Tying off in a Tight Corner

[kenshireen]

I just strung an 18X20. Bottom up. When I got to tie of the last cross I had very little room to pull along a main... Is it ok to tie off to the closest hole or do you get more leverage tying off a few holes down.

Second question.. How do you know if your clamps are too tight... I have a star 2 and certain strings start to slide through the clamp..particularly when I string the starting mains according to YU. I tightened the clamp and now it does not slide... I just want to make sure I did not tighten them too much.

thanks, Ken

 

[asknowbuylater]

bottom up...

 

[jasonsmith]

tie off in one of the larger holes (if possible)... do not tie off on the same main as another knot.

 

[L4RZ]

You would see marks on the strings if the clamps are to tight

 

[YULitle]

Tie off as close and as feasible as possible... If that makes sense.

Too tight leaves permanent indentations in the string.

 

[prostaff18]

I have been told that you want to tie off as close as possible. The explanation for this was that the further you run the string along the outside of the frame the potential for tension loss is greater because there is more string that isn't tensioned. I hope this makes sense.

 

[Deleted member 25923]

I've got a question. Let's say I have a one piece, but I want to do a hybrid stringjob. How do I know where to tie off? Within two or three grommets?

 

[prostaff18]

I've got a question. Let's say I have a one piece, but I want to do a hybrid stringjob. How do I know where to tie off? Within two or three grommets?

I don't quite follow you but I'll give it a try. A hybrid string job you have 2 different strings in the racquet and a one piece means that you only use one string. But in general you want to use the grommets that are widened or bigger than the rest. You can widen or flare a grommet to be used to tie off on but in general most racquets today have grommets that are bigger in the places that they need to be. In some racquets the tie-off is on a string that is very close to another string so I use a box pattern sometimes and widen another grommet and tie-off on it if the customer thinks that it is ok. I do it because I like to do different things sometimes because I get bored just doing the same thing over and over again. You can watch YULitle's video about the Box Pattern to see how it's done.

 

[prostaff18]

I just strung an 18X20. Bottom up. When I got to tie of the last cross I had very little room to pull along a main... Is it ok to tie off to the closest hole or do you get more leverage tying off a few holes down.

Second question.. How do you know if your clamps are too tight... I have a star 2 and certain strings start to slide through the clamp..particularly when I string the starting mains according to YU. I tightened the clamp and now it does not slide... I just want to make sure I did not tighten them too much.

thanks, Ken

To answer your second question: When you go to clamp the string if you have to squeeze the clamp pretty hard then you have probably overtightened the clamp. If you keep the clamps clean (you can clean them with alcohol) they should clamp the string without crushing it. I kind of feel it....I know that if I have to put a lot of pressure on the clamp lever to clamp the string I know that I have it a little too tight. Also like everyone else has said if you can see the indentations or ghosting then your clamps are too tight.

 

[Deleted member 25923]

I don't quite follow you but I'll give it a try. A hybrid string job you have 2 different strings in the racquet and a one piece means that you only use one string. But in general you want to use the grommets that are widened or bigger than the rest. You can widen or flare a grommet to be used to tie off on but in general most racquets today have grommets that are bigger in the places that they need to be. In some racquets the tie-off is on a string that is very close to another string so I use a box pattern sometimes and widen another grommet and tie-off on it if the customer thinks that it is ok. I do it because I like to do different things sometimes because I get bored just doing the same thing over and over again. You can watch YULitle's video about the Box Pattern to see how it's done.

Yea, I know that a hybrid is two piece. But my racquet is built for a one piece, so how should I go about doing a two piece? Just flare out some grommets for it?

 

[prostaff18]

Yea, I know that a hybrid is two piece. But my racquet is built for a one piece, so how should I go about doing a two piece? Just flare out some grommets for it?

I know that most racquets already have the larger grommets in the head to accommodate this. I have a Pure Storm in front of me right now and it has the grommets already larger in the head to tie off both the mains. But if the racquet doesn't have this just flare some grommets.

 

[kenshireen]

How do you flare a grommet?

Do I just take an awl and swirl it around from the outside of the frame?

 

[Deleted member 25923]

Do I just take an awl and swirl it around from the outside of the frame?

Yea, that would seem to work. If not, I think just tying a knot would do the trick.

 

[jonvdw]

tie off in one of the larger holes (if possible)... do not tie off on the same main as another knot.

"Do not tie off on the same main as another knot". I play with a Wilson nBlade 98, and when doing a hybrid, I always tie-off the last cross on top of one of the main tie-offs (i.e. I have two knots next to each other). What is wrong with doing it that way?

 

[jonvdw]

I just strung an 18X20. Bottom up. When I got to tie of the last cross I had very little room to pull along a main... Is it ok to tie off to the closest hole or do you get more leverage tying off a few holes down.

Second question.. How do you know if your clamps are too tight... I have a star 2 and certain strings start to slide through the clamp..particularly when I string the starting mains according to YU. I tightened the clamp and now it does not slide... I just want to make sure I did not tighten them too much.

thanks, Ken

Why string bottom up. One of the benefits of hybrid stringing is you can string the crosses top down (which is much better for the frame).

 

[jonvdw]

Tie off as close and as feasible as possible... If that makes sense.

Too tight leaves permanent indentations in the string.

I play with a Wilson nBlade 98, and when doing hybrids, I always have to put 2 knots on top of each other (one of the main tie offs and the last cross tie off) in the T7 grommet. The reason for this is I can't use the intended tie off hole for the last cross T12 (at least, I think this is the intended tie off hole because it is bigger than the others) because the available space between the grommet and the outer main is only 1 or 2 millimeters. What is better: to do the 2 knots on top of each other, or to force the last knot on the T12 grommet (pushing the outer main to create some space). Or did I just mess up and miss something obvious or make a mistake?

 

[Tim W]

I just strung an 18X20. Bottom up.

NOOOOOOOOO. The throat is the weakest part of the racquet. You ALWAYS should try to string from the head down on your crosses. This is the reason for doing an ATW (Around the World) pattern on some racquets, where the mains finish at the throat of the racquet, when you are doing a one-piece job. If you are doing a 2-piece job, you just start at the top with the normal pattern.

 

[Tim W]

I play with a Wilson nBlade 98, and when doing hybrids, I always have to put 2 knots on top of each other (one of the main tie offs and the last cross tie off) in the T7 grommet. The reason for this is I can't use the intended tie off hole for the last cross T12 (at least, I think this is the intended tie off hole because it is bigger than the others) because the available space between the grommet and the outer main is only 1 or 2 millimeters. What is better: to do the 2 knots on top of each other, or to force the last knot on the T12 grommet (pushing the outer main to create some space). Or did I just mess up and miss something obvious or make a mistake?

Better yet, flare the grommet a bit before you string it next, and use the intended tie off holes. Flaring it will give you your needed room. Though, I'd say it is better to force it through rather than tie a knot on top of another knot.

 

[prostaff18]

NOOOOOOOOO. The throat is the weakest part of the racquet. You ALWAYS should try to string from the head down on your crosses. This is the reason for doing an ATW (Around the World) pattern on some racquets, where the mains finish at the throat of the racquet, when you are doing a one-piece job. If you are doing a 2-piece job, you just start at the top with the normal pattern.

In stringing you should never use the word ALWAYS. I feel comfortable stringing Wilson racquets bottom up because the manufacture says that it is ok. I take the string, racquet and tension into consideration when determining how I string a racquet. I never string a Head racquet bottom up because they say not to. But for the most part I string atw for the purpose of consistency. I do have some customers that ask me to string their racquets bottom up so I do. I also string gut 50-50 in the crosses (with hybrid jobs) so that the least worked gut ends up in the hitting zone of most players. Just because I use these practices doesn't mean that they are right and what you do isn't wrong....everyone does things different and if you do it consistently and your customers are happy then you are doing it right imo.

 

[Deleted member 25923]

In stringing you should never use the word ALWAYS. I feel comfortable stringing Wilson racquets bottom up because the manufacture says that it is ok. I take the string, racquet and tension into consideration when determining how I string a racquet. I never string a Head racquet bottom up because they say not to. But for the most part I string atw for the purpose of consistency. I do have some customers that ask me to string their racquets bottom up so I do. I also string gut 50-50 in the crosses (with hybrid jobs) so that the least worked gut ends up in the hitting zone of most players. Just because I use these practices doesn't mean that they are right and what you do isn't wrong....everyone does things different and if you do it consistently and your customers are happy then you are doing it right imo.

Honestly, the whole idea of the 50-50 stringing seems very picky. As if the least handled piece of gut will play so much better.

 

[prostaff18]

I will agree with what you said. I just want to take the stringer out the process as much as I can. I don't want anyone coming back to me saying that the gut broke because of stringing. With the 50-50 the gut is worked less overall...that is a fact. I will say that the amount of difference that the 50-50 makes is minimal but I like to offer the best possible job. If im at a tournament and the practice of the team is to do it top to bottom then I do. When I do this I feel that the job is just as good as when I do it 50-50 but I want to give my customers the best possible job that I can. I feel like the 50-50 accomplishes that. But like I said before, in my mind, there is no right way to do it. As long as you do something consistently, with a reason, you are doing it right in my opinion. If your customers are happy with the job and you do the same job over and over for them then you are doing it right.

 

[YULitle]

I'm not sure about 50-50 being less "worked" overall. To me, the gut is most "worked" when you do the last few crosses at the end. this is because the distance between the last cross woven and the frame along the line of the mains is very small and prohibits the mains from moving out of the crosses way when weaving (this is typically what causes the twisting.) When stringing 50-50, you are doing this at both ends of the racquet, where as string from one end to the other does not.

 

[prostaff18]

I'm not sure about 50-50 being less "worked" overall. To me, the gut is most "worked" when you do the last few crosses at the end. this is because the distance between the last cross woven and the frame along the line of the mains is very small and prohibits the mains from moving out of the crosses way when weaving (this is typically what causes the twisting.) When stringing 50-50, you are doing this at both ends of the racquet, where as string from one end to the other does not.

I just feel like the string in the hitting area will be less worked. What I always thought was that because the string has to be woven less times the string will be in better shape in the bottom of the racquet. You really have me thinking hard on this one. I string my racquets with gut crosses so next time I string them I will do 2 in different ways and see what happens.

I think that I remember a thread about 50-50 at GSS so I will try to find it and revisit it and try to learn some more.

 

[asknowbuylater]

You better learn ATW patterns and know where to tie off knots.

Just clamp and unclamp a residual string and see if there aren't deep teeth marks. If your machine is old then you have to constantly check if it's clamping right. You just have to feel if it's clamping the same way because it shouldn't be looser or tighter during stringing.

Best thing to do is give 20 bucks to a knowledgeable pro stringer at your local tennis shop and ask a few questions. 50 bucks and he'll mumble for an hour. I found that online might answer some questions, but will always leave empty spots.