I was taught to measure strings off a spool using a piece of tape on the floor. That is how they did it at the pro shop of the local tennis center where I first learned how to string racquets. Eventually my parents figured out that we should have our own stringing machine at home. It was natural for us to use the same method. We measured out the proper distance and put a piece of tape on the floor. It was in an unobtrusive location.
Many years later when I purchased a stringing machine of my own, my natural inclination was to put a piece of tape down on the floor. However, I was stymied by the fact that my home gym where I string my racquets is tiny. The only logical place for a piece of tape extended out to the formal living room. That simply wouldn’t do. Perhaps the only shocking part of this story is that I have decorative household standards.
For the first few years that I had my own stringing machine, I used a seamstress style measuring tape to determine the length of string from the spool. Buried in that statement is the shocking implicit confession that I can sew. That method was awkward and unwieldy, but gave accurate measurements.
About six months ago, I realized that I had been making the task much harder than it had to be. The double door entry into my home gym is exactly 4 feet wide. Since I do two piece stringing, I cut off 20 feet from the spool each time. That is the kind of math that doesn’t exactly require an engineering degree to calculate. 5 lengths across the door frame quickly gives me exactly what I need. It is quick and easy and I can’t believe that I didn’t think of it earlier.
I usually string my own racquets because I am a little on the OCD side. That is probably the least shocking confession in this essay. I have a hard time placing the responsibility of getting it just right into the hands of someone else. Additionally, I genuinely enjoy the meditative rhythm of weaving the strings and the process gives me a deeper sense of connection to the racquets.
Stringing racquets doesn’t take a lot of time and it also saves the associated labor costs. Additionally, personal time permitting, it eliminates reliance on a third party to turn the racquet around precisely when needed. I have dropped a racquet off at the pro shop only to return to discover that it wasn’t ready at the promised time. That can be pretty maddening when the car is already packed up to head out to a tournament.
Just for fun, I made a time lapse video of myself restringing one of my racquets last weekend. It doesn’t take very long to do. However, in the spirit of transparency, it was a little longer than the 21 seconds that are shown in the video. If you watch closely, you can see a couple of blips where I measure out the string using the doorframe.
I see the blips! Great shortcut!