Stringing my own rackets has been fun and rewarding. But I thought I should mention some downsides as well...
The most common, was disfigured fingerprints. Not that it posed any threat to life, but somehow, those scratches tend to end up splitting my skin along the fingerprints itself. Ugh... Another reason why I do not like poly strings!
Once, the string snapped while tensioning and a strand whipped across my arm and left a small cut. Again plenty of scare, but little damage.
Another thing to lookout for, is to ALWAYS ensure your costs are covered. Once it is known that you have a stringing machine, hoards of "volunteers" would offer their sticks for you to practise or test fanciful stringing patterns.
After spending hundreds of dollars buying and stringing natural gut and premium reels of poly for freeloaders, I learnt my lesson. It's unbelievable how these same folks would splurge on the latest rackets, shoes, bags and new slazengers but stinge on a set of new gut or poly strings.
For many months, I've been relying on the frequency based method of measuring string tension loss.
As an absolute measure of what tension the stringbed is at, I think it fares badly. However, when used as a relative measure to check how much tension loss accumulated after play, I think it would be second to none.
I usually re-string after about 8-10 hours of play, or when the strings feel sluggish and lifeless to me.
Then, I became curious if this deterioration could be measured. So I started pinging the strings before and after every session of play and tracked a few rackets for several months.
Indeed, there seemed to be a correlation! The simple tension loss graph below shows it best. (Click on it to see a larger version)
Both the red and magenta line denotes tension loss from synthetic gut. The blue line tracks tension loss from a poly/syn gut hybrid.
I was careful to ensure the same spot was pinged for the frequency measurement. Strings that moved out of alignment during play were also straightened before pinging. Dampeners were removed.
The gaps were due to different number of hours played each session so it can be ignored. Just connect the dots.
The most significant observations to me were:
(1) a high initial tension loss during first hour of play,
(2) bottoming out of tension loss around the 6-7th hour.
From this, I'd like to think that I have a sensitive enough hand and a consistent enough sweetspot contact to pick up the gradual "tightening" after the 6th or 7th hour of play. To me, that was a sign that the strings were "dying".
While I did not add another observation to the chart, but I did notice in another few rackets that I strung with the aircon on, suffered almost twice as much initial tension loss (in hz) compared to those above.
Stringing in an aircon or cold environment increased the rate of initial tension loss, especially when my normal playing temperature is in the 30+ degrees celcius.
Anyone game to try asking their stringer to string their rackets under the sun?
Varied Tension (VT) is simply pulling the string in the same racket at different tensions.
Commonly used in hybrids, the mains or crosses could be strung a few pounds different from each other to improve spin or comfort (link). Or just to make up for a softer string when hybrid with a stiffer one like gut/poly.
Even when only a single string is used, some players or stringers like to add a few pounds on tie-off strings to keep it tight.
Another common variant is proportional stringing (link). Yet another is the JET method pioneered by John Elliot (link).
But why?
The main reason is to achieve different "effects" at different parts of the stringbed.
So far, my playtest has given me very favourable results with many different variations. Not all were successful, and only some were posted here.
The same variables always come into play - comfort, power, control, spin, durability, etc.
Rather than use two (or more) totally different strings, I found that it is much more effective to just use one type of string and let tension alter the playing characteristics at different parts of the stringbed.
If you have access to a stringing machine, or a stringer that is willing to accommodate your request, you should think through which aspect of your game can be helped through this innovative tensioning.
A playing partner asked why all the stringing shops he visited commented that his racket could no longer be restrung.
At one glance, it was clear many grommets had cracked and split. Since it was an old frame, chances of finding a new strip of grommet were slim. So I told him to just buy a new stick.
However, the racket was of significant sentimental value to him. So I agreed to help him fix the grommets and restring it.
There were eight grommets that needed work. Two were missing and six badly split. I marked them with a piece of masking tape, then drilled them out slowly and carefully from the outside of the frame.
After the grommets were done, I strung it with synthetic gut using the varied tension as he had tested on my racket. (link)
If you have an old racket with worn and obsolete grommets, consider buying some Fittex individual grommets (link1)(link2). There's some work involved, but I think it's worth the effort to bring an old favourite back in play.
