String Savers - Where and how many

JRstriker12

JRstriker12

Hall of Fame
Question for string saver users. How many do you put in and where?

I was planning on put some string savers into my prestige pro to help the MT 17 I'm using last a little longer.

My current plan is to basilcally put in string savers in the sweet spot area where each main and cross meet - the area where I noticed the most wear. Maybe a grid of about 9X9 roughly from the center of the string bed.

But I was wondering if people do it a little differently, such as sort of alternating every other cross or do you need to put the string savers on the whole string bed?
 
Valjean

Valjean

Hall of Fame
It used to be recommended that they be installed in a diamond pattern that, well, "mapped" the sweetspot.

Alternating intersections in some fashion is a good way to begin; then you should add more in to account for fraying in those others you didn't cover. In the end, you should know just how and where you work over your stringbed and can compensate further along.
 
Bud

Bud

Bionic Poster
The more string savers installed, the stiffer the stringbed and less feel if using a full natural gut setup.
 
JRstriker12

JRstriker12

Hall of Fame
Bud said:
The more string savers installed, the stiffer the stringbed and less feel if using a full natural gut setup.
Click to expand...

I'm currently stringing with Maxim Touch 17. I'm not too concerned about stiffness as I used to play with poly, but it sounds like alternating might be a good way to start as sugggested by Valjean.
 
Bud

Bud

Bionic Poster
JRstriker12 said:
I'm currently stringing with Maxim Touch 17. I'm not too concerned about stiffness as I used to play with poly, but it sounds like alternating might be a good way to start as sugggested by Valjean.
Click to expand...

I used to alternate them as well. My elbow could definitely feel the difference with and without string savers using full natural gut. I ended up taking them all out and living with the crooked strings (which is why I installed them).
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
Just curious, how long are you getting out of MT 17 without string savers? Where do you normally break strings? Most people tend to hit higher on the string bed so you may wish to put them at and above the dead center of the racket. If you normally break just the inner main strings, put them there. Unfortunately, I break mains all over the racket so I need a ton of string savers in order for them to be effective.

The other strategy is to examine your strings as you play and put string savers at the weak intersections. My problem with this approach is that by the time I notice a weak intersection and think "I'll put one here the next changeover", I typically break the string the next few points.
 
JRstriker12

JRstriker12

Hall of Fame
mikeler said:
Just curious, how long are you getting out of MT 17 without string savers? Where do you normally break strings? Most people tend to hit higher on the string bed so you may wish to put them at and above the dead center of the racket. If you normally break just the inner main strings, put them there. Unfortunately, I break mains all over the racket so I need a ton of string savers in order for them to be effective.

The other strategy is to examine your strings as you play and put string savers at the weak intersections. My problem with this approach is that by the time I notice a weak intersection and think "I'll put one here the next changeover", I typically break the string the next few points.
Click to expand...

My first set of MT 17 lasted about 6 matches, it developed two deep notches on two of the inner mains near the center. I hate breaking a string in the middle of a match so I had it restrung before it broke.

Overall I'm not really a string breaker and 6 matches isn't too bad, but the club where my friend strings isn't very close to my house so I saves me some time and a little cash if I don't have to restring every two weeks.
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
JRstriker12 said:
My first set of MT 17 lasted about 6 matches, it developed two deep notches on two of the inner mains near the center. I hate breaking a string in the middle of a match so I had it restrung before it broke.

Overall I'm not really a string breaker and 6 matches isn't too bad, but the club where my friend strings isn't very close to my house so I saves me some time and a little cash if I don't have to restring every two weeks.
Click to expand...


I got about 12 sets from it when I used it. Since I string my own, that durability was fine for me.
 
Valjean

Valjean

Hall of Fame
Bud said:
I used to alternate them as well. My elbow could definitely feel the difference with and without string savers using full natural gut. I ended up taking them all out and living with the crooked strings (which is why I installed them).
Click to expand...
This doesn't sound right. Why wouldn't alternating them at least have affected your response--in some degree, anyway? You should have scaled way down, to see if there was a minimum you could live with. Plus, there are certainly product distinctions; for example, Babolat's Elastocross II, which is made from teflon, affects the stringbed much less than the plastic you might have employed. The recommended tension allowance for string savers installed--any string saver product, in fact--is just two lbs., too...
 
Bud

Bud

Bionic Poster
Valjean said:
This doesn't sound right. Why wouldn't alternating them at least have affected your response--in some degree, anyway? You should have scaled way down, to see if there was a minimum you could live with. Plus, there are certainly product distinctions; for example, Babolat's Elastocross II, which is made from teflon, affects the stringbed much less than the plastic you might have employed. The recommended tension allowance for string savers installed--any string saver product, in fact--is just two lbs., too...
Click to expand...

Alternating them makes the string bed less stiff.

I used the Babolat Elastocross string savers... alternating them at intersections. Used for approximately 10x10 area near the sweet spot.

As I stated, I used them to keep the strings straight and to allow easier straightening. I'm not a stringbreaker. I stopped using them as they made the stringbed mush more harsh.
 
Last edited:
JRstriker12

JRstriker12

Hall of Fame
GameSetMatch said:
As long as you don't blitz the entire stringbed with stringsavers like this guy, you should be fine.

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=204859&highlight=stringsavers

Waste of time IMO on anything other that gut. Stringsavers on a low priced string like MT is a bit of an overkill but each to their own.
Click to expand...

I don't string on my own and even though my buddy gives me a break on the cost of stringing, what really makes trying to restring evey two weeks a pain is the time/cost of getting to the club to drop off the rackets (which is a bit a of a drive) and it isn't always easy to drop them off and get restrung if I had a match the next day and the strings may pop.

Long story short - I'm going to give it a try as it may be worth it to me. We'll see how it goes.
 
JRstriker12

JRstriker12

Hall of Fame
BTW - Finished putting in the string savers yesterday and played.

I alternated locations of string savers, except for one row that I worked on the other day before really thinking about how many I wanted to put in. So far, so good. Didn't seem too stiff and I felt it played pretty well.

FWIW - I'm using the Babolat string savers.
 
WarrenT

WarrenT

New User
I had that same question when first trying string savers. I ended up covering about 75% of my hitting zone. Personally I felt no increased stiffness, really couldn't even tell they were there except some added vibration dampening effect. Anyways, the strings ended up breaking at one of the few intersections I did not place a string saver on. So in my experience you just need to place one on every intersection within your main hitting spot, prob a circle about 4 inches in diameter.
 
JRstriker12

JRstriker12

Hall of Fame
WarrenT said:
I had that same question when first trying string savers. I ended up covering about 75% of my hitting zone. Personally I felt no increased stiffness, really couldn't even tell they were there except some added vibration dampening effect. Anyways, the strings ended up breaking at one of the few intersections I did not place a string saver on. So in my experience you just need to place one on every intersection within your main hitting spot, prob a circle about 4 inches in diameter.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback.

I think I'm going to give this a try and see how it works. Next step may be to put a saver on every junction if this doesn't extend to life of the strings as much as I wanted.
 
J

JavierLW

Hall of Fame
I used to put a 10x10 pattern of 100 of them in when I was using a full bed of Wilson Natural Gut.

I actually liked it because it countered the soft quiet feel of it and firmed it up a bit.

I wouldnt use them though for anything other then a real soft natural gut, now I just put Isospeed Pro Classic in the crosses, and that holds the gut mains in place pretty well.
 
Carolina Racquet

Carolina Racquet

Professional
I'd also vote for the alternating cross approach. FWIW, I've favored the Tourna String Savers because of the lower cost and being able to purchase refills.
 
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