Source:REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
[Saba Sports News] Some amateur badminton players believe that experts are more likely to break vertical strings, while beginners tend to break horizontal strings. There is actually some truth to this. A professional stringer explained that when stringing a racket, the vertical strings are tightened first. After all the vertical strings are tightened, the horizontal strings are woven through them, further tightening the vertical strings. Additionally, after the vertical strings are tightened, the racket frame tends to shrink, but when the horizontal strings are tightened, the frame returns to its original shape. This process results in higher tension on the vertical strings on both sides of the racket’s sweet spot (excluding the middle six strings), with tensions much higher than those of the horizontal strings. Therefore, when a player with explosive power hits the vertical strings on the sides of the sweet spot, it’s easy for those strings to break. Conversely, a stringer from VICTOR noted that experts use higher tension and have greater explosive power, resulting in faster shots. If the impact point is not on the sweet spot or is closer to the racket head, the single vertical string in the racket head area can easily break due to the significant impact force. In contrast, beginners with less power and lower tension are less likely to encounter such issues, even if they frequently hit this area. The strings that beginners break are often due to long-term repetitive friction, with the breakage typically occurring in the upper-middle section of the horizontal strings.