String questions

[RVAtennisaddict]

prestretch: I don't understand why you do this. Presumable the stretch takes some of the elasticity which should make the strings play older/deader?

Related to prestretch: is the tension more important than the elasticity of the string for feel? I have this mental image of the strings stretching and loosing elasticity as source of dead feel/loss of control.

Does anyone else notice that the first hour full bed polls seem to make a lot of noise? I play with rom blast 18g and they make a lot of noise for an hour. Have hyper spin for about 2-3 hours of play and then settle down into the way they will play until close to breaking?

Which strings maintain elasticity the best (poly) ?

 

[fuzz nation]

You're probably right about pre-stretching taking away some elasticity from a string, but I think that some folks want that done before installing the strings if it cuts down on tension loss over their service life. Some think it's a good thing, but others want to preserve as much elasticity in their string as they can and let it be "used up" primarily through use on the courts.

I don't use poly myself - pre-stretching seems to be a poly thing - so I just install my syn. gut at a tension that feels "right" for me. They soften just a little bit over the first day or so after installation, but then seem to stay about right until they wear out.

I don't think that the feel we get from a certain layout is an either/or sort of issue. I think that the combo of a certain string's elasticity and tension give it a certain feel, but the thickness of a string seems to affect its feel, too. A thicker string doesn't become the same as its thinner version when it's merely installed at a lower tension, but it can help.

I'm sure that our pals here will give you lots of guidance in terms of what might give you better tension maintenance in the poly realm. I can only say that a couple folks I string for have found that Volkl Cyclone 17 has held up better for them (in a hybrid with syn. gut crosses) than a similar hybrid using Isospeed Baseline mains of the same gauge. No surprise considering that the Cyclone is a newer co-poly and the Baseline is older stuff.

 

[Suge]

I prestretch natural gut and multifilaments (syn gut) only.

 

[Irvin]

If you don't prestretch natural gut strings it is a fairly stiff string and tends to have a lot of coil memory. When you prestretch the string properly it looses a lot of the child memory and tends to soften up. If you don't prestretch it will kinks up on you a lot when stringing and you could easily damage the string.

 

[Traffic]

I prestretch natural gut and multifilaments (syn gut) only.

I pre-stretch nat gut for the reason @Irvin pointed out.

But haven't done so with s-gut nor multi. What are the benefits? Just taking out some loss of tension that would be seen over the first few hours?