14 year old top junior

[MarkZepa]

Hey guys,
Im 14 and I play about 25+ hours a week of tennis. I want to change string as the volkl cyclone is giving me elbow pain could anyone give me advice on what string i should use. I hit the ball harder than the average 14 year old although i hit a tad more errors than the average one.
Thanks guys
if you need me to answer any questions for advice id be more than happy to. :]

 

[djNEiGht]

look up the multi thread by talk tennis user mikeler

 

[allenkau]

Try these 2 for no elbow pain

1.) ELT - syngut @ 30lbs
2.) Gut/Poly - expensive but lasts much longer.

 

[drgchen]

Since you don't break strings often you can try...
Gut mains, Volkl cyclone crosses.
Multifilament synthetic gut, your choice...Babolat Xcel, Wilson NXT, and see Mikeler's multis for more detail.

Let elbow heal.

 

[RetroSpin]

What frame and what tension? Are you at an academy?

25 hours a week seems like a lot, but I don't know what academy kids do these days. I'd say you are risking problems no matter what string you use. You need to be working on exercises, ideally with an experienced sports physio. You probably should be icing your elbow after playing as well.

I wouldn't want a 14 year old to be gobbling down ibuprofen like us old guys do. I think at the end of the day, you are going to need to back off a bit and give your body a chance to recover. The last thing an up and coming 14 year old needs is a bad elbow that could sit you for a few months.

The obvious string answer would be to go to a gut/poly hybrid or syn gut/poly.

 

[djNEiGht]

to add to the advice above...
-how long are you playing with the poly string bed before changing?

It's going to be hard to...but rest. give your arm some time to heal. if you still need to break a sweat, go do some core work outs.

 

[newpball]

I want to change string as the volkl cyclone is giving me elbow pain could anyone give me advice on what string i should use.

I assume you have discussed this with your parents or guardians.
If not, you should do that right away.

 

[MarkZepa]

What frame and what tension? Are you at an academy?

25 hours a week seems like a lot, but I don't know what academy kids do these days. I'd say you are risking problems no matter what string you use. You need to be working on exercises, ideally with an experienced sports physio. You probably should be icing your elbow after playing as well.

I wouldn't want a 14 year old to be gobbling down ibuprofen like us old guys do. I think at the end of the day, you are going to need to back off a bit and give your body a chance to recover. The last thing an up and coming 14 year old needs is a bad elbow that could sit you for a few months.

The obvious string answer would be to go to a gut/poly hybrid or syn gut/poly.

Wilson Pro Staff Six One 95 w/ Volkl Cyclone @ 56

I was thinking Prince Syn Gut mains and Cyclone Crosses?

 

[NLBwell]

The poly will definitely hurt your arm after a while if you play that much on it. You can try a good multi (see Mikeler's thread) or a gut/poly hybrid. I use Pacific Tough Gut with Signum Pro Poly Plasma Pure crosses and it is definitely much easier on my arm than any full poly or poly/multi hybrid. You can restring just the crosses as the poly loosens if you know a very good and careful stringer.
You will definitely get a lot more power out of the gut/poly. For me, the spin is just as great as full poly and perhaps even greater but, since there is much more power, the ratio of spin to power is significantly lower.

 

[Bhairava]

If you hit with modern style topspin forehand, your will not like so much multi. I can suggest you Dunlop Black Widow or Tour bite soft, both strings are very soft copoly that will let you recover from elbow pain without losing spin and control of poly

 

[MarkZepa]

Since you don't break strings often you can try...
Gut mains, Volkl cyclone crosses.
Multifilament synthetic gut, your choice...Babolat Xcel, Wilson NXT, and see Mikeler's multis for more detail.

Let elbow heal.

Would Syn Gut work?
What syn gut / gut is the best ?

 

[Magic of tennis]

Your first priority is to heal your arm completely by resting enough period. Don't play tennis for a week or maybe 2 weeks. Your body is most valuable thing you have and applied to everyone. Champions are made from taking care of their body very well.
It is not the time for you to worry about which string is the best for spin or power. It is time for you the best string for your arm. And you should concentrate on correct technic and footwork.
TW university ranked natural guts as most comfortable string for arm as we already know. The next of natural gut is synthetic gut like Ashaway Monogut zx. You can check out TW University section and choose strings that are most comfortable for your arm until your arm heals and get stronger.

 

[MarkZepa]

Im thinking Mains Syn Gut ( not sure what brand ) and crosses volkl cyclone.
Thoughts?

 

[Lukhas]

That's not really arm-friendly. And in that configuration, your crosses will eat your mains for breakfast.

 

[MarkZepa]

Then what do you suggest?

 

[Lukhas]

REST.

Full multi. Full s-gut if you can't.

 

[m2nk2]

I tried Babolat gut/poly when my elbow started to act up. I'm not sure how much difference it made, but problem with gut is that you'll break them every hour at least. I really liked the combo, but just way too expensive for me. I also only have 2 rackets.

 

[DustinW]

How often do you restring the cyclone? If you play that much with full poly, you need to keep it fresh (restring every 10-15 hours).

 

[mikeler]

If you must use any poly, Solinco Tour Bite Soft is the best on the arm I've tried.

 

[Lukhas]

^No he mustn't. What she should is getting a stringer if he's a regular tournament player.

 

[drgchen]

Comes down to this.
Poly is usually stiffer than the other strings. If you play often the string loses elasticity and will become dead and more stiff. If you restring often (every 1-2 weeks), you are more likely to be OK and not suffer tennis elbow and injuries.

Using gut mains with poly crosses will give you more spin and feel. Additionally gut is about half the stiffness or less of poly according to tennis warehouse university. So your overall stiffness will be still less than synthetic gut.

If you put synthetic mains with poly crosses, you probably will lose the benefit of more spin as well as the comfort aspect. An ordinary synthetic gut like prince will be slightly less stiff than volkl.

If you get a stringing machine and a reel of less expensive softer poly and string every week or two, you might be ok.

If you don't break strings often, use a premium multi, it will feel better and it will be more gentle on the elbow.

Don't think that because polys are the latest greatest string that you can't play well, or win using other strings. The strings will only make a small difference in your overall game. Skill is much more important.

 

[ClintimusPrime]

I play with the same stick and use Wilson Champions Choice. I've had reconstructive shoulder surgery and this setup doesn't cause me any sort of pain whatsoever. It's bar far the best setup I've tried to date.

 

[RetroSpin]

Wilson Pro Staff Six One 95 w/ Volkl Cyclone @ 56

I was thinking Prince Syn Gut mains and Cyclone Crosses?

Is the frame 18x20 or 16 x 18? Personally, I find 18x20 patterns to transmit a lot more shock.

You should check out the string thread by Up & Comer, who is a young player at an academy. As I recall, he tried dozens of strings and ultimately decided that syn gut main and poly cross was as good as anything. I may have it reversed, he might have used poly mains and syn gut cross.

If you're using poly, I would encourage you to try to go as low as possible on tension. There is a big difference in Tour Bite at 60 and 40.

I would encourage you not to fool around with this pain. It can be very hard to get rid of if you ignore it and let a chronic situation develop. Training in any sport, whether it is tennis or distance running or weightlifting, is a constant process of balancing stress versus recovery. Too much stress and too little recovery, and your body breaks down.

 

[djNEiGht]

...off a bit and give your body a chance to recover. .

It's going to be hard to...but rest. give your arm some time to heal. if you still need to break a sweat, go do some core work outs.

Let elbow heal.

REST.

Full multi. Full s-gut if you can't.

I would encourage you not to fool around with this pain. It can be very hard to get rid of if you ignore it and let a chronic situation develop. Training in any sport, whether it is tennis or distance running or weightlifting, is a constant process of balancing stress versus recovery. Too much stress and too little recovery, and your body breaks down.[/QUOTE]


hope you get this in your routine...rest and recover.

Do some other work outs for your core, foot work, other neglected parts of your body. It will help with your game.

Look back and break down why you have elbow problems.

is it the number hours on the court?
racquet to heavy/light/stiff?
string tension too tight?
string (poly) played with too long?
and technique...are your strokes conventional?

 

[Lukhas]

^Poly at 56lbs for a long time on the frame without breaking.

 

[fgs]

first it would be advisable to take a break from tennis and rest your arm for about 7-10 days. there is still enough exercise you can do off court in order not to have any loss of physical conditioning.

second, i would suggest you try a poly mains and multi crosses hybrid at around 50lbs! my son who is also turning 14 these days is playing with such a hybrid for almost three years now and has had no issue whatsoever - playing with rather stiff sticks in the 300g unstrung range, but at an even lower tension (21kg mains / 20kg crosses, thats about 46-44lbs - mantis power poly mains and mantis power synthetic crosses). he is breaking strings though in the 15-20hrs range, so that's about when the poly goes dead.

there is some room to experiment. although i haven't played the völkl cyclone yet, there are quite a few interesting polys out there to experience with. regarding syngut there basically is in my opinion an issue with tension loss over time. at 15hrs (for my son) the loss is acceptable, there is not much loss in control, but some other, less expensive synguts do go down much quicker than the mantis, and if you don't break them, it could get critical in terms of control.
multis are better in this respect but on the other hand their durability is usually less than what you get with syngut. i like the mantis comfort synthetic very much, but durability is very low. i had in this respect a pretty good experience with wilson sensation, which lasted longer. just give it a try.

 

[sunof tennis]

Then what do you suggest?

I play with the same racquet. Use a medium grade gut (Klip) in the mains and a soft poly in crosses. My case its Pro Sonice but others use different ones which may be better. I have had elbow pain in past, but this is a soft racquet and this a pretty easy on the arm string combo.

 

[MarkZepa]

Thanks for the feedback guys