Frivolous Demands for Perfection

Since the 1990s, when I first starting stringing tennis rackets, I have not met nor heard of anyone who restrings multiple rackets daily.

Not even someone who does so every few days. Only a few restring every week.

And all these refer only to those who are using the same rackets with same strings and same tensions.

Conversely, there are plenty who play till the strings break, or restring only once every few months.

Ironically, it is this group of infrequent re-stringers, that is the most unreasonably demanding of stringjobs.

They purport to have exactly matched rackets from special sources. So the strings must all have identical tensions, frequency and stringbed stiffness.

Else the inaccuracies would cause a complete derail and loss of control of their otherwise perfect strokes. 

If a Wilson Pro Knot was used instead of their regular Parnell knot, they cannot serve aces anymore. Or if tension was applied for half a second longer on one string than the other racket, they could not clear the net.

What these folks do not understand is that all rackets are strung one at a time. The moment each string is clamped, tension starts dropping via string creep. And the mains are always completed first before the crosses.

Even within strings from the same reel, there are tolerances. I have seen differences that could even be picked up by the naked eye. For some brands, the start of the reel snaps easily while others may play stiffer nearer the end of the reel.

If one is fussy enough to measure the string gauge with a pair of vernier calipers, you would find the differences in gauge unsettling. All these within the same reel.

Obviously, different batches from different reels fare much worse.

As for rackets, everyone knows the manufacturing tolerances are getting wider compared to the 80s. Total weight, swingweight and balance tolerances seem to be getting wider than before.

From my experience, the general pattern appears to be, the better skilled the player, the less fussy about the equipment. And vice versa.

If anyone still expects perfect stringjobs from me, they would first have to:
(1) send in 100% identical sticks and strings, and 
(2) send in video proof that you can hit ten consecutive serves that are exactly 100mph, clears the net tape over the same spot by exactly 3.5", have a ball spin rpm of precisely 2500, and leave only ONE ballmark on the ground due to your immaculate accuracy.

I look forward to meeting you!




     

What I have been up to...

What started as a hobby has now gathered so much momentum, that I spend more time working with serious players than on my own sticks.

That is the reason for the silence the past month or so.

Correspondingly, the lack of time to explore/experiment, coupled with the confidentiality requests from those I worked with, meant a double whammy to what I now can post in the blog.

I am evaluating options. But with my work and other obligations, I still have no wish to move into full time stringing or customization yet.

For now, this blog will remain. Updates would be less frequent. Thanks to those who asked - I am well.




     

Racket Cleanliness

After 18 months of incessant testing of new strings, an old friend, PK (link), got in touch again. He wanted to try proportional stringing with full poly. (link)

So he handed me his Babolat APD which he bought used, for a very good deal. However, the racket was so dirty.

Perhaps ingrained by my mentor many many years ago, I instinctively cleaned up the frame using an old toothbrush and rag.

Then I inspected the racket. And found two hairline cracks at the throat area, previously buried under all the dirt and grime. It doesn't show up well in the pics below, but yes, they are cracks.

Could this be why my mentor always insisted I clean rackets before working on them? I have no idea. Neither any way to check with him now.

After obtaining the green light to proceed from PK, I cut out the old strings, measured all the variables, then started work.

To me, it sure felt better working on a clean racket. The more important lesson though, is to always check used frames carefully before buying them. Clean them first if possible.

Fortunately, the cracks are very minor. It should remain playable for a good while more.

Playtest:
- After playing with it for 3 hours with his regular partners, PK was full of praise for proportional stringing. 
- In his words, he wrote:

"Yo, here is my verdict. Spin, power, comfort and control were all superb..."

- And this was what he wrote about what his playing partners commented:

"They say the spin control really good" and "A lot of pace".

- Downside was he felt he needed to make some adjustments to his grip, swing and serve. But overall, he was very satisfied.
- I replied that I had expected the adjustments because the spin-to-power ratio of this setup was very different from his regular setup of full poly. If he felt no difference and needed no changes, then why should I spend SO MUCH more time stringing his racket proportionately?
- Somehow, I get the feeling that PK is going to be asking ONLY for proportional stringing from now on...




     

Progressing or Regressing?

Probably it's that time of the year - making new resolutions, reviewing old ones and comparing notes...

Looking back at the past year, I thought I made decent progress, and even won two chaps I always lost to! 

Then dropped back down to earth when I got walloped by an elder man using a beat up WOOD racket!!!

With him leading at 3-2, I ran through my mental checklist, but everything was covered:
- Has my strings lost tension and control?
- Was my grip wet or slipping?
- Were the balls too hard or flat?
- Was I moving my feet?
- Was I hitting the ball deep enough?
- Did I attack his backhand?
- Did I open up the angles?
- Did I vary my game plan and strokes?

It ended 6-3. Not entirely a trashing. And he didn't look that old. 

But still, what bothered me was the woodie! How did he wield it like that? That thing was at least 50 grams heavier than my modern graphite 98 square inch! And the headsize was ⅓ smaller!

I am grateful he was quick to soothe my embarrassment. Back in his country, he was a competitive player for many years. He learnt and trained with wood sticks but could not get used to modern rackets however he tried.

Eventually, he decided to just play his classic game, and let his competitors play theirs. Just like what Adam Smith advocated in the Theory of Comparative Advantage - "Do what you do best".

Without a doubt, his mastery of flat shots, slices, volleys and placement was superior to whatever topspin I could muster.

His flat shots were extremely power efficient. That gave him time to place those low skidders. Which in turn, gave me very little time to react and hit, and restricted the amount of topspin I could use. I became a toothless tiger!

Really makes me wonder, that if women, and even kids could handle traditional 400+ grams woodies in the past, have we regressed? The more popular rackets today all weigh only 300+ grams or so.

Is today's parabolic-curving topspin really much faster than the flat shots of yester-years? 

I have my doubts. Time to polish up my footwork and review my stringing setup against wood wielders...

An Endless Journey...

When I first started writing, my only intention was to document my stringing experiments for my own reference. 

There was supposed to be an end-date of sorts - a day where I achieved nirvana in my search for the perfect string, racket, tension combination that allowed me to annihilate all my competitors!

Now I know that day will never arrive. This journey would continue...

For those restless string testers who aspire to buy your own stringing machines, be warned that this is a bottomless pit. There is no end to the amount of testings.

To date, about 20 months after my machine arrived, I have used 42 reels of strings. This excludes individual packets or strings provided by friends.

The fun part was I got to try all sorts of stringing patterns my mind could imagine - 16x10, 22x30, 16x17, etc. And pull them at ridiculous tensions from 20+ lbs to 100+ lbs!

Just be prepared, most who buy their own machines end up spending more than getting their sticks strung elsewhere.

What am I looking for?

While most of my tennis partners are intrigued by my unusual stringing experiments, some questioned why don't I spend more time practising my game instead?

That's the privilege of owning a stringing machine. I get to try anything that catches my eye. If I can get hold it, I'll string it!

Another more important reason is the huge fitness gap between what I am today and two decades ago. 

Back then, I would play from first light at daybreak till dark, skipping lunch completely, and sometimes even throwing in a swim or a jog in between hits! Now, I cannot even last an hour just rallying in the noon sun.

Just to improve one aspect like serve, footwork, or swing timing, I need to spend several hours training before I start seeing results. And those rigorous drills would exact a huge toll on my wrist, elbow, shoulder and knee joints.

Simply put, I play tennis to keep fit. Not keep fit to play tennis.

So I play with strings instead! And along the way, try to find a better combo that can best match my style of play.

Summarised, the tennis game involves only four aspects:

1. Serve,

2. Return of serve,

3. Net play (eg volleys, overheads), and

4. Groundstrokes.

These are the four areas I always test strings on.

As for the stringbed feel, what I lookout for includes:

1. Comfort,

2. Control,

3. Spin,

4. Power,

5. Durability (tension holding and breakage)

My top priority is always comfort and control. After all, the stringing guru advocates playing with "the loosest string tension you can still control". (link)

Any unorthodox stringings are just for fun.

In fact, I have some wicked ideas already brewing in the cauldron. Just need to find the time to cast the spell...