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need to buy racquet stringer

B

bigalt

Golden Member

I've been breaking strings like once every week or two lately, I think it's time to buy a stringer of my own instead of paying 20 bucks to get it done at the store, since my buddy with a stringer just moved away.

Does anybody know about them?

It will probably be pretty light use, I anticipate doing my own and maybe a couple friends, so maybe an average of one a week. Cost is a pretty important factor, as well. Any suggestions on what kind, brand, or store to look at would be much appreciated!
 
any late night tennis gurus? most of the resources I find cater to the professional stringer, not so much the recreational one.
 
I have a personal stringer, bought it years back since I played on the high school team and broke strings at least every 2-3 days. Since you say its going to be used lightly, I suggest getting a table top model with the drop weight instead of the more expensive floor or electric ones. Cheapest I've seen are $120-$150, though I have no idea if they've dropped in price any lately.

Hope this helps.

oh yeah and depending on the type of strings you use, I'd consider buying a reel (580' +) since you'll go through it decently fast. I started out doing that when I was using synthetic guy and pricier strings, but then since I broke them at roughly the same pace said screw it and went with the cheapest nylon strings I could find ($1.49). Those were actually cheaper by the pack, and I didn't have to measure the lengths each time

EDIT: ok, checked tennis-warehouse, and those are pretty pricy. This is what I have: Klippermate. Site looks really old though
 
I've got an old ass stringer that I've been using for the past 10+ years. One of those el' cheapo Klippermates (Or something like that). I think I paid $150 back then for it. They always had ads in the back of Tennis magazine. Man, I remember the days in high school, running back home after class to string my racquet real quick for the match that afternoon. Anyways, it's been great for me. One warning, be prepared to string >everyone's< racquet. It became sort of a pain after a while.

Anyways, it's definitely an awesome investment, even if you end up buying a higher-end one for a couple more hundred. At the height of my string-popping days, I was breaking my Prince Synthetic Gut every 3-4 times I played.
 
I haven't broken strings in a while and I'm pretty hard on the ball. maybe I need to hit it harder! 😀
 
Kyguy: It's not really how hard you hit it. My little 'bro was one of the hardest hitters I've seen and he rarely broke his strings. Spin puts a lot more stress on the strings. You shoulda seen it when I was using a super-western grip for my forehand. Going through strings like crazy. Cool part was I was able to bounce the ball over my friend's heads sometimes. 🙂
 
satori, you're a man after my own heart. A Klippermate and Prince strings? nice. What racquet you use(d)?

oh and bigalt if you break a string once a week, I'd suggest buying a duplicate racquet so you won't be left without one. At my prime I had 3, broke all of them during a match, borrowed a friends, broke his too. Stayed up all night stringing
 
LOL Chinaman!

yeah, I put a lot of slice on my shots, maybe it's topspin that farks with them.
 
yeah its definitely the topspin. I taught myself how to play, and for some ungodly reason chose a weird uber western grip. my coach tried to convert me to a flatter shot, but after seeing how effective it was, left me alone
 
ChinamanatNCSU: Haha... lemme guess... you used the same ones? Okay... crystal ball time... you use an original Prince Graphite? or Wilson Pro-Staff? 🙂

bigalt: Definitely have an extra racquet. The only problem is you'll get >used< to one of them. It's really strange. You'd think each racquet would be the same, but one of them just >feeellllsss< right.

Kyguy: Yah, slicing doesn't put much stress, compared to the stupid perpendicular-sweeping motion phase I went through. I think during that period, I actually had to go for the ... argh... can't think of the term.. composite-strings? The one where the cross and main strings are made of different material. Man, all this talking of tennis is making me miss it. 🙂
 
ChinamanatNCSU: Hm... maybe we were watching the same players on TV. I actually converted to a regular eastern grip forehand after graduating from high school. It's kinda funny. During high school, I wanted to be like Agassi (western grip, snapping the wrist, 2-handed backhand) and during college, I wanted to be Edberg (one-handed backhand, eastern-grip. HELLA INCONSISTENT FOREHAND!!!) 🙂
 


<< ChinamanatNCSU: Haha... lemme guess... you used the same ones? Okay... crystal ball time... you use an original Prince Graphite? or Wilson Pro-Staff? 🙂 >>


haha I actually had a prince graphite, but changed to a Prince Thunderlite. sweet racquet, too bad they discontinued production.


<< bigalt: Definitely have an extra racquet. The only problem is you'll get >used< to one of them. It's really strange. You'd think each racquet would be the same, but one of them just >feeellllsss< right. >>


exact problem I had, but I think the thing was the grip. My oldest was was lighter since I chipped off a lot of paint when I threw it around, and the head guard wore down. The grip was also smaller since I had worn it down. The new one just felt heavier and bigger, though the difference couldn't have been that much


<< Kyguy: Yah, slicing doesn't put much stress, compared to the stupid perpendicular-sweeping motion phase I went through. I think during that period, I actually had to go for the ... argh... can't think of the term.. composite-strings? The one where the cross and main strings are made of different material. Man, all this talking of tennis is making me miss it. 🙂 >>


composite strings, like the gamma tnt and prince durablend? Yeah I went through that phase too. $21 for a set. went through it in a week as well. And yes, I miss it too. Haven't played in 2 months. Maybe tomorrow I'll dust off the equipment and go hit some...

 
I dunno, I always wanted a flatter, more compact stroke, but after seeing the pros with the big loopy swings I guess I thought it was for me. The thing I really wanted was a one handed backhand, but just wasn't strong enough. Now, all I want is to be able to hit the ball 🙂
 
Yeah, I hate the big loopy swings, mine are pretty compact. My backhand is good about 1/2 the time, the other 1/2 it goes too far :/ I love being able to talk amoung tennis geeks and fit in 😀
 
have you guys ever watched a tape or seen a picture of yourself playing? My parents came to my last home game senior year took pictures, taped me, bragged about me, normal parents stuff. After watching the tape, I came to the conclusion that I somehow have the fugliest strokes, yet they seem to work. I couldn't figure out how I actually hit my forehand because it looked ridiculous
 
ChinamanatNCSU: Yah, it's been tough for me to go out and play. In HS and college, it was basically 4-5 times a week for 1-2 hours a day. Ever since I started working though, it's been a pain in the ass to get out. Plus, none of the people I know nowadays are much into it. I've played maybe 5-6 times in the past 2 years. Pretty sad. 🙁

Yah, Durablend sounds right. The main problem was it spun less than regular synthetic gut, so I think I fubared my wrist a couple times. That one-handed backhand took forever to learn. The hardest thing was getting the timing down. The past couple times I've played, 75-80% of my backhands sucked, but when everything was perfect (shoulder turn, energy transfer, etc...) it just felt soooo right. 🙂

Isn't it weird how >strange< tennis feels after not playing for a while? It's goes from being automatic to feeling totally off-balance.
 
ChinamanatNCSU: Actually, I >have< seen myself on videotape. There was some seminar at a local club in Seattle (Seattle Tennis Club?) and they had videotaped it for some local sports network and I saw myself serving on TV. And, believe it or not, I didn't look that bad. 🙂 Pretty good for someone who'd never had a lesson. Now my brother... he had the most awesome strokes... totally smooth, lots of power. I remember when he was about the same height as the net and he would totally freak people out with how hard he'd hit. *Sigh* what a total waste of talent.
 
Most of the stringers I'm finding are in like the $800+ range. Hah that klippermate looks pretty dinky. Works okay though?

I'm thinking of going in with a few friends, maybe I can get like 100 bucks from each person and I'll string their racquets for them. Or more if they're the type that break strings a lot.

I had 3 racquets as well (used to play college tennis, we had the freshmen string our racquets back then), but for some reason two of them have broke over the past half year or so. Not from smashing them into the ground!
 
the ~$150 klippermate is nice.. i had it. Depending on how much you need to string, it's nice. Took me 2hrs first time to do it 😛 unfrotunately, i stopped playing tennis a lot (trying to play some more), and sold it. my friend bought the same one as well and still uses it (him and his dad mainly.. and eventually i'll get him to string mine 😉.

Linh
 
that klippermate looks dinky, but it works like a charm for its price tag. Have had mine for 8 years or so, and the clamps are starting to wear down, but everything else is fine. Granted, since its cheap it'll take you a while longer too string a racquet than the nice ones. lol yeah lnguyen it took me a couple hours to string my first, but once I got used to it I could do one in 30 min. pros take 10-15 with a floor model, so I figured I saved a lot more considering their machines were roughly 10x the price of mine
 
haven't played tennis in a long time .... but does anyone know where to buy the head guard for pro staff 6.1?
 
hehe glad to see soo many tennis players. Used to play a lot of junior tennis and some open tournaments but just got burned out on tennis and quit. There are many like the klippermate and those are Ok cause I actually seen a lot of guys playing the satellite and futures tournaments bring them along. But yeah the dropweight stringers aren't the most consistent tension wise but I doubt most of the players I've seen and even a lot of open tournament players can tell the difference of a couple pounds. So go with the cheap klippermates/dropweights. Also here is a tip a lot of pros use when stringing rackets. The cross strings should be strung at a slightly lower tension because the length of string is shorter on the cross than the mains. And if you break strings too often try a kevlar blend. A lot of players use them (agassi goes this route also) kevlar mains and like gut cross strings. Gut maybe a bit expensive so I always went with like gamma synthetic. good luck
 
cool, I think I will go with the klippermate then. I guess you can't go wrong when it costs a third or less of what all of the other ones do.

Those kevlar strings are so hard to work with! So stiff...

My mother just randomly sent me a reel of this weird titanium-blend string. Sounds like its going to turn the tennis ball into french fries. We'll see how it is.

Thanks for the help folks.

 
solokid the headguards and grommets can found at most of those tennis stores in the back of tennis magazine (well that like 2 or 3 years ago since I've read it). check those out and order one.
 
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