Greetings! I've been lurking here for a few months trying to soak up as much information as possible, with a little patience and reading i've managed to figure out how to use my stringing machine (and indeed, which one to buy) so a thank you to all the users here who have posted their insights and tips. I bought a Pro's Pro Shuttle Express, since all i'm likely to do is my own and maybe club members badminton racquets i didn't feel the need for anything more grand, although i must say i like the look of Kwun's WASE modification, which i might attempt when i feel i can justify it. So far i've strung manybe a dozen times in a few months, firstly with cheap string and then with zymax, and i've only managed to break one of my old racqets, i think from a combination of too high a tension, and not securing the top and bottoms supports properly. It came out a little to oval, and a crack appeared in the paint a day or so later Anyway, my Karakal racquets, along with a lot of newer yonex i believe, remove the shared grommets at the top of the frame, which makes things easy on one hand, but difficuilt to thread the cross string through when the main string totally obstructs the one you want. Before now i've spent up to five minutes trying to coax a string into the grommet around the string with pliers, awls and a lot of swearing, but i had a eureka moment which has cut that down to seconds. It's so simple i'm sure someone has thought of it before, but in case they havn't i'll share some photos which I hope will explain things nice and simply. You need to think ahead as to which grommets are going to give you problems, and before you pull that main through and tension, get a short length of old string and loop it under the main: Now, when it comes to putting the cross through, get ahold of the loop, and use it to gently pull the main out of the way. It won't need to move very much, but it eliminates the risk of scratching the paint if you slip with an awl. (excuse this photo, hard to shoot and string at the same time) I hope this helps someone
excellent idea! and very nice and clear photos. thanks for sharing with us! there must be some brainwave communication going on here as we discussed this not too long ago: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...ve-I-learned&p=1546454&viewfull=1#post1546454