A confused and lost noob stringer aka OP

M: poly C : meat string
Let this be picture A

Let this be picture B
AM's racquet


Question
Can we tie our crosses(moo moo) on to mains ( sorry polyester has no soul) ?

By the way based on old atp photos on RH, why does he wants to change the way it is strung? Esp knot area?

May the moo moo be slaughtered for the right string job.

What would Ron, lucien.. Or yonex (i am not 100% sure of the name) says in the stringing room? Or at atp/wta level?

What do you think, @cluckcluck ?

Yes, you can tie Gut to Gut, you just need to enlarge the correct grommet to do so

MattCrosby said:

Yes, you can tie Gut to Gut, you just need to enlarge the correct grommet to do so

Click to expand...

Yes. But take a look at "photo A" tie gut on poly. Then photo B stringer somewhat insist on tying gut on gut (cross).

On the atp website you can see 2 photos of the racquet being strung as gut on gut (cross) on ryan harrison profile page. I AM CONFUSED. If it is okay to tie the cross to the mains, then why murray doesnt do it? Why ryan harrison dont do it earlier?
Or.... The racquets are "strung wrongly" in photo A?

This is a "Much Ado About Nothing" issue. String jobs for pros don't last long. So whether tying NG on NG and poly on poly is moot. Most pros do not care so long as the tension is what they specify. Some pro stringers do tie NG on NG and poly on poly, but if the player break the strings in the center of the frame before 8 hours of hitting rather than on the knot, it really does not make a difference. The only time you should deviate from manufactures' stringing instructions is if the client specifies NG on NG. They would have to be aware that they are asking for stringing that may deviate from instructions. None of my clients, who are not pros, care so long as they get the tension they requested.

There is certainly a view out there that promotes that gut should be tied off on gut and poly on poly, etc. I believe that comes from the belief that the "harshness" of poly at the knot increases the likelihood of damaging the gut. As a result, to ensure that damage does not happen, in a hybrid job, it effectively forces the stringer to tie the cross on another cross. That is a fairly straight forward task but does require a little planning--namely, locating the best holes for the tie-offs and enlarging them to accommodate both strings. In my view, a properly tied and not overly tightened knot should rarely damage the base string and (depending on the player), the principal installed strings in a hybrid will saw through before a knot problem happens (and that is certainly true at the pro and proficient other player levels). Personally, unless the person I am stringing for requests that, I use the pattern recommended by the racquet manufacturer and I have never had a problem in my personal racquets or those for others in trying a poly to a gut main or vice versa. Personally, I suggest focus on how good your knots are and make sure you are not over-tightening them but I do understand the other view. My two cents.

Jster said:

What do you think, @cluckcluck ?

Click to expand...

Technically, you never tie off the weaker string (moo moo) to the tougher string (soulless string). Like @MattCrosby said, you enlarge the appropriate grommet to tie off moo moo to moo moo.

Picture A is just lazy work, even at the WTT level.

cluckcluck said:

Technically, you never tie off the weaker string (moo moo) to the tougher string (soulless string). Like @MattCrosby said, you enlarge the appropriate grommet to tie off moo moo to moo moo.

Picture A is just lazy work, even at the WTT level.

Click to expand...

Don't really think its lazy work. I/We/Stringers only appropriately tie Gut to Gut if requested by players. I know people who string day in day out and tour events and they don't always necessarily string gut to gut.

MattCrosby said:

Don't really think its lazy work. I/We/Stringers only appropriately tie Gut to Gut if requested by players. I know people who string day in day out and tour events and they don't always necessarily string gut to gut.

Click to expand...

So be it. From my perspective it should be gut to gut but then again, I’ve personally tied off factory when I was starting out.

You can tie off anywhere you want although I generally only use the manufacture’s tie off grommets. You can tie any type string to any other type string. If you ever have an issue tying poly to gut or vice-a-versa stop doing it.

EDIT: Tying a cross string to a cross string usually requires a starting clamp and I don’t use starting clamp to start crosses. The only time I’ve broken ZX/ZXP is when I’ve used a starting clamp for the top cross, so I quit using a starting clamp to start crosses.

cluckcluck said:

So be it. From my perspective it should be gut to gut but then again, I’ve personally tied off factory when I was starting out.

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I would be okay with tying the gut to the poly. But if it was the reverse hybrid (gut mains and poly crosses), then I would definitely make sure the cross is tied off on itself.

ive run into issues with tying gut to poly
2 rakets, both came back with snapped knot, same place
now I make it a rule for myself, gut2gut, poly2poly
haven't had this issue with other types of strings,, but ive learned from that incident

Hmmmm

1HBHfanatic said:

ive run into issues with tying gut to poly
2 rakets, both came back with snapped knot, same place
now I make it a rule for myself, gut2gut, poly2poly
haven't had this issue with other types of strings,, but ive learned from that incident

Click to expand...

Just a thought, you may have subconsciously tied the gut tighter because you knew you were tying off on a poly string. When tying gut to gut you may be more careful to not over tighten. When a string breaks at the knot it is generally the string your tying off not the anchor string that breaks, and for that reason I doubt it makes a difference where you tie off except that you may have an issue opening up a grommet.


EDIT: OTOH P1 ties off RF’s rackets cross to cross and main to main so it does have its advantages. Hard to argue with success.

@uk_skippy , whats your take? Assume player only mentioned " tension" and time collection.

By the way, did any one remeber that there is this one guy that is selected for US open stringing team trials and shared his experience during the trials in a thread ? I wish to seek his opinion as well.

No one give an anwser to this question so i thought i will rephrased it again.
What will be the tying protocols on atp/wta tournament level for poly mains, NG cross ? Assume the player* is not picky or anal, regardless of rank

* can be player 's coach or hitting partner too.

By the way, when my boss saw DF 's racquet was strung as a normal racquet in ATP finals london 2015 even though it is porty.
Cant remember if he was on standby because someone was carrying a bad injury or something like that.

*i assume DF is easy going

Jster said:

@uk_skippy , whats your take? Assume player only mentioned " tension" and time collection.

By the way, did any one remeber that there is this one guy that is selected for US open stringing team trials and shared his experience during the trials in a thread ? I wish to seek his opinion as well.

No one give an anwser to this question so i thought i will rephrased it again.
What will be the tying protocols on atp/wta tournament level for poly mains, NG cross ? Assume the player* is not picky or anal, regardless of rank

* can be player 's coach or hitting partner too.

Click to expand...

I have tied gut cross to poly mains on pro rackets during tournaments. No poly on gut tho.

Jster said:

@uk_skippy , whats your take? Assume player only mentioned " tension" and time collection.

By the way, did any one remeber that there is this one guy that is selected for US open stringing team trials and shared his experience during the trials in a thread ? I wish to seek his opinion as well.

No one give an anwser to this question so i thought i will rephrased it again.
What will be the tying protocols on atp/wta tournament level for poly mains, NG cross ? Assume the player* is not picky or anal, regardless of rank

* can be player 's coach or hitting partner too.

Click to expand...

The protocol I encourage is to tie the poly to the poly on a gut/poly hybrid. The other way around doesn't matter. So I dont have a mains to mains; crosses to crosses standard. However, If I come across a rqt thats been strung by P1, I follow their decision even if its a pol/gut hybrid as shown int he picture of Murray's rqt above.

Hope this helps

Ryan harrison is confused about his "preference" as well, during these 2-4 days.