Alpha DC Pioneer Plus

[Solarris]

Now you've lost me. So you start with the bar at 12 o'clock, then tap it and let it drop down without giving any guidance with your hand?

If you start with the bar at 12 o'clock, then gently guide the bar down with your hand until it ends up in a free balance. You should simply avoid any quick movements of the bar, incl. it dropping down on its own. But again, imo the best way to proceed is to start with the bar being fully down on the table and then going up - just as seen in the video. Thereby you avoid any quick movements.

Sorry bout' my wording, I guide it. Tapping it is just using like a finger and applying a little pressure to get it moving... whoops

 

[LoaS]

First of, I think my racket is the 76 hole version with the AX88D/88S)

Did you actually count the number of holes?

 

[Solarris]

just count the holes. Yours is a 72 hole racket, so nothing like the 88S or 88D. So no, you do not skip any holes at the top there.

Did you actually count the number of holes?

OMG I found the problem. You guys were referencing this
http://yonex.co.uk/products/badminton-stringing-instructions/
I used this:
http://www.yonexusa.com/products/badminton-stringing-instructions/

Some rackets were on it and some were not...! That's why I thought mine was X pattern when it was not.

 

[s_mair]

I guide it

That's what you should do, so don't worry. Just never push down on the bar once it has reached a stable position (in balance).

 

[LoaS]

OMG I found the problem. You guys were referencing this
http://yonex.co.uk/products/badminton-stringing-instructions/
I used this:
http://www.yonexusa.com/products/badminton-stringing-instructions/

Some rackets were on it and some were not...! That's why I thought mine was X pattern when it was not.

These two websites show the same patterns. My advice is not to trust the racket model written there as there has been some inconsistencies in the past but count the number of holes and check the position of the shared grommets at the top. After some practice you'll be able to tell what pattern to use by with a quick look at the racket.

 

[Solarris]

Okay I redid the string and I am up to the part where it says down to B10 and tie off at B8.
I’m watching this video around the 12:00 mark.


So, you start the crosses before you finish the mains??
Also I strung from A11, went to A10, down to B10, tension, and when it says tie off at B8, do you put the string through B8 and then tie off? Somehow he got the string coming out from inside the racket, so...

 

[Solarris]

 

[s_mair]

Okay I redid the string and I am up to the part where it says down to B10 and tie off at B8.
I’m watching this video around the 12:00 mark.


So, you start the crosses before you finish the mains??
Also I strung from A11, went to A10, down to B10, tension, and when it says tie off at B8, do you put the string through B8 and then tie off? Somehow he got the string coming out from inside the racket, so...

Make it easy in the beginning and simply tie off the mains before you start the crosses. The way Alan is doing it in the video makes some things more convenient, but it also makes it more complex to follow in the beginning.

Also, don’t bother with tying off at B8 and simply go with the Yonex recommendation. Same reason as above. The Yonex pattern is super straight forward so it’s a good starting point.

 

[Solarris]

Make it easy in the beginning and simply tie off the mains before you start the crosses. The way Alan is doing it in the video makes some things more convenient, but it also makes it more complex to follow in the beginning.

Also, don’t bother with tying off at B8 and simply go with the Yonex recommendation. Same reason as above. The Yonex pattern is super straight forward so it’s a good starting point.

The Yonex recommendation is to tie off at B8.

 

[Solarris]

Wait so do you put the string from B10 into B8, so that the string is inside the racket, and then tie off? Like this:

Is the Parnell knot applicable?

 

[s_mair]

Wait so do you put the string from B10 into B8, so that the string is inside the racket, and then tie off? Like this:

Is the Parnell knot applicable?

Yes, that’s exactly how you tie off. How else would you do it? And yes, the Parnell is a perfectly fine knot. Once you’re used to it you can still try out other knots.

 

[Solarris]

2 hours and 26 minutes.
Mains - 30m
Cross- 1.5hr
Shared holes - 30m

the shared holes are so annoying lol.
To be clear, the knots are:
Main ends: Parnell
Cross start: standard starting knot,YuLitle
Cross end: double half hitch knot
I don’t like double half hitch, it slipped a lot when I released tension. Or I just failed to do it.

 

[s_mair]

2 hours and 26 minutes.
Mains - 30m
Cross- 1.5hr
Shared holes - 30m

the shared holes are so annoying lol.
To be clear, the knots are:
Main ends: Parnell
Cross start: standard starting knot,YuLitle
Cross end: double half hitch knot
I don’t like double half hitch, it slipped a lot when I released tension. Or I just failed to do it.

There you go, congrats! You're now officially a stringer!
The times needed are in the fully normal range. You'll get a lot(!) faster with the crosses and shared holes once you get more routine. If you haven't already, then watch those clips carefully and bookmark them:




Once you have these techniqes internalised, you will be flying through the crosses in no time. Okay... that's a lie... but you know what I mean. And forget that double half hitch - doesn't bring any advantage compared to a Parnell.

 

[DuckFeet]

Congrats.
I recommend looking up the Gudgeon knot.

Sent from my SM-J510FN using Tapatalk

 

[Solarris]

Yeah, the 30m for conquering the shared holes was me watching the videos. In the end, I just cut all of the strings real pointy and brute force shove them in with pilers as leverage. Worked every time so.
Crosses - I can't weave them (sad) so I would just manually insert it between each main. When I did weave them, I found that most of the time I missed one and had to redo the weave.

Question: Let's say I was tensioning the mains. Halfway through the left/right side, the clamp slips and falls. Do I lose all tension on the strings?

Another Question: For clamping the cross, could you use 2 clamps instead of one?

Final Question: After stringing the racket, I realized I never had a need to use a flying clamp... but people still recommend them. Why?

 

[endFX]

Yeah, the 30m for conquering the shared holes was me watching the videos. In the end, I just cut all of the strings real pointy and brute force shove them in with pilers as leverage. Worked every time so.
Crosses - I can't weave them (sad) so I would just manually insert it between each main. When I did weave them, I found that most of the time I missed one and had to redo the weave.

Question: Let's say I was tensioning the mains. Halfway through the left/right side, the clamp slips and falls. Do I lose all tension on the strings?

Another Question: For clamping the cross, could you use 2 clamps instead of one?

Final Question: After stringing the racket, I realized I never had a need to use a flying clamp... but people still recommend them. Why?

Keep practicing the weaving. Once you are used to it you can feel if you skipped a string without looking. You also will get much faster. Just try to keep relaxed hands and fingers and develope some kind of flow.

To your questions:
1 if the clamp slips you lose all tension in that string. All strings next to it will also drop tension but less. If it happens on the mains you should start over and tension all strings again.

2 with fixed clamps you have to use one for the right and one for the left side. I'd say you only should use one clamp in each string.

3 fixed clamps are generally better than flying clamps. Sometimes when you can't get close enough with the fixed ones the flying clamp can help. Also you can use them as a starting clamp

 

[s_mair]

Flying clamps:

Apart from the mentioned basics, I would recommend to get one or even two Yonex flying clamps since they come in handy in so many ways. You might need them for rackets with a high top cross string when there is not enough space to apply the fixed clamp, as a starting clamp, to pull knots, as an extension for the final pulls when you've cut the string too short (it happens, believe me!) and of course, if you want to experiment with various patterns.

Crosses - I can't weave them (sad) so I would just manually insert it between each main. When I did weave them, I found that most of the time I missed one and had to redo the weave.

Weaving is another thing you will get used to over time. It gets a lot easier and with less risk to make a mistake once you start using the "one ahead" technique as shown in the video above.