Polyester string keeps breaking while I'm stringing crosses...?

Question

So whenever I string with my drop weight tennis stringer, it works totally fine with regular synthetic gut strings, but when I string with polyester strings, towards the end when I'm finishing up the crosses when it is at the 3rd to last or 2nd to last hole, the string snaps when I drop the drop weight. What could I possibly be doing wrong?

Answer 1

Got me beat!

Is there anyone else who can help you??

Try a local tennis club for answers, or look up "Professional tennis coaches' in your 'Yellow page' telephone book.

A local sports store may also be able to help you.

When all else fails, go to a local high school and ask a sports coach, or ring a College.

Answer 2

Polyester strings do NOT like being crimped.  So if the strings were ever tangled or bent in a bad angle, they are going to be weakened considerably.  Also, if your grommets are old, or there is a sharp edge somewhere, that might be the problem.  You might need to round out any sharp edges (where the strings broke).  Drop weight tennis stringers aren't the best at consistency (you get what you pay for).  Consider upgrading to a new stringer with a crank.  Polyester strings are supposed to be strung at a 10% lower tension than synthetic gut strings too.

Answer 3

Lots of good suggestions here from other posters. This sounds like a classic case of a bad grommet although you mentioned the cross breaking at two different locations (3rd to last and 2nd to last cross). Notching can also be a culprit. Depending on the racquet and string pattern you can get pretty cramped on the last crosses. Be sure to pull your string through very slowly on the last few crosses. Great friction occurs on these strings which can burn and notch them which can cause them to break during tensioning.

Look carefully at your grommets and make sure they are not split, allowing the string to touch the frame. If they are split then you will need plastic or nylon tubing to repair the grommet. Installing tubing is very easy. Cut the tubing to fit into the damaged hole and the hole next to it, allowing enough tubing to remain 1/4 inch inside the frame. Take a waxed awl and enlarge both holes (insert the awl ALL the way into the grommet hole) to allow the tubing to fit. Tensioning will keep the tubing in place. If the damaged hole is a tie-off hole then tie your not on top of of the tubing and not under it.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

You may have faulty polyester string. Check with another reel to make sure you haven't got a duff batch. If it still does it you may have your stringing machine calibrated wrong. Use the manual and give it a service to make sure it is all in working order. Also, finally check the racket to make sure there is nothing damaging the string, like a sharp edge.

Answer 5

If you use a drop weight you must notice that the strings compare to synthetic gut almost does not give at all.  Like one of the previous poster suggested, make sure you string them looser.

My racquet tension is from 50 to 60 and i usually use 58 for synthetic but i use 51 or 52 when I use polyester for a similar feel.  I snapped my first two set of polyester string as well, trying to string them at 58, then I read the instructions...