Evening reading: Is it easy to earn 30,000 or 40,000 yuan a month? This industry is suddenly popular
2024-08-17
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Hey, friends, today we are going to talk about the mysterious master in the badminton world——
It’s not the athletes that everyone knows on the field, but the stringers behind the scenes!
During the Paris Olympics, many sports related to popular events received widespread attention, triggering a wave of national sports consumption. Among them, the popularity of badminton has made a niche profession more well-known - stringer. There are rumors online that they can achieve a "monthly income of 30,000 to 40,000 yuan."
On August 2, in the mixed doubles badminton final at the Paris Olympics, the Chinese team Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong won the gold medal. Photo/CCTV News
"Too busy to eat, too busy to finish stringing", "A stringing machine earns 200,000 yuan a year", "A badminton racket stringer earns 30,000 to 40,000 yuan a month"...In recent days, the topic of stringers has attracted the attention of many people, and some netizens even jokingly called them the "hidden income champions" outside the Olympics.
The new favorite of the profession: racket stringers
What kind of job is it?
Is it really that profitable?
Being a threader is not an easy job.
The jargon of "three points and seven points line" is a secret weapon that everyone in the industry knows.The soul of a good racket is often hidden in its densely packed strings.
A badminton stringer is a person who is specifically responsible for stringing badminton rackets. In badminton, the quality of the racket's stringing directly affects the player's hitting effect and feel, so professional stringers play an indispensable role in the badminton world.
During the Paris Olympics, the Chinese badminton team's stringer was stringing the athletes' rackets. Photo/Guangzhou Daily New Flower City reporter: Yang Min
According to a report released by the General Administration of Sport of China, badminton is one of the most popular sports in China, with a participating population of 250 million.The National Sports Participation Survey Report shows that badminton has a national participation rate of 35%, ranking second only to running. Badminton, a sport that everyone is familiar with, has become another popular outdoor sport after camping and cycling.
In the past six months, the price increase of badminton has become a trend. The price increase of some badminton balls is even close to 50%. Topics such as "A badminton court is still hard to book at 160 yuan for one hour" and "Workers are crowding into badminton halls" have frequently appeared on hot searches.
On August 4, the Chinese pair Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang (left) were in the competition. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jia Haocheng
As a result, badminton stringers have gradually moved from behind the scenes to the front stage. The reporter learned that "stringer" has recently become a popular search term on many online platforms.Perhaps because of the desire for high salaries or out of their love for badminton, many newcomers have continued to pour into the small circle of stringers in recent years.
Threading may sound easy, but it is not an easy job.Industry insiders said that when stringing, you usually have to stand up and concentrate highly, repeating the process of aiming, threading, and straightening. If business is good, you will stand from morning to night. Many stringers have thick calluses on their hands, and sometimes their finger joints will be cut and bleeding under high intensity and without protective gear.
A threader is working. Photo: Hangzhou TV Station
To become a qualified threader, you need to undergo continuous training and learning.The reporter found that some businesses have launched "threader training", charging 3,000 yuan for a 10-day course."This year, the number of places in our company's stringing classes has been in short supply. In the first half of the year, the two training sessions were fully booked within less than a week." The sales manager of a sports store said that after more than ten days of training, trainees can master the most complicated stringing methods, and the average customer price of this more difficult stringing method is as high as one or two hundred yuan.
Students are taking classes at the stringer training class. Photo/Chao News
More orders, more polarized revenue
According to industry insiders, since March this year, orders for badminton racket stringing have increased by nearly 40% compared to the same period last year. As players have higher demands for individual preferences such as racket elasticity and color, the stringing business has become more and more prosperous.
How much does it cost to string a badminton racket? The reporter learned that badminton racket stringers are not generally "hidden champions" and their incomes are polarized.For most ordinary stringers on the market, the net income from each stringing business is 30-80 yuan. For a few stringers who have participated in international competitions, the labor fee will be 5-10 times higher.
Shao Zongyuan has participated in the stringing of the players' balls for the 2023 BWF World Tour Finals. According to him, a stringer with a monthly income of 30,000 to 40,000 yuan needs to maintain a monthly turnover of 60,000 to 70,000 yuan. Currently, only top stringers can achieve this level. "Many novice stringers earn around 15,000 yuan per month, which is actually quite considerable."
Not only in badminton, stringing is also a very important part of tennis.
Zhao Jingsheng. Photo/Jiangmen Daily
Zhao Jingsheng, a stringer from Pengjiang District, Jiangmen, Guangdong, is the only stringer from mainland China in the 11-member tennis stringing team at the Paris Olympics this year. Zhao Jingsheng has been certified as a Yonex S1-level tennis racket stringer. He spends about one-third of his time traveling on business each year to serve in various professional competitions, but because he has always been behind the scenes, he is not widely known and his income is not high.
Liu Weijiang, president of the Foshan Tennis Association, said:"For amateurs, changing the string once a month is generally enough. Most stringers work multiple jobs to earn an income, and the income is not high if you work as a full-time stringer."
The picture shows netizens’ comments.
For example, if you string 10 tennis rackets a day, the labor cost of changing the string is about 30-40 yuan, and it takes about 20-30 minutes to string a tennis racket. Based on this, the monthly income of a tennis stringer is 9,000-12,000 yuan. For an average stringer, he or she will string 3-4 rackets on a daily basis, and only at tournaments can he or she string 10-20 rackets a day.
In amateur badminton or tennis circles,Stringers are often club clerks or owners of golf equipment stores. Their main profit comes from the sale of goods rather than from stringing itself.
Lin Dan and Guangzhou youth players compete in a badminton doubles exhibition match. Photo/Guangzhou Daily New Flower City reporter: Su Junjie
From the initial manual threading to the current precise positioning and tightness adjustment by the threading machine, the threading quality and efficiency have been significantly improved. In the eyes of many threaders, the "valuable" craftsmanship will continue to be popular.
Through their superb skills and unremitting efforts, stringers have not only won the respect of their peers and athletes, but also realized their own value and dreams in this niche field.
Produced by Guangzhou Daily Media Key Laboratory
Source: Guangzhou Daily Comprehensive News, Dazhong Daily, Foshan News Media Center, Jiangmen DailyText/Guangzhou Daily New Flower City reporter: Zhang YingwuGuangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Li Huiting
