Why does Federer arrange his string savers up high on the stringbed?

karophiteblu

Semi-Pro
If you have seen any photos of Federer's string saver setup, he has 10 savers total, first row beginning from the 4th string down and second row at 6th string down.

I know that Federer doesn't need string savers because he gets strings for free anyway, but does anyone know why he chooses such a position for the string savers? I don't see other people using that type of setup.
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
He doesn't seem to have more than 6-12 inches of lead at 12 and it's there to balance out all his racquets, rather than to simply add weight and swing weight.
 

karophiteblu

Semi-Pro
Ohh i see. I recently started putting my string savers 1 row below Fed's. I hope it will help me on my mishits if i hit too high up. Is this going to work?
 

Mr_Shiver

Semi-Pro
It's part of his surreal set-up. If you get a racquet to match his exact specs your rating gets bumped up a notch. If you line up your bottles like Rafa that is another level bump. If you pick your bum your rating drops domn to -7.0, true story.
 

0d1n

Hall of Fame
I think string savers help with minimizing string movement...regardless of placement.
From my experiments with softer mains and poly crosses this seems to be the case.
The way he has them set up seems to cover the "inside 14" of the 16 mains.
Placement that high means he rarely hits the ball with them...but the strings still stay in place better.

My 2 pence.
 

Bobby Jr

G.O.A.T.
He doesn't seem to have more than 6-12 inches of lead at 12 and it's there to balance out all his racquets, rather than to simply add weight and swing weight.
The amount of lead tape he uses would significantly change how the racquets play - miles beyond balancing them. (esp since they're hand-picked racquets which no doubt would be in a closer balance/weight range than you'd find if you picked up a couple of frames off a shelf).

I wondered if the string-savers might add a little extra bite when he hits with spin.
 
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Bartelby

Bionic Poster
There are pictures out there of the lead and insider comments that the lead he uses only adds a little weight to the tip of the racquet.



The amount of lead tape he uses would significantly change how the racquets play - miles beyond balancing them. (esp since they're hand-picked racquets which no doubt would be in a closer balance/weight range than you'd find if you picked up a couple of frames off a shelf).

I wondered if the string-savers might add a little extra bite when he hits with spin.
 

0d1n

Hall of Fame
There are pictures out there of the lead and insider comments that the lead he uses only adds a little weight to the tip of the racquet.

"A little weight" was approximated to maybe 5 grams. 5 grams @ 12 changes the balance by some 1/2 cm (more head heavy) and adds close to 20 sw points.
I would say that's significant.
 

laboule

Rookie
I was under the understanding that he used the string savers to get more spin on kick serves and groundstrokes when hitting higher up on the string bed. When he flattens the shots he would go for the "normal" sweet spot....
 

Bobby Jr

G.O.A.T.
There are pictures out there of the lead and insider comments that the lead he uses only adds a little weight to the tip of the racquet.
They do? I've followed all of Fabfed's threads and don't recall Ron (from P1) or the measurements of multiple Federer frames ever showing that.

The lead he adds would increase the swing-weight by 13-odd grams - which is a huge change in the overall balance of any racquet.

Standard K90
Static weight: 357 grams
Balance: 31.6 cm
Swingweight: ~339

Federer's K90 with approx 5-7gms of lead and overgrip
Static weight: 365 grams
Balance: 31.7 cm
Swingweight: ~352.5
 

KHSOLO

Semi-Pro
"A little weight" was approximated to maybe 5 grams. 5 grams @ 12 changes the balance by some 1/2 cm (more head heavy) and adds close to 20 sw points.
I would say that's significant.

Exactly

I add about 4 grms of lead @12 as well and it feel like 20 or 30 more grms in sw

The marvel of physics
 

karophiteblu

Semi-Pro
They do? I've followed all of Fabfed's threads and don't recall Ron (from P1) or the measurements of multiple Federer frames ever showing that.

The lead he adds would increase the swing-weight by 13-odd grams - which is a huge change in the overall balance of any racquet.

Standard K90
Static weight: 357 grams
Balance: 31.6 cm
Swingweight: ~339

Federer's K90 with approx 5-7gms of lead and overgrip
Static weight: 365 grams
Balance: 31.7 cm
Swingweight: ~352.5

dang my k90 is even heavier than fed's...and i didnt even add lead! i needa work out a s*** load haha
 

JoelDali

Talk Tennis Guru
Cool-Starry-Bra1.jpg
 

ShoeShiner

Rookie
Because his serves especially spin/twisted serves always contact that area in racket face.
. . .
You can do an experiment by painting some colors on that area in racket face and center area. And try twisted serve for many shots. Then see the color on balls.
 
That's where the sweet spot is. He put tons of lead on the head @ 12.

The amount of lead tape he uses would significantly change how the racquets play - miles beyond balancing them. (esp since they're hand-picked racquets which no doubt would be in a closer balance/weight range than you'd find if you picked up a couple of frames off a shelf).

I wondered if the string-savers might add a little extra bite when he hits with spin.

"A little weight" was approximated to maybe 5 grams. 5 grams @ 12 changes the balance by some 1/2 cm (more head heavy) and adds close to 20 sw points.
I would say that's significant.
The picture from P1 of Feds racket show perhaps between four and eight inches of 1/4" lead tape (times two). 1/4 inch lead tape is 1/4 gram pr inch, so that would be approx between two and four grams. The difference in length is definitely for matching purposes.
 
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sureshs

Bionic Poster
I think string savers help with minimizing string movement...regardless of placement.
From my experiments with softer mains and poly crosses this seems to be the case.
The way he has them set up seems to cover the "inside 14" of the 16 mains.
Placement that high means he rarely hits the ball with them...but the strings still stay in place better.

My 2 pence.

Strings not moving is not good for spin. They need to move and then snap back.

Fed should rectify this first rather than go for larger frames.
 
I dont think they stop the strings moving. On the contrary, they prevent notching and thereby aid moving. The misconception could be because they aid the moving back in place of the string, thereby improving spin.
 

BLX_Andy

Professional
with experience he must know where his string usually starts to fray or break when he has none.

Fray or break? I understand what that means but I don't think that's the issue. He doesn't care if he breaks a set (I think), he can just whip out a new 90 if a string breaks.
 

Vcore89

Talk Tennis Guru
With lead tape under the grommets of his racquet, he is able to elongate the sweetspot higher-up (a bit). But the point is, like Serena, Fed is actually hitting the ball higher-up rather than dead centre on certain shots.
 

mxmx

Hall of Fame
The contact point of most pro's are not on the sweetspot of the racket, but higher up in my opinion. The speed of the racket is faster higher up. Most my strings break in that area and that is where i place my string savers also.

Think about it: the racket has more speed in either spin direction or follow through direction at that point. Even if it feels less sweet, it certainly has more speed and spin.
 

mxmx

Hall of Fame
Wouldn't the string savers prevent notching, which in return provide for more string movement long term?

I think one also need to consider which kind of stringsavers.

The plastic ones and rubber ones should have a different effect. Ive noted with the rubber ones that I use, that they do indeed slide around when the strings go very loose.
 

0d1n

Hall of Fame
Strings not moving is not good for spin. They need to move and then snap back.

Fed should rectify this first rather than go for larger frames.

Thanks...but I was talking about the strings staying put before and after the shot.
I'm well aware that when swinging at high speeds, the strings move quite a bit during contact...and then they return to their initial position (at least when fresh). Those plastic bits seem to be helping with the "returning" of the strings to their initial position.
 
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