Many players simply don’t pay attention to the protection the “Bumper Gaurd” at the top of the racquet provides and, therefore, the racquet and certainly the string can be badly damaged!

Bad Bumper Guard!

When you see a grommet that looks like this it can lead to racquet damage as evidenced by the thin white line.  This indicates the wear of a thin layer of graphite (what your racquet is made of) which, if left unattended, can lead to catastrophic ($$$) failure!

If you look closely you will see scuffing of the string which is now exposed to court scraping.  What can cause court scraping?  The primary cause is picking up the ball(s) using your racquet and your foot!  This activity drags the racquet across the court hundreds of times and before you know it the string and racquet are runied!

I suggest you take a good look at your protection, and, if you are picking the ball up with your racquet, don’t!