How to String Your Tennis Racquet

Step 1: A Quick Tutorial on How to String Your Tennis Racquet

Hello tennis lovers,

probably you have noticed that the strings on your racquet will not always be as good as you want them to be. However, there is one problem which is mostly in charge for your tennis racquet not to have as much speed and spin as it used to have. The strings hold for a long time, but after two or more seasons of playing(that's the maximum recommended before changing) the string is most likely going to get used and will not give you as much spin anymore. Well here is a solution to your problem. This guide will help you to string your racquet on your own and not always go to a sport shop or your tennis teacher and ask them to restring it for you. The cost of the machine required is not cheap, but over a long term use it will cost you way less than letting your racquet being restrung by other people. Follow this instructable and you will definitely never ever have problems with your strings again. For the whole procedure you might take 30 minutes to an hour, maybe longer if you never have done it before.

Below you will find the materials list needed for the process:

Tennis Stringing Machine
The price varies from 200$ to 2000$, however, the basic machines will definitely be enough and the professional machines are only necessary for people who string racquets for other people and have a big demand.
You need your new strings which you want to use (usually cost between 5$ to 50$)
You need your tennis racquet where you take off your old strings
You could use pliers because they help to pull the old strings out of their place (doing it with your hands is possible but extremely difficult and can hurt)
You will need cutters to cut the strings
Meter stick - if you never did it before, you might want to measure the strings

Step 2: Start With Fixing Your Racquet (mount It to Your Stringing Machine)

In this step you will just have to mount your racquet so you can start with the stringing. Above is a picture of how I did it. You might have to adjust your machine to the racquet and it's size. At the side you probably got a little wheel were you can adjust the width.

Step 3: Main Strings Will Be Added(main Strings Are the Vertical Strings)

After you counted how many holes your racquet has, you might want to start with the throat of the racquet and make a mental note where the opposite hole is aligned. Then you will pull the string through your starting hole to the opposite and pull it through there. Pull on both ends so you have equal ends and then tie a not with the help of your pliers. Most string machines have a clamp where you can fix your string to so there is no tension lose.

A tip from a professional tennis coach: ensure to only string 3 strings from one side to the other and then the next 3 from the other side to avoid tension inequality.

Step 4: Now String the Cross Strings (horizontal Strings)

The stringing of your cross strings is the more difficult part. You will have to insert the strings into the shared wholes and there you need to string them in a special technique in order to make the structure as effective as possible. There are many ways on how to string them, but the three main ways are the "Standard Tie-Off Knot", the "Standard Starting Knot" and the more complex but best way, the "Fishing Knot". Again you will have to hold the tension using the clamps.

Step 5: Finish Your Cross Strings and Add the Last Things

For the last step of our procedure it will not take any longer than 5-10 minutes. After you have added all the strings, check all the wholes if they have a string in it. If not, you might have to check if one of the wholes has two strings. After this you have to check and tie all knots so the strings do not losen or "runaway". The final thing to do is use a little screwdriver or similar and go to every square in the strings and put it underneath and push it just slightly up. This will increase the tension of the racquet. You do not have to do this, because it can ruin your whole effort and time, because chances are that, you might push too hard.

Unmount your racquet, ensure everything is in the right place and you are done. Now it is time for you to have fun and beat everybody in your club, who isn't able to restring his/her racquet.

If you like this tutorial and think it is helpful, then share it with other tennis-lovers and maybe comment down below on what I could improve. Then I could adjust my instructable, in order to make it more detailed.

Thanks a lot and have fun!