Too busy to eat, too busy to finish stringing... What exactly is a badminton stringer?
2024-08-14
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The popularity of badminton has brought a niche profession into the spotlight - stringer. Recently, statements such as "a stringing machine can bring in 200,000 yuan a year" and "working 5 hours a day can easily bring in over 10,000 yuan a month" have attracted widespread attention on the Internet.
A badminton stringer is a person who is responsible for stringing badminton rackets. In badminton, the quality of the racket stringing directly affects the player's hitting effect and feel. Therefore, professional stringers play an indispensable role in the badminton world. So what is this job like? What skills training do you need to become a badminton stringer?
A craft that only becomes perfect with practice
Jin Miao has been working at the Guanhua Sports Store located in the Shandong Sports Center for 11 years. She is currently a Yonex certified S2 stringer and can serve in major domestic badminton events.
"Before I started working in this industry, I always thought that you could just pick up a racket and use it. Only after I got in touch with it did I realize there are so many tricks involved." Jin Miao, who had just entered the industry, was not clear about the specific content of her job. After arriving at the store, she began to learn how to string a racket from the old clerk and quickly got the hang of it.
"After getting started, I found that I really like stringing. Every time I finish stringing a racket, it feels like a work of art in my hand, and I feel a sense of accomplishment." Jin Miao introduced that this is a craft in itself, and practice makes perfect.
Jin Miao is arranging the strings of the racket
As Jin Miao became more skilled, more and more customers came to her for stringing. She gradually realized the importance of a stringer: a good stringer can extend the life of the racket and the customer can also have a better sense of playing.
Jin Miao continued to improve his stringing skills, and in recent years he has passed the Yonex Certified S2 Stringer qualification. Currently, there are only two badminton stringers in Jinan who have passed this qualification. "There can be no mistakes during the exam. Every time, there are 100 to 200 people taking the exam at the same time, but no more than 10 people are certified."
According to Jin Miao, with the popularity of badminton in recent years, there are more badminton stringers. "I must keep improving to avoid being eliminated." Jin Miao also plans to continue to obtain the Yonex Certified S1 Stringer certification, which can serve international competitions. "This level is not just about theory and practice, because it needs to serve the international community, and English is also required."
On weekday afternoons, the Guanhua Sports store in Shandong Sports Center is still crowded with customers who come to buy rackets and change racket strings, half of whom are novices who have just "gotten into" the sport of badminton.
"There are many types of rackets, including offensive rackets, speed rackets, and rackets that can be used for both offense and defense." "Girls are recommended to use 22 pounds, while boys can use 23 pounds. If you don't choose the right weight for the racket string, you may get hurt." Jin Miao introduced to customers who came to the store to choose rackets. Although she is now a professional stringer, her daily work is not just stringing.
"In addition to stringing, sales work must also be done well." Jin Miao said that many customers who come to buy rackets will also buy clothes and shoes suitable for playing tennis. She also needs to be familiar with other products in the store to facilitate recommendations for customers. In addition, each brand will launch a new racket every year. Jin Miao must be very familiar with the features of the new model, which group of people it is suitable for, and the differences between brands.
Too busy to have lunch
Jin Miao arrives at the store at 8:45 every day, and soon customers start arriving. "I spend almost the entire morning stringing, and sometimes I don't have lunch until 2 p.m. There's only half an hour for lunch, so I have to eat a few bites before I start stringing again." Jin Miao's busy day doesn't end until 8 p.m. But sometimes she can't finish stringing by 8 p.m., so she has to wait until the store opens the next day to continue stringing.
"Generally, if you buy a new racket, you will be given priority for stringing. If you come here specifically to change the string, you may have to wait a while." Jin Miao said that many old customers have long been accustomed to the busy stringing in the store, and will come back to pick up the racket a few days after it is delivered. Jin Miao observed that many customers who come to buy rackets now may buy multiple rackets per person, and many friends come to buy in groups. Every time, before the previous racket is finished, three or four people are already in line behind him.
As one of the few certified needle threaders in the city, Jin Miao has many customers who come to her and specifically request that she string the needle for them personally, which adds a lot of workload to her.
"Some customers from other places recognize my skills and will contact us in advance. If it is inconvenient for them to come, they will send the rackets to them, and we will string them and then send them back," said Jin Miao.
Jin Miao is stringing the racket
When she first started, it took Jin Miao an hour to string one racket. As she sewed more rackets, she became more and more skilled. "It takes me about 20 minutes to string one racket now. If it's a two-color thread, it will take a little longer, about 24 minutes." Although Jin Miao is now very skilled, the store has to string an average of 30-40 rackets every day, and she can't keep up.
In addition to Jin Miao, there are several other employees who can string tennis rackets in the store, but there are only two stringing machines. "You need to stand when stringing so that you can see the strings more clearly. I stand all day long, and sometimes I am so tired that I will take turns to rest with other employees." Jin Miao said, "No matter how hard I work, I can only string more than 10 rackets a day."
The demand for customized badminton rackets is increasing
Jin Miao can clearly feel that there are more and more badminton enthusiasts. "This sport is very popular and there is no entry barrier. Even if it is your first time playing, you can catch a few balls."
Badminton has penetrated into people's lives and has become an indispensable part of China's sports industry. As early as 2016, the number of badminton players in China exceeded 200 million.
Jin Miao observed that not all the people who come to the store to consult racket information, choose racket strings and customize the poundage are experienced badminton "enthusiasts". "When I first entered the industry, I also thought that ordinary people playing badminton would be good enough to buy a pair of ordinary finished rackets. Now it seems that many people have very high requirements for equipment when they play for the first time."
When choosing a racket in a store, the hardness of the middle shaft, the height of the balance point, the weight of the badminton racket, the thickness of the handle, the size of the racket frame... these data have become important considerations for customers to customize their own rackets. As consumers pursue personalization and unique experiences, the demand for personalized customization is growing in the field of outdoor sports products. More and more consumers want to have unique sports equipment and customize it according to their preferences and needs.
"Nowadays, many customers who have just entered the store have very high requirements for equipment and come to the store to choose their own entry-level equipment. Most customers' entry-level equipment is not only very professional, but also very personal in color matching." Jin Miao said that the store originally had a wall of racket strings to choose from, but recently there have been so many people coming to buy rackets that many models have been out of stock, and several racket strings are no longer available in all colors.
(Reporter Jia Hanyu and Lu Le from Dazhong News)
