I’m not too ashamed to admit...

TagUrIt

TagUrIt

Hall of Fame
that after almost two years of stringing, I don’t know how to weave crosses. Don’t get me wrong I know the concept, I’ve just never put any effort into trying learn this skill efficiently. I weave my crosses by going up and down (over and under obviously) but not in the traditional sense where you run them across. I realize it’s a slower way to weave, but I only string for myself and this method of weaving hasn’t had any impact of my string jobs.
 
loosegroove

loosegroove

Hall of Fame
@TagUrIt 2 years and you can't properly weave? I'm appalled! Welcome to my ignore list!

On a more serious note, what have you been using for crosses? Trying to weave stiff poly crosses can be a learning curve and it's easier to just do what you've probably been doing in the short term. But it's definitely beneficial to learn to be more efficient, even if just stringing for yourself. I found it easier to learn to weave with a synthetic gut that wasn't too slick, and then I was able to transfer that skill to polys.
 
First Serve

First Serve

Rookie
TagUrIt said:
that after almost two years of stringing, I don’t know how to weave crosses. Don’t get me wrong I know the concept, I’ve just never put any effort into trying learn this skill efficiently. I weave my crosses by going up and down (over and under obviously) but not in the traditional sense where you run them across. I realize it’s a slower way to weave, but I only string for myself and this method of weaving hasn’t had any impact of my string jobs.
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I’m not too ashamed to admit...

I have got you beat!

After about 4 years of stringing, I still weave crosses like you by pulling the string in an up and down motion. However, I can boast that there has been some incremental improvement because I dont have to validate the weave by re-checking if I missed a weave like I used to do.

I can do the two finger push sewing technique but it is not natural. My average time for a string job is still over an hour and I am doing okay if it is under and hour and a half.
 
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esgee48

esgee48

Legend
Try it with claw tips! :happydevil: You can go faster only if you want or need to do it. That's when you try to figure out the fastest way for you to weave. For me, it is an inital combination of pull to the throat followed by push. If you take 30 seconds to go across the mains, that is adequate. There is no reason to try doing it in 15 seconds.
 
TagUrIt

TagUrIt

Hall of Fame
2nd Serve Ace said:
Stringway mk2 might be something to look at.
Click to expand...
I actually have one, (the LD version) but it doesn't fit my new racquets. I switched from the Ezone 100 to the Ezone 98 Tour. I emailed the company and they advised the HD tool would work. I just never pulled the trigger on ordering a new one.
loosegroove said:
@TagUrIt 2 years and you can't properly weave? I'm appalled! Welcome to my ignore list!

On a more serious note, what have you been using for crosses? Trying to weave stiff poly crosses can be a learning curve and it's easier to just do what you've probably been doing in the short term. But it's definitely beneficial to learn to be more efficient, even if just stringing for yourself. I found it easier to learn to weave with a synthetic gut that wasn't too slick, and then I was able to transfer that skill to polys.
Click to expand...
Holding my head down. :confused: Yeah I completely agree with you, I just never put the energy into it. I started stringing with polys and now I'm using syn gut. There's no way I could learn how to properly weave with syn gut without a LOT of hours of practice.

First Serve said:
I’m not too ashamed to admit...

I have got you beat!

After about 4 years of stringing, I still weave crosses like you by pulling the string in an up and down motion. However, I can boast that there has been some incremental movement because I dont have to validate the weave by re-checking if I missed a weave like I used to do.

I can do the two finger push sewing technique but it is not natural. My average time for a string job is still over an hour and I am doing okay if it is under and hour and a half.
Click to expand...
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one (and brave enough to admit it) :p I went from an hour on my drop weight to 45 min on my crank and now with the Wise Tensioner I'm down to 30 minutes if I'm focused and not watching tennis.
esgee48 said:
Try it with claw tips! :happydevil: You can go faster only if you want or need to do it. That's when you try to figure out the fastest way for you to weave. For me, it is an inital combination of pull to the throat followed by push. If you take 30 seconds to go across the mains, that is adequate. There is no reason to try doing it in 15 seconds.
Click to expand...
I've never heard of that, but I appreciate the tip. I'm actually okay with my unorthodox way of weaving crosses, I've got it down where I'm almost weaving just as fast the traditional method.
 
First Serve

First Serve

Rookie
TagUrIt said:
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one (and brave enough to admit it) :p I went from an hour on my drop weight to 45 min on my crank and now with the Wise Tensioner I'm down to 30 minutes if I'm focused and not watching tennis.


I've never heard of that, but I appreciate the tip. I'm actually okay with my unorthodox way of weaving crosses, I've got it down where I'm almost weaving just as fast the traditional method.
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30 Minutes is very good. I am guessing at about 20 minutes/racquet that on a speed basis, my local shop tennis shop would hire you! BTW, a former stringer at my local shop I heard had set the unofficial speed record. I heard he was close to 10 minutes or slightly above that.

I also agree with you that for both of us when using the pull with up and down weave method is almost as fast if I did two finger weave method i see the advanced stringers do. Nevetheless, I cant put my finger where the wasted time goes, but I am lucky to finish under 90 minutes. :p:rolleyes:
 
Folsom_Stringer_Musa

Folsom_Stringer_Musa

Semi-Pro
TagUrIt said:
Holding my head down. :confused: Yeah I completely agree with you, I just never put the energy into it. I started stringing with polys and now I'm using syn gut. There's no way I could learn how to properly weave with syn gut without a LOT of hours of practice.
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@Irvin had some tips to use threading for faster cross. You can try that, but it will be only for half of the cross.
He also had another video where he used beads for faster weaving.
If you need these videos, I can pull them for you.
 
I

Irvin

Talk Tennis Guru
TagUrIt said:
that after almost two years of stringing, I don’t know how to weave crosses. Don’t get me wrong I know the concept, I’ve just never put any effort into trying learn this skill efficiently. I weave my crosses by going up and down (over and under obviously) but not in the traditional sense where you run them across. I realize it’s a slower way to weave, but I only string for myself and this method of weaving hasn’t had any impact of my string jobs.
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with weaving like that as long as you’re not using the tip of the string to do it. I sometimes use that needle and thread technique for the last few crosses. i like to weave with a loop of string where the end is about 4” more than I need to reach across the frame. Push the loop down from the top and back up with your hand under the frame. Only pull the tag end of string through not the section of string going to the last tensioned cross. This way you only pulling the string around 1 main. If you pull the whole loop you’re causing a lot of friction on the mains.

Similar to weaving with my string method in that you only want to pull the cross string with the least resistance, but only under 1 main at a time to reduce friction on the mains.
 
E

esm

Hall of Fame
I honestly think there is no right or wrong way to weave crosses. Suppose whatever works and you are happy with the end result.
I don’t alway use the “two fingers up&down” option, especially if I get sweaty hands - but I get it done without any issues, without any additional devices/aids.
Stringing isn’t my bread and butter, so I can enjoy it as much as I can.
I might take out the O3 Tour and give that 50-50 another go this arvo.
 
LOBALOT

LOBALOT

Hall of Fame
You are not unique and I wouldn't worry about it until you are ready to work on weaving. It took me 2 years to finally address my weaving skills as from my perspective there are a lot of other items to address that take a higher priority like: Consistency, Learning all the different racquets/patterns and how to string them, knots, etc.

My weaving is still not great. I found it easier to learn to pull weave so you may give that a try first. It does mean a little more spinning of the racquet when installing the crosses but I have gotten pretty quick now and if I push myself can do a racquet end-to-end in less than 40 minutes and for ones I am familiar with in around 30 minutes.

I prefer to start the crosses so that the primary crosses start under the first main and end going over the last main as you can simply grab the cross string prior to the last main and shove it into the grommet instead of working under the racquet and trying to dig around for the grommet. I am sure there are other perspectives but this has worked well for me.

Good luck!
 
1

18x20 ftw

Rookie
Irvin said:
Nothing wrong with weaving like that as long as you’re not using the tip of the string to do it. I sometimes use that needle and thread technique for the last few crosses. i like to weave with a loop of string where the end is about 4” more than I need to reach across the frame. Push the loop down from the top and back up with your hand under the frame. Only pull the tag end of string through not the section of string going to the last tensioned cross. This way you only pulling the string around 1 main. If you pull the whole loop you’re causing a lot of friction on the mains.

Similar to weaving with my string method in that you only want to pull the cross string with the least resistance, but only under 1 main at a time to reduce friction on the mains.
Click to expand...
I do this for the last few crosses, where it gets a little annoying at the end. Skip to 13:40 to watch Parnell do this method.

 
djNEiGht

djNEiGht

Hall of Fame
just keep practicing another 2 years. and 2 more after. Sure, speed is nice. Consistency is better.

I don't think it has been addressed, but pre-weaving one ahead of the string being tensioned will help as the strings are separated a bit. If you only weave one cross and then tension it, you will be doing a hard weave (i think that is what it is called)
 
WYK

WYK

Hall of Fame
18x20 ftw said:
I do this for the last few crosses, where it gets a little annoying at the end. Skip to 13:40 to watch Parnell do this method.

Click to expand...
I weave it similarly, but I pull instead of push. I found when I did it this way, that the string almost just magically weaves itself.
On softer strings, I can do the typical pushing the snake as most do, but I never really am able to do it with the stiff poly's I use.
 
TagUrIt

TagUrIt

Hall of Fame
djNEiGht said:
just keep practicing another 2 years. and 2 more after. Sure, speed is nice. Consistency is better.

I don't think it has been addressed, but pre-weaving one ahead of the string being tensioned will help as the strings are separated a bit. If you only weave one cross and then tension it, you will be doing a hard weave (i think that is what it is called)
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Even with my unorthodox method, I still string one ahead. It definitely makes stringing crosses easier. (y)
 
E

esm

Hall of Fame
18x20 ftw said:
I do this for the last few crosses, where it gets a little annoying at the end. Skip to 13:40 to watch Parnell do this method.

Click to expand...
I love this video - I usually watch this once every few weeks (it comes up on my YT feed anyway). RP’s voice is soothing (for me anyway) and video very well put together.
 
S

Steve Huff

Legend
I read an article in USRSA once (I think that's where it was) that said most self-taught stringers use a loop-and-pull method to weave, whereas most stringers who have been taught by an experienced stringer use the push method to weave. I think the push method is a lot faster, and wish I had learned it that way.
 
loosegroove

loosegroove

Hall of Fame
Steve Huff said:
I read an article in USRSA once (I think that's where it was) that said most self-taught stringers use a loop-and-pull method to weave, whereas most stringers who have been taught by an experienced stringer use the push method to weave. I think the push method is a lot faster, and wish I had learned it that way.
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I used the loop & pull method for years. Then once I started playing (and breaking strings) regularly, I made myself learn the push method after seeing the cool kids doing it so fluidly on the interwebs.
 
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2nd Serve Ace

2nd Serve Ace

Hall of Fame
TagUrIt said:
I actually have one, (the LD version) but it doesn't fit my new racquets. I switched from the Ezone 100 to the Ezone 98 Tour. I emailed the company and they advised the HD tool would work. I just never pulled the trigger on ordering a new one.

Holding my head down. :confused: Yeah I completely agree with you, I just never put the energy into it. I started stringing with polys and now I'm using syn gut. There's no way I could learn how to properly weave with syn gut without a LOT of hours of practice.



I'm glad to see I'm not the only one (and brave enough to admit it) :p I went from an hour on my drop weight to 45 min on my crank and now with the Wise Tensioner I'm down to 30 minutes if I'm focused and not watching tennis.


I've never heard of that, but I appreciate the tip. I'm actually okay with my unorthodox way of weaving crosses, I've got it down where I'm almost weaving just as fast the traditional method.
Click to expand...
The one I got had 2 different inserts. The HD version worked perfectly for 98.
 
S

struggle

Legend
I'm a push weaver. It's not hard, but just takes repetition.

Weave the biggest angle you can (it decreases as you go, of course).

Stiff poly sucks. (talk your players into syngut....they likely should be playing it anyhow...).
 
loosegroove

loosegroove

Hall of Fame
struggle said:
I'm a push weaver. It's not hard, but just takes repetition.

Weave the biggest angle you can (it decreases as you go, of course).

Stiff poly sucks. (talk your players into syngut....they likely should be playing it anyhow...).
Click to expand...
The easiest racket I ever strung was a Wilson Steam 105S with synthetic gut. If only stringing was always so grand.
 
MAX PLY

MAX PLY

Hall of Fame
Weaving crosses is simply a skill that gets more efficient with tons of repetition over time. I think I have always been a "push" weaver but I have found, over the years, a handful of strings that were easier to "pull" so I learned to do that too. As Steve Huff mentioned above, many of us were taught by some sage stringer back in the days before YouTube--and we honed our technique and speed because we had a ton of sticks to string for customers who expected pretty prompt service. That pressure, along with a good teacher, may be the most significant factor. That said, if you are the occasional hobby stringer, I would encourage you to try a few different techniques and see what works for you over time. You will only get better.
 
E

esm

Hall of Fame
CosmosMpower said:
I think I've plateaued. My average stringing time is around 25 mins on a 18x20 with a thin poly, can do 18-20 with a 16x19 with softer string. I don't think i'll ever get down to 10-12 mins due to weaving.
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That is cool. I can do mains on 18m racquet in about 10-12mins and it then depends on what kind of the day as I can finish the racquet in between 35-50mins. The softer strings are easier on my fingers.
I do it for consistency, not for the speed though. Lol
 
Rabbit

Rabbit

G.O.A.T.
I spent 25 years pushing string. That buddy of mine who owns a pro shop has always been a pull weaver. I made myself start doing that about 15 years ago. I find it a lot easier to negotiate poly through the crosses and overall easier on the hands. The string doesn't torque down toward the end of the crosses either. According to him, the pull method was a necessity in the days of wood and gut.
 
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W

Wes

Professional
Rabbit said:
I spent 25 years pushing string. That buddy of mine who owns a pro shop has always been a pull weaver. I made myself start doing that about 15 years ago. I find it a lot easier to negotiate poly through the crosses and overall easier on the hands. The string doesn't torque down toward the end of the crosses either. According to him, the pull method was a necessity in the days of wood and gut.
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Exactly.

Hey @Rabbit, ever tried this (not necessarily with poly, but perhaps another string)...

Push weave across in one direction - then pull weave, in the opposite direction, back towards you.
A lot less turning of the racquet/turntable.

Ever given that a go?
 
I

Irvin

Talk Tennis Guru
lwto said:
It only takes a couple of racquets to get proficient in fast weaving.
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Folsom_Stringer_Musa said:
Just couple of rackets seems impractical.
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LOBALOT said:
I was starting to think I was a slow learner!!!
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Use an ATW pattern. Weaving in one direction is a hard weave - use my string method which only works 1 way. Weaving in the other direction is a piece of cake since you‘re weaving the same way as the tensioned cross above and below it.
 
H

happyandbob

Professional
I just finished stringing up my son's friend's racquet tonight and tried the pull weave. It's awkward, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

FWIW, it did save me a few turns on the turntable as I pre-weaved a few crosses before pulling any tension. I think next time I'll try to pre-weave as much as possible.
 
I

Irvin

Talk Tennis Guru
The turntable should be adjusted to tension the next string. Any other movements of the turntable won’t make much difference in the time it takes to string a racket.

Except for ATW patterns (or not weaving 1 ahead) it usually doesn’t help much to weave crosses towards the last cross (down the frame.) if you go on the diagonal you increase the distance between the mains which helps a little. Usually all mains in a racket are on the same plain unless they are distorted by a tensioned string(s,) grommets, or the frame. It helps to weave one ahead because the previously tensioned string holds every main you‘ll go over low, and every main you’ll under high. The closer you get to the end the more the mains are on the same plain or you have a hard weave, and the greater the friction between the string you’re weaving and the mains.
 
H

happyandbob

Professional
Irvin said:
The turntable should be adjusted to tension the next string. Any other movements of the turntable won’t make much difference in the time it takes to string a racket.
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makes sense. maybe it was obvious to other people, but I previously found myself turning the racquet twice for the crosses at the head of the racquet as I was pre-weaving the first few crossses before pulling any tension. one turn for each pre-weave and then one turn again to pull tension of each of those. if I get good at pulling instead of just pushing weaves, it seems like it will save me as many turns as I choose to pre-weave.

maybe not a huge time saver, but I'm big on efficiency so I like it! :)
 
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