Stringing Methods

Many years ago, I was told that a tour player always asked for the "Around-the-World" (ATW) stringing pattern. Being young and impressionable, I thought ATW was cool, so I asked for it everytime I restrung my rackets too.

Much later on, I realised the ATW was mainly used for people who prefer one-piece stringing and where their rackets' main strings end at the throat area. ATW was used to protect the frame by stringing crosses from top-to-bottom! Now I feel so foolish acting that way!

Over the years, I've found out many other types of stringing patterns and tried quite a few of them. Some of those include:
- Around the World (ATW)
- Modified ATW
- Box Method
- One Piece Stringing (ie Bottom up crosses)
- Standard 2-piece
- 50/50 Method
- Proportional Stringing (aka Frequency-based stringing)

Most of the different stringing patterns that I've tried were done by professional commercial stringers. Frankly, I couldn't tell much difference. Neither did my regular tennis buddies then. I slyly asked to try their rackets and passed them mine in return. Then, I asked if they felt any difference from my usual stringing before telling them about the different stringing method used. None could tell any difference.

What I've learnt, is that consistency is paramount, whichever the method. So when I try a new stringer, I usually ask him to string my racket using whichever stringing method he is most familiar and comfortable with.  That almost always guarantees me a good string job from any unfamiliar stringer.

For now, the standard 2-piece is my preferred stringing method. The 2-piece allows me to hybrid strings, vary tension between mains and crosses and skip strings. I also feel the tension holding is more evenly distributed since there isn't any major twist and loops like the ATW or Box method. Most stringers are also very familiar with this method.