More Reviews on the Way Soon

Hi again, as you may be aware I am currently trying to be a little more pro-active with posting reviews and other content on this blog and here's a quick update to tell everyone what they should expect within the following month or two.

My full review of Zymax 67 will be on the way shortly, also followed by comparisons and reviews of Zymax 65 and 62, which I have been lucky enough to get hold of a few packets. I also have a couple of sets Yonex Nanogy 99, so you can expect a review of that in the not so distant future, as I know it is a string with a lot of interest surrounding it and I know a few people have already asked me for a review. 

Other than that, there may be a couple of comparison posts between Yonex strings and other manufacturers, as well as a couple of stringing related posts that aren't necessarily reviews.

Thank you for your patience.

APB Stringers 

Types of Tennis Strings Explained

Choosing the right tennis strings for your game can be a complete minefield, however, hopefully with this guide you will know a bit more about the different types of tennis strings available and which one will be right for your game.

Nylon (Synthetic Gut)

Nylon strings are often referred to as synthetic gut strings because of their likeness to the more expensive natural gut. They can be made out of a number of different blends of fibers and are some of the most popular strings on the market, as they are usually used by most club and recreational players due to their excellent balance of playability, durability and price. They are more durable than natural gut, however not as durable as polyester or kevlar strings. A good example of a nylon string is Prince Synthetic Gut with Duraflex, which has been one of the top selling strings around the world for the past 10 years.

Natural Gut

Natural gut is made from the intestines of usually cows or sheep. Natural gut strings offer the best power, comfort and playability among all types of strings. It is excellent for people with tennis elbow as it has a really soft feel to it, however, all of this does come at a price, and it is a big one! Just one set of natural gut can cost up to as much as £36 and that is without the labor cost of the stringer added onto that! Natural gut is used by many professional players in a hybrid usually with a polyester as natural gut is the least durable string on the market and can be easily affect by environmental factors such as rain or temperature. However, if you are a money no object kind of guy, then natural gut will offer you the best all round playability, although be prepared to be visiting your stringer very frequently.

Polyester

Polyester strings offer lest power and comfort than nylon strings, however, offer a lot more durability. Polyester strings tend to lose tension a lot quicker than other types of strings, so many players string their rackets a little tighter in order to compensate for this drop off. While polyester strings are ideal for frequent string breakers the lack of feel and comfort usually means that they are paired with a multi-filament nylon or natural gut in order to soften up the string bed.

Kevlar

Last but no means least, kevlar strings offer an extremely frequent string breaker a little respite. They are by far the most durable strings on the market, although, offer very little power or comfort. That is why they are not recommended to juniors or adults with arm injuries. A very soft nylon is also usually needed in a hybrid in order to soften up the extremely stiff string.

String Gauge Guide

Strings come in a variety of different gauge sizes, but the way of measuring varies from region to region. This diagram should help out with any confusion cause by the different sizing measurements. And remember a thinner string will give greater power and playability but less durability and a thicker string will offer more durability but less power and control.

Picture courtesy of www.stringingsolutions.co.uk

New Logo!

Hey everyone, just another quick update to say that APB Stringers has a new logo, what do you think?

Ideas for New Posts

If anyone has any ideas about any new post ideas for this blog, please feel free to comment or email me with your ideas!

Many thanks,

Antony (APB Stringers)

Quick Side Note

Please note that all of my reviews are subjective to my own opinion, I try to be impartial and give the best advice I can to help you make an informed decision. I am in no way sponsored by Yonex to write these reviews, the only sponsorship I have is a player sponsorship with Tactic and Cramp Sports but I will not review any of their equipment as I would be bias! Thank you for your continued support.

New website!

Hey everyone, just a quick update to say that my new website is up and running, go and check it out for more info on apb stringers!

http://www.apbstringers.co.uk/

Tools I use for Stringing

Hey guys, sorry it has been so long since my last post, exams and training have taken over for a bit, however I am back now and will try to post as much as possible. If you have any queries or ideas for posts, please don't hesitate to leave a comment below!

There are hundreds of different ways to string, using hundreds of different tools, and for a novice stringer starting out all of this information can be very overwhelming! In this post I will try and consolidate all of this information into 1 simple list of tools that any new stringer should have to hand at all times.

The main tool that any stringer cannot live without is a good set of snips or cutters. Cutting an angle of the end of the piece of string is extremely useful when trying to feed the string through a blocked or shared grommet.

A decent set of pliers are also very useful when trying to slowly feed string through a tight grommet. A good set of pliers and cutters will probably cost around £20, which is a reasonable price for tools that you will use multiple times during a single re-string.

An awl is another must have piece of kit. It can be used in a whole variety of ways, including moving blocked strings, using it to stop friction when pulling excess string through, and a whole host of other tasks.

f your machine comes with two movable flying clamps that are attached to the base of your machine then there is no need to buy any other type of clamps, including free flying clamps or starting clamps. I may put a video on youtube to show how to string a racket without the need for starting clamps. If I do I will post it on here straight away.

The only other tool/accessory that is necessary to be able to string consistently is a tension calibrator. This will be the most expensive tool that you will require, usually costing around £25 for a manual one. This can be used to check that the tension the machine is reading is actually the same as the tension that is being pulled on the string. This is of paramount importance when trying to produce a consistent string job.

There are hundreds of other different tools available, however, no matter what type of racket you are stringing you cannot fail to go wrong with these tools. For a novice starting out this is a good guide to what tools are necessary without going overboard.

First squash and tennis rackets

Yesterday was my first experience of stringing squash and tennis rackets, and I must say, why have I not done it before!?  Having struggled with extremely thin badminton string for the past year and a half I immediately felt comfortable with the much thicker strings in my hands.

My first squash racket was a breeze, and took me as long as a badminton racket does now, after doing over 200! I think that this is because of the lack of strings and the fact that there are not many shared grommets to overcome.

The tennis rackets I found a little harder, as the string was slightly less flexible and there were a lot more strings compared to the squash racket, however, it was nice to have a change and I recommend who is used to just stringing one type of racket to try another as it is really refreshing.

Overall my first experiences were extremely good and I hope to string many more tennis and squash rackets in the future!

APB is Branching Out!

APB Stringers is now branching out into stringing squash and tennis rackets as well as badminton. So if you ever need any type of racket re-strung at an affordable price, please don't hesitate to email us at, apbstringers@hotmail.com.

What we are about...

APB Stringers was set up 1 year ago by a father and son duo living in Worthing, England. We specialize in racket re-stringing, with over 200 rackets and 50 customers in our portfolio. Both stringers have experience playing at county level badminton, myself playing for the Under 17's and dad for the over 45's. In this blog I aim to pass on stringing tips and hopefully do some string reviews, for people unsure of which strings to use, as I know it can be a minefield out there!