do string savers effect playability at all?

[Mbautista]

just wondering

[ClubHoUno]

Yes they do make the string bed a bit more harsh in feel.

Especially when you use many of them in your string bed.
It also depends on how much of a feel and touch player you are.

I use natural gut in most of my racquets, and according to many have an excessive amount of string savers installed - I have 32 in most of my racquets, and although it does affect playability and feel some, I get 2-3 times the longevity out of my natural gut strings compared to if I didn't play with string savers at all and probably twice the amount of playing time with a much smaller amount of string savers installed.

It's still the string that hit the ball first and NOT the string savers - in my view the string savers only make the string bed a bit stiffer (in my case probably 2 lbs stiffer). I agree that 20 % or so of the string savers get into direct contact with the ball, when you hit the sweet spot, where I have most of mine installed - but I can live with it as it gives me 12-15 hours of playing time instead of 3-4 hours without the string savers installed.

I only use Babolat Teflon Elastocross string savers - all the other string savers you can buy are utter useless junk in my view

[AlpineCadet]

If each string saver has a width of 1mm, and 10 string savers have been installed along one cross string, then you've increased string tension by 1cm.

[tennisfreak15347]

^^^ yup, you've then stretched it an extra 1 inch. however, to me, it feels like the extra tension only lasts for a hitting session, then it returns to normal. however, I wouldnt advise putting on more than 3 string savers on each main, as it starts taking out the feel of the stringbend and makes it harsher.

[Fedace]

Originally Posted by ClubHoUno

Yes they do make the string bed a bit more harsh in feel.

Especially when you use many of them in your string bed.
It also depends on how much of a feel and touch player you are.

I use natural gut in most of my racquets, and according to many have an excessive amount of string savers installed - I have 32 in most of my racquets, and although it does affect playability and feel some, I get 2-3 times the longevity out of my natural gut strings compared to if I didn't play with string savers at all and probably twice the amount of playing time with a much smaller amount of string savers installed.

It's still the string that hit the ball first and NOT the string savers - in my view the string savers only make the string bed a bit stiffer (in my case probably 2 lbs stiffer). I agree that 20 % or so of the string savers get into direct contact with the ball, when you hit the sweet spot, where I have most of mine installed - but I can live with it as it gives me 12-15 hours of playing time instead of 3-4 hours without the string savers installed.

I only use Babolat Teflon Elastocross string savers - all the other string savers you can buy are utter useless junk in my view

Harsh,,,Not harsh, it makes the string bed feel more Stiff, more boardy if you will. The reason is this, string savers will raise the tension by about 2 lbs especially in the middle strings. and it will resist moving so you will be able to put more topspin on your shots.

[ClubHoUno]

Originally Posted by Fedace

Harsh,,,Not harsh, it makes the string bed feel more Stiff, more boardy if you will. The reason is this, string savers will raise the tension by about 2 lbs especially in the middle strings. and it will resist moving so you will be able to put more topspin on your shots.

Okidoki

Maybe harsh is not the right word to use in this context.

As you say, it makes the string bed feel a bit stiffer.

I've accustomed to this by now and prefer it that way - don't know if I get extra topspin but I hit with a semi western forehand and full eastern one handed backhand and I get a decent amount of spin on my shots, so maybe it's the extra string savers that do it....don't quite know

I just like getting 12-15 hours out of my Babolat VS Team 17 and VS Touch 16 natural gut.

[KenB]

That added length calculation is all wrong! The string savers offset the strings perpendicular to their centerline. So - the new length is governed by the Pythagorean theorem, as applied to the distance between adjacent mains (or crosses), according to: New Length = Sqrt(Old Length^2 + Saver Offset^2).

Bottom line - any length change is VERY small (and hence, any tension change)!

[AlpineCadet]

Originally Posted by KenB

Bottom line - any length change is VERY small (and hence, any tension change)!

But we're not trying to find the "new length" of the string. Try using string savers then get back to us, because using just 5 of them on one cross string definitely stiffens up the string bed.

Originally Posted by Fedace

Harsh,,,Not harsh, it makes the string bed feel more Stiff, more boardy if you will. The reason is this, string savers will raise the tension by about 2 lbs especially in the middle strings. and it will resist moving so you will be able to put more topspin on your shots.

[Fedace]

Originally Posted by AlpineCadet

But we're not trying to find the "new length" of the string. Try using string savers then get back to us, because using just 5 of them on one cross string definitely stiffens up the string bed.

Same reason why Pete Sampras uses string savers