How often do you restring?
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cluckcluck
Hall of Fame
Generally speaking, I restring based on how the string feels. Some strings last longer than others.
I have friends, however, that play a set of strings until they break.
There's no real formula as every player is different.
I have friends, however, that play a set of strings until they break.
There's no real formula as every player is different.
Woolybugger
Rookie
really depends on the cost and whether there's a tourney coming up.
JT_2eighty
Hall of Fame
generally speaking those are good guidelines.
I'll play a full poly or poly main setup for about 10-15 match hours, or when the feel changes for the worst. Some polys you can really tell and others not as much, so for the latter, 10-15 court hours is my general limit to avoid arm pain.
I'll play a gut main setup until the gut breaks.
Muppet
Legend
Two weeks ago, I was playing with a Cyber Flash/Hexy Fiber setup @48/53. I played three times over the course of 3 or 4 weeks. The strings then played with a lot of power and very good control. Is this a near death characteristic for these strings?
I changed the strings out for my class the following week. There are women who I play with in the clinic, and I didn't feel comfortable hitting laser like volleys. But it did feel pretty nice putting shots away like that.
I changed the strings out for my class the following week. There are women who I play with in the clinic, and I didn't feel comfortable hitting laser like volleys. But it did feel pretty nice putting shots away like that.
Fuji
Legend
I cycle between like 6+ sticks, so restringing isnt a huge issue. I get around 8 hours a bed, which is way more then I need, so it works out well. I restring every 50ish hours of play since I just do all my restringing at once. 
so I'd say probably once a month in winter I restring all the sticks.
-Fuji
so I'd say probably once a month in winter I restring all the sticks. -Fuji
Cyber Flash 1.20 / OG Sheep Micro 17 @ 55/58. I guess I can drag on a little longer, but a fresh set of new string makes my arm so much easier.
It really depends on how much your plays are truely affected by the playability
drops. And how important it is in your life.
zapvor
G.O.A.T.
here is the funny thing i notice. i am stringer so i see a lot of frames on a day to day basis that need restringing.
the better the player, the less they care about strings. "i know you just strung this up yesterday but it broke again today can you string it for me?"
the worse the player, the more they care about strings. "that excel was 16g in there, and i played twice with it and it just didnt feel right. go and put this nxt 17 in there now"
good stuff
the better the player, the less they care about strings. "i know you just strung this up yesterday but it broke again today can you string it for me?"
the worse the player, the more they care about strings. "that excel was 16g in there, and i played twice with it and it just didnt feel right. go and put this nxt 17 in there now"
good stuff
I disagree. There is clear difference between the knowledge and care of 4.5 players
on string and that of, say, 2.0 beginner.
zapvor
G.O.A.T.
yes. but if you were to say to a 4.5 "oh we are out of PHT what about PH they would be ok" whereas a 3.5 would be more "god no"
and also i am speaking broad terms. and also i have string logs to back my statments. how many rackets/ players do you talk to daily about their restring needs?
Fuji
Legend
It's sort of the opposite from what I've seen. Lower level guys are always interested in trying something new, hence asking for different poly's or hybrids to string up. Higher level guys have a string they like and pretty well stick to it, unless they get sponsored by a different company. :razz:
-Fuji
Seth
Legend
Not a stringer, but I can second your observation. I see this same idea when looking at guys I hit around with/guys on my league teams.
Personally, I play until they break.
zapvor
G.O.A.T.
no thats exactly my point. low level players love to tinker with equipment. excel 16g is not good enough, they must cut it out after 2 hrs because nxt17 would up their game that much more, even though there is no wear on the excel at all.
other hand high level player knows what he wants, and expects. but in the case of when a string is out of stock, they dont freak out and go 'omg my game is ruined' they simply say 'just stick something close to it' and is cool about it. in fact a lot of high level players come back and say it didnt really made difference
Fuji
Legend
Okay all good haha. I definitely read your post as the opposite of what you actually said. My bad!
-Fuji
loosegroove
Hall of Fame
I restring about once or twice a week, at about 10 hours of play or when the crosses break (poly mains, synthetic gut cross). That's playing a mix of doubles and singles. If it's all single play, I have to restring earlier.
anubis
Hall of Fame
So, do strings die even if you haven't used them much? Take poly, BHB7. I have about 6 hours Of play time in them, but the string job is 3+ weeks old. I feel like they are getting stiffer.
So would you say poly lasts 10-15 hours or two weeks on the frame, whichever comes first?
So would you say poly lasts 10-15 hours or two weeks on the frame, whichever comes first?
fgs
Hall of Fame
when i break a string. as this happens about every 6-8 hours, or 3-4 hitting sessions, matches not counted in, that is about every 10 days. i have four sticks but i rarely keep all of them strung up, so it does not happen often that i have a string in the sticks for more than 14 days.
since i have my own stringing machine, i'm rather flexible in this regard, and only when i'm playing some tournaments outside vienna i do string all four sticks.
regarding playability of strings kept in the stick i would rather state that there is still enough time left in them even after having been idle for two-three weeks. of course, they don't feel like a fresh stringjob, but most of the time they still give a reasonable performance until they break. i'm playing mostly poly-mains / multi-crosses hybrids.
since i have my own stringing machine, i'm rather flexible in this regard, and only when i'm playing some tournaments outside vienna i do string all four sticks.
regarding playability of strings kept in the stick i would rather state that there is still enough time left in them even after having been idle for two-three weeks. of course, they don't feel like a fresh stringjob, but most of the time they still give a reasonable performance until they break. i'm playing mostly poly-mains / multi-crosses hybrids.
As soon as my balls aren't landing in anymore.
Got to blame the strings and not the player.
That's what I do.This one, yes I agree. Definitely not freaked out about it.
Really good players still try to stick to what they want, whenever possible, though.
Some good players, athletically gifted, good at any sport including tennis, not so serious
about tennis only, generally don't care. They play with whatever available.
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marosmith
Professional
The best players I know have very little knowledge of rackets or string and they all play until the string breaks or change once, maybe twice a year. They also use crappy synthetic gut and it takes everything I have not to talk them into a string that would help their game- but these guys are 4.5/5 players so why the hell would they listen to me? LOL
loosegroove
Hall of Fame
Well if you're a 4.5/5.0 using synthetic gut you'll be restringing frequently since you'll be breaking strings frequently. I'd probably still be using synthetic gut if it didn't break so quickly.
zapvor
G.O.A.T.
yep yep. i do have this guy, hes ranked real high and he always uses same string (or whatever free set he has on hand), but he likes to toy with the tension a little. it keep me on edge because i have to be careful not to string it the same as last time
marosmith
Professional
Not always true. One is a coach and has a number of frames because he is sponsored by Head so he cycles through them and much of his time is spent doing lessons.
You would be amazed at the low quality strings good players will use and not care one way or the other.
Ennismt
Rookie
I test a lot of strings. The reality for me is that my results don't vary much with 2/3 of the strings I use. Then the other 1/3 I try just don't give me enough confidence to get the same results. So I'm not picky in a 66.6% kinda way.
I agree with this. I tested a lot of poly mainly to find a product I could afford to restring often and get the playability characteristics I want. What I found was there were broad categories of similar playing strings with varying stiffness, spin, and tension maintenance. To me at least, I think you could boil it down to a half-dozen or so strings and cover the range of playability. In the end I like soft strings with moderate to high spin and as much tension maintenance as I can get, obviously, from that I choose base on price.
When people say their poly strings lose "playability," are they referring simply to tension loss, or is there something else going on as well?
I.E. Would it be possible (I'm not saying it would be a reasonable thing to do) to play polys as they drop in tension (56 to 46, as a hypothetical)?
I.E. Would it be possible (I'm not saying it would be a reasonable thing to do) to play polys as they drop in tension (56 to 46, as a hypothetical)?
Ennismt
Rookie
Good point. I would say that I used "tension loss" incorrectly. When I refer to poly strings that lose playability I am referring to loss of "snap back". This happens concurrently with loss of tension but is a different property of the string. When I notice that I can move a main string and it does not move back into position, then I think that I have lost the characteristic of poly that I think contributes the most to playability. The loss of "snap back" is a sign of "dead" strings and loss of power and spin (at least in the strings I use). So...I think if the poly loses tension from 56 to 46 it is still very playable if the "snap back" is still present, and you can control the ball with the loss of tension.
canny
Rookie
Whenever I feel like I need to restring. I play at least 8 hours or more a not counting matches. I restring myself so im flexible. But depends what im using. If it's all focus hex. I can use that for 2-3 weeks depending if I have matches or if im lazy. Any natural gut hybrid is random really..
Elasticity is also being lost. It is often analogus to tension loss (although it
is not always linear with tension loss). String bed without much elasticity
will result at some point. Players often refer to it as "dead".
material like poly and kevlar has quick dynamic tension loss (tension loss
resulte by impact, not static). it means its kinda like plastic. however,
after great tension loss (become dead), it stay there (stay dead).
Natural guts (quality) tend to die very slowly. This gradual death gives us illusion
of no tension loss. It's "alive" until it pops, so to speak.
but if it is still "playable" by you, then playability has not been lost, so to speak.
"Playabilty" is a subjective term. But generally well referenced by tension.
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I use a multi (Prince Premier Attack) 16g and I always think I'm gonna break it but I haven't for like weeks (and it doesn't lose any tension either), so I only restring my 2 main sticks every 1 or 1.5 months. I always notice that the racquet feels much more "plush" after I restring and a little less stiff, but I don't think it makes a difference for my game, so I don't really care.
Notorious_Junkballer
Hall of Fame
Bumping this old thread as it fits my question perfectly. So how often? The spin guy, you know the one who puts his spin on our tennis, mentioned a rule of thumb in his latest video: if you play once a week, you should restring your racquet (at least) once a year and if you play two sessions a week, restring twice a year, etc. What do you make of this rule? If I played twice a week, say an hour at a time, that would make around 100 hours in a year. Two sets of fresh strings during the whole year sound too little to me at least when it comes to polys.
cknobman
Legend
IMO that rule sucks if you are anything other than a basic beginner.
Until I switched to full poly I had to restring every time I played because I would break the strings.
Now that I am playing full poly I MIGHT get two weeks out of a string job.
The strings simply lose too much tension and it forces me to play too conservative.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
I think that old guideline ”string as many times in a year as you play in a week” applied only to soft strings when all you had to worry about was tension loss. Good players were likely breaking strings fast anyway and had to restring more often even then.
With poly going dead and causing elbow issues potentially, you should cut it out after 15-20 hours if you don’t break them before that. If you don’t break poly within 20 hours, you should also consider if you should play with full-bed poly as you are likely not hitting hard enough to get much SnapBack effect. If all you want is control, you could string other strings at high tensions instead and try them out.
I play with a gut/poly hybrid and either break it early or cut it out after 18-20 hours - by then, there is a lot of notching and I know it will break soon anyway.
With poly going dead and causing elbow issues potentially, you should cut it out after 15-20 hours if you don’t break them before that. If you don’t break poly within 20 hours, you should also consider if you should play with full-bed poly as you are likely not hitting hard enough to get much SnapBack effect. If all you want is control, you could string other strings at high tensions instead and try them out.
I play with a gut/poly hybrid and either break it early or cut it out after 18-20 hours - by then, there is a lot of notching and I know it will break soon anyway.
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LOBALOT
Hall of Fame
That is an old adage which in general is not bad for a beginner player with synthetic gut/multi.
However, for me it is more what I have in my racquet and how it is performing. If I am playing with a gut/poly hybrid I will go way longer than that rule of thumb if the racquet is performing well. I play 4-5 times per week and I am currently using a gut/poly racquet that I strung up in the beginning of June and is still going strong. I will use it until the gut snaps or I just feel like it is no longer performing for me. When I string up Volkl Cyclone Tour at 51/49 I play with it for 8-10 hours before it is shot and I cut it out.
So there are 2 extremes away from the adage one way longer and one way shorter.
However, for me it is more what I have in my racquet and how it is performing. If I am playing with a gut/poly hybrid I will go way longer than that rule of thumb if the racquet is performing well. I play 4-5 times per week and I am currently using a gut/poly racquet that I strung up in the beginning of June and is still going strong. I will use it until the gut snaps or I just feel like it is no longer performing for me. When I string up Volkl Cyclone Tour at 51/49 I play with it for 8-10 hours before it is shot and I cut it out.
So there are 2 extremes away from the adage one way longer and one way shorter.
Notorious_Junkballer
Hall of Fame
How many hours is this, -ish?
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Slowtwitcher
Legend
Getting the right tension is more important to me than the right string. I've played with nice setups that feel great, got nice spin, etc but the wrong tension made them useless for me.
cknobman
Legend
Roughly 4-6 hours of hitting time before its lost too much tension for me.
