I actually tension left to right only pulling fron the top end. Then cross weaving throath to top using only 1 string. This is possible even at 30 mains 32 crosses. However, only if I use an additional brace on my two-point Ektelon 'H' machine. Otherwise the rackets would be very much in danger of breaking. When weaving - I find it quicker and easier to weave and tension one string off-set. Weave right to right - tension the previous left to right. Weave left to right - then tension the previous right to left. This way I always weave in the groove formed by the last tensioned string. Sort of like an oldfashioned loom. Easy - and when you pull the string through you can feel if you got it right. No resistance = succes. Resistance = take a look.
That single sentence should be reason enough to ban you from the forum. Or at least from the stringing related part of it. And besides: Which badminton racket in this part of the universe has 30 main and 32 cross strings???
I have no clue about stringing so can't contribute anything to the topic itself. But I'm sure "30 mains 32 crosses" is just a short form of "30 lbs...".
Good thinking... I'm terribly sorry but it seems as if my brain refused to work properly after reading the first line of the post. But wow. 32 lbs. on a two point machine and the mains done left to right. I wonder how many rackets have died during this torture or a couple of shots afterwards.
Not impressed at all. I stopped watching when I saw you were double pulling the mains. That is maximum sloppy and disqualifies you from every serious speed-stringing competition. If they existed.
Double pulling mains is common practice among professional stringing. No one single pulls mains for pros. Been to Olympics and Opens. No one except the amateurs single pull mains. My dad has done 2 Olympics, 1 world series, and 1 US Open. Using the exact same technique. Other pros at those same events double pulled the mains. There was one guy that single pulled mains at the world series and broke pro's rackets. That is the sign of an amateur stringer. Since 2008, my dad stopped stringing and I took over for him. I learned exactly what he did and am doing exactly what he did. I myself string for high ranking players. They love my stringing and continuously praise me for being superior. I mean, no wonder they always come back to me even though its a 45 minute drive. Some even dare say they can't use another person's stringing after using mine. My strings speak for themselves. I don't need your biased opinion. One day, if you ever string for the pros, you'll see that 1, there is no time to single pull, and 2, pros actually prefer you don't. I personally haven't strung for any professional competition, but I have been requested, just didn't have the time to fit it into my schedule. When I have time I will string for a competition, but until then, my only source of legitimacy is that I haven't lost a single customer. From novice(I never played before), to Professionals and veteran Pros.
You want to see how the Master does it? Here you go: Can't see any double pulls there. And no flying clamps either. @Mark A You're also double pulling at the AE's? I don't think so.
He didn't pre-stretch the strings. Must not be master. There is this one video where the world's best stringer is doing a masterclass and there is that 1 amateur commenting on how he did something "wrong." That is you right now in your comment. I would be doing something horribly wrong if no one asked me to restring their racket another time.
Mark Lawrence, a top global stringer who is part of Yonex's stringing team, double pulls mains unless instructed to do otherwise. The only time he single pulls is when he did the masterclass which showed the Yonex textbook stringing technique. He says himself that there are many different techniques. AND in that video, a little bit of his double pulling habit showed. There is another thread on this forum that discusses the actually variance between single and double pulling. With and without pre-stretch. With pre-stretching there are multiple techniques. Double pulling a double pre-streched string actually has no variance if the tension being pulled is correctly adjusted I have tried single pulling. Customers didn't like it. Customer feedback is the ONLY feedback I listen to.
If pre-stretched or not you can't ignore physics which will result in lower tension when you double pull. On a crank you also don't be accurate and you will end up in a much lower result. And flying clamps will give a slightly additional loss. Producing a lower string bed right-off the machine than requested is a no-no. We have here alot certified stringers here. Yonex-certified, ERSA-certified, UKRSA-certified. Strung at Olympics, US Open and All England. I visit the stringing booth at YGO since several years and nobody double pull. They all will tell you that pulling 2 mains in one pull is a no-no. I explained the reason in the first sentences of this post. @Alex82 made an experiment and measured the reduced tension due double-pull which proofs my arguement. You can't fool me. To your argument: If you never tasted the cream even **** can taste okay. Badminton customers are always cheap when it comes to shuttles and restrings. Your customers come maybe back for the price, don't have any other access but they don't come for quality.
Still doesn't explain why I saw other pro stringers double pull. I literally stand there and see them double pull. My eyes don't lie. Also how people say they don't like when I let them try single pulled mains. I remember the most recent case which was 2 weeks ago. Someone that I frequently string for requested a 28lb hard feeling because he thought my regular stringing wasn't hard enough. I single pulled each main. That's the only thing I changed from my regular technique. He hated it, said it was too hard. Went back to double pullling 28lbs. This is only one case. There are others. So yes, I guess double pulling is frowned upon and "sloppy." In the end, it is about the user's experience and what they feel. A ranking players have requested certain customizations to experiment with and have always ended up with what I originally did. BTW. My starting price is 20 dollars for bg65. Your comment on cheap players doesn't apply here. The local clubs, sgvbc and labc charge 17/bg65. If you claim my customers are cheap, they'd go to sg or labc which is right down the street. LOL and there is a pro shop literally 1 block away from me. People that know my stringing avoid going there. I'll mention this, the big difference between his and mine is that his is really hard and stiff at the sweet spot(due to single pulling). There are players that like the hardness and those that don't. Another recent case is where one of my customers bought the new Duora 10 LCW from the pro shop 1 block away and go it strung there for free. The customer didn't like it. It was way too hard. Came to me after 1 day playing with it and asked me to restring... Guy barely played with the thing for 1 day and got it strung TWICE. Another case(pretty big one). I started free-lance stringing for a pro shop. Customer retention for restringing is at its highest its ever been. One last thing, you cannot string and have the mindset of a stringer and only a stringer. You have to have 2 mindsets. One of a stringer and one of a player. A player that doesn't string doesn't care what you as a stringer do as long as you deliver a good product. What is a good product is subjective. The business of stringing is subjective. IMHO. Single pulling makes the racquet sound like cardboard.
Let me guess - your customers complained about their strings being to hard and/or snapping earlier than usual, right? Surprise, surprise. And how exactly does pre-stretching the string reduce the friction at the grommets which is the main culprit for losing tension in double pulls? I have watched the Yonex stringing team at a GPG event a lot over the last three years. I have seen a lot of techniques that I would consider questionable - but I have not once seen a double pull (one exception: the outer two mains as Mark Lawrence is doing it too in his masterclass video) nor a single flying clamp. So you can try to come up with as many but-he-does-it-too's as you like or try to talk down "amateur stringers" like myself. But that doesn't change the fact that you're taking shortcuts to achieve your speed stringing times. And I know for sure that I would not like your string jobs because they will come out at least 2-3 lbs. lower than requested.
First Point: customers never complained about strings ever being too hard. The pro shop near me does it too hard. When customers ask for harder strings(single pull), they end up not liking what they asked for and go back to what I have originally done for them ie. double pull. Second Point: Pre-stretching ensures that there is 0 slack left in the string. You will find that strings lose tension faster if not pre-stretched. Increase pulling tension. Variance is negligible. No one can tell the difference of half a pound. This inaccuracy makes for a better feel. Third Point: You say yourself, as an amateur stringer, that you find professional techniques to be questionable. Nothing left to say there. You do you. I'm sure the local clubs around me do close to if not exactly what you do. If the technique you use is so technically "perfect," why am I getting more and more customers? Again. I COST more than them. Fourth Point: It is not a shortcut. It is a serious technique that brings me results. In your mind, the end product is 2-3 lbs less than requested tension. I use a progressive tension pattern. Example: For a 24lb job, the range of progression is 20-26lbs. Highest tension is below the sweetspot while the area around the sweetspot is softer to average 24lbs. Excellent mix of Control and power on a single racquet face.
Yeah, they never complain about your string jobs being too hard because you string it at less than they ask. Then when they go and get a string job that's actually at the tension they requested, they find it way too tight. That's all it is. That having been said, even if I double pulled I still wouldn't be able to string that fast. So I still have to give props to you for being able to move that fast! Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
I'm perfectly fine that you have arrived at saying "Hey, that's the way I do it and my customers like it!". You are right, there is not a single reason to change your process. You've minimized the time per racket, optimized your profit and even have a lot of happy customers. Full score! What was bugging me is that we started the discussion at "Every pro and tournament stringer double pulls!" since that that is just plain wrong. And going by one of your latest posts, you know bloody well that double pulling is not the way it's taught.
Oh my god! So many misconceptions, I don't even know where to start... There's a difference between a string job that people like and a string job that has the correct tension. If a person does not like the string job because it is "too hard" then it's not the fault of the stringer - unless he strung it higher than requested - but only the players' fault. Have you ever tried stringing lower than requested (for the people who said it's too hard) but without double-pulling? People might prefer that string job over your usual ones. Example: When I request my racket to be strung at 13 kg and my stringer always double-pulls or does anything that results in a much tension lower than requested and I've never experienced another stringers job before and I might not like a "real 13 kg" stringjob from a professional. Does that mean the professionals' string job is worse? Of course not! Just because people LIKE your string jobs DOES NOT mean the string job has the correct requested tension. Just because people DISLIKE a string job DOES NOT mean the string job is wrong in any way.
If a customer requests 28lbs at me and give me the feedback it's too hard, I would never keep the tension and adjust my method to lower it for his ego. It's IMO nonsense to boost a customer ego. I would suggest to lower his request to a standardized request. And if he likes a 22 or 24lbs, why the heck should I feed his ego with something high which he is unable to handle? We have seen Ellis double pulling from left to right. A pro player isn't always a pro stringer. IMO there a just 2 reasons for a double pull like Mark Lawrence did. The first mains, especially at the tensions of the danish boys is 34 to 36 lbs with BG80. He use this as start routine for not harming the string on the first pull. I don't do this, but IMO not too bad. The reason for the switchback double pull at the outer mains, has also a reason. Clamping the outer main is difficult. The angle of the frame is sharp, so you clamp only the middle of the tensioned string. Also the shared grommets at some models are prone to pop out and you risk to damage the string. I also don't do it, but IMO it's not really bad, too. These shortcuts are not my way, but if I get such a job, it would be acceptable for me and I would not complain. If a stringer double pull each string, to fasten his process, it's sloppy. Regardless whose rackets he strung at which event. It's sloppy, because it's not the correct tension of the request. If you really are a pro stringer, you have better shortcuts. You can speed up your flow and on an ECP you have time to do anything else. A decent machine with auto-clamps don't let you need flying ones. You can weave when the ECP pulls. If I would see your machine at your shop which such a routine, I would turn to the door on my heels immediately. You might be a quick weaver and get my respect, but your pulling action, double pull and flying clamps makes you not a good stringer. I would call you a bad stringer, because you don't do the tension what I ask for.
