I've noticed that my rackets strung by my local stringer often end up with the two center main strings looser than the others and I often have to push them back in line after a rally. Is that because of a lack of pre stretching, or should those be pulled at a higher tension to avoid this?
First guess would be a flaw in the starting sequence. But that can only be validated with actually watching him. Are you sure that the two center strings are indeen more loose than the others? It's pretty normal that those two are the ones that move the most during a cleanly hit stroke.
They move much more than when I buy a racket online and have it strung before shipping so something is different and I assume the difference is tension, it certainly feels that way. I've seen other people have the same issue with this place.
If it is that obvious, then my money is on a double pull for the first two main strings. This will result in both string having roughly half the tension as set on the machine.
Sounds like a reasonable theory. I think there is more than one stringer at this store so maybe one of them is doing it wrong.
Is the double pull wrong? I've seen many people to it, including some in the sticky threads on this forum. I've seen both single and double pull, didn't know it made much of a difference?
Of course it is wrong. As @s_mair said, it will leave half the tension at the middle 2 strings. And at one of the most vulnerable location of the racket in terms of strength, and also at the most crucial point of the sweet spot. So many wrong and some stringers skip such a simple step, for what??
Not sure if you mean the technique shown in this video: If you do, then you have to notice that each of the two starting strings are pulled again on their own again. So the double pull is only a supporting step to avoid pulling the full tension against an untensioned clamped string.
Ahh, that makes total sense. This is what I have seen at clubs too. I didn't look close enough to see them pulled again later. So my next question. Why does the clamp need to be done after the double? If it's a fixed clamp, can't you just clamp it and tension after? Or what is the advantage of the double pull? I understand. I figured it would pull both strings to the desired weight, I didn't realize it would split the tension
For me I double pull my first 2 mains so they are even and I have tension when I clamp them. This insures my mains are straight instead of clamping 1 main and then pullingwhich might be a little low or a little high, both of my clamps are at the normal position. I would then tension main L1 and then L2, then R1 and R2 and maybe R3 then L3 then L4 then R4 then R5 and then L5 then maybe L6 and then go to R6, if I get hungry go to R7 and if I smell something bad L7, when I am tired I will go L8 and if I see a nice pizza R8, my toe might cramp so I will go R9 close my eyes for a second L9, might have to skip a few holes and do a L11 main, think about my lunch yesterday and do R11 main, ponder what my dinner might be and weave a few crosses in holes 10 then back to 9, put in my main L10 or maybe R10 or R10 then L10 depending if rice might be in store formy dinner then tie my main in hole #9. I think. Sent from my SC-01L using Tapatalk