Does stringing a softer poly tighter equal a stiffer string?

[blastforehand]

Does stringing a softer poly tighter (like Big Hitter Blue Rough) give more or less similar performance to a stiffer string like Luxilon Adrenaline at a lower tension?

I hit with Luxilon Adrenaline yesterday and just loved the stiffer feel. Felt a lot of control and was really getting a lot of spin, and also great power as the Adrenaline's stiffness gave me confidence and I was really swinging out. I strung the Adrenaline at 52 and I normally string Blue Rough at 54. Have I been stringing the Blue Rough too loose? I am theorizing the stiffer Adrenaline matches up well with my super open pattern 16 main Extreme Pro IG. Recommended string tension on the racquet is 57 plus or minus 5 pounds.

[corners]

Originally Posted by blastforehand

Does stringing a softer poly tighter (like Big Hitter Blue Rough) give more or less similar performance to a stiffer string like Luxilon Adrenaline at a lower tension?

I hit with Luxilon Adrenaline yesterday and just loved the stiffer feel. Felt a lot of control and was really getting a lot of spin, and also great power as the Adrenaline's stiffness gave me confidence and I was really swinging out. I strung the Adrenaline at 52 and I normally string Blue Rough at 54. Have I been stringing the Blue Rough too loose? I am theorizing the stiffer Adrenaline matches up well with my super open pattern 16 main Extreme Pro IG. Recommended string tension on the racquet is 57 plus or minus 5 pounds.

Yes. The tension/stiffness relationship with copolys is pretty linear. So the strings and stringbed are stiffer at higher tensions and become less stiff if you string them at lower tension and as tension drops after stringing.

[ckent]

Racquet Sports Industry.com (RSI) magazine - the bible of the tennis string industry says it does not:

"All strings on the same vertical line (string stiffness) should feel about the same, no matter the tension"

See: String Selector Map 2010 - http://www.racquetsportsindustry.com...ctor_2010.html

[Torres]

Originally Posted by blastforehand

Does stringing a softer poly tighter (like Big Hitter Blue Rough) give more or less similar performance to a stiffer string like Luxilon Adrenaline at a lower tension?

Depends on what you mean by 'performance' because that's a pretty subjective term that means different things to different people. All strings will 'perform' differently.

If you're asking whether BHBR when strung higher, plays and feels like another naturally stiff/hard poly I would say no. When you go high with BHBR, the stringbed will increase in stiffness, but the string is still springy provided you hit the ball hard enough and you haven't already pulled all the elasticity out of it. Go higher still and you start going beyond the tension at which the string is naturally at its best. I found that going to very high or even absurdly tensions with BHBR just degrades performance with the ball rolling off the stringbed or not feeling like its 'embedding' in the stringbed properly. Fine for flat shots but not anything spin based. There's simply a tension point beyond which strings do not perform at their best (this will vary from string to string). If you want more control from BHBR, you'd be better off going for a thicker gauge rather than looking to increase tensions.

Whereas with an naturally stiff/hard poly it will usually still perform well at lower tensions (though I don't consider Adrenaline to be a particularly stiff/hard poly).

[pvaudio]

No. Stiffness is a material property, tension is a force. Extremely stiff poly strings can feel fairly plush when strung low whereas more compliant strings can feel very stiff when strung at anything but their desired tension. Two examples: WC Silverstring feels like wood when strung above about 55lbs. In contrast, ALU still feels stiff when strung at its proper tension. It's just supposed to feel that way, much like Bab Revenge. Genesis Black Magic, however, feels incredibly soft regardless of tension (tried it at 60 and 50 and while you could tell, it still had the same characteristic plushness).