This reminds me of the old skool stringing idea where you leave the last couple of string, as they are not really required. Nowadays, you would normally string a racket as Yonex recommend in the picture, although it doesn't really make that much difference. Probably are just saving on string that is not really necessary. It wont really play any better or worse. Probably wont even notice the difference, although if it was at a really high tension, it probably wont keep the strings even, which could cause racket distortion, but I doubt it....
Can anyone help? I've a old y cab.10 with a t joint. I want to string it with natural gut. Can advise what tension.... Thanks...
Actually the old school of stringing in which the second last cross string at the throat end is omitted was based on a very sound principle to increase power. The old school used only 1-pc stringing, with the cross starting from the throat towards the top. This pattern, if not for the missing cross at the bottom, would have resulted in a stiiffer stringbed at the lower part than the top part-thus reducing power. The missing cross was to re-balance the stringbed's stiffness towards the top part, making it stiffer relative to the bottom part and as a result you get increased power. Yonex's new stringing pattern of starting the crosses from the throat end is in my opinion a very big step backwards. This only ensures you don't break the racquet during stringing but it is also power-robbing. However, you can overcome this, if you must use the Yonex pattern, by omitting the second cross string from the throat end and ensuring that all the cross strings except the bottom two (grommets #9 and #11) are tensioned at least 1/2 to 1 lb higher tension. It would be better if you finish off the last cross string at the top at 2lbs higher than the bottom first cross string. Try the above out.
So basically, miss the second cross string up, and tension everything 1/2 - 1lbs tighter, except the first 2 crosses?
Xiao Jie who produced the 3-dvds Badminton clinic with Zhao Jianhua also produced a 10-vcd complete badminton training series. In one of the vcd there was a part on stringing and on what that missing cross at the throat end meant.
Taneepak Would it be better to re-string using the new yonex patterns, only start the crosses from the top and work down? Or would this incur a risk of breaking the racket???
Yes, this was the pattern advocated by Yonex before, until the recent trend towards using/copying the very high tensions used by professional players made Yonex change it to bottom up for the crosses. At high tensions and in the hand of an inexperienced stringer this old Yonex pattern may be more prone to breakages. I am a strong advocate of top down cross stringing with a mandatory starting knot at the top and a mandatory tie-off knot at the throat end, consistent with the stiffer stringbed at the top relative to the throat end. The throat end tie-off is to ensure a less tight knot, unlike the top starting knot.
Couldn't have put it better myself and, after much experimentation, this is the only method I now use on my own rackets. The top tie-on ensures that there's absolutely no tension loss at the nose, so there's no need to add a percentage for this knot (if that's something you usually do). Also, if you prestring the racket you can sneak the top knot into a grommet that isn't usually used in knotting - if I remember rightly, Yonex rubric says to tie the top cross 3 holes away (tie A5 start A8), whereas I can get a decent starting knot in at A7 (and sometimes A6); the less string you have running around the outside of the frame the better your tension will hold and the safer the string is from breakage.