Fed fans and P1 fans enjoy!

NuBas

NuBas

Legend
F2t9xyt.jpg
 
darkhorse

darkhorse

Semi-Pro
I'm sure there are people who know way more about this than I do, but I'm surprised that these guys are doing the stringing in a hotel room. There's like a stringing area onsite, correct? Wonder why they don't just do it all there
 
moon shot

moon shot

Hall of Fame
darkhorse said:
I'm sure there are people who know way more about this than I do, but I'm surprised that these guys are doing the stringing in a hotel room. There's like a stringing area onsite, correct? Wonder why they don't just do it all there
Click to expand...

Onsite stringing is provided by a tournament sponsor and the staff is at their descretion. There is a chance a stringer may be rushed or a player might get a less than optimal stringjob for lack of technique. I don't think this is common, but I'm sure it does happen.

My understanding is hired stringers like P1 are not offered a place to operate on tournament grounds. Players choose them to leverage consistency and avoid the real or imagined chance of a bad stringjob affecting their winnings.
 
Last edited:
Shaolin

Shaolin

G.O.A.T.
darkhorse said:
I'm sure there are people who know way more about this than I do, but I'm surprised that these guys are doing the stringing in a hotel room. There's like a stringing area onsite, correct? Wonder why they don't just do it all there
Click to expand...

I'm sure Ron Yu prefers stringing in a quiet hotel room to bumping elbows in a cramped room somewhere with 50 other stringers, hundreds of reels of Luxilon and Babolats laying all about.
 
wangs78

wangs78

Legend
So what the heck does Nate do? Deliver the racquets only while Ron toils away in the hotel room? I hope they take turns...

Thought the RF logo on the bag was a little too much. As much as I like Roger, I think he is too into the merchandising and branding ****. Sampras was boring as hell, but I respected his no-nonsense approach of just playing the game and paying less attention to the image-building and money-making schemes available to him.
 
Agassi-Fan

Agassi-Fan

Rookie
Great find! I wonder how much roger pays them per year? I'm sure he is their best client and they can tweak something at a moments notice?
 
Rabbit

Rabbit

G.O.A.T.
the on-site facility is for all players. The tournament makes money off it. P1 strings for their clients and must make their own arrangements; hence they, in the immortal words of the Who....Go Mobile. And, P1 makes money outside of the tournament for this function.
 
Last edited:
Sixpointone

Sixpointone

Professional
Thanks for sharing this video Rabbit!

I had the great fortune of working the front desk for P1, in Cincinnati, in 2008. Their work is absolute world class. Plus they're a great group of guys.

Best,
John
 
racket king

racket king

Banned
Interesting that his stringbed isn't symmetrical - 10 string savers on the 4th and 6th crosses, starting on the 5th main.


a3vZ3Nh.jpg
 
Tommy Haas

Tommy Haas

Hall of Fame
How effective are string savers with re-tensioning strings? I realize they're to reduce string movement to prevent fraying. The string savers look like they have pointy corners that could dig into ball felt for extra spin. I wonder if the tensioning and spin aiding effects are noticeable.

Does Federer use them to aid with spin or it's truly from habit? Does he actually have specific locations where he wants them installed and does he care which direction they face? It looks like in addition to skipping crosses, P1 is alternating the orientation the string savers are installed.
 
X

xFullCourtTenniSx

Hall of Fame
racket king said:
Interesting that his stringbed isn't symmetrical - 10 string savers on the 4th and 6th crosses, starting on the 5th main.


a3vZ3Nh.jpg
Click to expand...

That's been known for years. Not so interesting anymore. What really interests me is how they still have Wilson Friction Fighters lying around. That stuff stopped retailing years ago.

Also, it depends on how you look at it. If you lie the racket with the W on the buttcap pointing up, you start on 4th main by 4th cross and do 5 on every other main, then the 5th main by 6th cross in the same manner. If you do 5th main by 4th cross and 4th main by 6th cross, you end up having to insert it by the mains, not the crosses like Ron Yu is doing here (basically you'd have to rotate the racket 90 degrees during installation, which is uncomfortable).
 
NuBas

NuBas

Legend
xFullCourtTenniSx said:
That's been known for years. Not so interesting anymore. What really interests me is how they still have Wilson Friction Fighters lying around. That stuff stopped retailing years ago.

Also, it depends on how you look at it. If you lie the racket with the W on the buttcap pointing up, you start on 4th main by 4th cross and do 5 on every other main, then the 5th main by 6th cross in the same manner. If you do 5th main by 4th cross and 4th main by 6th cross, you end up having to insert it by the mains, not the crosses like Ron Yu is doing here (basically you'd have to rotate the racket 90 degrees during installation, which is uncomfortable).
Click to expand...

Yeah I think racket king made a mistake, the pic was when Ron finished with the other side first and then he went right to left on this side.

First string saver starts on 4th string down, 4th string across from left to right (so whichever side face that is you have figure out) and has to skip every other one until 5 have inserted
Flip racquet and start right to left, 6th string down and 5th string across and do that until you insert 5.
 
Audiophile

Audiophile

Rookie
I read somewhere he pays $40k a year for the racquet services. I have no personal knowledge or any way to confirm. I cannot even remember where I read it, but it definitely stuck in my mind.
 
Tommy Haas

Tommy Haas

Hall of Fame
Audiophile said:
I read somewhere he pays $40k a year for the racquet services. I have no personal knowledge or any way to confirm. I cannot even remember where I read it, but it definitely stuck in my mind.
Click to expand...

That's nothing for Fed because his haircuts cost $2K. Crazy even for Tomic.
 
P

Povl Carstensen

Legend
Audiophile said:
Agreed. However, I had no idea his haircuts cost $2k. Holy ****!
Click to expand...
Yes, I have no personal knowledge or any way to confirm. I cannot even remember where I read it, but it definitely stuck in my mind. Might have been on TT.
Edit: But seriously, on the 40K. Imagine the travel expenses only for P1. And if they cater only to a few select players on that level.
 
gusgrand

gusgrand

Rookie
Audiophile said:
I read somewhere he pays $40k a year for the racquet services. I have no personal knowledge or any way to confirm. I cannot even remember where I read it, but it definitely stuck in my mind.
Click to expand...
The $40k per year for a retainer in order to enable you to earn millions per year is a damn good deal!
 
Tommy Haas

Tommy Haas

Hall of Fame
For P1, it's not even about the money. If you add up all the travel expenses and time away from home they spend, it's not all that much. They're doing it for the bragging rights and marketing for being Federer's personal stringer which ensures loads of customers in NYC.
 
R

RJYU

Rookie
Tommy Haas said:
For P1, it's not even about the money. If you add up all the travel expenses and time away from home they spend, it's not all that much. They're doing it for the bragging rights and marketing for being Federer's personal stringer which ensures loads of customers in NYC.
Click to expand...

We don't have loads of customers in NYC, mainly due to the fact we're located in Florida. To be honest, bragging rights in Zephyrhills, Florida doesn't generate a whole lot of business.
 
P

Pahansuopa

Rookie
This just occurred to me. If you you use string savers, they are supposed to prevent strings from moving, right? But when you use polyester, isn't the main benefit from using them to enable more string movement and get more spin?

Do string savers really prevent string movement, or do they just prevent strings from sawing themselves off?
 
S

Say Chi Sin Lo

G.O.A.T.
Pahansuopa said:
This just occurred to me. If you you use string savers, they are supposed to prevent strings from moving, right? But when you use polyester, isn't the main benefit from using them to enable more string movement and get more spin?

Do string savers really prevent string movement, or do they just prevent strings from sawing themselves off?
Click to expand...

6359301335370253981378897039_635827147957714917-1714849166_image.jpg


No, string savers are there so they take some of the beating off of the strings...
 
CosmosMpower

CosmosMpower

Hall of Fame
Audiophile said:
I read somewhere he pays $40k a year for the racquet services. I have no personal knowledge or any way to confirm. I cannot even remember where I read it, but it definitely stuck in my mind.
Click to expand...

Seems cheap. 40k doesn't even pay a decent wage for 1 of the guys working there. I know they have other clients but for their top/most high profile client to only pay $40k seems low.
 
NuBas

NuBas

Legend
CosmosMpower said:
Seems cheap. 40k doesn't even pay a decent wage for 1 of the guys working there. I know they have other clients but for their top/most high profile client to only pay $40k seems low.
Click to expand...

Dude they have like 8 clients not to mention a ton others who aren't pros
 
CosmosMpower

CosmosMpower

Hall of Fame
NuBas said:
Dude they have like 8 clients not to mention a ton others who aren't pros
Click to expand...

Ok so assuming they all pay 40k like Fed which they probably don't. But if they do that's 320K a year plus other random clients lets say another 100K. That's 420K split between 3 guys plus overhead, travel, logistics etc.
 
NuBas

NuBas

Legend
CosmosMpower said:
Ok so assuming they all pay 40k like Fed which they probably don't. But if they do that's 320K a year plus other random clients lets say another 100K. That's 420K split between 3 guys plus overhead, travel, logistics etc.
Click to expand...

That is a good living just stringing tennis racquets....AND you get to travel the world


..AAND sleep in same hotel room as Ron Yu
 
gusgrand

gusgrand

Rookie
Pahansuopa said:
This just occurred to me. If you you use string savers, they are supposed to prevent strings from moving, right? But when you use polyester, isn't the main benefit from using them to enable more string movement and get more spin?

Do string savers really prevent string movement, or do they just prevent strings from sawing themselves off?
Click to expand...
IMO the idea of using string savers in his racket is to prevent the polyester strings rubbing against the gut strings causing them to break early due to friction. The string savers are probably made from polyester too and therefore the polyester strings will move freely against the polyester string savers causing the same effect as polyester string against polyester string so therefore he would still gain all the benefits of having a full polyester string bed but with the added benefit of comfort, feel and power that you'd get from gut strings.

That would be my take on it anyway.....
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Federev
Fed fans: Do you have enough closure and did Rafa and Novak help?
2
Replies
58
Views
1K
Fedforever
F
Radicalized
Stringing with the Gamma X-2/Progression 200
Replies
42
Views
47K
Irvin
Irvin
Marius_Hancu
John McEnroe on Safin and Hewitt
Replies
13
Views
3K
Marc C.
Marc C.
Top