Thicker strings more spin....higher tension more spin?

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight

Legend
The conventional wisdom is that thinner strings and lower tensions give you more spin.

A Tennis magazine article now says that thicker strings actually give you more spin because more material comes into contact with the ball.

Personally I find that thicker strings at higher tension gives the most spin. What are your thoughts.
 
R

Ramon

Legend
If you follow that theory, I suppose you'll get the most spin by going back to standard 65 sq in heads with 18x20 string patterns and 15 gauge strings. You'll get a lot of contact with that! Believe me, I've tried that with wooden racquets in the past. It doesn't work.
 
The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight

Legend
Ramon said:
If you follow that theory, I suppose you'll get the most spin by going back to standard 65 sq in heads with 18x20 string patterns and 15 gauge strings. You'll get a lot of contact with that! Believe me, I've tried that with wooden racquets in the past. It doesn't work.
Click to expand...

It's a difficult question and a mystery......

Mark woodforde used a really thick guage string ....I think thicker than 15 and an extremely sparse pattern. He also strung it insanely tight.

The new Wilson spin racquets also use really thick string with a sparse string pattern.

But I think the best we can do is take a look at the racquets that created the most spin on earth.....l

I think we would all agree that was the spaghetti string racquet.......they had double strings......that's pretty thick.....but very very loose.

So I would guess therefore that thicker and loose is the way to go?
 
The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight

Legend
Imago said:
Off+ hard and flexy blades with Tenergy 05 on them produce the greatest spin. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3iBRBkgnmg
Click to expand...

Couldn't watch on mobile device.....but good point.....

Ping paddles paddles create a ton of spin but low power.

So how can we mimic that in a racquet?

1-Thick and dense pattern as possible to create more material

2- dead low powered string with string savers everywhere to make it "boardy"

3- high tension to make it more board like and with as little give as possible
 
StringingIrvine

StringingIrvine

Semi-Pro
Just a thought, wouldn't a thicker gauge string increase difference between the highest point and lowest point of the string bed?

When the main string 1.30mm goes OVER the cross it will be taller than if you used a 1.10mm. Although the height difference would only be the difference in string gauge (0.20mm). Would that be enough to make a difference?
 
S

SFrazeur

Legend
This is an old hypothesis that more material contact allows for more spin. I recall when I first came to this forum there were some posters claiming that dense 18x20 string a patterns gave more spin due to their density.
 
The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight

Legend
StringingIrvine said:
Just a thought, wouldn't a thicker gauge string increase difference between the highest point and lowest point of the string bed?

When the main string 1.30mm goes OVER the cross it will be taller than if you used a 1.10mm. Although the height difference would only be the difference in string gauge (0.20mm). Would that be enough to make a difference?
Click to expand...

Great observation !!!!

I think it would. And every milimeter counts .....especially when an entire racquet weighs merely in the 11 ounce range .

Even adding led tape or a difference of 15 mm or 18 mm makes
A difference . Very small numbers.
 
Muppet

Muppet

Legend
Both thicker gauge and higher tension usually give lower power. Lower power necessitates a faster stroke. A faster stroke imparts more spin, maybe.

Don't forget the human element.
 
T

TimothyO

Hall of Fame
The Dark Knight said:
The conventional wisdom is that thinner strings and lower tensions give you more spin.

A Tennis magazine article now says that thicker strings actually give you more spin because more material comes into contact with the ball.

Personally I find that thicker strings at higher tension gives the most spin. What are your thoughts.
Click to expand...

There might be something to this, within limits.

I've found that thicker mains combined with thinner crosses improves spin potential. But the limiting factor is that the thinner cross provides less control So you need to use a stiffer, thinner cross to make up for the difference.

Perhaps a thinner cross functions similarly to a frame with fewer crosses and allows the mains to move more freely. Meanwhile the thicker main increases ball-string friction. But even there, there are limits. It's thicker mains in an open pattern.
 
T

TimothyO

Hall of Fame
Muppet said:
Both thicker gauge and higher tension usually give lower power. Lower power necessitates a faster stroke. A faster stroke imparts more spin, maybe.

Don't forget the human element.
Click to expand...

This is very true. So the real question is whether or not, all else being equal, would a thicker main enhance spin potential.

The corollary to your point is that a faster stroke requires better timing to maintain consistency and precision.

The optimum solution is a string bed that enhances spin within the limits of the user's abilities.
 
The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight

Legend
TimothyO said:
There might be something to this, within limits.

I've found that thicker mains combined with thinner crosses improves spin potential. But the limiting factor is that the thinner cross provides less control So you need to use a stiffer, thinner cross to make up for the difference.

Perhaps a thinner cross functions similarly to a frame with fewer crosses and allows the mains to move more freely. Meanwhile the thicker main increases ball-string friction. But even there, there are limits. It's thicker mains in an open pattern.
Click to expand...

Really? That may explain it.....

You see I didn't have 15 guage gut only 17 guage.

So I have 15 guage kevlar in the mains and 17 guage gut in the crosses
 
Muppet

Muppet

Legend
Muppet said:
Both thicker gauge and higher tension usually give lower power. Lower power necessitates a faster stroke. A faster stroke imparts more spin, maybe.

Don't forget the human element.
Click to expand...

TimothyO said:
This is very true. So the real question is whether or not, all else being equal, would a thicker main enhance spin potential.

The corollary to your point is that a faster stroke requires better timing to maintain consistency and precision.

The optimum solution is a string bed that enhances spin within the limits of the user's abilities.
Click to expand...

So are 17 and 18 cheater's gauges? Did we already know that? Or, to validate this querry, would the 15L and 16 gauges be the cheater strings? Do we shoot for a happy medium, will we have to figure out what we like that also works with our swing speed/timing ability? This extra info about strings might motivate us, the string buying public, to give it some more thought. I always thought the only reason to go from 16g to 17g was for my closed string patterns.

Also, is a fat gauge spinnier for a gifted/advanced/pro player with a fast swing and impeccable timing? Would these people get less spin out of a narrower gauge, given that they wouldn't break it? Is the fat gauge really spinnier, or just more durable? Would these people get sufficient spin from any type of string, as long as it wouldn't break?

To be quite honest, I don't think increasing gauge, IAOI, will increase spin potential. If it does, it's a distant worry behind durability.
 
StringingIrvine

StringingIrvine

Semi-Pro
what if......

Thinner shaped strings shred fuzz off the ball faster than thicker shaped strings. If there is less fuzz the ball it will have less friction through the air which would result in less action from the spin.

Assuming you use one can of balls for best of three USTA set...After about 15 minutes of hitting...
-Thicker strings preserve the ball's fuzz more which might lead you to believe you are getting more action.
-Thinner strings remove of fuzz faster which lead to decreases spin action of the ball, since there is less friction.

Therefore thicker strings do play a role in more spin action on the ball!

=p

(not to be taken seriously)
 
Last edited:
E

Engelworks

Rookie
I don't see why there's still a debate about this. Someone with 2 of the same racket should just string one with 16g and another with 18g of some string then take them both hitting. Then when you settle on a gauge, do one at the low end of tension range and the other at the high end. Play a few sets with a buddy and the two of you should be able to figure out pretty quick which gives the most spin.
 
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