What a pain in the neck to restring Wilson racquetball racquet

[xiaobo]

My regular racquetball partner has 3 Wilson racquetball racquets. I volunteered to restring one for him. Here is the picture of throat part of Wilson K Zone racquet before I cut its factory string. It would be the down side if mounted.

You can see L1 & L3 mains (should be R1 & R3 since this is down site view) were mis-aligned even with its factory stringing. It was painful to pre-wire first 3 mains on each side with 1 piece stringing and I tried my best to avoid possible mess up. After I finished my job, well, guess what, these 2 mains are mis-aligned exactly the same way as its factory stringing.

This was my first stringing job for Wilson racquetball racquet and it is a pretty old model. It is my impression that in general, Wilson racquetball racquet is poorly designed from stringing point of view as its strings pass through throat without tubes.

Xiaobo.

 

[Irvin]

You're the one with the 2 point aren't you? Does that throat hold down get in the way? I don't think I would like stringing racquetball rackets with any stringer.

 

[drakulie]

Most racquetball racquets are a pain.

• Grommets/headguards are always a mess/cracked,
• there is no rhyme or reason to the patterns.
• The ones with colored tubes often have problems with the tubes being burned from poor string jobs.
• etc.

In other words,,,,,,who the hell knows what the engineers are thinking when designing these things.

By the way, you need to move your strings over. They are not centered in the throat and laying in the correct channels.

 

[Irvin]

...By the way, you need to move your strings over. They are not centered in the throat and laying in the correct channels.

I was wondering what that notch was for in the center, and why the string on the left seemed out of place.

 

[xiaobo]

You're the one with the 2 point aren't you?

Yes, I have Gamma 6900 ELS String Machine with 2 Point SC Mount.

I don't think I would like stringing racquetball rackets with any stringer.

I bought a used Babolat Pure Storm Tour + tennis racquet without string from TW last week and its string job was really a pleasure. I just realized how difficult it is to string racquetball rackets.

Xiaobo.

 

[Irvin]

I just strung a Head Crossbow racket yesterday. Wait until you do one of them. Seems to me it would be difficult with a 2 point.

 

[xiaobo]

Most racquetball racquets are a pain.

Agreed.

By the way, you need to move your strings over. They are not centered in the throat and laying in the correct channels.

As I said at the beginning of my post, these 2 mains were mis-aligned even with factory stringing. I tried my best to put them in correct position during pre-wiring. But they were in down site when mounted and I can't do anything after racquet being mounted. That is why I said it is a pain of neck to string a Wilson racquetball racquet.

Xiaobo.

 

[xiaobo]

I just strung a Head Crossbow racket yesterday. Wait until you do one of them. Seems to me it would be difficult with a 2 point.

Is it throatless? I might have trouble to string throatless tennis racquet with 2 pt mount system.

Xiaobo.

 

[Irvin]

No but there are special instructions for stringing the Crossbow Google it.

The inside of the racket is angled to a flat spot 1/4" side all around the inside of the racket. But from the grommets to the side of the racket there is a 45 degree slope. Not sure how those supports would hold the racket. But I don't see very many of the crossbows.

EDIT: Here is a picture of the inside of the racket with no grommets. The orange piece is a 6 oint adapter but there is not one for the 2 or 4 point mount.

 

[rufusbgood]

The Crossbows have a kind of floating throat. The instructions for stringing on 2 pt machine are pretty unusual, but not any crazier than most racquetball instructions.

I've been doing quite a bit of racquetball stringing lately. Did two IGC racquets today. There are no holes on the outside of the hoop for most of the crosses. It's annoying but worse I think it prevents the crosses from being tensioned properly. I actually find installing the mains on the IGC racquets peculiarly satisfying. There is something about the way the four sets of four splayed strings fan out like a deck of cards that I find aesthetically pleasing. Too bad the rest of the job is a bunch of brake work.

 

[fortun8son]

The worst are the e-force racquets with the bearing at the handle. Even using a straw or a tube!
OP: just lift up the string and pop it into the correct channel.
I have done Crossbows on a Neos with no problems, but they are a PITA as are almost all racquetball racquets.
BTW the Neos will do all racquetball frames, but some may require creative mounting.

 

[Irvin]

The Crossbows have a kind of floating throat. The instructions for stringing on 2 pt machine are pretty unusual, but not any crazier than most racquetball instructions...

That is the whole point. If you string the racket with the 2 or four point connected to the floating throat piece it could damage the racket.

 

[PBODY99]

Crossbow

I used a load spreader at 6 o clock to do these frames. The floating throat is not subjected to a load as the pressure is put on the yoke.

 

[lionel_101]

Hi Xiaobo and others,

As I think I mentioned before, welcome to my world of stringing racquetball racquets, especially Wilson and E-force. It would be nice if they had nice round/oval shaped hoops like tennis racquets. Would be easier to mount and string, As others have stated, you wonder what the heck they were on when designing them and how to string them.

As for the Wilson racquet like in your pictures, the strings always jump out of the grooves at the top of the handle. Players just live with it and push them back in if it bothers them when playing. However, they should not be that way after you just finish stringing it. They should line up perfectly.

I highly doubt that the strings were misaligned from the factory. I believe, but not positive, that the grip is put on after the stringing. This gives them a clear view and easier access to the strings going down the handle and that they are straight. I don't know of any racquetball company that sells racquets unstrung.

I learned from experience for this type of Wilson racquet to...

1. prestring the mains going down the handle off of the stringing machine. It is almost impossible to make sure the strings are going in straight on the side facing down on the stringing machine, especially when there is a grip on it. I also prestring the entire short side to make sure I leave enough string to reach the tensioner.

It takes time and can be quite confussing on which ones goes under and which ones goes over and which side and so on. So make sure to take notes before cutting out the strings.

2. remove the finishing tape from the top of the grip. This tape makes it harder to push the string thru.

Next to the E-force racquets that don't have the colored tubes to guide the main strings down the handle, it is the one I could do without.

 

[rufusbgood]

That is the whole point. If you string the racket with the 2 or four point connected to the floating throat piece it could damage the racket.

The instructions in the manual are pretty clear. It says if you are using a 2 pt system not to clamp the throat. So, yeah, if you ignore the instructions you can damage the racquet. If you are using a 6 pt mount and you ignore the instructions to use the H adapter at 12 o'clock you can also damage the racquet. So, what's the whole point?

 

[xiaobo]

OP: just lift up the string and pop it into the correct channel.

Thanks a lot. I did it according to your hint.

Xiaobo.

 

[xiaobo]

Hi Xiaobo and others,

As I think I mentioned before, welcome to my world of stringing racquetball racquets, especially Wilson and E-force. It would be nice if they had nice round/oval shaped hoops like tennis racquets. Would be easier to mount and string, As others have stated, you wonder what the heck they were on when designing them and how to string them.

As for the Wilson racquet like in your pictures, the strings always jump out of the grooves at the top of the handle. Players just live with it and push them back in if it bothers them when playing. However, they should not be that way after you just finish stringing it. They should line up perfectly.

I highly doubt that the strings were misaligned from the factory. I believe, but not positive, that the grip is put on after the stringing. This gives them a clear view and easier access to the strings going down the handle and that they are straight. I don't know of any racquetball company that sells racquets unstrung.

I learned from experience for this type of Wilson racquet to...

1. prestring the mains going down the handle off of the stringing machine. It is almost impossible to make sure the strings are going in straight on the side facing down on the stringing machine, especially when there is a grip on it. I also prestring the entire short side to make sure I leave enough string to reach the tensioner.

It takes time and can be quite confussing on which ones goes under and which ones goes over and which side and so on. So make sure to take notes before cutting out the strings.

I did take detail notes for string path before cutting it. Otherwise, I won't be able to finish my string job.

2. remove the finishing tape from the top of the grip. This tape makes it harder to push the string thru.

Well, I didn't realize to remove the finishing tape from the grip. Maybe I will do it next time.

Thanks a lot for your tips.

Xiaobo.

 

[xiaobo]

The worst are the e-force racquets with the bearing at the handle. Even using a straw or a tube!

Next to the E-force racquets that don't have the colored tubes to guide the main strings down the handle, it is the one I could do without.

Guess what, I just finished another restring job for someone's E-Force Shock racquet. Below is its picture after my 2nd stringing job finished.

This is a very old model with 1 piece string and 14Mx22C pattern. I can't find its detail stringing instruction, so my 1st string job failed to meet my satisfaction. Today, I found out the stringing instruction for E-force Bedlam which is very helpful to figure out main string path through throat grooves. Its previous stringing job was done by Sports Authority which was a mess for string path through throat grooves.

I cut over 41ft string from reel and made sure I had enough short side string to reach tensioner. However, I had to bridge my long side string to reach tensioner after all crosses were installed. It looks like 40ft string set would be very hard to reach tensioner at the end of stringing job for E-Force 14Mx22C pattern.

Xiaobo.