Have you broken a racket while re-stringing because you just re-string the crosses?

ricardo

Hall of Fame
I use natural gut on the mains and multis/synthetics on the crosses.
I also put a lot (52) of babolat string savers in the sweetspot.

I noticed that the crosses are breaking faster than the mains. I am on my 3rd cross but still using the same mains: i only re-string the crosses because the mains (natural gut) is still in excellent condition.

When i re-string just the crosses, i do not see any frame warping or frame cracking that many people on this site claim happen to them.

Question:
I string my racket below 50lbs for the mains and lower for the crosses.

Have you personally experience any problem with the racket when re-stringing just the crosses or you just heard about it??
 

Agent Orynge

Professional
I don't do it, for the same reason I don't run with scissors. Maybe I won't always trip and put out my eye, but it's still a bad idea.
 

esgee48

G.O.A.T.
Not a good practice, but 'doable' according to some of the posters here. Just make sure the frame is mounted and supported at 6 and 12 o'clock before cutting out the crosses. And Yes, I have done it before without cracking or damaging the racquet. Guy was like you; wanted to keep the gut mains.
 

TaihtDuhShaat

Semi-Pro
The best way to do it is clamp off the crosses throat to head and cut one cross at a time. I do it every few days of play.
 

ricardo

Hall of Fame
Just make sure the frame is mounted and supported at 6 and 12 o'clock before cutting out the crosses. And Yes, I have done it before without cracking or damaging the racquet. Guy was like you; wanted to keep the gut mains.

Yes. the frame is supported at 6/12 before i cut the crosses out.

i also cut the crosses starting from the middle between the #1 mains and alternate one up one down..
 

neverstopplaying

Professional
The best way to do it is clamp off the crosses throat to head and cut one cross at a time. I do it every few days of play.

Smart idea.

I've not restrung crosses only very oftern but i cant see it being any different than when the racquet is in the machine with only the mains finished. never had a problem.
 

dantespark33

Semi-Pro
Different from the OP, but i was stringing a cracked racket, me and the guy both knew it was cracked, but he wanted me to do it anyways. I'm in the middle of doing the crosses and then my sister calls me into her room for something, so i step out and hear this huge CRACK sound almost like thunder, then come back into my room to find the racket with huge crack. But yeah, pretty interesting how loud a crack sound can be. That was the only time a racket has broken during a stringing.
 

TaihtDuhShaat

Semi-Pro
so you re-string just your crosses every few days of play?

i assume you are using poly on the crosses. they die very quickly, maybe after 6-10 hours of play..

Yep Multi mains with copoly crosses (very humid where I play) The poly loses it's playability after 3-4 sessions so I replace the crosses until the multi breaks (usually after 4 or so restrings of crosses).

The thing is - I've experimented with many different tensions on the crosses as I replace them, and even though the mains lose tension, it plays best when I restring the crosses at their tension of the initial string job. The hoop width stays constant thru out (I measure in mm). The hoop is under much less effective tension after a few sessions with copoly crosses than almost any other string type since the copoly loses the most tension compared with other string types.

The multi/gut main poly cross hybrid really isn't an ideal setup for more than several hours of play. So this solution makes it feel fresh every few sessions. Same electric spin and pop as the first stringjob.
 
Last edited:

tlm

G.O.A.T.
I use natural gut on the mains and multis/synthetics on the crosses.
I also put a lot (52) of babolat string savers in the sweetspot.

I noticed that the crosses are breaking faster than the mains. I am on my 3rd cross but still using the same mains: i only re-string the crosses because the mains (natural gut) is still in excellent condition.

When i re-string just the crosses, i do not see any frame warping or frame cracking that many people on this site claim happen to them.

Question:
I string my racket below 50lbs for the mains and lower for the crosses.

Have you personally experience any problem with the racket when re-stringing just the crosses or you just heard about it??

I have done this many time with a lot of different rackets with absolutely no problems. There are many here who will tell you that you should never do this because it will ruin your racket + on + on. Even though these naysayers have never done it they know all about it.

I never did this once the string broke, i used to use nat. gut main + it would out last the syn. x's in playability so i would change just the x's. This worked very nicely, it would make the gut main last much longer. I also do this method when i am trying to fine tune string jobs on a new racket.

If i am doing hybrid jobs i usually know what main i want to use, so it is just a matter of finding the right x's. So i will start with a new set up and if i don't like the x's i will not use it long, then as soon as i get home i will cut out the x's and try a different one. I have done this a couple of times in the same day. When i find the right combo i will then put a fresh main+x's in together, which is the best way.

But i save a lot of time+string in determining the best set up. This is the only time i do this with nat. gut or finding right string job for new racket. Do a search this has been discussed before, you can then see the method i suggest when doing this.
 

ricardo

Hall of Fame
I have done this many time with a lot of different rackets with absolutely no problems. There are many here who will tell you that you should never do this because it will ruin your racket + on + on. Even though these naysayers have never done it they know all about it.

I never did this once the string broke, i used to use nat. gut main + it would out last the syn. x's in playability so i would change just the x's. This worked very nicely, it would make the gut main last much longer. I also do this method when i am trying to fine tune string jobs on a new racket.

If i am doing hybrid jobs i usually know what main i want to use, so it is just a matter of finding the right x's. So i will start with a new set up and if i don't like the x's i will not use it long, then as soon as i get home i will cut out the x's and try a different one. I have done this a couple of times in the same day. When i find the right combo i will then put a fresh main+x's in together, which is the best way.

But i save a lot of time+string in determining the best set up. This is the only time i do this with nat. gut or finding right string job for new racket. Do a search this has been discussed before, you can then see the method i suggest when doing this.

right on!!!
 

nkbond

Rookie
I've done it literally hundreds of times. Use kevlar mains and almost always get two rounds out of it...follow the guidelines previously posted. Never been a problem and this is with dozens of different types of racquets.

My machine is an ektelon w/ mounting points 12 and 6. been stringing for over 25 yrs. now...longer than I've been playing tennis!
 

origmarm

Hall of Fame
Hasn't happened to me but I've seen it happen to an LM Radical on my machine at the time (Neos) when my brother was stringing. I've always wondered if the frame was cracked and this just finished it off or whether it was a clean break. That and whether the two point mount of the Neos contributed (vs a 6 point).

The Head frames appear particularly prone to racquet head deformation though in that you hear lots of people asking about their deformed Rad/Prestige after using a two point mount badly.

Not a practice I engage in but I've seen my brother do it for many years and only have the one issue.
 
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