First string job yesterday.

[beldredge]

Well, I turn 40 this year and have played tennis most of my life, but I just strung my first racket yesterday.

I had never really given it much thought. I don't break strings often, but whenever I do or when I just want fresh strings, I hate the "hassle" of taking it somewhere, then picking it up. Not to mention the cost - especially when I see how inexpensive the strings are here on TW.

But I wouldn't have had the confidence to try it out without the incredibly helpful advice (and videos) from the folks here.

So I ordered a Gamma X-2 last friday, received it on Saturday and strung my BLX Blade 98 yesterday. I didn't exactly time myself, but it took at least a few hours - I started over twice after having most of the mains done. But even after all that, I told my wife I wished one of my other rackets needed stringing so I could do it again (I'll probably replace the old strings on another racket for the practice).

So, thanks for all the contributors on this forum.

[dancraig]

Sounds great. You'll be down to about an hour very soon.

[mikeler]

Congrats. Pretty soon stringing will be 2nd nature to you.

[Ramon]

That reminds me of when I got my machine a few months ago. I dug up all the old racquets in my closet and restrung them, even though they will never see the light of day again on a tennis court. The stickies and videos here are very helpful. They accelerated my learning curve faster than I imagined. You're in the right place.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Ramon

That reminds me of when I got my machine a few months ago. I dug up all the old racquets in my closet and restrung them, even though they will never see the light of day again on a tennis court. The stickies and videos here are very helpful. They accelerated my learning curve faster than I imagined. You're in the right place.

Hopefully you used tournament nylon on them!

[SwankPeRFection]

Good luck with your newly found stringing process.

When I did my first job it took about 1:45 and I didn't have any mistakes, but I'm also a very technical person, so there's a lot of things that I can do with my hands/mind that aren't always problems for me.

That said, your speed will improve. Just try to develop a standard process for how you do something. Watch a few videos on YouTube about how to string to get any ideas for shortcuts or better ways to do something. Not everything will be good advise and not everything will be something you'll want to add to your knowledge, but there are a few "help me" tricks out there that can really solve issues for you that I think you'll run into over time as you string. Remember that you're not really looking for ways to cut corners via the advise given. What you're after is to implement some of the trade secrets that people have developed over years in this industry to help your everyday personal process go smoother.

Another option for you is to get yourself a really cheap reel of string and just string your racquets a few times for practice. That way, you won't hurt your pocket too much cutting stuff out. Some people learn better by often repetition, while others can learn by not needing to repeat quite as often. If you can deal with the weeks of breaks between needed string jobs on your own racquets to improve your proficiency, then you should be OK, but if you really need to get your feet wet and develop a steady pattern quicker, your only option is a throw-away reel sort of speak. It's either that or you string for a few friends, but I know I wouldn't want to be a ginea pig for anyone learning how to string. If you kill your own racquet, that's not quite as bad as killing someone elses. Anyway, enjoy your new stringer.

[Mister drool]

right on!!!
you should be proud of your work, taking a lot of time or not, its is your work and you can only feel good about yourself having put your hands to the work.

You'll get better and better, no doubt, and pretty soon start experimenting with tensions and different strings.

you should post some pics of your work and make us all proud as well!

[Ramon]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Hopefully you used tournament nylon on them!

That's what sample strings are for! Alpha supplies plenty of them with each new machine. I suspect Gamma does the same. The only samples I still have are Alpha Sphere (multifilament) and Alpha Tenacity (aramid reinforced syngut). I might actually give them a playtest.

[beldredge]

Thanks for all the feedback and encouragement. I look forward to my next string job - I'll probably restring my backup once I find some time.

Now I've been obsessing about all the different strings I can buy!

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Ramon

That's what sample strings are for! Alpha supplies plenty of them with each new machine. I suspect Gamma does the same. The only samples I still have are Alpha Sphere (multifilament) and Alpha Tenacity (aramid reinforced syngut). I might actually give them a playtest.

Gamma did supply quite a few strings, nothing high end though.

[SwankPeRFection]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Gamma did supply quite a few strings, nothing high end though.

Sometimes you'd be surprised how much better the low end stuff is. I got some Alpha strings when I got my stringer that I thought for sure were going to be crap because they were way cheap and didn't look very fancy. Much to my surprise, they played awesome. Just goes to show that the best stuff isn't always the most expensive.

[Murrayfan64]

Sounds great I remember my 1st string job it took forever. The funniest thing was after my last knot I noticed a misweave. Have fun with your Stringing!

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by SwankPeRFection

Sometimes you'd be surprised how much better the low end stuff is. I got some Alpha strings when I got my stringer that I thought for sure were going to be crap because they were way cheap and didn't look very fancy. Much to my surprise, they played awesome. Just goes to show that the best stuff isn't always the most expensive.

Gamma synthetic gut (non WearGuard) is a pretty nice and inexpensive string.

[s5blitzer]

Congrats on your first job. It is a very relaxing since I only do the stringing for family. Started with over 2 hours and after 8 jobs, I am down to 40 mins.

[GlenK]

Good job. First job took me a couple hours and now it's down to a reasonable amount of time that varies based on the racquet I'm mounting and the strings being installed.

I just have a small stringing business and I don't worry at all about time. I concentrate on consistency and quality and improved time has just come as a result.

Just keep stringing and you'll speed up naturally.