string breakage with a spin racquet

My 10 year old daughter plays with a Wilson burn LS(light spin) racquet. She really likes technifbre tvr multifilament however she's been breaking strings every 2-3 days. I tried putting in some soft poly Element strings but she doesn't like them. Any other suggestions? BTW she also tried a poly/multi hybrid but broke strings in 2 days. I think the spin racquet configuration must be more prone to string breakage. But my 9 year old son plays with a Wilson blade 26 also breaks strings every 3-4 days. This is costing me a fortune! I guess it may be time to buy a stringer and learn to string myself.

Spin Effect frames are string eaters. You are lucky that they only break soft strings after 3-4 days. I have clients that can break 17 Ga poly in less than 10 hours of hitting. They now use 16 Ga and still break the strings in less than 16 hours, normally around hour 12.

Get a stringing machine and learn to string unless you know a stringer that can give you a discount.

There is a Kevlar/ZX hybrid that could last 25-30 hours, but I would not recommend this for young arms. Since they cannot tolerate polester or other copolymer strings, do not go this route.

Move them to using 18x20 racquets?

socalmd123 said:

My 10 year old daughter plays with a Wilson burn LS(light spin) racquet. She really likes technifbre tvr multifilament however she's been breaking strings every 2-3 days. I tried putting in some soft poly Element strings but she doesn't like them. Any other suggestions? BTW she also tried a poly/multi hybrid but broke strings in 2 days. I think the spin racquet configuration must be more prone to string breakage. But my 9 year old son plays with a Wilson blade 26 also breaks strings every 3-4 days. This is costing me a fortune! I guess it may be time to buy a stringer and learn to string myself.

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Get the machine... and teach your kids how to string.

There really should be a warning on Spin frames about reduced string life. Too many individuals purchase racquets below the standard 16x19 pattern (or with multiple shared holes) only to experience frequent string breakage.....to then blame the string or the stringer! Seems that with all of the various string patterns and string densities that the dynamics of a pattern should have some sort of reference to resulting string life. I realize many variables come into play, but there should be a way to have some sort of standard.

give the 98ls to the 9yo, have him choose his new grip and new strings and he should be more inclined to make the switch to a full size frame
switch the 10yo to a 16/19 blade or the blade 104, yonex.vcore.98/100 are also good options for girls

if you wanna keep trying with strings, basic synthetic gut strings at mid tension would work a bit better,
head.fxp.tour is a multy/sythetic that would feel and last a bit more than a full multi..

I personally think the "spin effect" rackets from all the major brands came out in response to polyester strings not breaking as fast, or with some people, not breaking at all. Manufacturers were losing too much money on their strings, so they had to develop something even polys would break in. Cynical, I know. But never underestimate the power of the dollar.

I would use a thicker string. Those spin racquets eat up thinner strings.

mctennis said:

I would use a thicker string. Those spin racquets eat up thinner strings.

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I strung for a lady who broke 15g multi in less than a set,,, crazyy
she loved the feeling of the softer string, but it was ridiculous how quickly it ate through the strings
we ended up going with FB poly for her racquets

Steve Huff said:

I personally think the "spin effect" rackets from all the major brands came out in response to polyester strings not breaking as fast, or with some people, not breaking at all. Manufacturers were losing too much money on their strings, so they had to develop something even polys would break in. Cynical, I know. But never underestimate the power of the dollar.

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i dunno. a couple of us on the board get some unique results with the blade 98S. mikeler doesnt do multis anymore after discovering the 100T ESP. there used to be a lotta love here for the steam 99S and the 6.1 95S, too.

socalmd123 said:

My 10 year old daughter plays with a Wilson burn LS(light spin) racquet. She really likes technifbre tvr multifilament however she's been breaking strings every 2-3 days. I tried putting in some soft poly Element strings but she doesn't like them. Any other suggestions? BTW she also tried a poly/multi hybrid but broke strings in 2 days. I think the spin racquet configuration must be more prone to string breakage. But my 9 year old son plays with a Wilson blade 26 also breaks strings every 3-4 days. This is costing me a fortune! I guess it may be time to buy a stringer and learn to string myself.

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I think you should bite the bullet and go ahead and purchase a strining machine. I finally bought a stringing machine around 2 years ago, andI wish I had done it 20 years ago! You don't need a super fancy machine either if you are just strining for your family. I'm perfectly happy with my drop weight machine with fixed clamps and 6 point mounting system (cost me around $500). If you have two kids playing tennis, you'll save yourself some money for sure in the long term. It's not that difficult to learn, and I think your kids could even learn to do it themselves fairly quickly.

As far as the issue of breaking strings so often, spin effect string patterns are tough on strings and defintely will cause breakage sooner than other string patterns. The poly / multi combo should have lasted more than 2 days, though, unless you used a shaped poly string and it really sawed the multi (but I find even round, smooth polys can saw through softer multis pretty quickly). I find that synthetic gut crosses do much better in poly hybrid than multi-crosses in terms of durability. Use the same gauge or slightly thicker gauge on the synethetic gut cross, and you should be able to get a lot more playing time from this string setup. Of course, the poly / synthetic gut isn't going to feel quite as comfortable as a full multi setup, but it is much better feeling than a full poly setup. Plus, I'm not sure I'd want any young kids playing full poly.

Put me in the racquet and stringer category.

If tennis is her sport and something she is really focusing on she is going to outgrow that racquet and an open string pattern for more control and a non-spin string patern shortly anyway. I would consult her coach and have her start demoing some of the lighter adult racquets and make sure to get several of whatever the final racquet is. This will probably be one of several racquet transitions she will make as she progresses.

Also, I wish I started stringing earlier for my son so if she is heading down the tennis path you will see she will go through string. It has helped us a ton financially as well as adapting/changing as he grows for me to be able to string his racquets.

It sounds like you have at least 2 potential players so multiply the benefit by 2.

Have fun and enjoy every moment with them. They grow up very quickly and I found this age in tennis to be the most fun!!!

1HBHfanatic said:

I strung for a lady who broke 15g multi in less than a set,,, crazyy
she loved the feeling of the softer string, but it was ridiculous how quickly it ate through the strings
we ended up going with FB poly for her racquets

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Interesting she broke it so fast. If her strokes are not correct or she shanked a shot that may have caused the premature breakage. Just a thought.
If it was because the string was too soft that would make sense as well. Soft and sawing into each other would make that string so " twang".

mctennis said:

Interesting she broke it so fast. If her strokes are not correct or she shanked a shot that may have caused the premature breakage. Just a thought.
If it was because the string was too soft that would make sense as well. Soft and sawing into each other would make that string so " twang".

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noo, it was the racquet (Wilson steam 105s 16/15)
we went through several setups through weeks of talking/playing and trying different stuff
she loved this racquet for the easy pace and power, and the spin,, combine that with 4.0 level play and sometimes more,, the pattern just EATS through strings,,
this was my first exposure to a string eater,, i racked my brain for weeks, trying to figure something for her,, at the end we just went with wilson.revolve FB poly 16g,, that gave her about 2-3 weeks of play..

since then, i look at the pattern alot closer when broken strings come in..
some racquets just EAT through strings..

Buy the stringing machine ASAP and don’t cheap out. Get a good quality machine.

As others have stated the open pattern of the spin racquets wears down string very quickly. Maybe try some synthetic gut strings. They aren’t as stiff as polys. Prince lightning is a good option. Buy the thickest gauge possible. Head rip control is the most durable multifilament I can think of. In case you were wondering “string savers” would not cure the problem. They would only increase durability incrementally.

All I can say is that who ever is stringing your racquets now is going to be sad to lose one of their best customers.

1HBHfanatic said:

noo, it was the racquet (Wilson steam 105s 16/15)
we went through several setups through weeks of talking/playing and trying different stuff
she loved this racquet for the easy pace and power, and the spin,, combine that with 4.0 level play and sometimes more,, the pattern just EATS through strings,,
this was my first exposure to a string eater,, i racked my brain for weeks, trying to figure something for her,, at the end we just went with wilson.revolve FB poly 16g,, that gave her about 2-3 weeks of play..

since then, i look at the pattern alot closer when broken strings come in..
some racquets just EAT through strings..

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I hope you find some answers as to what strings to use for her. Keep us posted as to what you find that works. Best wishes to your daughter.

Played with Wilson Steam 99S for a long time. I changed to a thicker string and lower tension and the breakage went away.
I second the recommendations for you to get a stringer. Will save you tons of money in the long run, you can experiment with different setups, and I find it kind of relaxing to string a racquet.

zipplock said:

Played with Wilson Steam 99S for a long time. I changed to a thicker string and lower tension and the breakage went away.
I second the recommendations for you to get a stringer. Will save you tons of money in the long run, you can experiment with different setups, and I find it kind of relaxing to string a racquet.

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Good advice. That is the first thing I thought. There is no mention on librage in the OP. Aren't strings too tight? Good choice to use multifilament, which of course is a string prone to breakage, but much better for a child that is still growing. I wouldn't go on poly yet, even if softer ones.
Also 2-3 days....but it would be interesting to know how many hours of hitting...2-3 days can go from 2-3 hours to 10-12 hours, In the latter, it's quite reasonable to have a MF broken, especially if the youngster is a good hitter.

albertobra said:

Good advice. That is the first thing I thought. There is no mention on librage in the OP. Aren't strings too tight? Good choice to use multifilament, which of course is a string prone to breakage, but much better for a child that is still growing. I wouldn't go on poly yet, even if softer ones.
Also 2-3 days....but it would be interesting to know how many hours of hitting...2-3 days can go from 2-3 hours to 10-12 hours, In the latter, it's quite reasonable to have a MF broken, especially if the youngster is a good hitter.

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Used multi for my son until he hit puberty, then switched to soft poly at 40 pounds. He's 16 now, no problems.

Thanks for everyone's input! My kids tension is 52lbs. Not sure if this is too tight or not, it's just what we've always done. We've decided to keep my son on the technifbre TGV and my daughter on technifbre HDX tour. Trying to get my daughter to switch off her burn spin racquet but she got pretty upset when I mentioned it. Trying to get her to switch to the new blade light.