Tag: Badminton Racquet Stringing

An archive of articles about badminton racquet stringing from one of Canada’s leading authorities.

Posted on by

How to Customize the Yonex Nanoflare 700

Yonex Nanoflare 700 Badminton Racquet Red -Head

About the Yonex Nanoflare 700

The Yonex Nanoflare 700 badminton racquet is a medium flex frame designed for defensive players at the recreational level.

As a medium flex racquet it is unlikely to be used by big strong guys who are heavy smashers. Players of that ilk are more likely to play with stiff or extra stiff frames such as the Nanoflare 370 Speed or something from the Astrox family of smashing racquets.

If you are stringing your Nanoray 700 for the players for whom it is intended, you should not have to use a thick, durable string. In fact, if these are the players who are using it and if they are using nylon shuttles, you are probably best to go with one of these …

Stringing for Nylon Shuttles

If they are using feather shuttles, the best choice will be one of these.

Stringing for Feather Shuttles

And if they are using this racquet for both nylon and feather, then one of these strings should do the trick.

Stringing for BOTH Nylon and Feather Shuttles

Remember — none of the strings above are for exceptionally hard hitters or frequent string breakers because that is not who this racquet is intended for. So if you string with one of the strings above and you find they are breaking too often, you will have to go back to the drawing board and pick something for frequent string breakers (Badminton String for Frequent String Breakers using Nylon Shuttles).

Posted on by

How to String the Yonex Nanoflare 700

Yonex Nanoflare 700 Badminton Racquet Blue -Head

The instructions on this page are provided as a courtesy to independent racquet stringers in our network. For more information, please consult our YouTube Channel which features hundreds of full movies and time lapse videos illustrating how to string a large variety of racquets of all kinds.

How to String This Racquet

Length Mains 18.5′
Length Crosses 14.5′
Tension Printed on frame
Pattern 20×21
Start Mains Head
Mains Skip 8H, 10H, 11T
Tie Off Mains 8T
Start Crosses 9T
Tie Off Crosses 6T
Last Cross 7H
Tie Off Crosses 5H

The outside two mains on either side of this racquet should be finished using a standard Yonex double-back method. For this racquet, the double path is 9T to 12T to 15H to 13H to 10T before tying off at 8T.

Yonex Badminton Racquet Stringing Instructions


We are Racquet Stringing Experts

Our Master Stringers are trained by the US Racquet Stringer’s Association.
Racquet Network is a member of the prestigious Yonex Stringing Team.
In 2017, members of the Racquet Network custom stringing team were invited to string at the Canadian Open Badminton Championships in Calgary.
In 2018, we strung racquets for professionals at the National Bank Challenger Event in Calgary.

Yonex Stringing Team

Yonex official description of the Yonex Stringing Team
Enlarge this image to read Yonex official description of the Yonex Stringing Team

Racquet Network is a member of the prestigious Yonex Stringing Team. We are invited to string at elite tennis and badminton events. While we cannot attend every event we are invited to, we do our best to help out when such events are in Alberta.

Posted on by

Why Do Badminton Racquets Break During Stringing?

Why Do Badminton Racquets Break During Stringing?

Badminton racquets sometimes break during stringing, even when the stringer is doing everything correctly.

In our shop, we string about 2000 racquets a year with half of these being badminton racquets. On average, we see one or two racquets break during stringing every year. Most of these are badminton racquets, with an occasional tennis racquet in the mix.

The vast majority of these defective frames turn out to be knock offs. They are counterfeit racquets purchased online from Asia. Occasionally, they are racquets our customers purchased in-store during trips overseas.

As professional stringers and members of the Yonex Stringing Team who have strung racquets at professional events, we are trained in how to string all kinds of racquets at a wide variety of tensions. We also have very stringent procedures in place to ensure that we do not do anything to cause frames to break.

So why do racquets break during stringing if the stringer is doing everything correctly? There are several possible explanations, all of which are covered below.

Knock Offs

Nearly all of the frames that break during stringing in our shop turn out to be knock offs. Customers see these racquets online or in-store at impossible prices and buy them because they think they are getting a great deal.

In truth, these are not great deals. They are rip offs. Premium racquets come with premium price tags because they have a warranty replacement guarantee built into the price. In other words, the manufacturer expects to have to replace a certain percentage of new frames so they build that percentage into the cost.

Customers have to look beyond price to risks and consequences. If an expensive racquet is deeply discounted, they should ask why? The lower the price, the higher the risk that the too-good-to-be-true deal they are being offered is, indeed, too good to be true.

Phony Numbers

Customers also have to look beyond the numbers printed on their frames. For example, when we see “Max tension 30 lbs” printed boldly on a badminton racquet, we understand that this is simply one way to get customers to pay more for a racquet. “Max tension 30 lbs” does not mean that the frame should be strung at high tension. It only means that the racquet can theoretically be strung at this tension.

“Max tension 30 lbs” does not mean what customers think it means. They think it means that this racquet can be stung at 30 lbs without risk, but it doesn’t. “Max tension 30 lbs” should say “string at 30 lbs AT YOUR OWN RISK AND ONLY WHEN BRAND NEW” because stringing any frame over 25 lbs comes with an increased risk of breakage, especially if the frame has been strung and used previously.

Material Defects

Even companies like Yonex ™, who have earned a reputation as manufacturers of the best badminton racquets in the world, will produce a tiny percentage of defective frames every year. Small flaws in the graphite, too small to be detected during the manufacturing process, can result in major failures on the court. They can also result in structural failures during stinging — especially when stringing at 25 lbs or more.

Beyond Yonex, there are some brands that are infamous for flaws, defects and other weaknesses the lead to breakage during high tension stringing. In fact, in our shop we have a policy against stringing Black Knight ™, Diadora ™, Karakal ™, Tecno ™, Dunlop ™, and Carlton ™ badminton racquets over 24 lbs unless the customer signs a waiver indicating that they understand and accept the risks of breakage.

Micro-fractures

Another possible cause of breakage during stringing is material fatigue due to micro-fractures, which are microscopic fractures in the graphite that occur over time. These fractures can occur during normal play. They can develop during normal wear and tear and can build up over time to create fracture arrays which result in invisible weak spots in the frame. They can remain undetectable until the frame is exposed to stress during stringing and suddenly result in structural failure.

String Removal

As stringers, we understand that micro-fractures and fracture arrays create a risk of structural failure in high tension stringing. We also understand that micro-fractures can be made worse by improperly cutting the strings out of a racquet strung at high tension. So we cringe a little whenever a customer walks into our shop with a used racquet with the strings already cut out.

When a customer walks in with a racquet with no strings in it, we have to wonder who cut the strings out and if they knew what they were doing when they did it. Cutting the strings out improperly is the single biggest way to exacerbate micro-fractures and create weak spots that show up during stringing.

Conclusion

As a result of all of these risks, we require all customers to sign a waiver indicating that they understand that there is a risk of breakage during stringing. We ask them to understand that “it was perfectly fine when I brought it in” is not a relevant argument. There are risks with every racquet. They can have unseen defects, the can be weakened by normal wear and tear, they can even be weakened by accidental damage caused by cutting strings out improperly.

As professionals, we know if something we have done has caused a break. We are also professional enough to stand by our work and fix anything that is our fault. We are not, however, responsible for any of the common issues above and anybody who doesn’t accept that is welcome to go elsewhere to have their racquets strung.

Posted on by

Where to Buy Stringing Machines in Canada

YONEX ST-7000 STRINGING MACHINE

Racquet stringing machines are like everything else in life. You get what you pay for.

Table top racquet stringing machines, in our expert opinion, are almost useless. While they can be used to put string in a racquet, table top machines are not accurate and cannot be used to produce any volume. They are not a good buy for anybody except possibly people who live in remote areas where access to professional stringing is difficult.

People who want a new stringing machine that is capable of stringing a racquet with even a basically acceptable level of accuracy must be prepared to spend $1500 or more. If used, the same machine will usually cost at least $1000.00.

Meanwhile, stringing machines capable of producing even low volumes will cost $5000 or more and machines capable of high volumes will be north of $10,000.

All of the stringing machines that we sell in Canada must be special ordered and require a lead time of at least two to four months. Some of the most popular and most expensive machines, such as those made by Babolat ™, have waiting lists of up to two years.

Racquet Stringing Machines in Canada

Stringing machines must be special-ordered. Most machines require a lead time of two to four months because they have to be assembled by the factory before they can be shipped. Some of the high end machines can have waiting lists of two years or more.

Posted on by

Racquet Stringing Options in Calgary

We offer Sergetti method tennis racquet stringing in our Calgary store.

Calgary’s Racquet Network is well known for our custom racquet stringing program. Top players from all over southern Alberta and interior British Columbia bring their racquets in for full customization. When their game is on the line, they trust us with their most important tools.

What is not as well know is that we also offer discount racquet stringing for players who just want some string in their racquets and aren’t necessarily looking for the whole custom racquet stringing experience.

Our discount stringing services programs and handled by the same staff of professional stringers who do racquets for the top players. They use the same machines and the same techniques, they are just done at a time of day when our machines and our staff would normally be sitting idle. This allows us to charge less that we do during peak hours.

Free Racquet Stringing

Our cheapest option is free. We have a free stringing program that rewards players who are making important volunteer contributions to the growth of their sports in Calgary. Depending on the player and what their contributions have been recently, we may reward them with free labour on single racquet as a one-time thing or we may string all of their racquets for free all of the time.

We also have a program that allows Calgary coaches, parents and active players access to our stringing machine after hours so that they can string their own racquets.

Cheap Racquet Stringing

Players who have not made a significant contribution to the growth of their sports are required to pay the usual fees for stringing services, but that doesn’t mean they have to pay full price for custom stringing services every time they come in. In fact, we offer a number of discount options as well.

Our best know economy option is our Stringing-On-the-Spot program which runs from 5:00-8:00pm every weekday. We also offer a “Just the Basics” program and another program for frequent string breakers.

Surprise Bonuses

Customers who come in for our On-the-Spot stringing program, are sometimes surprised to find out that we have deducted an additional 20% to 100% off of their already low stringing bill. We call these unannounced Customer Appreciation nights and we hold them once a week every week.

During these random, unannounced customer appreciation events, we check five major review sites while we are stringing each customer’s racquet. If we see five-star reviews that match the customer’s name, we knock off 20% for each. This is our way of showing our appreciation for customers who are out there saying nice things about us.

Bulk Stringing

Schools, groups and clubs can enjoy the benefit of strength in numbers because they can access our bulk stringing programs. In this program, the cost can drop to as low as $10.00 per racquet. Contact us at orders@racquetnetwork.com for more information.

Custom Stringing

Price is not everything, of course. Most of our players still want custom stringing so that they can have their racquet customized to their individual specifications. Therefore also offer custom and express options. The good news is that players who want custom stringing always have the option of pre-ordering online and getting online discounts that are not available to walk in customers.

Whatever your racquet stringing needs, Racquet Network can help. We offer more options at more price points than anybody else in Calgary. Whether you want it cheap, fast, generic or customized, we have the answer. And if you help us build our business, we will help you save even more in return.