Stringing the Head Black Widow 160 Racketball Racket.

One of the most tricky Racketball rackets to string, the Head Black Widow has a wave fan pattern, mains only pulled at the head, shared/double-barrelled grommets and hidden grommets on the sides!
You can follow these tips for other similar Head Racketball rackets such as the Black Jack and Radical series.

[@gregtippings4542]

Thanks Jon, very useful & saved me from giving the racket back in failure 😂

[@stringdoctor6238]

@@gregtippings4542 no problem. Racketball designers like testing us!

[@tonyrodriguez2543]

Great video, thanks!

[@Pileyrei]

Thanks for this very helpful video. I hate these rackets! Unnecessary complicated patterns. Only get a few in from time to time and have finally noted down the various patterns for them.

[@patbalfour5873]

I normally string tennis rackets, so thanks for the video. It was a lot of help...!!!

[@stringdoctor6238]

Glad you liked it 👌

[@level27xrock]

Another quality vid Doc! ;) My one minor complaint with the Baiardo; of course I love mine, it’s a phenomenal machine, I just wish the two posts were a bit further back to better accommodate racquetball frames so we’d get a little more room near the head so the machine clamps can get up underneath to the top crosses on these frames to use starting clamps for tie offs on top cross. Otherwise we got to resort to starting knots if doing 2pc or pulling the 2nd cross and first cross at the same time if doing a one piece 😩 A small complaint, but I gotta hand it to the Gamma machines, almost all of their tables can adjust their towers so it’ll allow this extra space on racquetball frames. Cheers!

[@stringdoctor6238]

Well observed. To be honest it's only a handful of RB rackets that are effected by this. There is a solution though. You can get adaptors (think Gefen do them) which are really handy for creating extra space if needed. I occasionally use if needed. I actually find that a starting not on the crosses on this frame is better due to the concave inside the frame anyway 👍

[@level27xrock]

Starting knot does look tidier in the concave frames. I do a lot of Gearbox frames, they’re pretty popular in my local community, and in the US in general, not sure if Gearbox is big over in the UK but their frames also got a concave. I may do a video or two on some frames that you and some other tubers haven’t covered yet just for some fresh takes and looks and to provide some visuals for other stringers out there 😁 I created a different channel “Tactile Stringing” for these

[@stringdoctor6238]

@@level27xrock gearbox not big over in the UK, though you can buy the rackets. Karakal massive for racketball in the UK, along with Head, Wilson and Dunlop. Ektelon also has a steady stream of loyal players too. Would be interested to see your work on the gearbox rackets though as so far, none have come to me!

[@davidsilos7241]

Thanks for making the video! Can the restring pattern be done with one piece rather than two piece? I think it can, but I might have to measure the short side.

[@stringdoctor6238]

@@davidsilos7241 yes, can definitely be done as one piece. However, head recommend two piece stringing and for this racket, with its hidden grommets, I would absolutely only do two piece. Otherwise you might get some pretty severe tension slip on the long side.

[@jdoza5184]

Doc, I just purchased a Head Graphene Radical 170, upon examining it I noticed there were no grommets protruding from inside the frame for the bottom 10 cross strings which of course would protect against string wear from the frame. The string literally rubs against the frame. I’m not comfortable with that design as I believe I would be snapping strings on a regular basis. Did you encounter the same design on the racquet your stringing and your thoughts. Thank you.

[@stringdoctor6238]

Hey there, I've not had any issues with this racket and I string a lot of the variants. Because the grooves are smooth inside (no sharp edges) it's fine. I have some national champions using the frame and haven't seen problems. I normally use a string like Prince Duraflex on these rackets which works well. Anywhere between 30 - 36lbs tension.

[@ron1n1]

Hahahahha the Restring POV camera is great. I never played racket ball before. Is the grip normally that high up?

[@stringdoctor6238]

Yep, grip usually pretty high up as head large and smaller handles. This Guy's gripped it probably 1cm higher than normal though 👍

[@Pileyrei]

Thanks for this very helpful video. I hate these rackets! Unnecessary complicated patterns. Only get a few in from time to time and have finally noted down the various patterns for them.