Just saw this old thread in the market place, and it looked interesting http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=134586&postcount=3 Please view the last picture I've never seen that plastic in the grommet before.. Does anyone use it and how does it rate? The purple string is also unusual. Any comments?
I've seen something similar to that purple string before. It's trying to mimic the rubber band/string that used in tennis to reduce the shock. Not sure if it works though.
the purple string is trebling. more usually found on the last cross near the throat rather than the head. some UK stringers put it on the top and bottom crosses. I don't know, but I doubt if it has any shock absorbing properties. It will not give any support to the mains either as it will only be at very low tension. It's purpose is to have a rough side and a smooth side to emulate the toss of a coin. In the picture, the side that is up is rough.
i've seen this practice done with sewing threads before... its usually done in a shape of a box around the sweetspot area, and its designed to hold the strings in place to prevent lateral and up/down shifting of the strings. a few individuals i know of who play at the winter club down in calgary has a stringer there who does this regularly.
The plastic in the grommet looks like tubing. The tubing forms a - U - out through one grommet, around the outside of the frame and in through another grommet (with the string inside the tubing) I use it all the time. Especially for players who often break the main strings as a result of mis-hits near the top of the frame. A must for uncontrolled hardhitters with high string tensions. I also use the tubing in another postion. It appears that some players would want the groove on the outside to extend 2 grommets further down. If I see that the grommets are worn flat just below the outside groove, I put in a pice of tubing there. I call them "Fightergrommets" as it is usually spirited figthers who are able to produce that kind of wear. Otherwise they will have the cross string breaking in that position.