Always ask if the grommets / buffer strip on your racquet are okay. It's a false economy to restring with damaged grommets or a worn buffer, because they protect your strings from friction and contact with the frame.

Your restring should have no more than 4 knots. If it has, take it back and tell the stringer to do it again.

Only the four outside strings should be noticeably looser than the others. If a central string is very loose, take it back.

All strings at the throat of the racquet should be 'locked' in place by being woven under cross strings.

Modern racquets are fairly fragile. When a string breaks it deforms the frame slightly and can cause structural damage. In order to minimize further damage, you should seek to have the racquet restrung as quickly as possible.

Repairs (or 'patching' as it is sometimes called) should only be carried out as a very short-term measure. A broken string means that there has been tension loss over the complete string bed, which will never be regained with a repair.

Conscientious stringers will keep details of your last restring enabling you to have the same string and tension without guessing.

On a final note, choosing a racquet stringer is best done by asking members of both yours and other clubs who they feel gives the best quality of service. Do not be afraid to ask your stringer questions, if they are the professionals you think they are they will clear up any queries.

The vast majority of badminton racquets are strung with a 21 gauge (0.75mm) string. This offers a compromise between durability and performance. Thicker gauge strings will last longer while thinner gauges offer better performance (however, durability could be reduced by up to 25%!).

String movement is another common area of concern; strings do not need to be straight to offer maximum performance. The only strings that do not move are cheap, standard nylon (monofilament) strings. These are prevented from moving by 'notching' into each other. Multifilament strings and natural gut do not notch and will always move. This is a good sign and will never affect the flight of the shuttle.