I was curious to know how long it takes to string a badminton racket, so I search online and I gathered all the information I could find.
So, how long does it take? Depending on the machine you use and on how experienced you are, it can take between 15-60 minutes to string a badminton racket.
Let’s find out now where that range comes from and how you can become faster at stringing.
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How long does it take to string a badminton racket? The in-depth answer
As I mentioned before, it can take between 15 and 60 minutes to string a badminton racket.
For professionals that specialize in stringing badminton rackets and that work in international tournaments, the average time is around 15 minutes. These are people that do this for a living and that have the best equipment and are pressed for time.
For other not so specialized professionals, the normal time is 30 or 45 minutes.
Racket String Service in the UK, for example, claims to take about 45 minutes as an average for a badminton racket.
Klipper USA, a company selling stringing machines, claims that the average person takes around 30 minutes to string a racket using their machine.
These range is also what you I have been able to find in forums where this topic is discussed.
If you don’t do this for a living but only as a side hustle, with a drop weight machine, it can take 60 minutes to string a racket. Maybe even more than that the first few times.
With what machines can you string a badminton racket and how does that affect the time spent?
There are several ways to string a racket and they have an effect on the speed at which the racket is strung.
- Manual: This is the least recommended option and the slowest. It is difficult to get the right tension and it is the slowest of the methods. Because it is not very common, this way of stringing has not been counted in the above figures.
- Drop weights: These are the most simple and cheap machines, but also the slowest. They use gravity for tensioning. With this type of machine, it can be difficult to get below the 45 minutes range.
- Cranks: These types of machines are medium price. They are more expensive than drop weights but cheaper than the electric/electronic machines. With this type of machine, the average time is around 30 minutes.
- Electronic machines: These types of machines are at the top of the line. These are the machines that are used for professional players and in international tournaments. With this type of machine, the time can go down to 15 minutes for very experienced stringers.
How can you improve your speed stringing a badminton racket?
There are quite a few things you can do in order to improve the speed while stringing a racket. I have listed them below. Some of them will have an impact on the quality of the result, so keep that in mind.
1. Buy a better machine
As you have seen in the section above, the type of machine you use has a big impact on the time it takes to string a racket. So, if you want to bring your time down, buying a better machine will see one of the biggest cut in string time.
2. Practice
As with all things in life, practicing will also make you faster. The more you do it, the easier it will be for your to do and the faster you will go about it. Learn the right procedure and make an effort to be as fast as you can every time. With practice, you will get faster.
3. Use your own body to measure the amount of string you need
A lot of time can be spent measuring the right amount of string you need for the racket. A good trick to speed the time is by using your own body to measure the amount of time you need. This is usually done by extending both arms horizontally while holding the string.
If you know that your arms extended measure 2 meters (6.5 feet) and you need 10 meters (32.8 feet)of string, then you know you need to repeat the action 5 times in order to get the right amount of string.
The first few times you can measure the string afterwards to ensure you have done it correctly.
4. Weave all the main strings at once and then tension them
One way to speed things up a lot is by weaving all the mains at once and then tension them. This way, you don’t lose time by going from weave to tension and back to weave and back to tension. This can decrease the quality of the stringing.
5. When weaving the crosses, weave them diagonally
Instead of weaving the crosses straight, you will speed up the process if you weave them diagonally. That means going “up” and “down” the racket while weaving. This way pulling the string will cause less friction and it is also easier for your to weave it across
6. Make sure you have a tool to make space in an already occupied grommet for the string to pass
Sometimes you can lose a lot of time trying to fit the string in a grommet that has already a string in it. For this, using a tool such as an awl will help speed up the process.
7. Weave and tension the crosses starting from the middle
As you do with the mains, start weaving the crosses from the middle. This way you only need to pull have the string through, which will simplify and speed up the process.
What tools are needed to string a badminton racket fast?
Having specialized tools will speed up the process of stringing a racket. In addition to the stringing machine, the following are the tools that will help speed up the process:
- Flying Clamps: A flying clamp will help you speed up the process by holding the string whenever you need them. The one from Yonex is the best in the market. You can buy it on Amazon following this link.
- Badminton Awl: This, as I mentioned before, will help you pass a string through a grommet that has already a string in it.
Final words
And with this, we have arrived at the end of this post. Do you have any suggestions on the article above? Let me know in the comments!
If you liked this post, you will enjoy other fact-clarifying ones such as “How Much Does it Cost to Play Badminton?“, where I looked at the price of playing badminton depending on the country, city, and type of court arrangement you choose.
