Arm comfort: Is it better to play with a soft string with low tension maintenance or a stiffer string with good tension maintenance?

[thegreatcouch]

I have looked at TW reviews of Hyper G Soft and Luxilon Alu Power Soft, which I’m considering to buy. The reviewers say that the Hyper G Soft is quite arm-friendly, and that the strings should be re-strung after around 3 weeks. The reviewers say that Alu Power Soft is stiffer than Hyper G Soft, but that Alu Power Soft had hardly lost tension after three weeks.

What I'm wondering is whether it's more arm-friendly to play with a soft string that has to be changed often like Hyper G Soft (while running the risk of playing with a dead string), or is it better to play with a slightly stiffer string such as Alu Power Soft which has better tension maintenance?

 

[tele]

When are you planning on cutting the strings out?

 

[thegreatcouch]

When are you planning on cutting the strings out?

Preferably not more than once every month. I’m playing two times a week.

 

[tele]

Preferably not more than once every month. I’m playing two times a week.

If you want to protect your arm, the general rule is to cut the strings out before they go dead. If you are playing, for example, 4 hours per week, waiting an entire month might be pushing it with either string.

 

[thegreatcouch]

If you want to protect your arm, the general rule is to cut the strings out before they go dead. If you are playing, for example, 4 hours per week, waiting an entire month might be pushing it with either string.

I see. I guess it’s better to go with the string I like the most and cut the strings after 2-3 weeks regardless of the stiffness of the strings

 

[tele]

I see. I guess it’s better to go with the string I like the most and cut the strings after 2-3 weeks regardless of the stiffness of the strings

Probably a good rule of thumb. If there is no change in playability or comfort, you might could go another week. After tennis elbow and a wrist injury, though, I do not use full beds of poly, so hopefully someone who uses hyper g soft or alu power soft in a full bed can chime in.

 

[aaron_h27]

I have looked at TW reviews of Hyper G Soft and Luxilon Alu Power Soft, which I’m considering to buy. The reviewers say that the Hyper G Soft is quite arm-friendly, and that the strings should be re-strung after around 3 weeks. The reviewers say that Alu Power Soft is stiffer than Hyper G Soft, but that Alu Power Soft had hardly lost tension after three weeks.

What I'm wondering is whether it's more arm-friendly to play with a soft string that has to be changed often like Hyper G Soft (while running the risk of playing with a dead string), or is it better to play with a slightly stiffer string such as Alu Power Soft which has better tension maintenance?

Arm-friendliness has nothing to do with tension maintenance. The less stiff a string is better for the arm. Poly Tour Pro 1.20 is soft and holds tension well. Make sure you get a good stringer who takes his time and verify the accuracy on RacquetTune.

Playing 4 hours a week you should be able to re-string once a month no problem. The 12-16 hour mark is when PTP needs to be replaced for me.

I don't find any of the Alu Power iterations to hold tension well despite what TWU playtesters say, and it's really expensive. Hyper G Soft I haven't tried, but I feel like it may be a bit too mushy based on TWU data. I would try regular hyper-g in a 1.15 or 1.20 gauge for comfort & playability.

Compare Strings Tool

 

[K1Y]

A soft string will not turn dead faster. There is a difference between tension loss (just the strings losing tension because they are softer) and elasticity loss. Strings go dead when there is no elasticity in the material anymore. IME softer strings stay elastic for longer and have a longer lifespan before they go dead. Overall its safer to play with the softer poly.

For example hyper g goes dead faster than hyper g soft ime. So I can play longer with hyper g soft from an arm friendliness perspective.

 

[Fintft]

I use both in a hybrid and love them!

 

[tennisintheeighties]

PTP is relatively soft, but I kind feel too much vibration with this string, thats why I can't classified it as arm friendly

 

[nintendoplayer]

I have looked at TW reviews of Hyper G Soft and Luxilon Alu Power Soft, which I’m considering to buy. The reviewers say that the Hyper G Soft is quite arm-friendly, and that the strings should be re-strung after around 3 weeks. The reviewers say that Alu Power Soft is stiffer than Hyper G Soft, but that Alu Power Soft had hardly lost tension after three weeks.

What I'm wondering is whether it's more arm-friendly to play with a soft string that has to be changed often like Hyper G Soft (while running the risk of playing with a dead string), or is it better to play with a slightly stiffer string such as Alu Power Soft which has better tension maintenance?

My experience is that a soft string is 100% better for comfort than any stiff string, no matter the tension.
The polys with best tension maintenance are also the stiffest strings. Whatever soft version of a string you look at, it looses tension faster - because it‘s not as stiff.

Comfort also gets better with thinner strings in general. And the thinner the string, the quicker it breaks.

You could look at it like in an RPG game like Dark Souls. You have 10 points for upgrading and you can put your points on 3 categories. Comfort, control, tension maintenance.

You want lots of control and tension maintenance? You won‘t have much comfort —> stiff poly like Tour Bite or regular Hyper G

You want lots of control and comfort? You won‘t have much tension maintenance —> Hyper G Soft for example


You can then do a finer distribution of attributes by hybriding polys. Hyper G full bed is relatively uncomfortable but Hyper G crossed with a softer poly can be comfortable enough, for example.

 

[Kevo]

The softer the string bed is, the more comfortable it will be. I would personally recommend some kind of nylon string if you need something soft on the arm. For people that don't break strings I don't recommend poly. I would not be using poly if I could get a set of some reasonably priced multi or decent synthetic gut to last a month. The actual benefit to poly is fairly minimal in my experience compared to nylon strings. I don't think many rec players ever experience popping a fresh set of strings in under an hour, but if you play enough and get to a certain level that's what will happen with nylon strings. It basically forces you to find something more durable. From experience I can also report that switching from a good nylon to a nice poly string did not advance my NTRP rating at all. I still had to work on my game even with the poly strings.

 

[hadoken]

If you want arm friendly then you skip poly altogether and get a multi or a synth gut. No poly will compare. If you insist on some poly, then hybrid it as a cross and string it below 45lbs.

 

[yonexRx32]

Stiff string with low tension maintenance.. That's the only way to go.

 

[thegreatcouch]

Thanks for the help, guys! I’ll probably try the Hyper G Soft

 

[nintendoplayer]

Stiff string with low tension maintenance.. That's the only way to go.

So Kirschbaum Super Smash on the house for everyone