D
Deleted member 768841
Guest
What’s the lowest tension you have ever used? Personally I play in the 50’s however I’m going to try 4g and silver 7 tour at 46-47.
tennisbike
Professional
Prince Michael Change OS, 35lbs with Isospeed Baseline 130.
Woodies and Yonex YY8500 25lb synthetic gut.
Woodies and Yonex YY8500 25lb synthetic gut.
Shroud
G.O.A.T.
15/32 skipping every other cross. 14x10 pattern.
in a PS85, it was 15/18lbs IIRC. Kev/ poly
Ha Shroud! When was that and how did it play? (and what does 15/32 mean?)
D
Deleted member 768841
Guest
15/32 means the mains are at a tension of 15 and the crosses are a tension of 32.
Shroud
G.O.A.T.
It was very soft back then and I played ok. Was taking lessons then and they guy said one advantage was that the sound was such that he couldn't tell if I really hit out or hit a normal shot.
Because I left out 9 crosses I upped the tension by more than double so it was at 32 lbs. LOL. Back then I was worried about racquets deforming...
1HBHfanatic
Legend
-wilson.ultra.tour 27lbs FB poly, awsome
-head.gravity.pro 30lbs FB poly, played great
-head.gravity.pro 30lbs FB poly, played great
Steve Huff
G.O.A.T.
30# using a stiff poly. Hits well, just has very little sound on ball impact.
Shroud
G.O.A.T.
Ok the PS85 was 17/17 kev poly and weighed 15.3 oz. Sadly the picts are gone
Here I am hitting with it I think. LOL that was 6 years ago and my 1st vid I ever posted. LMAO
Steve Huff
G.O.A.T.
I tried Solinco Tour Rev 1.20 at 30#. I've mentioned this before--It played well, but you barely hear the ball hitting the strings. It's so quiet you really don't know how well you struck the ball. If you do string it like this, give it some time to get used to the lack of sound.
Shaolin
G.O.A.T.
Same here. I used to use stiff first-gen poly in the high 60s way back when. Now I'm down to 38 to 42 range.
I'd give 30s a try sometime but what I found is that control dropped at around 35.
My favorite setup is something like Cyclone mains (or other edged poly) and a slick thin cross like Tourna Black Zone. Great spin and the thin cross gives some feel plus let's the mains slide well.
Fwiw I've found there's a 10-30# window of "feels horrible" with most strings between the ranges of "feels good"
What exactly that range is varies w/ racquet and string specs but in my set-up with volkl cyclone:
I use 38x36
I like above 50 fine
Anywhere in the middle (where I initially tried stringing it) made me think I was gonna hate the string).
So if you have a stringer it might be worth playing around with your setup
FIRETennis
Professional
If low tension is indeed so great, why do people complain about tension loss in strings?
Doubles
Legend
Some strings are better suited to lower tensions than others. Some players are also more tension sensitive than others. I've found that stringing in the low-mid 40's seems to mitigate how noticeable tension loss is compared to stringing in the 50's.
Different issues. Polyester strings have a low elastic modulus and the impact from a tennis ball can cause them to reach that number. Tension loss in this understanding is a problem because the strings stretch out enough they stop snapping back. This changes the spin potential, the launch angle, and the feedback.
Low tension stringing on the other hand allows the strings to move more freely. Higher spin potential, more power (but 40# poly is still far lower powered than 50# syn gut ime testing hybrids).
Tension loss that people complain about with regards to polyester is really stretching, which happens regardless of racquet bed tension.
Last edited:
California
Semi-Pro
55 is my lowest. I use multis and sometimes gut hybrids, one in a while all gut if I have arm issues. 55 would be a winter tension, my normal range is 58 to 62. I use a Dunlop 4D 200 Tour
Easy Rider
Professional
15/17kg
Struck some weedwacker cord at 50lbs once but its a bit stretchy and was probably around 20 with the response of a slingshot. I guestimated the ball was on the string 3-4 times longer. I was able to get control over groundstrokes, volleys were pretty amazing, return was neat...but serving was almost impossible. I Could not control it.
LocNetMonster
Professional
For grins I strung a stick at 20# with synthetic gut. With a partner hitting at moderate pace I didn't have to swing, just deflected the ball the direction I wanted it to go.
tennisbike
Professional
Just wondering which stick, (make/model, size of stringbed)?
LocNetMonster
Professional
Babolat Pure Control Team 16x19, 98sq head.
Left out of my original post that all I had to do was just flick my wrist to make the ball go baseline to baseline ... LOL
Steve Huff
G.O.A.T.
30# with Solinco Tour Revolution 18. Played well. No sound. Takes some getting used to.
1HBHfanatic
Legend
-i like low tensions at different parts of the court
-when playing agressive and/or defending at the beaseline, nothin-betta!,
-slicing the ball is one of the best shots imo
-coming up to net to volley, risky proposition!; low tensions and drop shots, dont mix?!
-touch volleys with ~20lb tension,,,, fuggetaboutit !!
