How often should I restring?

Why did my strings break?

What are grommets and when do I need new ones?

How soon can I have my racquet back?

What do the terms "constant pull" and "lockout" refer to ?

What is a multifilament string?

What is so special about natural gut?

Should I be using polyester strings?

What is a hybrid set and why would I use one?

Can I provide my own strings?

Can you tell how many pounds of tension I have on my old strings?

Have you ever strung for the pros?

How often should I restring?

There are several rules of thumb for decided how long to wait between stringings. One is that you should string your racquet as many times in a year as you play during a typical week. Using this guideline, if you played twice a week, you would string twice a year. Another rule of thumb is to restring after 40 hrs of play.

If you find yourself wanting to smash your racquet to smithereens, that is also a good indicator that it is time to restring. You might want to visit my shop and have the string plane stiffness checked. Low readings are a definitive indicator that it is time to restring. Historically, most customers find their racquets difficult to control once the string plane stiffness readings fall below 48 on the Pacific Multitest Computer, or below 30 on the Beers ERT-700.

Why did my strings break?

Typically string breakage is caused by "notching" at the intersections of the mains and crosses. During play, especially where topspin strokes are employed, the main strings move back and forth against the cross strings and the resultant sawing action creates notches in the mains. With a typical synthetic gut consisting of a large central core protected by one or two layers of protective outer wraps, once the notching reaches the core all it takes is one big hit to convert a notch into a break. For some players this can take several months. For others it can be a matter of just a few hours. The presence of notches on the main strings however is indicative of normal wear, regardless of how long it takes to develop.

Reducing the sawing action that causes notching is possible. By  using "string savers" or increasing string tension you can generally increase the length of time a set of string will last without breaking. Thicker strings will also last longer and there are materials that are designed to resist breakage.

Multifilament strings, which are constructed of bundles of microfibers, do not have large central cores. These strings tend to fray before they break and frequently it is the cross string that fails as the movement of the main strings during play tends to abrade the crosses.

Sometimes, strings break at the frame edge. Often, this is caused by hitting a ball hard off the frame edge. This is known as "shearing" and is frequently associated with mis-hit overheads and the like. Occasionally breakage at the frame edge is caused by bad grommets. That is why I always check the grommets for internal damage before stringing and either replace them or "tube" the "bad" holes. If the grommets are in good shape and the string is broken anyway, chances are "shearing" was the cause.

What are grommets and when do I need new ones?

Most tennis racquets are molded without holes for the strings to go through. After molding, the unfinished frame is placed in a template and holes are drilled through the graphite. These holes have very sharp edges. If a string under tension came into contact with one of these edges, it would break very quickly. So the holes are lined with nylon tubes called "grommets". These usually come on a long strip and for the most part each and every racquet has a grommet strip designed to fit it, exclusively. One specialized piece of the grommet strip is known as the bumperguard. It is really no different than the rest of the strip except that it has the dual function of protecting the upper rim of the frame from court abrasion.

Most people will ask for a new set of grommets when they see that their bumperguard is severely worn. This is a good idea. But the internal condition of the grommets is also important. When the grommets are worn through internally, the string is no longer protected from the sharp edges of the drilled holes. To prevent premature string breakage, I may suggest replacing grommets that appear to you to be perfectly fine.

How soon can I have my racquet back?

One of the first things I am likely to ask you when you get your racquet restrung is when you plan to play next. My goal is have your racquet back to you for your next match, whenever that may be. Most of the time, you will have your racquet within 24 hrs. If I have to special order grommets or strings, it may require more time.

What do the terms "constant pull" and "lockout" refer to?

You may have noticed the terms "constant pull" or "lockout" on your invoice. These terms refer to methods of tensioning (pulling modes). All stringing machines have to employ some means of applying tension to the strings as the stringer weaves them into the frame.

Until a few years ago, professional stringers in the U.S. almost exclusively used machines with spring loaded tensioners. On these machines, tension is applied by turning a crank which locks in place (hence the name "lockout") when the desired tension is reached.  The drawback to this method of tensioning is that after the tensioning device locks, the string immediately begins to relax and drop in tension.

Quality electronic stringing machines (like my Neos 2000) employ the use of piezoelectric sensors to monitor the tension applied to the string. When the string reaches the desired tension, the machine monitors the string for relaxation and pulls further as required. Because of this extra pulling, constant pull machines string about 10% tighter than lockout machines. That's a big difference.

When I string your racquet, your invoice includes both the tension your racquet was strung at and the system of tensioning used. If you break your strings while traveling, having both pieces of information may help you get your racquet strung the way you like. If you cannot find a competent stringer though, all bets are off.

What is a "multifilament" string?

Multifilament strings were designed to simulate the construction of natural gut using synthetic fibers. Natural gut is made from a fibrous muscle tissue found in beef and sheep intestines. Multifilament strings consist of bundled microfibers held together with a bonding agent.

Generally, multifilament strings pocket the ball better than strings with center core construction. The ball seems to stay on the string longer which translates into more feel. My take on multifilament strings is that they play great initially, but the performance degrades more rapidly than with a center core construction. The reason for this is that none of the fibers in a multifilament string run the continuous length of the string. As a result, they are more prone to tension loss.

What is so special about natural gut?

Natural gut is still the premiere racquet string. Producing a string that "plays like natural gut" has long been the holy grail of the synthetic string industry. Each year brings a new crop of pretenders. Research and development costs being what they are, most of these "gut wannabes" are almost as expensive as gut, which begs the question: "If you are willing to spend in excess of $30 for a string that plays like natural gut, why not spend a couple extra bucks and just get natural gut?"

Most folks figure they don't rate the expense of natural gut. "I'm not a pro, why should I use natural gut?" Well, you might want to use natural gut if you are suffering from tennis elbow. Of the legion of strings, natural gut will be kindest on your arm. Another reason you might want to use natural gut is that actually, it is good value. Synthetic strings tend to "die" long before they break. If you are not a chronic string breaker, natural gut will play beautifully and deliver a high level of performance long after most synthetics will have died.

Modern natural gut comes with what the industry calls an "all weather coating". Be aware though, that being a natural fiber, gut is susceptible to damage from moisture. Playing in the rain, playing with wet balls, playing on courts that have been recently watered, can damage gut. It is a good idea to have a second racquet strung with synthetic string handy for "bad gut days".

Should I be using polyester strings?

Polyester strings have been around for decades, but improvements in the manufacturing process and an overall increase in the power of the average racquet have brought about a resurgence in interest in these strings. On the plus side, polyester is durable, inexpensive, and somewhat dead. As a result, several years ago it became the string of choice on the satellite tour. These players had no money; so a long lasting string that muted the power of the modern racquet and didn't cost much was right up their alley (pun intended). As these players made their way up the rankings, they generally stuck with what got them there, so in recent years polyester has supplanted natural gut as the number one choice of the game's elite players. Federer, Ferraro, Coria, Moya, Kuerten all use some form of polyester string. Agassi, who for years played with a Kevlar hybrid recently made the switch to polyester too.

The downside of polyester is that it does not hold tension well. So, even though it is not breaking (it is extremely durable), it usually is begging for replacement a while before it breaks. Additionally, playing with polyester that has "lost it" is very rough on the elbow. On the pro level, you can be sure, polyester is being replaced on a daily basis.

What is a hybrid set and why would I use one?

It is possible to string a racquet with more than one kind of material. For instance, you could put natural gut in the mains and nylon in the crosses. Or Kevlar in the mains and a synthetic in the crosses. What has become increasing popular on the pro tour is polyester hybrids. Usually polyester mains and natural gut crosses, but sometimes the reverse. Polyester is a dead string. Hybridizing it makes it somewhat more playable. So, if you are looking for the durability of polyester but find it too dead for your tastes, you might want to experiment with a poly hybrid.

Can I provide my own strings?

Yes, but I cannot and do not guarantee the quality of customer supplied strings. Fees are as follows:

Tennis and squash racquets: $11
Badminton racquets: $15
Racquetball racquets: Same as tennis unless strings are routed through the racquet handle. $10 surcharge for these.

Can you tell how many pounds of tension I have on my old strings?

Sort of, but probably not in the way you might have hoped or imagined.

Let's take an example. Suppose you've had your racquet strung at 60 lbs and after a month of playing you suspect that the racquet has loosened up significantly and you want to know how much tension is left on the racquet. You might think it is possible for me to put your racquet on my test bench and tell you something like: "Yes, your racquet is now down to 56 lbs, you've lost 4 lbs of tension." Well, that would be nice if I could do that, but the reality of the situation is considerably more complicated.

The truth is I cannot come back and tell you that your racquet is now DOWN to 56 lbs because it was probably never UP to 56 lbs. That number 60 that we strung your racquet at is known as "reference tension". That is the amount of tension APPLIED to the strings during installation. But, the amount of tension that is applied to the strings is of no consequence except as a reference point. What counts is how much of that applied tension REMAINS in the racquet. The amount of tension remaining in the racquet is known as "actual tension" and is ALWAYS less than reference tension. It is always less because of real world factors like friction and elasticity which unfortunately cannot be eliminated. The truth is though that if you had 10 stringers string 10 identical frames with the same string at the same 60 lbs you would find that the amount of tension retained in the racquets on average varies from as low as 70% to as high as 90% of reference tension. Why the huge variations? Well, aside from the factors that cannot be eliminated, there are many factors that can contribute to tension loss during the stringing process that CAN be eliminated by a CONSCIENTIOUS stringer. However, if, for instance, a stringer makes no effort to prevent string slippage during stringing by cleaning his/her machine, then they will produce loose work. That is why when you purchase a tennis racquet from a mail order house, you are apt to hate the string job that they did and find yourself calling me a week later to replace it. There is very little incentive for a mail order house stringer to produce high quality work so they rarely do.

You might be thinking: "Okay, if you can't tell me in pounds how much tension is on my  racquet, can you at least tell me the percentage of tension loss?" Well, this certainly sounds like a perfectly reasonable request. After all, the string industry has for years been recommending that you replace your strings when they have lost 20% of their original tension. So, what's the percentage of tension loss? Well, unfortunately, that depends. What the string industry forgot to mention is that there is NO STANDARD for measuring the tension in a tennis racquet. So, there are all sorts of devices for measuring and each one has it's own units of measure and range of readings and that 20% rule is simply not applicable across the board. I won't bore you with the details, but there is a reason why I am only printing readings from the Beers ERT-700 on your invoice and on the sticker that I apply to the throat of your racquet. A 20% drop in your ERT reading IS an indicator that it is time to restring.

Have you ever strung for the pros?

As a matter of fact, yes I have. I've strung for a number of players in the top 100 including Dennis Gremelmayer, Steve Darcis, Casey Dellacqua, Meng Yuan, Thierry Ascione, and Anna Lena Groenefeld.