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DAY 3 – Sun 9th JANUARY
Getting busier. Twice as many rkts today. tried out some new clamp bases for the bairdo. They are dual action rather than single action clamps. Not a fan. I switched back to the orig bases after a few rkts on the new ones. There are also some new clamps as well. much lighter with what seems like a better locking action. Will try some tomorrow I hope.
Finally got credit for the cafe . Free lunches are a reality again. Had the best cheesecake this afternoon. OMG. This food is so bad for me. But oh so good.
Joe arrived today. He was on the team last year and is stringing next to me. He is pretty talkative so should keep me entertained. He was looking at my bab tools and said he had some bab clamps at home the same as mine which he didn’t use because they slip all the time. So he offered to send them to me . I have had these clamps for a year and never ever had any slippage at all. None. Zero.
So the very next string job – bang!! clamp slips. FAAAAAAAAARK!!!!!!!!!!! Cut out the strings. First and hopefully the only botched string job for the tment. It was M2 and was working off a spool so luckily we had string there. You do not want a mistake when working with a single set of string that the player has supplied. Then you have to chase them up to ask for more string .
Clamps continued to slip after cleaning. Pulled them apart to scrub the face with a brush. It seems to have worked. Will see how they go tomorrow.
Len ans Vasilly were having an argument about how fast you could string the mains. I told them 4 minutes. Len says he has seen it done in 2 minutes. That is crazy fast.
We are still without an adequate roof. We have covered all of the machines with plastic just in case it rains tonight.
Had the pre tournament meeting tonight. Covered what was expected. Spoke about patterns, knots and tie offs. Also spoke about problem strings and frames and what patterns we would use for them.
Went out to Shanghai Dumpling House for dinner. Met friends there. Dickie, Vasilly, Tadashi, Joe and Ben all came along. I told them how good the dumplings were so they had to see for themselves. Had this amazing swedish cider. Smelled like ripe strawberries. Looks like I have a new favourite drink. Crazy Swedes.
Shane Mikic is the proshop manager for the Tennis Gear stores and their online store www.tennisgear.com.au in Brisbane. He has over 16 years racquet stringing experience and is currently part of the Wilson Global Stringing Team at the 2011 Australian Open. The following blog shares his experiences during his time in the Wilson Stringing room.
