ATW Parnell - am I understanding correctly?

[tennisnoob1949]

Just saw a video of the ATW Parnell (which is modified from the ATW Universal). Here is what I understood, can anyone confirm? This is for a 16X19 racquet, with mains skipping 7 and 9.

Short side: Do 6 mains, do the bottom 2 crosses, do the 7th SS main and the top cross
Long side: Do 8 mains, do the 3rd to bottom cross, do the 8th SS main, and then do the crosses from the 2nd one on down.

 

[Imago]

Don't forget the Big Bubba...

 

[Bdole]

I decided to tackle this after a long time since first hearing about it. I think it would be helpful to provide a write-up to supplement the original video. The procedure below is based on a Prince Textreme 95 16x19 with two crosses below the outermost mains, a pattern which makes the ATW Universal unwieldy. I had string left over on both the short and long sides, so these instructions should work for up to a 100 sq in racquet as well.

Measure

• Total = 34 feet (I used a soft poly: Hyper-G 20g)
• Short side = 10 feet (1st 6 mains, 2 bottom crosses, 7th main, top cross, tension head)
• Long side = 24 feet (8 mains, 16 remaining crosses, tension head)

Stringing

1. pull 10 feet of string through on short side and the remainder on the long side
2. begin stringing as normal, pulling the two center mains simultaneously to start
3. string first 5 mains on both sides as normal
4. string & tension long side 6th main, then pre-string 7th long side main
5. string & tension short side 6th main, setting the clamp slightly away from the frame so that bottom cross has room to come through
6. tension long side 7th main, then use Parnell pad and starting clamp to tie off
7. pre-string long side 8th main
8. string & tension short side bottom cross (start "under" if using Stringway Cross tool later) and penultimate cross
9. string & tension short side 7th main (clamp can be against frame since top cross is above 7th main)
10. tension long side 7th main, freeing up the starting clamp
11. string & tension the long side 8th main and park the string in the 3rd bottom cross to keep untangled
12. string and tension top cross, using the same pattern as the bottom cross (racquets with odd number of crosses only, even # of crosses get opposite pattern), then set the Parnell pad and starting clamp to hold until the end
13. string & tension long side 3rd bottom cross (I tried the Stringway Cross tool here to avoid the long pull, but it gets in the way for this and the next couple of steps)
14. string & tension long side 8th main, (clamp can be against frame since 2nd top cross is above 8th main)
15. string & tension long side 2nd top cross
16. Install Stringway cross tool if using, then string remaining crosses
17. double-pull the last cross since it's a hard weave
18. tie-off long side to cross above it (15th cross)
19. tension short side top cross, freeing up the starting clamp
20. tie-off short side to 5th main (Parnell uses the 7th main, but I don't have enough room to tie a good knot there)

Critique

• minimal tension loss for the mains (tie offs are not immediately after tensioning a main)
• beautiful outside edge of frame (short runs of string)
• very efficient use of string on the order of several feet less than 2-piece method
• 
  
• complicated (I'll need my own instructions for a while)
• very long pulls for 3rd bottom cross and 2nd top cross
• needed a 2nd starting clamp for pulling string/tying knots while 1st starting clamp was in use holding short side top cross

So I think ultimately it's a brilliant pattern which saves almost 4 feet of string vs two-piece method on the same racquet. For a one-piece job it's a great choice! Met Richard at IART a few years back and hoping this helps others who are fans of his.

 

[Steve Huff]

My ATW is a little more straightforward, and achieves basically the same results. I string the first 7 mains and the top cross with the short side. With the long string, I string all 8 of the mains on the long side, then string the bottom cross, then the 8th main on the short side, leaving me at the top to finish the string job from top to bottom. Just like the other one, you have to make sure your bottom cross is weaved the same as the top cross (on racket with an odd number of crosses). This leaves my last tensioned cross a string closer to the bottom. Some might even like to string the 2nd from the bottom cross with the long string, leaving the bottom (19th) cross as the last tensioned cross. That works too.

 

[emptystringer]

To the original poster, yes that is how I've interprested the Parnell ATW and I use the technique quite a bit to avoid weaving through dbl blocked holes in the throat. You do need to plan ahead a little bit by enlarging a side grommet (usually 13T) to use as a tie off.

 

[Rabbit]

@Steve Huff - I thought that was my ATW!