(moved off-topic discussion on yellow rackets to: http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13936 )
In the recently completed TC/UC Asian zone round, I had the opportunity to observe, and to discuss with, the Yonex stringers on site and offsite. I notice that the players were actually taking advantage of the free stringing by cutting their still good strings and then passing their racquets to Yonex for a free restring. The stringing operation was essentially geared for speed. The 2 stringers told me they average just 5 minutes stringing each racquet. They use 2 knot stringing with just one string. They have a team of about 5 assistants just to weave the main and cross strings before passing them over to the stringers. Despite what they told me that some players requested 4 knot-2 string stringing, I have not seen a single case of this. It is all one string, 2 knot method, for sheer speed in stringing as many racquets as possible. Sometimes, in their haste, the strings just snap and their average 5mins per racquet slips a little. Almost 90% of the racquets that were strung by Yonex on site were almost all MP99 and MP100, with a few AT700. There were a few Carbonex racquets. There were of course no Gosen racquets, as the lady in the Yonex team rightly said only Yonex racquets were accepted. I did notice that the racquets that were being strung by Yonex, mainly MP99, MP100 and AT700 were in line with the racquets the players were using, except for the Malaysian players (Roslin uses Yonex and Wong Choon Han has a disguised Yonex) The tension was anything from 27lbs to 32lbs.
Did you ask how much tension the stringer would put onto the cross of MP-99, MP-100 and AT-700? The main tension is easy to figure out. For example, if the player wants 32 lbs, then all 22 mains are tensioned to 32 lbs. What about the cross strings? Ohhhh wait, did you mention one string - two knots method? The cross tension must be the same as the main then. Also, what types of stringing machine is it? Is it hand crank? How much support & cushioning is in the head and throat mount?
The stringing machines did look old. They were exactly the same type used in almost all Malaysian sporting shops, from Kuala Terangganu to Seremban to Kuala Lumpur. They have only two clamps/supports, one top at the head and one bottom at the throat. They use a spring-loaded tensioner crank, with a gliding string clamp and a floating one. Each racquet that was strung came with the player's tension and other preferences written on a sheet of paper. The stringers followed the instructions on the sheet of paper. They would string both mains and cross with the same 30lbs if the player so requested. They would also string the mains 30lbs and the cross 31lbs or 32lbs if so instructed. They did mention that almost all strung racquets will be cut and restrung again after a short period of time. However, the stringers did tell me that they string both 2-knot (one string) and 4-knot (2 strings), but I never saw one string job that was done with 4-knots (2 strings); and I was there for 7 days, morning and night. The 5 assistants who weaved the mains and cross strings in one go probably wouldn't want to weave the 2 strings separately as it would really slow down the operation. Sometimes, the assistants weaved the strings incorrectly and the stringer had to waste precious time re-weaving the strings before stringing and tensioninig. The Koreans did make very good use of the free stringing service.
taneepak, thanks for confirming my previous assessment and i havent been to any star rated tournaments before. http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/sh...ight=free and stringing and pros&pagenumber=2 peter lsd, most pros do know their stuffs but in 99% of the time, speed of job overrides any other techniques. Worst yet is that they like the speed method so much they rarely go back to the fundamental basics which are more time consuming. I doubt the racquets would go back in shape at 30+ lbs tension using 2-anchor points machine. PT? 4 points stringing? not overlapping string at grommets?... phhhffff LOL with exception iof Mr Keen who uses mold(s).
UPDATE Lin Dan - MP99 Chen Hong now uses - MP99 Taufik Hidayat - AT700 Gong Ruina - AT700 Ra Kyung Min - MP100 Peter Gade - MP88 Mia Audina - MP88 Cai Yun - Ti10 Fu HaiFeng - Ti10 Sigit Budiarto - Cab20tour? /AT800DF Anders Boesen - Wilson V4 Aarmir Ghaffar - Wilson V4
Kim Dong Moon /Ha racket??? What racket is Kim Dong Moon and Ha using? It is not mp100,mp99, armotec. Is it Ti-10 or carbonex? What is Ha using?
top10 player rackets? Hi, i'm a little curious what models of rackets are popular and used by the top10 players in the world? Mostly thinking of single but answer to double is also appreciated.
LIN Dan - MP99 CHEN Hong - MP99 WONG Choong Hann - CAB21 BAO Chunlai - Ti10 LEE Hyun II - AT700 GADE Peter - MP88 XIA Xuanze - CAB20 SHON Seung Mo - AT700 KUNCORO Sony Dwi - MP99
GONG Ruina - AT700 ZHANG Ning - MP99 ZHOU Mi - AT700 AUDINA TJIPTAWAN Mia - MP88 XIE Xingfang - MP99 JUN Jae Youn - MP99 MARTIN Camilla - MP100 PI Hongyan - Babolat YAO Jie - MP99
I thought Chen Hong uses AT700 also. Anyway, I bet all of them have lots of racquets to choose from. So it is possible to change a lot of racquets from games to games.
Im just wondering, why do many pros choose MP99 over the MP100? From what i know, the only difference is that the MP100 has titanium mesh and a colour difference.
I have seen players uses different racquets in early rounds than the final rounds before ( I forgot the names....Chinese players), also, they would use new racquets in some Yonex events.But my point is, how do you determine a player's main racquets? By showing up numbers? or By the Official data ? (ie: from Yonex.co.jp) or ....?
Bluejeff maybe your point should reflect the point of the thread . I thank very much for the info double gave, exactly what i wanted to know. I'm mostly interested to know what rackets they use because it feels good if you have bought a racket that actually elite players uses, then you know it really is good And also it just is fun to get a little picture of what rackets they mainly use in general.
