Horrors of the 2011 Orange Bowl Stringing Service

[Deleted member 60695]

With the price and portability of the klippermate style machines maybe every kid should have one in his/her tennis bag.

That would be one heavy bag.
But I hear you, don't forget the ease of use. Klipper is easy to use!

 

[chalkflewup]

Do you have Klipper mounted to anything like a horse?

 

[USTAparent]

Reports of racquets strung with the wrong string, or strung with a multi in the mains and a poly in the crosses even though the player asked for it the other way around were rampant. One father reported when he went to pick up his son’s racquet it was not ready. Needing the racquet so his son could take to his upcoming match, the stringers resolved the dilemma by placing all the mains in the frame, pulling tension once, clamping and tying off. They then put in 4-5 crosses, tensioned, clamped, and repeated this until the crosses were completed. Voila ! A racquet needing 35 total pulls completed with 4-5 pulls in about 5 minutes.

With 5 pulls it can be done as fast as in 20 minutes, not 5. It is o.k. to skip pulls, but you need to do something else – apply some stringing craftsmanship in order to get identical and correct tension on each run. It is not a good idea to play an important match with a racquet that was just strung. It is because the tension is never uniform on a freshly strung racquet. But you could do a dozen of hard serves to overload strings and make them move to a better equilibrium position to reduce friction force on turns. You could also massage strings around the rim.
It is irresponsible to come to such of an important tournament with needs to string your racquets. Check your equipment before you go. If you expect to win this tournament you are probably already good enough to know when your strings are about to fail. So, replace you notched strings before the trip. If you need to string your racquets during this tournament you are probably one of the first round losers. The winners are more responsible about the equipment and they know what it needs and when. Why do you even come here away from your home? For players like you it should be enough of your local competition. Seems like these who had problems with stringing services come to the tournament expecting a vacation, but faced an obligation to do work. These tournaments are designed for finding the best tennis player, not for recreation. The best tennis player should not be having problems with stringing. The others should not be even coming so the best have a shorter road to the finals.

 

[jamauss]

Drak,
Just thought I would add my $0.02 to this thread. I've strung for pro events (Challenger/Futures level) and I don't usually get treated like an imperative part of these events. Sadly, stringing is a bit of a thankless job. If you do your job you usually just get a "thanks, good job" at best, but if you screw up you get treated harshly most of the time. I've always got the feeling it is a very "behind the scenes" job that people only know about if you're doing it wrong. Not as glamorous as some people might envision it to be.

 

[sureshs]

It is irresponsible to come to such of an important tournament with needs to string your racquets

Yeah the pros do not get racquets strung during tournaments.

LOL.

 

[tennis5]

With 5 pulls it can be done as fast as in 20 minutes, not 5. It is o.k. to skip pulls, but you need to do something else – apply some stringing craftsmanship in order to get identical and correct tension on each run. It is not a good idea to play an important match with a racquet that was just strung. It is because the tension is never uniform on a freshly strung racquet. But you could do a dozen of hard serves to overload strings and make them move to a better equilibrium position to reduce friction force on turns. You could also massage strings around the rim.
It is irresponsible to come to such of an important tournament with needs to string your racquets. Check your equipment before you go. If you expect to win this tournament you are probably already good enough to know when your strings are about to fail. So, replace you notched strings before the trip. If you need to string your racquets during this tournament you are probably one of the first round losers. The winners are more responsible about the equipment and they know what it needs and when. Why do you even come here away from your home? For players like you it should be enough of your local competition. Seems like these who had problems with stringing services come to the tournament expecting a vacation, but faced an obligation to do work. These tournaments are designed for finding the best tennis player, not for recreation. The best tennis player should not be having problems with stringing. The others should not be even coming so the best have a shorter road to the finals.

A little confused.

How would you handle this situation.

My son had a tournament in the South.
We strung his racquets before we left. I think the airplane affects the tension some.
We were in the South a week.

Then, we flew to Arizona ( geography areas not my strongpoint), but it was the desert.
Now, it is two weeks. Strings are dead.

Your post is saying what specifically, because I am not understanding what you are saying?

I couldn't fly back home between tournaments, and have them restrung?

Can you please explain what you are trying to say, besides saying the kid is a first round loser.

Thanks.

 

[drakulie]

I hope they fix it and get another chance because Veltri is a great club and IMO the best tennis facility in Broward county, hands down.

IMO, they should lose the tournament. On another note, I would strongly disagree with you that Veltri is the best facility in the county. Sunrise is WAY nicer, court are better kept, much prettier scenery, one doesn't have balls from other courts constantly rolling onto your court, etc, etc, etc. LTC is also way nicer, with hands down better maintenied courts, as is David park. Veltri would be way down on the list.

Nothing will change unless this is made known through formal complaints to the USTA and publicized widely to cause embarrassment to the organizers who tried to skimp on the money. Otherwise, there will be some backdoor negotiations and things will be hushed up.

Agree. Hopefully, many of the players complained.

Drak,
Just thought I would add my $0.02 to this thread. I've strung for pro events (Challenger/Futures level) and I don't usually get treated like an imperative part of these events. Sadly, stringing is a bit of a thankless job. If you do your job you usually just get a "thanks, good job" at best, but if you screw up you get treated harshly most of the time. I've always got the feeling it is a very "behind the scenes" job that people only know about if you're doing it wrong. Not as glamorous as some people might envision it to be.

great post. I was having a conversation about this a few days ago. I agree that it is a thankless job. When was the last time a player giving his speech after winning a tournament thanked the stringers. I can't think of one instance. On the other hand, announcers are constantly blaming stringers, as are players, parents, etc.

 

[drakulie]

Your post is full of so much fail, I don't even know where to start, but I'll try.

With 5 pulls it can be done as fast as in 20 minutes, not 5.

Not sure what you are even trying to say here. But one thing is for certain, a racquet should never be completed in 5 pulls.

It is o.k. to skip pulls,

No, it's not.

It is not a good idea to play an important match with a racquet that was just strung.

Tell that to the top pros in the world.

It is irresponsible to come to such of an important tournament with needs to string your racquets.

So when the strings break, they should just hit the ball with the side of their racquet. :roll: Seriously, do you have any idea what you are talking about?

If you need to string your racquets during this tournament you are probably one of the first round losers.

More evidence that you seriously have no clue what you are talking about.

The winners are more responsible about the equipment and they know what it needs and when.

:roll:

These tournaments are designed for finding the best tennis player, not for recreation.

This tournament had the best players (juniors) from around the world. What planet are you posting from? Again, do you seriously have any clue what you are talking about?

Please, do yourself a HUGE favor and quit while you are behind.

 

[Kurte954]

IMO, they should lose the tournament. On another note, I would strongly disagree with you that Veltri is the best facility in the county. Sunrise is WAY nicer, court are better kept, much prettier scenery, one doesn't have balls from other courts constantly rolling onto your court, etc, etc, etc. LTC is also way nicer, with hands down better maintenied courts, as is David park. Veltri would be way down on the list.

Sunrise has half the courts, borders on a major road, has like 12 parking spaces it shares with a community pool, one hard court with bleacher seating and it's in Sunrise. I do like the centrally located restrooms though. Someone was smart about that.

David Park also has (I think) even less than half the courts, and it's next door to some kind of water treatment plant that smells like sewage, has 1 court with cement bleachers, no parking, and is in what I consider to be a questionable neighborhood. Plus they over charge for the courts. I played there last week for about 2 hours. Total cost was $28. Sunrise is half that.

I haven't played at LTC, but they only have 8 courts. I doubt they could host any kind of tournament outside of the rec level. It looks expensive too.

I pay $320 per year total for my wife and I's membership. As a Veltri member, I can play on Har-Tru clay everyday all day long for $0, unless I play at night, when I will not be charged more than $6 per hour, which is usually split among players. I know how lucky I am. People up north can't play or pay $50+ PER HOUR to play. Veltri has 2 courts overlooked by a set of massive, permanent bleachers. There are bleachers for each of the 3 rows of courts. There's a MASSIVE parking lot, not to mention the rest of Central Park that could be used for parking. It's silly to make the statement about balls rolling onto courts... I've had that happen to me just as much at every club I've been to.

 

[drakulie]

Sunrise has half the courts, borders on a major road, has like 12 parking spaces it shares with a community pool, one hard court with bleacher seating and it's in Sunrise. I do like the centrally located restrooms though. Someone was smart about that.

The roads you reference are NOT next to the courts (far from them). The parking you reference is also not the only parking (there is a huge parking lot on the east side of the park). Other than that, the courts playability blow away the beat up courts at Veltri. In addition, you don't have the "wind tunnel" element you get at Veltri where most of the courts are absent of wind breakers towards the east/west.

David Park also has (I think) even less than half the courts, and it's next door to some kind of water treatment plant that smells like sewage, has 1 court with cement bleachers, no parking, and is in what I consider to be a questionable neighborhood. Plus they over charge for the courts. I played there last week for about 2 hours. Total cost was $28. Sunrise is half that.

Once again, you are wrong about the parking, but they do as you said have less courts than Veltri, but again, the courts are superior to those of Veltri, and better maintained. In addition, once again there is less problems with the wind, or balls from 8 other courts rolling onto your court, as is the case with veltri where each court is nearly on top of one another like at Holiday Park.

I haven't played at LTC, but they only have 8 courts. I doubt they could host any kind of tournament outside of the rec level. It looks expensive too.

The LTC has 23 courts, which are IMO the best maintained courts in the county. They host the USTA National Clay Court Championships for the 30's and 45's, and use to host the National 14, 16. They also have hands down the absolute best lighting in the county, and don't have problems with the wind or balls rolling from one court to another because the courts have ample space between them along with barriers/cavanas (as is the case with sunrise).



Yes, Veltri is inexpensive, but so is Sunrise, and David Park, as well as Dillon, and the latter are all better maintained courts. The reason they are inexpensive is because they are public courts, and in the case with Veltri, Saviano Academy is there, which results in the courts being severely worn down.

 

[Kurte954]

The roads you reference are NOT next to the courts (far from them). The parking you reference is also not the only parking (there is a huge parking lot on the east side of the park). Other than that, the courts playability blow away the beat up courts at Veltri. In addition, you don't have the "wind tunnel" element you get at Veltri where most of the courts are absent of wind breakers towards the east/west.

Oakland park blvd (a 6 lane road) is 100 feet from Sunrise's "Show" court. Are you referencing the vacant field across the street for parking? Unless you tip toe around the court or stand in one spot when you play, by the 2nd set, all Har-Tru courts are not well maintained. I guess Veltri is not surrounded by tall, ugly buildings like David Park (what's that smell?) and LTC, so wind can be more of an issue. But, since it rains more days per year than the wind is over 15mph, I don't mind it so much.

Once again, you are wrong about the parking, but they do as you said have less courts than Veltri, but again, the courts are superior to those of Veltri, and better maintained. In addition, once again there is less problems with the wind, or balls from 8 other courts rolling onto your court, as is the case with veltri where each court is nearly on top of one another like at Holiday Park.

They have less parking than 1/2 the parking Veltri has, not including the "general" parking available. I was being kind when I said less... they have 1/3rd of the courts. See above about wind. I am tempted to measure the distance between double's sidelines from court to court the next time I'm playing at any of these facilities. I would feel pretty comfortable saying Veltri's courts are equally distanced, if not more so.

The LTC has 23 courts, which are IMO the best maintained courts in the county. They host the USTA National Clay Court Championships for the 30's and 45's, and use to host the National 14, 16. They also have hands down the absolute best lighting in the county, and don't have problems with the wind or balls rolling from one court to another because the courts have ample space between them along with barriers/cavanas (as is the case with sunrise).

I'm sure your opinion of LTC has no bias, since you work there. I'm sure it's bothersome to you that the public courts of Veltri, as terribly maintained as they are, got the Orange Bowl before LTC. I believe Veltri and Jimmy Evert tennis clubs host the 14 and 16s now... I could be wrong though. I'm also sure that had LTC hosted the OB, there would have been problems too. Anytime something of that scale is started, there's going to be problems. Always.

Veltri has 26 lighted Har-Tru courts. According to LTC's website, LTC has 8 lit Har-Tru courts. If that's wrong, you can't blame me. I would imagine it is much easier to light 8 courts than 26, so LTC should have better lighting. I hope, as the hacker that I am, will play at LTC someday so I can see it for myself. I've only heard good things about it.

Yes, Veltri is inexpensive, but so is Sunrise, and David Park, as well as Dillon, and the latter are all better maintained courts. The reason they are inexpensive is because they are public courts, and in the case with Veltri, Saviano Academy is there, which results in the courts being severely worn down.

The Academy has actually helped Veltri. The courts are much better maintained than they used to be. I personally don't mind public courts. I find the people are more fun, friendly, and generally of good spirit compared to more "elite" clubs. I also love that I've played with people who own private jets and people who are trying to squeeze every last mile out of that 1990 Honda.

I'm sorry that a stray ball on your court is offensive to you - I imagine your one of the types that gets huffy about having to retrieve a ball for a fellow player on a nearby court. I suppose your tennis balls never stray into another court, either. I guess I'd rather have more courts and be able to get on one of them uninterrupted for 2.5+ hours and have to deal with wind or a stray ball than squeeze on a court and get promptly booted after 59 minutes and 59 seconds. I guess if I were a better tennis player, I would be offended by a less than perfect court or the occasional stray ball. I have so many tennis deficiencies that I'm happy when I can blame a bad bounce or a stray ball, or whatever.

Anyway, I guess I see more life at Veltri, more happening for tennis as a sport at Veltri, more of a tennis community at Veltri than I have at any other facility. I think it's great that when I get to the courts, sometimes there's 4 dozen kids under the age of 10 learning to be pros, who hit the ball 10 times harder than I'll ever be able to hit it. Other clubs have stuff going on, but Veltri seems to have the most life, from what I have seen.

 

[Kurte954]

Actually, I wish I had seen the OP's signature before I reacted to this thread. It's all, I'm sure, propaganda to get the facility he works at to host the Orange Bowl. That's sad. Just sad. To try and smear another facility's image... how underhanded... for shame.

 

[USTAparent]

A little confused.

How would you handle this situation.

My son had a tournament in the South.
We strung his racquets before we left. I think the airplane affects the tension some.
We were in the South a week.

Then, we flew to Arizona ( geography areas not my strongpoint), but it was the desert.
Now, it is two weeks. Strings are dead.
...

Thanks.

It may be poor stringing that relaxed during your travel. I never noticed any changes on my stringing nether on check-in or carry-on board. But in Arizona you should be careful when you leave racquets in cars or outside. Even during the winter it can get very hot inside your car or inside a bag left on the sun. People make Arizona sun tea by placing a jar of water with a tea bag outdoor for an hour.

 

[USTAparent]

Your post is full of so much fail, I don't even know where to start, but I'll try.

Not sure what you are even trying to say here. But one thing is for certain, a racquet should never be completed in 5 pulls.

Please, do yourself a HUGE favor and quit while you are behind.
__________________
Head Stringer @ the LTC, Babolat Star 4 Stringer
http://www.youtube.com/user/drakulie

QUOTE]
Sorry for confusion. I was trying to point on the error that I discovered in the beginning post of this thread. When I read the initiating post I imagined a self promoting stringing enthusiast who was trying to get recognized for his/her stringing knowledge by criticizing others. Two little details inspired me to reply. Firstly, the person published over 20000 posts in 7 years (6 post a day average). These are not short posts but the posts that require some work. So, I wanted a replay, and, I had it. Secondly, the 5 minute stringing reference was interesting, because I could do it as fast as 20 minutes. But the person was referring to a part-time employee making it in 5 minutes, and not just weaving strings but also making 5 pulls. 5 minutes is very fast. 5min x 60 sec = 300 seconds. About 40 runs (80 holes). 300 / 40 = 7.5 seconds pro run or 4 sec pro hole. I can pull and clamp in 5 seconds or 40 pulls x 5 = 3 minutes to do all the pulls. It takes me 20 minutes to finish one racquet. 20-3=17 minutes just for weaving. But somebody in Florida can weave (+ 5 pulls) in 5 minutes! If that part-time employee was so fast with his hands, what was a problem with doing all the 40 pulls? The employee weaves 5 times faster compare to me, so he/she should be pulling faster as well. If all the 40 pulls take less than 3 minutes that Florida employee could finish the racquet with 40 pulls in 5+3=8 minutes instead of 5 minutes as you described. My question is if the customer could not wait extra 3 minutes to get 40 pulls (not 5). But I think if somebody can string in 5 minutes with whatever quantity of pulls, that person is a top expert above our heads, and we should not be criticizing such of an expertise and just get amazed. If you met a person capable to string whatever how in 5 minutes you should be giving positive comment, not negative. But a positive comment would not correlate with your self-promoting and supercilious 20000+ posts.
May I give my suggestion to yourself-tennis YouTube: you will look more like tennis players that I lake if you bend your knees when you move.
There are different ways of stringing tennis racquets. Just assume for the beginning that the other ways may be some different from what you have read in the operating manual for your stringing machine.

 

[monkey-ranch]

Your post is full of so much fail, I don't even know where to start, but I'll try.

Not sure what you are even trying to say here. But one thing is for certain, a racquet should never be completed in 5 pulls.

Please, do yourself a HUGE favor and quit while you are behind.
__________________
Head Stringer @ the LTC, Babolat Star 4 Stringer
http://www.youtube.com/user/drakulie

QUOTE]
Sorry for confusion. I was trying to point on the error that I discovered in the beginning post of this thread. When I read the initiating post I imagined a self promoting stringing enthusiast who was trying to get recognized for his/her stringing knowledge by criticizing others. Two little details inspired me to reply. Firstly, the person published over 20000 posts in 7 years (6 post a day average). These are not short posts but the posts that require some work. So, I wanted a replay, and, I had it. Secondly, the 5 minute stringing reference was interesting, because I could do it as fast as 20 minutes. But the person was referring to a part-time employee making it in 5 minutes, and not just weaving strings but also making 5 pulls. 5 minutes is very fast. 5min x 60 sec = 300 seconds. About 40 runs (80 holes). 300 / 40 = 7.5 seconds pro run or 4 sec pro hole. I can pull and clamp in 5 seconds or 40 pulls x 5 = 3 minutes to do all the pulls. It takes me 20 minutes to finish one racquet. 20-3=17 minutes just for weaving. But somebody in Florida can weave (+ 5 pulls) in 5 minutes! If that part-time employee was so fast with his hands, what was a problem with doing all the 40 pulls? The employee weaves 5 times faster compare to me, so he/she should be pulling faster as well. If all the 40 pulls take less than 3 minutes that Florida employee could finish the racquet with 40 pulls in 5+3=8 minutes instead of 5 minutes as you described. My question is if the customer could not wait extra 3 minutes to get 40 pulls (not 5). But I think if somebody can string in 5 minutes with whatever quantity of pulls, that person is a top expert above our heads, and we should not be criticizing such of an expertise and just get amazed. If you met a person capable to string whatever how in 5 minutes you should be giving positive comment, not negative. But a positive comment would not correlate with your self-promoting and supercilious 20000+ posts.
May I give my suggestion to yourself-tennis YouTube: you will look more like tennis players that I lake if you bend your knees when you move.
There are different ways of stringing tennis racquets. Just assume for the beginning that the other ways may be some different from what you have read in the operating manual for your stringing machine.

Jesuschrist my friend, you have no clue of what you are talking about. I dont agree with anything you have posted. I think is complety pointless and ******** trying to use a mathematical equation to prove something is not right when 99.9% of all tennis players/ stringers agree is wrong. Just refrain from posting on threads you have no knowledge about. Stringing a frame in 5 pulls IS WRONG NO MATTER WHO DOES IT.

 

[onehandbh]

QUOTE]
...I think if somebody can string in 5 minutes with whatever quantity of pulls, that person is a top expert above our heads, and we should not be criticizing such of an expertise and just get amazed. If you met a person capable to string whatever how in 5 minutes you should be giving positive comment, not negative. [/QUOTE]

Let me know the next time you need new brake pads for your car.
I can fix them it 5 minutes with my "whatever how" method

 

[USTAparent]

Jesuschrist my friend, you have no clue of what you are talking about. I dont agree with anything you have posted. I think is complety pointless and ******** trying to use a mathematical equation to prove something is not right when 99.9% of all tennis players/ stringers agree is wrong. Just refrain from posting on threads you have no knowledge about. Stringing a frame in 5 pulls IS WRONG NO MATTER WHO DOES IT.

Agree about 99.9%. Only one out of 1000 would know how to skip pulls and achieve uniform tension on skipped runs. Only one out of 100000 would string in 5 minutes as that tennis enthusiast witnessed in Florida. If is nearly impossible for us, ordinary people, to understand magic of craftsmanship that goes way above our ordinary heads. Your responds are clear conformation of that. But it is o.k. That is how it is in life.
I often do about 15 pulls and can probably string with 5 pulls with more effort. Fewer pulls - less clamping - less damage on strings. My strings never failed outside of sweet spot. But somebody stringing in 5 minutes is very amazing talent.

I replace brake pads in 30 minutes but I do not do it as often as stringing. 5 minutes for replacing brake pads is not as amazing as stringing in 5 minutes.

BTW, our best players have been winning tournaments with my stringing for years, never complained.

I can string for you if you send me a polite e-mail.

Also, from my experience with the best, poor stringing was never considered as reason for loosing a match.

 

[drakulie]

Actually, I wish I had seen the OP's signature before I reacted to this thread. It's all, I'm sure, propaganda to get the facility he works at to host the Orange Bowl. That's sad. Just sad. To try and smear another facility's image... how underhanded... for shame.

You obviously didn't read the first post in this thread, and are merely talking doo-doo. Here is the first paragraph of my post to refresh your limited memory:

As you may or may not know, the USTA this year moved the venue of the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships from the hard courts of the Key Biscayne Tennis Center to the har-tru courts at the Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation, Florida. This tournament is considered one of the most prestigious junior tournaments in the world. The City of Plantation was awarded the venue because of its ability to host such a large event on har-tru courts. Umpires, score boards, volunteers, tents for players to relax and/or eat, personal trainers, physicians, plenty of parking, security, etc were all planned and on site. Unfortunately, the City of Plantation, USTA, tournament organizers/director, and Orange Bowl Committee forgot to provide much less plan for even an adequate stringing service.

So you really think I'm being bias? I actually acknowledged all the great things they planned for and implemented.

As for the LTC receiving this venue, they were asked BEFORE Veltri, and respectfully declined, so I could care less. I was much more enthusiastic that:

1. This tournament was finally moved to clay, and
2. I wouldn't have to travel all the way to Key Biscayne (hour+ drive to watch the tournament).

As for the rest of your dribbling, it is not "bias" to correct you in stating that a club has 23 courts as oppopsed to the "8" you cliamed. Its a fact.

As for David park, it is not "bias" to state they have a huge parking lot. It's a fact. Perhaps if you opened your eyes, you would know this. As for the smell you claim, Yes, I could say I have heard the same from several other players, however, I have not experienced it myself.

That said, I did notice the smell that came out of the septic tank during the Orange Bowl, when the Veltri Center decided to empty it during the tournament and match play. This was happening adjacent to the very first court (the one next to the practice wall), while a girls match was being played. So, not only did it smell horrible, but the truck emptying the septic tank was making all sorts of noise a few feet away from those first two courts. Oops!

I could go on, but the point of this thread is about the stringing, which by the way continues to be horrible. In fact, there is a futures going on right now, and there continues to be complaints.

 

[drakulie]

QUOTE]
Let me know the next time you need new brake pads for your car.
I can fix them it 5 minutes with my "whatever how" method

LOL>

Jesuschrist my friend, you have no clue of what you are talking about. I dont agree with anything you have posted. I think is complety pointless and ******** trying to use a mathematical equation to prove something is not right when 99.9% of all tennis players/ stringers agree is wrong. Just refrain from posting on threads you have no knowledge about. Stringing a frame in 5 pulls IS WRONG NO MATTER WHO DOES IT.

some people just walk the earth aimlessly. Let's leave it at that.

 

[chalkflewup]

I give this thread a "B" as in Beaten to death. Time to move on.

 

[woodrow1029]

With 5 pulls it can be done as fast as in 20 minutes, not 5. It is o.k. to skip pulls, but you need to do something else – apply some stringing craftsmanship in order to get identical and correct tension on each run. It is not a good idea to play an important match with a racquet that was just strung. It is because the tension is never uniform on a freshly strung racquet. But you could do a dozen of hard serves to overload strings and make them move to a better equilibrium position to reduce friction force on turns. You could also massage strings around the rim.
It is irresponsible to come to such of an important tournament with needs to string your racquets. Check your equipment before you go. If you expect to win this tournament you are probably already good enough to know when your strings are about to fail. So, replace you notched strings before the trip. If you need to string your racquets during this tournament you are probably one of the first round losers. The winners are more responsible about the equipment and they know what it needs and when. Why do you even come here away from your home? For players like you it should be enough of your local competition. Seems like these who had problems with stringing services come to the tournament expecting a vacation, but faced an obligation to do work. These tournaments are designed for finding the best tennis player, not for recreation. The best tennis player should not be having problems with stringing. The others should not be even coming so the best have a shorter road to the finals.

Wow that's out there! I'm also with drak wondering what planet you are posting from. I know next to nothing about stringing and perfectly fine admitting I have no clue how to string a racket or much about stringing techniques at all. But that is just way out there. Even I know that.

 

[Kurte954]

You obviously didn't read the first post in this thread, and are merely talking doo-doo. Here is the first paragraph of my post to refresh your limited memory:

No need for insults. Where would you have the OB hosted?

 

[drakulie]

No need for insults. Where would you have the OB hosted?

Jimmy Evert would be horrible, as those are possibly the worst courts in the county. LTC, although close to the airport, I-95, the beach, downtown, etc. would be a nightmare because the members are a major pain in the rear about losing court time. David Park/Dillon don't have enough courts.

I love the fact that it is at Central Park. It's centrally located in Broward, obviously has more than enough courts, and space, and is a public court where all can enjoy. To add, as I said, I don't have to drive over an hour.

That all said, although the City of Plantation did a great job implememnting some great services for the tournament, they severely dropped the ball with the stringing. Quite frankly, they probably could care less judging by the fact that there is a major money tournament going on right now, where the same continues at $15 a frame.

 

[flat]

12 racquets should have lasted half the event or more

What am I missing here? 64 draw, maximum of 6 matches. Even if you assume worst case of 3hrs/match, and you start every match with a brand new racket, that's 6 rackets.

Are juniors at this level really showing up with 12+ rackets? Why?

 

[chalkflewup]

What am I missing here? 64 draw, maximum of 6 matches. Even if you assume worst case of 3hrs/match, and you start every match with a brand new racket, that's 6 rackets.

Are juniors at this level really showing up with 12+ rackets? Why?

No they are not showing up with 12 sticks. Most juniors carry 4 and a few carry 6 fresh sticks.

 

[treeman10]

-----------------

 

[mikeler]

No need for insults. Where would you have the OB hosted?

He took it pretty easy on you. You poke Yoda, he fights back.

 

[jigglypuff]

^^^that sounds more like it. 4 can get risky if they go deep, so ours took 6. Went through a phase where his coach said airplanes mess with strings (which I never really bought especially since he carried them on) but for a few events he took 2 practice racquets ready to go and 4 match racquets to have strung there, taking a reel(s) of string with him. That had its own stress and cost implications. So we said heck with that idea and he took 6 freshly strung racquets (we have machine so did them at home frantically the 2 days before he left) and found that way to be most consistent since machines can vary a bit. Using ours every time, he knew what he had to work with. If there is actually anything to air travel messing with it, he had to deal with it, ya can't make everything too perfect for them cause they don't learn to deal with adversity as it comes up.

How does yours rotate sticks? One stick strictly for practice? Or a used match stick becomes a practice stick? Or does a practice stick = doubles stick? Or any other combo or use stick till strings break?

 

[equinox]

What am I missing here? 64 draw, maximum of 6 matches. Even if you assume worst case of 3hrs/match, and you start every match with a brand new racket, that's 6 rackets.

Are juniors at this level really showing up with 12+ rackets? Why?

6 fresh racquets for each match. using previous for practice. with spares.

True 12 isn't strictly needed, 4 is way to low number. 6-9 more reasonable amount. 12 means never needing to rely on an external unknown stringing service/stringer and adds redundancy if disaster strikes like theft, missing/delayed half luggage etc.

Wow that's out there! I'm also with drak wondering what planet you are posting from. I know next to nothing about stringing and perfectly fine admitting I have no clue how to string a racket or much about stringing techniques at all. But that is just way out there. Even I know that.

Agreed, poster has lost touch with reality. Even top stringers aren't likely to have a racquet quality strung in under 15-17 minutes and in players hands in 20 minutes.

Not sure if OP was serious.

 

[monkey-ranch]

Agree about 99.9%. Only one out of 1000 would know how to skip pulls and achieve uniform tension on skipped runs. Only one out of 100000 would string in 5 minutes as that tennis enthusiast witnessed in Florida. If is nearly impossible for us, ordinary people, to understand magic of craftsmanship that goes way above our ordinary heads. Your responds are clear conformation of that. But it is o.k. That is how it is in life.
I often do about 15 pulls and can probably string with 5 pulls with more effort. Fewer pulls - less clamping - less damage on strings. My strings never failed outside of sweet spot. But somebody stringing in 5 minutes is very amazing talent.

I replace brake pads in 30 minutes but I do not do it as often as stringing. 5 minutes for replacing brake pads is not as amazing as stringing in 5 minutes.

BTW, our best players have been winning tournaments with my stringing for years, never complained.

I can string for you if you send me a polite e-mail.

Also, from my experience with the best, poor stringing was never considered as reason for loosing a match.

 

[Number1Coach]

No they are not showing up with 12 sticks. Most juniors carry 4 and a few carry 6 fresh sticks.

Because of the string we have been using, it has a lot of bite with the blend were using but goes smooth if there are a lot of rallies in the points , therefore we are changing every 4 to 5 games at that point.

We carry 8 to 10 rackets, I think 12 is over kill.

 

[Frankenstine]

Because of the string we have been using, it has a lot of bite with the blend were using but goes smooth if there are a lot of rallies in the points , therefore we are changing every 4 to 5 games at that point.

We carry 8 to 10 rackets, I think 12 is over kill.

I assume that you take a stringing machine with you to tournaments, yah? That's got to be rough doing so many restrings!

 

[treeman10]

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[sureshs]

I never thought about players not thanking stringers until it was brought up here! I mean, the only part of your entire body including the racquet which should actually touch the ball are the strings. Players thank the ball-persons, volunteers, sponsors, physio, coach etc but I have never heard anyone say: "Without my strings being strung exactly at 54 pounds by the stringers, I would not be holding this trophy."

 

[Frankenstine]

I never thought about players not thanking stringers until it was brought up here! I mean, the only part of your entire body including the racquet which should actually touch the ball are the strings. Players thank the ball-persons, volunteers, sponsors, physio, coach etc but I have never heard anyone say: "Without my strings being strung exactly at 54 pounds by the stringers, I would not be holding this trophy."

I agree 100%. People should be more grateful to their stringers!