tensioning crosses

[Jaypro]

should you always go up a few lbs in tension on the crosses no matter what?

[Jay Cee]

Jaypro,

That is my belief, but thousands of others would dispute that. I cannot change the ignorant masses, but from time to time an enlightened stringer discovers that it works well for him and he then becomes a disciple to this tried, tested and proven method.

If you are going to do it, start now because stringers are victims of their habits, once they think that they know how to string it is very difficult to get them to change anything at all in their habits.

In fact they are mostly fooling themselves into believing that they actually are good at stringing, the general level of incompetency is frightening, particularly when many of the most hopeless stringers do it all the time to earn their living.

A lot of home stringers who take an hour to string their racquets do a far better job than a large number of "professionals" who continue to sell their 20 minute string jobs at a relatively high price.

Unfortunately, a really good string job costs the same up front price as a really bad one, but in the long run a good stringer can save you a lot of problems. The difficulty is to find a really good stringer, so learning to do it well yourself is in fact an excellent investment in your tennis future.

[Hawkeye2]

Hi Jaypro,

I have read with great interest the explanations of Jay Cee on this topic...

And I'm eager to find out if increasing the tension on the crosses works for me.

Right now I'm moving house so I still can't test it but I definitely will.

So, just test this method for yourself !

If Jay Cee is right (what I assume), you don't risk anything when trying this method because you don't put too much stress on your racket.

Bye

[Jaypro]

Ive heard pros and cons on this subject. I am trying my best to learn and be the best stringer i can be

[Jay Cee]

Hi Jaypro,

Ther are probably far more "cons" than "pros" - don't worry, learn for yourself and stick by your own opinions once you are sure that they are well founded. As for the others, you will never be right every time, but they aren't either, so it tends to balance out OK in the long run.

[Double-fault]

JayPro
After read the post, i tried the main 60 and 63 on the cross on LQM 8.
May have some to do with the string too, switched from Head perfect control 16g to Head Rip control 17g.
I really like the way the racket feel, seen like top spin better.
Thank you for all your post.

[Jay Cee]

Double-fault,
That's encouraging, maybe I'm not so full of crap afterall.
Keep supporting me mate, I need all the help I can get.

[Jaypro]

I started using Babolat Excel in my racquets and have always maintained 62 lbs of tension on my sticks...since i started stringing my own and with different string, i decided to play around and experiment. i did 62/66, im curious to see how it works out, i'll keep you posted

[Jay Cee]

Would be better to drop 2lbs in the mains then put up 4lbs more in the crosses, that would be 60lbs in the mains & 64lbs in the crosses.

Next time.

[Jaypro]

ok, I might try that next time JayCee...whats your reasoning for the 2 lbs drop?

[Jay Cee]

Come on Jaypro, trust me for once.

Do it first and I will tell you why once you are convinced that I am right. If not there's no point in me justifying what I am trying to teach you.
:cool:

[Jaypro]

maybe if you tell me first and it makes sense, then i might be a little more inclined to do it ;)

[Jay Cee]

Sorry, you have to deserve my friendly advice.

If a nice guy like Double-fault or even MongolMike asked me I might soften up a bit, but you have already had too many favours and I've not got much back in return. (Yeah you said " God, I admire him" :D :D :D

Come on Jaypro, that one's even easier to see coming than your plastic bags. Make a real effort and I might deal you another card or two. :p

[Jaypro]

you havent gotten much back?? are you kidding?? I have been your little ball of yarn for almost a friggin week with the whole plastic bag scandal geez...which by the way is running on fumes at this point. sorry i dont have much to offer in the stringing section but i do what i can to ask good questions, offer some humor and help out in the other dept's offering advice on racquets and string. I think i have given you plenty of laughs in the past few days JayCee

[Jay Cee]

Yep. :D :D :D

[Hawkeye2]

@Jaypro

Jay Cee gave some very detailed explanations already about his stringing method with 2 lbs drop on the mains and 4 lbs increase on the crosses.

Just look in this thread :

http://www.stringforum.net/board/showthread.php?t=805

Read it carefully and try for yourself.

Bye

[Jay Cee]

@Hawkeye2,

Hey Dirk, you are something else man, to think that I thought that you didn't take much notice of my deliriums. ;) Not only do you remember them, you know exactly where to find them, wowwww. :)

You are of course absolutely right about my comments on down>2 up<4 lbs. - that you gave Jaypro the thread that's real nice of you, I was hoping to kid him for a couple of days with this one, guess I'll have to find something else to play on him. :p Sit, Jaypro, later . . .

You didn't say anything about Jaypro's idea of a booze up together, I must have been right, it's a shame I tried to set you up, threw you a little bait and I din't even get a nibble. (Yeah I know, it wasn't really a posting on a tennis sudject, that's life. :( )

Jaypro is definitely more fun. :D :D Take it easy man, we all appreciate your serious (and talented) postings.
:cool:

[Double-fault]

Hi Everyone
I have a question, may be a suggestion. :confused:
What’s a best choice string for this racket and string tension Main and Cross?
I’m learning to do top spin, not much going good so far, hit and miss most the time (need a few lesson from Jay Pro).
Currently I am using Head RIP 17, with 60 main and 63 cross.
This is what I have on hand:
Big Bang Original 16
Head RIP 16
Head RIP 17
Gosen OG-Sheep Micro 16
Any suggestion would greatly appreciate.

I will try 60 main and 64 cross next time . Thanks JayCee
;)

[Jaypro]

Hey Double Fault....for topspin remember to keep the head of the racquet below your hand on the backswing, swing low to high and follow through over your shoulder with a good wrist snap...that'll be $50.00 please haha. I have used the Head Rip control 17 and thought it was excellent.

[Double-fault]

Thank for the tip JayPro
Email your $50 on the way :D
Now if i can remember all that when I hit the ball :(

[Jaypro]

thats always the hard part isnt it? :eek:

[eyeguy]

Jaycee,

What do you think about tensioning the crosses 4lbs more than the mains while doing one piece stringing instead of two piece and just increasing the tension before pulling the first cross?

Steve

[Jay Cee]

eyeguy,

That's fine Steve, just to limit the loss of tension from the mains to the crosses, put the 8 lbs extra tension on the last 2 mains before starting the crosses, keep this tension for the 1st cross, then drop the tension by 4 lbs, that will give you + 4 lbs on the main's tension, put in all your crosses as this tension, then add 4lbs more for nthe last 2 crosses before the knot. :)

If you are going to increase the tension in the crosses, you need to drop the tension in the mains by 2 lbs (compared to your original tension), otherwise the strings will be too hard. :cool:

If for example today you are mains = 62 & crosses = 60,
you should change that to mains = 60 & crosses = 64 lbs.
By increasing the tension on the last mains and crosses you will obtain a much greater stability of tension in the string bed, even 3 or 4 hours play without a significant drop in tension, this for a good player is of utmost importance.
;)
For the others it is obviously an advantage for a far longer period of time, many weeks or even months without a noticable loss of tension.

Thanks for your interest,
:cool:

[eyeguy]

Jaycee,

Thanks for your reply. A few follow-up questions:

1. Would you recommend increasing the tension 8 lbs. on the last two mains on the short side before tieing off the short side mains as well?

2. If doing two piece stringing instead of one piece, do you recommend increasing the tension by 8 lbs. on the last two strings before the main tie-offs and/or on the first two crosses and last two crosses?

As a side note, I use ALU Power in a Babolat Pure Drive Team. I normally string at 65 lbs. (both mains and crosses) in a one piece pattern. I play 2 to 3 times per week, hit medium hard with lots of spin. I find the playability of the strings change significantly after only a couple of weeks. So I usually restring every two to three weeks. And the freshies feel so much better. Last night I strung (two piece) at 63/67 and will try it out today. I also strung a second racquet the same way but with NXT Tour 18g in the crosses. Am very curious to see how these play and what differences I may detect between the two.

Thanks again for your help.

Steve

[Jay Cee]

Hi Steve,

It seems that you are getting the idea into place. :)
1.) Evidently, increase the tension on the last 2 strings before the knot.

2.) Of course, the problem is that you lose tension every tilme you make a knot, there are 2 problems as I have already explained in an earlier posting :
- the string after the last clamp before the knot is not under tension, the longer the string between the clamp and the knot, the greater the loss. The less the string stretches under tension, the greater the loss on the knot. A poly will lose more that a NXT in the tie off. :(
If possible you must try to finish the last main (or cross) as close as possible to the grommet where you will tie the knot. This requires re-thinking and changing bad habits. If for example the tie off is on the 3rd last cross string (frequent with Wilson and Prince racquets) once you have put in the 3rd cross, jump the 2nd and put in the 1st it is easy to weave because you put it the same as the 3rd last cross, then tension it at + 8lbs. Finally put in the 2nd last cross, this one is tough because the strings are really out of phase, you must pull all the slack through and weave in the cross into place, tension it (still at + 8lbs), clamp it as close to the frame as possible, then tie off.
- the second reason for loss of tension is that the knot slips, this can be a real problem, :(
I have several postings of the best method for knots, check them out.

Side notes :
Luxilon can be a very good string for very good players for a relatively short period of time. All depends on :
- how dense the string pattern is
- how high the tension is
- how hard the player hits the ball
- how well the racquet is strung.
That's a lot of possibilities for something to go wrong, and it usually does. The Big Banger Original and Alu Power are not conceived to be kept in a racquet for several weeks, the loss of tension after only a few hours play is a characteristic of these strings, they have been like that since more than 15 years and you just have to accept that. For a player that changes his strings every 2 hours play, there are no problems at all. :eek:

As for your attempts to make a hybrid, don't waste a NXT, it simply does not work well. Luxilon strings can be used in the mains with Natural Gut in the crosses (wonderful :) ), but work very well with a good single wrap mono core nylon synthetic gut, 16L is fine. You will find that this overcomes the problem of loss of tension, in fact the MONO main will limit how far the ball pushes into the stringbed, even when it has lost its original qualities the nylon will continue to give lots of elasticity. This combination gives very efficient play for about 3 times as long as the Luxilon as a full string job, and probably 5 or 6 times longer than the nylon syngut if strung as a full re-string. :cool:

You don't have to go to the expense of a Luxilon, an ASHAWAY MONOGUT will do the job just as well, probably even better and at about a quarter of the price. Another hybrid that you could try is the Kirschbaum Touch Turbo with a TOA Gold in the crosses, very serious hybrid string my friend. :)

In hybrids, always use a higher tension in the cross strings,
- if the cross strings are in nylon use a thicker gauge than the mains (for example : 17 GA mains 16GA crosses)
- if the cross strings are in MONO use a thinner gauge than the mains (for example : 17 GA mains 18GA crosses)

I hope that this helps you see your way clear, if it's too complicated just ask me, I'm trying to keep it simple, but I tend to get carried away sometimes.

Bye,
:cool:

[Double-fault]

Thanks JC for great info.
Learn new things everyday.
:D

[Jay Cee]

Hey DF,
I see that you are pleased to have me back again, :)
I would have preferred some encouragements from Veri, but I guess that Jason is doing his best to keep her occupied, :p

Later,
:cool:

[David Pavlich]

Something just popped into my head...what about Yonex's advice to DROP the tension of the crosses by 5% to enhance playability?

David