Howdy everyone, Long time since I posted here. I more or less lost interest in the internet for a while, so this is the first time I have visited BC since last fall. Anyway, I have a problem with my Talbot Torro Quadrapower 951Ti (3U isometric racquet that has a fairly stiff shaft and is fairly head heavy), namely, that I cannot go more than a few nights of playing with decent strings without them breaking. Since August, I have gone through about six sets of strings, all of them Ashaway, including both weights of MicroLegend, MicroPower, Rally 22Ti and one other one whose name escapes me. Of those, only the Rally 22Ti did not break - I replaced it after about five nights of playing because it lacked power and had a dead feel to it. I have had my stringer friend string the racquet at 25x23lbs or 26x24lbs, which is the heaviest that he has strung any racquets. I haven't tried any other brand of string on the Talbot, but like the power and feel of the MicroLegend and MicroPower strings. I'm playing with Yonex Mavis 300 nylon shuttles. All of the breakages are occurring about 3-5cm from the edge of the frame, but not at the frame, so it is likely not the grommets, but we've replaced some of the grommets anyway to be safe. The last time it was strung, we put around 1.5cm of very fine, soft plastic tubing around the strings where it goes through the grommets, and we have been waxing the strings for less friction on the crosses; it didn't matter because it broke after 1 1/2 games this week and it wasn't even a very hard clear that I hit that snapped the strings. In fact, the last two or three breakages have all occurred within the first day of use on the new strings, some of the times with very average, not particularly hard hits. While I'm no stringing expert, I am pretty confident that my friend's stringing is not the problem. He has been stringing various sorts of racquets for years, has strung my other racquets several times without problems, strings his own racquets frequently (he likes to experiment with new models of string) and those of quite a few other people in our leagues, all without breaking problems. Plus, he has refused to charge me for the restringing (I insisted on paying him for the last one, though), so even if he didn't take pride in his work, he has an economic incentive to do a good job. There are three factors that we think are contributing to the breaks: 1. The frame has become more flexible since it was new. Grabbing both sides of the frame, one can twist the racquet head nearly 2 cm when unstrung, and about 1cm even when strung. In contrast, my Carlton AB900's frame doesn't flex at all and I've probably played about 30-50% more games with the Carlton. 2. I'm hitting very hard these days. My game is pretty smash-oriented, it feels like I am hitting a lot harder lately and other people in my league have been telling me the same. 3. My skill and control does not match my power and I'm hitting a fair number of shots on the sides of the strings, away from the sweet spot. So what do you think - is the loss of stiffness in the head of the racquet the real culprit? Have any of you experienced the same problem with a racquet whose head has become more flexible? Do any of you have any solutions to this problem? I really like the feel of the Talbot Torro - its weight and balance seem perfect, and while it doesn't have quite as much power as my AB900 (although perhaps that can be said about every other racquet ever made), it is powerful and I have a lot better control with it than with my Carlton. Assuming that the frame flexing is the problem, what would you guess is the likelihood of reducing/eliminating the problem by stringing it much lighter - say 18x16lbs or 17x15lbs - and selling or giving it to a less aggressive, control-oriented player? Thanks for your help.
Brett, Wow! Thought you had given up on the sport. Anyhow, it sounded like your string breakage problems are more so due to two factors; a) the high tension and b) your off-centre hits. By consistently hitting the shuttle (esp. nylon ones as I find the nylons tends to fly "harder" than the feathers) off centre (i.e. closer to the frame), there is less flex for the string to stretch and combine that with the high tension (string is problem stretched to almost its stress limit). Stringing it at a lower tension will reduce breakage but at what cost to your game? Maybe an alternative is to ask your friend to try progressive tension stringing where the central strings are strung at the desired tension and each string outwards from that is lowered by 1 lb until the edge. Anyhow, that's just my suggestions and I am sure others would have differing opinions.
That's what I assumed when I read the thread. I mainly suspected that the high tension + off center hitting would most likely result in string breakage. Was it at the corners? Since the corners of an isometric racquet are weak so that could be another reason. Yodums
Hey, welcome back. I think you have nothing to lose with this progressive tension stringing method. You are starting to go in the high tension range. I went through a patch like you are doing now. I assumed it was my inability to hit the sweet spot consistently enough but the stringing method could be a factor as well because I still do off centre shots (maybe not as many as before)
Brett, firstly, welcome back, glad to hear that you are still alive and kicking, and most importantly, playing badminton. interesting breakage problem you have. i don't have much experience with Ashaway strings. i wonder if you have tried other well tried string like say Yonex BG65, it is well known to be durable so you will eliminate one variable there. your stringer does string 22 main strings, right? i have seen some stringers with stupidity or perhaps laziness only string 20 main strings leaving a big gap on the sides.
For chronic string breakers one solution is to use Kevlar string. Only use it to replace the mains or the crosses - whichever you have a problem with.
Excuse me, if I am wrong... From a stringer's (sorry, not professional ones) point of view, it's exactly where the clamp will put the force. I know ur friend is a very skillful stringer, but it might be his clamp got some problem (say, 1 tooth of the clamp is bented, so, extra force) Due to Ashway MicroLegend (broken) is 0.73mm and Rally 22Ti is only .68 (no broken), is that possible say, the clamp is either adjusted to be too tight (dmg. the "coat" while string) or just one tooth is too tight?
