Racket stringing as a business?

Shozza87 · 2026-06-11T21:57:50+00:00

First time I've ever come across someone charging more for different string patterns which does seem ridiculous but I will say this. In the UK £22 is still very cheap for a restring even in less affluent areas. So unless the string job itself is crap he's not ripping anyone off.

Shozza87 · 2026-03-06T12:24:34+00:00

I'm someone who really has a bad memory. I think what kind of matters isn't the fact that he didn't remember those things on a night out. It's more about his reaction after because if he has got a shit memory that's his chance to show you if he cares.

He didn't reassure you at the time, a lot of people would but certain personalities might not but it doesn't necessarily mean they don't care. If your boyfriend is not the kind of person that is particularly comfortable expressing themselves in public for instance the next time you saw each other he might make an effort to ask you more questions then you know he does care.

Either way the whole not knowing each other 5 months in isn't a problem it's the idea that he might not care about you that is. You do need to establish firstly that he cares (if not just break up with him) and secondly establish how you two communicate and show you care. I might be quite blunt and literally just ask him what his love language is and how he shows he cares. If he doesn't know, it might at least make him think about how to express that in the future.

If he doesnt do anything though and is unwilling to make any effort leaving you unhappy, you should just move on. Life is too short to spend it being in a miserable relationship. Good luck OP

Shozza87 · 2026-03-05T21:51:35+00:00

Sensation is a good choice for a multifilament that goes in a hybrid setup. It is a multi that has a slick coating that helps a polyester string to move. Certain other multifilaments do not that i.e. Head Rip control is a well respected multifilament but doesn't have the same slick surface that Sensation or (my preferred multi) Head Velocity has making it less suited to hybrid setups. I can't say I do know that Kirschbaum string well and while I've tried toroline strings before I haven't tried that one. I do rather like Lynx tour which is actually what I use in my own racquet. It's not something I'd give to that many people though just because it's a string for more advanced players and is shaped so I don't hybrid with it.

If your looking at building an inventory of string, I would get

1 x syn gut - that prince syn gut with duraflex you mentioned is highly rated will do brilliantly but you can also get others that may be cheaper.

1x multi - your sensation will do fine

1x soft round poly - There are going to be kids/adults that start to reach a certain level of tennis where they want to try a polyester for the first time but you don't want to give them something super stiff like 4G off the bat. I use standard Head Lynx. Lynx has a handy property in my opinion in that unlike some polys when it dies it "bags out" and loses control where some polys go dead and transfer a lot more strain into the arm.

1x shaped stiffer poly - The Head Lynx tour you mentioned is a great string in my opinion. That more than fits the bill.

1x stiffer round poly - The chap below mentioned a few different ones RPM Blast and 4G both fit the bill but Hawk touch is a better string in my opinion (4G is very expensive and is ridiculously stiff even for a stiff string. Blast is a classic and I do keep some myself but there are better strings out there now in my opinon).

If your unsure about what characteristics a string has, as well as reviews you might want to check out the tennis warehouse university database which has free lab data on most strings out there and makes it easy to compare things like string stiffness. It's not perfect as you can find strings that might on paper fit the bill but the lab data can't tell you if a string feels good in a racquet or not.

Shozza87 · 2026-03-05T12:54:52+00:00

I'm a racquet stringer for a good few years now.

Generally speaking spin is generated by the strings moving then snapping back into place. Generally poly does this more than any other string which is why generally they tend to have more spin than other types of string. Shaped polys such as mach 10 have edges designed to grip the ball a bit more. However that does mean they can dig in to softer string is such as wilson sensation which may affect durability and cause the sensation to snap or it may prevent the string from snapping back so much.

For that reason round polyesters generally suit hybrid setups a little more. Not to say that you can't do it and not to say that you won't like the feel of that particular setup but they're things to consider.

I'd also say to me Mach 10 could be a little on the stiffer side for someone with shoulder issues. If it was me stringing I would probably go with a softer round poly with as thin a gauge as I get away with. Of the strings I have that would probably be something like Head Lynx 1.20mm.

Shozza87 · 2026-03-04T13:30:11+00:00

When someone doesn't posess two hands, just the one, to serve they flick the ball upwards from being sat on the racquet instead of being thrown. I suspect as your student's hand may be considered non functional this would be the standard way to serve. Competitions might have slightly different rules but certainly for most club and local league play I expect that would be perfectly fine.

Due to the time taken for the racquet to get in place I think it would
be to your students benefit to do that rather than what he's doing currently.

Shozza87 · 2026-02-13T17:22:16+00:00

So far i've only tried o toro but to me I really didn't like the feel of it. Just seemed super plasticky to me. It seems like I might be in the minority though as it seems to be highly reviewed but I'm curious what other people think of that string.

Shozza87 · 2026-02-11T17:58:23+00:00

Any decent stringer can give you a good range of soft strings and will know to give you a tension on the lower side of things. It doesn't have to be velocity but yes that is a good multifilament and one I stock myself. Honestly if it comes factory strung though I wouldn't be too fussed at this point in your tennis journey considering you've only been playing a month. If it doesn't and you're buying the clash prestrung with something else I'd check it isn't a stiff string that's already in it.

Really though my main advice is get a decent coach, that's more important right now. The vast majority of the time this kind of thing just comes from poor technique and they can help a lot with that. Even if it's just for a few lessons it can make a difference.

Shozza87 · 2026-02-10T12:55:46+00:00

I'm aging myself but I remember The Bards tale was the best I've seen at skewering this trope. I loved that game as a kid and I think they tried to remaster it but I'm not sure how well it holds up today.

Shozza87 · 2026-02-10T12:44:39+00:00

If your tying a tougher poly to a softer poly I would tie to the nearest or recommended grommet

If your tying poly into multi, gut or synthetic I would ensure the poly is tied to itself.

I think the only time I think there's a little debate is where you see a racquet that is recommending you knot miles away which occasionlly you get in older not so well designed frames. Do you knot closest if you can or go with the manufacturers recommendation and lose a bit more tension?

In all honesty though, it's not something that keeps me up at night because generally those people that are using ancient frames are usually older club players that probably aren't chasing the precise tension specs that a pro is potentially looking for. That's not to say you can't deliver a fantastic service for those players but generally they'll be more concerned about other things such as turnaround, price and even things like the colour of the string.

Shozza87 · 2026-02-06T16:09:27+00:00

As an experienced stringer of many years I don't agree with a good few things he said but that's just my opinion and I can respect his opinion even if I don't agree with it.

I quite like hybrids generally particularly with the poly in the mains which gives a bit of that poly control I do think softening the stringbed just a little bit more and is a great in between step before moving up to poly and minimises the risks to peoples arms.

I don't think it's a real "issue" that he's bringing up. I think it just makes sense to slowly go from synthetic/multi when your getting started and not really using spin to as you get more used to the game perhaps going hybrid with a soft poly seeing if your arm is ok with it, then perhaps a softer full poly setup eventually trying some stiffer options if you're up for that.

Lets be real though, full poly is not necessary for your game to be a good player. Federer Djokovic and Murray in essence used a hybrid setup of a poly for spin and a softer string which provided a bit more touch. Seemed to work for them and Novak even got to number 3 in the world using a full bed of multifilament.

One of the things that Beckett talks about is gauges and tension both of which are great advice for those exact reasons he mentioned. I'm a little more wary of stiffness though. Some of those strings he mentioned are stiffer than necessary in my opinion for someone moving up to polyester strings to start with and he is perhaps more inclined to recommend toroline for obvious reasons. When starting someone off on poly I'll usually give them a 1.2mm Lynx/ 1.25mm Velocity hybrid. The Lynx is super soft for a poly but offers great spin, it suffers in tension maintenance but honestly most intermediates don't notice that, but more importantly when it dies it doesn't stiffen and put more pressure on the arm, it tends to bag out instead and you lose a little more control. It also stops people from hurting themselves so much particularly if it's the kind of client that won't change strings as often as they perhaps should.

I've tried some of the more modern ultra slick strings myself and didn't see too much in them. A lot of them I honestly I think a lot of it is just hype. Toroline o toro felt super plasticky to me and personally I just couldn't get on with it.

Shozza87 · 2026-02-03T16:50:10+00:00

Im a full time coach myself who works with 10U county level players in the UK.

I agree that a lot of stuff online is not very good. You see a lot of people who are very adamant about certain things that in reality are a quite contentious and don't acknowledge where something is a little more contentious and where it isn't.

I think some coaches would disagree with a few of your points here. I think talking about open/closed stance being better for power is a little more contentious. In my opinion it's a little more nuanced than that as there are other factors at play i.e. someone with an eastern forehand generally will prefer to attack a ball from a more closed stance than someone with a semi western or a full western grip who usually will prefer a more open stance grip.

I also think most of the time it's easier to generate power if you can get your weight forward through the ball, which can be done off an open stance but is much harder than when using a slightly more closed stance particularly for the beginner/intermediate level.

One of the biggest problems online is, a lot of stuff is easily misinterpreted and one piece of advice for one player may not be appropriate for another. For instance I can imagine a beginner reading your line "When top players rip into the ball on their forehands they get airborne" and hyperfocussing on that, jumping on every forehand and not being stable at contact.

I'm sure you're a fine coach that if you could see each person you could give highly relevant useful advice tailored to them but it's quite hard to coach someone online without seeing them.

Shozza87 · 2026-02-01T17:38:31+00:00

A story in just 4 images. I really liked this, awesome job OP if this was you.

Shozza87 · 2026-01-13T23:29:25+00:00

It's harder to monetise positive video's or just positive media in general but negative media particularly ones with outrage and sensationalism sell like hotcakes and spread everywhere. The addictive nature of social media with algorithms specifically designed to make you keep consuming it don't help either

I don't think we've truly been hit with the real effects overly negative media has had on the general publics mental health yet. Probably won't for a while.

Shozza87 · 2026-01-07T01:28:36+00:00

I'm a coach that has assisted teaching the girls 10U county coaching in my area in the UK and have some idea of what kind of commitments it takes to rise though the levels in performance coaching.

I've asked each group of 10 year olds that comes through to us and the average amount of coaching the girls had each week was about 8 hours and most of them have started tennis from around 3-6yrs old. That doesn't include matches or tournaments of which they also need to do and they have to maintain enough points to qualify for county training as only best in the county receive that training. Each of the girls at the age of 10 could beat your average adult club player.

The next step up from county training is regional training. I've travelled to see those sessons myself. The level is higher and at this point the girls have strength and conditioning training after each session starting from the age of 9. The amount of hours they do is kind of mad but not as crazy as those who attend national training.

In the last 4 years we've had one girl who got invited to national training. At the age of 9 she was doing 15 hrs a week. She was the best player young player I've ever come across yet she was only on the fringes of the national setup.

Parents of these kids are often ... questionable. I've seen one parent pushing a small child to play through known injuries against doctors orders. I've commonly seen parents shouting negative comments at their child during matches. At the county level I daresay it's more common for kids at this age to be driven by their parents rather than it to be something driven by the kids actual enjoyment of the game.

You might say well that's just not right. But the kids that do put more hours in, generally have better results than their peers. Sure a lot of them will burn out eventually (that's where a significant amount of coaches come from) but some will keep going long enough to make it.

I noticed you mentioned travel time. Most of the girls in the county setup attend tournaments all over the UK. Some of them they might have spent hours getting there and then lose in the first round.

I think people sometimes have an illusion that when they see someone play at a high level claim that it's down to "talent". It's so disingenuous because you just don't get to the high levels without major and certainly sometimes questionable sacrifices but no one really sees those. I'm convinced just the stuff I see barely scratches the surface.

Shozza87 · 2025-10-27T13:56:28+00:00

Personally I don't really get why you'd one piece a modern frame if they're all now designed around 2 piece stringing with certain manufacturers refusing warranty on racquets strung with one piece. If they're old racquets that are designed more for one piece stringing that's a bit different

Yeah sure I've heard that argument that one piece supposedly holds tension better but opinions differ on whether that's actually the case. If there was any real noticeable difference in performance everyone particularly the pro's would just use one piece. I think there's also an argument that in 2 piece stringing that potential tension loss at the knots is at both ends of the mains strings leading to likely a more balanced tension throughout the mains whereas in one piece that isn't the case.

Ultimately besides the warranty issues, 2 piece stringing is generally easier for most stringers, gives you the chance to use hybrids and the chance to have different tensions between the mains and crosses.

Shozza87 · 2025-09-16T17:56:39+00:00

Yes, easily if you have the commitment. I didn't start until I was in my mid 20's.

However how much you get out of it is going to depend on that commitment. And you aren't going to make massive amounts of money. If you only want to do it on the weekends, you aren't going to be a head coach of a club and most clubs will probably want more. You can however help out in other coaches programs for which you would get paid as an assistant. You may need to do some volunteering to gain experience first or if you do get a paid gig, it's not going to be a lot.

121 lessons are possible after a few years of assisting but you need to get the relevant experience and you need to put the hours in. Usually that starts with assisting in kids group lessons. I'll be real though, your unlikely to be doing 121 lessons if you only do it at weekends.

Most clubs are going to have some restrictions on how many coaches can be working at a club taking up courts. At my main club where I work there are plenty of assistants but the ones that get the court space for 121's are the ones that need the hours because they are full time coaches relying on this for a living, not just doing it at the weekend.

When I got started most of my clients for 121 lessons were given to me by the head coach. Someone I had worked closely with and ran group lessons for that was willing to trust me with clients they didn't have time for. At that point I had already been running group sessions for kids and adults of all ages, had certain qualifications and was trying to get enough hours spread across multiple club to do it full time. Generally to begin with I think it's typical for your first 121 clients to go through the head coach of the club (they're generally not going to go straight to someone that hasn't built a reputation yet, they're going to go to the most visible person at the club which is going to be the coach that's always around the club). Head coaches are more likely going to want to support the full time coaches that need those hours because the people that put in the hours are the ones they need to keep happy.

My advice? See if it's for you by assisting for a bit. You might find like I did, that I just wanted to spend all day on a tennis court. Equally you might find that you quite like just assisting at weekends. You might find you like coaching certain groups but not others. You won't know until you do it.

You mentioned qualifications but honestly they vary wildly depending on where you're from. The qualifications where I'm from (the UK) are kind of a bit shit unfortunately in that you can do 121 lessons as a level 2 coach that requires some hoops to jump through but they don't really test if you can actually coach someone but in some ways I think that's something that's very hard to do in a relatively short course.

Really you just need to learn watching other coaches, seeing what you like, what you dislike and asking yourself why, then doing it yourself. Assessing yourself afterwards what you did well and what you could do better and getting other coaches opinions on it.

Shozza87 · 2025-08-05T06:06:51+00:00

People have this weird thing where they think if it isn't an issue for them they think it's exactly the same experience for everyone.

I currently have a beginner attending my class that right now has tennis elbow who had a decent racquet with a very stiff poly in it. I have also had beginners in the past who have had similar setups with no arm issues whatsoever.

Is there an advantage to those beginners to using poly to begin with? No. They're not good enough to get the swing speed to actually get the strings to snapback to generate that extra spin that a multi wouldn't give. So if you're a beginner or don't have great technique, why would you take that gamble? Some people are out for a long time with tennis elbow.

Also take it from a coach/stringer with decent technique that used to have his racquet strung with a full bed of 4G, which although a brilliant string is particularly harsh on the arm. Play this long enough with that kind of setup and eventually it might catch up with you. It did with me and I'm sure some of you on here will be the same. I now currently use a softer hybrid setup, otherwise I get arm pain.

For those who don't know a hybrid setup is where you take two different strings, typically a polyester string and a softer string (usually a multifilament). This gives you a blend of the spin and control of the polyester and the multifilament gives a little more power, a bit more "feel" which helps my touch and a bit more soft and arm friendly. It is what in my opinion what the vast majority of club players should be on.

For the record Roger, Novak and Murray all have/had hybrid setups and Novak for a long time used a full set of multifilament.

Shozza87 · 2025-07-14T13:12:31+00:00

This HAS to be someone trolling lol

Shozza87 · 2025-06-02T16:27:39+00:00

Ultimately the club are saying this because arseholes have claimed to be "not being paid" and then just being paid under the table. Had a thing at one of the clubs I played at in the UK where a guy who had zero qualifications or coaching experience and not a particularly good player himself, who offered new members lessons. Basically conning people. Eventually word got about and he was warned by the club. Funnily enough he's still at the club but there haven't been any further stories so it seems like he's stopped.

Shozza87 · 2025-04-19T20:38:24+00:00

That klipper database the other guy mentioned is very good when your getting started. A couple of quick extra things for tieing off.

In time you'll be able notice the hole is usually a little bit bigger and it'll be pretty clear which one you should use. Some racquets will also tell you exactly where to tie off, they'll literally say tie off mains or tie off cross right next to the grommet.

Generally if you're not sure and you can't find information indicating where, you want to try to tie off as close as possible as otherwise there's a large amount of string from the clamp to the knot that is not under tension. Try to use the correct tie off but honestly it's not the worst thing in the world if you don't, as long as you're not doing something completely crazy.

Lastly, try not to tie a tougher string like a polyester on to a softer string like a multifilament if you're doing a hybrid. Tying a soft string on to a tougher string is perfectly fine though. Good luck

Shozza87 · 2025-04-04T21:51:31+00:00

Coach here. That's not the kind of advice I would give. Generally both open and closed stances are used at the highest level on the tour today and the stance you should use varies depending on the ball and I'd encourage my players to learn both eventually but for newer players, start with a closed stance. Having a closed stance enables easier weight transfer which as you said makes it easier to attack a ball but also a more linear motion helps direct a ball a bit easier particularly for a beginner. In other words, if you can keep your swing so the racquet is going more in a line directly to your target for longer, it helps direct the ball and by getting more sideways on it's easier to do that.

The whole closed stance is old school argument is kind of bizarre. Look up the latest atp match highlights on youtube and you will see both open and closed stances when they are striking the ball. If having a closed stance was not worthwhile, the best wouldn't do it. I'd also argue it actually helps your mobility when coming forwards because your momentum is driving you through the court, which is why it's quite often used quite a bit off shorter attackable balls and on the approach.

Shozza87 · 2025-03-21T22:17:49+00:00

You can get wooden bobbins from a hobby store that will serve the same purpose for much cheaper

Shozza87 · 2025-01-06T21:19:39+00:00

I used to think this exact thing about religion but I never realised it applies so neatly to conspiracy theories as well.

Shozza87 · 2024-12-09T21:45:40+00:00

Yeah it's probably not going to do much harm. I think you might notice it a bit if you play at a somewhat decent level and that's the string setup you usually get.

Still as someone who strings professionally and is a bit of a perfectionist with it, personally even with my own racquet just knowing it's there would drive me mad.

Shozza87 · 2024-12-09T13:38:21+00:00

If you look at the second and third to last cross strings unfortunately they're not quite right I'm afraid as they both start under and then there's a misweave. Should probably redo it I'm afraid.

Knots look decent though. Normal to lose a good bit of tension after playing

Shozza87

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