Do polyester strings really contribute to tennis elbow?

Louis33

Semi-Pro
My experience is quite the opposite. I had severe tennis elbow a few years back playing with synthetic gut/multifilament full bed strings and it slowly resolved itself once I went to a multi/poly hybrid. Lately I have been experimenting with new setups including full poly and have had no elbow problems until I tried a full bed of Gosen AK Pro CX 17G synthetic and the string bed locked up within 30 minutes of heavy hitting and I am having elbow soreness after a 2 1/2 hour hitting session for the first time in years.

I’m curious if anyone on the forum has had similar experiences as mine? From my experience it seems the string stiffness is not and issue for me. It’s about the string bed locking up that aggravates my elbow and with full poly this happens the least for me and as a result is most comfortable to play with.
 

nochuola

Rookie
As always with this type of comment, DISCLAIMER: I'm not a doctor. This is my personal opinion I formed after thorough research, and based on my understanding of the subject matter.

Stiff strings and stiff racquets doesn't "cause" tennis elbow in the sense most people use the word "cause", but they can certainly be a major contributor. Everytime you hit a ball with a racquet, you are impacting your joints, and causing incremental damage. Most of us recover from these small damages quickly enough between hitting sessions. Tennis elbow and other overuse injuries are caused by the long term accumulation of these wear and tear.
Imagine you're cutting down a tree. You can use an axe or a chisel. They do different amounts of damage, but they both do damage. Stiff string + stiff racquet (+ poor technique) is like taking an axe to your joints, while softer setup is like the chisel in the analogy. You can absolutely develop tennis elbow with a soft setup if you abuse it enough and/or use improper technique. It is just easier to deal sufficient damage to your joints to get tennis elbow by using a stiff setup.
Now, I briefly mentioned technique, and here is what I think is the root of your experience. I'm not saying you have poor technique. I wouldn't be able to tell from some words. What I do believe is that your technique is probably more suitable for a stringbed that freely slides around, and not suitable for a locked up stringbed. Something about your technique probably puts significantly more stress on your joints when you play with a locked up stringbed. Doesn't mean you have bad technique. It just means, like you said, you are more comfortable with a setup that doesn't lock up.
 

1stVolley

Professional
As always with this type of comment, DISCLAIMER: I'm not a doctor. This is my personal opinion I formed after thorough research, and based on my understanding of the subject matter.

Stiff strings and stiff racquets doesn't "cause" tennis elbow in the sense most people use the word "cause", but they can certainly be a major contributor. Everytime you hit a ball with a racquet, you are impacting your joints, and causing incremental damage. Most of us recover from these small damages quickly enough between hitting sessions. Tennis elbow and other overuse injuries are caused by the long term accumulation of these wear and tear.
Imagine you're cutting down a tree. You can use an axe or a chisel. They do different amounts of damage, but they both do damage. Stiff string + stiff racquet (+ poor technique) is like taking an axe to your joints, while softer setup is like the chisel in the analogy. You can absolutely develop tennis elbow with a soft setup if you abuse it enough and/or use improper technique. It is just easier to deal sufficient damage to your joints to get tennis elbow by using a stiff setup.
Now, I briefly mentioned technique, and here is what I think is the root of your experience. I'm not saying you have poor technique. I wouldn't be able to tell from some words. What I do believe is that your technique is probably more suitable for a stringbed that freely slides around, and not suitable for a locked up stringbed. Something about your technique probably puts significantly more stress on your joints when you play with a locked up stringbed. Doesn't mean you have bad technique. It just means, like you said, you are more comfortable with a setup that doesn't lock up.
Yes, not a lot of attention is given to the impact force generated during contact with the ball, particularly on groudstrokes. I think the reason for this is that the force, while in the hundreds of pounds, lasts only for a few milliseconds. Nevertheless, that's a lot of impact force and it occurs hundreds of times during play. That can't help but be a factor in stressing joints, tendons and ligaments.

The stiffer the stringbed and the frame, the greater the percentage of this impact force is transmitted to the arm rather than being absorbed flexing the frame or stretching the stringbed. Polys are stiffer than multis and gut which is why they are able to redirect more force into compressing the ball. This results in less force driving the ball so that the player can swing harder, creating more topspin, and not worry about overhitting.

There are myriad comments about the increasing frequency of joint injuries since the introduction of poly strings and the trend to stiffer racquets. I think there is every reason to believe that the increasing impact forces these things invite are a factor in this situation.
 

Shaolin

Talk Tennis Guru
I've been using poly since the late 90s and never had an issue. Even went through a phase where I was stringing it at 70lbs with no pain.

I string it 45-50ish now and think that is the perfect range.
 

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
Most of the time when I sprint there is no after effect. Have sprinted before and pulled a hamstring. Another time, sprinted and pulled a calf. There are some physiological factors and if you are playing with the stiffest string on the market it only increases the possibility of injury under the right, or actually the wrong circumstances.
 
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VacationTennis

Semi-Pro
Take a look at most rec players, do their strokes look smooth and effortless?

Tennis elbow isn't only caused by impact alone, you can also be injured as a result of your swing. If you start to arm the swing, hit late, poor spacing, start yanking the ball it's going to pile up stress on your extensors and flexors.

Now add in the additional impact from stiffer setups and dead strings and there you have it.

So no, I don't believe it's just caused by poly strings.
 

lucieisland

Semi-Pro
I don't think it's poly that's causing TE. it is like saying that a beer causes alcoholism.
I think it's the misuse of poly, or not needing poly, or not meeting the poly usage conditions that causes TE.

at my club a pretty good 16 year old boy plays with pure aero. because Nadal, and plays with RPM because Nadal, and plays at 25kg, because Nadal.

and when we tell him that Nadal changes strings every 9 games, he says that he is not Nadal ...

except that: Pure Aero 270g, that: it is muscular like a package of spaghetti, except that it leaves its strings until it breaks, every 3 months or so. which means that: he has been trailing TE for 2 years. and that does not want to understand anything, and listen, because nadal him does not have TE!

as long as people do not understand that poly changes after 5h for some, and some rare others 10 or 14h maximum, that poly is not used on light frames below 290-300g, and that playing poly is not an objective but a necessity which arrives at a certain level. people still believe that champion racquet + champion string will make them a champion. except it doesn't work like that.

I think that: if sufficient level, heavy and flexible racket, poly replaced every 8 hours and not too tight, there is little reason to develop TE. of course, the technical and physiological requirements are a minimum.
 

am1899

Legend
Short answer is yes.

The stiffer the string, and more particularly with polyester, the longer you play with it before you restring, the greater the chances the string setup could contribute to the development of an injury.

That said, there are lots of other factors that can lead to TE as well. How often you play (and for how long each session), age, genetics, physical conditioning, even your diet could all play a role in the development (or not) of an injury like TE. The most notable factor is probably technique - the better your technique, typically the more you can get away with - playing longer, with stiffer racquets/string setups, etc.
 

Louis33

Semi-Pro
Good replies so far but I was interested more how crucial it is for strings locking up being a higher contributor to tennis elbow compared to string stiffness. I think my title may have been a bit misleading.

I’m interested in hearing if anyone else has gotten tennis elbow from a synthetic gut or multi that locks up quickly and has been fine playing polyester like myself that slides well through it’s lifetime even though it is much stiffer.

I am a hard hitter that uses a 360 SW racquet and the synthetic was strung at 60 pounds and locked up within 30 minutes of hitting and started hurting my elbow and wrist compared to me playing Kirschbaum max power at 58 pounds (stiff poly) with no elbow or wrist problems. At least in my experience using a stiffer string does not cause me problems but a softer string that locks up gives me pain.
 

Dartagnan64

G.O.A.T.
Bad swings, old tendons, frequent play are the top causes of TE. Only one of those things is easily remedied.
If you have those 3 things and use a stiff frame and stiff non-resilient string, you exacerbate the problem.

I've dialed in my elbow after struggling with TE and GE and know what gives my 55 year old tendons pain and what doesn't. Any poly stiffer than Cream is a no-no.
 

am1899

Legend
Good replies so far but I was interested more how crucial it is for strings locking up being a higher contributor to tennis elbow compared to string stiffness. I think my title may have been a bit misleading.

Yes, I think it’s entirely possible that some players are particularly sensitive to a locked string bed - regardless of the stiffness of the string itself. For what reason, I don’t know. In the case of a player like that, polyester may well be a more comfortable hit - due to the snap back.
 

fuzz nation

G.O.A.T.
My experience is quite the opposite. I had severe tennis elbow a few years back playing with synthetic gut/multifilament full bed strings and it slowly resolved itself once I went to a multi/poly hybrid. Lately I have been experimenting with new setups including full poly and have had no elbow problems until I tried a full bed of Gosen AK Pro CX 17G synthetic and the string bed locked up within 30 minutes of heavy hitting and I am having elbow soreness after a 2 1/2 hour hitting session for the first time in years.

I’m curious if anyone on the forum has had similar experiences as mine? From my experience it seems the string stiffness is not and issue for me. It’s about the string bed locking up that aggravates my elbow and with full poly this happens the least for me and as a result is most comfortable to play with.

Tennis elbow can be a bit of a ghost - hard to know exactly what brings it on from one arm to the next and we only find out how susceptible we might be to it after it comes to claim us. One guy I know ran into a rather nasty case of it a few years ago when he apparently tried to learn a two-handed backhand. Quite the head-scratcher there. Somebody else can have a rough day on the computer or give the spare room at home a new coat of paint and boom!

My experience from a couple years ago: Been playing the Volkl C10 for several years and never have any sort of issues using this racquet every day for coaching, playing, workouts, etc. strung with snug beds of syn. gut (up to 58-59 lbs.). This frame has earned an arm-friendly reputation for good reason. So I decided to sample a full bed of poly - Volkl Cyclone 17 - at a lower tension of 43 or 44 lbs.

Only two brief hitting sessions of 15-20 mins with this on two consecutive days was enough to annihilate my arm. I was completely sidelined for at least two months. For me this wasn't a case of trying a new string layout and maybe my arm was a little grumpy afterward. It was as though this string setup was specifically engineered to do me harm in very short order. Nobody has perfect technique. Mine is okay. In this case, the string absolutely did me in.

I've been stringing for many local of all levels for several years and I've seen enough of the ups and downs among these folks to be convinced that priority #1 for promoting arm health is to use the softest string that's manageable for that particular player.
 

Louis33

Semi-Pro
Tennis elbow can be a bit of a ghost - hard to know exactly what brings it on from one arm to the next and we only find out how susceptible we might be to it after it comes to claim us. One guy I know ran into a rather nasty case of it a few years ago when he apparently tried to learn a two-handed backhand. Quite the head-scratcher there. Somebody else can have a rough day on the computer or give the spare room at home a new coat of paint and boom!

My experience from a couple years ago: Been playing the Volkl C10 for several years and never have any sort of issues using this racquet every day for coaching, playing, workouts, etc. strung with snug beds of syn. gut (up to 58-59 lbs.). This frame has earned an arm-friendly reputation for good reason. So I decided to sample a full bed of poly - Volkl Cyclone 17 - at a lower tension of 43 or 44 lbs.

Only two brief hitting sessions of 15-20 mins with this on two consecutive days was enough to annihilate my arm. I was completely sidelined for at least two months. For me this wasn't a case of trying a new string layout and maybe my arm was a little grumpy afterward. It was as though this string setup was specifically engineered to do me harm in very short order. Nobody has perfect technique. Mine is okay. In this case, the string absolutely did me in.

I've been stringing for many local of all levels for several years and I've seen enough of the ups and downs among these folks to be convinced that priority #1 for promoting arm health is to use the softest string that's manageable for that particular player.

Good post, I have the same feeling about synthetic gut/multi strings when the stringbed locks on me in 30 minutes. I first went with the conventional wisdom of using the softest strings a few years back with synthetic gut/multi and it wrecked my arm. The only thing I can correlate this to is the stringbed locking up because it becomes a boardy feeling sensation shortly after, and using synthetic/poly and full poly the past couple years I have had no arm pain until I tried a full bed of synthetics again and I get arm and wrist pain right after playing it.
 

lucieisland

Semi-Pro
a stupid question? what kind of elbow pain? muscular? tendons? articulatory? it can be for many reasons.

already, I find your blood pressure very high. (some ATP players don't even weigh 24kg!). and maybe find a happy medium?
 

Conrads

Rookie
it does for sure, really depends on strokes though. poly even with low tensions if you have classic type strokes (eastern grip,,flat hit) the impact is much greater then if you hit semi western. i can't stand
it as my wrist starts acting up just hitting for like 15 minutes with any poly co poly doesn't matter.

i don't see the point of all these co-poly for rec players. The original stiff polys like BBO yes they are great for like 6.0 and up type players who swing very fast and get the
benefits. The softer ones i don't see the point really besides durable over something like a 15g syn gut. The feel is crap, tension maintenace is crap, tough to hit touch shots. You have to restring
constantly and its probably harder on frames then a softer string so racquets won't last as long also
 

Rabbit

G.O.A.T.
@lucieisland - tendon. Tennis Elbow is the tendon on top of the elbow and golfer's is the tendon on the inside bottom. I've had TE really bad and a flare of GE. I've also had wrist tendonitis.
 

Dartagnan64

G.O.A.T.
The softer ones i don't see the point really besides durable over something like a 15g syn gut. The feel is crap, tension maintenace is crap, tough to hit touch shots. You have to restring
constantly and its probably harder on frames then a softer string so racquets won't last as long also

I use poly in cross strings only. And the softest ones I can find. I agree that trying to play a soft poly full bed at low tensions is starting to lose the plot. But as a cross string they do offer benefits in keeping strings aligned and allowing better string movement while taming the power of the mains.

What i never understand is 3.5 players that hit flat shots pulling out full beds RPM Blast all the time. Of course they'll tell you the need it because their Pure Drive hits like a rocket launcher with multis or gut. I just shake my head.
 

lucieisland

Semi-Pro
@lucieisland - tendon. Tennis Elbow is the tendon on top of the elbow and golfer's is the tendon on the inside bottom. I've had TE really bad and a flare of GE. I've also had wrist tendonitis.
I'm just asking, I know one of my brothers was playing very high tension, s-gut. (prince approach 90 to 31kg).
but had developed bad gestures with the elbow very close to the body, instead of having loose and loose gestures. this valu him a tendonitis in the inner elbow and the back of the shoulder, and at the level of the collarbone. but it was by no means poly.

I think there are a lot of reasons for developing tendonitis, or TE ...

myself, at one time, I had TE ... by dint of using a computer mouse too small for my hand. (micro mouse). which made me sore and developed tendonitis on the outside elbow.
 

Dartagnan64

G.O.A.T.
but had developed bad gestures with the elbow very close to the body, instead of having loose and loose gestures. this valu him a tendonitis in the inner elbow

I can tell you that this same issue gave me Golfer's elbow as well. And it has been hard to redevelop the FH with a more extended arm further from the body. Has taken months of practice. That's why so many people just look to change equipment. Far simpler fix than creating new muscle memory. But in the end, technique change is for the better.
 

FIRETennis

Professional
It's a combination of things but stiffness of strings & vibrations are definitely an important factor.
Another interesting approach would be to ask a majority of players with TE/GE to just switch to natural gut or soft polys (ie Cyclone Tour) that have less vibrations?
Does that help?
IMO synthetic gut is soft, but not that soft.
Cyclone Tour is equally soft or even softer than say Prince Duraflex.
Natural gut is miles softer.
I know for myself that as soon as I use stiff strings that are harsh off-center, even at lower tensions, I feel a bit of TE/GE soreness.
 
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WYK

Hall of Fame
Bad swings, old tendons, frequent play are the top causes of TE. Only one of those things is easily remedied.
If you have those 3 things and use a stiff frame and stiff non-resilient string, you exacerbate the problem.

I've dialed in my elbow after struggling with TE and GE and know what gives my 55 year old tendons pain and what doesn't. Any poly stiffer than Cream is a no-no.

You hear 'technique' a lot when it comes to TE or forearm pain. Sometimes a stiff racquet set up will make bad technique apparent more readily.
The problem with bad technique is:
Over-extending on your backhand or slice(not following through and the elbow taking the brunt of the arm stopping). You want a smooth effort, and swing through. Don't force your arm to stop - let the natural motion end itself. Some folks may need to purposefully keep their arm bent a bit during the swing to prevent TE as well.
Extending/supinating on the serve - unavoidable for most, especially if you have a Sampras style serve - which my coach in HS broke me of very quickly by simply teaching me to turn more on my swing and come across my body(not that Sampras had a bad serve, quite the opposite, but it can easily cause forearm issues). Stretching and a brace help here.
Playing even after feeling pain. Pain is your body telling you to stop being stupid. Soreness is your body telling you that you are a weak little baby - know the difference. And don't push yourself when you are feeling very sore because you saw some muscle builder do it. What you didn't see was the guy reaching for steroids before and after the workout.
When your body tells you to stop - stop. Taking a mild NSAID like Aleve(Naproxen), or Ibuprofen to help heal faster and keep the inflammation down isn't a bad idea. And - Rest!
Stretch your arm during warm up. I see people out there stretching their legs and shoulders and trunk, but no arms or forearms. Extend your arm behind your back like you got to scratch in between your shoulders(both from the top and bottom) - genty stretch all those tendons out before you play. Place your arms outstretched in front of you, grab the back of your hand and pull the outside of it over to stretch it and your arm. Supinate that wrist and elbow gently, stretching the tendons.
Try not to just jump in to a game - always warm up gently.
Wear a brace until you are warmed up, or just wear it all the time like Kygrios. He's smarter than he looks. It also keeps your joints and tendons warm for blood flow and relaxes and supports them.
If it's cold out, take it easy until you are warmed up.

String lower, use springy strings, get a flexible racquet, stop hitting the frame on a 72RDC stick, and get in less fights. But, most importantly:
Stop diddling yourself so much! Every child is sacred and yer arm has a limited amount of lifetime diddling in it!
 
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lucieisland

Semi-Pro
You hear 'technique' a lot when it comes to TE or forearm pain. Sometimes a stiff racquet set up will make bad technique apparent more readily.


String lower, use springy strings, get a flexible racquet, stop hitting the frame on a 72RDC stick, and get in less fights. But, most importantly:
Stop diddling yourself so much! Every child is sacred and yer arm has a limited amount of lifetime diddling in it!

I cannot agree more. i played with very stiff racquets in the 2000s, around 70RA, lots of injuries, even with natural gut / poly at low tension.

then switched to less rigid frames, I would say to the 65RA (pacific, wilson), with naty / poly at low tension it's fine, but as soon as it goes below 280g it's often an injury.

then I tried softer racquets (RA 61), frames 300-310g, with naty / poly hybrid; no problem, even at 26-24kg.

I played for a while with donnay allwood RA50, very soft, very comfortable, custom at 310g unstrung I could even play with full poly 24kg.

came back to wilson burn, 71RA and even with full S-gut, it stung my arm.

with mantis comfort poly which is rather soft, impossible to play for more than 30mn. That's when I returned to head prestige and radical 64RA max. and everything is back to normal.

Since then, I have been using head trisys 260, radical tour os, pro tour os, and no more cases of TE. even in full poly.
 

ron schaap

Hall of Fame
I'm just asking, I know one of my brothers was playing very high tension, s-gut. (prince approach 90 to 31kg).
but had developed bad gestures with the elbow very close to the body, instead of having loose and loose gestures. this valu him a tendonitis in the inner elbow and the back of the shoulder, and at the level of the collarbone. but it was by no means poly.

I think there are a lot of reasons for developing tendonitis, or TE ...

myself, at one time, I had TE ... by dint of using a computer mouse too small for my hand. (micro mouse). which made me sore and developed tendonitis on the outside elbow.
So no 4g at 25kg? ;-) Even before computers there was TE among people who never hit a tennisball. They got injured while cleaning windows. So certain repeated moves could make that happen. For me i m prone to irritated tendons when playing with those heavy pressureless tennisballs. Doesnt matter if i play with a soft Fischer at 21kg poly strung. So heavy or old liveless balls are certainly not to be neglected as a risk for developing te. To beat those injuries it can be a good thing to do certain excersizes at home like squeezing tennisballs and lifting light weights to make your arms stronger.
 

Shroud

Talk Tennis Guru
Good replies so far but I was interested more how crucial it is for strings locking up being a higher contributor to tennis elbow compared to string stiffness. I think my title may have been a bit misleading.

I’m interested in hearing if anyone else has gotten tennis elbow from a synthetic gut or multi that locks up quickly and has been fine playing polyester like myself that slides well through it’s lifetime even though it is much stiffer.

I am a hard hitter that uses a 360 SW racquet and the synthetic was strung at 60 pounds and locked up within 30 minutes of hitting and started hurting my elbow and wrist compared to me playing Kirschbaum max power at 58 pounds (stiff poly) with no elbow or wrist problems. At least in my experience using a stiffer string does not cause me problems but a softer string that locks up gives me pain.
Yes. I agree that the locked nature of a stringbed is a contributing factor especially if you use some spin...flat hitters its not a big deal. I got te when I was using gut crosses. There were other factors like playing 4/5 days and spraypainting all those days, but a locked string bed is more jarring. Think bout it. If the strings dont move on contact there is more shock. If they do move well the shock is dissipated more and you feel less.

So yeah i tend to agree that its not the stiffness as much as the locking, especially if you hit topspin.

I have the stiffest mains (kevlar) and the stiffest poly crosses (4g) strung at 86lbs. No elbow or wrist issues at all. No shoulder issues either. And I can tell you that combo does not lock in 20 min and I go months before I need to restring. Outside of a non tennis injury I have no fear for my elbow or wrist or shoulder.

Though I am surprised that the 360sw isn't protecting you.
 

2nd Serve Ace

Hall of Fame
It's a combination of things but stiffness of strings & vibrations are definitely an important factor.
Another interesting approach would be to ask a majority of players with TE/GE to just switch to natural gut or soft polys (ie Cyclone Tour) that have less vibrations?
Does that help?
IMO synthetic gut is soft, but not that soft.
Cyclone Tour is equally soft or even softer than say Prince Duraflex.
Natural gut is miles softer.
I know for myself that as soon as I use stiff strings that are harsh off-center, even at lower tensions, I feel a bit of TE/GE soreness.
I'm personally surprised that proportional stringing hasn't gotten more traction in the US. It is particularly effective in the full poly string setups, ime. Opens up the sweetspot and makes off-center hits less harsh.
 

Shroud

Talk Tennis Guru
I'm personally surprised that proportional stringing hasn't gotten more traction in the US. It is particularly effective in the full poly string setups, ime. Opens up the sweetspot and makes off-center hits less harsh.
Stringers here are mostly about turning racquets fast to get to the next one.
 

Louis33

Semi-Pro
Yes. I agree that the locked nature of a stringbed is a contributing factor especially if you use some spin...flat hitters its not a big deal. I got te when I was using gut crosses. There were other factors like playing 4/5 days and spraypainting all those days, but a locked string bed is more jarring. Think bout it. If the strings dont move on contact there is more shock. If they do move well the shock is dissipated more and you feel less.

So yeah i tend to agree that its not the stiffness as much as the locking, especially if you hit topspin.

I have the stiffest mains (kevlar) and the stiffest poly crosses (4g) strung at 86lbs. No elbow or wrist issues at all. No shoulder issues either. And I can tell you that combo does not lock in 20 min and I go months before I need to restring. Outside of a non tennis injury I have no fear for my elbow or wrist or shoulder.

Though I am surprised that the 360sw isn't protecting you.
This is exactly what I was thinking about the strings locking and not dispersing the energy the same as them sliding. From what I feel the sensation is jarring when the strings lock, but I don’t get that at all with stiff poly in the high 50s to low 60s. Perhaps this is from playing a high swing weight the poly is a non issue for me and feels nice and buttery on contact.
 

Dartagnan64

G.O.A.T.
Is there video evidence that a "locked" string bed remains locked on a topspin drive? Maybe it unlocks and snaps back into locked position in which case it shouldn't be an issue.
 

Shroud

Talk Tennis Guru
Is there video evidence that a "locked" string bed remains locked on a topspin drive? Maybe it unlocks and snaps back into locked position in which case it shouldn't be an issue.
This is a vid that while not showing impact does show the locked bed being alot harder to move. It probably does unlock on contact, but it is much harder to do and because of that there is more jarring. Whether it comes back into place has no bearing except to show that yes, there is indeed more friction with a locked stringbed because it doesn't snap back into place. Its like the same thing as race cars that fall apart on contact protecting the driver.

 

FIRETennis

Professional
I'm personally surprised that proportional stringing hasn't gotten more traction in the US. It is particularly effective in the full poly string setups, ime. Opens up the sweetspot and makes off-center hits less harsh.

The average stringing shop that employs a part-timer 17-yo to string with one hand on the racquet and another on Tiktok can barely get proper tension right and knots on a regular string job.
I don't envision many shops offering proportional stringing....
If you string for youself, by all means it's worth a shot.
 

agradina

Rookie
Playing with vcore pro 97 hd flex 59 with wilson champions choice 24/23.
August 2022 my right hand got severe case of tenis elbow imposibile to play anymore for 6 month.Not even now is cured but i can play.
August 2023 my left hand got servere case of tennis elbow imposibile to play any double backhand with it. LoL. I couldnt believe.Now i just slice. The only thinkg i change was from alu power to ptp in croses to make it more confortable after first case.
So medium heavy racquet , flex <60 , natural gut and still got elbow at both my arms same month , within one year.It must be the racquet .
 

FIRETennis

Professional
Playing with vcore pro 97 hd flex 59 with wilson champions choice 24/23.
August 2022 my right hand got severe case of tenis elbow imposibile to play anymore for 6 month.Not even now is cured but i can play.
August 2023 my left hand got servere case of tennis elbow imposibile to play any double backhand with it. LoL. I couldnt believe.Now i just slice. The only thinkg i change was from alu power to ptp in croses to make it more confortable after first case.
So medium heavy racquet , flex <60 , natural gut and still got elbow at both my arms same month , within one year.It must be the racquet .
Try an even softer cross like Luxilon Element.
Have your technique analyzed by video. Culprit likely arms too tense, arming the ball, late contact, contact too close to body.
Do you play with very used or unpressurized balls?
 

veelium

Hall of Fame
Playing with vcore pro 97 hd flex 59 with wilson champions choice 24/23.
August 2022 my right hand got severe case of tenis elbow imposibile to play anymore for 6 month.Not even now is cured but i can play.
August 2023 my left hand got servere case of tennis elbow imposibile to play any double backhand with it. LoL. I couldnt believe.Now i just slice. The only thinkg i change was from alu power to ptp in croses to make it more confortable after first case.
So medium heavy racquet , flex <60 , natural gut and still got elbow at both my arms same month , within one year.It must be the racquet .
Half poly is still poly and both Alu and Ptp are decently stiff.

Could be other factors too of course.
 

agradina

Rookie
Try an even softer cross like Luxilon Element.
Have your technique analyzed by video. Culprit likely arms too tense, arming the ball, late contact, contact too close to body.
Do you play with very used or unpressurized balls?
No , i play with fresh balls or maximum used 1-2 times.Element has 190 stifness PTP is below 180
 
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Tennis elbow can be a bit of a ghost - hard to know exactly what brings it on from one arm to the next and we only find out how susceptible we might be to it after it comes to claim us. One guy I know ran into a rather nasty case of it a few years ago when he apparently tried to learn a two-handed backhand. Quite the head-scratcher there. Somebody else can have a rough day on the computer or give the spare room at home a new coat of paint and boom!

My experience from a couple years ago: Been playing the Volkl C10 for several years and never have any sort of issues using this racquet every day for coaching, playing, workouts, etc. strung with snug beds of syn. gut (up to 58-59 lbs.). This frame has earned an arm-friendly reputation for good reason. So I decided to sample a full bed of poly - Volkl Cyclone 17 - at a lower tension of 43 or 44 lbs.

Only two brief hitting sessions of 15-20 mins with this on two consecutive days was enough to annihilate my arm. I was completely sidelined for at least two months. For me this wasn't a case of trying a new string layout and maybe my arm was a little grumpy afterward. It was as though this string setup was specifically engineered to do me harm in very short order. Nobody has perfect technique. Mine is okay. In this case, the string absolutely did me in.

I've been stringing for many local of all levels for several years and I've seen enough of the ups and downs among these folks to be convinced that priority #1 for promoting arm health is to use the softest string that's manageable for that particular player.
Yes, I'm not a big fan of Cyclone, either - for just the reason you noted. I still like hybrids, though. The strings tend to break a the right time and the synthetic gut or multi mains soften the string bed up the right amount for me. Others seem to be able to play with full polyester setups.

It is instructive, though, that someone like you who plays quite frequently and probably doesn't have a lot of bad habits like hitting the ball late, found poly to be an arm wrecker. Usually, when someone talks of tennis elbow or arm issues with poly, I suspect technique is at fault.

I think everyone's mileage may vary on this issue.
 

agradina

Rookie
Yes, I'm not a big fan of Cyclone, either - for just the reason you noted. I still like hybrids, though. The strings tend to break a the right time and the synthetic gut or multi mains soften the string bed up the right amount for me. Others seem to be able to play with full polyester setups.

It is instructive, though, that someone like you who plays quite frequently and probably doesn't have a lot of bad habits like hitting the ball late, found poly to be an arm wrecker. Usually, when someone talks of tennis elbow or arm issues with poly, I suspect technique is at fault.

I think everyone's mileage may vary on this issue
Yes, poly can 100% cause tennis elbow no matter how good u are. I know a coach former player , it played just 1 day with a stiff poly high tension in a rigid racquet- at the end of the day his elbow was destroyed 8 month recovery.Since then he play with multifilament or comfort poly at maximum 20 kilo tension.
I think that if ur tendons are like a tree , a wrong poly at wrong tension is like an electric big razor who cut it in 1 hour while other factors like stifness racquet,wieght,cross poly , wrong tehnique are like manual axe who need endless hourse and days to get down the tree.
 
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lazyfootwork

Guest
Yes, but I believe it has less to do with the stiffness of the string and more with people swinging harder with bad technique to make up for the lack of power
 

Kevo

Legend
Tennis elbow has a lot of factors. Some people get tennis elbow without playing tennis. So I don't think you can blame it on one particular thing, but if it feels bad when you hit the ball then you probably should consider changing something. Stretched out wide slices that get shanked are the worst thing for me. I've managed to hurt my elbow a few times on that shot. I am typically more careful with it now than when I was younger, but chasing those or chasing a bad toss on a serve seem to be the things I've noticed over the years that can lead to a problem on a single mishit.
 

tlm

G.O.A.T.
Stiffer rackets and poly string especially if not changed often can increase the chances of TE. But not having adequate arm strength also makes a huge difference. I do a forearm, shoulder and wrist workout twice a week and I can use stiff poly at high tension with no problems. So many players are looking for a softer racket or soft poly string so they don’t get TE but very few will do just a little strength training.
 

TennisJrDad

Professional
@tlm What specific exercises do you do for your forearm, shoulder and wrist?

Stiffer rackets and poly string especially if not changed often can increase the chances of TE. But not having adequate arm strength also makes a huge difference. I do a forearm, shoulder and wrist workout twice a week and I can use stiff poly at high tension with no problems. So many players are looking for a softer racket or soft poly string so they don’t get TE but very few will do just a little strength training.
 

ChrisJR3264

Hall of Fame
It depends. It could be a combination of
1. Poly
2. In-proper form and footwork + hard poly
3. 16g stiff poly plus a frame that’s too heavy + improper form.
4. Lack of strength training exercises.

If you have good form and are fit physically and continue to have tennis elbow - yes poly could be the issue. I use a thin guage poly 1.20 most of the time bc I get better control and it’s lighter.
 

ey039524

Hall of Fame
Playing with vcore pro 97 hd flex 59 with wilson champions choice 24/23.
August 2022 my right hand got severe case of tenis elbow imposibile to play anymore for 6 month.Not even now is cured but i can play.
August 2023 my left hand got servere case of tennis elbow imposibile to play any double backhand with it. LoL. I couldnt believe.Now i just slice. The only thinkg i change was from alu power to ptp in croses to make it more confortable after first case.
So medium heavy racquet , flex <60 , natural gut and still got elbow at both my arms same month , within one year.It must be the racquet .
My 16 yr old son uses the vcp 97 w gut x monogut ZX at 45 lbs.

You still have many softer polys to try, and if it's still a problem, you can try zx before you switch frames.

What tension are you using?
 
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