Will the crosses break first?

[treo]

If one takes a freshly strung racquet and only hits serves and overheads with it, will the crosses break first? My theory is that the crosses will be sliding across the mains causing notching on the crosses, then breakage. I don't get any notching on my crosses because 80%+ shots I hit are groundstrokes which notch the mains and lock the crosses in place.

I'm going to try an experiment with my 3rd racquet that I rarely use, string it up with new strings and only hit serves and overheads with it during my practice sessions and see if the crosses notch first.

If the crosses do notch first or if they both notch at the same time this would tell me that we might not be getting the full spin potential on serves if string snap back gives more spin. Playing with notched mains will inhibit the crosses from moving and snapping back on serves.

 

[whomad15]

any notching gimps your racquet. Just wondering what type of serve you're hitting that makes the crosses move up/down as opposed to the mains left/right. I only knew two people that could move their crosses like that, one was 6'3 and never bent down, so he had a pendulum like swing on low balls at his feet, and the other had a western grip on his serve.

 

[Steve Huff]

Probably not. I think you're still going to break the mains first. If they don't wear out 1st, you'll probably shank an overhead and break one at the top (LOL).

 

[mikeler]

If you are not using a hybrid, most likely the mains will break first.

 

[KenC]

I always break crosses first ven though I string them 2 pounds lower than the mains. Don't ask me why, I am one of the few who break crosses.

 

[Steve Huff]

Breaking the crosses before the mains is not uncommon when using a multi. But, if the OP normally breaks his mains first, serving and hitting overheads isn't going to cause the crosses to break 1st.

 

[mikeler]

Breaking the crosses before the mains is not uncommon when using a multi. But, if the OP normally breaks his mains first, serving and hitting overheads isn't going to cause the crosses to break 1st.

Back in my multi testing days, I never broke a cross but I admittedly went a little crazy and cut out quite a few of those string jobs.

 

[Shaochieh]

I break cross string on 6.1 tour and PS85 in the PWS area every time. In PS 85 with X1 in record time 1.5 hours and second X1 in four hours. I think might be a bad batch from TW.

 

[fortun8son]

Fullbed X-1? or crosses in a hybrid?