After constantly postponing that project for about a year now, I finally found the time to shoot a video of myself while stringing. First plan was to do a simple one-shot documentary style clip for the "rate my stringjob" thread, but after I started playing around with MS Movie Maker for a bit, I just couldn't stop there. So it ended up tutorial-style. As some might know, my standard pattern is a variation of the Haribito Professional patttern (1-piece, 2 knots) which I found to be pretty easy and smooth to do. As a bonus, it gives the racket a super neat look on the outside since there is very little slack string running along the frame. In theory, that should also mean a good tension retension but I haven't done any measurements there. Anyway, I feel that the pattern deserves a little promotion so maybe the clip does inspire some BCers to give it a try themselves. Now if you have 20 minutes to waste, turn on some good music, grab a drink of your choice and some popcorn and enjoy(?): Any questions, remarks, comments or suggestions on how to improve or ideas on how to do things differently are highly welcome (@kakinami, @Mark A, @DinkAlot, @ucantseeme, @DarthHowie, @yan.v and all others too of course...) . For documentation - here's the pattern diagram: And here's how it looks on the outside of the racket in the end (click to enlarge):
After you pull your first 10 crosses, are you not supposed to do the last main with the long side before clamping it and going to the short side ? The way you're doing it, you have an uneven number of mains while you're doing the bottom crosses, I would feel very uncomfortable doing that.
Good point, I never really thought about that tbh. Although I would rate the impact of that final main regarding the frame integrity as negligable, it does have the nice side effect that the second starting/flying clamp is out of the way for the bottom crosses. And looking at the numbering in the diagram, it seems as if yours is the originally intended way of doing it. Will definitely give this a try next time! EDIT: Do you know these situations when you have anally optimized a certain process over time and then you realise that you were completely blindsided about a completely obvious other aspect? That's me at this moment. I've just spent my whole lunch break thinking about why I clamped that long side on the bottom instead of finishing up that last main too an clamp it at the top. And for the life of me, I cannot find any reason whatsoever. No clue why I started doing it this way instead of choosing the far more convenient way. So I am not just going to try it, I will change that immediately. Period. So hopefully, my mind will give me a break now.
An interesting one, if I read it correctly... long side - half mains, middle third downwards, jump to top third upwards. short side - half mains, bottom third downwards. The #3 loop is the longest but that one's under tension. I experimented with one-piece myself for a while but abandoned it after some frequency testing (no chance of placebo effect) told me it made no appreciable difference (apart from two fewer knots making it look a lot neater).
I dunno if you were giving props to me, if you were Arigato! =) On your short side, could you finish off your mains so you don't have to weave? When you cut your string after your knots, would it be better to release your clamps so your knot sits firm then cut your string (then you could cut your tails shorter so they sit just below the frame instead over it)? On a technical note, this pattern is to technical for me, very interesting, just can't see myself doing it. Very cool though. Since it is so thought out, 1 point I might make is I try to string my rackets like VTZF 2's, they have a grommet strip where you can put your mains and crosses above and below the grommet strip. As I am doing my mains, on the covered holes where there is a grommet strip to actually push the main up or down and the cross can go down or up, so not to block the actual cross covered by the main, where you use the scrap string to pull the main up to get your cross through, on the VTZF 2, my pattern is my main is up on 1 side and down on the other side, so when my cross comes through, because on 1 side my main is up and the cross comes through the bottom and the first cross is up ( Because badminton tensions are not extremely high, it doesn't really make a difference) there is a little friction on the string and on the opposite side the main is down and when my cross goes through it is above the main, if that makes sense. To me the friction keep the strings from moving, and at least you are consistent on each side of your frame, one side cross goes under the covered main and other side cross goes over covered main, instead of under/under, because you pull the scrap string up. Hope that makes sense. I had cookies and milk watching it!! I was entertained! Thanks for the video!! AK =)
It is a cool pattern, however I could not see myself doing it. The video is 20 minutes, however a lot of it is sped up, so I reckon it probably took you 40-60 minutes and that is a lot of time, when you're stringing for others aswell as yourself
Going to answer these one by one since that crappy Tapatalk doesn't allow multi replies. Yeah, you summarized it correctly. I'm completely with you regarding different feels of different pattern. With same tensions and and same stringer, there's no way anyone can tell apart a 1-piece job from a 2-piece. Tension retention should (in theory) be better with less string on the outside, although this highly depends on the quality of the knots. Also, you could argument that this pattern has a lot of string between knots and the sweet spot so it should take some time until the tension loss from the knot reaches the sweet spot strings. But in relation to the overall tension loss coming from the string elasticity, this should be negligible too. What I liked about the pattern from the beginning is that you start the crosses more from the center of the racket. And besides, something just felt right about it.
Wow, thanks a lot for taking your time for watching and commenting. I'm glad I could entertain you for a bit. And yeah, you are mentioned in the video and also in the description. There are just so many things I adopted from watching your technique clip - including the over/under thing with the covered holes. In theory, it's possible to finish all mains on the short side before switching to the crosses. But this would mean that you had to do the sweet spot crosses while having an uneven number of tensioned mains. Although I have to say that the final main is not too complicated to weave. And a good remark to cut the string after releasing the clamp. Makes total sense.
Job took 29 minutes in real-time and I didn't feel rushed at any point. So with mounting the racket, measuring string etc., I would say you end up with 35 minutes total. Add another 5 if you have a nice cold beer in parallel (highly recommended by the way!). But hands down, it's not a pattern which is made to break speed records. I do 50-60 rackets per year, so I don't really care about couple of minutes more or less per racket.
Finally got round to watching the video properly - Always good to see decent stringing videos, so props for sharing! Now a confession... your video made me realise I've been doing this pattern incorrectly for months I've no idea how I managed this, I can only assume that my brain went to sleep when reading the pattern diagram! In my version I basically skip step 2 and reverse the arrow on step 3, so I ended up with this: 1. Do all the mains, clamp the short side with a starting clamp 2. Start the long side crosses going upwards all the way to the top 3. Come back to the short side and finish the bottom ones The interesting thing is that it's perfectly playable like that and the outer strings look identical. You just do the mains in one block, in the same direction. I've no idea if this affects tension loss or anything else, but it works I did try it the proper way last night, will have to see how it plays later on...
BTW, I find it better to preweave the mains when I do a one piece pattern. It saves having to mess about with the long side string as it always takes time to find the end after every pull. One thing I did on the proper pattern is to loosely weave the last main on the short side, and clamp it on the outside with a spare flying clamp with just hand tension. That way you can weave the crosses through it quickly, avoiding that last fiddly weave when you come back to it. Finally, a bonus tip - if you forget a scrap string, as I did, use a small cable tie to rescue it. I have some really cheap flimsy ones that are perfect for sliding under even the shortest section of string.
Haha, looks like you did what is described as Haribito Basic. A really good pattern too, and more straight forward than the Professional one. Curious to hear if you can feel a difference between both. I doubt it tbh. Regarding preweaving, I have to admit that I've never been a fan of it. A good trick to avoid the hunt for the string end while doing the gains is to hold it in your mouth during the pull and clamping action. Works really well and smoothly. And your brain starts to feel fuzzy if you use the right string... just kidding of course. For the crosses, I keep the end in my hand when I pull the rest of the string through. So I have it perfectly ready for the next weave (you can see it in the video if you watch the hands closely - for example around 7:15 in the clip).
Great tip. Definitely going to give that a try. Currently I use a piece of scrap string which I have stripped at one end. The inner fibres get through the tiniest gaps and then you can pull the rest of it through with pliers. Always a bit fiddly though.
No need to worry, the mouth is free during all the crosses, so plenty of time to compensate for that dry first couple of minutes.
I actually used this pattern before I made my own variation of it. I had some odd rackets crack around the 4 and 8 oclock positions (Wider bottom than the top, like Ashaway Rackets. Most square headed rackets were alright) when using the original pattern you have shown. Once I started to do my variation, a racket has never broken. This is by far my favorite pattern to do, as its quite clean along the sides and I find the feel is amazing compared to if I were to do a 2 piece. May its all in the mind, but I notice it when I string my own odd ones using a 2 piece pattern.
Wow, that's not just some minor variation, that is a whole different pattern if you ask me. That's what I would call a true around-the-world pattern! Really interesting, but doesn't look very easy at first glance. Questions: - what lengths for short and long side do you need? - through which grommets do you pull the first top cross on the long side at 5:32? Does it vary with different hole patterns? - same questions for the bottom cross on the short side at 6:12... - and what's with that ultra-low cross and the gap before it? Is that your signature finishing move there? - any particular reason why you use that super wide 6-teeth flying clamp before the top tie-off instead of the normal Yonex one?
It actually is very much like the haribito pattern. if you look at where you start the crosses downward for the haribito, mine starts at the same place. same goes for the crosses going up, except i do 1 cross upwards then put the starting clamp on it to hold it. =) 1. i use the same as the haribito, 2 arms spans for short side, 3 for the long side. (Some rackets I can save way more, like the N9II or the JS10) 2. Its the one in between the 2 shared grommets on the top. Between Mains 11 and 12. It does vary for something like the BS12. i should post a video on that when I can. 3. Its the one in between the 2 shared grommets on the bottom. Between Mains 11 and 12. 4. I used to do it back then, not anymore haha. It was like a signature for our training group, but i since stopped using it. 5. The Yonex clamp is actually wider than the one I used. The one I used to finish the tie off on the top is the MBS clamp and its easier to clamp on to than the yonex one. The yonex clamps I find have too short of a handle, so I cant get a good reach underside for it
It has some things in common, sure. But that added around-the-world bit on the short side is a whole new part. Actually, I start the crosses one hole lower - so with the lowest available upper shared hole. And I wonder, how do you know which direction to start the weaving for the lower first cross? Is there a rule like "if you start the top one with going over the main string, then do the same on the lower one"?
