Deliberate Hoop Warp

After stringing for while, I realized that some "conventional rules" could actually be bent. Some completely ignored.

Most basic of all, is the mandate to preserve the shape of the racket hoop after stringing. 

I had some brushes with hoop distortion due to my unorthodox attempts, but also encountered them when the same rackets were professionally strung. (link1)(link2)(link3)

So? What matters? 

Ultimately it's how the sticks and strings perform after they were strung. So I did up a pair - same rackets, same specs, same strings and same tension. Just to experience how different they play!

The normal one was done first. Straightforward string job, no problems.

The other one was intended to be "compressed shorter but wider". So I mounted the racket but left one mounting posts completely loose and untightened! Just to let the racket shorten when the mains were tensioned.

With the super soft hoop of the Black Ace 98, this experiment was easy.

This was the normal one at 329 mm and 245 mm.

Below was the distorted one at 324 mm and 250 mm.

From stringbed frequency measurements, the distorted frame registered a higher pitch by about 37 hz. This represents the amount that would drop overnight with no play, so it was significant.

To ensure the shortened racket had the same swingweight, a 4 grams dampener was used whereas the normal racket was dampened by rubberbands weighing 0.5 grams.

Some online folks claimed that shortened and widened hoops play better with a slightly larger sweetspot due to the elongated cross strings. I did not experience it.

Power and control felt close, with the distorted one slightly lowered-powered. Spin also felt similar.

The only significant difference I picked up seemed to be comfort. With or without dampeners, there was more dull vibrations coming from the distorted frame during off-centred hits.

A minor difference was the distorted frame seemed to flex less, especially when I was in the perfect position ready to unleash a winner. I could not be sure of this though.

By any standard, 5 mm is a significant distortion. I have cut strings out and re-done them even with 4 mm distortions. Given how little differences I felt, I may need to re-evaluate my hoop distortion tolerances. 

But before I do that, I suspect a hoop narrowing is more damaging. (link) I may need to re-do this experiment.