Here's the thing, would you buy a car and never get it serviced?
That, in a sense, is what you're doing if you never get your racket restrung.
People pay good money for their racket and they like the way it plays when new but, over time, the performance of the racket will change and this is mainly due to strings losing tension and with that their ability to perform.
The strings are the engine of the racket and, if you play regularly, your strings should be changed
AT LEAST every 6 months.
In most rackets there is only one string throughout the whole racket. Over time, this string can stretch, slip at the knots or, in our weather, absorb moisture and become lifeless.
In this piece, I will go through the various types of strings available, the type of player they suit, their benefits and downfalls and the tension range recommended for your frame.
Generally, unless you buy a frame-only racket and specify the string type and tension, most rackets will be strung with synthetic gut and midway in the recommended range.
The recommended range is the range at which the suppliers think the racket will perform at its best.
Each recommended range usually offers a 10lb margin eg. 50-60lb.
The higher the tension the greater the control, the lower the tension the greater the power.
Different string types offer different levels of power or control. Below are the different string materials available and also the types of player they suit.
String thickness has a strong bearing on how your racket will perform. String thickness or 'gauge' ranges from 15 (thickest) to 19 (thinnest).
Generally, thinner strings offer greater playability and the possibility of more spin as they embed into the ball more while thicker strings offer greater durability.
Material Types:
Synthetic Gut:
This covers both nylon and synthetic gut, since in reality they are the same thing. Synthetic gut is made up of high quality nylon. Most people still use this type of string as it offers a good level of durability, as well as playability, which is what most club players want.
Even in hybrids, which will be explained later, nylon is generally used as the cross strings.
Topspin:
This is still a synthetic gut but with a roughness to it. It offers everything normal synthetic gut offers but with the potential for more spin as the roughness grips the ball more.
Polyester:
This is the fashionable string of the moment and alot of people ask for this string without really knowing what it is supposed to do. It is a more durable string so for the person that is regularly breaking strings it is one worth considering but know what it does before changing over to it.
It doesn't move and deadens the string bed. This allows the hard hitters, fast swingers, to really go after the ball and still have good control.
Polyester strings offer little power or feel, so expect balls to land short of the baseline unless you increase your swing speed to compensate.
Polyester string is not recommended for beginners, or those suffering from tennis elbow.
Hybrids:
This is where players combine polyester mains with a softer cross string, either synthetic gut, or for the professional feel, natural gut.
This offers the durability benefits of polyester and reduces the stiff, dead feel from the string bed.
Again, not recommended for beginners or players with, or prone to tennis elbow.
How to choose your tension:
As I said earlier "the higher the tension the greater the control, the lower the tension the greater the power".
Control - tighter strings, means less deflection and because of this the ball deforms more, providing less return than looser strings. This means the ball won't take off when you hit it.
Beginners who say they want control don't need tight strings, they need a soft, forgiving stringbed that lower tensions provide.
Power - When you lower the tension the stringbed will deflect more and therefore the ball less, returning greater energy to the ball thus giving more power.
One of the benefits of stringing the racket at lower tension is less chance of tennis elbow. This is because lower tensions provide a softer feel and larger sweetspot, reducing the amount of shock and vibration to the arm.
I hope you find this a useful article and if you have any other questions you can email me at
rob_leahy@yahoo.co.uk.
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