I have two little cousins at the age of 9 and 11 and I treat them like my own brothers. They come over very regularly since they don't have internet at their house. They were very interested in my new stringing machine. They sat there for the 3 hours I was first fiddling with it, looking up many websites for help on my laptop. I decided that I would teach them to string their own racquets. First of all, they could string their own racquets when they needed and woudln't need to bother me. Second of all, there may be times when I need a racquet strung and maybe they could do me the favour for a few bucks or something little in exchange. Besides it was quite a joy to teach them to string. We started with their old steel racquets at low tensions. The 11 year old took about 3.5 hours. The 9 year old one took about 3 hours. The next day the 11 year old strung his ISO25VF. He still needed a tiny bit of help but for the most part he was on his own. I noticed he was starting almost all his crosses over and then under. It was near the middle of the racquet and it should all be weaved under first if he was doing it right. I decided to check and indeed he did miss one weave on the 3rd cross. However he was quite far into the racquet and I decided he would be burned if I made him start over again. I told him to keep going on and the one missed weave would hardly be noticed. it took him about 2 hours for the whole job. He tied one of the mains knots in the wrong place but for a 11 year old, and only on his 2nd try, I was actually quite impressed anyhow. Last night, the 9 year old came over with his racquet and asked if he could string it. I had to go out and I woudl've much prefered to be there to guide him. Since his brother was with him and said he would guide him, I decided to let them string on their own. Besides I had the Yonex pattern and diagrams of how to tie knots printed out. I decided they couldn't really go too wrong. I told them to do a hybrid with the half set of BG85 I had left on the mains, and BG65 on the crosses. They started at 9PM. When I came home, which was 1:30AM. I found the racquet still mounted with only about 5 or 6 mains strung all on one side of the racquet. I was so disappointed. It was too late to call them. I decided to string the racquet immediately. However the damage was done. These pictures will tell you all. The two racquets should have identical shapes. They have been placed right on top of each other. Is there any way to reverse the effects? What will be the effects on the playability of the racquet?
I know this isn't helping, but I'm still on the floor holding my sides in from laughing so hard. Uhmmm, good luck dude. The more knowledgable stringers here will give their input. -dave
Hmmm...I would suggest that you cut the strings on the MP99. It looks like you either (a) didn't put >2lbs for the cross or (b) that your mounts were not locked in place when you were stringing the mains. After cutting the strings, the racquet head shape should be reasonably restored.
LOL It's not a MP99. But as Winex says, the racquet should go back to shape once the strings are cut, and I would suggest you cut them now before they cause too much damage to the frame. Still too funny A few bucks? is that below the minimum wage?
No, I did remove all the strings immediately. Then I strung it again myself. I strung with 2 lbs more on the crosses. However the head shape is demented from the 5 or 6 mains left on one side of the racquet for 4 hours. The mounting was very secure. I stressed very much how tightly the mounts should fit when I taught them. However the mounts weren't made to protect your racquet when it was stressed with 6 mains on one side left for 4 hours. BTW the racquet is a ISO 25VF
I guess u used a cranking machine. If that's consistent pulling machine, there should not be too much trouble, as long as u "pull" for enough time.
It's a Laserfibre. It's dropweight but it's constant pull. I'm sure all the strings are at the right tension. It just seems the frame has been warped. What are you suggesting I should do?
i think your 2 little cousins have smarten up and figured they have been had (ie. slave labor) so they quit midway and went home to play video games instead.
What matierial is the head of the racket made of? I believe steel warps and graphite doesn't. So if its graphite it hsould have bounced back to its original shape, if its steel its probably stuck like that. Just my two cents, someone correct me if im wrong.
It's graphite... That also seems odd to me. When I first started playing, I remember one of my friends tried a smash, and hit his leg during the followthrough. His racquet warped. He told us all how lucky he is that his racquet only warped and he'd go home and try to fix the shape. My more knowledgable friend laughed back and told him his racquet is steel. Steel warps, graphite just shatters. I'm quite suprised how much warping was done yet the graphite hasn't shattered.
hmm... i think graphite can warp under the right conditions.. ie leavnig it under tension for long periods.. graphites structure does makes it brittle to sudden tension changes, but if you apply tension steadily and keep it at that tension the graphite can warp.. especially if it's a bit warm..
I presume the red racquet is the one that is distorted. It looks more like the racquet was over-stretched by the two posts when it was mounted. It doesn't look like one that had the side strings strung with the rest empty. I hav left half-completed stringing jobs overnight and I never had any problem.
The red racquet shows all the symthoms of a wrongly mounted racquet, in which the frame was over-stretched by the positioning of the two posts. Just cut the strings and the frame will spring back to shape. Graphite racquets have elasticity sideways but not face-wise, due to different orientation of the grahite plies to cater for different requirements.
hang on, You found it partly strung (5/6 mains only), then finished the stringing. Then you cut the strings and strung it again. So the pictures are from which stringing? Are you absolutely sure the racquet wasn't deformed at the beginning?
Yep, graphite does warp. I had a horrible string job done on my AT800 where the stringer only used a one piece method and chose to neglect the Yonex stringing pattern. The warpage didn't show at first because the AT800 has a pretty hardy frame. Badminton season had ended so i only noticed the damage after two months. The bad string job resulted in the frame warping upwards on one side as the tension was very uneven. I cut the strings and strung it myself but the bad string job had done its damage. (I tried compensating by putting more tension on the warped area, which helped a bit) This might be a good idea only if you have a strong frame.
they're pretty much the same thing i'd imagine.. i'm sure there is a technical definition out there somewhere, but i'm comfortable with either word being used to describe a change in racquet shape.. maybe we could say distortion is a temporary change and warp is a permanent one... check the dictionary definiton.. i don't really know
WARP: bend out of shape, as under pressure or from heat Synonyms: buckle, deflection, distort, falsify, garble
Fishmilk, just a word of caution. A stringing machine operated by 9 year kids can be very dangerous. Loose mounting of the racquet frame or trying to dislodge the racquet before it is completely strung-a not uncommon mistakes very young kids do-when the string is tensioned can make the racquet into a powerful projectile.
