Federer's raquet tension, advice for me

[crash1929]

I play best when I feel confident with my slice bh: that I can get it deep and that it feels soft coming of my raquet. with the k90 I think stringing the raquet at the lowest possible string tension would help accomplish this. I strung it with synthetic gut at 56 and it felt way too tight and pingy. broke the strings and now hitting inside with the broken strings and it feels better. like if i string it very low i will get that soft deep slice back again. i don't want to spend so much money trying different tensions.

whats the lowest tension i should try to start 40lbs? i'd rather have it too loose and then tighten rather than vise versa.

tks!

 

[vndesu]

you should go at 50 because you'll still get tension drop even at 40

 

[crash1929]

thats the lowest you think the raquet should be strung? thats the reccomended low. usually you can go well outside those numbers no?

 

[obnoxious2]

Okay so if you string that low your BH slice will be "amazing" but I'm also willing to bet that you will be spraying forehands left and right not to mention long.

edit* Federer for the past year has strung in the mid to upper 40's and you can see the effect on his game. He is much too inconsistent and sprays shots. In his best years he had it around 52~53 lbs.

 

[crash1929]

tks for the info. i feel my fh is so good i can adjust. but i will take you advice into consideration thanks.

 

[mutantducky]

I did my friends at 54/56 with msv hex in the mains and he is liking it.

 

[m1stuhxsp4rk5]

you could also try softer strings. i felt i got more bite on the slice when i used a higher tension. it seemed to float more when i used it at a lower tension. i believe fed strings his racket at 22kg

 

[marosmith]

use gut. low 50's

 

[crash1929]

what tension is my stick at now with a popped string. it was strung at about 56 and has been broken for a few months- just sitting in the closet.

 

[crash1929]

do you think he has strung lower to do better on clay?

 

[movdqa]

I strung at 46 and 47 with thin poly and they felt great at first but not so great when they lost tension. At the moment, I have one strung at 50 with Luxilon and I like that setup. I think that 52-53 with a soft multi is nice too - just be prepared to go through strings quickly.

 

[tribunal4555]

I'd string in the low 50s, like the others before me said. Otherwise, your accuracy is just wayyy too low. So unless all you use is that "soft" slice backhand, you shouldn't string at 40.

 

[crash1929]

tks, for your input. what are the old wood racquets strung at, you know the old one sitting in your closet you never use? i hit well with those, feels like there's no tension in those at all.... wonder if that lose stringing will feel good on the k90, too.

 

[crash1929]

why do i need to be prepared to go through stings with a soft poly (can you give an example) strung low?

regarding acuracy isn't it just a matter of adjusting your srtoke a bit (more topsin motion etc?).

 

[movdqa]

I said a soft multi, not a soft poly.

 

[crash1929]

also i like it when it feels soft coming off the racquet. but the loose stringing I hope will give it depth which is what you need to have an effective slice.

all this talk about the importance of the slice back hand reminds me of how steffi dominated with out driving a bh.

 

[Wes_Loves_Dunlop]

why do i need to be prepared to go through stings with a soft poly (can you give an example) strung low?

regarding acuracy isn't it just a matter of adjusting your srtoke a bit (more topsin motion etc?).

its not really a matter of topspin. A really low tension lets the ball sink into the stringbed more, and therefore you will not get consistent placement.

 

[crash1929]

topsin i think should help some. but also aren't there other micro adjustments that you could make. can't waint to try it out. think i'll go at 45lbs.

 

[daceel]

Hope I'm not thread hijacking, but I recently strung a cheap racket at 38 lbs by mistake and unbelievably I love how it plays. The sweetspot is really easy to find and I find its really easy to put spin on the ball. My regular racket is a K95 strung at 55. I'm wondering when the string breaks, should I string it at 50? Or go more radical and string it at 45? Or string like federer at 48.5 pounds?

 

[Redflea]

I string at 5lbs below lowest recommended tension w/out issues on my racquets, so I would go at least that much below your racquet's low-end, maybe more if you don't mind wasting a bit of string/time if it's too lose.

When I went to 10 below that was just too much...so I've kept it at 5 below (50lbs using natural gut).

 

[jetlee2k]

I strung it @46 lb cross luxilon and 49lb main with VSTouch.. after a few days it probably drop another 5lb.. But I felt I play much better when the tension drop .. so much spin and power.. well you got to provide the control part.. !!

 

[crash1929]

No daceel your not hijiking the thread that is exactly my point the idea of stringing a raqeut way low. until i heard fed strung his like in the fifties i thought all pros strung em like 70 lendl, sampras right? but it was cool to find out fed even strings in the forties!

Also, we all are curious about feds stick and specs. i mean really!! i wonder if the pros are curious about each others weapons???? and why doesn't anyone want to use feds racquet, too???

also btw, i have a very knowledgeable friend who says the very very top players have frames made of a secret material.

just hit today with pure drive since the wilson went to the pro shop. hadn't hit in months and i hit better than ever. great to take some time off and come back to the game.

one more thing about the bh slice. open up your chest and move your left arm our for balance, placement and dept. not enough ametuers do this.

hitting monday with the wilson strung at 45 with my five o hitting partner. see how it goes.

 

[crash1929]

I strung it @46 lb cross luxilon and 49lb main with VSTouch.. after a few days it probably drop another 5lb.. But I felt I play much better when the tension drop .. so much spin and power.. well you got to provide the control part.. !!

how was your slice bh?