I'm just wondering how much stringing machines may differ in calibration. Certainly, 2lbs tension difference may not be uncommon. Can it be more? For electronic machines, I think it would be quite possible that "drift" in the calibration can occur. jhl, have you had a racquet strung in S'pore yet? how does it compare to HK? kwun, how about you?
Cheung, I have alwasy wondered abt this. we dont have electronic machines that u seem to talk abt. I got a slim 10 from Sg at 22Lbs and it felt like 17-18lbs of India. I dont remeber where the stringing in Sg was done. So i am not sure abt the stringing standard. My friend machine 23Lbs carcked a Cab 21 Special today when that kid was playing. he did not hit a wrong stroke. The racket is orginal but i think 23 lbs India could be equal to something more in Sg from what i have gauged. So i would really love to try a 30Lbs Hk racket and some more Sg rackets. I hope i can do it sometime.
Cheung, for constant pull machines, ie. drop weight and electronic, there are little differences. i don't have any experience with electronics, but as long as it is calibrated correctly, the location and even which stringer is stringing should have little difference. for crank machines, i think there are differences between machines, but there are also differences between stringers. and IMHO, for crank machines, machine calibration is less of a factor than stringer differences. when a string is pulled, it actually stretches, the time it takes the stretching to stop depends on the string, but most of the time, it takes longer time for the string to stop stretching, than it takes for the stringer to tension the string. in other words, after the stringer finishes winding the crank, and the machine latches onto the "correct" tension, the string is still stretching. if you have used a drop weight machine, you will probably notice it, you drop the weight, leveled it, thinking you are done, only to find out that the weight will drop 10 or so degrees more in a few seconds. the problem then comes when different stringers using crank machines pulls the strings at different speeds. the one that pulls it faster will be "understretching" the string. thus giving the string more time to stretch after latching. if the stringer cranks the machine really slowly, then the string will be properly stretched. this also explains why constant pull machines strings tighter than crank machines. so yes, you should find a difference, but more of a difference between stringer. i doubt geographical location would make a difference at all. but perhaps shipping a racket to a difference country with vastly different climate might... but i haven't noticed that between HK and US.
cheung I have tried a few stringers in s'pore so far. 2 of them are recommedned by the boys here. Iso800 with BG65 and Iso600 with BG68Ti, both strung at 25lbs. I broke my BG68Ti on my Iso600 after 3 sessions though. Not sure if it was the stringing as it was my first experience with BG68Ti but the racquet/string combo was dynamite for the first 2 sessions. I did notice however that the stringing styles of the 2 shops seem to be different ie how they loop the string at the 4-5 and 7-8 o'clock positions. Not being an expert, I have to ask one or two the guys here who are into stringing how this might affect playability. I'm pretty sure there is a difference. Another racquet (Aerogear 900) was strung with BG85 at 24lbs ata third shop. This is probably one I can compare with HK. In HK, I've only tried Luxis (BG85, once). Ng's stringing on my Cab 20L was far better although I should mention that the stringer on that 900 was apparently a novice and not from one of the shops the boys here regularly visit. As you can see, I've been busy.
Two Thumbs Up for Mr. Ng Until someone can convince me there exists a better stringer in HK, I will stick with Mr. Ng's stringing. And no, I am not doing an ad for Luxis. This is from personal experience.
that was a nice summary, kwun. A crank machine has more moving parts requiring more frequent calibration. Tension wise, consisitency can be achieved if one takes time to tension up each pull using a crank machine. I don't know how some claim to do a racquet in 25 to 30 minutes.
Differences in tension from different stringers Kwun, I think you basically nailed it on the head as re-reading Yogi's post, it explained how a string job in Singapore (or anywhere else for that matter) could feel different than one in India. Depending on the machine used and the stringer's experience, it is definitely possible that racquets strung at the same tension would feel different.
new gizmo have anyone tried or know someone used this add on? http://www.tennishead.com/page_7.html It is a lot cheaper than buying a brand new electronic one if u got an older cranky one.
Cooler, About stringing badminton racquets in 20 mins - actually a friend of mine playing in HK Open a few years ago, mentioned about the stringers on site. According to him these guys can really string a racquet in less than 30 mins - he estimates about 20 mins. The trick here is stringing the cross strings. Instead of pulling 1 by 1, they do in every second string. The stringers' comment were it did not make any difference with pulling each single string. But who am I to doubt their method? These guys are professionals and they are there stringing the racquets for the competing players - at that time some top players competing there. Probably our BC 'correspondents' in HK could confirm this.
That's what I was taught to do in UK but just felt, non-objectively, the stringing would be less consistent.
The stringers swear that you will not feel the difference. And is much faster. But I choose to pull each and every string. It gives me more confidence this way!
viver Technically, i don't buy that claim that pulling every 2nd string feel the same as pulling every string. 1. Tournaments players are getting free strings jobs aren't likely gonna complain to the stringers that the string feel like 26 lbs instead of 27 or 28 lbs requested (also, stringers have tricks to get close to the requested 27 or 28 lbs for example). 2. The pros performance is not really affected by string tension that is off +/- 1 to 2 lbs in the 27+ lbs range. 3. If they feel it's loose, they can switch to another fresh racket from his bags. There is no limit (within reason) how many times that i know of a players can ask for restringing. 4. Stringers are swamped with rackets to string in very tight schedule. A player can bring 2,3 or 4 rackets to the official stringers. If he doesn't like the previous stringing job after a match, he will return all his racket for restringing at a 'new' tension. Now multiply that to the total number of players participating in the tournaments. Stringers are under huge pressure to get them done on time for each player. They have to and will cut corners. If they feel they can get away pulling every 3rd string, they will do it. No professional stringers are gonna admit the above in public. There are many other tricks and short cuts that the public don't know about. That is why they are professional, they know how to cut corner and still smell like a rose. These professionalism also occurs in home construction contracting, and by chefs when dishing out dim sum on saturday and sunday. Can you taste the different between sunday dimsum versus week day dim sum?
pulling every second string the problem with pulling every second string occurs when the pull is at higher tensions (ie. roughly greater than 20 pounds). the conditions of the grommets are critical as well as the racquet form (ie. muscle power bumps versus normal). pulling must be straight in order to ensure that there is no kinking of the line. any kinking can cause internal damage of the line (might not show on the outside, but there could be internal breaks in the smaller filaments). the chance is increased when you are pulling around a corner - in this case - two corners (out one grommet and back in the other). these are essentially 90 degree angles and you are pulling the string across the edge. think of you trying to pull a rope across a straight edge. if the outside of the string does not rupture, the inside could be. the only time i do 2 string pull is on recreation racquets or school racquets where the tension will be around 15-16 pound area, and using grossly huge strings. anything that is worth playing with and especially higher tensions, pull each string, take the time and do it right.
