Hello All,
I am responding to the spaghetti racquet mystique. Back in the late 70s early 80s I was as a local tournament doubles player. Now, I just fart around with my kids. Historically, if I recall right, the spaghetti racquet first became visible by a famous pro, Illie Natasie. He broke Guillermo Villas clay court streak of 58 something matches with this racquet. It was quickly outlawed by the USTA, etc. I have played with a spaghetti racquet for the fun of it. At the time some local tennis shops were selling this expensive stringing to customers so they could learn how to hit a topspin ball! Yipps! For a beginner this was a nightmare and a rip-off! OK…to the spaghetti racquet. The characteristics is as follows, because of the method it is strung the racquet had little or no power. If you could enter a tournament with such a racquet you would need about 10 to 12 racquets because strings would break easily and parts fly off every which way! Yes, parts fly off! The performance is geared towards excessive... I mean excessive spin. A topspin groundstroke is so outrageous that most backcourts are not deep enough, meaning you can top spin the ball right out of the court. For example, a topspin ball landing just 3 feet over your opponent’s net would easily carry deep to the baseline. The opponent is constantly hitting the ball above his head. Taking it on the rise is the only defense. In the hands of a skilled payer the racquet is devastating! The racquet sounds like your hitting the ball with a lampshade, a terrible sound. The spins generated by the spaghetti stringing are in such excess that it borders on comical. The racquet altered the game so severely it was outlawed immediately.
OK…so how would one string a spaghetti racquet? Well not having a picture I'll try to explain. I could still string one if I had too. The ingredients for the spaghetti stringing is as follows, (1) synthetic string, (2) gut string, and (3) tubing 1/16 diameter or the diameter slightly smaller than the gut string. The tubing should be split down the middle or slightly off set to one side. It’s the larger side you want to keep. Keep in mind this was done on a racquet back then had a small hitting face, so the pounds given would need to be adjusted. First string the horizontal strings or cross strings with synthetic at about 50 lbs. The vertical (longer or main ones) strings use the gut. Usually strung at around 35 lbs, very loose so the strings slide. Do not weave the gut strings. The gut string rest on the cross strings. The gut strings are on both sides of the racquet. By not weaving the strings the gut slides back in forth. The gut strings need to be tied together so they slide uniformily on the cross strings. Keep the space between each gut string of uniform width when tieing. The grummets themselves take a lot of abuse. At this point, the racquet is an awesome weapon! The sliding action violently grips the ball; whipping or wristy type stroke can enhance the action even further. But to be totally insane, remember that tubing, well split the tubing down the middle, and cut into one-inch sections. Now with glue place the one-inch pieces of tubing under the gut string, the gut string resting/glued into the tubing. Now the strings slide even easier across the synthetic cross strings. Those plastic pieces are called the spaghetti. There are other variations to this recipe but above is how it was done! And yes, spaghetti pieces will fly off now and then. Hope this helps. Email me if you have any questions. John
