my older C10s.

I doubt the carbon fibers themselves are damaged by stress. But, you think the carbon fiber reinforced resin is suffering stress fractures? Or are you talking about a chemical reaction breakdown?