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Day 12 – Tues 18th Jan
Fingers a bit sensitive today. Not even close to the pain I was in last year. I had 5 on court racquets today so they took a bit of a battering. Got all 5 done in under 18 minutes. The fastest was 14 minutes. That is 14 minutes to cut out the string, measure the string, mount the racquet, string the racquet, straighten the strings, stencil the racquet, bag the racquet and hand it to the runner. The record for any on court racquet by the Wilson team is 13 minutes.
I had 2 on courts in a row, one after the other. Had just finished one then within 30 seconds had another. Later in the day I had one of my players sending in a racquet for every set he played. I was glad he won in 3. Each time a racquet came in from him there was no phone call letting us know a racquet was coming in. Just a ball kid showing up with a racquet.
Finished early tonight. Had a quiet day. Still strung all day but they were mostly for other players. Had another stringer ask for help at 5.30. He had 2 rkts due at 6pm but as he finished the first one he misweaved the bottom cross so needed to have 2 done in 30 minutes.
Left the stringing room at 9.30 and went for beers with Joe.
Home at midnight. Put on a load of washing. I have no clean clothes for tomorrow. Plus all of these hours in my shoes has left them very sweaty. Gross. They smell.
Back and neck feel fine. Not having issues standing at a machine all day. The compression socks make a huge difference. My legs feel fatigued when I don’t have them pulled up.
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.
