natty gut causes problems?

[karophiteblu]

hi. maybe a month or 2 ago, i strung my racket (kblade98) up with VS gut 16g mains and 16L lxn alu rough crosses. essentially, federer's setup. i wanted to try it out cuz i read on TT that natural gut has incredible feel and will cause no arm problems. unfortunately, right when i strung it up, i started having wrist problems.

wat the hell?
i used to have all poly and i didnt have problems

 

[number.432]

hi. maybe a month or 2 ago, i strung my racket (kblade98) up with VS gut 16g mains and 16L lxn alu rough crosses. essentially, federer's setup. i wanted to try it out cuz i read on TT that natural gut has incredible feel and will cause no arm problems. unfortunately, right when i strung it up, i started having wrist problems.

wat the hell?
i used to have all poly and i didnt have problems

I'd like to see video of your strokes. Just curious, what kind of problem you had when you said wrist problems? sore, ache and pains?

 

[Lakers4Life]

Maybe he's stringing it like Fed but swings like Rafa.

 

[scotus]

hi. maybe a month or 2 ago, i strung my racket (kblade98) up with VS gut 16g mains and 16L lxn alu rough crosses. essentially, federer's setup. i wanted to try it out cuz i read on TT that natural gut has incredible feel and will cause no arm problems. unfortunately, right when i strung it up, i started having wrist problems.

wat the hell?
i used to have all poly and i didnt have problems

Try going back to full poly and see if that solves your problem.

Many joint or tendon problems are repetitive-stress disorders and do not happen over night.

Months of playing with full poly most likely took its toll on your wrist gradually even though you did not detect any symptoms.

It seems that the manifestation of the symptoms and the change of strings have unfortunately coincided.

Did you also change your racquet by chance? What poly did you use before?

Perhaps you should go to full gut.

 

[marosmith]

Your problem is not from gut.

 

[hoodjem]

Try a gut and a multi hybrid.

 

[David123]

Maybe he's stringing it like Fed but swings like Rafa.

Haha funniest comment I've read in a while.

 

[karophiteblu]

wrist problem as in like, pain? maybe like a minor case of TE except on the wrist, if that makes sense. its getting a bit better though. the pain sometimes fluctuates.

also, prior to my usage of the natty gut, i have always used 17g or 16L strings. however, the gut is 16g. Maybe that is a factor as well? i did, indeed, make a racket switch. maybe 3 1/2 months ago, i switched from APDC to a kblade 98. on both rackets, i was doing fine with full poly at 16L or 17g, until i got the gut hybrid.
haha i used to have an extreme western grip when i had the APDC a year ago, with no problems. then i stopped tennis for about 4 months, with the exception of 1-hour weekly lessons. by the end of the 4 months, i went back to the semi-western grip, or the "normal" forehand grip.

LOL you're right actually, Lakers4Life! i used to swing like rafa, not anymore tho. other than that, my strokes never changed much.

scotus- my wrist problem in fact did develop overnight. one day, i played against my friend for a good hour or so. and the next day my wrist felt discomfort. it got worse, then better, and so on.
my old strings were lxn alu smooth. then i got 17g kirsch touch turbo when i got my blade. now, i have the gut/alu rough hybrid.

 

[basil J]

I never had wrist problems but one time I tried vs gut mains and luxilon poly crosses on my old 002 Tour and my wrist got sore for the first and last time. I cut out the poly right away. Poly on mains never bothered me, on the crosses it makes a frame play harsh IMO.

 

[karophiteblu]

I never had wrist problems but one time I tried vs gut mains and luxilon poly crosses on my old 002 Tour and my wrist got sore for the first and last time. I cut out the poly right away. Poly on mains never bothered me, on the crosses it makes a frame play harsh IMO.

yeah. so strange though...watever lol

 

[karophiteblu]

I never had wrist problems but one time I tried vs gut mains and luxilon poly crosses on my old 002 Tour and my wrist got sore for the first and last time. I cut out the poly right away. Poly on mains never bothered me, on the crosses it makes a frame play harsh IMO.

yeah. so strange though...watever lol
cuz one would expect the opposite right?

 

[scotus]

I never had wrist problems but one time I tried vs gut mains and luxilon poly crosses on my old 002 Tour and my wrist got sore for the first and last time. I cut out the poly right away. Poly on mains never bothered me, on the crosses it makes a frame play harsh IMO.

Well, your problem--the way you see it--is the poly on the cross.

But the OP had used a full poly setup prior to switching to gut mains and poly cross. So the poly cross is a constant for him.

 

[scotus]

OP, there are many variables involved in your experience.

But this is a fairly safe bet. The natural gut is not the problem.

 

[scotus]

scotus- my wrist problem in fact did develop overnight. one day, i played against my friend for a good hour or so. and the next day my wrist felt discomfort. it got worse, then better, and so on.
my old strings were lxn alu smooth. then i got 17g kirsch touch turbo when i got my blade. now, i have the gut/alu rough hybrid.

You did not understand my point.

Just because the symptom appeared over night does not necessarily mean that it was an acute injury from that night.

Let's take tennis elbow for example. Your elbow tendon can take a beating for the duration of months to over a year without your experiencing any pain.

But during this period, your tendon in the elbow is getting a lot of micro tears that you cannot feel. Some of them heal, some of them turn into scar tissues, slowly degenerating your tendon.

You may wake up one day and say your elbow hurts like crazy, and you blame it on the last hitting session, the latest string you used.

But you know what? This has been building up for months.

 

[tennismit]

If it is your wrist that hurts and not around the elbow joint ....it is definitely not the gut....I have TE myself and I play with Prince Premier LT strings which is a cheap natural gut substitute it feels extremely comfortable....a natural gut can only be better.

as Scotus said wrist problems develop over a period of time...the player you played when your wrist problem flared up ....was he a big hitter? Did you get too many off center hits? I suggest give your wrist some rest may be few days and start back up with a wrist support till you feel comfortable

 

[marosmith]

You did not understand my point.

Just because the symptom appeared over night does not necessarily mean that it was an acute injury from that night.

Let's take tennis elbow for example. Your elbow tendon can take a beating for the duration of months to over a year without your experiencing any pain.

But during this period, your tendon in the elbow is getting a lot of micro tears that you cannot feel. Some of them heal, some of them turn into scar tissues, slowly degenerating your tendon.

You may wake up one day and say your elbow hurts like crazy, and you blame it on the last hitting session, the latest string you used.

But you know what? This has been building up for months.

absolutely correct.

 

[nvottennis]

hi. maybe a month or 2 ago, i strung my racket (kblade98) up with VS gut 16g mains and 16L lxn alu rough crosses. essentially, federer's setup. i wanted to try it out cuz i read on TT that natural gut has incredible feel and will cause no arm problems. unfortunately, right when i strung it up, i started having wrist problems.

wat the hell?
i used to have all poly and i didnt have problems

I was always under the impression that fed uses nat gut as a cross and alu lux as the mains is that really true?

 

[LPShanet]

I was always under the impression that fed uses nat gut as a cross and alu lux as the mains is that really true?

No, this is wrong. Fed uses the gut in the mains, and the Lux in the crosses.

 

[LPShanet]

You did not understand my point.

Just because the symptom appeared over night does not necessarily mean that it was an acute injury from that night.

Let's take tennis elbow for example. Your elbow tendon can take a beating for the duration of months to over a year without your experiencing any pain.

But during this period, your tendon in the elbow is getting a lot of micro tears that you cannot feel. Some of them heal, some of them turn into scar tissues, slowly degenerating your tendon.

You may wake up one day and say your elbow hurts like crazy, and you blame it on the last hitting session, the latest string you used.

But you know what? This has been building up for months.

Scotus makes some very good (and absolutely accurate) points. Repetitive use injuries to not just happen overnight, even if your awareness of them makes it seem that way. They are the product of longer term abuse, and in the case of wrists, they are often due to either the damage/erosion of padding in the joints (fluid and/or cartilage), or because of the formation of calcification on the bone ends (similar to arthritis). One day, they just start hurting, and they will hurt more some days than others. But you have to take a big picture understanding of how they form, and not blame it on your most recent playing session.

As a few people have stated, it is unlikely to be directly related to your use of gut main strings. Your racquet change is a MUCH more likely culprit, and the time frame is about right. This doesn't mean necessarily that the frame is bad for you, just that it is different than your old one and the change in weight, balance, swingweight and stiffness results in subtle changes in timing and mechanics. Any racquet change can bring on an injury.

However, there is also another major factor to consider, and it relates to both the new string setup and to your racquet change. It is not only possible but likely that either your racquet switch or changing strings caused you to unconsciously change your swing. This is especially true because most people swing harder when they start playing with new equipment, out of excitement and to test the limits of what they can do with their new weapon. So if you've switched frames and are keen on the new benefits of it, or been told that your new gut mains will provide more power or give you less shock, it's very likely that you were taking bigger swings at the ball on average to experience those benefits.

 

[karophiteblu]

You did not understand my point.

Just because the symptom appeared over night does not necessarily mean that it was an acute injury from that night.

Let's take tennis elbow for example. Your elbow tendon can take a beating for the duration of months to over a year without your experiencing any pain.

But during this period, your tendon in the elbow is getting a lot of micro tears that you cannot feel. Some of them heal, some of them turn into scar tissues, slowly degenerating your tendon.

You may wake up one day and say your elbow hurts like crazy, and you blame it on the last hitting session, the latest string you used.

But you know what? This has been building up for months.

ohhh ok. allright thanks. that makes sense. i guess its the poly's fault then...because i have never experienced any sort of problem from tennis. i used to use syn gut i think. my coach just got me some 6 dollar strings

If it is your wrist that hurts and not around the elbow joint ....it is definitely not the gut....I have TE myself and I play with Prince Premier LT strings which is a cheap natural gut substitute it feels extremely comfortable....a natural gut can only be better.

as Scotus said wrist problems develop over a period of time...the player you played when your wrist problem flared up ....was he a big hitter? Did you get too many off center hits? I suggest give your wrist some rest may be few days and start back up with a wrist support till you feel comfortable

i always hit off center . but i recently have added 4 grams of lead at 3 and 9, which helps a LOT with it.
he wasnt much of a big hitter. i have a wristband, that helps somewhat. do you think that i can eventually get my wrist permanently damaged if i keep using it? i mean, every time i finish playing, i feel some discomfort when i try to stretch it in a certain direction, but nothing bad...

btw, if i were to switch to an all multi setup (gut being too expensive) would u recommend tecnifibre x-1 or prince premier LT?

Scotus makes some very good (and absolutely accurate) points. Repetitive use injuries to not just happen overnight, even if your awareness of them makes it seem that way. They are the product of longer term abuse, and in the case of wrists, they are often due to either the damage/erosion of padding in the joints (fluid and/or cartilage), or because of the formation of calcification on the bone ends (similar to arthritis). One day, they just start hurting, and they will hurt more some days than others. But you have to take a big picture understanding of how they form, and not blame it on your most recent playing session.

As a few people have stated, it is unlikely to be directly related to your use of gut main strings. Your racquet change is a MUCH more likely culprit, and the time frame is about right. This doesn't mean necessarily that the frame is bad for you, just that it is different than your old one and the change in weight, balance, swingweight and stiffness results in subtle changes in timing and mechanics. Any racquet change can bring on an injury.

However, there is also another major factor to consider, and it relates to both the new string setup and to your racquet change. It is not only possible but likely that either your racquet switch or changing strings caused you to unconsciously change your swing. This is especially true because most people swing harder when they start playing with new equipment, out of excitement and to test the limits of what they can do with their new weapon. So if you've switched frames and are keen on the new benefits of it, or been told that your new gut mains will provide more power or give you less shock, it's very likely that you were taking bigger swings at the ball on average to experience those benefits.

the kblade 98 has very similar specs to my old APDC though. thats strange haha. could it be a mental thing?

i dont think i swung harder. i always swing pretty fast, and ive done that with my old racket as well. but i cant tell you that if its subconscious haha. but that would totally make sense.

 

[scotus]

i always hit off center . but i recently have added 4 grams of lead at 3 and 9, which helps a LOT with it.
he wasnt much of a big hitter. i have a wristband, that helps somewhat. do you think that i can eventually get my wrist permanently damaged if i keep using it? i mean, every time i finish playing, i feel some discomfort when i try to stretch it in a certain direction, but nothing bad...

Do you have a private coach, or are you talking about a school team coach?

If you hit off-center so often, you are most likely jerking your head when you swing.

You need your coach to have multiple private sessions with you to correct that.

As for the wrist band, that won't do anything for you except absorb sweat. You can either tape your wrist like pros do, or wear a more rigid wrist band/brace over your tennis wrist band (which is nothing more than a wrist towel).

 

[ronninmaster]

wut u have for u there is what i call wrist crunch. It happens frum one of two things:
1) The swing weight is TOO high if altered
2) excessive or exaggerated follow through, b/c you were used to a full poly which is dead you take really big swings at the ball. after switching to the hybrid and still swinging the same way, the strings have a little bit more give whereas in the poly it pushes back at you, creating that excessive snap in your wrist

 

[tennismit]

i always hit off center . but i recently have added 4 grams of lead at 3 and 9, which helps a LOT with it.
he wasnt much of a big hitter. i have a wristband, that helps somewhat. do you think that i can eventually get my wrist permanently damaged if i keep using it? i mean, every time i finish playing, i feel some discomfort when i try to stretch it in a certain direction, but nothing bad...

btw, if i were to switch to an all multi setup (gut being too expensive) would u recommend tecnifibre x-1 or prince premier LT?

You do not mention if the weight addition on your racquet and wrist issue were in that order....if it is weight addition could very well be the culprit. (total of 8 grams will alter the 'swingweight' quite a bit. and may have swung your racquet from being HL to HH the latter known to cause issues like this).

I suggest take of the weight addition and see if the pain goes away.....and then add weight in smaller increments and test for an extended time to see what you can withstand without pain.

In terms of strings change I would suggest change one thing at a time that wud help tracking....if weight reduction resolves the issue this could be a moot point....however if your racquet is already head heavy I would suggest move to a Even or HL balance.

How far down the handle do you hold the racquet...if the butt cap is within the palm it may be a reason too.

 

[LPShanet]

Most importantly, I'd see a doctor with expertise in this area (sports physiologist, orthopedist, etc.) as soon as possible. There's no way a bunch of tennis enthusiasts (or even experts) can tell you whether there's a risk of long term damage without having proper diagnostic tools. Instead of risking it, why not get it checked out? It may just require a little time off, or some other small measure at this point, and could be a much bigger problem later. The fact is that ANY change in weight, balance or string can cause mechanical changes, regardless of whether you've added, removed or simply moved the weight of the frame, or just changed your strings.

 

[karophiteblu]

Do you have a private coach, or are you talking about a school team coach?

If you hit off-center so often, you are most likely jerking your head when you swing.

You need your coach to have multiple private sessions with you to correct that.

As for the wrist band, that won't do anything for you except absorb sweat. You can either tape your wrist like pros do, or wear a more rigid wrist band/brace over your tennis wrist band (which is nothing more than a wrist towel).

i have a private coach. but he doesnt do much about form. when i am having a bad day, he tries to help me regain my consistency but nothing much more. usually i play well though.
wats jerking my head? like, wat do u mean by that? i keep my eyes on the ball the whole time.
my wristband is fairly tight so im not sure. my wrist has been getting consistently increasingly better since recently. but not because of the wristband, because i dont really use it.

wut u have for u there is what i call wrist crunch. It happens frum one of two things:
1) The swing weight is TOO high if altered
2) excessive or exaggerated follow through, b/c you were used to a full poly which is dead you take really big swings at the ball. after switching to the hybrid and still swinging the same way, the strings have a little bit more give whereas in the poly it pushes back at you, creating that excessive snap in your wrist

i only added lead to my racket 5 days ago. before that, i just had a stock setup with 2 overgrips.
but your argument makes sense.

You do not mention if the weight addition on your racquet and wrist issue were in that order....if it is weight addition could very well be the culprit. (total of 8 grams will alter the 'swingweight' quite a bit. and may have swung your racquet from being HL to HH the latter known to cause issues like this).

I suggest take of the weight addition and see if the pain goes away.....and then add weight in smaller increments and test for an extended time to see what you can withstand without pain.

In terms of strings change I would suggest change one thing at a time that wud help tracking....if weight reduction resolves the issue this could be a moot point....however if your racquet is already head heavy I would suggest move to a Even or HL balance.

How far down the handle do you hold the racquet...if the butt cap is within the palm it may be a reason too.

sorry, i meant that i added 2 grams at 3 and 2 grams at 9. i also added a little bit at 10:30 and 1:30 (1 gram total) also, i have about maybe 1.25 or so grams in the butt cap.
is this setup good? because my wrist has been consistently getting better since the addition. i want to produce a bit more spin, which is my purpose.
i never used lead until 5 days ago. when i had my wrist problem it was when i had a stock setup with 1 or 2 OG.

i hold my racket at the lowest point. my hand/palm does not dangle off of the handle though. how can this be a problem? just wondering.

Most importantly, I'd see a doctor with expertise in this area (sports physiologist, orthopedist, etc.) as soon as possible. There's no way a bunch of tennis enthusiasts (or even experts) can tell you whether there's a risk of long term damage without having proper diagnostic tools. Instead of risking it, why not get it checked out? It may just require a little time off, or some other small measure at this point, and could be a much bigger problem later. The fact is that ANY change in weight, balance or string can cause mechanical changes, regardless of whether you've added, removed or simply moved the weight of the frame, or just changed your strings.

i never thought my wrist problem was too serious, but i guess i should still get it checked out. thanks!

 

[scotus]

i have a private coach. but he doesnt do much about form. when i am having a bad day, he tries to help me regain my consistency but nothing much more. usually i play well though.
wats jerking my head? like, wat do u mean by that? i keep my eyes on the ball the whole time.
my wristband is fairly tight so im not sure. my wrist has been getting consistently increasingly better since recently. but not because of the wristband, because i dont really use it.

Those who shank balls a lot tend to turn their heads as they turn their hips, shoulders & arm, which leads to a very jerky turning of the head.

Since you have a private coach, ask him what is causing you to hit outside the sweet spot, especially since you believe you keep your eye on the ball.

If he cannot fix that problem for you, you might want to look for a better coach.

 

[karophiteblu]

Those who shank balls a lot tend to turn their heads as they turn their hips, shoulders & arm, which leads to a very jerky turning of the head.

Since you have a private coach, ask him what is causing you to hit outside the sweet spot, especially since you believe you keep your eye on the ball.

If he cannot fix that problem for you, you might want to look for a better coach.

i mean, i was kinda exaggerating when i said i shank the ball a lot. i mean, i usually hit the sweet spot and have the ball where i want it to go, but sometimes, i dont react quickly enough, or i dont get to the place where im supposed to be fast enough (tho i run hyper fast) which causes the shanking

 

[JavierLW]

Maybe you were swinging harder for whatever weird reason with the gut and it altered your technique?

This sounds weird, but that's my experience with gut if I start using it after using something a lot harsher and noiser.

The problem for me is that it's so quiet, so I think it makes me swing harder to compensate for the noise and I usually have one bad day with it.

Then after a few days I get used to that and get my feel back again and I play great.

(that and the deflection angle is difference which takes some getting used to)

 

[tennismit]

i hold my racket at the lowest point. my hand/palm does not dangle off of the handle though. how can this be a problem? just wondering.

This is not a problem per se ....but the wrist crunch gets accentuated if you hold the racket with the end cap within the palm ...more so if your racket is head heavy .....just an another source from where wrist issues may come.

 

[karophiteblu]

Hi all. I just popped my natural gut, and i strung my racket up with black code mains and X-1 crosses both at 17g. M:56 X:58. I'm surprised to say that my wrist has improved a great deal compared to natural gut. I don't know why, but that's how it is haha.