When Good Stringers go Bad: The Head Flexpoint Radical and Me

Just a couple of weekends ago, I participating in my first league practice of the summer. Since this was my first practice and I had not met any of these guys before, I thought it an opportune time to perhaps cultivate a little extra stringing business. As one would imagine, a couple of my teammates broke a string and of course, I offered to string them if they didn't already have a regular stringer. One racquet was a Prince Shark OS, and the gentleman already had a reel of Prince Topspin with him-- you have to love that if you're a stringer; at least I do as I make the same profit whether they provide the string or I do. The second racquet was a Head Flexpoint Radical Oversize (as pictured above).

The flexpoint seemed a little unusual with the holes through the side of the frame, but nothing any more unusual than anything else I've seen. I was going out of town for a few days and wanted to get the racquets strung and out of the way, so perhaps I rushed a little more than I might have. I mounted the flexpoint and away I went. Things were smooth; just another typical stringing job, no different from the thousands I've done in the past. But out of nowhere; disaster strikes. I'm nearly half-way through the cross strings, when all of the sudden I notice a fracture at the 10:00 (or 2:00) position on the inside of the frame. It was about one inch long, not horrible, but still fairly noticeable. I went into near panic mode as I hadn't noticed it before I started stringing. I finished up as quickly and as carefully as I could.

I was just flabbergasted: this had never once happened to me before. Was this my fault? Was the crack there before and I just didn't notice it? Would it have happened no matter who was stringing it? I suppose to some degree, I still do not have the answers to that. I had to get the Prince Shark strung, and let me tell you, that was one tense and nervous stringing job--hell, they've all been a little tense and nervous since then.

I got in touch with the owner of the frame; well, I left him a message and e-mailed him I should say. I frantically explained what had happened, how sorry I was, etc..... Truth be told, the frame was pretty beaten up on the head from scraping the court too often. It might have been inevitable for this crack, and it might have been entirely my fault. One HUGE lesson I learned (I didn't learn it per se, it was just reinforced): don't get in a hurry; go over the frame with a fine-toothed comb before you even cut the strings. Before my customer even had a chance to respond, I found the exact same frame on e-bay for a very reasonable price and went ahead and bid on it, and won it. It was at my house three days later---ready to be strung again, but I didn't crack it this time though.

The customer was happy I took the effort and trouble to correct the problem, but also admitted that the frame had been used a lot and it might not have been my fault. Regardless, the frame was cracked somehow and that's just not something I want hanging over my (flexpoint) head. As for the fractured racquet; it's still playable and I found a nice plastic/carbon-type epoxy that I spread around the fracture. I told him, the racquet might last five minutes before it completely cracks, or it might last another five years. If that thing lasts until he breaks another string, I'll take out the grommets around the area of the fracture and inject that epoxy on the inside of the frame--if it makes it to that point, that should add considerable life to the frame.

I just though I would share my recent experience. I'm sure other stringers have had similar experiences at some point. I think I did the right thing, and ultimately, it might give me more business in the long run. I just hope this doesn't become common-place as I can't afford to be buying new frames all the time. But, considering this was one in about 2000-3000 racquets I've strung, the odds are fairly good.