Stringing Adventures with Hi-Qua Badminton String Protectors

So, after having Pete_Little Shoulder Devil sitting on my conscience telling me it's OKAY to go higher, I gave in to the darkside. During my adventures, I have also realized that the latest Yonex Racquets, namely the Armortecs & ArcSabers have grommets that are soft like butter and high tension stringing will result in grommet cut through or squishing syndromes! The really uncool thing is that after the strings cut through, the soft graphite frame gets cut / compressed too . They just don't make them like the Muscle Power series anymore.

I saw these string protectors on MBS, but the reviews from other people didn't sound too promising. After giving them a try, IMHO if you have grommet cut through syndrome at higher tensions, these are for you. Not so much "string protectors," but work great as frame protectors. I was expecting a hard plastic grommet material, but they actually have a more rubbery silicon feel to them and are 100% removable as well as they won't scratch the frame.

If you think they might screw up the weight balance of the racquet, they're pretty light weight and it doesn't feel anything like my other lead taped racquets. As far as I'm concerned, they've remedied my At900Ps and the pro's outweighed any cons.

Here's a few pics of my new Arc9 strung top down with BG66 Gold @ 32x35.2lbs with both manual and 10% machine prestretch using the Hi-Qua string protectors. As predicted, they performed exactly the same as they did on the At900Ps, but this time, no frame damage on the first string up . I'll take some pics of my At900Ps if you REALLY want to see the protectors on another racquet. (Actually, you can sort of see it in the background of the 3rd pic)

 

Hahaha at least I didn't use blue string protectors! Or worse, multi colored!

Stringfest!!!

 

Probably, but I don't notice much difference between my At900P with them on and my other one that doesn't have them. The racquet performs great because I can have my tensions

Honestly, I did a side by side center balance point check with them on and w/o them on. My finger is wide enough to not notice any shift in balance between my two At900P's. When I had one piece of lead tape on my racquet head, it shifted it by a millimeter. If you're super worried... I assure you that one layer of overgrip will throw off the balance point of the racquet more than these babies. In theory, these things with minimal weight are bringing back the balance point after I applied my overgrip!

 

Short answer: yes, they are reusable

The middle portion of the string protectors are reusable as it's thicker. Although the thinner edge part with the grommet hole has ripped on a couple of mine, you can still reuse them by holding them in place. Even when they were brand new, I still needed to hand pull the string a bit to properly place the protectors.

The real function of these protectors lies in the center thicker part as it raises the area between two grommet holes which changes the angle of the string just enough to alleviate pressure on the stock grommets. As long as the center part hasn't torn through, it's definately reusable. When I ran the 10% prestretch function, it pulled to a max 38.7lbs and it still did not tear through the beefy center part

 

Yah... it gets to the point where you can't "U" them up anymore ahah~

So far so good, played hard on it and it didn't break yet~

 

A mini update: These string protectors are not invincible. At the very high stress areas ie on the bottom of the frame, the strings actually cut through the even the beefy middle part! But since the strings are still lifted up higher, it's has prevented further frame damage. I ended up throwing away 2 string protectors on my last restring and reused the rest.

I've been playing very hard on my Arc 9 and the strings are still going w/o any signs of fray. It appears that these string protectors might also be preventing strings from breaking at the top when used in conjuction with the U grommets. My last At900P snapped on the 4th and 5th due to a mis hit where it did not have these protectors. I've made a few mishits on my Arc 9 already and it has not fallen victim to breakage yet.

I've since restrung my At900P to 33x36.3lbs w/ 10% prestretch and added 2 string protectors on each side beefing up the 4-5th and 6-7th strings. Played hard so far no mishits, but also no string breakages. This stuff is definately worth trying out.

It has come to my attention recently that these protectors were designed to go underneath your grommets and not ontop. That could prevent some air drag, but since they do wear out, I'll just keep them on top for ease of changing.

 

I noticed this as well~ not so much with thinner strings like the bg66, but even with the 80's, it's noticable! Nothing is w/o trade offs