bad string job?

[heathenrider]

I recently got a racquet strung and the lateral strings don't run straight across, they are pulled or drooped downward. My sisters racquet was strung by the same shop and hers had the same appearance. Is this a bad string job or technique.

Should i still get my racquets strung from this place?

 

[dtrain]

do you mean the cross strings? Cuz when you string a racquet those will droop down, but the stringer usually will move them into place after he is done stringing.

 

[origmarm]

I can't picture it, sounds like they are just not pulled into place to me though. As long as they are at tension you should just be able to pull them straight with you fingers.

 

[jazar]

its not necessarily a bad string job, just a lazy stringer

 

[themitchmann]

It's the stringer's responsibility to straighten the strings after stringing the racket...this way, the strings will settle where they are supposed to. I've been stringing for years, and I would never let a racket leave my hands without straightening the strings. As you said, must be a lazy stringer.

 

[McLovin]

IMO, it is a bad string job, because if you straighten the strings AFTER you are finished, the tension will not be the same. This is my biggest pet peeve. It kills me when I see "professional" jobs done at my club that look like this.

 

[lioneldude]

IMO, it is a bad string job, because if you straighten the strings AFTER you are finished, the tension will not be the same. This is my biggest pet peeve. It kills me when I see "professional" jobs done at my club that look like this.

What do u mean? do u mean that straightening the strings loses tension?

 

[McLovin]

If you do it AFTER the string job is complete, yes. Each cross string should be straightened AS you are stringing them. If you don't believe me, try this:

Take a piece of string (even yarn will do in this case) and tie it between 2 chairs, but place a 3rd chair in the middle of the 2 chairs so it offsets the string slightly (i.e. its not a straight line). Tie it so the string is fairly tight.
Then, remove the chair in the middle and tell me what happens to the tension.

This is the same thing as what happens in your racket.

 

[Skybox006]

its not necessarily a bad string job, just a lazy stringer

My thought exactly, I always pull the strings even and straight. It gives a better look as well as the player doesn't have to rearrange the strings after the string job.

 

[TennezSport]

Agreed.....

If you do it AFTER the string job is complete, yes. Each cross string should be straightened AS you are stringing them.

Dan is correct as you will not get the exact reference tension if you do not straighten the string as they are being pulled. While it will not hurt the racquet, it is not a pro job.

TennezSport

 

[dsmercado]

I recently got a racquet strung and the lateral strings don't run straight across, they are pulled or drooped downward. My sisters racquet was strung by the same shop and hers had the same appearance. Is this a bad string job or technique.

Should i still get my racquets strung from this place?

Out of curiosity...did you get the racquet strung at a tennis shop or a sports chain store like Sports Authority? I know there are good and bad stringers at both.

 

[heathenrider]

this is a small shop that doesnt only sell tennis stuff.

So after i pull the strings up I will lose tension?

 

[Leelord337]

Did you get your racket strung at academy? they are the worst stringers ever & overpriced

 

[heathenrider]

No it is a small business in a small town. It is the only place in town that strings racquets.

 

[themitchmann]

IMO, it is a bad string job, because if you straighten the strings AFTER you are finished, the tension will not be the same. This is my biggest pet peeve. It kills me when I see "professional" jobs done at my club that look like this.

I agree with dan.smith, but even if you straighten as you go, you still usually need to do a little straightening once you have finished stringing. Yes, if you straighten the crosses as you string, the stringbed will no lose as much tension.

 

[saram]

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/onLocation.html?show=PLO01

Nate, of Priority One, straightens his strings after stringing the stick. You can see it in the vlog above.

 

[McLovin]

First off, he's straightening the mains, not the crosses. They shifted when he was pulling the crosses. This is unavoidable and there is no significant tension loss in doing that, especially if its a 2-piece job

Second, if you watch the video closely, while stringing the crosses, you will see him straighten the string during the pull.

Also, take a good look at the crosses in that shot. All of them are straight. There is no 'smiley face' effect. This is what the discussion is about, when the crosses arc across the string bed, not form a straight line.

 

[Stan]

To answer the questions directly.

Yes. Poor string job created by poor technique.

No. Do not continue stringing there. Find a USRSA member who is obsessed with producing quality results.

 

[bsandy]

I've seen MRTs (at an ATP event ) not straighten, until they're done.

More imporant than anything, do it the same way, every time.

. . . Bud

 

[McLovin]

I've seen MRTs (at an ATP event ) not straighten, until they're done.

...and I've seen Java Certified Developers write crappy code.

However, I do agree w/ you that as long as it's consistent, it probably won't make a difference. Its just that their 65lbs will be my 62lbs...

 

[kenshireen]

It may take a bit more time...but the best and proper way is the straighten the crosses as the machine is pulling tension.. this will be the most accurate to match the tension.

Also.. about the video... It looks like he pulled the two center mains together.
i.e. double pulling. Did anybody notice that

Ken

 

[Netgame]

How to remedy?

IMO, it is a bad string job, because if you straighten the strings AFTER you are finished, the tension will not be the same. This is my biggest pet peeve. It kills me when I see "professional" jobs done at my club that look like this.

When using a crank stringing system, how do you straighten the crosses while pulling tension? Is the loss of tension avoided by straightenin the crosses after tension is pulled, but BEFORE clamping?

 

[McLovin]

Good question. Mine is a drop weight so I don't have an answer for you. However, I can tell you that I straighten mine out BEFORE clamping and the weight always drops a few degrees more after I straighten them.
I would imagine an electric constant pull would do something similar.

 

[flash9]

When using a crank stringing system, how do you straighten the crosses while pulling tension? Is the loss of tension avoided by straightenin the crosses after tension is pulled, but BEFORE clamping?

This is just one of many reasons they say a crank stringer, strings 5-10lbs lower then a constant pull stringer. If you include this in your setup, you will be OK. When I am forced to use a crank vs my usual electronic, I will raise the tension setting on the stringer 5lbs. Then when it comes to doing the crosses, I pull tension on the cross, I then will straiten the cross, release the tension head and pull again, and then I clamp. It is more work, but it results in a String Bed Stiffness near to my electronic stringer.

 

[Loco4Tennis]

i straighten mine as best i can while stringing, but i correct it at the end when pull the racquet of the clamp mounts

 

[Netgame]

When I am forced to use a crank vs my usual electronic, I will raise the tension setting on the stringer 5lbs. Then when it comes to doing the crosses, I pull tension on the cross, I then will straiten the cross, release the tension head and pull again, and then I clamp. It is more work, but it results in a String Bed Stiffness near to my electronic stringer.

Two questions for Flash9 (or anyone else):
1. By pulling tension twice on the crosses, do you find that tension you end up with is the same as when you only pull once?
2. I see you use Klip Nat Gut. I'm thinking of going all nat gut also. Does the playability of the string last longer than some of the Lux-type strings. I just tried a lux-gut hybrid but haven't had long enough to find out if the Lux (ALU rough 16L) will only last a short time as far as playability, as many people here are saying. Also, from what I have read, nat gut's durability is no worse than the multifiliments.

thanks for any opinions about this.

 

[heathenrider]

So next time i will get my racquet strung at 64 lbs to counter act the poor quality stringing job or else try and find a place in Minneapolis. Any recommendations?

 

[heathenrider]

thank you for enlightening me everyone, ive done some searching and found many
USRSA stringers in the twin cities on the usrsa website.

 

[flash9]

NetGame Answers

Two questions for Flash9 (or anyone else):
1. By pulling tension twice on the crosses, do you find that tension you end up with is the same as when you only pull once?

It depends - On my constant pull Babolat Star5, I can straiten the string and the slack will be taken up, the same will happen with a drop weight machine. With a crank, after pulling the first time, I then straiten the string, but since the crank has already locked out, it does not take up the slack. By releasing the crank and re-pulling the cross, it has been straitened and now it should stay strait as you pull. Remember, I have only done this when when I was trying to mimic a constant pull machine, but was having to use a crank. If you are consistent that is what is most important!

2. I see you use Klip Nat Gut. I'm thinking of going all nat gut also. Does the playability of the string last longer than some of the Lux-type strings. I just tried a lux-gut hybrid but haven't had long enough to find out if the Lux (ALU rough 16L) will only last a short time as far as playability, as many people here are saying. Also, from what I have read, nat gut's durability is no worse than the multifiliments.

I have been very happy with KLIP's Natural Gut and so have my customers. Natural Gut is not for everyone. I would say it is as durable as most multifilaments, but since I have not tested all that are available I can not say for sure. If you are not a string breaker, then give a 100% Natural Gut string job a try. Just do not continue to hit with it if the balls get wet.

 

[Netgame]

. Remember, I have only done this when when I was trying to mimic a constant pull machine, but was having to use a crank. If you are consistent that is what is most important!

I probably shouldn't try to mimic a constant pull machine since all of my jobs are cranks. I'll try straightening the crosses the best I can prior to pulling tension, and then crank with only one hand and straighten with the other hand while I crank. In theory, this could make the best of the situation without buying a CP machine (which I would love to do). Thanks again for your great advice.

 

[Steve Huff]

I agree with Dan.Smith. I think its a poor job. Even if you have a crank machine, you should at least straighten them each time you clamp. If you keep letting them stay in an curved position, they are creating tension and pressure to push the following cross string further out. So, you will be getting progressively looser cross strings as you go. If you straighten each time, they will be a little looser than they were when they were curved, but it will be consistently looser by the same amount each time.

 

[iplaybetter]

It may take a bit more time...but the best and proper way is the straighten the crosses as the machine is pulling tension.. this will be the most accurate to match the tension.

Also.. about the video... It looks like he pulled the two center mains together.
i.e. double pulling. Did anybody notice that

Ken

a double pull to set the clamps and then a repull is comomon , on a spring machine it is very hard and useless to pull tension and straiten at the same time

 

[kingdaddy41788]

bad technique, yes. bad quality, not necessarily. Some stringers are just too lazy to straighten the strings out as they go. It's kind of sad, really.

 

[iplaybetter]

bad technique, yes. bad quality, not necessarily. Some stringers are just too lazy to straighten the strings out as they go. It's kind of sad, really.

i straighten mine after i finish, because a lockout machine makes it hard to do at another time, but if i had a CP electronic i would straighten as it pulls

 

[IanRichardson]

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/onLocation.html?show=PLO01

Nate, of Priority One, straightens his strings after stringing the stick. You can see it in the vlog above.

ahhh what the hell does he know, surely guys here on the board are better than him

 

[Loco4Tennis]

i remembered this thread when i strung my racquet recenttly, and even though i aligned the crosses straight, everytime while pulling, it still required further starightening at the end of the job, but yes i did see how the cross strings where not as loose and when i did not pay too close attention to crosses on previous frames
so it would seem that it does pay to spend a little time to straighten the cross strings as you go,
when all is said and done, the settling of the string on the frame will be much more accurate to your initial tension goal then if you wait for the job to finish to straighten the crosses
good havit to get into for a much better string job in my opinion

 

[YULitle]

Dan is correct as you will not get the exact reference tension if you do not straighten the string as they are being pulled. While it will not hurt the racquet, it is not a pro job.

TennezSport

I've seen MRTs (at an ATP event ) not straighten, until they're done.

More imporant than anything, do it the same way, every time.

. . . Bud

I take these two, and place them in my hands.

I put my hands together.

Beautiful.

 

[YULitle]

i remembered this thread when i strung my racquet recenttly, and even though i aligned the crosses straight, everytime while pulling, it still required further starightening at the end of the job, but yes i did see how the cross strings where not as loose and when i did not pay too close attention to crosses on previous frames
so it would seem that it does pay to spend a little time to straighten the cross strings as you go,
when all is said and done, the settling of the string on the frame will be much more accurate to your initial tension goal then if you wait for the job to finish to straighten the crosses
good havit to get into for a much better string job in my opinion

What kind of string? Poly tends to sag backregardless of how much you pre-straighten, some other strings too.

 

[YULitle]

You can straighten your strings while you go with a crank. You just have to learn how. It doesn't take much for the string to get caught in the linear tension head, after it has a hold of it, take half a second to move your hand from the string to the string bed and hold the cross in place. It's been done. I did it for a whole year on a Neos 1000.

 

[JackSkellington]

This is fairly obvious on a dropweight--if you pull tension and then straighten the cross a bit, you'll see the bar drop slightly.

 

[Loco4Tennis]

What kind of string? Poly tends to sag backregardless of how much you pre-straighten, some other strings too.

i had technifiber 16L g polyspin on mains @ 55lbs
i crossed it with technifiber synthetic gut 17 g @ 58lbs
the mains would push the weeved crosses down a bit, not a whole lot, but enough not to let the cross strings be totaly straight, i think it might be because the polyspin on mains where so slippery or had no texture what so ever, but no biggie, ive seen worse

 

[YULitle]

i had technifiber 16L g polyspin on mains @ 55lbs
i crossed it with technifiber synthetic gut 17 g @ 58lbs
the mains would push the weeved crosses down a bit, not a whole lot, but enough not to let the cross strings be totaly straight, i think it might be because the polyspin on mains where so slippery or had no texture what so ever, but no biggie, ive seen worse

Yes this is probably the case. You get the same afffect with heavily textured strings. The textured grooves only allow for so many orientations of string and straight across is seldom one of them.

 

[Steve Huff]

Ian, if you watch closely, Nate was straightening the MAINS, not the crosses. He said that the crosses were strung with natural gut. I'm sure you know that gut is pretty good about staying in line when pulled across a poly.

 

[TennezSport]

Too true..........

Ian, if you watch closely, Nate was straightening the MAINS, not the crosses. He said that the crosses were strung with natural gut. I'm sure you know that gut is pretty good about staying in line when pulled across a poly.

Add to that, the mains will get moved around a bit by the clamp when you are trying to clamp the crosses as close to the frame as possible.

TennezSport

 

[YULitle]

TennezSport: I only started having that issue when I started stringing with the TF7000. Not a fan of the teeth.

But yes, this does happen. It's quite a mess, especially with mid-sized racquets.