Gauge of string

[barry]

These rules seem to work for me.

Open stringing pattern frames (16 mains) use 16 gauge mains and 16 gauge crosses. hybrid 17 gauge poly mains, and 16 gauge crosses.
Dense stringing pattern frames (18 x 20) use 17 gauge mains and crosses, hybrid 17 gauge poly and crosses.

Any thoughts?

 

[ace of spades]

on the closed sp i would go 18 guage mains with 17 guage crosses, a little more similar to the open string pattern in terms of spin.

 

[Kevo]

I've found that there is less of a difference in playability and spin between 16 and 17 gauge strings when using softer multis. There is a touch more feel to the thinner strings, but spin is about the same. Durability however is sometimes 25%-50% better in the 16 versus the 17 on softer strings. With Polys I think the thinner gauge makes more of a difference in spin capacity, and thinner feels much better than thicker. I tend to stick to 17 on poly and 16 on everything else.

 

[snoflewis]

i used a 17g poly mains, 16g synthetic cross hybrid, but am going to exclusively use 17g synthetics on my 16 main frame. im estimating that they break in about 10-15 hours...but stringing isnt an issue for me

 

[barry]

i used a 17g poly mains, 16g synthetic cross hybrid, but am going to exclusively use 17g synthetics on my 16 main frame. im estimating that they break in about 10-15 hours...but stringing isnt an issue for me

Do you like the feel of synthetic better than Poly? I like the stiffness of the poly in the mains, seems to provide more control.

 

[snoflewis]

Do you like the feel of synthetic better than Poly? I like the stiffness of the poly in the mains, seems to provide more control.

i like the feel of synthetic better than poly because synthetics tend to be softer and more crisp. im gonna use the full 17g synthetic set up on both my prostaff tour 95s, but if i get a 3rd one, i will probably string it w/ the poly/synthetic setup since i have a reel of cheap synthetics lying around.

 

[Steve Huff]

Barry, I think that is a pretty good general rule. The one exception being that some guys that use those dense pattern rackets really hit hard and break strings a lot (one of the reasons they went with a denser pattern racket). In those cases, I'd stick with a 16g main.

 

[I am mentally tough!]

Guys I'm really sorry for my ignorance; however, I've been searching the forums without a straight answer: in general, what are the differences between 16 and 17 gauges, in terms of playability? I don't know much about string but would like to learn because I would imagine string is as important as racquets are. Any help greatly appreciated!