Why are you located in an industrial park?

Where should I park my car?

Do you accept credit cards?

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?

How much does hybrid stringing cost?

Can I provide my own strings?

Have you ever strung for the pros?

Why are you located in an industrial park?

In order to provide you with the lowest possible pricing, PRS operates out of an office building rather than a retail shop. By keeping overhead down PRS can offer you world class stringing for as much as 50% less than most pro shops.

Where should I park my car?

If you don't see space available on Atlantic Ave, drive up to the front of the building and turn right. Follow the driveway along the front of the building to the parking lot.

Do you accept credit cards?

Currently, credit cards are not accepted. Same reason as above, to keep prices as low as possible.

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 it can take several months to get to this point. 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?

Turnaround time at PRS is generally 24 hrs or less. It has been unusually busy lately owing to the closing of other local shops. For the first time in roughly 30 years I am finding it necessary to take as much as 48 hours.

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

You may have noticed the terms "constant pull" or "lockout" on your invoice and throat label. These terms refer to methods of tensioning.

Prior to the year 2000, 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. This is known as constant pull. Because of this extra pulling, constant pull machines string about 10% tighter than lockout machines. That's a big difference.

The Neos 2000 is one of a handful of machines that can pull in either lockout or constant pull modes.

If you are traveling and break a string, having the tension and tensioning mode on your label should make it easier for you to get your racquet strung the way you like it.

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. And the absence of that large central core makes them 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 tennis racquet has brought about a resurgence of 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. At this point, virtually everyone on the pro tour is either using polyester or a polyester hybrid.

You should definitely give polyester strings a try if you are a chronic string breaker. If you are getting less than 10 hours of play out of a standard synthetic gut, you qualify. If your game is based on hitting the ball hard, you will probably find that you are better able to control this type of shot using a polyester based string.

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" can be 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.

How much does hybrid stringing cost?

There are no surcharges for hybrid stringing. To figure the price of a hybrid set... add the prices of the component strings together, round up to the nearest even dollar amount and divide by two. So, if for instance you wanted to combine Kirschbaum Super Smash Honey ($20) and Toa Gold ($17), add $20+17= $37, round up to $38 and divide by 2= $19 total. That's what you would pay.

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: $15
Badminton racquets: Sorry, not accepting badminton racquets at this time.
Racquetball racquets: $15.

Have you ever strung for the pros?

Yes. I've strung for a number of players in the top 100 including Fabio Fognini, Lucas Rosol, Steve Darcis, the Radwanska sisters and Casey Dellacqua.