Do you obsesse about string tension ??

dgold44

G.O.A.T.
Playing over the years, I have noticed how badly your tennis skills can diminish as your string tension becomes too low.
Most people do not realize that you lose something like a pound of tension every 2 hours or less.
String tension can be the difference of winning or losing a tennis match.

I hate changing strings that look brand new but if my ground strokes are hitting the back curtain you have too.

Would be nice if they had a cheap gadget to measure tension you could buy.

Pros get new strings every 7 games but most club players only change strings until they break.

I am sure by mid-century they will have some nano-tech strings that hold tension almost ideally but they may cost several hundred dollars lol
 

Aretium

Hall of Fame
Playing over the years, I have noticed how badly your tennis skills can diminish as your string tension becomes too low.
Most people do not realize that you lose something like a pound of tension every 2 hours or less.
String tension can be the difference of winning or losing a tennis match.

I hate changing strings that look brand new but if my ground strokes are hitting the back curtain you have too.

Would be nice if they had a cheap gadget to measure tension you could buy.

Pros get new strings every 7 games but most club players only change strings until they break.

I am sure by mid-century they will have some nano-tech strings that hold tension almost ideally but they may cost several hundred dollars lol

After playing with many tensions, I would say it is rather the elasticity and the surface of the string that changes a lot and makes a string "dead".
 

RanchDressing

Hall of Fame
I think most people on here are pretty concerned with their stringbed tension and are aware. If they're posting on TT however, they aren't what would be considered the norm of tennis players.

There are the weiss tension machines. They don't work well. They can SOMETIMES get referencing (ie tension loss) somewhat right, but most of the time it's not accurate. Strings (especially polys which are most prone to tension drop) don't just drop tension when they stretch, they undergo physical changes when the polymer chains start to slip past each other (stretch). This results in changes to stiffness and friction between the strings. String bed tension devices can find strings harder to move, and will read higher or lower due to those changes besides the tension.

I have a trick you can try, and it is basically free (if you have a cell phone). Remove your dampener if you have one, and get your phone out. Set the phone on a table and turn it on video record. Make sure the microphone is pointed towards the frame. Strike the center of the bed a few times in succession, but wait long enough for the resonance of the strings to stop. This ping and importantly consequent note that is sustained is from the tension of the string. Much like a guitar, when the tension is greater the note is higher. Ideally you'll do this right after having the frame restrung.

A guitar increases pitch by decreasing string length, but keeping string tension (relatively) constant. This is the same as stringing two racquets at 55 lbs, one a 90 square inch, and the other a 107 square inch. The 90 will feel a lot stiffer of a bed than the 107, and will have a higher ping. The same general ideas apply to sound as tension drops.

Just the other day I played a fresh set of cyclone 16. By the end of about an hour and 30 minutes I felt like I was spraying. I assumed tension had dropped a bit, and checked my little recording, and sure enough when I struck the frame (after hitting) the note was quite a bit lower.

This only tells you that tension has been lost. Over time, when using the same strings, you can tell by pinging the racquet if it's time for a restring. Usually though you'll know when hitting with the frame, but this can be helpful too, especially if you have multiple identical frames and can't remember which one you stuck back in the bag for restringing.

Nothing here is rocket science, but pinging your racquet is usually the best way to tell your tension (without hitting) once you start to learn what to listen for.
 

LapsedNoob

Professional
I obsess about thread titles as a reflection of our educational system.

I keep playing with poly then going back to syngut. It lasts me, with acceptable performace, 12-15 hours hitting time. Its cheap enough as well!
 

Fuji

Legend
Not really, some guys do but I don't think it makes that big a difference. That being said most strings break under 10 hours before death is too too bad.

-Fuji
 

RanchDressing

Hall of Fame
Not really, some guys do but I don't think it makes that big a difference. That being said most strings break under 10 hours before death is too too bad.

-Fuji

I used to not care so much and didn't mind dead, over used, polys. As I moved up in my swing weight (and game improved) string choice and tension became far more important. At 360sw if the strings aren't right I'll find myself spraying into the fence flabbergasted how, vs a solid foot inside the baseline when I pick up a fresh stick. Also I notice slap (flat) shots go from firm and dialed in, to spongy rocket launcher. I don't mind the spongy rocket launcher when playing flat, but trying to hit max top with a loose bed at those swing weights can feel like trying to reel in a 250lb marlin with dental floss.
 
Not really, some guys do but I don't think it makes that big a difference. That being said most strings break under 10 hours before death is too too bad.

-Fuji

Do you guys think that we should use strings that we break in about 10h? That is, if I almost never break strings, I should only consider 17g/18g syngut or multi?
 

Fuji

Legend
I used to not care so much and didn't mind dead, over used, polys. As I moved up in my swing weight (and game improved) string choice and tension became far more important. At 360sw if the strings aren't right I'll find myself spraying into the fence flabbergasted how, vs a solid foot inside the baseline when I pick up a fresh stick. Also I notice slap (flat) shots go from firm and dialed in, to spongy rocket launcher. I don't mind the spongy rocket launcher when playing flat, but trying to hit max top with a loose bed at those swing weights can feel like trying to reel in a 250lb marlin with dental floss.

Yeah I hit quite flat. My frames are 13.0+oz and have a swingweight of roughly 365-370. That being said, I do string rather tight, but I don't notice that big a difference off the drop. I string anywhere from 60-65 on average with either full poly or kevlar/poly.

-Fuji
 

4-string

Professional
I need my Steam 99S strung tight, 60+ lbs. Unlike other frames with more dense string patterns, spin effect and low tensions just don't work IMO.

Other than that I don't care too much.
 

TennisCJC

Legend
Use gut if you don't want to deal with tension loss. TF's NRG2 multi is also quite good at retaining tension. Kirschbaum Max Power, Lux 4G, and LTEC 0S are poly's with good tension retention qualities.

But when all said and done, first 10 hours of any non gut string are best and the next 10 are OK. And, pretty much everything is toast at 20 hours as Fuji said. I try to play league matches with multi/poly hybrids for first 6-8 hours and then I use them for practices until they break which is in the 10-15 hours range.

Gut is the only string that plays well until it snaps. I have gotten 20+ hours out of Bab Tonic+, Klip Legend and Pac Classic and it plays well the entire time. It is usually very frayed with hairs sticking out everywhere after 10 hours but it still plays well.
 

struggle

Legend
No, I don't obsess.

I have raquettune, a stringmeter and an ERT but i rarely use any of them.

If I'm hitting long I just switch to a tighter racket. If I play in cold temps I switch to looser one.
 

Fuji

Legend
I need my Steam 99S strung tight, 60+ lbs. Unlike other frames with more dense string patterns, spin effect and low tensions just don't work IMO.

Other than that I don't care too much.

Yup same. I was at 65-70lbs in the 99s as well.

-Fuji
 

RanchDressing

Hall of Fame
Yeah I hit quite flat. My frames are 13.0+oz and have a swingweight of roughly 365-370. That being said, I do string rather tight, but I don't notice that big a difference off the drop. I string anywhere from 60-65 on average with either full poly or kevlar/poly.

-Fuji

I think the problem lies in the changes in string deflection. They are inconsistent over time (while a soft poly dies, ie cyclone or bhb7). When you're going for max rpm, your really counting on the trajectory of the launch and your spin to keep the ball in, and that all has to do with how much the string pockets/deflects across the bed. That seems to be where most of the changes are (at least according to the twu research).

When I hit flat, it doesn't seem to matter how dead or alive the strings are, I can usually figure it out. I imagine because most of the string movement is perpendicular into to the bed.
 

Aretium

Hall of Fame
I think the problem lies in the changes in string deflection. They are inconsistent over time (while a soft poly dies, ie cyclone or bhb7). When you're going for max rpm, your really counting on the trajectory of the launch and your spin to keep the ball in, and that all has to do with how much the string pockets/deflects across the bed. That seems to be where most of the changes are (at least according to the twu research).

When I hit flat, it doesn't seem to matter how dead or alive the strings are, I can usually figure it out. I imagine because most of the string movement is perpendicular into to the bed.

Yeah pretty much. I realised this last week, strings are dead, can't afford restring atm, whenever playing with a lot of topspin the strings would fail and sail. With flat shots it is much easier to control trajectory.
 

YarikA99

Rookie
After playing with many tensions, I would say it is rather the elasticity and the surface of the string that changes a lot and makes a string "dead".

Yeah same here, i am picky about tensions at first, but im a lot more picky about how dead it feels.
 

dgold44

G.O.A.T.
Yes the 20 hour rule for non-gut strings like Multifilmments is good recommendation.
I swear the 20 hour mark is where the strings just play terribly.
 

RanchDressing

Hall of Fame
Kevlar also plays well until it snaps. Shouldn't be forgotten.

I had a stick with kevlar that held 70lbs of tension since 1992.

Now playing "well" with kevlar is entirely subjective lololol.


Also some polys die and just don't change at all. Those ones are nice. But some of the soft poly's are just... ever changing and it's annoying.
 
18-20 I just find it impossible to get any spin at all.

I switched to a 16-19 pattern and that seems ok.

Spin is most all about technique. That 18x20 has a much lower launch angle though. Maybe you altered your swing path with that lower launch angle?

Try a much lower tension on 18x20. That should lift the launch angle higher.
 

jxs653

Professional
I play with kevlar & syn gut hybrid and tension change is not a concern for me. I play until it snaps.
 

Will Wilson

Semi-Pro
Pretty much. I find that string tension is the most important factor for me - more than the racket or string. I can get used to most rackets and strings so long as I can dial in the right string tension.
 
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