Could frequently rotating racquets extend string life?

[Wolfessis]

When wearing shoes that are used daily for long periods or strenuously (high impact), having two pairs and rotating between them will give your shoes more life (hours worn) compared to wearing the one pair daily. This is because it gives the materials more time to settle and return to their original shape, like responding to mechanical fatigue. And without having time to readjust, they are more susceptible to losing their beneficial properties + being damaged.

I'm wondering whether anyone has experience of something similar happening with strings or even checked with a string tension measure. Like whether using the same strings daily 4 days in a row would result in more tension loss vs using the frame every second day or days hit (with same number of days/hours ultimately played on racquet).

Or another example, a 2 hour hit switching racquet every 30 minutes, to limit fatigue exposure; could tension loss and string damage increase over time with consecutive play? Thus the idea being that giving them additional time to 'rest' between hits, and/or from trying to reduce playtime without rest (having 30-60min blocks of use), may help preserve properties (flex and snapback).

Obviously over a period of time also there is going to be static tension loss as a factor occurring on both racquets also so...very likely if there was any extension of life it would require frequent play. Probably every day.

Anyone know or experimented with anything like this?

 

[Chalkdust]

During the summer I rotate every 10-15 minutes between multiple racquets (grip gets sweaty).
During the winter I am much less disciplined about doing this and might use the same racquet for a day before switching to the next one.
I usually play every day.
I've not noticed any difference in string tension maintenance or string longevity either way.
I play full poly and get about 10 hours per stringjob pretty consistently either way.

 

[Mmazzoni]

I had never heard of that with shoes, I generally breakdown the shoe way before I can wear out the sole. But if I can get a few extra weeks I'm game for trying.
Similar for me in the summer I'm switching every change over mostly sweat but also to get equal play on the strings. Other seasons it's usually after a set.

 

[jimmy8]

When wearing shoes that are used daily for long periods or strenuously (high impact), having two pairs and rotating between them will give your shoes more life (hours worn) compared to wearing the one pair daily. This is because it gives the materials more time to settle and return to their original shape, like responding to mechanical fatigue. And without having time to readjust, they are more susceptible to losing their beneficial properties + being damaged.

I'm wondering whether anyone has experience of something similar happening with strings or even checked with a string tension measure. Like whether using the same strings daily 4 days in a row would result in more tension loss vs using the frame every second day or days hit (with same number of days/hours ultimately played on racquet).

Or another example, a 2 hour hit switching racquet every 30 minutes, to limit fatigue exposure; could tension loss and string damage increase over time with consecutive play? Thus the idea being that giving them additional time to 'rest' between hits, and/or from trying to reduce playtime without rest (having 30-60min blocks of use), may help preserve properties (flex and snapback).

Obviously over a period of time also there is going to be static tension loss as a factor occurring on both racquets also so...very likely if there was any extension of life it would require frequent play. Probably every day.

Anyone know or experimented with anything like this?

No, I don't think so. Strings wear out just by sitting still in the racket. You should use the strings as much as possible in the 7-10 day period after stringing to maximize using the string at its optimal performance period (up to 8-10 hours of play usually).

 

[blai212]

No, I don't think so. Strings wear out just by sitting still in the racket. You should use the strings as much as possible in the 7-10 day period after stringing to maximize using the string at its optimal performance period (up to 8-10 hours of play usually).

Disagree. Strings may lose some tension just sitting in the racquet but they stabilize which is why often times, if you have a racquet strung up with too stiff a string, if you wait a couple weeks or a month, it will feel amazing once it has broken in. My recommendation is to string at staggered tensions. A few benefits out of this: a.) you can find your optimal tension and b.) once the lower tension craps out, the higher tension will be broken in. For example, I like my racquet at 42/40lbs fresh off stringer so I will string up 42/40, 43/41, 44/42 and if I need slightly higher tension, I have the option to do so. Rotating racquets allows the string beds to die less quickly which will lessen the drastic change in playability over time.

 

[Pumpkin]

Tennis strings are not living organisms. They are not going to have a nice lunch and a lie down if you "rest" them.

 

[Injured Again]

When I'm playing regularly, I'm stringing some racquet every 7-10 days. Whether I use the racquets one at a time or I play with both one after the other, the number of hours the strings last doesn't change. Physically, there's no recovery that happens within the string material when it's not used.

Also have not noticed any degradation from having a poly string sit in a racquet for more than a year. I've picked up racquets that have sat used with new strings for two or three years and the stringbed performs indistinguishably from a new stringing with the same string.

 

[SlowTiger]

When I'm playing regularly, I'm stringing some racquet every 7-10 days. Whether I use the racquets one at a time or I play with both one after the other, the number of hours the strings last doesn't change. Physically, there's no recovery that happens within the string material when it's not used.

Also have not noticed any degradation from having a poly string sit in a racquet for more than a year. I've picked up racquets that have sat used with new strings for two or three years and the stringbed performs indistinguishably from a new stringing with the same string.

I like unused hybrids that sit around for a while. They're softer then new strings, they're not notched and locked in place and I get some sick flat shots out of them for a few hrs before they totally die

 

[Fintft]

I think it did extend the life of full bet gut.

 

[SlowTiger]

Doesn't shoe rotation help extend the midsole cushion? It allows it to decompress after my fat @$$ stomped on it all day. The outsoles that last you 100 hours of hot sweaty rough grinding will still only last you 100 hours of grinding. 10 hours of playability is still 10 hours of playability. You're now just stretching it out to 2 weeks vs 1 week by alternating and splitting the hours on the strings

 

[jindra]

When wearing shoes that are used daily for long periods or strenuously (high impact), having two pairs and rotating between them will give your shoes more life (hours worn) compared to wearing the one pair daily. This is because it gives the materials more time to settle and return to their original shape, like responding to mechanical fatigue. And without having time to readjust, they are more susceptible to losing their beneficial properties + being damaged.

I'm wondering whether anyone has experience of something similar happening with strings or even checked with a string tension measure. Like whether using the same strings daily 4 days in a row would result in more tension loss vs using the frame every second day or days hit (with same number of days/hours ultimately played on racquet).

Or another example, a 2 hour hit switching racquet every 30 minutes, to limit fatigue exposure; could tension loss and string damage increase over time with consecutive play? Thus the idea being that giving them additional time to 'rest' between hits, and/or from trying to reduce playtime without rest (having 30-60min blocks of use), may help preserve properties (flex and snapback).

Obviously over a period of time also there is going to be static tension loss as a factor occurring on both racquets also so...very likely if there was any extension of life it would require frequent play. Probably every day.

Anyone know or experimented with anything like this?

Maybe it would work if you were able to unload strings when you're not playing.

 

[Wolfessis]

Tennis strings are not living organisms. They are not going to have a nice lunch and a lie down if you "rest" them.

Obviously they are not. However in footwear the properties of materials undergo compression and decompression back to their original shape. Wearing them daily for long periods doesn't necessarily allow the materials to completely return to neutral, resulting in reduced functionality and speeding up their decay on use. Rotating throughout the day is even better.

Strings lengthen and contract, not the same as compression/decompression obviously but conceptually similar in some ways. I thought it unlikely but was curious none the same.

 

[1HBHfanatic]

-no
-strings get lower and lower in tension over time
-they eventually plateau/bottom out, but its way too soft from original tension
-ALL strings/cords under tension STRETCH!
-string-resilience/material-resilience is what makes them better than others ($$$)

-rotating racquets will allow you to enjoy your strings/tension at similar tensions longer, but will not affect the drop in tension
-if you are not a STRING BREAKER, rotating your racquet OFTEMN is what i advise
-enjoy them for the short time you have, to hit the desired tension
-if you wait to break 1x set/racquet of strings, the strings on the 2nd racquet will be too far gone!!
-if you ARE a string breaker (1-2 DAYS max), then i would say only switch when you break

 

[Wolfessis]

Disagree. Strings may lose some tension just sitting in the racquet but they stabilize which is why often times, if you have a racquet strung up with too stiff a string, if you wait a couple weeks or a month, it will feel amazing once it has broken in. My recommendation is to string at staggered tensions. A few benefits out of this: a.) you can find your optimal tension and b.) once the lower tension craps out, the higher tension will be broken in. For example, I like my racquet at 42/40lbs fresh off stringer so I will string up 42/40, 43/41, 44/42 and if I need slightly higher tension, I have the option to do so. Rotating racquets allows the string beds to die less quickly which will lessen the drastic change in playability over time.

Suuuuuuuper interesting. The string job that I've had done where the strings definitely had the longest life by far was similar to this. Cyclone tour 1.30 on a yonex vcore sv 95. Was the first stringjob on it and had been using the 2018 vcore 95 so strung it based off this. Strung at 55.5/53.5.....I played with it I think the next day or maybe that evening for like a minute or two and was like omfg this is ridiculously stiff, plus the SV turned out to be significantly lower powered at same tensions as the other 95 and I couldnt be ****ed breaking it in lol.

So it sat in my bag unused for a solid 1-2 months. Decided to play with it again on a whim expecting it to suck and was wildly surprised at now how beautiful it played. Furthermore the tension seemed to stay very consistent and only very gradually loosened further over many months. It just stayed good...until it finally broke, after many more hours than any string has stayed functional for me. Usually they either get to loose and lose spin, or lock up, depending on the string.

I'm going to have to test this. Letting a frame sit for a month to see if the same thing happens with a different string. There is a possible explanation for it also. As you said the string bed could be settling in...so the tension across the strings very slowly shifting and evening out until it reaches a stage of mechanical equilibrium across the whole bed. Once it reaches this stage then the stress placed on the stringbed upon use/playing, if it was graphed, would likely be more evenly spread instead of spiking in different ways.

By forcing the strings to work before some level of equilibrium is reached, it may just place a much higher load of mechanical stress on the fibres of the string, causing them to take more damage and thus once they loosen up, its like you've caused some 'cracks' which then are mechanically compromised; thus these damaged fibres degrade faster than the non-damaged sections, causing the string to start losing functionality and setting up a cascade effect for the mechanical fatigue to continue worsening, and spread.

If this *is" occurring, second question is can you speed up the process. E.G by gently bouncing a ball up down on the strings for a short amount of time once or twice a day for a week (evenly on each side of strings), to encourage this process to happen quicker, without stressing the strings enough to cause the initial damage and thus prevent the cascade effect,

 

[Bambooman]

Tennis strings are not living organisms. They are not going to have a nice lunch and a lie down if you "rest" them.

There is this stuff called gut which once was living and sort of still is.

 

[Pumpkin]

There is this stuff called gut which once was living and sort of still is.

Perhaps you could buy some gut and keep it as a pet....

 

[Pumpkin]

Obviously they are not. However in footwear the properties of materials undergo compression and decompression back to their original shape. Wearing them daily for long periods doesn't necessarily allow the materials to completely return to neutral, resulting in reduced functionality and speeding up their decay on use. Rotating throughout the day is even better.

Strings lengthen and contract, not the same as compression/decompression obviously but conceptually similar in some ways. I thought it unlikely but was curious none the same.

I don't think so

 

[Bambooman]

Absolute complete and utter bullsh*t.

True however.

 

[Bambooman]

Perhaps you could buy some gut and keep it as a pet....

That's exactly how it works. They are called "pet cows".

 

[Zoolander]

Poly i have found to lose tension even when just sitting in an unused racquet. Syngut not so much and natgut very little.

That's exactly how it works. They are called "pet cows".

I have some “gut“ wandering around the paddock right now. When i go outside they just stand there looking at me stupidely.

Honestly i think they deserve to end up in my racquet. And my freezer. Mmm………. steak

 

[Pumpkin]

Poly i have found to lose tension even when just sitting in an unused racquet

Do you find poly becomes unplayable if just sitting in an unused racquet, or is it just tension loss?

 

[blai212]

any string loses tension over time…but it stabilizes and holds steady because there is no deformation like when hitting the ball, especially if hitting hard

 

[WYK]

Buy a stringing machine. It will pay for itself it's first year. Mine is 9 years old.