I don't think he should have to pay since he only used the racquet for 5 minutes so obviously the strings were already really old. Also the guy he borrowed the racquet from offered it (friend didn't have to ask him to use it) so if the owner knew the strings were old he shouldn't have offered it. What do you guys think?
friend breaks another friend's racquet strings after 5 min. Should he have to pay?
- Thread starter tsongaali
- Start date
diredesire
Adjunct Moderator
Depends on the person and the closeness of the friend. if they're old buds, it shouldn't be a big deal. If the dude requesting the "friend" to pay is relatively tight wad, the most I'd find reasonable is to go halfsies.
Bud
Bionic Poster
Are you the friend who broke the string?
It depends on the string's age. However, the friend who broke the string should offer to pay. Other friend should probably decline, depending on the age and type of string.
armsty
Hall of Fame
I hit with a guy for $15 an hour, we play a set and a couple tie breakers usually. He gave me his racquet one time to see if I thought he needed a restring. I said they felt a bit loose but if he had a few rallys I could tell him. He decided he wanted to serve with my stick so we did that. Snapped the first hit. 3 mains and a cross all at once... I offered to string it up for free but he insisted he was going to give it to me that day to string anyway.
He payed me for the hour too.
He payed me for the hour too.
diredesire
Adjunct Moderator
8 gauge is actually much, much bigger than 17 gauge
teppeiahn1
Rookie
You have realy weak strokes LOL
tennis005
Hall of Fame
hyperthom007
New User
Personally, I will not ask for the payment and secretly, I hope the friend will pay haha! (although most likely I will decline)
how old were the strings?
Nextman916
Professional
No he shouldn't because he offered, but if he asked to borrow it that's a diff story. When I played at my old club, all of my peers were competitive juniors that would snap strings all the time, even to strings that were barely used that long. If they asked to use my racquet I would tell them straight up, if you break my f*cking strings, you're gonna pay for it. Then we'd shake on that.
bluetrain4
G.O.A.T.
I would say absolutely not. It's happened to me, where I've given my racquet to someone to use, and they popped the strings right away.
I figure if the racquet had not been restrung in a while, then the strings were worn and they would have broke anyway.
Or, if the strings were new, then they somehow had to be defective, and they would have broke anyway
Basically, unless the person did something out of the ordinary, such that the strings would not have broken if a different person was using the racquet, there's no way I make him or her pay for the string job.
Now, I think out of common courtesy, the person who breaks the strings will often offer to pay for restringing. But, especially if it's a friend, it seems really cheap to take him or her up on the offer. Again, this is assuming they didn't do anything out of the ordinary with the racquet.
I figure if the racquet had not been restrung in a while, then the strings were worn and they would have broke anyway.
Or, if the strings were new, then they somehow had to be defective, and they would have broke anyway
Basically, unless the person did something out of the ordinary, such that the strings would not have broken if a different person was using the racquet, there's no way I make him or her pay for the string job.
Now, I think out of common courtesy, the person who breaks the strings will often offer to pay for restringing. But, especially if it's a friend, it seems really cheap to take him or her up on the offer. Again, this is assuming they didn't do anything out of the ordinary with the racquet.
LafayetteHitter
Hall of Fame
If I hand someone a racquet I hand it to them knowing string breakage is a possibility. I would not make them pay under any circumstance.
PrinceMoron
Legend
I would give the guy some free advice................... no, not what you are thinking............
It is the old adage that strings feel great just before they break.
Anyway, the question to ask the guy whose strings popped is how the racket was playing. If they think the racket was playing great, then they probably had it originally strung too tight. The tension will have dropped off to just what the suits the guy best before it popped, so that is the tension he should have strung it at in the first place.
Most people string their rackets too tight. I am always in favour of stringing as low as you can go and then working up bit by bit until you aren't overhitting.
If the guy says the strings were playing sh*t, then you did him a favour anyway.
The guy then should be forking out a coaching fee.
It is the old adage that strings feel great just before they break.
Anyway, the question to ask the guy whose strings popped is how the racket was playing. If they think the racket was playing great, then they probably had it originally strung too tight. The tension will have dropped off to just what the suits the guy best before it popped, so that is the tension he should have strung it at in the first place.
Most people string their rackets too tight. I am always in favour of stringing as low as you can go and then working up bit by bit until you aren't overhitting.
If the guy says the strings were playing sh*t, then you did him a favour anyway.
The guy then should be forking out a coaching fee.
Agreed....
Mig1NC
Professional
I say no based on your story.
You say one guy offered the racquet to the other guy, the other guy did not ask for the racquet.
In this case it is like inviting somebody into your house. They are now your guest.
If it was the other way around, that is to say the guy who broke the strings had requested the racquet from the other guy, that would be different.
You say one guy offered the racquet to the other guy, the other guy did not ask for the racquet.
In this case it is like inviting somebody into your house. They are now your guest.
If it was the other way around, that is to say the guy who broke the strings had requested the racquet from the other guy, that would be different.
jwbarrientos
Hall of Fame
In ARG there's a rule, the one who break the one who pay ...
He should OFFER to pay. It's just basic manners - you use something belonging to someone else and it breaks, you offer to pay. Then the owner can make the decision.
onkystomper
Hall of Fame
OMG strings break FACT.. just cos they broke in the couple of mins he was using them he should not have to pay.. what about the hours of use before hand. NO WAY would I accept money from a friend if i loaned them a racket and the strings broke.. even if they were new!
Steve Huff
Legend
I wouldn't expect him to pay either.
If he broke the racquet, then yes he should pay to replace it because that would likely be the cause of some negligence or mistake by the user. You don't offer to pay for something that has an extremely short lifespan like strings on a racquet though.
is no way you can break strings on a racquet by hitting a tennis ball and be at fault because its normal wear and tear.
TnTBigman
Professional
+1
I wouldn't even consider asking to be re-imbursed for strings. However, it would be cool if they sincerly offered to pay though. But I'd still decline. Come on....it's strings.
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retlod
Professional
Let's take it to an extreme and say I let someone borrow my car, which has about 29,999 miles on its current set of tires. He drives it for a day, then says "Hey, you need new tires. I wore them down just past the point at which your leasing company says they need to be replaced."
Should he have to pay $1200 to replace them? Is this situation that much different than racquet strings that just happen to break during the short time that the owner isn't using them?
Should he have to pay $1200 to replace them? Is this situation that much different than racquet strings that just happen to break during the short time that the owner isn't using them?
Six.One.Tour.90FAN
Professional
Yes, you absolutely should offer to pay. It's just good manners. If the owner takes you up on the offer then you've learned not to borrow anything from them in the future. Lesson learned. But, to break anything belonging to another person and not have the common decency to offer to replace it is pathetic.
Come off it mate, you're an experienced tennis player and you should know far better than that. Some of us hit very flat and almost never break strings while others hit with more rotation and/or a lot more mishits (plus framed shots) and can break strings very quickly. Hell, we've got countless threads filled with people bragging about doing that sort of thing to a fresh set within an hour. In this instance, the strings could have lasted the owner another month or more but, in the hands of another player (a string breaker), they don't last 5 minutes. They could even have been brand new strings, we don't know and neither does the OP- he assumes they were old simply because they broke (that's a lack of knowledge, not a fact).
sureshs
Bionic Poster
A gift, once given, cannot be taken back (including services). If you offered your friend the gift of using your racquet, it includes the chances of breaking the string, scratching the racquet, and even breaking the racquet. It doesn't matter if you offered it to him or he begged you for it. Once you gave the gift, you have to honor it.
goran_ace
Hall of Fame
If I lent a racket to a friend and the strings broke in 5 minutes, even if it were a fresh set of strings, I wouldn't ask for him to pay for them because it's not a big deal to me to restring (since I have my own machine, keep lots of string on hand, do it every so often anyway) and that's not something worth potentially getting into an argument over.
But for other people...
My freshman year of college I was out of rackets and borrowed one from a kid in my dorm to hit with someone. It was a pro staff classic 6.1 (eats strings) that probably had year old synthetic gut strings in them. So not surpisingly I broke a string. I didn't think it was a big deal and told him I'd drop it off with the team stringer when I picked up my rackets, but he was really mad. He acted like I broke the frame or something.
But for other people...
My freshman year of college I was out of rackets and borrowed one from a kid in my dorm to hit with someone. It was a pro staff classic 6.1 (eats strings) that probably had year old synthetic gut strings in them. So not surpisingly I broke a string. I didn't think it was a big deal and told him I'd drop it off with the team stringer when I picked up my rackets, but he was really mad. He acted like I broke the frame or something.
royfrombigd
Rookie
If someone hit with my racquet and broke a string, I would tell them not to worry about it. No big deal. If I broke someone's string after hitting for only a few minutes, I would make the offer to pay, but I would honestly hope they would refuse since I would have to think the strings were old since I'm not a string breaker. If I were borrowing the racquet for any length of time and hitting with it over several sessions, I absolutely pay to have restrung.
An experienced tennis player should also know that if they lend their racquet to someone, it is possible that the player could break the strings within 5 minutes if they are a string-breaker type of player. So if they cannot accept that risk, then they shouldn't lend out their racquet.
DavidGarcia
Hall of Fame
If it was me who lent the racket to your friend, I would expect your friend to offer paying the strings. Basic manners. But I would not accept the offer, of course.
pshulam
Hall of Fame
It's unreasonable to expect a friend to pay for string replacement. The fact that it breaks in 5 minutes suggests that the strings are defective or near end of life. Further, it was offered to him. He did not ask to borrow it. Since he's a friend, you should know that he's a string breaker or not. Knowing that he's a string breaker and yet still offering him the racquet indicates that you are willing to accept the risk. Out of courtesy, he should offer to pay, but how can you accept the offer under the circumstances.
You made a ridiculous statement and now you're trying to weasel out of it instead of just admitting you were wrong.
Precisely. It's the decent thing to do on their part by offering and yours by declining the offer. Really sad to see that attitude is in the minority on this board.
tennis005
Hall of Fame
You do? Yes!!!!ok buddy...
we believe you
equinox
Hall of Fame
many years ago, my old club ran a drop in night comp. A new big hitter turns up and we started a dlbs set. He was the kind of player that cranks a few winners then shanks one, that's ok he can borrow mine. I have plenty of racquets. we continue.
He takes my newly strung luxilon and breaks it a few hits later. he apologises promises to pay for restringing. I'm like ok fair enough and i want to win this set not get a forfeit, so hand him another........same result short while later. Now i am out of racquets and take a look inside clubhouse for old alum junkie for him. i find one and we finish the set ftw. He promises to pay for restringing when he comes down the next week.
Brian never showed. He never returned. I am still waiting all these years for money, even just enough to cover labor costs. :|
Is a little honesty and integrity too much to ask, i think not.
TennisNinja
Hall of Fame
Unless it was a fresh string job, then no.