We are not going to tell you how to string We can only give you our opinion and you decide what's better for you. Looks like I misunderstood thinking you are doing it at home... Yes, it is surely more efficient if someone else pre-weave for you.. Here is the gif of another racket's photo you gave us. It is not as bad as the other one but it still still clearly visible and in both cases the bulge is on the opposite side from the knot...
Stringing side to side is an absolute no-go. The strung side is compressed, the other side will go outside. So the unstrung side is longer (and longer as in original shape) than the strung side. If you finishing the mains, the unequal stress still exists, also if the frame looks in shape now. Also you strung on one side the last main first, then the second last. On the other side you strung the second last first, then the last. Don't know if that is too bad. But try to do the same on both sides. Also you triple tension on the one side and on the other only double. BTW: The string pattern is horrible! If you will do from the center side by side the stringjob will be ok. But only for low tensions. If you must string rackets at higher tensions, do always the same on both sided. I never understand why people pre-weaving their rackets (except they have fun to do it beside the court by waiting to play again). When i started stringing, i tried it several times and every time i need longer and the result was not as good as a normal string job. If you train a little bit a normal string pattern without pre-weaving you will be just as fast. Pre-weaving always affects the lifetime of the string, because on every pull on the string you have a lot of friction on this string and other strings!
I see three arguments against pre-weaving: 1. There's friction on every mains pull, 2. Kinks can become impossible to "throw out", 3. I would rather eat an apple with razor blades in it than weave slack strings. Why anybody would do it instead of one-weave-ahead... dunno. If you've got time to kill courtside - or serfs that can do it for you - go nuts . As for side-to-side, that's a capital crime in Stringland. I never even went more than one ahead - you've got to turn the racket the same number of times whether you go LLRRRRLLLL... or LRRLLRRLLRR.. and the latter is the best possible balance.
I like starting with three strings towards one direction so that the friction at the grommets helps to avoid stripping when I start pulling on the clamp unsupported by the starting clamp . It looks like LLL-RRRR-LLRRLL ... Second four is because you have to start the first pair in the middle and than you need the four so you continue going "one forward" after that...
Here are a handful of very experienced stringers from the forum (and me) suggesting that side to side is extremely bad, please read each comment again and listen. We are trying to help, we love the sport and want everyone to enjoy it and part of that is well treated equipment. A misbehaving racket (warped will hit differently in parts of the racket) or broken racket will hurt player enjoyment a lot. Timewise: I'm on a dropweight and string including mounting and measuring strings under 30m, two piece yonex pattern. I'm sure preweaving would be a lot longer. Perhaps he should let one of the youngsters learn properly from the forum and youtube channels here, if he doesn't have the time. Imagine your shop being the only one where people want to go for their racket stringing. Perhaps you can charge an amount that seems fair for your time.
Thanks mate, i always spend couple minutes after im done to make sure all the strings spaced evenly before the groove on the string set in.. My machine is 2 point system but i added extra clamp, so its kinda a 4 point system, you can watch in the vid And no, the racket is not deformed, i took 3 rackets and put it on a millimeter paper, now i know for sure its not deformed. Im gonna post pics below but i dont know if you can see it well, because i dont know how to take the angle properly and the white string and the shadows didnt help at all if you see in the pic, but i can tell for sure its not deformed, and it still plays well on the court And yes, aside from not breaking any racket, time is very important for me, on average i spent no more than 20 minutes on the machine you can check on the video, i dont think i can go near that time with weaving it on the machine About the damage to the racket, ive received quite a lot rackets thats been thru hell if you see the frame its paint chips all over the frame from clash and/or dragging the racket from the ground to pick up shuttlecock (concrete court). So far with my method its zero casualties and no deformation, so im pretty confident under 24 25 lbs is still safe to do my method. But for sure im gonna change and learn to do it from center out, since i want to do high tension as well. But it still gotta be pre weaved because its time efficient for me. Thank you guys for the inputs, i learned a lot. Cheers.
Seriously mate, all the inputs deeeeeply appreciated. I am beyond grateful. If not from what you guys said, probly i wouldve try high tension with my method on my best racket and break it and be pissed off for quite some time lol Also dropweight machine is on my wishlist because i think its more precise than crank system and more durable compared to other type, i would love to own one someday
I want to refute any impression that it is ok to do side to side, so I will continue showing that there is visible deformation even at the low tension you use. Here is the crop from one of your photos. Note that the handle is almost not included in the photos and with the full handle you will see that the head is also tilted side ways quite a bit. MM paper is not a good way to check. You need to trace the outline of the racket, including the shaft, on a large piece of paper and than flip it horizontally, while also aligning the handle. Here is quick gif from one of your last uploads, It was the first I tried... The bulge is still opposite of the knot..
You cannot know for sure if there is no damage from the incorrect method. The fact that no player has complained yet that his broken during play racket was due to stringing, doesn't mean it didn't happen...
Another big argument against fully pre-weaving that I forgot to mention earlier is burning the mains while pulling the crosses. If you look at the video of Kakinami you will notice that he is constantly moving crosses up and down with the other hand while pulling the crosses through. They never stay at the same place. You cannot do it when you have all the strings already there. That means that when pulling through, the cross constantly rubs the same spot on the mains kind of like sawing it. The damage is quite serious, some of the rougher strings can saw through the outer layer... I think 18 mins is not a particularly fast job especially with crank and flying clamps considering you have already pre-weaved racket. Most club stringers would get the job in 20-25 mins including the weaving. Since you don't get paid adequately it would be a good idea to continue trying to optimize the process to improve the effectiveness. I think it is good idea to take a bit of effort and try to learn weaving on the machine. Just so you can compare for yourself. I think it is the right direction if you want to do it faster and in the end you will be very happy you tried.
Yes, i fully understand now all the downside and upside on pre weaving vs weaving on the machine.. I learned what i need to know from this thread, thank you guys, youve been a big help @stradrider for your peace of mind, the racket is not deformed, you cant see the handle because i want to put the shaft and head frame at even surface so it can be measured correctly on MM paper. If i put the handle on the same surface, the head and shaft wont aligned with the paper. I dont know if theres damage to my customers racket, but on mine its note deformed, it plays ok, after a few clashes its not broken (hopefully never will), so i assume mine still ok
I am glad we had this discussion, hope it will be useful to people when they contemplate different stringing methods.
Pleasure is mine mate, i am beyond grateful we had this discussion I started stringing from (not so) center, 1 string from the center to be exact, but even out the tension on the right left side of the center as i go, turns out its not as hard as i imagine, the only different thing is i do two ending knots instead of one, and no starting knot needed. I think this suits me well (for now). Will try to do high tension and hopefully i dont break any racket, will try to post updates to this thread in the future
Glad to hear! The beauty of starting in the middle is that you can pull two strings on the same side of the racket before you have to turn it. Do you see what I mean? Since you alternating mains, first doing on the right and than left - you can pull one and the other before needing to turn the racket 90 degrees (Edit: surely 180° ... silly me ). Only just that saves quite a bit of time already .
