I just got my new racket restrung, with BG85 at 23 lbs tension. The strings broke within a week, during the second session that I played with them. Prior to this, I broke only 2 sets of strings in 7 years of badminton. For much of that time I was playing with factory strings, but I did also use BG65 at 21 lbs for quite a long time without breaking it. I know that BG85 is fragile, but isn't this a little too quick? What do you think the chances are that the shop did a bad job? It's also worth mentioning that my racket head had changed shape slightly upon being strung: it had gone from an oval shape to a slighly more circular shape. The frame has now returned to its original shape. The racket is a Karakal SL-70.
Gollum i've had experience using karakal racquets in the past and i find that the grommets need replacement. The grommets are too weak to withstand the friction of mishits and tend to cut the string. Try replacing the grommets and you should notice a big difference. Hope this helps. Nick
Thanks for the information Nick - I will discuss this with my new stringer when I get around to contacting him. I suspect that the racket shop didn't even examine the grommets. I asked around at the match and got two independent recommendations for the same guy; apparently he strings for the Yonex All-England tournament (!)
The shape change is due to the cross being tighter than the mains to give you a more oval shape rather than the mains being pulled tighter to give you an iso/square shape. It is up to you which shape you like but a good stringer can give you whatever one by loosening or tightening the main or cross strings.
Well being a stringer myself, I haven't actually strung a racquet into circular shape before, from what I've seen, or from what anyone has told me. However, there are many factors that could lead to your strings breaking. -contacting the shuttle on a weak spot of the string bed -poor stringing -damaged grommet on racquet leading to premature fraying of the string surface Would you even believe, that adverse climate would lead to string breakage?? One rather humid day, I noticed while playing with a certain racquet, the shuttle contact, and shuttle reaction on the string bed was different; it felt... spongy to contact... and sure enough, within the next two smashes, I watched as the string snapped on my racquet during contact. It's actually pretty interesting to see, for those of you, who watch your technique closely lol, I'm sure my reaction to seeing it snap would have been equally as entertaining. A lot of us who string at higher tensions from 27lbs+ we know that string breakage becomes a huge problem, so a lot of us have switched back to BG65, and rely more upon our skills for control over the shuttle, and power. Thats not to say there arent some really nice strings out there, but from personal experience BG85 was not very durable at all. If you notice this becoming a problem, and you start getting annoyed with it, I would suggest switching to a more durable string.
From ur story, I think it's a combination of multiple factors: 1. The stringer might not be very experience, due to the shape change. 2. BG85 if very fragile. I seen some club players managed to broke their BG85 every 2-3 weeks (15 hrs of playing time). Since they like the performance, they just stick with it, and keep re-string the rackets. BG65 and factory strings are totally different stories, as they suppose to be durable. 3. Is that possible, u got some powerful off-center hit?
It's quite likely I made some powerful off-centre hits. I was very tired (exhausted actually) and playing badly, with lots of mishits.
Hmm. Would that be the guy at Wycombe Badminton Centre? (Mark is his name IIRC) He strings tennis rackets for Henman too. If it is, consider this a third recommendation.
Er....not sure which is which It was the ones running between the top and bottom of the racket head (the mains, I guess). It's not the same person - the stringer is someone called Dave, not Mark.