Never noticed this before

[Irvin]

I was looking at a racket today and seen this:

Top

Bottom

Notice the dots on both side of the grommet holes? They identify where the mains strings go I think. These dots are on 6th, 7th, and 8th main's grommet holes both side top and bottom. There are no dots for the 7H, 9H, 7T, and 9T grommets because those holes are skipped. I have seen these dots on Prince and Head rackets but have not checked any others yet.

The Head racket I seen them on was a YouTek Instinct. The dots were on the 7th, 8th, and 9th main's grommets holes and no dots on 8H, 10H, 8T, and 10T the grommet holes the mains skip.

Here is a picture of the Head racket's dots. The lower dots are hard to see because they are in with the tie off circle but they are there.

I have not seen thes dots on older rackets. Who needs pattern information anymore? String all the mains from the center to the first dot, then skip the grommet holes that don't have a dot.

Irvin

 

[mad dog1]

yep, i noticed this when i was stringing up a head YT rad os and also on a more recent version of the POG tour os.

 

[sstchur]

I was looking at a racket today and seen this:

Top

Bottom

Notice the dots on both side of the grommet holes? They identify where the mains strings go I think. These dots are on 6th, 7th, and 8th main's grommet holes both side top and bottom. There are no dots for the 7H, 9H, 7T, and 9T grommets because those holes are skipped. I have seen these dots on Prince and Head rackets but have not checked any others yet.

The Head racket I seen them on was a YouTek Instinct. The dots were on the 7th, 8th, and 9th main's grommets holes and no dots on 8H, 10H, 8T, and 10T the grommet holes the mains skip.

Here is a picture of the Head racket's dots. The lower dots are hard to see because they are in with the tie off circle but they are there.

I have not seen thes dots on older rackets. Who needs pattern information anymore? String all the mains from the center to the first dot, then skip the grommet holes that don't have a dot.

Irvin

Nice find. I haven't noticed this per se, but I have noticed that it's becoming more and more common (for modern racquets especially) to specify the main and cross tie offs right on the frame. I can't recall if I've ever seen a racquet that called out the skips. I will have to pay closer attention moving forward.

 

[rich s]

I was looking at a racket today and seen this:

Top

Bottom

Notice the dots on both side of the grommet holes? They identify where the mains strings go I think. These dots are on 6th, 7th, and 8th main's grommet holes both side top and bottom. There are no dots for the 7H, 9H, 7T, and 9T grommets because those holes are skipped. I have seen these dots on Prince and Head rackets but have not checked any others yet.

The Head racket I seen them on was a YouTek Instinct. The dots were on the 7th, 8th, and 9th main's grommets holes and no dots on 8H, 10H, 8T, and 10T the grommet holes the mains skip.

Here is a picture of the Head racket's dots. The lower dots are hard to see because they are in with the tie off circle but they are there.

I have not seen thes dots on older rackets. Who needs pattern information anymore? String all the mains from the center to the first dot, then skip the grommet holes that don't have a dot.

Irvin

I first started noticing queues like this when Prince introduced ported racquets where tie-ing of the short side became critical.

It's pretty cool and pretty simple.

I've also noticed on a Dunlop that I have strung recently that the grommets were flared where the mains are strung instead of dots being on the frame as part of the paint.

Like you say.. who needs stringing instructions anymore?

 

[coachrick]

Everything old is new again...the original Head Edge had embossed 'dots' on the string strip to indicate the pattern. As I recall, the very first shipment didn't have such indicators; but they were added in short order. In the next decade, the gadawful internally strung Fox ATP had colored dots to indicate the 'connect the dot' pattern.

 

[bcart1991]

I seen?

Lawdy, son. I say, I say people gon' think ya up and moved ya'self out to the boonies of Douglasville...

 

[zapvor]

huh? am i missing something?

you guys must be new to stringing. prince has always had the dots to help stringers. more recently companies like head joined in due to increased claims of warranty due to stringing incidents. this is not new.....

 

[jmjmkim]

i always had em in my prince rackets ...... except on my real old pog's

 

[Ash_Smith]

Yep, Prince and Head have been doing this for a while now. Very useful, especially on some of the weirder Prince O-port racquets.

Cheers

Ash

 

[mad dog1]

huh? am i missing something?

you guys must be new to stringing. prince has always had the dots to help stringers. more recently companies like head joined in due to increased claims of warranty due to stringing incidents. this is not new.....

what do you mean by always because i've got a bunch of old prince racquets...POG 1 stripe grommetless, POG 1 stripe indiv grommets, POG 1 stripe grommet strip, POG 4 stripe, a couple versions of the POG Tour, Boron, Graphite Comp, Graphite Volley, Spectrum Comp just to name a few and the only one that has the dots was the newest version of the POG Tour.

 

[Irvin]

I seen?

Lawdy, son. I say, I say people gon' think ya up and moved ya'self out to the boonies of Douglasville...

Yeah I've seen and what is wrong with that may I ask? LOL

Irvin

 

[GlenK]

Yes, my YouTek Prestiege MP has the dots. It also shows you which hole to tie off x's and m's.

 

[000KFACTOR90000]

on the microgels too - maybe the first head series to do this ?

really helpfull when stringing after grommet installation !

 

[coachrick]

Everything old is new again...the original Head Edge had embossed 'dots' on the string strip to indicate the pattern. As I recall, the very first shipment didn't have such indicators; but they were added in short order. In the next decade, the gadawful internally strung Fox ATP had colored dots to indicate the 'connect the dot' pattern.

1978 on the Head Edge I mentioned, y'all .

 

[Dags]

on the microgels too - maybe the first head series to do this ?

I think this is correct (in the modern day), as they didn't feature on the Flexpoint. Same with marking the tie-off holes. Do any other manufacturers do that? As Head insist on 2-piece stringing it's easy for them to mark 'tie off main' and 'tie off cross', I'm curious how someone who also allows a 1-piece might word it.

 

[Irvin]

Prince does also

Irvin

 

[Donny0627]

I think this is a reason to get excited, I just knew something about stringing before Irvin did... :shock:

Has it ever happened before: no
Will it ever happen again: no

 

[zapvor]

what do you mean by always because i've got a bunch of old prince racquets...POG 1 stripe grommetless, POG 1 stripe indiv grommets, POG 1 stripe grommet strip, POG 4 stripe, a couple versions of the POG Tour, Boron, Graphite Comp, Graphite Volley, Spectrum Comp just to name a few and the only one that has the dots was the newest version of the POG Tour.

ok excuse my term. i guess i should say always on the more modern sticks, not the classic frames.

 

[GPB]

I think this is a reason to get excited, I just knew something about stringing before Irvin did... :shock:

Has it ever happened before: no
Will it ever happen again: no

Hahahah I was thinking of posting something similar to this as I read through the thread. You win this time, Donny!

 

[fortun8son]

Prince and Ektelon have been using the dots for years. Be careful. The Ektelon O3 White (racquetball) has markings for 3 different string patterns! Consult the Stringers Digest.