Jolly is looking for a new string.
- Thread starter J011yroger
- Start date
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Jolly try the Ashaway Monofires. I'd be interested in seeing how long they last for you. They are very durable and a lot of college players use them so they can cut down on their restringing.
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
If I do gut cross and ALU mains, it lasts as long as full ALU and snaps the ALU main.
If I do NRG2 cross and ALU mains it lasts half as long as full ALU and snaps the cross.
If I do full VS16 I obliterate it within minutes.
The over/under on a VS main ALU cross I would set at about 20 mins.
If you would like to mail me a set of each I would gladly try them though
The strings still move, just when the poly is fresh, it slides back into place so it looks like it hasn't moved.
J
T
TennisandMusic
Guest
If I do gut cross and ALU mains, it lasts as long as full ALU and snaps the ALU main.
If I do NRG2 cross and ALU mains it lasts half as long as full ALU and snaps the cross.
If I do full VS16 I obliterate it within minutes.
The over/under on a VS main ALU cross I would set at about 20 mins.
If you would like to mail me a set of each I would gladly try them though
The strings still move, just when the poly is fresh, it slides back into place so it looks like it hasn't moved.
J
This is odd. Sampras (and many others) played with full gut, heck he played with 17. But he didn't break his strings in minutes. What is going on here that you are breaking strings so fast? Do your racquets have to be 14oz or whatever it is you use? Have you tried adjusting your racquets or tension choice? The two top pros play in the low 50's / high 40's, so why 70? I'm pretty sure you are not hitting harder or with more spin than the pros.
Is your primary goal simply cost savings here? If that was the case I would imagine you would just want to use a cheaper more durable string right?
It seems like you use:
1) A string eating racquet
2) Poly that is known to break easier, at extremely high tensions
3) A very very heavy racquet
You could therefore, change your strings, lower your tension, and take an ounce or so off your racquets and you would do better in the string dept. Not sure there is really any other "fix."
...Sampras hit flatter (except on the serve...) and spent $50,000 a year on stringing labor alone. And I think he actually hit with 18 gauge at parts of his career (custom made from Babolat).
And apparently those strings would even break on their own overnight.
T
TennisandMusic
Guest
Sampras still had 1800 rpm's, on average, of spin on his forehand. Plus he had a 14 ounce racquet, that was strung tight. AND he played pro's. But his strings were not breaking every few minutes. He hit the ball in a way we never will, against the best players in the world. And yet his strings lasted longer than Jolly's, so it just seems like something is off.
I guess I'm just curious because I string a lot for myself, and can also hit the ball hard with a lot of spin. I use a racquet around 12.5-12.7 ounces. Breaking certain setups in minutes just doesn't seem right to me, and mitigating the stated problems should be fairly easy if Jolly is willing to make some compromises.
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
^^^ By minutes, I mean 20-30, not like 5 minutes.
I can't imagine how fast Pete broke them in groundstroke practice, but seeing as how he had 6-12 racquets strung per day I can't imagine they lasted him too long.
J
I can't imagine how fast Pete broke them in groundstroke practice, but seeing as how he had 6-12 racquets strung per day I can't imagine they lasted him too long.
J
T
TennisandMusic
Guest
Oh ok. I seriously thought you WERE saying 5 minutes or something. I guess that makes more sense. Anyway good luck on your quest, heh. Tennis is really expensive no matter how you slice it...err no pun intended. But just about anything is cheaper than Luxilon.
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
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TennisandMusic
Guest
But the Lux is soooooooo nice
J
Yeah I agree, it hits unlike just about anything until it goes bad at which point it sucks pretty bad. I've tried just about every string out there and am feeling ok with the Gamma Twist stuff right now. I'm generally not a fan of Gamma (they seem kinda marketing driven) but this string has surprised me a little. Keep in mind I do a hybrid, so I have no idea how it plays with a full job.
Do you know what you're going to try? I think I could give some general suggestions, but it looks like you have a lot already.
David Valencia
New User
For what its worth - in a TW interview, Nate from P1 said Pete avg. ~100 hits before his strings broke.
T
TennisandMusic
Guest
Wow ok...I guess I stand corrected.
That's fairly insane. How could you practice?
Wow ok...I guess I stand corrected.
Like I said, by spending $50,000 a year on stringing.
And if you looked the numbers of other players, you'd see that 1800 RPMs is very low compared to say, Nadal, who has more than twice the revolutions...
I think Federer has close to 2800.
On the other hand, his serve had more RPMs than anyone...especially on the second. Something like 5000 RPMs.
T
TennisandMusic
Guest
Yeah for sure but Sampras didn't enjoy the benefit of poly that both Federer and Nadal do. Furthermore, his swing was entirely different, he didn't use the windshield wiper motion which imparts even more spin.
I guess my point was comparing a "flat" hitter like Sampras to the average club hacker like myself. Even though I "hit with a lot of spin" my guess is that it's way below what pro flat hitters are doing. Breakpoint once said on this board he hits with more spin than James Blake. I'm pretty sure ideas like that are completely bogus.
So in conclusion, we club hackers are not putting a greater beating on our natural gut than Pete Sampras because "he hit flat."
dincuss
Hall of Fame
How, are you some like mega tennis player
Anyways, why not learn how to string some rackets. Cheaper in the long run.
Or sell one of you 19 rackets
There's always Leona 66...lol
(OTOH, Premier Ace 1.30 is almost exactly the same stiffness as ALU, although thicker...but literally 1/5th the price. If you string yourself then it only costs you $3 a string job if you use a reel. Keep in mind that it's being discontinued...eventually.
(OTOH, Premier Ace 1.30 is almost exactly the same stiffness as ALU, although thicker...but literally 1/5th the price. If you string yourself then it only costs you $3 a string job if you use a reel. Keep in mind that it's being discontinued...eventually.
el sergento
Hall of Fame
Not really, bought a reel of cyber flash for 60$ and I string my own. Plus I live in a city with public, well kept clay courts. That Cyber Flash should last me the summer.
Lux just isn't worth it imo. I mean, if the Wimbledon crown depended on it then yeah, sure, bring it on. But really, the most I can loose on a tennis match is a pitcher of beer.
Save your money Jolly, buy reels of some similar cheapo poly and get it over with.
Argh... this argument again. I'm not attacking you but I feel I should address this.
I understand that the majority of posters here may be teenagers without a stable source of income, however, there are quite a few members who have full time jobs.
Obviously a fair proportion of these people earn above median income (by definition) and earn more an hour than the cost of 2~3 string jobs (in terms of labour fees). It is not always cheaper to string racquets yourself.
Yes you could argue that the time one would spend stringing wouldn't be from 9-5 anyway (and hence opportunity cost needn't apply). However, in my own situation, if I'm working 8 hours a day (+ travel time) AND I play quite a bit of tennis, there just isn't time to string myself.
Anyway... end of rant.
As for a string suggestion, have you tried Weiss CANNON Silverstring? Although the thickest gauge they have is 17 (1.25mm), its roughly half the price per reel and I felt it had similar playability (mind you I never strung it at 70lbs...).
If you make that much money you can afford a high-end machine that can finish a stringjob in 20 minutes instead of an hour... and money not spent is always better than money spent unless you make such a ridiculous amount that spending $30 several times a week/month depending on how much you restring...
el sergento
Hall of Fame
Well, I'm in the same situation, and I must say that I string more out of hobby than real economic benefit. I like playing around with different combos and tensions and the only way to really do that is to string your own.
Also, unless I break mid week, I do most of my stringing on weekends.
Err... I said 2~3 string jobs per hour (labour cost). If you factor a string job at $10-$15USD labour, then yes I'd definitely make more than that in 20 minutes.
Also I'm assuming your $30 includes string costs? This should not be factored in as they're going to be paid in either circumstance.
Well if stringing is hobby, by all means theres nothing wrong with that.
On my weekends though I prefer going out or playing tennis =P. Mind you if I DID string, it would be low volume anyway.
T
TennisandMusic
Guest
Well I'm 28, and string for myself because otherwise it would cost me a fortune. I go through strings pretty fast, both out of breaking/beating them up and wanting to try different combinations. I also work QUITE a bit and play a few times a week and do other things on top of that. I use a simple table top crank machine, and can do a string job in 20-30 minutes. Also how much do you think it is to pay for a string job? A good quality hybrid or so is in the 35-40 dollar range out here. I sorta don't think a "fair proportion" of working class people earn on average 70-120 dollars an hour. And then you factor in taxes...
It's almost ALWAYS cheaper to string yourself unless you're pretty darn well off. Now if someone just doesn't like it or, or doesn't want to spend the time on it that's another thing.
Okay... again... you are factoring the cost of strings into your $35-40 cost. This cost would need to be paid regardless of you stringing yourself, or someone else doing it.
Labour would be $10-$15 in most instances.
There are QUITE a few people making $30-$45 an hour (not saying majority, but it really isn't that low - check median incomes of developed countries). Why does it seem like people keep doing the maths wrong?
T
TennisandMusic
Guest
And yet it is ALWAYS more expensive to buy these strings from local stores. TW has better prices on sets, and of course if you buy a reel you save even more money. Trust me, I've done all the numbers as spending my time stringing my racquets isn't something I'm totally thrilled with, but at this point I've probably saved myself well a few thousand dollars doing this stuff myself.
Why is this thread being hijacked over this topic anyway? Sounds to me like maybe you just want people to know that you earn much more than 15 dollars every 20 minutes. ;-) Most people in the US are not making that much. Cost savings on racquet stringing is a very important issue for the majority of high volume tennis players I imagine. There is simply no need to criticize people's choices over whether or not they want to string for themselves, and again, for the vast majority of people it IS cheaper to do it yourself.
T
TennisandMusic
Guest
Because it's not that simple. When I string I'm not taking time off of working. It's "free time." And it's cheaper to buy strings in large quantities, or reels, online than to pay for them at local stores generally speaking, even when they take the labor costs off the purchasing price. The amount of money I earn is within your stated range above, and it is WAY cheaper for me to do it myself. That's just the reality of the situation.
I've never seen anyone do a string job for 10 bucks by the way. Not in San Diego.
Okay... you realise you can provide the stringer with string right :-?.
E.g. I go to my stringer fortnightly with a couple racquets and a reel...
I pay the equivalent of $12USD for a string job and provide my own string (you can take a 40ft percentage price of a reel). In my particular case, my strings cost around $7.50USD.
If I strung myself, I would STILL pay that $7.50USD for strings, and IF I got REALLY fast and could do 3 strings job in 1 hour, that would come down to a "SAVING" of $36USD.
I said right at the beginning, I'm not criticizing anyone.
I'm just saying theres a damn lot of us out that DON'T find it cheaper (in terms of opportunity cost) to string themselves.
Club stringers charge less.
I already addressed the free-time argument. Even if you dont apply opportunity cost principles (which you really should... no seriously), you'll find that people just don't have the time to string.
Seriously, if you have a full time job AND broke strings as efficiently as you do, consider how much time you would need to string a week. After factoring the time spent at work, travelling from suburbia to the inner city and back, eating, going out, PLAYING tennis... you just don't have the time.
Yes you could cut out some time from your other activities to string, but then have to ask yourself, is it worth the money?
Eep... missed this.
Actually, no thats not why =P.
I was actually considering someone like Jo11y who (if I remember correctly) said once that he could simply give tennis lessons to cover stringing costs.
Tennis lessons do cost in the order of $45USD an hour (at least over here).
T
TennisandMusic
Guest
Well I'm sure it's different for everyone. I don't watch tv (I don't even own one) and I try to only spend time on constructive things, and I also have no kids. So yeah I can find time to string easily. I prefer that over leaving my racquets in a shop overnight and paying 20+ dollars for something I can do in 20 minutes in my own home.
But yeah everyone has different priorities so...
I'm not saying that stringing is for everyone, but one factor you might consider is that stringing yourself might cut down on the number of strings you break. It might get you to think more about what makes a string break - whether it certain shots that break strings more often, or certain mistakes in stringing that predispose to breaking - that you would not otherwise pay attention to when you have someone else string.
I got this idea when I was reading this review on amazon:
I bought the Gamma X-2 as a gift for my son's birthday. He loves it. It took him 60 minutes to string his first tennis racket, including starting over twice due to miscalculation on the starting hole. He can now string a racket in 30 minutes. Interestingly, since he started stringing his own rackets he rarely breaks a string. Previously he was having the re-stringing done at a large national sporting goods store and breaking strings weekly. The X-2 comes with a starter selection of Gamma strings and grip tape. The strings alone will pay for the X-2 in saved re-stringing expense. Excellent value.
Maybe you'll experience the same thing - who knows? Worth a try anyway right?
I got this idea when I was reading this review on amazon:
I bought the Gamma X-2 as a gift for my son's birthday. He loves it. It took him 60 minutes to string his first tennis racket, including starting over twice due to miscalculation on the starting hole. He can now string a racket in 30 minutes. Interestingly, since he started stringing his own rackets he rarely breaks a string. Previously he was having the re-stringing done at a large national sporting goods store and breaking strings weekly. The X-2 comes with a starter selection of Gamma strings and grip tape. The strings alone will pay for the X-2 in saved re-stringing expense. Excellent value.
Maybe you'll experience the same thing - who knows? Worth a try anyway right?
ok, I'll say again what a few others have said already: Weisscannon Silver String retains it's playability longer than ALU Rough or BBO.
That said, I don't know how durable it is when battling the likes of a string breaker like yourself. I didn't read the entire thread but I thought I saw somewhere you were stringing at 70 lbs? I'm surprised your arm is still attached if this is the case.
Keep us posted....
That said, I don't know how durable it is when battling the likes of a string breaker like yourself. I didn't read the entire thread but I thought I saw somewhere you were stringing at 70 lbs? I'm surprised your arm is still attached if this is the case.
Keep us posted....
Hey thats perfectly acceptable. I'm not saying theres anything wrong with that at all.
However, if you are able to (dont know your personal circumstances) provide a one hour tennis (or were in a job where overtime work contributed to remuneration) to cover 3 string jobs per week - you MIGHT have choosen the former, if you didn't already have a stringer and knew how to string.
I'm just saying, there are a lot of different people out there and generalisation dont always work.
Actually not really in my own situation. However, I do acknowledge there are other benefits. My stringer's work has always been top notch, so I have no plans of stringing myself any time soon - but hey who knows, maybe if I get really interested it might become a hobby (another example of a benefit).
My suggestion as well. IF (big if) it lasts as long as ALU, performs as well in your opinion, then its an obvious consideration given its half the price (reel to reel comparison).
Power Player
Bionic Poster
I agree with Tennis and Music. Probably because I am also single, his age, and also play tennis and music But I can see myself buyinig a stringer because I break strings every 2 weeks. I could gety away with having 2-3 sticks and being set for a long time if I have a string machine. Plus, when it is saturday and hot outside, I can flip on the TV and string up a racquet while I have a game on.
But I can see myself buyinig a stringer because I break strings every 2 weeks. I could gety away with having 2-3 sticks and being set for a long time if I have a string machine. Plus, when it is saturday and hot outside, I can flip on the TV and string up a racquet while I have a game on.
T
TennisandMusic
Guest
So jolly, what did you pick? Anything yet?
Schills
Rookie
Here on the West Side of Los Angeles I have three places I can go and get a racket strung for $10 if I provide my own string. One is located in the same center as the gym I go to 5 times a week so its very convenient as well. I've thought several times about buying a stringing machine, but really just can't justify the expense given that its so cheap for me to send the racket out and that I only need between 12-16 string jobs a year, playing 4 times a week.
UnforcedError
Rookie
Unless your stringer is picking up and delivering the rackets to you there is also the time/opportunity cost of driving back and forth to the stringer to drop off and pick up, not to mention the headache of being there during store hours for those of us with jobs. Plus there is added security to having a stringer, string breaks right before a tournament no problem. Once you get reasonable at stringing it takes about 30 minutes, pop a beer relax and string a racket. I don't string for anyone else for the reasons you mention, just not worth my time.
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
Correct, I have neither the time nor desire to string 10 racquets a week for myself.
I work full time, play A LOT, and spend a good amount of time doing off court training in the gym.
I would make FAR more giving an hour lesson than I would save stringing my own racquets for an hour.
And I don't because I want to play.
I work hard, and I play hard. The last thing I want to do is spend 5 hours on my weekend stringing racquets.
J
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
I am away until Tuesday, and letting my hand heal up before I start the process.
I have 2 of my frames at the stringer currently, waiting to be strung with BBO Smooth.
When I go to pick them up I will have 2 others done with full Kevlar and the string Geoff kindly sent me (not hybrids, 1&1).
Plan to post pics of my broken ALU jobs, then the BBO and Kevlar jobs, and note duration. Once I do that, and give my reports on my findings, we can go from there.
J
dennis10is
Banned
I'll do what management does best. Delegate and taking credit for success. Jolly will do the work and I'll reap the rewards. Keep up the good work Jolly! Continue to facilitate the synergistic, adaptive, social networking potential, leverage the collective emergent knowledge base of the TW forum, thereby maximizing the ROI.
Yeah I kinda didn't factor in shoe leather costs. Normally I just drop my racquets off with my stringer at the club fortnightly, so I don't go out of my way.
Also, I can see how it could be useful in emergency situations. Mind you if the tournament was something I considered important, I'd have arranged new string jobs to be done a day prior.
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
Yes, I will post in detail once the process has begun. That was the point of the thread when I started it, to chronicle my search, moreso than to have forum posters list random strings for me to try.
But I would also be foolish to turn away suggestions or opinions that would make my search easier or shorter, so I of course welcome any comments, or questions.
J
