OK guys (esp Gladius!). Thought you might be interested in how long BG80 lasts for me. One racquet used. (cab 20) Strung in BG80 at 26lbs. Lasts me six sessions of singles play, training (2 hours) and one doubles session. Total time approx 8 hours. String broke dead in centre of racquet (main). It was definately a sweet spot area!
Mine usually lasts 40-60 hours (4-6 weeks of playing), varied doubles and singles. I play with feather shuttles and string at 26-28.
one other client of mine who uses bg80 exclusively for the past 2+ years averages about 50 -60 hrs. He play 80% double and 20% singles, 80% of the time with plastic and 20% feather shuttles, strung at 23-24 lbs. On the last string job, i convinced him to up the tension to 25-26 lbs on his mp100. Last night, he told me that he was amazed that after 35 hrs of play, the bg80 was still in 'very good condition' according to him. He is a solid B player. Another player i know who had just switched to bg80 (in canada, bg68, bg88, bg75 are not common yet). So far his his bg80 is still holding after 25-30 hrs of play. He plays MD only and has a hard smash for a B player. I know he strung all his racket at 25 lbs.
Wow, those hours are pretty amazing. Do the stringers in Canada charge more because of less racquet restrings? When Kwun came to HK and followed me to the gym, he thought that most of the guys there would be A players and a couple of B players. Not sure how US grades compare to Canadian grades. Note that I am not as good as the top players in that particular group. I wish I was!! ) Another friend of mine gets through 2 racquets with BG65 in about two weeks! I'm getting that racquet redone in BG65...28lbs
Cooler, guess you are not from T.O. BG68Ti,88Ti, and 75Ti are very common. Yo's stocks all of them. Lee's is not far behind. GuessYo's and Lee's have the connection with HK, so exposure of the strings to Toronto is sooner then the rest of Canada.
Actually I'm not too surprised at your results. I'll be lucky if I can get 20 hours on a string that strung at 25lbs+ on a racquet. I find that the string life will not be as long, when we string at the higher tensions. Combine that with the fact if you play more singles, than doubles. Then your strings will really wear down quite fast, however for the lifespan of the string, I find I get very consistent play from the BG80s as opposed to the BG85s. My strings fray in the sweet spot area, then just bust apart, but I notice when I cut my strings, they snake back like little worms That means there was a lot of play life left in them. as opposed to dead strings. which dont go anywhere when you cut them. I dont really feel comfortable stringing this particular string on a lower tension, because I find I get maximum playability on the higher tensions. Guess I just have to work on my skills some more.
creative: i believe that, Yo and Lee probably got most of their supplies from SE Asia too. I know yonex canada doesn't have bg88ti nor 75ti yet but do have 68ti. I think vancouver stores have close tie to SE asia too.
Mishits are the worst enemies of badminton strings. So, apart from getting a good stringing job, the key to make the strings last lies with you as a player. If you have clean shots and discard your shuttles as soon as they break, the strings will last long, even at high tensions. Personally, I find that playing doubles wears out my strings more quickly than singles. In doubles, there's more heavy smashing, and more "chance" shots and reaction play, so the strings live a more dangerous life... This is also apparent in top level doubles: you often see doubles players breaking strings during matches, but only rarely singles players.
