Ever String your racket w/something thats not Tennis String?

Leelord337

Leelord337

Hall of Fame
Has anybody ever strung their rackets w/something that isn't tennis string.

ex: Weedeater string, fishing line, metal wire...etc..

if so what did it play like
 
Leelord337

Leelord337

Hall of Fame
I wish i had a stringing machine. i'd love to string w/berkely trilene fishing line, the metal kind thats way smaller than 19 guage. that stuff would get serious spin.
 
lethalfang

lethalfang

Professional
Leelord337 said:
I wish i had a stringing machine. i'd love to string w/berkely trilene fishing line, the metal kind thats way smaller than 19 guage. that stuff would get serious spin.
Click to expand...

You want to try metal strings?
Get this first:
aflac_duck_blue.jpg
 
P

PROTENNIS63

Hall of Fame
fishing line? badminton strings? Fishing line is is nylon so pretty thick while badminton strings are just too thin so would kind of hard to string em up.
 
D

Deleted member 23235

Guest
Leelord337 said:
I wish i had a stringing machine. i'd love to string w/berkely trilene fishing line, the metal kind thats way smaller than 19 guage. that stuff would get serious spin.
Click to expand...

I used to play with Gamma Edge 20... which was 20 gauge metal wire in the mains, and some 19 gauge syn gut in the crosses... I never was able to break the mains even when I swapped the 19 gauge crosses for 15 gauge string... the metal was just unbreakable... Unfortunately it was discontinued.. a rep from gamma said it didn't sell well... i'm guessing because of the lack of feel it had...
 
Leelord337

Leelord337

Hall of Fame
nytennisaddict said:
I used to play with Gamma Edge 20... which was 20 gauge metal wire in the mains, and some 19 gauge syn gut in the crosses... I never was able to break the mains even when I swapped the 19 gauge crosses for 15 gauge string... the metal was just unbreakable... Unfortunately it was discontinued.. a rep from gamma said it didn't sell well... i'm guessing because of the lack of feel it had...
Click to expand...

i think they still make your string, just not for tennis anymore
http://cgi.e-b-a-y.com/NIB-GAMMA-Ed...ryZ62142QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
ilian

ilian

Semi-Pro
Back home in Bulgaria, there was a period when our tennis federation was strings to the tennis clubs. Well, at one point, the federation got very poor and they started giving the tennis clubs fishing line that was 1.4mm (15 gauge). Let me tell you, it was not fun to string it or play with it. I used to regularly brake the strings of both of my racquets in 40 minutes and be done with the practice... My coach got pissed at me one day and prohibited me from using fishing line. Stringing over 50 lbs was impossible too, because the fishing line would brake. The reels were 1000 meters each. :)
 
origmarm

origmarm

Hall of Fame
I once used squash string in error. It didn't play great and broke in 20m (thankfully). I didn't even realise I'd done it until I went to complain to my brother (who strung the racquets) and we realised I'd given him the wrong reel :)
 
mxmx

mxmx

Hall of Fame
I was wondering about the weed eater string idea myself....


is it not just full poly? lol
 
D

DE19702

Rookie
When I was in college in the 1970's physical education was required. I elected to take tennis and we used a wooden handled racquet without a grip (just wood) onto which was attached a metal hoop with metal strings. It was multi-stranded. When it would rain, we would have class inside where we would play in the gym with a wood floor. Unfortunately, there just aren't enough wood floor tennis tournaments around anymore.
 
Y

yeeba

New User
Old Tennis strings

I save my old synthetic gut strings and use them on my weed wacker. It's works really good and I have a lot of $$$.:)
 
G

GS

Professional
About 20 years ago, I had a guy string me up with some DuPont Stren blue fluorescent monofiliment. I forget its gauge, but it played okay. The best part was how it glistened in the sun, and threw my opponent off. But since it's fishing line, it's better to fool fish with.
 
Last edited:
swizzy

swizzy

Hall of Fame
i tried the weedwacker after reading about it on this site.. took multiple draws to get tension, very powerful...used it in a pro staff 95 so the control pretty much remained.. blocked the ball deep and quickly against big servers.. really had to load extra topspin to keep it in the court.. have not cut it out yet
 
swizzy

swizzy

Hall of Fame
teachingprotx said:
I just purchased 100 ft 500lb tensile strength of braided Kevlar 1.5 mm fishing line of the bay to try in my rackets . I play with pro blend a lot and for 8 bucks for 100 ft I'm gonna try it out ...
Click to expand...
hey very interested in your results..as i saw those large spools of kevlar myself on the bay and considered it
 
teachingprotx

teachingprotx

Legend
Hahaah!,Good to know
As soon as o get it in I'm stringing up one of my babies full bed and then another hybrid kev/ syn gut style
I'll keep u abreast to the outcome swizzy.
 
teachingprotx

teachingprotx

Legend
Yes for sure I will!
8 us dollars for 100 -500pound strength feet of basically between 16 and 17 gauge string. How cool would that be!!!!
Just wonder if it will
A. Hold
B. Unravel
C. Too powerful
 
G

GPTennis

New User
teachingprotx said:
I just purchased 100 ft 500lb tensile strength of braided Kevlar 1.5 mm fishing line of the bay to try in my rackets . I play with pro blend a lot and for 8 bucks for 100 ft I'm gonna try it out ...
Click to expand...

Were you able to try and string with this line? If so, how did you thread it since the line is very flimsy and won't go through the grommets.
I have 1.4mm braided line and am trying to figure out how to string it.
 
2

2ndServe

Hall of Fame
miniRafa386 said:
try the sampras approach and use squash strings haha
Click to expand...

is that how he got such thin strings?


teachingprotx said:
I just purchased 100 ft 500lb tensile strength of braided Kevlar 1.5 mm fishing line of the bay to try in my rackets . I play with pro blend a lot and for 8 bucks for 100 ft I'm gonna try it out ...
Click to expand...


Also

I tried kite kevlar string but the ends are too frayed to get through the grommet holes, how did you string it?
 
G

GPTennis

New User
most of the braded fishing line are hollow so you can insert monofilament that will fit. I was thinking putting some in the ends temporarily just for stringing/inserting though the grommets.
Was wondering if anyone was able to string with this type of line and how they did it.
 
esgee48

esgee48

G.O.A.T.
You need to stretch out an end and coat the last 2-3 inches with superglue or nail polish. 1 inch is too short. Let dry and cut to a very sharp point. When I do Kevlar mains, I prestring all the mains before mounting the frame. That way, I can move the frame to line up the holes and the string.
 
G

GPTennis

New User
esgee48 said:
You need to stretch out an end and coat the last 2-3 inches with superglue or nail polish. 1 inch is too short. Let dry and cut to a very sharp point. When I do Kevlar mains, I prestring all the mains before mounting the frame. That way, I can move the frame to line up the holes and the string.
Click to expand...


This makes sense. How did the Kevlar braided fishing line perform? Same as tennis kevlar sting?
 
esgee48

esgee48

G.O.A.T.
I did this using Kevlar from a Pro Blend pack. You should ask @Shroud or @graycrait who have both experimented with with mongrel strings. By mongrel, I mean questionable lineage. :happydevil: Maybe they will chime in, but both went back to Ashaway Kevlar IIRC.
 
graycrait

graycrait

Legend
I have tried Kevlar kite string. It was the closest looking Kevlar string I could find to Ashaway Kevlar. Now we have enough kevlar kite string to tie all of Santa's packages, and when I die someone will have some super strong "yellow" string on a big reel for crafts, packages, etc. I tried all the other aramid/kevlar strings I could order and found they were all at best twisted, not braided, also covered with some "plasticicky" stuff, most like Problend. I didn't like them.

Ashaway Kevlar fullbed is cartoon funny and useless. I have a decent 4.0 60 yr old friend who discovered Ash Kev separate from me and thinks Ash Kev x NRG2 is a great stringbed. I told him about Zyex as a cross and although he knew nothing about Zyex he is intrigued. I have tried a lot of crosses with Ash Kev mains. Ash Kev in my mind only makes sense with Zyex crosses.
 
S

shadow01

Professional
Will braided fishing line even hold on the tension gripper and fixed clamps? I would think it is either too slippery, to thin, or Frays too easily.
 
G

GPTennis

New User
I have purchased 3 types of braided line to try.

1.10 - Braded Kevlar String Utility Cord Mason Line for Kite Bridle Fishing Camping Packing Creative Projects (150lb)
1.30 - Black Braided Kevlar String (9KM) 8 strands (300lb)
1.40 - Dorisea Extreme Braid 100% Pe Black Braided Fishing Line 16 strands (400lb)

The 1.10 looks thin and not as many braids or as @graycrait mentioned more twisted (could be good as a cross string)
The 1.30 and 1.40 look promising. (to be used as a main or cross)

On my stringer I did do a test pull and it seemed to grab and hold the string.
The biggest challenge is to figure out a way to thread through the grommets with the ends being too flimsy
I will try @treo and @esgee48 suggestion of using nail polish or super/crazy glue on the ends.

I will post my results when I do.

Here is a link to my pics of the line & stringer https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3nx32bf8j4ndosz/AAA8wf8cWbWc7dIffJdOh4rsa?dl=0
 
J

jxs653

Professional
Deleted member 23235 said:
I used to play with Gamma Edge 20... which was 20 gauge metal wire in the mains, and some 19 gauge syn gut in the crosses... I never was able to break the mains even when I swapped the 19 gauge crosses for 15 gauge string... the metal was just unbreakable... Unfortunately it was discontinued.. a rep from gamma said it didn't sell well... i'm guessing because of the lack of feel it had...
Click to expand...
Wow, 20 gauge metal wire... I wonder if it didn't mess up your grommets.
 
1HBHfanatic

1HBHfanatic

Legend
-anything thicker than 1.40mm is too much, for most grommet holes!
-i use/d clear fishing line (1.30mm) on some of my sticks
-it worked out like a synthetic gut string
 
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