Help

Feel free to browse the services & restring prices on our site.

When you are ready to restring your racquet(s), feel free to text me on 07717162581 between 9am-9pm to arrange a free 5-10 minute telephone consultation.

After discussing your game, standard, development & on court needs, our consultation will recommend a suitable string set, gauge, tension, profile, configuration along with confirming your selected service & total price.

Mark Everett
TOPstring.co.uk

Below you will find common questions & answers covering our stringing services. 

How long do restrings take?

For tennis and squash, our standard service included in all restring prices for tennis & squash is for racquets to be ready 72 hours after racquets have been received.

We can also offer a 24 hour & same day service for tennis and squash. The 24 hour service is an extra £5 per frame. The same day is an extra £10 per frame.

For badminton, standard service included in your restring price is currently 7 days.

We do not offer a 24 hour or same day stringing service for badminton.

How much do restrings cost?

Our most common restring price points are Badminton @ £25 (most performance multifilaments), Tennis @ £21 (for entry level polymer) and £25 (big brand polymers) and Squash @ £20 (basic syn gut) up to £28 for performance multifilaments.

These restring prices include your labour and string set on standard drop & collect service per category.

What strings do we offer?

We can offer & consult on a range of suitable strings to include Polyolefin, Polyester, Co-Poly, Nylon, Polyetheretherketone, Composites & proprietary products such as Zyex, Kevlar and Vectran. We also offer natural gut if needed.

What do restring prices include?

Restring prices published include the string set & the labour plus the standard service turn around with our standard drop and collect service. Extra costs may include grommets & extra repair work if needed.

Why string with us?

We separate our offering from our competitors by delivering TOP quality stringing & service along with unrivalled knowledge around string suitability.

We string for beginners, premier league, county & national players priding ourselves on offering top quality service.

Our pricing aims to be competitive against other experienced stringers & reflect the high quality of work delivered.

Do I pay upfront?

No. We ask for payment when your racquet is ready. You can pay by BACS in advance or cash on collection.

How to contact us?

For same day responses, you can call or text 07717 162581 9am-9pm, Monday to Sunday. If we are unavailable, simply leave a message to receive a call back or text to arrange a call together.

We will only respond to customers who make time to leave voice messages.

Can I supply my own strings?

Our labour only service is available but limited for tennis racquets only, & we charge £18 for all synthetics and £25 for anything with natural gut. Natural gut stringing will also include pre stretch and a slow weave.

Where can racquets be dropped?

Racquets can be dropped to suit you using one of our Drop and Collect Services at our Maple Cross, Rickmansworth location between 9am-6pm, Monday to Sunday.

Can I collect after 6pm?

We always try to be flexible with our customers if they cannot collect in our service times. Please contact us in advance of collection if this is the case.

Can someone drop & collect for me?

We always expect the customer to drop and collect for security reasons. If this cannot be achieved, please contact us in advance.

Can I just turn up?

Unfortunately no. Simply call or text us to arrange a racquet drop off or discuss restringing your racquet.

Where are we?

Drop & collect services are at Maple Cross, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire.

• Maple Cross, Rickmansworth
• 10 mins drive from Ricky town
• 10 mins from junction 17 (M25)

What is the best way to contact us?

• Call or Text: 07717 162581
• Mon-Sun: 9am-9pm
• Bank Hols: 11am-4pm

Do we check racquets in advance?

Yes, we do our best to check all racquets for visible cracks and damage but bear no responsibility for frame damage or personal injury aligned with our repair terms and conditions.

Grommets are also checked to see if they need or can be replaced. Faulty grommets may not always present themselves before a restring and can come away when pulling strings. 

Do we check badminton grommets?

Yes as badminton frames present the highest number of grommet repairs.

At the end of our initial badminton racquet inspection, we may advise you that x number of grommet(s) "need" replacement if we feel that there will be a significant impact on string life if not replaced. 

Sometimes, grommets may be worn but not directly impact the string life and are not needed. Please note that grommet charges apply at 50p each accordingly if you wish to proceed with the replacement(s). 

If the racquet grommets cannot be replaced, the frame is discovered as not fit for purpose or the racquet limits the delivery of our service, we reserve the right not to string your racquet. 

What machines types do we use?

Electric machines for accuracy and we do not use drop weight or crank.

If your last stringer used a crank or drop weight on your racquet, please let us know as electric machines pull more accurately and slightly higher.

Do we offer tuition?

Yes, we can and do train people to string for profit or fun. We offer a specialist one day course in badminton or tennis, or you can pay by the hour at £50 per hour.

Who does our UK wide postal?

We use two courier return delivery services if you wish to send us your racquet.

• Parcel Force (48hr)
• Evri (3-5 days)

These service prices include signature and insurance options.

How can I pay for my restring?

• BACS in advance of collection
• Or, pay cash on collection if prefered 

Do restrings have warranties?

Unfortunately no. Once racquets are strung, strings cannot be resold. If there are any problems, we always look to find mutually agreed solutions.

Please see our repair terms and conditions here for further details.

What tension should I use?

For a balance of power and control on most hoop sizes, mid tension is normally the default. 

That said, if you have specific requirements or managing injuries we would guide you to a recommended tension on our consultation.

Tensions will vary based on the racquet hoop size, players age, skill level and the racquet category. Important to discuss with us when you restring so we can help get it right going in with our guidance.

What do tensions give us? 

In general, the higher tension, the more control. The lower the tension, the more power. 

Does weather impact tension?

Remember that string bed tension is dynamic on all racquets and heat can soften the string bed.

For tennis outdoors.

A warmer climate will heat the bed and cause it to loosen more swiftly, so we recommend stringing up in warmer seasons.

In the colder seasons, string down will help protect your arms joints as balls will carry more moisture and have greater impact on the body.

How often should I restring?

If and when the control you need is going or gone, that's the time even if the strings have not split or completely broken.

The web tells us that the number of times per week is the number of times per year we should string. That's not always consistent considering that your intensity levels could vary per session or game.

When you feel the racquet isn't helping it should, that's when it's time to restring.

Should I cut my badminton strings?

When the racquet is ready for stringing, badminton racquet frames will benefit from all their strings being cut.

Badminton frames are not as strong as tennis and squash, so to help avoid pressure on the frame, please cut the strings before having over.

Racquet strings are available in variety of brands, endorsements, profiles, constructions and materials to help deliver and support a style of play for the beginner to professional.

The internet will also host hundreds of accessible blogs to help you do a deep dive into the details, so I will keep this information high level to help clarify the complex topic of string technology.

Common terms in the stringing world you will hear are co-poly, synthetic gut, monofilaments, multifilaments, single wraps, rough, octagonal, natural gut, bite and repulsion etc .

To simplify, most terminology falls under six top level categories that conflate to help allow each string product to support its marketability for the player.

These categories include material, construction, profile, gauge, coatings and contact. 

Material: 

Synthetic materials are man made strings and mass produced in a variety of formats labelled on the back of the string packet.

Synthetics materials can include Polyolefin, Polyester, Co-Poly, Nylon, Polyetheretherketone, Composites along with proprietary products such as Zyex, Kevlar and Vectran.

Natural gut strings are not part of the synthetic category. 

Construction:

Constructions are the methods on how the materials are compiled to provide feel, durability and performance. Common constructions are monofilaments, multifilaments, single wraps, hybrid constructions plus others.  

Profile:

Profiles will determine or refer to how the string shape is designed or shaped to assist with special requirements.

Designs may accommodate extra spin or extra control to help players with these extra needs.

You may hear a string referred to as “product” rough or spin in tennis as an example.

With a rough or spin profile, the string may have a coating or an angled design to help enable more to spin and bite.

Gauge:  

Gauges will refer to the string diameter. The thinner the string, the less durability offered and the thicker the diameter, the more durability. 

Coatings:

Coatings are very common in most strings to aid with extra durability and feel.

For Badminton, Yonex has exemplified this with BG65 with another variant of the original called BG65TI which is a titanium coated version to add more durability.

Another example is Yonex BG80 and it’s power version where different feels are available to accommodate a broader spectrum of player.

Coating allows good marketing and a product to scope its offering to a variety of needs for the player.

Contact:

String contact is commonly termed as “bite” for tennis and squash and repulsion for badminton.

The more bite the string offers, the better the performance. Better bite is normally delivered with thinner gauges enabling strings to embed themselves into the balls more deeply.  

Slightly more control can come from thinner strings all though it is argued that string tension, technique and plough through will be the main driver of control.

Repulsion will be used to articulate contact for badminton and commonly referenced with thinner strings. Good repulsion will support good shuttle connectivity and slight increases in spring and power. 

Below is guidance to help tennis players when thinking of stringing.

Experienced players seeking durability, power and spin with no elbow injuries will benefit from polymers as their profiles and constructions will normally tick the right boxes.

If elbow injuries are managed, a hybrid of polymer and syn gut with lowered tensions is an option to consider.

Hybrid polymer materials plus smart strings are other material options depending on the players on court standard and budget.  

Beginners seeking playability and learning technique will benefit from a string with a good level of feel strung at the right tension depending on the hoop size.

Synthetic gut or even a very soft polymer for added durability would be an option to consider.  

Players with managed elbow or arm injuries might want to consider multifilament constructions. These strings will be much softer and offer power and good feel, but with less durability. 

Natural gut is the next step up and the ultimate in comfort but comes at a price with less durability.

Hybrids are very popular as well for players with elbow injuries strung at the right tensions based on the hoop size. 

Below is some guidance to help Badminton players when thinking of stringing.

Badminton strings are slightly easier to boil down in terms of construction and will normally be produced as multifilaments to enable good levels of power and feel.

Materials can include vectran fibres that are used to reinforce many commercial products such as ropes. Other materials may include Zymax Filaments that offer good durability and feel. 

Strings can be textured or coated in various gauges to assist different playing styles scoping from more power required or assistance with slice shots for both singles and doubles play.

Strings may also be designed to provide different sounds when making contact with the shuttle depending on coatings.

For all round play we can recommend strings with thicker gauges for durability depending on the player style and budget.

For higher performance requirements, thinner strings will tend offer higher repulsion, marginal power increase and better control levels. For more durability, thicker strings will offer more durability.

Below is some guidance to help Squash players when thinking of stringing.

Squash strings are commonly sold in the form of multifilament constructions and single wraps.

Soft synthetic materials that are coated to add extra durability are very popular as the game requires power and feel for the responsive player. 

Multifilament constructions with thinner gauges are very popular in the game among advanced  players to assist with more bite and power.

Multifilament strings will also offer good power bite over syn gut, but reduced durability.

For players who want more durability and less feel, monofilaments can be purchased for more power and durability but slightly less feel.

Thinner gauges will offer more bite but less durability. Thicker gauges will offer more durability and reduced bite.