bruno's Blog

Hi, I'm Bruno and I'm a string-breaker. Feels good to finally admit it.

I breaks strings about every 6-8 hours (of playing). When I'm playing often, I can easily break strings once a week. So last summer I bought a stringing machine, and went about learning to use it.

The first time I strung my racquet, it took me over three hours. But over time, my speed has improved, and I can now get my racquet stripped and strung in just under an hour. This means no more waiting for Golfsmith to finish my stick, and no more paying expensive stringing fees.

During a particularly long and frustrating stringing session, I got to wondering why all racquets are strung the same way (horizontal crosses, vertical mains). Turns out, they aren't!

Meet the Power Angle, the only (as far as I can tell) raqcuet that isn't strung using a perpendicular string pattern. The Power Angle is strung in a diamond pattern:

Why? Here's how they explain it:

PowerAngle diagonal strings are more equal in length and reduce vibration by dispersing the impact of the ball more evenly around the frame.  The result is that PowerAngle Rackets perform more consistently and with controlled power. 

Conventionally-strung rackets have horizontal and vertical strings that are unequal in length and unevenly disperse the impact of the ball.

The PowerAngle (which, by the way, conforms to ITF rules for tournament play) has an interesting history. The design was inspired by a previous racquet invented by Madeline Hauptman, who developed her innovative, tri-directional stringing technique based on the weave of a snowshoe.

Ms. Hauptman, a painter, found the tennis-elbow she experienced using traditional racquets was interfering with her art. So she put down the brushes and picked up a calculator. She says in her diagonal design ''Impact and vibration are drastically reduced due to the sweet spot strings being of equal length. The longer diagonal strings better absorb the shock of the ball, thus protecting the elbow, wrist and hand from undue stress.''

Sounds like a cool idea, and the argument makes sense (longer strings absorb vibration better), I think I'll stick with my old racquet. The last thing I need is to spend another three hours learning a new stringing pattern.

Anybody have experience playing with this thing? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Link: New York Times.

• powerangle
• strings
• racquets
• stringing