Overhaul: Wilson ProStaff Classic 6.1

My last few stringing experiments were mainly done on the Black Ace 98, Hammer5.8 and M-Fil300.

After heavy modifications (link1)(link2), these three are currently my most comfortable frames. That's why I conduct odd tests on them since they shield a lot of harmful and jarring vibrations from my hand.

After a few weeks, I have unconsciously become accustomed to their extremely clean ball impact feel. 

When I picked up my favourite PSC6.1 on court again, I was stunned by how punishing off-centre hits feel with this racket! How did I fall in love with this racket?

Maybe I am infected by the "blame the tool" virus (link). Nevertheless, the day of reckoning has arrived for my old faithful. It is due for a makeover!

The plan is to add some dampening into the frame to offer more protection for my wrist and elbow joints.

All measurements are taken twice and recorded. Particularly weight, balance and frequencies.

The original leather grip still looks good after all these years.

The racket serial number is clearly labeled on the bare handle.

I had expected both holes to be filled with foam. Surprisingly, only one is filled and the other is hollow!

After such a long time, the foam has become dry and brittle. I doubt if they can still fulfill their vibration dampening role well. So I dug out as much as I could, then replenished them with a mix of polystyrene beads and molding resin.

I nailed the buttcap back on to facilitate ease of removal should it be necessary later.

All the specs are perfect! So I just need to slap on a grip and it's good to go!!!

From simple ball bouncing tests, I can already clearly feel the difference. A lot of noise has been filtered out. What's left is a much purer ball impact feel.

Playtest:
- The previous harsh vibrations has been toned down significantly.
- Feedback became a little more muted than I like but the feel is not dead at all.
- I could not feel any impact on balance or power at all.

26Aug2013 update:
- I used this to play with my most regular partner "M". 
- The clearest change that stood out is that this racket has become less de-polarised. I cannot say it is polarised since there is still a significant heft in the middle but the swing has become slightly faster and much easier to accelerate.
- As a result, spin and power both increased slightly.
- Because of the faster swing, I noticed most of my shots went slightly left and carried a "diagonal" spin, something like when you brush the back of the ball from 4 o'clock to 10 instead of 6 to 12. I was contacting the ball earlier, which is good since I feel I am sometimes too slow!

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...

A Word of Caution...

This blog is to document my tennis racket stringing and modification experiments. 

I do not detail every thought or process in this blog. Otherwise, I'll be better off authoring a book instead of a blog, isn't it?

The reason I'm writing this is because I am a little saddened by an email I received. It was not a flaming email but one that was very humbly worded, asking for some stringing advice. 

A zealous reader attempted to duplicate my PK BA98 (link) stringing. Unfortunately, his favourite racket collapsed when pulling tension on the crosses.

Whenever I attempt some unproven, fanciful stringing or modifications, I do them on my "test" rackets. Never on my preferred sticks.

The reader used a crank machine whereas I used a dropweight. Crank machines are known for over-tensioning. It is in the design. And the amount it over-tensions depends on your calibration and how fast/hard you crank it. Some online posts claim it over-tensions by as much as 12 lbs!

Now, if you add 12 to 80, that's 92 lbs! My Black Ace 98 was rated to take up to 68 lbs. I overshot by about 12 lbs. But 90+ lbs on any racket would be pushing it a little too far.

If you wish to replicate any of my experiments, please do so on an old test racket that is of little value to you. More importantly, exercise care and put safety above all else.

Residual Elasticity (Part 2): Hammer5.8 (16x10 Proportional)

(Link to Part 1 is here)

Among all the strings I've tried, poly has the highest deformation factor. That's why tension loss for poly is always so high. Especially immediately after stringing!

To further test my theory on stringing based on residual elasticity, I will be stringing with used poly this time.

The used poly string will come from my Wilson Hammer 5.8 (link). It was strung a few months ago and should have seen at least 10 hours of play, maybe more.

My plan is to string 2-piece with poly in mains. The previous stringing pattern would give me plenty of extra string to play with. A new set of synthetic gut will be used for crosses. That would help me isolate any problems, if any, with the stringbed later.

Before re-use, the used poly was tested for its elasticity, resilience and deformation properties. The test results would determine the tension and stringing method to use.

To prevent unnecessary stress or damage to the used poly, I am using only both ends for testing since they will be trimmed after stringing. Each segment of string would be tested a maximum of three times with the lightest tension first and heaviest last. 

After I have arrived at my preferred tension, I will test the centre of the used poly string once to confirm consistency of results. This is because the centre of the stringbed suffers more ball impacts than the side strings.

Here's a pic of how a segment of string was marked, measured, clamped and tested. Two black dots (circled in red) marks the test length before, during and after tension was applied.

Here's two results (from the same string segment) which I felt were insightful:

Test1
Starting length: 20.1cm 
Length @ 45lbs: 20.8cm (after 1min)
Length @ 45lbs: 20.9cm (after 30min)
Ending length: 20.3cm
Elasticity @ 45lbs: (20.9 - 20.3)/20.3 = 2.95%

Test2
Starting length: 20.3cm 
Length @ 50lbs: 20.9cm (after 1min)
Length @ 50lbs: 21.0cm (after 5min)

Length @ 50lbs: 21.1cm (after 30min)

Ending length: 20.3cm
Elasticity @ 50lbs: (21.1 - 20.3)/20.3 = 3.94%

If you refer back to my chart on "Poly Stretch Test" posted in March 2013 (link), you can see that this poly starts stretching from about 45 lbs. The above test findings again confirms that.

One very important observation is the absence of additional string deformation at 50lbs after the 45lbs test was completed. Despite being re-used, this poly string stays resilient!

Thus, 50lbs was selected as the starting tension and proportional stringing was used, just like the PK Black Ace 98 (link). That's how much I like that setup!

Stringing pics below...

From the last pic, it is clear how the slick round poly mains "snap back" automatically whereas the synthetic gut strings lay crooked.

Playtest:
- It played very very close to the PK BA98 (link).
- From the first hit, it is very comfortable. There is absolutely zero trace that the poly was re-used! From my previous recollection of how the poly played when new, it felt exactly the same to me. Exactly.
- Directional control is good. But there is this same feeling of the ball "penetrating the cross strings gap" whenever I crank it up. It is not a serious mis-direction and happens only occasionally. Maybe it will go away in the second session like previously?
- Spin shines! Between this and the BA98 full syn gut, the spin levels appear very similar.
- Power level for this is slightly lower than the BA98 full syn gut. So it is very good for people who like to swing all out. The low-power and heavy spin would easily keep the ball in the court.
- I'll test it again in the next session and update later.

12Aug2013 update:
- Surprisingly, the ball "penetrating the cross strings gap" problem disappeared.
- Spin levels improved over the first session. Both serves and groundstrokes kicked up hard and fast. Slices skidded off the ground wickedly and forced my partner to scrap the racket against the floor just to return that shot.
- The used poly performed as well as, if not better, than a fresh set of similar poly string. I am thoroughly satisfied that it is possible to re-use strings as long as it is strung based on residual elasticity.
- The new synthetic gut cross string lost quite a bit of tension during play today. It started getting softer and softer. As crazy as it sounds, I prefer re-using used strings as tension holding is so much more stable.
- Similar to the PK BA98 (link), light notching can be seen only on the mains poly string. The crosses have absolutely zero notching so far. I find this strange as poly is so much stiffer than syn gut. It seems like tightly-strung syn gut could be stiffer than poly!