StringWeaver
New User
A question that has been on my mind for a while is how many people in the US string racquets? Not just professional stringers, but also the amateur home stringer who may only do a few racquets a year. I once asked the director of the US Racquet Stringers Association and was told their membership fluctuated between 5000 and 7000 members. However, a "member" could be a single person or a tennis shop employing a dozen stringers--they make no distinction. Many people join the USRSA just to get a copy of the stringing bible, but then drop their membership the next year. Also, I believe only a very tiny fraction of stringers belong to the USRSA. I personally know at least 15 people in my town who string racquets, but only one is in the USRSA. The stringing machine manufacturers won't reveal the number of machines they've sold, even if you ask nicely (I have!), so estimating by machine sales is not possible. I once did a calculation extrapolating from the number of stringers I've encountered in a town of 60,000 and, making a number of assumptions, came up with an estimate of 250,000 to 300,000 stringers in the US. The USTA estimates there are about 18 million tennis players in the US, so assuming there are 300,000 stringers means roughly 1 in 60 tennis players also string racquets. Does that seem right to you? Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get a more accurate estimate?
