Should the Mains be tighter or Crosses?

Awesome Prostaff

Awesome Prostaff

New User
Some people are telling me that the mains should be tighter because that’s where you serve but some people say that making the crosses tighter will be better so now you tell me what I do, I play with a full set of Luxilon Savage
 
Don't know what it SHOULD be, but I just string the softer string at a higher tension and the stiffer string at a lower tension. Natural Gut mains at 59 lbs in my RF97 and 50 lbs in my Pro Staff 90, and Wilson Revolve crosses at 56 lbs and 47 lbs respectively.

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Rally said:
Don't know what it SHOULD be, but I just string the softer string at a higher tension and the stiffer string at a lower tension. Natural Gut mains at 59 lbs in my RF97 and 50 lbs in my Pro Staff 90, and Wilson Revolve crosses at 56 lbs and 47 lbs respectively.

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I usually string my RF97 at around 56 on crosses and 54 on my mains, I usually put rpm blast on mains and S gut on crosses, I recently switched to Wilson Clash and put Luxilon Savage at 42, the Savage is a literal killing machine you should try it
 
@Awesome Prostaff it's all a matter of preference. When I strung poly mains with multi crosses for myself, I installed the mains 4 - 6 pounds looser than the crosses. Now I use synthetic mains and poly crosses and string the mains 4 pounds tighter than the crosses. It all depends on your view of the setup. I tend to think poly should be strung looser than a multi or synthetic. I also subscribe to stringing the crosses 4 - 6 pounds looser than the mains if string isn't a consideration.
 
There is no single rule to follow. It is dependent on the string combination, frame and player preference. For example, you use full bed Savage per your OP. If this is the 1st time you tried the string, install at same ref tension for mains and crosses. As you play with it, note whether you like the feel in the sweet spot and around the edges. Note whether you like the ref tension and tension maintenance. Note the playability of the stringbed. On the 2nd string job, tell your stringer your impressions. You may end up dropping the crosses' ref tension 3-4# OR just dropping the ref tension for all string. 4#. Now introduce hybrids with the different stiffness and tension maintenance features. In theory, you may want to do the softer string at a higher ref tension. In theory you may also want the better tension maintaining string at a higher ref tension. What do you do if the stiffer string, i.e. 4G, has better tension maintenance features? That why I almost never use theory when working with a combo that is new to the client. I will offer suggestions based on their frame and playing level. If they have strong opinions on what tension they want and ask for that tension, I will string as they request. If they don't know what tensions they want, we have a discussion. This discussion does not guarantee the perfect DT, but is used as a guide.
 
esgee48 said:
There is no single rule to follow. It is dependent on the string combination, frame and player preference. For example, you use full bed Savage per your OP. If this is the 1st time you tried the string, install at same ref tension for mains and crosses. As you play with it, note whether you like the feel in the sweet spot and around the edges. Note whether you like the ref tension and tension maintenance. Note the playability of the stringbed. On the 2nd string job, tell your stringer your impressions. You may end up dropping the crosses' ref tension 3-4# OR just dropping the ref tension for all string. 4#. Now introduce hybrids with the different stiffness and tension maintenance features. In theory, you may want to do the softer string at a higher ref tension. In theory you may also want the better tension maintaining string at a higher ref tension. What do you do if the stiffer string, i.e. 4G, has better tension maintenance features? That why I almost never use theory when working with a combo that is new to the client. I will offer suggestions based on their frame and playing level. If they have strong opinions on what tension they want and ask for that tension, I will string as they request. If they don't know what tensions they want, we have a discussion. This discussion does not guarantee the perfect DT, but is used as a guide.
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Yeah I put it at same tension
 
100% personal preference. I've strung both ways over the years and have enjoyed both at different times with different types of strings. My advice is find a string you like and then try it both ways. That way you have something to reasonably compare to. And don't be afraid to experiment. Some people stick to just a few pounds difference one way or the other. I've done as much as 14 lbs difference and some other have gone even higher differential than that. It's all up to what you like and what you don't.
 
Mains higher than crosses will increase spin potential and comfort, but it will also increase launch angle, which reduces control. If you compensate by stringing tighter overall, you can get your cake and eat it too.

However, a disadvantage of higher differential is that the swingweight will change a little bit over the life of the stringbed as the mains stretch out over time.
 
ChimpChimp said:
mains > crosses, higher launch angle
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Agree with this. Mains higher than crosses will increase the launch angle. This may be good or bad depending on your personal preference or your racquet’s natural launch angle. For instance, in a racquet with a very high natural launch angle, such as the old school APDs, you may not want to increase the launch angle any more than it already is. But in a racquet with a lower launch angle (Project One 7) you may want to increase it. Go 3 to 4 pounds less on the crosses to see a nice effect.
 
If you want a consistent response the mains should be slightly higher tension than the crosses (2-3 lbs) because the mains are longer and deflect more at identical tensions to the shorter crosses. Then if you want more spin and launch angle you can increase the tension differential from there.
 
travlerajm said:
Mains higher than crosses will increase spin potential and comfort, but it will also increase launch angle, which reduces control. If you compensate by stringing tighter overall, you can get your cake and eat it too.

However, a disadvantage of higher differential is that the swingweight will change a little bit over the life of the stringbed as the mains stretch out over time.
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How can the weight of any substance increase or decrease due to stretching? It defies physics.
 
crazyvictor said:
For some reason I was told the opposite. Good to know.

I string my Strike at 42/43 full 17 RPM blast. Guess it’s time to flip the numbers and see what it does.


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I don't think you will notice much of a difference with only a 1lb difference between the two. Pretty much within the error of a stringer + machine. I know some people here have said that most people aren't able to tell the difference between +/- 2 lbs.
 
Awesome Prostaff said:
I usually string my RF97 at around 56 on crosses and 54 on my mains, I usually put rpm blast on mains and S gut on crosses, I recently switched to Wilson Clash and put Luxilon Savage at 42, the Savage is a literal killing machine you should try it
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I love Savage and use it in my head 360 speed pro. How long does it last for you? I feel like about 10ish hours game over. I lose the feel and awesome ball pocketing I love.
 
Dartagnan64 said:
If you want a consistent response the mains should be slightly higher tension than the crosses (2-3 lbs) because the mains are longer and deflect more at identical tensions to the shorter crosses. Then if you want more spin and launch angle you can increase the tension differential from there.
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Yes, but...I think that mains are naturally tighter than crosses if strung at same tension. So to get equal tension you would have to string mains looser (I think).
 
beltsman said:
Yes, but...I think that mains are naturally tighter than crosses if strung at same tension. So to get equal tension you would have to string mains looser (I think).
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Are you saying that because of the deformation of the racket when stringing? I've always wondered what the final mains tension is after the crosses are done, or how much it deviates from the original tension. Anyone have a guideline?
 
VacationTennis said:
Are you saying that because of the deformation of the racket when stringing? I've always wondered what the final mains tension is after the crosses are done, or how much it deviates from the original tension. Anyone have a guideline?
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I remember reading it somewhere. Dunno if that's valid! But I think the reasoning is that pulling crosses across the mains increases their tension. I think that makes sense.
 
beltsman said:
I remember reading it somewhere. Dunno if that's valid! But I think the reasoning is that pulling crosses across the mains increases their tension. I think that makes sense.
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I've tried all ways and still not sure what I like. What bothered me most when crosses were even tension was the shortening of the racquet. Especially, in my wilson ultras. The crosses have all the friction from the mains, which tightens the mains more as well, to go through so I figure by going up about 2 lbs in crosses I lose that from the friction of the mains when tension is pulled. Does this leave me with even tension in the end? Who knows but I like to experiment!
 
What’s interesting about racquet tension, is NONE OF US are playing at the tension we think we are. From the moment the racquet leaves the stringing machine, it starts to loose tension. How fast the tension declines is a whole other thread.
 
Exactly @TagUrIt! I play gut/poly and shudder to think what my tension differential is after a good month of hitting. I’ve got a main string with the best tension maintenance and a cross with the worst. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out there was a 30+ pound difference in tension.

The fact that it’s still playable after all the tension loss in the poly cross is actually quite amazing when I think about it. I will admit that the launch angle is noticeably higher on an older gut/poly string job vs a freshly strung racquet with identical strings and original tensions. This validates the notion that lower cross tensions relative to mains results in increased launch angle.

I do think we tennis players are able to unconsciously adapt our swing path to compensate for these launch angle differences between new and older string jobs. Pros do their best to eliminate this variable from their game by always playing with freshly-strung racquets. Most of us, even those of us that string for ourselves like myself, don’t afford ourselves this luxury. I do believe that this is a major factor in the consistency of pro-level players. They expect near perfect predictably from their equipment so they can focus on much more important things like technique, fitness and strategy. They only make slight adjustments to tension based on court surface/weather/etc.
 
Stringing a full bed of Luxilon Savage in a Pro Staff I would go up 2lbs on the mains or string it at the same tension with full poly. Hybrids with Natural Gut go up 2-4lbs on the Natural Gut whether it is in the mains or crosses. Same with Synthetic gut or Multi.
If you are interested in trying to make a full poly stringed last longer and maintain control, string it much lower tension and go up on the crosses 4lbs.
For instance, if you normally play full poly at 50-52 then string it down to say 40/44. Give you some examples with my RF97’s.
VS Touch/ 4g 58/55
Klip Legend/ BHBZ. 58/55
BHS7T. 52/52
Alu Power 54/52
Tourbite/ Gosen Micro Sheep. 44/48
Tourbite 40/44

They all have different characteristics. Embracing the lower tensions and softer string options are beneficial if any sort of arm issues.
 
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Part of where this originated, if memory serves, is dependent on head shape. The more oblong or egg-shaped the head is, the more differential, usually crosses lower. I believe Yonex used to make this recommendation, since their heads tend to be somewhat rectangular or oblong with the various isometric configs they used. I think they suggested a 5-10% differential, depending, with crosses being lower.

The rounder the head, the more likely you'd want them to be uniform, or less differential. e.g., most Prince frames.

My go-to racquets for years now have been towards oblong---Yonex EZone Xi98, Volkl C10 Pro, Head Prestige---and have had great results with ~10% differential.

As always, JMHO, YMMV, blah blah blah
 
ckhirnigs113 said:
Exactly @TagUrIt! I play gut/poly and shudder to think what my tension differential is after a good month of hitting. I’ve got a main string with the best tension maintenance and a cross with the worst. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out there was a 30+ pound difference in tension.

The fact that it’s still playable after all the tension loss in the poly cross is actually quite amazing when I think about it. I will admit that the launch angle is noticeably higher on an older gut/poly string job vs a freshly strung racquet with identical strings and original tensions. This validates the notion that lower cross tensions relative to mains results in increased launch angle.

I do think we tennis players are able to unconsciously adapt our swing path to compensate for these launch angle differences between new and older string jobs. Pros do their best to eliminate this variable from their game by always playing with freshly-strung racquets. Most of us, even those of us that string for ourselves like myself, don’t afford ourselves this luxury. I do believe that this is a major factor in the consistency of pro-level players. They expect near perfect predictably from their equipment so they can focus on much more important things like technique, fitness and strategy. They only make slight adjustments to tension based on court surface/weather/etc.
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Been pointing this out for years when people hassle 20lb plus differential and freak about frame health
 
i don't know what frame you have op, but yonex recommends stringing the crosses @2 lbs. lighter than the mains.
 
I talked to a guy at Yonex way back when I started playing the RDX 500. He told me they used to recommend that 5% lower crosses, but didn't really push it much anymore. Something to do with their stringers and the people that were around before and it was kind of going away with some of the new people. He said it didn't matter in regards to the frame, but that they thought the feel was better that way. Anyway I could tell they were definitely not committed to that advice or didn't really care about it then.

The other thing that was interesting was he said the frames were weighted different or the layup was different between the different grip sizes or something. I didn't realize they did that, but supposedly that was the case.

I have seen on some of the older frames that they would have different weights and it was marked on the grip size IIRC. Some like 4 3/8 L vs 4 1/2 M or what not. So maybe that was old school as well and isn't actually done anymore or they just don't mark it any more. It would be interesting to get specs on the different grip sizes for some of the different brands and see if there really were noticeable differences.
 
I remember the weight variance of RDX 500. Smaller grip sizes were lighter, bigger were heavier but 4 3/8 and 4 1/2 weighed the same. Also, maybe because of the weight, the recommended string tension range was a bit higher on 4 3/8 and 4 1/2.
 
Crosses are stiffer than the mains. If anything is going to be strung looser, it should be the crosses.

How I go about it is:
Full poly: drop crosses 1.5kg
Stiff mains, soft crosses: same tension
Soft mains, stiff crosses: drop crosses 1.5kg
Full bed soft string: Probably keep the same tension

Lower cross tension will create a softer feel and allow more access to spin (the crosses are what restricts string movements during spin generation, so looser crosses would generate more spin)..
 
beltsman said:
I remember reading it somewhere. Dunno if that's valid! But I think the reasoning is that pulling crosses across the mains increases their tension. I think that makes sense.
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I believe that for a given tension the shorter the span the strings are stretched across the firmer they will feel. Thus, it is the opposite. For the same given tension the crosses will feel firmer than the mains as they have a shorter span. However, pulling that set tension on the crosses through the mains will result in a lower tension due to the resistance the machine experiences in trying to pull the string thru all the mains. Still the crosses will have a higher stiffness for a given tension.

In the end, for a full bed of the same string I believe the crosses should be strung at a slightly lower tension. For a hybrid there are other variables.

I play with gut/poly and I know the tension I like my crosses (poly) and then I vary the gut tension with the weather conditions. This summer, in July/August, I went 58/48. During the winter I may drop that to 54/48 or less.
 
@Kevo - I string my Yonex VCore 98's like that. 54 on the mains and 50 on the crosses. In addition to increasing dwell time (and spin), I think it feels better as well; more pocketing. I seem to remember the recommendation was originally put out there to lessen the chance of the frame breaking. Yonex frames used to be much more rectangular than they are now, the corners were more acute in angle. They've always been top notch though.

Way back, I played with a Super RD Tour 90, half grip. Yonex did indeed vary the weight according to grip size. In addition to being one of the most beautiful frames I ever played with, those things were beasts. I think they weighed in at just over 14 ounces each (with leather grips).
 
So, if you guys play with the same racket, one time with even tension and another with looser crosses (-1,5 kgs as many suggest), would you be able to notice and distinguish with which racket you played? I highly doubt it...
 
Arzivu said:
So, if you guys play with the same racket, one time with even tension and another with looser crosses (-1,5 kgs as many suggest), would you be able to notice and distinguish with which racket you played? I highly doubt it...
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If you have enough experience with one way or the other you usually can tell. On my current frames I've been experimenting with large differentials. I think I'm at 52/40 on my last stringing, and the difference between that and 50/38 was way more than I thought it would be. I think on my next stringing I'm going to 50/40.

The odd thing is that I think I'm discovering that I like my strings loose enough so that I have to be a little careful about hitting too hard and getting enough spin, but not so loose that if I really go for one it launches into the baseball fields behind the courts. :)

When the strings are just a smidge too tight I don't quite get the same grab on the ball, especially with my flat serve. When that one grabs I can really hit down on it more.
 
Arzivu said:
So, if you guys play with the same racket, one time with even tension and another with looser crosses (-1,5 kgs as many suggest), would you be able to notice and distinguish with which racket you played? I highly doubt it...
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I for sure do. When I was using full poly I had a greater launch angle with the crosses at a lower tension than the mains.

For Gut/Poly of course there are 2 different materials so my adjustment in the tension on the mains has more to do with the control I am looking for based on the weather conditions. I had to go up in tension during the summer as I felt the ball was flying on me. Now that it is cooler I am finding the higher tension mains too firm and am preferring the lower tension.
 
Kevo said:
If you have enough experience with one way or the other you usually can tell. On my current frames I've been experimenting with large differentials. I think I'm at 52/40 on my last stringing, and the difference between that and 50/38 was way more than I thought it would be. I think on my next stringing I'm going to 50/40.

The odd thing is that I think I'm discovering that I like my strings loose enough so that I have to be a little careful about hitting too hard and getting enough spin, but not so loose that if I really go for one it launches into the baseball fields behind the courts. :)

When the strings are just a smidge too tight I don't quite get the same grab on the ball, especially with my flat serve. When that one grabs I can really hit down on it more.
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That is a huge difference which can be easier noticed. My point is that if you are given two rackets, one strung with let's say 50/50 tension and another with 50/48, you won't point with absolute certainty which one is which. Maybe you can really feel it, you have gained experience as you said or you have great intuition but I believe 8 out of 10 players will not realise this small deviance in crosses..
 
Arzivu said:
That is a huge difference which can be easier noticed. My point is that if you are given two rackets, one strung with let's say 50/50 tension and another with 50/48, you won't point with absolute certainty which one is which. Maybe you can really feel it, you have gained experience as you said or you have great intuition but I believe 8 out of 10 players will not realise this small deviance in crosses..
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Well, at some point you will reach a limit. If 2lbs doesn't play any differently then probably you won't notice. It's going to vary with string and tension, and how close to some threshold of performance or feel you are. For me, I'm right near my limit of where the tension goes from loose to stiff. So a small change will make a bigger difference. If we were well into the loose range, then it would probably take a bigger change in tension for me to notice.
 
Kevo said:
Well, at some point you will reach a limit. If 2lbs doesn't play any differently then probably you won't notice. .... f we were well into the loose range, then it would probably take a bigger change in tension for me to notice.
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A +/- 2 lb differential probably won't be noticeable by the average rec player during match play. Players simply adjust their strokes to compensate. At 4 lb (and beyond), depending on the string, changes in launch angle, depth, spin, touch and etcetera become evident to me. With most strings set ups, I typically play with a 6 lb differential, with main higher than crosses. FWIW, I've played with as much as a 30 lb differentials (Kevlar/Sgut) and inverted differentials (crosses higher than mains), too. Six is generally optimal for my PCT.
 
Well, it's easy to make blanket statements, but the truth is usually very situationally dependent. I remember when I was playing with my RDX 500 I used Baboblat Powergy for a while. I think I still have a reel of it somewhere actually. It's an excellent string and it did have some power too. Anyway, I remember when I went from 58lbs to 60lbs it was a game changer. At 58lbs it was good, but still seemed a little too powerful for my taste. It also didn't feel tight at that tension like some strings would. So the next time I strung it I went to 60lbs and it was incredible. It was tight and plush at the same time. The pocketing feel I like really came out of it at 60lbs. Sort of like it does on a number of good multis after they break in. The control was also great at 60. I could hit out with impunity. It was almost like a different string. In fact I bet if you gave the racquets one at 58lbs and one at 60lbs to some playtesters and had them rate the strings that many of them would think they were different strings.

Anyway, I'm not sure why it matters whether one player or another can tell the difference between two pounds or four pounds of tension. What matters is what the particular individual likes and how they play with a particular setup. In any event, there's no way for a particular individual to really figure out what's best for them without a bit of trial and error. The best we can do is tell them what we like and why and let them make the best guess they can from all the anecdotes to hopefully get a jump on the process.
 
I was always doing mains tighter by a few lbs but then found out dropping the main tension and increasing the cross tension actually gave me a lot more control and the ball didn’t come off unpredictably hot

it’s still an experiment but lower poly mains and tighter multi cross is a better combo imo
 
I think it is dependent on your strokes and how flat they are and your ability and the string setup. Personally, with my flat strokes I need help with a little up and over the net so I prefer the crosses with less tension. This is especially with a gut/poly setup with the stiffer string in the cross.
 
LOBALOT said:
I think it is dependent on your strokes and how flat they are and your ability and the string setup. Personally, with my flat strokes I need help with a little up and over the net so I prefer the crosses with less tension. This is especially with a gut/poly setup with the stiffer string in the cross.
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yeah there are so many factors, I play with the stiffer string in the mains, poly/multi cross
 
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