Stringing a squash racquet can be quite a confusing experience for the
first dozen or so racquets you string. I have made a
video and pictures to help you. After you get the hang of it it
becomes easier. The hardest part is getting the first few main strings
strung. Once they are done, the rest is almost a piece of cake and quite
intuitive. I have shown the steps needed to get past this first critical
stage. First follow the picture instructions below, then watch the video to see how it
all comes together.
The machine I have is the Eagnas DEN3600.
I have seen it on ebay for sale for under $200 including shipping. I think it is a fine machine.
Throughout this guide you will notice I do many shortcuts. I have strung nearly 100 racquets and have learned from
experience it is more imporant to have a consistent technique rather then a precise technique. As long as you string the
racquet the same way , you will get consistent results. After you play with the racquet once, the string tension will
even itself out and remain the same . Using the technique I outline below, I can get the racquet to my tension to
be within 0.25 lbs of what I want . So I want 27 lbs, I typically get between 26.75 and 27.25 lbs. I know this because
I have strung the same racquet many times with slightly different tensions. I can immeadiately notice if I string the
racquet just 1 pound higher than before. Usually +/- 1 lb of tension is the most a good squash player will be able
to detect any difference. So my technique is below the tolerance of perception!
First cut out the old strings by cutting through all the crosses then all the mains and pulling
out the strings. You can buy squash string online . You typically need 30 feet of string. Sometimes
you can get by with 27 feet, but to be safe use at least a 30 feet length of string. There is a lot of debate
on whatt squash string is best. I just buy whatever brand name that is on sale, i.e Prince, Head, Wilson ,
Ashaway, Technifibre etc. I admit Technifibre and Ashaway to feel better , but I doubt it really improves
the quality of your game.
You only need to mount the racquet at the two points shown above. Your machine may have additional mounts
to hold the side of the frame, however, I find them useless and just get in the way of strining . So to keep
things simple and consistent I always just use two mount points, one at the head and one at the throat.
After you untangle and straighten the string, string 10 feet of it through one side as shown above. Start from the head
and measure out 10 feet of string through the throat.
After measuring out 10 feet of string , place a clamp at the head to mark the point where 10 feet of string starts from.
Next string the remaining 20 or so feet of string through the throat and back through the head as shown above.
Now here comes the tricky part. Move the clamp from the head to the throat as shown exactly above. Keep in mind we have not
done any tensioning at this point, so the strings should all be loose. Try and hand straighten the strings before closing
the clamp to eliminate any slack between the clamped ends of the string.
We are now ready to tension the first main as shown above. I usually tension my racquets between 26 to 28 lbs depending on the
racquet. Any lower and you lose control. Any higher and you shrink the sweet spot making it difficult to play touch shots. Keep in mind 28 lbs on
a large head racquet may feel looser than 28 lbs on a small head racquet.
So after you tension the first main, place the clamp as shown above to hold its tension. Then take that same string and thread it back to the head.
After stringing the same main string through the head, tension it and clamp it as shown above.
Then tension the other main string on the other half of the racquet. Clamp it by moving the clamp from the throat to the head as shown above, i.e the
black clamp in the picture.
Now the remaining mains are a piece of cake. Just alternate tensioning one main on each side. In other words string one main, tension it, then strin the other main
on the other half of the racquet and tension it, then repeat. When you hit the crosses you just tie off the string with the short length left, i.e the side
which you strung the 10 feet of string through. Look for a big hold ( aka grommet ) where you can tie off your string by tieing a double knot
with an already tensioned main string.
Then start the crosses with the remaining string left. To do the first cross you will have to
string two crosses then tension and clamp. I usually continue to string two cross strings at one time and tension until I get close to
the sweet spot. For the sweet spot I will just pull one cross and tension, rather than two crosses at one time.
I usually listen to audio books while stringing as it takes almost a good hour to do one. Here is link to my
favourite audio books .
You have to be creative to figure out how to string an unusual racquet. The first few
mains are usually straightforward , but then you need to examine the
last ones closely. Usually the last ones have to skip some holes on the
top. Just ask yourself if the pattern would look normal if I put it
through this hole or that one? The video below shows how to string a fan pattern Head racquet.
Best way to cut your time is find a racquet that is easy to string .
Strings with fancy fan patterns can be very confusing to figure out and
difficult to get the strings through the holes.Simple cross-patterns are
the best.
Another tip is to pull 2 strings at once when you get to the beginning
of the crosses near the throat of the racquet. Once you get near the
sweetspot, switch to pulling one string. Purists won't like this, but I
have not found it makes any noticeable difference.
