Racquets/strings left in car

[Znak]

Pretty quick one. I have been leaving my tennis racquet bag in the trunk of my car while I'm at work (parked at a train station) so I can zip to the courts right after. As the weather is starting to heat up, is there any adverse effects to doing this on my strings (and/or racquet)? Looking to avoid having to lug my 6 racquet bag downtown...

Thanks in advance as always

 

[Znak]

I should clarify that title, I don't have any string sets or reels on me, just the strings in the frame I'm wondering about. Thx

 

[Muppet]

Don't leave your racquets in your car. You will lose all of your tension that way. Either lug them to work or leave them at home and play at some courts that are convenient enough to your house.

 

[CopolyX]

cool, room temp, out of the heat & sun, out of the trunk....

 

[Znak]

Dang, haha okay Ill fix that. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Searah]

sometimes i'll have an unopened can of balls or some stray soft drink cans in my car..
during really hot day.. the unopened balls has burst open (metal bent) and the softdrinks everywhere or expanded.

i imagine the racket will take some damage.. maybe not externally but internally!

then again rackets aren't soft drinks

 

[Karma Tennis]

As a rule don't leave strung racquets in a hot car.

However, it depends how hot it is and if the racquets are being kept in a bag with thermal protection. With the right sort of bag and as long as it doesn't get too hot, you might just get away with it.

Personally, I wouldn't do it regularly. Had a couple of strung APD's left in the boot of a car on a 40 Deg C day inside the thermal compartments of a Babolat AeroPro Rafa 12 stick bag for about 4 hours one day. They survived totally unscathed and continue to play well two years on.

 

[Znak]

sometimes i'll have an unopened can of balls or some stray soft drink cans in my car..
during really hot day.. the unopened balls has burst open (metal bent) and the softdrinks everywhere or expanded.

i imagine the racket will take some damage.. maybe not externally but internally!

then again rackets aren't soft drinks

As a rule don't leave strung racquets in a hot car.

However, it depends how hot it is and if the racquets are being kept in a bag with thermal protection. With the right sort of bag and as long as it doesn't get too hot, you might just get away with it.

Personally, I wouldn't do it regularly. Had a couple of strung APD's left in the boot of a car on a 40 Deg C day inside the thermal compartments of a Babolat AeroPro Rafa 12 stick bag for about 4 hours one day. They survived totally unscathed and continue to play well two years on.

Good points! Yeah my bag doesn't have a thermal compartment, Ill have figure a way to lug em around.

I feel like an abusive father that needs to go home and hug my racquets!

 

[ByeByePoly]

Good points! Yeah my bag doesn't have a thermal compartment, Ill have figure a way to lug em around.

I feel like an abusive father that needs to go home and hug my racquets!

Put them on ice

 

[scotus]

Good points! Yeah my bag doesn't have a thermal compartment, Ill have figure a way to lug em around.

I feel like an abusive father that needs to go home and hug my racquets!

The thermal compartment is probably good for 30 min max.

 

[Znak]

Put them on ice

hahaha

 

[Karma Tennis]

The thermal compartment is probably good for 30 min max.

Depends where the bag is and what it is surrounded by.

In direct sunlight on a very hot day with no breeze, you're probably right though.

 

[norcal]

Don't leave your racquets in your car. You will lose all of your tension that way

Rackets in a bag in the trunk on a hot day and you lose 'all' tension? This sounds like an old wive's tale.

I'll do a test when the weather gets warm(er) here and post the results. I'll leave one in a cool room inside, one in the trunk for a couple days.

What's considered hot? 90? 100?

 

[Znak]

Rackets in a bag in the trunk on a hot day and you lose 'all' tension? This sounds like an old wive's tale.

I'll do a test when the weather gets warm(er) here and post the results. I'll leave one in a cool room inside, one in the trunk for a couple days.

What's considered hot? 90? 100?

Cool! Yeah I'd say anything above 30C (85F)?

 

[SavvyStringer]

Pretty quick one. I have been leaving my tennis racquet bag in the trunk of my car while I'm at work (parked at a train station) so I can zip to the courts right after. As the weather is starting to heat up, is there any adverse effects to doing this on my strings (and/or racquet)? Looking to avoid having to lug my 6 racquet bag downtown...

Thanks in advance as always

If you have to do that, at least leave them in a ventilated place like the back floorboard with your windows cracked. Even on a 70 degree day it can get to like 110 inside your car in direct sun. That relaxes the plastic like material that composes many strings and makes them lose tension. It's also been said to be bad for the frame but I don't personally have any evidence.

 

[Moonarse]

I walk upstairs the Law Firm I work wearing suit&tie and a blue 9R yonex Bag.

But you gotta have the swag.

 

[Tommy Haas]

I think the trunk would be slightly cooler than inside the cabin. Does anyone have a laser thermometer to check? Maybe if you wrapped your racket in those special firefighter foil blankets that protects them from wildfires, it would reflect all the heat off your frame. If it works for a raging forest fire, it may work for ambient heat and hot air inside the cabin.

 

[norcal]

Well yeah the window glass is going to magnify the heat (with direct sunlight) so the inside of the car will definitely be hotter than the trunk. So leaving the racket on the backseat in direct sun in a closed car, sure I would believe that would affect tension.

But leaving it in the trunk (as OP suggests), I'm doubting that has big effect on tension. I think that's more along the lines of "don't eat before you swim or you'll have cramps and drown!"

Like I said, next racket I string will go in the trunk for a couple days. Next one after that goes into a cool room. Same strings, tension, etc. I will risk the integrity of (one) of my rackets for sake of science!

 

[Muppet]

Rackets in a bag in the trunk on a hot day and you lose 'all' tension? This sounds like an old wive's tale.

I'll do a test when the weather gets warm(er) here and post the results. I'll leave one in a cool room inside, one in the trunk for a couple days.

What's considered hot? 90? 100?

By "all tension" I meant quite a bit and enough to ruin your playability. Don't be so literal.

 

[norcal]

Didn't mean to offend you, I knew what you meant (significantly more tension loss than normal). I have heard that many times before and I thought it would be interesting to test the theory so I will.

I string my own rackets and track relative tension loss with racket tune so this particular little experiment should be quite easy to conduct.

 

[Znak]

I walk upstairs the Law Firm I work wearing suit&tie and a blue 9R yonex Bag.

But you gotta have the swag.

Hahah exactly, I need to work on mine. That and the groans on the packed subway I was hoping to avoid...

 

[PBODY99]

I freeze a 1 liter water bottle wrapped in a plastic bag. place in the thermal bag for cooling.