Did TW made a mistake stringing my racket?

[ricardo]

I ask TW to string my rackets (2 Khamsin Five 108 BLX) using Nat Gut on Mains and Synthetic gut on crosses (hybrid).

TW tied off the mains at 8T, instead of 6T as the Wilson stringing instructions specify.

Question:
- Why did TW not follow Wilson stringing instructions?
- Is there a potential damage done to the racket? The grommets?
- Is the string TW used on the Mains not long enough?

this is from Wilson web site:
Khamsin Five 108 BLX
String Tension : 53-63 lbs
String Length : 38' (11.6 m) length (ss: 10') or 20' (6.1 m) M's and 18' (5.5m) X's
String Pattern : 16 x 20
Start Main : at Throat. Mains skip 7T, 9T, 7H and 9H. Tie off mains at 6T.
One Piece : Start X?s at bottom at 7T. Tie off X?s at 5H.
Two Piece : Start X?s at top at 7H. Tie off X?s at 5H & 5T.

Thanks for the explanation and comments...

 

[VGP]

Don't worry about it.

Other than having your 8T grommet squashed instead of the 6T, there shouldn't be a problem. Usually the tie-off holes on Wilson frames are larger in diameter than the others, but obviously TW got the strings through.

To be fair, I'm not familiar with your racket, but the way frames are made these days I don't see how it would cause damage. And if the mains "weren't long enough" the tie-off would have happened closer to the center, not further away.

 

[rufusbgood]

The shorter you can keep the loop of string between the last main and the tie off hole the better. Less tension loss tying off at 8T.

 

[jim e]

Your racquet will play the same and there should be no difference or problems.

 

[Irvin]

I don't think I've ever strung one of these rackets so I am guessing here just in case I have make a mistake. Look at your racket real close. Many of the Wilson rackets now have large grommet holes for almost every hole so the stringer can use just about any hole they want to use without opening up the grommet hole. That is both good and bad. The good part is the stringer does not have to stretch any holes. The bad thing is if they start using different holes you will have multiple grommets smashed with the knot and I don't like the way it looks. No matter which hole they use I doubt it will make much difference.

There are some advantages to uses 8t for the main tie off strings:
1 - Because the mains skip 7t the string from 6t goes into 8t and up for the 7th main. The 8th main comes down and through 10t and skips over 9t and if you tie it off at 8t that same string will not go over 7t. If both strings go over 7t it MAY make it harder to get the bottom cross in and out of 7t on each side of the racket.
2 - If 8t is used for the main tie off instead of 6t yes the string on the outside of the frame is shorter which means you have less untensioned string on the outside of the between the clamp and the knot when you tie off.
3 - Because 6t wasn't used for the tie off hole now the bottom cross coming out of 7t can be tied off at 6t instead of 5t making the untensioned string on the outside of the frame shorter and you will have less drawback again.
4 - Keep looking at your racket now. The 4th main came out of 4t and goes from 4t to 5t on the outside of the frame to feed the 5th main. The string going through 5t goes in 5t in the center of the grommet closest to the butt of the racket and come out of 5t in the center closet to the tip of the racket. The string goes through the center of the grommet diagonally making it difficult to get another string in. You do not want to go poking around in that grommet hole with anything sharp. Remember that is natural gut in there and if you nick it the string may not break when you're stringing the racket but may break prematurely.

All in all which grommet hole you use does not really amount to a hill of beans if the job is done right. If you had not inspected the racket and you just went out and played with it do you think you could have told the difference?

 

[Irvin]

...
Question:
- Why did TW not follow Wilson stringing instructions?
- Is there a potential damage done to the racket? The grommets?
- Is the string TW used on the Mains not long enough?...

One sure way to find out why they strung it that way is to ask them and not everyone else.

I don't think this will damage the racket or the grommets.

If the string were not long enough they would not have been able to tie the knots.

 

[bigmalik76]

I got my head racket strung from TW when I bought it and it came strung in a two piece even though mfg recommendation is 4 piece. Also the string snapped after 30 min by the grommet with no fraying or notching (multi string). I assume it must have gotten notched in the new grommet. But was surprised that TW did not follow mfg recommendation and that the string broke like that. Maybe it was a faulty string. I restrung the racket myself and had no issue with the grommet so not really sure what the issue was.

 

[rufusbgood]

I got my head racket strung from TW when I bought it and it came strung in a two piece even though mfg recommendation is 4 piece. Also the string snapped after 30 min by the grommet with no fraying or notching (multi string). I assume it must have gotten notched in the new grommet. But was surprised that TW did not follow mfg recommendation and that the string broke like that. Maybe it was a faulty string. I restrung the racket myself and had no issue with the grommet so not really sure what the issue was.

Please, it's really hard to accept that you have a credible argument when you can't even get the terminology straight. There's no such animal as a mfg recommended 4 piece string job. There's one piece and two piece. Or you can call it 2 knots vs 4 knots. But not 4 piece.

Personally, I've never been impressed with the stringing done by any of the online/mail-order tennis retailers but in all likelihood your strings broke after 30 mins because you hit the ball off the frame edge.