Can dumb people learn stringing?

Searah

Searah

Semi-Pro
like people with bad memory?
i want to learn stringing.. but easily get overwhelmed from instructions/numbers/ anything confusing.
basically i should stay clear of robots but stringing seems pretty neat.

so from stringers first experience.. is the robot machines confusing? overwhelming?

did you think to give up?
feel like it was a waste of money?
 
esgee48

esgee48

G.O.A.T.
Depends on whether you want to acquire a new manual skill, how often you restring now, your budget and how much space you have. The process is easy. Mount frame correctly, string and tension mains, tie off (may be hard 1st few times), start crosses, weave, tie off. It ain't as hard as it looks. Check out the stickies to see what features you may want on your stringing machine. More feature = more $$.

Planning on doing your own frame only? If so, what frame? Also check out this link to see if you understand the stringing instructions. If you can follow assembly instructions from IKEA or cookbook recipes, it is a 'piece of cake.'
www.klipperusa.com

Racquet Stringing Patterns

Find the racquet stringing pattern for your Tennis, Racquetball, Squash, or Badminton racquet and start stringing today.
www.klipperusa.com www.klipperusa.com

Having your own stringer means you can trial strings for cost of string only, use different tensions, string when you need to or want to. I have been string since HS. I string 3-6 frames/month. Mostly my own, but some for clients/friends. One thing I use (not everyone does it) is to prestring all my mains before mounting. This makes sure I have the right holes for mains. Leave a loop to start tensioning the mains. Then off I go since all the mains are already there. 1st string job will take at least 60 minutes. You will eventually get down to less than 30 minutes, even with a drop weight.
 
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sredna42

sredna42

Hall of Fame
Searah said:
like people with bad memory?
i want to learn stringing.. but easily get overwhelmed from instructions/numbers/ anything confusing.
basically i should stay clear of robots but stringing seems pretty neat.

so from stringers first experience.. is the robot machines confusing? overwhelming?

did you think to give up?
feel like it was a waste of money?
Click to expand...
LOL!

It's not hard to do an adequate job with poly, or syn gut.

But takes ages and exposure to many different racquets and string types to become a black belt.
 
S

SlvrDragon50

Semi-Pro
The hardest part w/ stringing is tying off. Which isn't really that hard especially once you get going. The first 5-10 times I had to keep looking at a step by step guide for tying off, but it'll be easy afterwards. The hardest part for me after that was just doing the crosses on an O3 racquet without a boomerang.
 
Irvin

Irvin

Talk Tennis Guru
There is nothing hard about stringing and nothing much to remember. Try to pickup a used cheap machine first to see if you like it and give it a go.
 
10shoe

10shoe

Professional
Searah said:
like people with bad memory?
i want to learn stringing.. but easily get overwhelmed from instructions/numbers/ anything confusing.
basically i should stay clear of robots but stringing seems pretty neat.

so from stringers first experience.. is the robot machines confusing? overwhelming?

did you think to give up?
feel like it was a waste of money?
Click to expand...

What's this about robots?
 
TimeToPlaySets

TimeToPlaySets

Legend
The answer is no.

There is one exception.
That is if someone shows you every step in person and mentors you.

The only expert stringer I know paid to take lessons from a master.

Stringing is very complex at first. It can take 3 hours to finish a racket.
It is easy once you learn it, but most people are not equipped to learn.

There is also wildly conflicting advice online.
This complicates matters.

Tons of terrible videos.

Give it a try.
You can buy a used DW machine for $100.

My guess is that if you're self-proclaimed dumb
you will never figure it out.
 
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1HBHfanatic

1HBHfanatic

Legend
no one showed me how to string, "I did the work"!!,
we now have the LUXURY of this forum and online tools for assistance,,
no short-cuts if you really want to learn for yourself

I bought the klipermate stringing machine, ~$150 new (no big/hughe loss for me if I did not like stringing after),
12+ years later and now i own a ~$2k machine at home and my klippermate in the closet

one of the biggest advises i can give:
dont waste anymore time trying to decide whether to jump in or not,,,
buy a cheap machine you can afford and jump head first into trying to learn a new skill,,, "for yourself!"
 
F

fuzz nation

G.O.A.T.
Searah said:
like people with bad memory?
i want to learn stringing.. but easily get overwhelmed from instructions/numbers/ anything confusing.
basically i should stay clear of robots but stringing seems pretty neat.

so from stringers first experience.. is the robot machines confusing? overwhelming?

did you think to give up?
feel like it was a waste of money?
Click to expand...

If you're thinking of machines with electronic tensioners when you refer to robot machines, I can assure you that those are actually rather simple to use and they're also quite convenient. Instead of manipulating a crank or handling the weighted lever of a drop-weight machine to tension or release a length of string, you only need to press a button. Very easy - switch on, set the tension, and it's ready to go.

I found that an electric machine made a big difference for me when I had to string several racquets in a day compared with my older drop-weight machine. The electric machine was much less tedious compared with my drop-weight machine and stringing four of five racquets suddenly wasn't a big deal. If I had to do that many at once with my drop-weight, I wouldn't want to have to string again for a couple of days.

Electric machines can be more expensive, but the good news is that if you can afford one, you'll be set for a long time. You won't need to "upgrade" in a hurry. Mine is the table top Gamma Progression II ELS, which has been ideal for my needs. I keep it on a spare desk so it doesn't occupy an extra chunk of floor space, but it's always ready to go when I need it. Many electric machines are floor stand designs, so they do demand a little bit of their own "footprint" in one room or another.

I don't think that buying a stringing machine is ever a waste of money. If you try it for a while and it doesn't thrill you, it's generally pretty easy to sell just about any machine that's in good working order. After you get through the ups and downs of your first five or six string jobs, you'll start to catch on. If you're like me, once you get used to stringing your own frames, you'll never let anybody else touch them. It's also likely that your circle of tennis pals will be happy to pay you to string for them over time
 
B

bobleenov1963

Hall of Fame
esgee48 said:
Do not fall into this trap. :eek: I turn down more work than accept. Da GF also has a group of friends that she volunteered me for and thankfully, they only need to restring once or twice a year. :p
Click to expand...

I have Alpha Ghost II machine and I love it. At first I didn't know how to begin so I did the next best thing. I hired an expert stringer who do lot of string for professional tennis players @CitiOpen. He came over to my house and for two hours, at the cost of $60/hr, taught both my kids and I how to string properly. He came over five more times, one hour each time, to make sure that my kids and I did it correctly. The best money I ever spent. Stringing is super easy once you get a hang of it. My kids know how string racquets but they rarely do these days because they just do not have time. It ended up getting strung by a professional. That being said, they do know how to do it well and so do I
 
graycrait

graycrait

Legend
I am a pathologically stupid senior. I had never seen a racket strung before buying my used NEOS about 5 yrs ago. I watched the TW video and got to it. The first racket took less than 2 hrs. The next much faster. Many on this forum have helped me, knowingly or not. I can do a typical 16x19 in about 25 minutes.
 
Rabbit

Rabbit

G.O.A.T.
@Searah - stringing can appear complicated and daunting at first. I can still remember way back when I dreaded stringing new rackets because the grommets weren't already bent in the direction the string was going. All of your fears will resolve themselves. You just need to remember a) take your time, b) don't panic, and c) since you apparently have an internet connection, leverage it and use YouTube to your advantage. Trust me any question you have has already been asked/answered and there's a video to step you through it. Some videos are better than others, I really like YuLittle's and @Richard Parnell 's.

@graycrait, what are you an idiot? You're one of the brightest guys on the forums! Don't ever denigrate yourself like that again!!!!! ;)
 
P

penguin

Professional

All you need (except for the equipment lol) Watch them and see if you can understand. Not sure where the line of dumb lies....
 
TimeToPlaySets

TimeToPlaySets

Legend
fuzz nation said:
If you're thinking of machines with electronic tensioners when you refer to robot machines, I can assure you that those are actually rather simple to use and they're also quite convenient. Instead of manipulating a crank or handling the weighted lever of a drop-weight machine to tension or release a length of string, you only need to press a button. Very easy - switch on, set the tension, and it's ready to go.
Click to expand...

Electronic is light years better than DW,
but it is not advised for a beginner to buy one.
Too many other factors that leave high odds that it is never used even once.
 
Big_Dangerous

Big_Dangerous

Talk Tennis Guru
SlvrDragon50 said:
The hardest part w/ stringing is tying off. Which isn't really that hard especially once you get going. The first 5-10 times I had to keep looking at a step by step guide for tying off, but it'll be easy afterwards. The hardest part for me after that was just doing the crosses on an O3 racquet without a boomerang.
Click to expand...

I freaking snapped my awl and broke the main strings when I tried to string my buddy's O3 racket the other day... :mad:

It's super old and very much beat up anyway, so I'm going to hand it back to him and tell him to just retire that frame and get something else. Not wasting any more time or effort on that thing. The shops refuse to even string it for him anyway because it has a crack in it... :oops:
 
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Big_Dangerous

Big_Dangerous

Talk Tennis Guru
penguin said:

All you need (except for the equipment lol) Watch them and see if you can understand. Not sure where the line of dumb lies....
Click to expand...

Funny thing about knots is that I only ever use the double half hitch or OUT OUT knot. Even as a starting knot for the crosses.
 
LOBALOT

LOBALOT

Hall of Fame
I started a few years back and learned a lot from this forum. Yes, mistakes are going to happen.... So far none of my mistakes have left permanent scars or amputations.

Wait, ok, there was the time I was having trouble reading the scale when calibrating my stringer at 95lbs and had my face right up next to the gauge...

Just teasing of course!
 
Big_Dangerous

Big_Dangerous

Talk Tennis Guru
graycrait said:
I am a pathologically stupid senior. I had never seen a racket strung before buying my used NEOS about 5 yrs ago. I watched the TW video and got to it. The first racket took less than 2 hrs. The next much faster. Many on this forum have helped me, knowingly or not. I can do a typical 16x19 in about 25 minutes.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I remember my first racket was a horrible job. I string the mains on the wrong holes toward the end because I got confused about which ones to skip, so I had to cut those out and re-do the mains. Thankfully I used the packs of cheap syngut that my Alpha Revo machine came with before I moved on and tried to use anything else. I do remember I did cut the string too short on one of my very first few rackets that I did as well, which was annoying because I got the point where I was doing the last few mains and realized that there wasn't enough string for a tie off. :cry:

Buy 6.5 years later and now I can do rackets in about 30 minutes or so. If I did that weave one ahead technique, it'd be faster, but I feel like that is taking a shortcut and doing a slightly less quality job, so I string and pull tension on every cross.
 
Big_Dangerous

Big_Dangerous

Talk Tennis Guru
LOBALOT said:
I started a few years back and learned a lot from this forum. Yes, mistakes are going to happen.... So far none of my mistakes have left permanent scars or amputations.

Wait, ok, there was the time I was having trouble reading the scale when calibrating my stringer at 95lbs and had my face right up next to the gauge...

Just teasing of course!
Click to expand...

Lol most tennis stringers wouldn't go that high, unless yours is a dual badminton/tennis machine.
 
Big_Dangerous

Big_Dangerous

Talk Tennis Guru
esgee48 said:
Do not fall into this trap. :eek: I turn down more work than accept. Da GF also has a group of friends that she volunteered me for and thankfully, they only need to restring once or twice a year. :p
Click to expand...

You save enough money over time just stringing your own rackets to offset the cost of the machine, that you don't need to turn it into a side hustle or racket (cwutididthar). ;)
 
graycrait

graycrait

Legend
Big_Dangerous said:
You save enough money over time just stringing your own rackets to offset the cost of the machine,
Click to expand...
In the few years I have had my machine I have spent way more on string than the machine cost. Having the machine allows me to cut out string "willy nilly." The machine has also led to me having a few more rackets to test string out on. I sometimes will look at those two walls and say to myself, like I did this morning, "I wonder what that racket will play like with "that" string." My tennis friends know I don't string rackets as a side job, just as a hobby, so they know that their emergency needs will probably not meet my hobby stringing schedule:)
2W5LXYj.jpg
 
TimeToPlaySets

TimeToPlaySets

Legend
struggle said:
you did.

Please keep giving advice. It is much "appreciated" here on the boards.
Click to expand...

First, read my sig.

I bought my electobotic stringer after I had done at least 40 string jobs.
A full year of experience, and I had broken the one hour mark on the DW crapo machineo
 
CosmosMpower

CosmosMpower

Hall of Fame
I'd say the tricky part is that you have to be a bit detail oriented, it's easy to miss one small thing like a misweave or tying off at the wrong place or skipping the wrong holes.
 
tennis4me

tennis4me

Hall of Fame
Big_Dangerous said:
Lol most tennis stringers wouldn't go that high, unless yours is a dual badminton/tennis machine.
Click to expand...
IIRC, in badminton 30lbs is already considered "high" since the surface is much smaller than tennis. I've yet to try stringing badminton, looks more tedious with the much smaller gauge and gaps between strings.

Back on topic to OP, it took me a while to finally get the hang of it. But with help from many excellent YouTube videos, learning to string is not as hard/impossible as it looks. To get really good at it and string like a Pro stringer finishing quality job in 15min - that's hard.
 
mad dog1

mad dog1

G.O.A.T.
Searah said:
like people with bad memory?
i want to learn stringing.. but easily get overwhelmed from instructions/numbers/ anything confusing.
basically i should stay clear of robots but stringing seems pretty neat.

so from stringers first experience.. is the robot machines confusing? overwhelming?

did you think to give up?
feel like it was a waste of money?
Click to expand...
TTPS was able to learn. Sure it took him over a year before he figured out how to tie a knot correctly so if you are more intelligent than him and chances are very high that you are, then learning to string will be a breeze for you.
 
SoBad

SoBad

G.O.A.T.
mad dog1 said:
TTPS was able to learn. Sure it took him over a year before he figured out how to tie a knot correctly so if you are more intelligent than him and chances are very high that you are, then learning to string will be a breeze for you.
Click to expand...
Hey how are you guys and Matt?
 
1HBHfanatic

1HBHfanatic

Legend
Steve Huff said:
I'd say the biggest obstacle for younger guys stringing is the lack of patience. They have to understand that the first few rackets will take up to 3 hours, and mistakes can be made. Lots of people don't have that kind of patience.
Click to expand...

agreed
for the first year or so, I would give myself 1hr time per racquet
stringing is part of that time; prep, setup, and tidying-up after are all part of the stringing time needed
 
mad dog1

mad dog1

G.O.A.T.
Steve Huff said:
I'd say the biggest obstacle for younger guys stringing is the lack of patience. They have to understand that the first few rackets will take up to 3 hours, and mistakes can be made. Lots of people don't have that kind of patience.
Click to expand...
“Anyone who claims they can string a racquet in under 2 hours is a flat out liar!”

- TTPS
 
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