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Tag: squash

  • What You Get for Your Money

    Players often ask: “Why do basement stringers charge less than store stringers?”

    The simple answer is options.

    Basement stringing customers save money because basement racquet stringers offer fewer options. Basement stringers can stack up a bunch of discount stringing racquets for five or six days and then bang them all out at the same time without having to stop and reset custom machine tension and custom string options like custom racquet stringers do.

    Custom racquet stringers, by contrast, offer many options. They typically carry a large inventory of string and can offer many more precision tension options than basement stringers with budget machines.

    Every racquet they string takes more time. It is a more careful and deliberate process. Professional racquet technicians don’t just bang out custom string jobs. They are required to stop and check the custom spec sheet before starting every racquet.

    Then…

    They strip the racquet of all string and head tape. They clean the frame, remove all tape residue and inspect it. They check to see if any grommets are missing and formulate a repair plan. Often, at this point, they have to stop and call the customer to consult with them about how they want their grommets repaired.

    Once they have mapped out the road ahead, including repairs, they set up the string and the tension on the machine and start weaving. When they are done weaving and repairing, they have another stringer verify the weave and the repairs to ensure that everything is perfect. If any flaws are found in the weave or the repairs, they back up and correct everything before tying off.

    Once the racquet is done, they enter the notes in the customer file and notify the customer by email. All of this takes time and expertise, but it guarantees that they meet customer specifications exactly.

    Finally, convenience is a major factor in stringing costs. Basement stringers often have very limited hours. Customers have very narrow windows during which they can pick up or drop off their racquets while store stringers are open long hours. As a result, pick up and drop off are generally more convenient with store stringers than with basement stringers.

    In short, store stringing is a professional stringing service with a premium price while basement stringing offers fewer options at a lower price. Here in Calgary, Racquet Network offers both stringing options to their customers.

    Racquet Network’s Custom Stringing vs Discount Stringing Table

    CUSTOM DISCOUNT
    String options Choose from all strings None
    Colour options Choose from all colours None
    Tension options Choose from full range None
    Grommet repairs Minor repairs included free None
    Head tape removal Included free None
    Frame cleaning Included free None
    Service Options
    • online option
    • in store option
    Turnaround options
    • one hour
    • one day
    • one week
    • one week
    Notifications By email None
    Early pickup options Permitted Not permitted
    Warranty options Two weeks (labour only) None
    Sponsorship credits Automatic with online orders None

  • 3 Ways to Extend String Life

    BROKEN HAMMEREven hammers break. Strong as the they are, they will all break eventually. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that racquet strings break too.

    Like hammers, they can break when they are old and worn out after lots and lots of pounding or they can break when they are new, fresh out of the package. They probably shouldn’t. But if you hit a hammer hard enough the first time you use it, a hammer might break too.

    So what can you do to prolong the life of your strings and get the most out of your investment?

    Step One is to learn to play rather than pound the ball. Contrary to the way some players think, hitting every shot as hard as you can is not the right way to play any racquet sport. Hard shots have their place but rarely will they make up more than 10% of your total shots in a game or match.

    Even serves should not generally be pounded. In tennis, a first serve might be hit hard, but the second serve should not be. The second serve should be a spin serve which is rarely hit with 100% of your full force. Even the first serve, which is often flatter and harder than the second serve, rarely sees top players hitting the ball as hard at they can.

    BROKEN GROMMETSStep Two in preserving the life of your strings is to take care of your frame. Split or broken grommets are string eaters. When they are whole, they work to prevent the string from touching the sharp edges of the graphite. When they split or break, the graphite cuts through the string like a hot knife through butter.

    Step Three in preserving the life of your strings is to string at lower tension. While it is true that constant friction at the crosses may cause the strings to saw through each other, modern materials and engineering minimize this. Strings today are designed to glide easily over each other. As a result, they are much more likely to break when exposed to extreme force under high tension.

    Players today have more choices than at any point in history. They can play with natural guts, synthetic guts, polyamides, polyesters, co-polys and more. In our store alone we carry more than 150 types of string. But all of these myriad choices have one thing in common; like hammers, if you hit them hard enough, they will break.

    So as carpenters take care of their tools, players must take care of their strings. No self-respecting carpenter swings as hard as he can at every nail. And no self-respecting tennis player should swing as hard as he can at every serve. The key is to apply force skillfully in order to maximize the effectiveness of the tool.

    TEST PREPARATION

    The following questions may appear on tests related to this article. Use them to test your reading comprehension and prepare for the CERTIFIED EXPERTS TEST – RACQUET SERVICE.

  • String Durability and Serving in Squash

    Very few squash players think about this, but it’s a fact. How you serve determines, to a very large degree, how often your strings break. Even more importantly, though, how you serve affects the number of grommets you break.

    Why does this matter? Once a grommet breaks, there is nothing to protect the string from the sharp edge of the graphite. A few strokes later, the graphite will cut through the string and you will have to bring the racquet in for restringing.

    Take five minutes right now to watch the videos below. If you serve like the guy in the first video, you will win more points on the serve at the beginner and low-intermediate levels, but it will come at a cost because you will break grommets and have to restring a lot more often.

    If, however, you learn to serve like the professional squash player in the second video, you will win more at higher levels and save a ton of money on restringing costs.

    Power serving, like the guy in the top video puts incredible stresses on the racquet’s grommet system. If you are playing with a Head squash racquet, most of your grommets will be busted out in just a few dozen matches. Even a quality Tecnifibre racquet with top-of-the-line grommets, can be damaged the first time you use it if you serve like this.

    Our advice is to learn to serve like the pro in the second video. If that’s not something you are prepared to do, then suck it up, Buttercup. You will have no choice but to restring your squash racquet every few weeks — or sooner.

    The only options you have to increase string life when you serve like the guy in the top video are to A) play with thick string and B) replace broken grommets every time you restring your racquet.

    TEST PREPARATION

    The following questions may appear on tests related to this article. Use them to test your reading comprehension and prepare for the CERTIFIED EXPERTS TEST – RACQUET SERVICE.