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Minimizing wasted string

Q: Is there an efficient and accurate way to measure how much string a given racquet will require so that there is a minimum amount of waste when using string from a reel? I look up the measurements in the Digest, but I still sometimes have several feet of string left over after completing the racquet.

A: Although the string lengths in the Digest are meant to supply the information you are requesting, we have to take into account several factors when arriving at these measurements. There are different types of machines, which take different lengths of “extra” string to reach the tension head, and different strings will have different elongation properties. This means that if we published lengths assuming that everyone was using a stretchy nylon string and a lock-out machine, anyone using those measurements for poly or aramid strings on a machine with a rotational tensioner would find themselves running short. Therefore, we try to publish measurements that will allow everyone to complete the job without running out of string.

If you are consulting your Digest every time before stringing anyway, though, you could make notations based on experience that might help you get an additional racquet’s worth of string out of that reel.

From the August 2007 issue
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