Need some help on how to choose a string for my Babolat racquet.

[skarthikongole]

How can I choose a string for my Babolat Pure Aero Team?

I have been playing with Polyester strings for a couple of months. Is that good? I have heard that they don't retain tension well.

I am looking for mainly
-- Control & Spin
-- Tension retention
**Power is not that important right now. I will generate my own power if necessary and I am NOT a string breaker

I do not want to spend money on natural gut. So that leaves me with....
1. Multi filament
2. Synthetic gut
3. Poly or co-polyester

Since I am not a string breaker, and tension retention is important, can I just go for a multi-filament string? is it better than synthetic gut for tension retention?
Can a multi-filament give me enough control and spin?

Any thoughts?

 

[eah123]

Impossible to give you a recommendation without knowing anything about your game, how often you will want to restring, and if you are a string breaker. If you are fairly new to tennis, then the general recommendation is to start with synthetic gut. If you have arm pain with SG, then chang to a multifilament. If you start breaking SG strings within a month, then you can start experimenting with polyester.

 

[skarthikongole]

Hello, thank you for your reply.

I can restring as and when necessary. I have been playing with Polys for a few years on another racquet and restringing often becuase of the bad tension retention. But if I wanted better retention, I wanted to move to a better string.

In my earlier message I have specified a few things about my game. I am not a string breaker. (I have provided other details too as to what kind of characteristics I am looking for in the string)

In Summary:

1. I am an intermediate player.
2. I don't have any arm pain and
3. I am NOT a string breaker.
4. I am looking for control and spin. I can generate my own power. At the same time, I am looking for better tension retention from the string.

 

[BillieJoeOakland1]

hyper G

 

[skarthikongole]

Thank you for the suggestion @BillieJoeOakland1 . Does it retain tension better than the average multi-filament or synthetic gut?

I don't have a particularly powerful game, so NOT a string breaker.
My game style, is to play a few aggressive deep baseline shots before moving forward to the net when I see the opportunity.

May I ask, how many hours of play can I get with this string?

 

[eah123]

Personally, I play with polys strung at low tension (40 pounds or 20 kg) so loss of tension isn’t an issue, and I can play with the same strings easily for 2 months. If you string poly at a “normal” range of 50-60#, then you can expect all polys to lose 10# or more over 10 hours which is when most players want to restring.

Based on your description, if you are hoping to get 20 or more hours of play from a set of strings and don’t want to lose tension, I would go for one of the excellent multifilament/poly fusion strings from Tecnifibre. The best value is RPX 15L which I would string at 60#. It should not lose more than 5# for the life the string, and you can pretty much use it until it breaks.

 

[stapletonj]

Although Klip just raised their prices, (darn it!) give gut a try. hybrid it with a smooth round poly like Isospeed cream or Kirschbaum.

$20 for the mains and $5 for the crosses........ Yonex polys are $18 and their multis are $22..... And I think you will find that the mains last a LOT longer with good liveliness than any poly.

Some adventuresome souls will even put the racket on the machine, clamp it down and restring just the crosses...... I did it once and it worked pretty well.....

 

[skarthikongole]

@eah123 and @stapletonj - Thank you! I will try these combinations.

 

[PKorda]

if not a string breaker and you're intermed player (i'm assuming by interm. like a 4.0), i'd just use a synth gut, or maybe cross it with a poly like tier one ghostwire

 

[fuzz nation]

How can I choose a string for my Babolat Pure Aero Team?

I have been playing with Polyester strings for a couple of months. Is that good? I have heard that they don't retain tension well.

I am looking for mainly
-- Control & Spin
-- Tension retention
**Power is not that important right now. I will generate my own power if necessary and I am NOT a string breaker

I do not want to spend money on natural gut. So that leaves me with....
1. Multi filament
2. Synthetic gut
3. Poly or co-polyester

Since I am not a string breaker, and tension retention is important, can I just go for a multi-filament string? is it better than synthetic gut for tension retention?
Can a multi-filament give me enough control and spin?

Any thoughts?

Not a string breaker and you want something that will hold tension... I'd say try some syn. guts (SG's). I'd expect 16 ga. to work much better than 17 ga. in your particular frame with its very open string pattern. You can find a rather broad range of options in this string family in terms of softer and more stiff.

Moderately soft SG's include Babolat, Prince Original SG, and also a few others. Stiffer SG's include Prince SG w/Duraflex and Gosen OG Sheep Micro. The Gosen is pretty good for durability and holding tension, but you probably want to be careful with the tension so that it's feel isn't too harsh.

My favorite SG is from Kirschbaum - a little softer than average (it's cozy!), very affordable, and pretty nice performance.

I generally only put multi into racquets for locals when their top priority is softness and arm comfort. These strings often wear rather quickly, have trouble holding tension, and multis usually cost a lot more than syn. guts.

Poly might become an option down the road if you start to snap other strings too often. If you do use poly in the future, I'd recommend a try with a poly hybrid; lighter gauge poly mains (1.20mm-1.25mm) combined with a syn. gut cross - I like the Gosen OGSM 16 as a cross in this sort of setup because it lasts and also remains somewhat slippery. With syn. gut in the crosses, I get the impression that a poly hybrid isn't as prone to turning as drastically "dead" compared with a full bed of the poly, since the syn. gut usually remains more resilient up until it breaks.

I just think that syn. guts are still a really good option for many of us who aren't trying to shred on the ball like college D-1 wannabe's. If the right layout with this string type plays fine for you and also has acceptable service life, no need to look for anything "better".

 

[BillieJoeOakland1]

Thank you for the suggestion @BillieJoeOakland1 . Does it retain tension better than the average multi-filament or synthetic gut?

I don't have a particularly powerful game, so NOT a string breaker.
My game style, is to play a few aggressive deep baseline shots before moving forward to the net when I see the opportunity.

May I ask, how many hours of play can I get with this string?

I can play a really long time with hyper G. I play for a few hours almost every day and can go over a month without restringing. Just a warning Hyper G at first feels like hitting a board for the first two hours then once broken in plays great. But first few hours are rough.