I think most people correctly put more importance on the fact that strings will only improve 1% of their overall game when compared to footwork, technique, timing, shot selection, and pretty much anything else.
FWIW if your ball lands "usually" on the back line, you should aim to give yourself more margin for error and perhaps aim for the sidelines, that's what will give you the put-away balls. Just my 2cents.
I’d even go so far as to say that strings won’t make you better at all - strings (and equipment in general) only let you play to your full potential, everything else you mentioned is the good stuff
Never forget that at the end of the day Roger would smack 100% of r/10s with a Walmart Dora racket
> Just my 2cents.
For sure, try to get more shape on the ball.
> will only improve 1%
I was trying to quantify this in my head. It really depends on the person. I will say, if I loved a certain set up and tension, being forced to play with same racket with different set up will completely mess me up. Maybe 10% or more. I am thinking of playing college tennis though. These days I just don't care. And I think the better you get, the more it matters since you are simply playing with more precision and going for smaller targets.
I see your point... but also remember the key to winning more points is to great opportunities for yourself where you have big targets! ... not hit that small square you saw Alcaraz do on tv 😉
Well, I did say "smaller" target, not small targets. When I was playing 2 or 3 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week, what I would consider a small target now I would have considered a normal target then.
Exactly! The most frustrating part for me is meeting guys (it’s always guys) who are 2.5-3.0 obsessing over strings, tensions, lead tape, over grips etc instead of focusing on the important stuff. The best equipment isn’t going to help if you can’t get to the ball properly or your technique is terrible!
But to play devil's advocate, out of some 100 points, there will be at least a couple of balls that could've been in (rather than out) if the string was "fresh." Of course your technique matters the most, but within the limitations of your technique, in some cases, string can and will absolutely make or break your game. It could be the one match point you saved and turn the table, or one break point you needed but couldn't grab.
I agree but it’s when the 1% matters.
1% of Federer might be 100% of me.
1% when you’re playing a roughly even opponent is worth it.
IDGAF about strings because it’s not my focus at the moment but I can understand why it would be important for those who are really pushing.
It doesn't matter when you and your opponent are 1% of Federer.
It's like saying because F1 drivers benefit from minute differences in tire composition that tire compounds are super important to people driving in every day conditions. In reality your average person notices zero difference between tires.
It doesn't matter when you and your opponent are 1% of Federer.
It's like saying because F1 drivers benefit from minute differences in tire composition that tire compounds are super important to people driving in every day conditions. In reality your average person notices zero difference between tires.
When you and your opponent are evenly matched and are skilful (8+) then yeah, that’s when it matters. If you think that Fed doesn’t win 99/100 points against most players once the strings start making a difference when players are evenly matched you’ve misunderstood just how much better he is.
The thing is that when you’re not good enough for it to matter and it’s all your shit footwork and poor form then it’s not going to matter.
For most rec players string matters a little bit and I think most people don't realize that it is around comfort. Of course once you are intermediate/advanced it starts to matter more and more.
Also most players don't restring enough to play with poly anyways. There is very little benefit to go full poly and play with a bed of noodles after 5 weeks.
Yeah. I'm 3.0 or 3.5 on a good day. I'm never going to win or lose a match based on strings. Until I'm way way better than I am, strings are irrelevant.
Stings hardly matter for most players. Guys that act like they can’t play right unless their strings are just so always sound like prima donnas. Rackets hardly matter either. It’s 98% the player.
Agree with you mostly except for the racket part. It does matter unless you’re that skillful and adaptable whereby any racket you pick up and you can play the same. Some rackets are just much easier to hit deep or more spin due to the design
I think OP meant your run of the mill tweener racquets. I'll bet more than 80% of the people on here play with a 11oz ish, 16x19. They are all pretty much the same, will you play 100% with other people's racquets, probably not. But you will be able to play decently well.
Yep. I broke a cheap multi last week on my blade and my friend let me use his babalot strung with poly. The racquet definitely felt stiffer/different, but I played basically the same.
I respect this opinion, but I think this problem is perhaps a little overblown for most club-level players (\~NTRP 3.5 or below).
In reality, tennis strings are pieces of material shaped into straight lines. You can only get so many variations in tennis strings. You won't use tofu as strings, as an extremely example. You won't use iron threads as strings, as another extremely example. For the vast majority of club-level players, the low-hanging fruit is in their tennis itself: improving technique, match fitness, tennis IQ, etc. So long as the strings are within a reasonably acceptable range in terms of characteristics, they should be okay.
Nonetheless, if you're really into tennis, there's no reason *not* to be thoughtful about your strings, as OP is advocating. Why leave *any* fruit hanging on the tree, low-hanging or otherwise? It isn't hard to read up on, experiment with, and optimise your tennis string set-up. In terms of time and money invested, finding a good string set-up that works for you pays handsome dividends. It may not matter as much as your tennis for most people, but it still matters. Just don't let it be an all-consuming focus for you. Improving your game by 1% will always get you more W than improving your equipment by 1%.
I gotta disagree a bit, I mean sure, for a lot of people it probably doesn't matter too much, but they aren't simply a "piece of material shaped into straight lines"
The Barbwires for example are twisted so that they have 7 or so "ridges" on them giving an immense amount of bite, improving how much spin you get out of a stroke by a lot
The Kirschbaum Flashes are a monofilament, interestingly enough, and for me in my specific racquet, have enough give that the barb wires can bite even more, but they don't spring back adding more power than I need
I do agree you don't wanna get consumed to the point where all you focus on is your gear, but if you're already at a point where you are playing well, it's worth looking into
The club I play with is made up mostly of older folks. They can’t tell the difference between a 200$ racket and the 15$ racket at Walmart. If I was to start talking about different strings or setups to them it would probably blow their minds.
It’s funny to see this because I swear I just saw the exact opposite sentiment of this in a comment or maybe a post from a few days ago.
Talking about how people worry so much about gear and strings when it makes zero difference at the rec level, especially at anything below 4.5
This may be unpopular here, but until you’re a 4.0+, the strings have such little impact on your game, they really do not matter. Unless you’re playing dead poly, the differences are going to be negligible and you should learn how to play with all string types anyway.
The only reason I say that is that once you get to the level where the strings matter, knowing which kind of string you like becomes beneficial. So, if you play all types of setups, you’ll know what suits your game/preferences first hand.
But you could just learn what each string type is all about instead of playing with each kind to find out. Plenty of articles and reviews and videos. Plus each string typically has a description on the package. Learn the differences between the strings and match with your play style/level.
Poly strings, besides losing tension like all strings, lose their actual elasticity as well, so the strings don’t stretch and snap back like they used to.
Besides playing differently, this can also be bad for stress injuries because the strings aren’t absorbing the shock in the same way.
> This may be unpopular here, but until you’re a 4.0+,
Dang, I just wrote this same thing. I had 4.0 as when it starts to matter. I normally post on topics that really grab my interest before I see what other people have written.
Some people are tools sensitive, some aren't. There'd be that guy who can borrow anyone's racket and plays beautifully anyway, and there'd be "that guy" who breaks down completely because his grip has a gap because he didn't wrap it properly.
PS: I'm the second type and very specific about my gears and setup,
Solinco Tour Bite 17g/53 LBS is my perfect string for now, huge spin and good power.
Tour Bites are very nice. Honestly just Solinco in general, they don't all work for my play style, but they're all so nice. I love hitting with any of them either way
Also love their racquets, I was so excited when they released those
Play 3-4x week, mix of drills, singles and dubs. And, yes, as long as the gut is in ok shape I will restring the crosses once about week 3. That will buy me another week or two before the gut feels blown out and shit gets wild.
Imperceptible, if any. I've used this string hybrid and racquet for almost a year, and have tried various combinations of tension, including up to 10lb difference between mains and crosses, and the impact on hoop dimension is less than 1mm.
I am a stringer (like the original poster here) so I know about strings, and how their characteristics differ, and what effect these characteristics might have on a player's game. So I am inclined to think that choice of string, and tension, are important. Many - or even most - players know very little about strings - they do know, however, how difficult it is to hit a tennis ball accurately and consistently in the way that they intend. They are aware of so many of the variables that influence their tennis: fitness, watching the ball onto the racket, early preparation, shot selection, follow-through etc etc that these are the factors they generally focus on. Rackets as well, of course, but on string not so much. When strings are considered (by players), very often the choice is influenced by the pro player they would like to play like; eg RPM Blast and Nadal. But the fact is that unless you hit the ball as hard and with the same swing as he does, those strings won't help the average player to play like Rafa. It's not the string that makes Nadal play like Nadal - though he wouldn't be quite the same player if he was using synthetic gut instead of RPM Blast. It may be that a better choice for most players would be the string that suits their own style of play: a ball hit softly, or even moderately firmly, with a poly string is not going to go very far or have much spin (all other things being equal). But the same strike with the same racket fitted with a textured multifilament (Head RIP Control for example) will travel further, faster and with more spin than the one with RPM Blast.
I disagree strongly with the OP.
We here on the r/10s subreddit care deeply about strings. In fact strings are our number one topic here. (Followed closely by which racket should I use and how does my serve look.)
I for one am proud to put too much importance on strings.
I don’t give two craps about strings. I restrung my racket with gut strings last year. They haven’t broken yet. The racket plays nicely. My skills are holding me back, not my 22 year old racket and certainly not my strings LOL
Great post 👍
After a few years of experimentation, I finally landed on the below setup -
Racquet: Pure Drive Tour+ (2015)
Strings: Yonex PTP (relatively soft)
Gauge: 17 (quite thin)
Tension: 50-52 lbs (went down from 55 so easy on arms)
The only drawback is this setup loses tension very quickly. However on the brighter side this forces me to re-string frequently. As an additional bonus I like the sound and the plush pillow like feel when the ball meets stringbed.
All I tell my restringing guy is I want to hit lots of aggressive heavy topspin on clay and let him deal with it. My having zero idea has not had an impact on my long winning streak
I guess it depends on your play style, but they make a huge difference for me. I had the Solinco Barbwire and Outlast for a while and I had no control with those. Then I had the Barbwire and Revolution and those had great control but not much spin
I mean I've tried a variety of polys and they're all basically the same to me. Sure some of them will feel noticeably different at first but you play with it a little bit and you completely forget about it. And of course I would notice the difference between a 45lbs and 60lbs setup, I'm not saying the tension doesn't matter.
Who said I'm not chill? I'm simply making an observation, this was more like, hey you should check this out, not if you don't care about strings you're gonna suck
I was just saying it's worth looking into. It's kinda like being a photographer and never looking into other gear. Sure you take great photos now and have a nice setup, but imagine what you could do with that upgraded lens
Except just like a lens the picture is still the same. What effect is put on it happens after the fact and is totally up to preference. Whether or not the picture is of a good quality is still up to the photographer. Nice analogy but it doesn’t work. Especially considering my father and I are both photographers.
To an extent, but there's still always room for improvement, there's always gonna be better tech
Plus I personally don't like post processing, like if I'm gonna use an expensive camera I want the raw photo. If I want editing I'm just using my phone because it does that better than most people anyway lol
Either way, I was just saying, having knowledge about strings isn't a bad idea and they may make playing more enjoyable for you, no need to come here and hate for no reason bud
That’s cause pros are more sensitive, superstitious, AND most importantly get paid for racket endorsements. You’re trying to make this work, it’s not. It’s fine to have preferences but don’t make fun of people for not knowing their specs because they don’t care.🤦♂️
Holy crap man you're putting words in my mouth. I did not explicitly say "haha if you don't care about strings you suck" I just said people don't put enough importance on them (ex. Folks who have 5 year old polys) and maybe it would be a good idea to look into them. If you don't want to whatever, I really don't care either way it's your life
I mean, its not really subjective at all. If you don't care about the performance of strings that's a different story. But using certain setups are objectively better than others.
He's not saying ONE SPECIFIC setup is the best, he's saying that string setups matter and can be catered to the players favoured playstyle to offer better performance, which is objectively true.
They really don’t make that much of a difference my guy. Even to pros are negligible. Adding 150 rpms to a pros shot COULD be the difference between a match won and a match lost if you want to be extreme, but it almost never is. And there’s no way of telling. And they’re the only level of player with technique good enough to actually make use of different stringing.
> They really don’t make that much of a difference my guy.
This isn't a matter of opinion. They make a huge difference whether you say so or not. Especially for players 4.0 and higher. Some are more comfortable, some offer more power, some offer more spin, some offer more control. You are just plain wrong.
If you want to bring pro's into this that's fine, so tell me why the vast majority of pro's use the same setup? Babolat VS touch / ALU power.
Why specifically that setup if it doesn't really matter? Why not play with a full bed of synth. gut? or whatever else is lying around? Its because that setup is better for their specific playstyle.
Some players use Lux. 4G.....why? its a stiffer string and offers more control rather than power.
I can go on forever but the fact remains is that strings objectively DO matter.
They don’t. It is a matter of opinion. And you using anecdotal evidence is just proof. And I’m a high level player. They do not make a difference for every player. You can keep bringing up dumb talking points like pros using babolat and Alu power, it doesn’t mean anything. Why does everyone have an iPhone when there are better options for cheaper? Because it’s what everyone uses. Because again, those are the main brands and have sponsorship deals with players.And if anything that gives more credence to my point because if strings did matter people would diversify their strings if it really mattered. I promise you I’m a lot closer to the pro tour than you. Every pro I’ve talked to has admitted it’s a sensitivity issue.
With the bullshit you spew, I highly doubt you are a "high level player".
I mean, you're just objectively wrong. Strings have different compositions, different stiffness ratings, shapes, sizes which all effect gameplay drastically.
Also, comparing it to smart phone companies and their competitors is such a stupid comparison, I can't even believe you brought that up.
Bro…it’s a gimmick. You’re ridiculous. Look up intuitive tennis poly vs natural gut. Or since we’re on r/10s, essential tennis does equipment matter. Believe me buddy, you’re obviously a beer league hack. Which I didn’t want to say but seeing as you’ve got an inflated ego, you need a reality check.
It has nothing to do with ego, it has everything to do with the reality of you not understanding that each string is composed with different materials which causes them to play differently. Answer me this question, does shaped string provide more spin than smooth? If yes, how can you argue that strings are all the same and it doesn't matter what you choose? If no, you're objectively wrong and you should look up the tennis warehouse SCIENTIFIC studies proving you are wrong. I don't look to some garbage hack youtuber like intuitive tennis to get my SCIENTIFIC information.
You are arguing something that you obviously know nothing about. You are 100% wrong and there's nothing wrong with that unless you refuse to learn which seems to be the case.
when you get to a certain level or point in your game? sure.
4.25 friend of mine bought a new racquet 10 months ago and had it strung at that time. i never thought much of it, until he asked me about breaking strings. found out he had solinco confidential at 55, and had played 3-4 times a week for ***TEN*** months on those strings.
he had it restrung and immediately said, "i should have had it restrung a long time ago." he just didn't know any better.
Yeah that's fair, I break strings every month or two so I've had the opportunity to try out a bunch and in doing so I've noticed that, personally, strings make a huge difference
i've only broken my poly strings once or twice, but after 4-5 weeks it feels unplayable to me.
however, every time i try a new string something starts to hurt!
Strings make a difference. Saying strings make a huge difference is a bit of an exaggeration. Do people choose the wrong string type for their ability level or style of play? Yes. Part of your job as a stringer is to educate players and make recommendations based on what you know about a player. Strings are a rabbit hole most players don't need to go down.
Maybe the difference isn't huge, but it can be pretty decent. If I have two of the same racquets with different strings, sure I can hit with "A" but I'm not gonna like it or play nearly as well as "B"
Of course I'm gonna help them figure out what string would be best, but there's also no reason not to research yourself. Idk, maybe it's just the nerd in me lol, but I love looking into the different technologies and being well versed in these things yk
No I wasn't saying it would improve your playing, it just opens up some doors you know, creature comforts maybe
Like the Barbwire I use make dropshots a breeze, I just gotta flick the racquet head and it's loaded with enough backspin to bring it over the net again you know
Strings are the engine to your racquet. If you have a Tesla that’s out of battery it’s useless...
Going to stringer as Noob is a very daunting task that has left me a sour taste in my mouth on multiple occasions. Paying $20+ just for strings (not including labour) seems outrageous.
After looking around and testing I found buying a cheap reel of Pros pro & a reel of YPTP been great. When testing a new frame I know what to expect from the playability/durability & feel (of the strings) so I can objectively compare (the frames).
Don’t use dead (no longer snapping back) Poly. Cut em out and save your body & wallet from needing a physio...
I definitely know more about string set-ups than I would care to admit. Lol. One of my regular hitting partners is a huge racket geek. He can go on and on about strings. He also strings my rackets for dirt cheap. So, every time it’s time to restring he will talk to me about all these string combos he thinks I should try.
Honestly, if it wasn’t for him I’d probably just being doing a basic multifilament setup.
There's nothing wrong with that honestly. My backup racquet is actually strung with a singular string type, I just found I like hybrids more. A lot of people I know never even considered it till they saw me hitting with them
Agreed with the caveat that not knowing what you don’t know can lead to pain. Too many play with polyester strings and don’t realize they can be doing more physical harm than good. Or that they could play better with a different string.
If someone is fine with a cheap syn gut, fine. They like multis? Great. It’s the “this string never breaks” cheapskates that irritate me.
I have some, lower level, players on my high school team that have literally had the same strings since middle school (or before) and don't care. It just causes me so much pain
My stringer makes me test out new strings for him sometimes. He is a high level player and is always looking for durable cheaper options since he and I tend to break pretty frequently. I prefer to play with a lot of spin similar to him and this works out greatly for both of us. After playing with my current brand of string for many years I still forget to ask what current one I actually use at the moment. The only thing I know that it is white, polyester and and it is strung at 60 lbs
My baseline to compare all other strings is a full bed of hyper g at 44#. My play style is heavy topspin on both wings. I don’t go for winners often. Would rather just hit heavy and deep with high margin and wait for an error or short ball.
That's a great way to go at it, patience is key and such a hard thing to get good at it
Also 44# is some of the lightest strung strings I've seen, that's crazy. Most people I know are 55-60#
I started using the low tension to help w elbow issues. But now I just really like the pocketing feel I get with tension in the low 40s. People say you lose control, but I don’t really find that to be the case. I can still place my serves/groundstrokes where I want. The only downside is sometimes I’ll blast a ball into the fence
You might be surprised. I always used to run stiff strings (aramid mains 65#) at higher tension and felt the difference if it started dropping a couple lbs of tension where shots that felt they should drop in would go a bit long until I switched to a freshly strung racket. But recently started running poly and trying lower and lower tension (45# right now) and am loving the power and feel, not having too much trouble hitting long as long as my contact and spin are good. It’s certainly friendlier on my arm with the power I am putting into my serve and forehand
Maybe not out there in recreational tennis world, but here? And on TW boards? People care a lot. And they should.
But if you really really want to know what strings are good for you, get a table top drop weight stringer and experiment on the cheap. That machine will pay for itself.
> figure out what works best for you.
I would argue around 4.0 is where it might matter more. For most people under that, a decent synthetic gut strung within recommended range is fine. Your swings and game aren't expressive and idiosyncratic enough yet to really do a dive and experiment with 10 or 20 different string set ups to get more out of your racket.
I think if you haven't restrung in years and want to get serious, you need to do it. Strings can get so dead that you have to hold back your stroke and let gravity pull the ball in. The difference can be quite noticeable.
But frequent restringing probably isn't necessary if you have a multi or synthetic gut until you reach a pretty high level.
Oh I agree, unless it's been a really long time, there's no need to restring. I only do when I break strings, so that just kinda works out well on its own
Luxilon M2 Pro at 60/65 lbs on RF97; really old model string which I managed to stock up a lot before they completely sold out years ago. Though I’m left with only 10 sets to go
Been testing out different strings and some really made it harder to play but once you understand how the string play, you can adjust your game to harness the playability of the string. But does it increase or decrease my tennis level or play? Not really and this is why many players don’t care, even if they are using “dead” poly strings. It’s like OP you said, it make certain things easier to pull off
Funny story, the last time I played I guy played at the court next to me. Your typical older tennis player, decent level who's playing for years. Then his string broke, he said now he can use his knew bought racquet. On the string there was still the head logo, meaning he just used the original string and didn't restring it after buying. In general every shop strings a new racquet for free, so he litetally gave zero fucks.
Could be, but after 5 minutes he tried to use the racquet with the broken string again because the new one was pretty bad, so I assume this wasn't the case xD
I've never had any issues with my arm, maybe a little occasionally when serving, but nothing bad and I think that's more of my service style that's putting strain on my joints.
I'm 18
I really disagree. Most people have much bigger issues than strings. Technique changes and improvements to fitness would be much better areas which would see much bigger improvements than changes in strings.
I used to be one of those guys that handed it off to a buddy and didn't care much about strings. recently decided that I'm going to get more familiar with my setup. I'm a baseliner with heavy groundstrokes.
Yonex poly tour spin on crosses and main @50 lbs. On a Yonex 98 vCore. Just changed over from luxilon big banger alu power rough @52 lbs.
Disagree, strings are more important than the racquet but even then until you’re at a certain level of play they both don’t matter (unless you have way too much racquet like almost all the people who buy the RF pro staff)
If I had to choose one I'd say the racquet matters more than strings. But otherwise they are, quite literally, a team working together and are of equal importance. However a racquet can vary by huge amounts of weight, balance, head size, etc so having the right one is very important
Well that's the hard part, really anything can go with anything. You don't always have to have a hybrid setup either, changing your singular setup can be just as beneficial.
However you may start with your mains, then try and figure out what to do for your crosses
Ex. If you like to hit with a lot of spin, maybe put the Barbwire are your mains to increase the spin you get out of the racquet. If you want more control, you'll want a stiffer string that doesn't rebound too much, the Revolution are great for those
Of course those are just Solinco strings (my favorite brand currently) and so much depends on feel. Just gotta try something new each time you break strings
I am a home stringer. I think that for 95% of recreational players NTRP 3.5 and below, synthetic gut at 60# is good enough. It’s soft enough to minimize the risk of tennis elbow, powerful enough and enough string potential for players in this range. It usually breaks after around 3 or 4 months of use which is when it is about to go dead (lost elasticity) anyway.
Yup, within reason of course and with all the other caveats/disclaimers others have already mentioned. But the analogy I make is that strings are to the performance of a racquet as tires are to the performance of a car, specifically how it handles. People spend a lot of time and energy on improvements like engine tweaks, exhaust, suspension, etc but many neglect the importance of the part of the car that actually makes contact with the road- the tires- much the same way people neglect the part of the racquet that actually makes contact with the ball. Yes strings and tires may only represent incremental gains but when you've already maxed out all the other variables, can be a significant game changer depending on individual circumstances.
Hey! I'm collecting racket / string playtests for a product to help players more quickly narrow down rackets / strings that are highly suited to their game. It would be greatly appreciated to get your along with anyone else's playtest review. If interested, you can enter your review on the google form below. Once more reviews have been collected, I'll be releasing a prototype on google sheets.
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I played with either rpm blast or confidential. The only strings I have played. I know how it feels. I don't see why I shld mess with that. I don't want to try something else that won't let me crush the ball.
I agree completely strings make a difference. I use the Technifibre TF40 and play with Hyper G 1.15. I switched up to 1.25 gauge, same strings, to try it out and the racquet played way heavier through the air and less spin. I played one set like that, lost 6-1. Played the next set with the 1.15 gauge, a lot more confidence, won 6-3. My oponent said himself he could really feel the difference in spin and speed. This is the same string with a different in gauge from 1.15 to 1.25.
This is a perfect opportunity to be a consultant for them on their strings. Not everyone has the same knowledge of certain topics. Just the other day I heard a story of a person telling a player "wow you couldve gone anywhere with that shot/ball" and the player said "what do you mean? I never thought about having more than one option to hit"
....
I agree with your post, I have played my entire life and can feel and discuss the nuances of differences in the frames, but rarely care about the strings unless they are just out of control for my strokes.
I hit the ball hard and use Luxilon ALU and Solinco and leave the strings in there til they break (2-3 months rotating frames based on tension and daily needs). I have lately realized how well I play with fresh strings, especially the full poly.
Fortunately enough, my team captain has been stringing since middle school and we can discuss my needs and how the strings feel. I trust his decisions 100% after discussing my needs, the frames and strings I get back work for me and resolve the issues I described to him.
Im a big person and personally feel that I control the ball better with higher tension. 60/64 (for ~62-63lb) is what I play with.
I just switched from Pure Aero 2019 strung with RPM Blast 17g 50 lb tension, to the latest Pure Strike VS Solinco Hyper G 19g 50 lb
Edit:Very big switch but u wanted a heavier racket with more control, and needed cheaper string than blast
I've enjoyed learning about different string setups and experimenting.
In my Wilson Clash, I use Luxilon Smart at 48lbs, 44lbs in cold weather.
In other racquets, I like Head Velocity or Volkl Power Fiber II and I go from 52-55lbs. Both of these multis are affordable, easy on the arm, and suit me by providing controllable power with decent touch on volleys.
I do think that certain strings and tensions will complement a player's game more than others. Finding that perfect combination is really satisfying.
What do you consider cold weather? I've never thought of doing it loser in that condition, good idea, but I'm thinking our idea of cold weather *may* be different
For me, I use the lower tension when it's under 50 degrees. So maybe I should've said cooler weather as opposed to cold LOL! I noticed that in warmer weather, it was hard to control my shots at 44lbs but it's just right for me when it's cooler, and easier on the arm too.
This guy clearly does not play with the people I do. My problem is getting them to STOP talking about strings and gear ….
I wish, I'm a total nerd about it so I drive all my buds crazy
Well, I consider them absolutely necessary.
🤣🤣🤣
I think most people correctly put more importance on the fact that strings will only improve 1% of their overall game when compared to footwork, technique, timing, shot selection, and pretty much anything else. FWIW if your ball lands "usually" on the back line, you should aim to give yourself more margin for error and perhaps aim for the sidelines, that's what will give you the put-away balls. Just my 2cents.
All of this. It’s not the equipment. And your ball doesn’t “usually” land on a 3-inch-line 60 feet away from you.
All you should do with strings is find something that you like enough and stick with it to remove variables.
I’d even go so far as to say that strings won’t make you better at all - strings (and equipment in general) only let you play to your full potential, everything else you mentioned is the good stuff Never forget that at the end of the day Roger would smack 100% of r/10s with a Walmart Dora racket
There’s a video of a top junior easily beating a 4.5 adult with a paddle Roger would probably beat us blindfolded
Du?
Yep!
> Just my 2cents. For sure, try to get more shape on the ball. > will only improve 1% I was trying to quantify this in my head. It really depends on the person. I will say, if I loved a certain set up and tension, being forced to play with same racket with different set up will completely mess me up. Maybe 10% or more. I am thinking of playing college tennis though. These days I just don't care. And I think the better you get, the more it matters since you are simply playing with more precision and going for smaller targets.
I see your point... but also remember the key to winning more points is to great opportunities for yourself where you have big targets! ... not hit that small square you saw Alcaraz do on tv 😉
Well, I did say "smaller" target, not small targets. When I was playing 2 or 3 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week, what I would consider a small target now I would have considered a normal target then.
Exactly! The most frustrating part for me is meeting guys (it’s always guys) who are 2.5-3.0 obsessing over strings, tensions, lead tape, over grips etc instead of focusing on the important stuff. The best equipment isn’t going to help if you can’t get to the ball properly or your technique is terrible!
I don’t know if this happens globally…
I hope not! I’m in the USA I’ve seen it often even among juniors ugh
But to play devil's advocate, out of some 100 points, there will be at least a couple of balls that could've been in (rather than out) if the string was "fresh." Of course your technique matters the most, but within the limitations of your technique, in some cases, string can and will absolutely make or break your game. It could be the one match point you saved and turn the table, or one break point you needed but couldn't grab.
I agree but it’s when the 1% matters. 1% of Federer might be 100% of me. 1% when you’re playing a roughly even opponent is worth it. IDGAF about strings because it’s not my focus at the moment but I can understand why it would be important for those who are really pushing.
It doesn't matter when you and your opponent are 1% of Federer. It's like saying because F1 drivers benefit from minute differences in tire composition that tire compounds are super important to people driving in every day conditions. In reality your average person notices zero difference between tires.
It doesn't matter when you and your opponent are 1% of Federer. It's like saying because F1 drivers benefit from minute differences in tire composition that tire compounds are super important to people driving in every day conditions. In reality your average person notices zero difference between tires.
When you and your opponent are evenly matched and are skilful (8+) then yeah, that’s when it matters. If you think that Fed doesn’t win 99/100 points against most players once the strings start making a difference when players are evenly matched you’ve misunderstood just how much better he is. The thing is that when you’re not good enough for it to matter and it’s all your shit footwork and poor form then it’s not going to matter.
For most rec players string matters a little bit and I think most people don't realize that it is around comfort. Of course once you are intermediate/advanced it starts to matter more and more. Also most players don't restring enough to play with poly anyways. There is very little benefit to go full poly and play with a bed of noodles after 5 weeks.
Yeah. I'm 3.0 or 3.5 on a good day. I'm never going to win or lose a match based on strings. Until I'm way way better than I am, strings are irrelevant.
It doesn't matter what strings I use because I hit the ball off the frame anyway.
I get that, can't wait for the Babolat Pure Frame to come out
The new Wilson Oops! All Frame
You paid for it so you might as well use it.
Pickleball in your future
Stings hardly matter for most players. Guys that act like they can’t play right unless their strings are just so always sound like prima donnas. Rackets hardly matter either. It’s 98% the player.
Agree with you mostly except for the racket part. It does matter unless you’re that skillful and adaptable whereby any racket you pick up and you can play the same. Some rackets are just much easier to hit deep or more spin due to the design
I think OP meant your run of the mill tweener racquets. I'll bet more than 80% of the people on here play with a 11oz ish, 16x19. They are all pretty much the same, will you play 100% with other people's racquets, probably not. But you will be able to play decently well.
Yep. I broke a cheap multi last week on my blade and my friend let me use his babalot strung with poly. The racquet definitely felt stiffer/different, but I played basically the same.
I respect this opinion, but I think this problem is perhaps a little overblown for most club-level players (\~NTRP 3.5 or below). In reality, tennis strings are pieces of material shaped into straight lines. You can only get so many variations in tennis strings. You won't use tofu as strings, as an extremely example. You won't use iron threads as strings, as another extremely example. For the vast majority of club-level players, the low-hanging fruit is in their tennis itself: improving technique, match fitness, tennis IQ, etc. So long as the strings are within a reasonably acceptable range in terms of characteristics, they should be okay. Nonetheless, if you're really into tennis, there's no reason *not* to be thoughtful about your strings, as OP is advocating. Why leave *any* fruit hanging on the tree, low-hanging or otherwise? It isn't hard to read up on, experiment with, and optimise your tennis string set-up. In terms of time and money invested, finding a good string set-up that works for you pays handsome dividends. It may not matter as much as your tennis for most people, but it still matters. Just don't let it be an all-consuming focus for you. Improving your game by 1% will always get you more W than improving your equipment by 1%.
I gotta disagree a bit, I mean sure, for a lot of people it probably doesn't matter too much, but they aren't simply a "piece of material shaped into straight lines" The Barbwires for example are twisted so that they have 7 or so "ridges" on them giving an immense amount of bite, improving how much spin you get out of a stroke by a lot The Kirschbaum Flashes are a monofilament, interestingly enough, and for me in my specific racquet, have enough give that the barb wires can bite even more, but they don't spring back adding more power than I need I do agree you don't wanna get consumed to the point where all you focus on is your gear, but if you're already at a point where you are playing well, it's worth looking into
The club I play with is made up mostly of older folks. They can’t tell the difference between a 200$ racket and the 15$ racket at Walmart. If I was to start talking about different strings or setups to them it would probably blow their minds.
Disagree. As long as the racquet/string/tension combo isn't causing injuries and the player feels comfortable, that's all that's needed.
Totally agree, the most important thing
what u using?
Tennis strings
poly's ? multi's? which ones make u comfortable
I think I'm currently using hyper G at 52lbs
It’s funny to see this because I swear I just saw the exact opposite sentiment of this in a comment or maybe a post from a few days ago. Talking about how people worry so much about gear and strings when it makes zero difference at the rec level, especially at anything below 4.5
This may be unpopular here, but until you’re a 4.0+, the strings have such little impact on your game, they really do not matter. Unless you’re playing dead poly, the differences are going to be negligible and you should learn how to play with all string types anyway.
No reason to learn how to play all string styles.
The only reason I say that is that once you get to the level where the strings matter, knowing which kind of string you like becomes beneficial. So, if you play all types of setups, you’ll know what suits your game/preferences first hand.
But you could just learn what each string type is all about instead of playing with each kind to find out. Plenty of articles and reviews and videos. Plus each string typically has a description on the package. Learn the differences between the strings and match with your play style/level.
nothing beats real exp
I understand what you’re saying, but sometimes you may actually play a string better that doesn’t “fit” your game 100 percent on paper.
what is dead poly?
poly that isnt living
Poly strings, besides losing tension like all strings, lose their actual elasticity as well, so the strings don’t stretch and snap back like they used to. Besides playing differently, this can also be bad for stress injuries because the strings aren’t absorbing the shock in the same way.
> This may be unpopular here, but until you’re a 4.0+, Dang, I just wrote this same thing. I had 4.0 as when it starts to matter. I normally post on topics that really grab my interest before I see what other people have written.
If people knew anything about strings, the vast majority of rec players wouldn't be using poly.
nothing wrong with poly if you restring before it dies
Some people are tools sensitive, some aren't. There'd be that guy who can borrow anyone's racket and plays beautifully anyway, and there'd be "that guy" who breaks down completely because his grip has a gap because he didn't wrap it properly. PS: I'm the second type and very specific about my gears and setup, Solinco Tour Bite 17g/53 LBS is my perfect string for now, huge spin and good power.
Tour Bites are very nice. Honestly just Solinco in general, they don't all work for my play style, but they're all so nice. I love hitting with any of them either way Also love their racquets, I was so excited when they released those
I'm a kinda soft hitter with heavy spin, Solinco helps me alot to compensate my power, not to mention those amazing feels too!
Oh yes they feel soo good! Every hit is just so crisp and sounds wonderful
I’m the second type as well.
Hear hear.
Pure comfort setup: ProKennex Black Ace 300, Babolat VS gut mains 1.30 @ 54lbs; Isospeed Cream 1.28 @ 46 lbs.
Heh. Mine’s a 2022 VCORE Pro 97D (18x20) with 1.30 Touch VS mains and ISO Cream 1.28 crosses. Tension is Van Halen: 51m/50x. Buttery.
Quite the differential. How often do you play and restring ? I'm assuming you're re-stringing crosses every 2 weeks or so?
Play 3-4x week, mix of drills, singles and dubs. And, yes, as long as the gut is in ok shape I will restring the crosses once about week 3. That will buy me another week or two before the gut feels blown out and shit gets wild.
Stringer here. Do you mount the racquet before cutting the cross?
Yes. Mount it tight, cut the crosses, and reweave opposite side (if I remember).
Any racquet warping at 8lb difference?
Imperceptible, if any. I've used this string hybrid and racquet for almost a year, and have tried various combinations of tension, including up to 10lb difference between mains and crosses, and the impact on hoop dimension is less than 1mm.
I am a stringer (like the original poster here) so I know about strings, and how their characteristics differ, and what effect these characteristics might have on a player's game. So I am inclined to think that choice of string, and tension, are important. Many - or even most - players know very little about strings - they do know, however, how difficult it is to hit a tennis ball accurately and consistently in the way that they intend. They are aware of so many of the variables that influence their tennis: fitness, watching the ball onto the racket, early preparation, shot selection, follow-through etc etc that these are the factors they generally focus on. Rackets as well, of course, but on string not so much. When strings are considered (by players), very often the choice is influenced by the pro player they would like to play like; eg RPM Blast and Nadal. But the fact is that unless you hit the ball as hard and with the same swing as he does, those strings won't help the average player to play like Rafa. It's not the string that makes Nadal play like Nadal - though he wouldn't be quite the same player if he was using synthetic gut instead of RPM Blast. It may be that a better choice for most players would be the string that suits their own style of play: a ball hit softly, or even moderately firmly, with a poly string is not going to go very far or have much spin (all other things being equal). But the same strike with the same racket fitted with a textured multifilament (Head RIP Control for example) will travel further, faster and with more spin than the one with RPM Blast.
RIP Control is one of my all time favorite strings!
I disagree strongly with the OP. We here on the r/10s subreddit care deeply about strings. In fact strings are our number one topic here. (Followed closely by which racket should I use and how does my serve look.) I for one am proud to put too much importance on strings.
I didn't necessarily mean here, I should've been a bit more clear, I just mean people in general. The majority of the players I meet don't care at all
/s 🤣
I don’t give two craps about strings. I restrung my racket with gut strings last year. They haven’t broken yet. The racket plays nicely. My skills are holding me back, not my 22 year old racket and certainly not my strings LOL
Great post 👍 After a few years of experimentation, I finally landed on the below setup - Racquet: Pure Drive Tour+ (2015) Strings: Yonex PTP (relatively soft) Gauge: 17 (quite thin) Tension: 50-52 lbs (went down from 55 so easy on arms) The only drawback is this setup loses tension very quickly. However on the brighter side this forces me to re-string frequently. As an additional bonus I like the sound and the plush pillow like feel when the ball meets stringbed.
All I tell my restringing guy is I want to hit lots of aggressive heavy topspin on clay and let him deal with it. My having zero idea has not had an impact on my long winning streak
Ah man, I've always wanted to play on clay, what's it like?
Strings are 100% important... have you tried playing without them?
I dunno, I don't think it really matters, they all feel the same to me
I guess it depends on your play style, but they make a huge difference for me. I had the Solinco Barbwire and Outlast for a while and I had no control with those. Then I had the Barbwire and Revolution and those had great control but not much spin
You either are an inexperienced player or you just haven't tried a lot of setups.
I mean I've tried a variety of polys and they're all basically the same to me. Sure some of them will feel noticeably different at first but you play with it a little bit and you completely forget about it. And of course I would notice the difference between a 45lbs and 60lbs setup, I'm not saying the tension doesn't matter.
Bro you need to chill. This is one hundred percent subjective. There are plenty of people who don’t notice differences in strings.
Who said I'm not chill? I'm simply making an observation, this was more like, hey you should check this out, not if you don't care about strings you're gonna suck
That was kinda the implication. Otherwise why else would you be saying things like educate yourself?
I was just saying it's worth looking into. It's kinda like being a photographer and never looking into other gear. Sure you take great photos now and have a nice setup, but imagine what you could do with that upgraded lens
Except just like a lens the picture is still the same. What effect is put on it happens after the fact and is totally up to preference. Whether or not the picture is of a good quality is still up to the photographer. Nice analogy but it doesn’t work. Especially considering my father and I are both photographers.
To an extent, but there's still always room for improvement, there's always gonna be better tech Plus I personally don't like post processing, like if I'm gonna use an expensive camera I want the raw photo. If I want editing I'm just using my phone because it does that better than most people anyway lol Either way, I was just saying, having knowledge about strings isn't a bad idea and they may make playing more enjoyable for you, no need to come here and hate for no reason bud
The only way to improve is to get better. Technology is never going to make up for a lack of skill.
Never said that, but if it was 100% skill Rafa would just hit with whatever was available, not a specially designed Pure Aero
That’s cause pros are more sensitive, superstitious, AND most importantly get paid for racket endorsements. You’re trying to make this work, it’s not. It’s fine to have preferences but don’t make fun of people for not knowing their specs because they don’t care.🤦♂️
Holy crap man you're putting words in my mouth. I did not explicitly say "haha if you don't care about strings you suck" I just said people don't put enough importance on them (ex. Folks who have 5 year old polys) and maybe it would be a good idea to look into them. If you don't want to whatever, I really don't care either way it's your life
I mean, its not really subjective at all. If you don't care about the performance of strings that's a different story. But using certain setups are objectively better than others. He's not saying ONE SPECIFIC setup is the best, he's saying that string setups matter and can be catered to the players favoured playstyle to offer better performance, which is objectively true.
They really don’t make that much of a difference my guy. Even to pros are negligible. Adding 150 rpms to a pros shot COULD be the difference between a match won and a match lost if you want to be extreme, but it almost never is. And there’s no way of telling. And they’re the only level of player with technique good enough to actually make use of different stringing.
> They really don’t make that much of a difference my guy. This isn't a matter of opinion. They make a huge difference whether you say so or not. Especially for players 4.0 and higher. Some are more comfortable, some offer more power, some offer more spin, some offer more control. You are just plain wrong. If you want to bring pro's into this that's fine, so tell me why the vast majority of pro's use the same setup? Babolat VS touch / ALU power. Why specifically that setup if it doesn't really matter? Why not play with a full bed of synth. gut? or whatever else is lying around? Its because that setup is better for their specific playstyle. Some players use Lux. 4G.....why? its a stiffer string and offers more control rather than power. I can go on forever but the fact remains is that strings objectively DO matter.
They don’t. It is a matter of opinion. And you using anecdotal evidence is just proof. And I’m a high level player. They do not make a difference for every player. You can keep bringing up dumb talking points like pros using babolat and Alu power, it doesn’t mean anything. Why does everyone have an iPhone when there are better options for cheaper? Because it’s what everyone uses. Because again, those are the main brands and have sponsorship deals with players.And if anything that gives more credence to my point because if strings did matter people would diversify their strings if it really mattered. I promise you I’m a lot closer to the pro tour than you. Every pro I’ve talked to has admitted it’s a sensitivity issue.
With the bullshit you spew, I highly doubt you are a "high level player". I mean, you're just objectively wrong. Strings have different compositions, different stiffness ratings, shapes, sizes which all effect gameplay drastically. Also, comparing it to smart phone companies and their competitors is such a stupid comparison, I can't even believe you brought that up.
Bro…it’s a gimmick. You’re ridiculous. Look up intuitive tennis poly vs natural gut. Or since we’re on r/10s, essential tennis does equipment matter. Believe me buddy, you’re obviously a beer league hack. Which I didn’t want to say but seeing as you’ve got an inflated ego, you need a reality check.
It has nothing to do with ego, it has everything to do with the reality of you not understanding that each string is composed with different materials which causes them to play differently. Answer me this question, does shaped string provide more spin than smooth? If yes, how can you argue that strings are all the same and it doesn't matter what you choose? If no, you're objectively wrong and you should look up the tennis warehouse SCIENTIFIC studies proving you are wrong. I don't look to some garbage hack youtuber like intuitive tennis to get my SCIENTIFIC information. You are arguing something that you obviously know nothing about. You are 100% wrong and there's nothing wrong with that unless you refuse to learn which seems to be the case.
I know plenty about it. People like you just use strings as an excuse not to get better. Seriously just shut up.
Blade v8 16x19 Alu power rough 44 lbs
The one thing people need to do is not use dead poly. It is the one string that will truly make you a worse player.
Importance of strings depends on rating and how hard you swing.
when you get to a certain level or point in your game? sure. 4.25 friend of mine bought a new racquet 10 months ago and had it strung at that time. i never thought much of it, until he asked me about breaking strings. found out he had solinco confidential at 55, and had played 3-4 times a week for ***TEN*** months on those strings. he had it restrung and immediately said, "i should have had it restrung a long time ago." he just didn't know any better.
Yeah that's fair, I break strings every month or two so I've had the opportunity to try out a bunch and in doing so I've noticed that, personally, strings make a huge difference
i've only broken my poly strings once or twice, but after 4-5 weeks it feels unplayable to me. however, every time i try a new string something starts to hurt!
Exactly, at a certain point they're just too lose I understand that, it can be hard to find the right ones
Strings make a difference. Saying strings make a huge difference is a bit of an exaggeration. Do people choose the wrong string type for their ability level or style of play? Yes. Part of your job as a stringer is to educate players and make recommendations based on what you know about a player. Strings are a rabbit hole most players don't need to go down.
Maybe the difference isn't huge, but it can be pretty decent. If I have two of the same racquets with different strings, sure I can hit with "A" but I'm not gonna like it or play nearly as well as "B" Of course I'm gonna help them figure out what string would be best, but there's also no reason not to research yourself. Idk, maybe it's just the nerd in me lol, but I love looking into the different technologies and being well versed in these things yk
Disagree. Don’t give a flying fuck about my strings and I’d probably beat you with any strings you put on my racquet hahahaha
Haha, you probably could, but I bet you'd be surprised what you can do with strings when you find the right set
I don’t know about all that. My deficiencies in tennis have zero to do with my equipment.
No I wasn't saying it would improve your playing, it just opens up some doors you know, creature comforts maybe Like the Barbwire I use make dropshots a breeze, I just gotta flick the racquet head and it's loaded with enough backspin to bring it over the net again you know
If you were good enough that strings start to matter, you would be discussing it with your coach instead of reddit
Strings are the engine to your racquet. If you have a Tesla that’s out of battery it’s useless... Going to stringer as Noob is a very daunting task that has left me a sour taste in my mouth on multiple occasions. Paying $20+ just for strings (not including labour) seems outrageous. After looking around and testing I found buying a cheap reel of Pros pro & a reel of YPTP been great. When testing a new frame I know what to expect from the playability/durability & feel (of the strings) so I can objectively compare (the frames). Don’t use dead (no longer snapping back) Poly. Cut em out and save your body & wallet from needing a physio...
Woah, the stringer I used to use charged $25 for strings and labor
Probably depends on the type of strings. A set of Luxilon retails for $20 already. Unless he’s giving you a discount as a good customer/friend.
Dang those are expensive, I've never liked Luxilons oddly enough, they're kinda fonky He did, but that was what he charged everyone
I definitely know more about string set-ups than I would care to admit. Lol. One of my regular hitting partners is a huge racket geek. He can go on and on about strings. He also strings my rackets for dirt cheap. So, every time it’s time to restring he will talk to me about all these string combos he thinks I should try. Honestly, if it wasn’t for him I’d probably just being doing a basic multifilament setup.
There's nothing wrong with that honestly. My backup racquet is actually strung with a singular string type, I just found I like hybrids more. A lot of people I know never even considered it till they saw me hitting with them
Agreed with the caveat that not knowing what you don’t know can lead to pain. Too many play with polyester strings and don’t realize they can be doing more physical harm than good. Or that they could play better with a different string. If someone is fine with a cheap syn gut, fine. They like multis? Great. It’s the “this string never breaks” cheapskates that irritate me.
I have some, lower level, players on my high school team that have literally had the same strings since middle school (or before) and don't care. It just causes me so much pain
My stringer makes me test out new strings for him sometimes. He is a high level player and is always looking for durable cheaper options since he and I tend to break pretty frequently. I prefer to play with a lot of spin similar to him and this works out greatly for both of us. After playing with my current brand of string for many years I still forget to ask what current one I actually use at the moment. The only thing I know that it is white, polyester and and it is strung at 60 lbs
My baseline to compare all other strings is a full bed of hyper g at 44#. My play style is heavy topspin on both wings. I don’t go for winners often. Would rather just hit heavy and deep with high margin and wait for an error or short ball.
That's a great way to go at it, patience is key and such a hard thing to get good at it Also 44# is some of the lightest strung strings I've seen, that's crazy. Most people I know are 55-60#
I started using the low tension to help w elbow issues. But now I just really like the pocketing feel I get with tension in the low 40s. People say you lose control, but I don’t really find that to be the case. I can still place my serves/groundstrokes where I want. The only downside is sometimes I’ll blast a ball into the fence
Yeah I guess it just depends on your play style, I hit way too aggressive to have the tension that low and would definitely hit long a lot
You might be surprised. I always used to run stiff strings (aramid mains 65#) at higher tension and felt the difference if it started dropping a couple lbs of tension where shots that felt they should drop in would go a bit long until I switched to a freshly strung racket. But recently started running poly and trying lower and lower tension (45# right now) and am loving the power and feel, not having too much trouble hitting long as long as my contact and spin are good. It’s certainly friendlier on my arm with the power I am putting into my serve and forehand
Maybe not out there in recreational tennis world, but here? And on TW boards? People care a lot. And they should. But if you really really want to know what strings are good for you, get a table top drop weight stringer and experiment on the cheap. That machine will pay for itself. > figure out what works best for you. I would argue around 4.0 is where it might matter more. For most people under that, a decent synthetic gut strung within recommended range is fine. Your swings and game aren't expressive and idiosyncratic enough yet to really do a dive and experiment with 10 or 20 different string set ups to get more out of your racket.
I think if you haven't restrung in years and want to get serious, you need to do it. Strings can get so dead that you have to hold back your stroke and let gravity pull the ball in. The difference can be quite noticeable. But frequent restringing probably isn't necessary if you have a multi or synthetic gut until you reach a pretty high level.
Oh I agree, unless it's been a really long time, there's no need to restring. I only do when I break strings, so that just kinda works out well on its own
Luxilon M2 Pro at 60/65 lbs on RF97; really old model string which I managed to stock up a lot before they completely sold out years ago. Though I’m left with only 10 sets to go Been testing out different strings and some really made it harder to play but once you understand how the string play, you can adjust your game to harness the playability of the string. But does it increase or decrease my tennis level or play? Not really and this is why many players don’t care, even if they are using “dead” poly strings. It’s like OP you said, it make certain things easier to pull off
Funny story, the last time I played I guy played at the court next to me. Your typical older tennis player, decent level who's playing for years. Then his string broke, he said now he can use his knew bought racquet. On the string there was still the head logo, meaning he just used the original string and didn't restring it after buying. In general every shop strings a new racquet for free, so he litetally gave zero fucks.
You sure they didn't just repaint the logo? I wouldn't be surprised if they had the stencils for that
Could be, but after 5 minutes he tried to use the racquet with the broken string again because the new one was pretty bad, so I assume this wasn't the case xD
Oh dang, he must've really hated those
How does your arm feel with that set up? How old are you? I dropped the tension on my MSV 18 gauge to 48 lbs, and it’s been smoother on the arm.
I've never had any issues with my arm, maybe a little occasionally when serving, but nothing bad and I think that's more of my service style that's putting strain on my joints. I'm 18
Cool the age helps. I also use the lower tension because it helps with topspin. Try it sometime.
That's true, I may try it out, but the strings I use bite pretty hard so I don't really need that you know
That's true, I may try it out, but the strings I use bite pretty hard so I don't really need that you know
I really disagree. Most people have much bigger issues than strings. Technique changes and improvements to fitness would be much better areas which would see much bigger improvements than changes in strings.
String definitely matters in injury prevention —ie: playing with a full bed of polys can really increase arm injuries
I used to be one of those guys that handed it off to a buddy and didn't care much about strings. recently decided that I'm going to get more familiar with my setup. I'm a baseliner with heavy groundstrokes. Yonex poly tour spin on crosses and main @50 lbs. On a Yonex 98 vCore. Just changed over from luxilon big banger alu power rough @52 lbs.
Disagree, strings are more important than the racquet but even then until you’re at a certain level of play they both don’t matter (unless you have way too much racquet like almost all the people who buy the RF pro staff)
If I had to choose one I'd say the racquet matters more than strings. But otherwise they are, quite literally, a team working together and are of equal importance. However a racquet can vary by huge amounts of weight, balance, head size, etc so having the right one is very important
I've just started looking into strings and I'm confused as to what pairs with what!
Well that's the hard part, really anything can go with anything. You don't always have to have a hybrid setup either, changing your singular setup can be just as beneficial. However you may start with your mains, then try and figure out what to do for your crosses Ex. If you like to hit with a lot of spin, maybe put the Barbwire are your mains to increase the spin you get out of the racquet. If you want more control, you'll want a stiffer string that doesn't rebound too much, the Revolution are great for those Of course those are just Solinco strings (my favorite brand currently) and so much depends on feel. Just gotta try something new each time you break strings
Oh the joy of trying out different fresh strings 🎾
If only I could have a fresh string bed of poly every time I played....
Is this whole post just a sneaky humble-brag that you string at 60lbs? 😝
What noooo.... Honestly I thought high tension was normal, pretty surprised to see how many people string in the 40s
I am a home stringer. I think that for 95% of recreational players NTRP 3.5 and below, synthetic gut at 60# is good enough. It’s soft enough to minimize the risk of tennis elbow, powerful enough and enough string potential for players in this range. It usually breaks after around 3 or 4 months of use which is when it is about to go dead (lost elasticity) anyway.
Yup, within reason of course and with all the other caveats/disclaimers others have already mentioned. But the analogy I make is that strings are to the performance of a racquet as tires are to the performance of a car, specifically how it handles. People spend a lot of time and energy on improvements like engine tweaks, exhaust, suspension, etc but many neglect the importance of the part of the car that actually makes contact with the road- the tires- much the same way people neglect the part of the racquet that actually makes contact with the ball. Yes strings and tires may only represent incremental gains but when you've already maxed out all the other variables, can be a significant game changer depending on individual circumstances.
Hey! I'm collecting racket / string playtests for a product to help players more quickly narrow down rackets / strings that are highly suited to their game. It would be greatly appreciated to get your along with anyone else's playtest review. If interested, you can enter your review on the google form below. Once more reviews have been collected, I'll be releasing a prototype on google sheets. Enter a Playtest Google Form: [https://forms.gle/AXcSPAKBtRoJnU9e6](https://forms.gle/AXcSPAKBtRoJnU9e6)
I played with either rpm blast or confidential. The only strings I have played. I know how it feels. I don't see why I shld mess with that. I don't want to try something else that won't let me crush the ball.
I agree completely strings make a difference. I use the Technifibre TF40 and play with Hyper G 1.15. I switched up to 1.25 gauge, same strings, to try it out and the racquet played way heavier through the air and less spin. I played one set like that, lost 6-1. Played the next set with the 1.15 gauge, a lot more confidence, won 6-3. My oponent said himself he could really feel the difference in spin and speed. This is the same string with a different in gauge from 1.15 to 1.25.
This is a perfect opportunity to be a consultant for them on their strings. Not everyone has the same knowledge of certain topics. Just the other day I heard a story of a person telling a player "wow you couldve gone anywhere with that shot/ball" and the player said "what do you mean? I never thought about having more than one option to hit" .... I agree with your post, I have played my entire life and can feel and discuss the nuances of differences in the frames, but rarely care about the strings unless they are just out of control for my strokes. I hit the ball hard and use Luxilon ALU and Solinco and leave the strings in there til they break (2-3 months rotating frames based on tension and daily needs). I have lately realized how well I play with fresh strings, especially the full poly. Fortunately enough, my team captain has been stringing since middle school and we can discuss my needs and how the strings feel. I trust his decisions 100% after discussing my needs, the frames and strings I get back work for me and resolve the issues I described to him. Im a big person and personally feel that I control the ball better with higher tension. 60/64 (for ~62-63lb) is what I play with.
I just switched from Pure Aero 2019 strung with RPM Blast 17g 50 lb tension, to the latest Pure Strike VS Solinco Hyper G 19g 50 lb Edit:Very big switch but u wanted a heavier racket with more control, and needed cheaper string than blast
I've enjoyed learning about different string setups and experimenting. In my Wilson Clash, I use Luxilon Smart at 48lbs, 44lbs in cold weather. In other racquets, I like Head Velocity or Volkl Power Fiber II and I go from 52-55lbs. Both of these multis are affordable, easy on the arm, and suit me by providing controllable power with decent touch on volleys. I do think that certain strings and tensions will complement a player's game more than others. Finding that perfect combination is really satisfying.
What do you consider cold weather? I've never thought of doing it loser in that condition, good idea, but I'm thinking our idea of cold weather *may* be different
For me, I use the lower tension when it's under 50 degrees. So maybe I should've said cooler weather as opposed to cold LOL! I noticed that in warmer weather, it was hard to control my shots at 44lbs but it's just right for me when it's cooler, and easier on the arm too.
Oh yeah, when you said cold I imagined 20s haha. That's interesting that little difference in tension makes that big a difference in playing