Ideal tension

fuzz nation

G.O.A.T.
I still do a lot of serve and volley work with my 6.1 Classics (rec'd range is 55-65 lbs.) and I've always enjoyed those strung with 17 ga. syn. gut right up at 64-65 lbs. I've sampled a kevlar hybrid and also some multi's in these racquets and the combo of feel, control, pop, etc. is just right for me with the snug syn. gut setup.
 

Valjean

Hall of Fame
I don't know just how new you are to polyester, but you're not going to get a lot of s&v help there.
 

Racer41c

Professional
is there an ideal tension range for a serve and volley player? sorta wondering but this might be a dumb question. more on the tension preference for volleys

Not sure if your using BA-full job, but I had trouble with touch (or a lack of). I switched to a Hybrid job and it's much better, like day and night better.
 

lawlitssoo1n

Professional
depends what u like. i serve and volley with kblade tour Blue Gear 16 @64 / Gosen Micro 16 @ 63. well for me i have more pace and placement on my serve with this tension and for volley's i have better placement
 
depends what u like. i serve and volley with kblade tour Blue Gear 16 @64 / Gosen Micro 16 @ 63. well for me i have more pace and placement on my serve with this tension and for volley's i have better placement

there is no human being on this planet, including federer or sampras or agassi or nadal, that can detect a 10lb difference, let alone a 1lb. if you don't believe me, try it yourself. next time you get two rackets strung, have one at 50 and the other at 60. and try to be as fair as possible (or test it on somene else). i dare you to even compare a 40 and a 60. gurantee you won't be able to tell the difference (no cheating though! don't pull on the strings!)
 

lawlitssoo1n

Professional
there is no human being on this planet, including federer or sampras or agassi or nadal, that can detect a 10lb difference, let alone a 1lb. if you don't believe me, try it yourself. next time you get two rackets strung, have one at 50 and the other at 60. and try to be as fair as possible (or test it on somene else). i dare you to even compare a 40 and a 60. gurantee you won't be able to tell the difference (no cheating though! don't pull on the strings!)

LOL u gotta be kidding me! there is a huge difference with 10 pounds. i used to play at 70 lbs, and there is a difference btw 70 and 60lbs. i've tried playing with 60 pounds, and i can't keep the ball in, it all goes flying out. however, it wouldn't matter for federer or any pro, cuz they are good with ANY racket anyways. AND also, there is a difference in sound when u hit the strings against another racket with NO shock dampener and u can hear the difference. i strung PREMIER Ace 65 pounds on one and 64 pounds on the other 2 i have, and u can DEFINITELY hear it.
 
LOL u gotta be kidding me! there is a huge difference with 10 pounds. i used to play at 70 lbs, and there is a difference btw 70 and 60lbs. i've tried playing with 60 pounds, and i can't keep the ball in, it all goes flying out. however, it wouldn't matter for federer or any pro, cuz they are good with ANY racket anyways. AND also, there is a difference in sound when u hit the strings against another racket with NO shock dampener and u can hear the difference. i strung PREMIER Ace 65 pounds on one and 64 pounds on the other 2 i have, and u can DEFINITELY hear it.

well, you don't have to believe me. it's not my OPINION.
next time, again, you should string it at different tensions WITHOUT knowing which racket is which. then, you can LOL, but not before.
 
well, you don't have to believe me. it's not my OPINION.
next time, again, you should string it at different tensions WITHOUT knowing which racket is which. then, you can LOL, but not before.

ur full of it. it is so easy to tell. and the pros can certainly tell a difference between 10 lbs. to 1lb. why do u think they have all these specefic preferences such as federer? he likes his racquets strung the day before and in a certain order of racquets. maybe some racquets will have a bit of a higher tension for when he might need some more control, or a little less for more power.
 
ur full of it. it is so easy to tell. and the pros can certainly tell a difference between 10 lbs. to 1lb. why do u think they have all these specefic preferences such as federer? he likes his racquets strung the day before and in a certain order of racquets. maybe some racquets will have a bit of a higher tension for when he might need some more control, or a little less for more power.

i give up.
 

autumn_leaf

Hall of Fame
well, you don't have to believe me. it's not my OPINION.
next time, again, you should string it at different tensions WITHOUT knowing which racket is which. then, you can LOL, but not before.

10lbs is a lot!! and you should reference your sources when making statements as this so others can judge the validity / reliability / statistical significance of such experiments.
 

lawlitssoo1n

Professional
there is no human being on this planet, including federer or sampras or agassi or nadal, that can detect a 10lb difference, let alone a 1lb. if you don't believe me, try it yourself. next time you get two rackets strung, have one at 50 and the other at 60. and try to be as fair as possible (or test it on somene else). i dare you to even compare a 40 and a 60. gurantee you won't be able to tell the difference (no cheating though! don't pull on the strings!)

but seriously good try, its funny when people try to talk stuff they don't know anything about :D
 
I have been playing Professionally for 35 years and I can feel a 1lb difference. That is why Sampras had 10 frames in his bag strung from 75-85lbs all 1lb different.
 

hoodjem

G.O.A.T.
is there an ideal tension range for a serve and volley player? sorta wondering but this might be a dumb question. more on the tension preference for volleys

I say no.

I find that best tensions depend on several independent variables: two of which are head-size and type of string.

For instance, I play with a 90 sq in AG100. I am finding that the best tension for poly strings seems to be in the lower 50s or upper 40s. For multis it seems to be in the mid 50s. Within these two types, there is also the stiffness of the string: stiffer strings need lower tensions, whereas softer strings need higher tensions.

This is all very different from my old racquet which was a 95 sq. in, where the best tension was around 59-60.

Maybe a S & V game would need a different tension from a baseline game (for better feel and touch versus power and control), but I have not gotten there--I play an all-court game
 

LeeD

Bionic Poster
My 1/2 cents not worth....
String tension depends on waay too many factors, from rackethead size and racketstiffness/weight/balance, to type and # of strings, to machine gauging, to weather, to grip size, to player build, personality, tastes, likes and dislikes.. and it keeps going.
My take for me. I string one up around 60. If the strings constantly move and seem to absorb the power of my stronger shots, I raise the tension by 3 increments, regardless of how great it feels on drop shots and slow hit balls. If the strings never move, feel dead, and I can't hit strong shots, I'd lower the tension by 3 or so.
Now if the string never moves, I get great power, control of course is good, maybe I'm close enough to stay there with that string, that gauge, for a few more stringjobs.
Currently 12.4 oz Mfil 18x20 with poly cheap nylon at 62 lbs. Strings don't move, don't absorb my bigger shots, everyone says my serve is OK, and only mishits keep tennis from being peachy keen.
 
I have been playing Professionally for 35 years and I can feel a 1lb difference. That is why Sampras had 10 frames in his bag strung from 75-85lbs all 1lb different.
is that true? if so i think that was more to compensate for variance and conditions.

i think if i gave you a racket and told you it was strung at your usual tension and it was really strung at +/- 1 lbs, you wouldn't be able to tell...
 

LeeD

Bionic Poster
I suspect SteveL is correct.
Of course, you can't give him ONE racket and expect your notion of tension.
When I strung sets for Cahill, Stockton, and Ramirez, they all supplied 6 rackets. They asked for 3 identical tensions, one lighter by 2 lbs, and one tighter by 2 lbs. The 6th was considered a "throway"... meaning it could be used, could not, and the player would decide after tapping it a bit.
Now consider. They already had other sets of rackets floating around somewhere, travelling with them or not. And they always carried 3-5 standbys that they KNEW played a certain way for a certain court for a certain temperature.
That was 1978.
 
I suspect SteveL is correct.
Of course, you can't give him ONE racket and expect your notion of tension.
When I strung sets for Cahill, Stockton, and Ramirez, they all supplied 6 rackets. They asked for 3 identical tensions, one lighter by 2 lbs, and one tighter by 2 lbs. The 6th was considered a "throway"... meaning it could be used, could not, and the player would decide after tapping it a bit.
Now consider. They already had other sets of rackets floating around somewhere, travelling with them or not. And they always carried 3-5 standbys that they KNEW played a certain way for a certain court for a certain temperature.
That was 1978.
i don't know... to be able to discern a 1lb difference to me seems nearly impossible. if i gave you 10 rackets all 1lb difference do you think you could place them in order?

i don't know. sure the lowest and highest would be obvious, but it gets pretty muddled in the middle.

there was a study done on this, as i had the same discussion... err argument with a friend, and we googled it. we agreed that sure when you compare 2 rackets you might be able to discern which is higher and lower, but you wouldn't be able to discern the exact tension difference unless you were told.
 

LeeD

Bionic Poster
I think we'er splitting hairs here....
One or two pounds is very little difference. I think I can tell, with two identical rackets, whether one 2 lbs more or less. One pound, then other variables come into play, unless your talking about changing rackets after every 20 balls hit, then I think I could tell which is tighter or softer, but cannot cannot say absolutely it's a one or two lbs. difference.
 

lawlaw

Rookie
Game: All out serve & volley player
String: Prince Synthetic Gut with duraflex 16
Tension: 54lbs
Frame: 90sq in of whatever Wilson paint over and make you play with ;)
 

vndesu

Hall of Fame
i try to copy sampras but instead of gut its poly.

all my mids, either alu roughs, alu power, or iso spped spin at 70+

:D
 
but seriously good try, its funny when people try to talk stuff they don't know anything about :D

you're right. it's pitiful when people assume that what has always been taught is true without equivocation. it's even more pitiful that people do not have the curiosity to question previous wisdom. you can continue believing what the market tells you; i'll continue reading the facts. i can post a university level study that proves my point, but given the level of maturity in your response, i am sure you will not understand it. good luck in life.
 
I have been playing Professionally for 35 years and I can feel a 1lb difference. That is why Sampras had 10 frames in his bag strung from 75-85lbs all 1lb different.


you can feel the difference because you KNOW one is strung at a higher tension than the other.

you can reject my claim (not really my claim actually, but that of objective physicists) once you do a test on yourself. which is very easy. have the stringer string a few rackets for you, with a 1lb difference between each. and then see if you can determine which racket is what. as a matter of fact, make the difference 10lbs.

it's almost disturbing that people (not you) reject a hypothesis with absolutely NO experiment. it's so sad.
 
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