Or – “why do I have four knots and not just two?”
Most racquets can be strung using one piece of string, resulting two tie-off knots. That being said, more and more manufacturers require two-piece string jobs on their racquets, resulting in four knots – for the two pieces of string. One good example is Head – which requires two-piece stringing for all their performance frames, otherwise they void the warranty on the racquet.
One reason for a two-piece string job could be that the mains end at the throat. You should avoid starting crosses at the throat on any tennis racquet. (Note: it is okay to start crosses at the throat for squash racquets).
Starting crosses at the throat could also be avoided by stringing “around the world”, but there too, you might have a 90 or 270 degree turn between a main and a cross, which could break through a section of the frame where the grommets are very close. This is one reason why Head would deny a warranty claim on o racquet with a one-piece stringing job.
On every string job, the last few crosses are “hard weaves”. There is a good chance that these crosses will not be pulled to the same tension as the other ones due to the pulling force being reduced by high friction. Since you will hit way more balls with the head area of the racquet than the throat, and the sweet spot is closer to the head area too, the last thing you want is inconsistent tension in this area of the racquet. If your last 2-3 crosses at the throat are “missing a couple of pounds” that’s okay (well, sort of…), but it is very bad if crosses at the head are not pulled properly.
Note: in most cases we will pull hard weaves twice to minimize tension loss (always on closed patterns).
An other, obvious, reason for a two-piece string job is the wide use of “hybrid” stringing – using different strings for mains and crosses. Most ATP/WTA players use some sort of hybrid strings, as you can see here.
I personally, prefer the hybrid stringing because of the endless possibilities of string combinations, and the cost-reduction element of hybrid stringing.
Even if you only break the mains (or crosses) of a hybrid string job, you will still have to replace the full stringbed. There’s no “ifs and buts and workarounds”.
A final note on stringing: we will never string a tennis racquet starting crosses at the throat. We will string “two-piece” whenever necessary, or ATW (“around the world”) in the very rare situations where “two-piece” is not recommended/possible.
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